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Captain Kernow

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Blog Entries posted by Captain Kernow

  1. Captain Kernow
    I've been expressing my dissatisfaction with the chassis and mechanism of the Hattons/DJM 14XX for some time now and I have finally started to do something about it.
     
    The background to this is that I need a 14XX as the 'signature' loco for my new 'cameo' shunting layout 'Bethesda Sidings', which is a fictitious location on a proposed-but-never-built GW route between New Radnor and Rhyader in Mid-Wales. With the addition of the outrageously improbable 'Vale of Radnor Light Railway' joining the 'main line' off scene, I have sometimes described this layout as 'the Prestigne goods with added Pecketts'.
     
    Back to the Hattons 14XX. The body work looked quite exquisite and on the basis of that alone, I ordered a BR lined green version, which would be renumbered to 1420, one of the Presteigne regulars towards the end of that service.
     
    The first example from Hattons looked lovely, but ran very badly, as I couldn't get it to run smoothly at low, shunting speeds. In fact, the more I ran it in, the worse the running got. It quickly went back to Hattons, who efficiently changed it for another, identical example with no fuss or bother.
     
    The second one seemed to be a better runner, upon initial checking, so I put it away and did some work on the layout for a few weeks. When it came to giving it some serious running in and checking how it was on the layout, it failed to live up to my initial, hopeful expectations. Once again, despite seeming to improve with the slow speed running, it eventually got worse after further running in, so I decided to cut my losses and provide it with a new chassis.
     
    Having already heard some accounts of problematical running with this design of loco, I had already obtained a Perseverance chassis and the necessary Markits wheels. If the Hattons/DJM loco had settled down properly, these would have gone under an old Airfix body.
     
    However, this was not to be and so the etched chassis is to go under the Hattons/DJM body.
     
    I will re-iterate that, in my view, Hattons/DJM have got the looks of the 14XX just right, especially the smokebox end and the finish is exemplary. The lining is nicely done and the overall effect is very pleasing.
     
    Hattons/DJM helpfully provide a 'components' list, should any spares be needed, which helped me subsequently in terms of identifying how things might come apart.
     
    Unfortunately, having now separated the chassis block from the body, it is my distinct impression that such an activity was never meant to be encouraged and some moderate force was eventually required, once the requisite screws had been undone.
     
    But what you are left with then is this bizarre arrangement, where the motor and worm remain ensconced in the body, with just the chassis block and wheels having come free:

     
    I tried unscrewing some of the remaining screws and found that the smokebox/boiler assembly will come away from the footplate, or at least mine did at the front end, but the cab-end remained firmly in one piece, which was probably just as well.
     
    What I couldn't work out how to do, was to remove the plastic bracket that held the tiny, coreless motor in place.
     
    The 'components list' referred to earlier clearly show that the cab and side tanks are a separate moulding, as are front and rear spectacle plates (there are actually an inner and an outer front spectacle plate, would you believe!), together with the smokebox/boiler/firebox being another separate piece.
     
    The problem with separating the cab and side tanks from the footplate seemed to me to be two-fold:
     
    i) I suspect that they may have been partially glued together. I certainly couldn't see how to simply unscrew them and I didn't want to risk damaging either the individual mouldings or the lovely paint finish
     
    ii) there are some (nicely done) pipe runs that attach to both the side tanks and the footplate mouldings and which would have to be reinstated by the modeller once the parts were separated, something else that I didn't really want to have to do.
     
    So, I resorted to drastic action and produced this from an old soldering iron tip:

     
    This acted like a 4mm scale 'oxy-acetylene' cutting torch and made short work of the plastic bracket that held the motor in place, which was partially cut up in situ and the remains removed with pliers. It wasn't gentle or genteel but I wasn't in the mood to be all sensitive with this and the loco had had it coming for a long time.
     
    The small motor was removed unscathed and all superfluous wire runs also removed.
     
    It was then that I peered inside the body and saw that there was another unexpected obstacle to my planned installation of a High Level LoadHauler+ gearbox - a lump of mazak:

     
    This lump of mazak, which clearly acts as a weight for the plastic body, can only be removed by separating the cab from the footplate, which I had already decided I didn't want to do.
     
    I then wasted some time trying to cut it up on the spot using some burrs in a mini-drill, but that clearly wasn't going to be effective and only made a load of mess.
     
    So, I reviewed what space I now had available, as any replacement motor and gearbox would have to fit in the (approx) 30mm x 18mm space afforded by the inside of the mazak block. I sketched the available space on a scale drawing:

     
    By overlaying the gearbox planner thoughtfully provided by Chris Gibbon of High Level on top of the scale drawing, I was able to calculate that either a LoadHauler Compact+ or a RoadRunner+ would fit, with the 'drive extender' arranged back underneath the motor, which would have to be a Mashima 1015, with probably insufficient room for the flywheel that I might otherwise have fitted.
     
    A call to the ever-helpful Chris at High Level has resulted in both types of gearbox being ordered and an interesting discussion on how other customers of his might fare, should they try to fit one of his 14XX chassis kits to this body (short answer - you've got to remove the cab from the footplate!).
     
    The next job will be to fettle the Perseverance frames to fit the profile of the Hattons/DJM footplate underside.
  2. Captain Kernow
    There was quite a lot of debate on the Class 22 thread a while back about how one might convert it to EM or P4. I think that the EM gauge fraternity generally decided that the existing wheels could be pulled out slightly on their existing axles, and I hope that this has worked out for them.
     
    This wasn't going to work in P4, and the original wheels could only have been used if they were turned down to P4 profiles. Some folk have suggested fitting P4 tyres to the existing Dapol wheels, and good luck to them, too.
     
    The issue is that the Dapol Class 22 uses a split axle and associated pick up, as my photos will make clear. This means that the wheel tyres and axles have to be electrically connected. This wasn't a problem for Dapol, obviously, as they have mass produced a decent OO metal wheel for their model, which fits onto stub half-axles, that in turn fit into a central gear assembly.
     
    Ultrascale considered doing a 'drop-in' wheel set for a while, but technical issues, which I understand were essentially associated with the fact that they didn't have an all-metal spoked wheel available, meant that they did not proceed with the project, although they do offer a bespoke wheel producing service for P4 modellers, albeit the price is very high and almost as much as the locomotive itself.
     
    My method does use Ultrascale wheels, but an existing wheel from their range, namely a 3' 7" 10-spoked Southern tender wheel, which has one less spoke than the Class 22, but is the correct diameter. Each pair of wheels comes with a P4 axle.
     
    Here is the Dapol motor bogie, with the keeper plate and one of the OO axles removed (I might add that despite being told how to remove the keeper plate by friends at DRAG, and the fact that it was 'easy', I didn't find it easy at all, and was in constant fear that I was going to break something with the amount of controlled force I was trying to apply at times). In the end, each keeper plate came away intact and without damage. The keeper plates are attached to the bogie side frames, as other photos will show.

     
    An OO wheelset, with a pair of Ultrascale P4 tender wheels:

     

     
     
    Dismantled OO wheelset:

     
    The P4 axles need to be cut into two 10.5mm lengths. If you just cut them in half, there is the risk that the two pieces might meet inside the nylon worm housing and cause a short that you really don't want:

     
    After removing the first 10.5mm section, simply remove a further 1mm (or slightly under, to allow for the width of the piercing saw blade).

     
    I then spun the rough end I had just cut in an electric drill and filed smooth:

     
     
     
     
     
    The next activity involves creating an electrical pathway from the wheel rim, over the nylon wheel centre, to the half axle. I chose to solder a piece of 0.3mm brass wire over the outside front of one of the spokes. The theory was that when the wheel is hidden behind the bogie side frames and painted & weathered, you simply won't notice it, and it saves messing around with the rear of the wheel and the back of the flange.
     
    First, I cut groove in the outer end of each half axle and filed a groove big enough for the brass wire (in some cases, I over-did the filing a bit, but it doesn't matter, as the whole thing will be completely hidden afterwards):

     
     
    Checking the fit of the 0.3mm brass wire:

     
    Returning to the axle and worm, for each wheelset you are left with the central worm component and two half axles, each with a groove filed in the outer end:

     
    What happens next was different for the first wheelset as compared with the other three, but the method adopted for the remaining 3 wheelsets was much easier and quicker, so..
     
    Measure and mark a point 6mm from the outer end of each half axle and super-glue one half axle per wheel set into the worm assembly:

     
    Do NOT glue the other half axle in! The worm assembly is actually hollow right the way through, so if you are not using the split axle method, you could use a complete 2mm diameter axle with the worm assembly mounted centrally, but this would require seperate pick ups and more modifications to the Dapol motor bogies than I felt was necessary.
     
    Next is the really barbaric bit. It you love the excellent and well-engineered finish of an Ultrascale wheel set, look away now....
     
    To secure the 0.3mm brass wire in the wheel rim, I first cut, then filed, a groove in the rim:

     
    A length of 0.3mm brass wire is then put into the groove on the rim, and soldered to the wheel rim. The wire should be pre-trimmed so that the opposite end reaches just as far as the opposite side of the axle hole (ie. reaches from the outer race of the rim, along one spoke, and across the width of the 2mm axle.
     
    I would then recommend temporarily mounting each wheel in the other half axle and removing the surplus solder carefully. I filed most of the unwanted material off with a needle file, then mounted the wheel in the electric drill and used two grades of fine wet & dry paper, then a glass fibre pen.
     
    The first wheel of the pair is set aside and the second wheel can also have the brass wire soldered to the axle and cleaned up, as per these two photos:

     

     
    It's then a matter of assembling the components to make a viable P4 wheelset. These photos were taken of the first wheelset. First on each axle is a 1mm wide brass sleeve, cut from 2mm internal diameter brass tube:

     
    Then the Dapol brass bearings are added to each half-axle:

     
    Finally, the assembled P4 wheelset:

     
    Old and new:

     
    NOTE DATED 06-02-23 - MORE PHOTOS TO BE RESTORED IN DUE COURSE
     
    What I did for the last three wheelsets, was to assemble the bearing, 1mm brass slieve and wheel to the axle already super-glued to the worm, solder the 0.3mm brass wire from that wheel rim to the steel axle, and then assemble the other side, bringing the whole lot carefully together using a GW Models wheel press and a back-to-back gauge.
     
    The first wheelset in the motorbogie:
     
     
    With the P4 wheelsets, there's not quite enough room inside the bogie frames, so some material was removed in the area of each wheel with a piercing saw and cleaned up:
     
     
    This is the amount of plastic that needs to be removed from each corner of the bogie frame:
     
     
    First wheelset sitting inside bogie frame, to check that there's enough room:
     
     
    First bogie with both wheelsets fitted and keeper plate/side frames re-attached:
     
     
    Second bogie with replacement wheelsets fitted, being test run, prior to it's keeper plate being re-fitted:
     
     
    Completed conversion running on 'Callow Lane'. The side skirts and other bits now need to be fitted and the loco weathered:
     
     
     
  3. Captain Kernow
    When I saw someone else bring their model of the Heljan Class 128 into DRAG one evening (still in OO), knew that I was going to have to concoct a plausible excuse to run one in the Bristol area, so that 'Callow Lane' might see one of these beauties in due course.
     
    I did manage to pull together some reasonably convincing lies historical accounts as to why one might have been running to and through Callow Lane, but I'm blowed if I can remember what they are at the moment....
     
    Anyway, I duly obtained one of these beasties (which weigh in at a cool 634 grams!), got it home, took it out of the box and admired it. I even posed it on Callow Lane in OO mode and took a couple of snaps. I then put it away and got busy with other stuff, mostly work and the planning for the Scalefour Society AGM at Holcombe on 22nd June last.
     
    Anyway, back to the plot... I managed to get some time this weekend to have a look at the prospects for conversion.
     
    I had already established that I had four axles of Branchlines 'Black Beetle' 12mm turned nickel silver wheels, which would fit the Class 128. One question was whether there would be sufficient room between the bogie frames for P4 wheel sets...

     
    As it turned out, there wasn't quite enough room for P4 wheels to rotate freely. This being Heljan, the bogie side frames do come off fairly easily, and bearing this in mind, the solution (with hindsight), would have been to simply washer out the frames by no more than 0.5mm each side, possibly even less. Of course, I adopted a more Heath Robinson-ish and time-consuming solution, because I only thought about the washering idea after I had finished the conversion...
     
    Taking each bogie in turn, the keeper plate comes off fairly easily by prising at least 3 or the 4 retaining clips (there are two on each side of each bogie):

     
    So, this is what it looks like without the keeper plate in place (warning - lots of lubricating grease!!):

     
    All axles are driven, in common with other Heljan locos. Each axle comes out easily. Due to the fact that no one has yet (to my knowledge) produced 'drop-in' conversion packs for this unit, the Heljan drive worms would need to be recovered from the OO axles and re-used with the Branchlines wheels.
     
    First of all, the wheels are removed from the OO axles (I used my NorthWest Short Lines wheel press) - a wheel press/puller of some kind will make this job easier.

     
    The drive worm is then removed from the OO axle, also with the wheel press (they are a very tight fit, as you would expect):

     
    Next , get the Branchlines 12mm P4 wheels ready:

     
    I do have some stub axles in P4 (Ultrascale ones ) somewhere, but I just couldn't find them. Clearly the pin-points would have to be removed if using these axles, which was just as well, given the treatment that was meted out on them by the wheel puller...

     
    Once the remains of the pin point axles had been cut off in a vice and the ends cleaned up and slightly chamfered, you are left with this:

     
    The short section of brass tube in the above photo (it is 8.25mm in length) is to help fit the Heljan final drive worm onto the replacement Branchlines axle, more of that anon.
     
    First of all the final drive worm is introduced to the Branchlines P4 axle (the photo shows a GW Models wheel press being used):

     
    Using the hardened steel plate from the NorthWest Short Lines press, the purpose of the brass tube now becomes clear, as it acts as a jig to ensure that the tightly-fitting nylon Heljan worm goes exactly in the middle of the P4 axle:

     
    Completed P4 wheel set, ready to be fitted back onto the bogie:

     
    However, before you can put the P4 wheels back in, there is the matter of the inner faces of the bogie side-frames to consider. The Heljan brake blocks also need to have some plastic taken off the inner rear faces, to avoid a potential contact with the P4 flanges. Given that the additional clearance needed is certainly no more than 0.75mm to 1.0mm, the easiest solution would be to washer-out the side frames, and thus provide the additional clearance. Of course, I didn't think of that at the time, so I filed lots of plastic off the inner bogie side frames...

     
    Eventually, you get a more or less completed P4 bogie:

     
    The completed conversion poses on Callow Lane, where I'm happy to say that it runs (in P4 mode) as smoothly as it did in OO mode...

     
    My main concern with this unit was whether it would fit in the tight confines of the goods shed, bearing in mind that the rail doorways are rather narrow. Well, the Class 128 does fit (both ways round tested!), but it is very, very tight...!

     

     
    After that, having established that it ran OK on all parts of the layout, I took a few more photos:

     

     

     
    So, this isn't a fancy, sprung or compensated solution, but the sheer weight of these models will ensure that this keeps on the track, hopefully all of the time!
     
    I've yet to weather it, of course, and the next job is to fit screw couplings and make a bespoke box for it, but I'm happy with the outcome. It is so heavy that it makes a satisfying noise as it runs over the rail joints!
  4. Captain Kernow
    This is the model of a passenger train of the South Polden Light Railway, seen here visiting Combwich at the High Wycombe show a few weeks ago (photo by Chris Nevard):
     

     
    The moribund coaches and Peckett normally work occasional services between Burrowbridge and Bleakhouse Road...
     
    Then, the other day, I found this ensemble at Buckfastleigh:
     

     

     
    Clearly, someone felt the SPLR was worth preserving!!
  5. Captain Kernow
    In the previous blog entry, I mentioned that the next job on 'Callow Lane' would be the production of a low-relief factory, based on the new Scalescenes 'northlight' engine shed kit and this has now been completed.
     
    I have previously described the construction of the Taffson Evans lineside factory, which is built in part-relief, and is partly about providing a bit of background detail in lieu of a flat backscene. This was also based on a free Scalescenes warehouse kit, albeit fairly heavily modified and with new scratchbuilt corrugated extensions.
     
    I always planned to add something else to the left of it (as you view the layout), between the factory and the road level crossing near the cottages (the photos will make this clearer), but I wasn't sure what that might be.
     
    In the end, I discovered the recent release by Scalescenes of their new engine shed kits and bought both the 'northlight' and gable-ended roof kits, as I thought they would also have potential in terms of industrial buildings. In the end, the initial part of the factory was really rather small for a premises that is purported to have once manufactured narrow gauge locos and other 'heavy engineering' products, so the extension using the engine shed prints has really increased its size to something a bit more credible, even if the new sections dominate the older bit slightly...
     
    The extension proved to be so 'low relief' as to be almost flat, although it is not quite as bad as simply pasting a photograph onto the backscene, but there really wasn't much space, as the photos will show!
     
    This is the Taffson Evans factory before work on the backscene factory extension began:

     

     
    Here is a typical page from the Scalescenes kit, printed out:

     
    I had sufficient room to incorporate five 'bays' of the northlight structure. The main elevation would use Dalerboard mounting card, but first I cut two and a half of the Scalescenes printed templates out and taped them together, to form a 'five bay' structure:

     
    The paper template was then lightly taped over the Dalerboard and the main shape cut out in card, including the windows. Two and a half brick paper prints were then cut out and each glued in turn to the Dalerboard. I use 'Pritt' type glue sticks for this (I read somewhere recently that the glue doesn't cause the paper to go damp). Each component, once glued, is then weighted down with heavy books and whatever other weighty stuff I can find, and left to go off overnight.
     
    Once the base layer of brick paper was glued to the Dalerboard, I needed to start matching the new structure up to the existing factory building:

     

     
    From the back, it all looks a bit 'Heath Robinson' (although this will eventually be permanently attached to the backscene proper):

     
    Here is the basic shell, with the base layer of brick paper attached, plus the vertical buttresses:

     
    The plinths were cut out and their respective brick paper coverings glued on. I had to make some plinth sections deeper, because the ground falls away slightly on the layout. These have only just been glued:

     
    And this was immediately followed by ensuring that they were lying flat, and then covering them with more heavy books and something else with a bit of weight in it, and leaving the lot overnight:

     
    Work continued, with the plinths and drain pipes being added, plus the window sills and a representation (in Evergreen plastic strip) of the edge of the roof. For the glazing, I used some pre-printed factory type glazing sheets produced by Freestone Model Accessories, suitably weathered with a dilute dirty enamel mix and wiped off almost immediately, Black paper was attached in behind each window. A little weathering followed, and the completed extension was again matched up to the original factory structure on the layout. Please excuse the awful green poster paint on the area in front of the factory, but I thought it would look slightly better than the bare newspaper & PVA landscape, prior to the application of some proper scenery...

     
    I have temporarily fixed a large sheet of light blue/grey Dalerboard behind the layout at this point - this is not what the final backscene will look like, nor will it be as high as this Dalerboard has been fixed, either!

     

     
    Some kind of water colour or toned-down photographic representation of the lane receding into the distance, flanked on both sides by industrial buildings, will need to be provided immediately behind the level crossing:

     
    The corrugated extension to the original factory has now become a small 'lean to' workshop extension:

     
    More general views:

     

     

     
    When it comes to sorting out the backscene proper, I think I will add some hint or representation of further factory structures behind and slightly higher than the 'northlight' structure, to give the whole scene a bit more depth:

     

  6. Captain Kernow
    On Monday night, one of our members Andrew Howlett brought in some 4mm scale broad gauge models he had started a few years ago, but hadn't completed yet for personal/domestic reasons. I'll let the photos speak for themselves:
     

     

     

  7. Captain Kernow
    I've finally gotten around to doing a bit more on the goods shed for Callow Lane.
     
    To recap, this is based on the Townstreet plastercast kit, which I have always liked, although it is not based on Midland Railway practice in the area I am modelling.
     
    It was one of their very first kit, and as such the castings would appear to be slightly less refined than their later productions, certainly the kit that I picked up has a number of minor casting defects, which I am disguising or otherwise trying to make good.
     
    I am replacing some of the cast components with other materials, where I think these will improve the appearance of the finished model. These include the main roof (which will be from 1mm thin ply, overlaid with thinner card, with Scalescenes paper slate strips), the awning, where I have removed the plaster cast valences and replaced them with Slaters plasticard ones, and the doors, which will be scratchbuilt from plasticard as well.
     
    Thanks to those who responded on the Prototype Questions forum, with information on internal goods shed cranes. I have put a basic crane together using sections of Evergreen plastic strip and one or two parts from the Wills yard crane kit.
     

     
    Closer view of the replacement plastic valance:

     
    Internal view showing crane. More detail will be added such as loads on the platform etc. in due course.

  8. Captain Kernow
    This coming Saturday (6th November 2010) sees the High Wycombe model railway exhibition at John Hampden School, High Wycombe. 'Bleakhouse Road' will be there, and should be located right next to Chris Nevard's lovely 'Combwich'.
     
    Chris and I have been discussing how we may effect some kind of 'through running' between the two layouts. Due to the time constraints and logistics, however, a permanent link during the show was ruled out quite early on. The solution, hopefully is a 'Transfer Cassette', enabling trains to be run onto the transfer cassette in my fiddle yard, and then lifted out and carried over to the Combwich fiddle yard for it's onward journey.
     
    Chris gave me the dimensions of his fiddle yard, which has a sector plate/turntable. Fortunately, this can be moved completely to one side, to enable the transfer cassette to be put in place and butted up to the layout track of Combwich.
     
    The exit from the fiddle yard on Combwich is at an angle, due to the way the sector plate works, so the transfer cassette had to have this replicated at one end. The other end is a normal 90 degree join, where it will abut the cassette docking station on the BHR fiddle yard.
     
    First of all, I drew up the following very basic plan:

     
    The depth of the transfer cassette could not be more than 6mm (not including track), due to the dimensions on Combwich, but over the weekend I quickly found that I didn't have any ply of that thickness, nor did I really have the time to go to the timber merchant to get some.
     
    What I did find, however, was some 5mm foamboard! By laminating that with some 1mm stiff card, I could get the required 6mm depth. Despite some initial warping caused by the PVA, the cassette was straightened and held down with some heavy weights when I came to glue the track on it. The sides were also formed of the same 1mm card, glued on with PVA and pinned in place with brass lacemaking pins.
     
    The ends of the rails were soldered to copper clad sleepers, epoxied in place. Finally, some sections of brass were epoxied in place on the ends of the side sections and electrically connected to the rails. This at least matches my fiddle yard cassette connecting system, and hopefully Chris will have some wander-leads with crocodile clips or similar at his end!
     

     

     
    Cruel close-up of the 'Combwich end':

     

     

  9. Captain Kernow
    In my increasingly desperate attempts to find excuses not to get the DAS clay out and get on with the scenery 'proper' on Callow Lane, I've been working on the Hornby Skaledale water tower, which has appeared in one or two photos in a previous blog entry.
     
    The model appears to be a pretty decent representation of the actual structure that still stands at Ashchurch, Glos. The prototype was built in yellow brick, but this would not suit Callow Lane, where a red brick predominates. Even so, I think that it's very nice as it comes.
     
    This is how the model comes straight out of the box:

     

     

     
    In this photo, Tim Venton felt that the height of the water tank was a little low. The photo was a bit misleading, in that a section of cork underlay was removed to accommodate the building, so it's foundations were sitting below track level. This has now been rectified, as will be seen in a subsequent photo.

     
    The next thing was to remove the over-scale handrails and ladder leading up to the water tank. I thought these were also cast resin, so I got my Xuron cutters out, only to find that they were made from soft steel wire. Fortunately it was soft enough not to damage the cutters...
     
    The windows were then masked off and the whole thing given a coating of red oxide primer:

     

     
    The brick areas were then painted with an orangey-red colour (my preference is to use Precision BR Early Freight Stock Bauxite). When this had dried thoroughly, mortar was added with water colours:

     
    The next tasks were to paint the concrete/cement areas with grey colours and the rest of the building. Given that Callow Lane would have been taken over by the Western Region some years previously, I decided to give the building a 'brown and cream' colour scheme, including the water tank.
     
    Finally, a MSE signal ladder was cut to shape and replacement hand rails added from 0.4mm brass wire.

     

     

     

     

     
    I would stress that it's not quite finished. I need to paint the lintels a 'stone' colour and then tone the overall colours down a bit. The structure will then be weathered and rust patches added etc.
  10. Captain Kernow
    The small rail-served factory unit for Callow Lane is now more or less complete:
     

     

     

     
     

     
    The building is a branch premises of the small engineering firm Taffson Evans, which had a long history of occasional locomotive building back into the 19th century, although the Callow Lane premises was only ever responsible for the production of smaller, individual components.
     
    When it was first founded, the firm was known as Taffson, Evans & Jenkins and they were responsible for the small fleet of 15" gauge 0-4-0STs for the Vowchurch Slate Tramway in Herefordshire:
     

     
    More information on these diminutive locomotives and the narrow gauge railway that they served can be found in the book 'The Slate Railway to Churchwater' by Brian Clarke and published by Merlin Locomotive Works in 1977.
     
    Subsequent locomotive construction was not well recorded, but the company dropped the 'Jenkins' part of their name in the early 1950s and began to develop a standard small industrial diesel, which they hoped to sell to industry and the MoD, an example of which is depicted here:
     

     
    Not many were constructed in the event, and the company's trading position began to look increasingly precarious as the 1960s wore on. A management buy-out in 1970 saw the name change again to Taffson Engineering, with the company diversifying into components for domestic appliances and industrial switching gear. It was at this time that the Callow Lane factory was closed and production concentrated in the Rhondda Valley. Finally it was saved from the brink of receivership in the late 1990s by another takeover, this time by a Japanese company, who moved the company to an industrial estate near Peterborough and are now manufacturing cardboard office removals 'storage solutions' and trading as 'Pretentia'....
     
    With apologies to those who may have read this rhubarb on the previous version of the forum...
     
    The next structure is a more basic 'view blocker', to partially hide where the two running lines disappear into the fiddle yard. This is also meant to be some kind of anonymous industrial premises and is the structure behind the 08 (the photo was taken from the operators side):
     

     

     

     

     

  11. Captain Kernow
    Having received my most attractive-looking 14XX from Hattons last week, I have finally got round to running it in, as per the instructions provided with the loco.
     
    I have added lubrication to the two locations under the chassis keeper plate, and also to the coupling rod bearings, as per the instructions.
     
    I did test it briefly yesterday, but it wasn't a particularly good slow speed runner 'straight from the box'.
     
    I have cut out a circle of Daler board this morning, to lay my circle of Lima set track out on, so that I can put the test circuit down in a room that I can close off from feline curiosity.
     

     

     
    I do hope that the running in process works, as initial testing on the circle of track was very disappointing, with very uneven running, at both slow and moderate speeds.
     
    I will update this blog in due course.
  12. Captain Kernow
    For the last 18 years, each time 'Engine Wood' has been set up, it's been necessary to align the track over the baseboard joints by eye, tightening up the bolts between the boards as you do so. Yes, there are some relatively primitive alignment aids but it generally involves kneeling down and carefully adjusting each baseboard joint by hand, whilst a friend watches the alignment of the rails from a different angle.
     
    I've got fed up with this and have decided to fit C&L alignment dowels between the three main scenic boards.
     
    Today I've fitted the 'female' halves to the two outer boards, and the centre board will have the 'male' halves fitted next weekend.
     
    I bought the two Draper trestles a few months ago, but only assembled them this morning, and they've proven to be very useful:
     

     

     
    Fitting the 'female' halves to the main station baseboard end:
     

     

     
    The same was then done to the station-end of the third board:
     

     

     
    I really don't want these to shift, so they are secured by the screws provided and a generous amount of epoxy.
     
    I'll be using some 30 minute epoxy when fitting the 'male' counterparts, to allow sufficient time to carefully line the baseboard joints up before clamping together. The plan is to glue the 'male' parts in their recesses, and when the glue has gone off, to drill and screw them as well.
  13. Captain Kernow

    Box vans

    By Captain Kernow,

    I've realised that I don't have enough P4 box vans for Callow Lane, so I've diverted my attentions from buildings and crumbling platforms to building 8 - 10 box vans to bolster the wagon fleet.
     
    I'm using a variety of recent Bachmann items, purchased over the last couple of years as semi-impulse buys, plus some Parkside Dundas kits.
     
    Currently on the workbench are a Bachmann planked BR 12t box van, which is having to have a virtually complete chassis rebuild, once I found that there was no easy way to make the brake shoe assembly line up with the P4 wheel sets. Hopefully, though, it will look better for it.
     
    The other item on the workbench is a Parkside Dundas BR 12t plywood van, which is being sprung with Bill Bedford springing units.
     
    This will probably be followed by a Parkside LNER fruit van and a couple of Bachmann BR 12t plywood bodied vans, which will be built as 8-shoe clasp brake varieties, using Red Panda chassis as the basis (but probably Bill Bedforded as well)..
     
    After that, a few more Bachmann vans beckon, including a couple of insulated vans. I think I will try to do something with the Bachmann chassis on one of them, to see how much of it I can retain.
     
    There is also a recent Parkside LNER mineral lurking in the pile, which will probably be followed by a couple of Chivers 21t minerals.
     
    After that, probably have to get back to the layout...
     
     
    Update 03/4/10
     
    Here are some photos of the first two vans, the Bachmann planked one and the Parkside ply-sided one:
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Update 04/4/10
     
    Here's the start of work on the next pair of vans - a couple of Bachmann BR 12t ply-sided vans. The complete Bachmann chassis have been removed and a Red Panda 8-shoe clasp braked chassis will be put under each van. The first van will have internal rocker compensation, the other one will have external rocker compensation or springing.
     
    Lead weights have been epoxied to the insides of the van floors, ready for glueing the floors permanently to the bodies.
     

     
     
    Update 08/4/10
     
    More progress on the two ply-sided vans - now virtually complete, bar the painting and weathering:
     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Update 13/4/10
     
    Here are the next two vans under construction - both Parkside kits - a BR 'Vanwide' and an LNER Fruit van. Both will be sprung using Bill Bedford springing units:
     

     
    I was also informed the other day that I had put the wrong W irons on the BR ply-sided van that I build a couple of weeks ago. If you look at the photo further up the thread, you will see the RCH type W irons, which were wrong for this kind of van. I really didn't want to remove the brass W irons, because they are epoxied in good and proper, so I ended up making up 05 thou plasticard overlays, which now give the appearance of the later BR axleguard:
     

     
     
    Update 01/5/10
     
    Not done much over the last couple of weeks, unfortunately, partly due to work and being extremely knackered thereafter on most weekday evenings, and then last weekend there was the RMWeb Members Day at Taunton. Then another week of general exhaustion after work (catching up with the weekend!), and this weekend I am redecorating the bathroom... ho hum!...
     
    I have, however, managed to glue the springs and axleboxes to both vans, and have made a start with the brake gear on the Vanwide.
     
     
    Update 07/5/10
     
    My thanks to everyone who responded to my request for information on the LNER van chassis configuration. I now have enough information to complete it, and in fact did more work on it last night. Photos will follow.
     
     
    Update 09/5/10
     
    I've now complete the construction of vans 5 & 6 - the LNER van and a Vanwide:
     

     

     
    I've replaced the Parkside brake lever on the LNER van with a modified Ambis one, together with a Bill Bedford ratchet. The brake lever for the Vanwide was a slightly more unusual shape, so I chickened out and used the Parkside plastic one, albeit thinned down and attached to the solebar by means of a bit of 0.3mm brass rod glued through both the lever and the chassis.
     
    The next two vans will probably be conversions of R-T-R Bachmann meat vans, one in white and one in blue livery. Both will get a lot of weathering when done...
     
    Of course, at some stage, I'm going to have to paint and weather all these vans!...
  14. Captain Kernow
    Having completed most of the work on the Townstreet goods shed recently (as per earlier blog entries), a test placing on the layout revealed just how tight the railway openings were for stock passing through the shed. Definitely a case of 'do not lean out of the window'...
     
    Various items of stock and locos were tested through the building yesterday, with the result that some of the plaster on the door frames had to be removed, ie. thinned down, and then re-painted.
     
    Now just about all my P4 stock and locos will fit through, with the exception of Mark 1 BGs, which were immediately banned from entering the shed furno
     
    This building is very heavy, being mostly made from the kit's plastercast components, so it is the one structure that won't be fixed down permanently to the layout. Just imagine the glue coming adrift and the building crashing about inside the transport framing.... doesn't bear thinking about!
     
    Given the very tight clearances through the rail entrance doorway, however, and also the fact that the ground is going to be 'made up' all around the structure with DAS-type air clay on most sides, and tile grout (for hand-scribed cobbles a la Harrap) on the road entrance side, it was always going to need to be a 'precision fit' every time.
     
    Similarly, with the outer wall (furthest from the road entrance) being somewhat vulnerable, as it's only attached to the rest of the building on each corner and by the roof, I wanted something for it to be firmly fixed to, for transport purposes.
     
    First of all, I drilled a 2mm hole in each corner and glued a 2mm brass spigot in each:

     
    Next, for the 'transport option', a piece of 6mm MDF was cut out, 3mm holes drilled and sections of 2mm inside diameter brass tube epoxied in place:

     
    When the glue had set, the goods shed was placed in position. The whole ensemble will sit inside a strengthened shoe box for transport:

     
    Next, another set of holes had to be drilled in the baseboard, and brass tube glued in, to match the precise position that the goods shed needed to be in:

     
    In fact, each of the four pieces of brass tube was glued in individually, the respective brass spigots in the base of the goods shed receiving a coating of oil, to prevent any stray epoxy glueing the whole thing in place my mistake. When this was done, the shed was fitted to the layout. Any apparent gaps around the base will disappear when it is 'grouted in':

     
    The track in front of the road entrance will be grouted in with tile grout and cobbles individually scribed, as per Brian Harrap's methods. This is why the track appears rather basic. It will make for interesting shunting and (notional) movement of road vehicles on what would have been a very constricted site:

     
    Final clearance tests are performed by D6326:

     

     
    Views of the interior:

     

     
    D6326 caught returning through the shed:

  15. Captain Kernow
    I've virtually completed the point rodding on the layout now, having applied primer to the brass rodding last night and painted it today. The only parts left to fit are the rods to the cosmetic point tie bars (which themselves haven't yet been fitted) and the sections of rodding that cross the baseboard joint (these will probably be lift-out sections, as per Bleakhouse Road).
     
    This is where the rodding will emerge from underneath the signalbox:

     

     

     

  16. Captain Kernow

    Callow Lane

    By Captain Kernow,

    Callow Lane is my new P4 layout, which has been under construction for far too long now...
     
    It is set in North Bristol/South Gloucestershire, and represents a small suburban goods yard in the Westerleigh area. There used to be an old goods-only branch running north-westwards from the Midland Railway's Westerleigh Yard, to a location called New Engine Yard. From here, colliery spurs ran to the pits in the district, amongst them being Mayshill and Frog Lane collieries.
     
    Callow Lane is actually set in the location of New Engine Yard, but the line then continues on to join the GWR main line just to the west of Coalpit Heath station, a route which would have required some considerable earthworks and steep gradients.
     
    Callow Lane is where the Westerleigh Yard to Coalpit Heath line goes from double to single track (the double line is back towards Westerleigh Yard). There are two sidings on both up and down sides, one of which runs through to a chocolate factory.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Tuesday 27/10/09
     
    Got the day off today, so have re-erected Callow Lane and have made a start on the point rodding. Here is a batch of two-runner point rodding stools with brass wire glued into the bases (the epoxy is setting), to assist locating on the baseboard.
     

     
    I drill an oversize (ish) hole in the baseboard and mount the stools on small square sections of 30 or 40 thou plasticard (to represent the top of the concrete block that each stool is mounted on). The squares of plasticard also have oversize holes drilled in them, and the whole lot is epoxied to the baseboard. When it's set, I can begin the track weathering and ballasting, and will then put the actual rodding in after that.
     
    One of the compensators that I will also need to install along the rodding run (this one isn't quite finished - it needs a representation of 'pivots' glueing into the two holes in the middle):

     
     
    Sunday 01.11.09
     
    Not much done over the last few days, other than prepare even more point rodding stools, drill their bases and glue bits of wire in. I've now got over 80 rodding stools ready to install on the layout, but I first need to prepar the plasticard bases for them to sit in...
     
     
    Saturday 21/11/09
     
    The point rodding is on hold at the moment, although all components are now ready for installation. First, however, I need to complete the final section of retaining wall, that forms the cutting, in which the railway sits, so that I know for sure how much room I will have to fit the rodding. I may also build some or all of the three running signals and fit them for the same reason.
     
    Here's the final section of retaining wall as a card mock-up, to check the angles and levels etc.:
     

     

     

     
     
    Sunday 29/11/09
     
    Today I finally completed the last (and fourth) section of the retaining walls that radiate out from the central road bridge. Photos to follow.
     
    The next job will be to start another row of four cottages, this time cottage backs with back yards and outside toilets, backing onto a narrow footpath that will run along the top of one of the retaining walls above the railway.
     
     
    Sunday 03/01/10
     
    I've been making some decent progress with the latest row of half-relief cottages (cottage backs based on Howard Scenics kit) and have posted some photos up in the 'Scenery & Structures' part of the forum, but here is one of those photos for information:
     

     
     
    More progress has been made on the cottages, and I've put some photos up on my 'Cottage Industry' thread in the Scenery & Structures part of the forum, but here is another one to illustrate the current state of play:
     

     
     
    Sunday 04/7/10
     
    Here are a couple of recent photos, showing the newly-installed point rodding stools and cranks:
     

     

     
    Work is currently progressing with track weathering and a bit of experimental ballasting has been done as well, photos to follow when there's a bit more to see.
  17. Captain Kernow
    I've finally knuckled down and made a start on scribing the granite setts in the area around the back of the goods shed on Callow Lane. As mentioned in previous blog entries, the section of 'grout' immediately next to the outer faces of both running rails is extra-white fine Milliput, the larger part of the area is Tetrion filler, applied over several layers and sanded smooth.
     
    I've been doing around 45 mins - 60 mins per evening for the last four days, and progress is painfully slow, but this is the current state of play. The Milliput is harder to scribe, being slightly plasticky, whereas the Tetrion is a bit softer, and thus reacts better to the scribing process, yet is sufficiently hard not to crumble when the scribing pin is applied.
     

     

     

     

     
    The above photos show, of course, only a relatively small proportion of the total area to be scribed. This is generally how each individual row of granite setts is scribed.
     
    The scribing tool itself:

     
    First of all, a piece of plasticard measures the distance between grouting lines, perfect precision is not necessary here, because the prototype doesn't require it (fortunately!):

     
    Using the piece of plasticard (which is 1.5mm wide), a pencil line is roughly drawn along the alignment of the granite setts:

     
    A steel pin in an old pin vice is used to start scribing a continuous line along the alignment of the pencil line:

     
    With the continuous line scribed, the scribing pin is now used to scribe individual setts (I have another plasticard template to get the length of the setts approximately right, in reality in Bristol I've found that they can vary between 4" and 9" in length):

     
    Just over half the row now scribed:

     
    The row of setts completed. Time to start the next one (or perhaps have a stiff drink!!):

  19. Captain Kernow
    With the RMWeb event at Coventry a mere three weeks away, it was time to get 'Bleakhouse Road' and put it up for testing, so that's what I did today. The layout last appeared in public at Weston-super-Mare in January 2013, which, for various personal reasons, was the most recent exhibition I've attended with one of my own layouts.
     
    The layout was put up, but I didn't bother with the buildings and trees that aren't fixed down, this was primarily about ensuring that the layout was still in full working order and to test some of the locos that I'll be bringing.
     
    All was well, and in fact it was the first time that 82044 had run on BHR.
     
    Here is the layout put up, with one of the fiddle yards attached. It will have another fiddle yard at the opposite end at Coventry, representing the South Polden Light Railway:

     
    Here are some of the locos I may be bringing, haven't decided on the final roster yet.
     
    'Plantagenet' masquerades as a NCB loco on 'Engine Wood', but on BHR she works the South Polden Light Railway. Here she is making a semi-legal movement on the main line:

     
    As times move on and in the unlikely timeline that I have modelled, the light railway invested in more modern motive power:

     
    Pannier 4634 (Templecombe) shunts a couple of 16t mineral wagons with coal for the local coal merchant:

     
    An alternative light railway diesel is 'Buntie', a scratchbuit 0-4-0 by Brian Clarke, and based on Barclay practice:

     
    One of the two Ivatt tanks available in the run round loop:

     
    A slightly less likely but nonetheless rather pleasant Stanier 2-6-4T:

     
    The S&D on the Somerset Levels in the early 1960s wouldn't be complete without a 22XX:

     
    What if the line had survived into the 1970s?

  20. Captain Kernow
    I've returned to the cobbles for the last couple of weeks and tonight, I finally finished the last section of the planned cobbled area. Here are a few photos taken this evening, most (but not all), to show the cobbling (or granite setts).
     
    The effect I'm aiming for is that the larger vehicle turning/parking area will have been tarmacked sometime after the war, but done 'on the cheap', and is now beginning to wear off, so the edge where the cobbles meet the tarmac is not regular and even, as some sections have broken or worn away, where vehicles have been moving, and there are also a couple of patches in the tarmac area itself, where the thin tarmac layer has worn away, revealing the cobbles beneath.
     
    The overall area that is now cobbled.

     

     

     

     

     
    This was the final end to be completed, the cobbled area to the right of the siding:

     

     

     
    The second area where the tarmac has worn or broken away, revealing the old cobbles beneath:

     

     

     

     

     
    The Ruston from the chocolate factory has ventured some way from the factory gates to pose here:

     

     
    The next part of the project will probably be to do a bit of work on this rather super new Skaledale Midland Railway water tower:

     

     

  21. Captain Kernow
    A couple of weeks ago - or thereabouts - I noticed on the Ultrascale website, that they were developing a drop-in conversion wheelset for the Hornby Sentinel, in both P4 and EM. One of the features of both P4 and EM sets was the fact that narrower than normal/scale wheel treads had been used, which enabled the drop-in sets to be used without having to remove the outside frames and create more space.
     
    For some reason, I read into their wording that these wheelsets might be available already, so I e-mailed David Rogers, asking to have a couple of sets reserved for me and Re6/6, in P4.
     
    Mr Rogers e-mailed back almost immediately, asking if I'd be interested in trialling a set of P4 wheels. I, of course, replied immediately myself, saying 'yes!'
     
    The P4 wheels arrived the following day by first class post!
     
    Well, the whole job took about 20 minutes, if that. It was ridiculously straightforward... just remove the brake rigging (carefully, with a pair of tweezers), and then unscrew the three screws that hold the chassis baseplate in situ (these are crosshead types, of course, but a conventional screwdriver worked best, as they were very tightly screwed in).
     
    Then remove the Hornby OO wheels, tweak the pick-ups out to the P4 spacing and place the new wheels in place. Replace the baseplate and test run.
     
    I found it ran well enough like that, but stalled occasionally. I was considering adding a bit more weight, but then decided to give the chassis a bit of running in, particularly to bed the pick-ups in against the backs of the new P4 flanges. This was done by hard-wiring the power to the pick ups and running the loco upside down for 30 mins or so in each direction.
     
    The photos then show the results, with the loco posing on Callow Lane. Once the pick-ups had been 'bedded in', the loco ran better, and I don't think I've been able to get it to stall since. The narrower-than-scale wheel treads certainly haven't been a problem. The loco is a lovely, smooth and slow runner on Callow Lane, and hasn't derailed anywhere. I'm really, really pleased with it.
     
    When e-mailed my report and some photos back to Ultrascale, I asked what I owed for the wheelsets, but David Rogers most kindly said that there was nothing to pay, as a 'thank you' for my help. Apparently the EM ones also tested out fine, so a pre-manufacturered number of sets were advertised in both P4 and EM, and apparently they have all sold out already...
     
    The new wheel sets in situ:

     

     
    The pick-ups being 'bedded in' with the loco under power, upside down:

     
    The loco posing with a Bachmann GWR shunters truck, (which I'd also just converted using Exactoscale spoked wagon wheels and a lump of lead):

     

     

     

     

     

  22. Captain Kernow
    Having got to the stage where the loco was running more or less to my satisfaction, it was time to finish the work on the body, paint the loco and weather it.
     
    Part of the cab floor area had to be removed to accommodate the High Level gearbox:

     
    Even though this probably wasn't going to be too visible, especially once a portly driver was installed, I decided to box the gearbox in with plasticard, to represent a kind of 'control desk':

     
    All very basic stuff and it was indeed scarcely visible, once the cab roof was put on and the glazing fitted.
     
    The kit didn't provide an exhaust pipe, and I believe that such provision varied on the prototype, but others had fitted an exhaust, so I decided to do likewise, and used some brass rod and tube to make a rather basic exhaust pipe:

     

     
    The large industrial buffers were trial fitted:

     
    The cab roof overhangs at the front but not at the sides, and I considered for some time whether to glue the roof on, once the interior had been painted and the flush glazing fitted. In the end, I decided that I wanted to retain some kind of access to the cab interior. The flush glazing was always going to be a simple 'press fit' in the window apertures, so in the event of a piece coming loose, replacing it was always going to be much easier, if the cab roof could be removed.
     
    In the end, I decided to fabricate a brass 'girder' to be soldered at roof height, with a 12 BA nut soldered exactly in the middle. A corresponding hole would be drilled and countersunk in the cab roof, and the screw head hidden on the outside by a small piece of plasticard, representing a roof ventilator:

     
    The 'cab roof ventilator' piece of plasticard is not shown in this view, but the countersunk hole for the 12 BA bolt is visible:

     
    It was now time to paint the model. I had chosen two Halfords aerosols, 'Ford Meadow Green' and a generic 'British Racing Green' as possible liveries, and I wanted to see what they both looked like on top of both red and grey primer, so I made up some trial pieces of plasticard and sprayed them. Here they are in grey and red primer, each waiting the respective top coats:

     
    In the end, I decided to use the red primer as the undercoat (notice the replacement Archers rivets):

     
    I then sprayed the 'Ford Meadow Green' and brush painted some of the other colours, when the green had dried:

     
    It was beginning to look more like a finished loco now, but there was still the question of the cab glazing. At the beginning of the project, I had measured each individual cab window and I later cut individual glazing pieces from a sheet of 15 thou glazing material and ensured that each one fitted its respective window. I then laid them out so that there would be no confusion later, when I came to fit them:

     
    The initial weathering was then done, consisting of spraying a light misting of a 'weathering mix' over the whole loco (Humbrol enamels, including a dark grey, Metalcote Black and No. 62 Matt Leather), and then wiping most of it off using a flat brush, dampened with thinners:

     

     

     
    Prior to the final bit of weathering (drybrushing), I needed to fit the sprung buffers. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, these are Kean Maygib steel industrial buffers, and in my view, look better than the smaller, oval buffers supplied with the kit (which in any case, weren't sprung).
     
    I had already glued the brass buffer shanks in place and cleaned out the 0.5mm holes that take the thin spindle of steel that is supposed to go through the shank. You put the small coil spring on first and when the buffer head is in the correct position, you bend the thin shank behind the buffer beam slightly, to 'trap' the buffer and it's spring in place.
     
    This would work fine for a normal loco, but on the 'Planet', the outside frames form a substantial whitemetal barrier, and when I had put the full length of the buffer in place, the 0.5mm steel spindle at the end wasn't visible - it just wasn't long enough.
     
    I found a piece of 0.5mm brass rod and poked it through the buffer hole, and eventually it appeared in the space behind the outside frames and the buffer beam. Unless I decided to glue the buffer heads in place, there was only one thing for it, which was to cut the 0.5mm steel spindles off and drill the back of the buffer heads to accept a longer length of 0.5mm rod, which I would solder in place. This is what I then did:

     

     
    Once the buffers were in place and working nicely, I then glued the nameplates in place and finished the weathering with a bit of dry brushing.
     
    The finished loco looks like this:

     

     

     

     
    The last job was to make one of my standard design of loco boxes from Daler board:

     
    The loco is now 'in service', and awaits the construction of it's outrageously improbable light railway.
  23. Captain Kernow
    An elderly retired friend of mine here in the village has long wanted to have a layout based on the LBSCR in Sussex, with the option to run it in either SR or BR (S) periods. He's not yet in a position to put baseboards etc. up at home yet, but for some time he's been accumulating RTR locos and rolling stock. Two locos that he's always wanted, though, were a Brighton Atlantic ('Beachy Head') and a 'K' Class mogul, both of which have specific family associations for him in the past.
     
    Of course, at the time, neither were available RTR, not even in terms of a planned future release (although the Atlantic has since been announced by Bachmann).
     
    Consequently he has commissioned a friend of mine to build both for him from kits. I helped him source the kits and other bits, such as wheels, gears and motors, and we sent them off to be built.
     
    I may have already posted a photo or two of the completed 'Beachy Head' on here, can't remember, but here's a view of the completed loco, which was to have been delivered to me at Scaleforum last September. As it turned out, I couldn't go for family reasons, but Re6/6 kindly brought it back to Devon and I immediately took it round to my friends house. The Bachmann one had only been announced about a month prior to that!

     
    The Atlantic was a DJH kit and was reportedly pretty straightforward to build. My friend was absolutely delighted with the result.
     
    The ACE kit for the 'K' Class mogul was a different story, however. This was a 7mm kit reduced to 4mm, and the friend who built it said that it was an absolute pig to put together. Most of the parts didn't fit properly, and the kit hadn't really 'translated' down to 4mm well, including problems with fold lines not really working etc. In the end, many of the parts were so comprehensively fettled to get them to fit, that one might as well have scratchbuilt a lot of parts (which the builder said he found easier to do, in some situations). The build took quite a long time, as it was fitted in around other jobs and the builder found that after a certain amount of time he got so exasperated with the problems, that he put the job aside for a few days and did something else!
     
    Eventually, however, the 'K' Class mogul was finished, and it was a real pleasure to travel up to Salisbury to rendezvous with my friend to pick the loco up. John F (Re6/6) also came along and we made a nice day out of it. Before I took the mogul round to my friends place in the village, I posed it on 'Callow Lane' and took a few photos:

     

     

     
    The deal is that I will add smokebox door number plates and coal in the tender, which will be done in due course. The locos will not be weathered, because my friend likes his engine pristine, which is his privilege.
  24. Captain Kernow
    The project to replace the chassis on my first Hattons/DJM 14XX is now almost complete.
     
    Following the replacement of the number plates and the minor repair to the steam heating pipe arrangements mentioned in previous blogs, I have now painted and weathered the chassis and re-assembled it.
     
    The chassis, minus the driving wheels, was first brush painted with Halfords red oxide primer (sprayed into the aerosol lid). I didn't want to remove the motor and all the associated hassle of excessive handling, as I'd already got the pick-ups in exactly the position I wanted them, so I generally prefer to brush-paint the chassis.
     
    Once the primer had dried, I then painted weathering colours directly onto the chassis, from a mix of Humbrol enamel colours, such as No.62 Matt Leather, a Metalcote black, a dark/mid-grey, dark brown etc.
     
    Then the wheels were sprayed with red primer, then matt black and finally given a light dusting of a track colour or sleeper grime type aerosol, to give them a base weathering colour.
     
    The chassis components then looked like this:

     
    Other paint was then dry-brushed on to the wheels, which were then temporarily attached to an axle and given a spin in an electric drill, whilst a cotton bud, soaked (but not soaking) in cellulose thinners, was held against the wheel treads and flanges to clean them off:

     
    I also primed and painted the coupling rods.
     
    Once the enamel paints had thoroughly dried (for various reasons this ended up being three or four days), I carefully cleaned the business end of the pick-ups with cellulose thinners on a cotton bud, where some enamel paint had accidentally gone, and re-assembled the chassis:

     
    Once satisfactory test running had taken place (which it now has done), I will lightly glue some etched overlays on top of the Romford axle nuts, to give a more prototypical portrayal of an axle end.
     
    The chassis was re-lubricated, where necessary, and test run, which was fine. It was then re-united with the loco body and is seen here posing on 'Bethesda Sidings', alongside the much more recently bought second 14XX, which will be re-numbered to 1420 in due course:

     
    Here is 1458 next to 4406, which is one of my oldest locos and one of the very few to retain GW livery from a much earlier project:

     
    I am finally happy with the running of 1458, The high gearing and quality of the High Level gearbox give it good controllability for all the shunting that will be indulged in on 'Bethesda Sidings'. Here are a couple of clips of it running this afternoon:
     

     

     

    One final word on the subject of the second (weathered) Hattons/DJM 14XX. From the outset, it seemed a better runner than the first two that I had from Hattons (the second of which became 1458), but still wasn't sufficiently good to keep the Comet chassis kit in my 'unmakde kits' box.
     
    Following a prolonged amount of running in on a rolling road and latterly on a circle of set-track, it was with some trepidation that I tested it on 'Bethesda Sidings' yesterday afternoon, using my AMR slow speed controller.
     
    Whilst not quite as responsive as 1458, it nonetheless surprised me and was, in fact, sufficiently controllable to warrant the chassis being kept and not requiring replacement. Good news and one less job to do!
  25. Captain Kernow
    Further work on the chassis has seen a rolling chassis, now powered by a Mashima 1220 and a slim flywheel and the High Level gearbox 'lash-up' that I described earlier.
     
    Pick ups haven't been fitted yet, so the chassis has been tested on the still-embryonic 'Bethesda Sidings' with some very thin wander leads attached directly to a hand-held controller:

     

     

     
    I'm pleased to say that I have now finally got the nice, smooth, slow speed control that I have always wanted for this loco. The mechanical aspects of the chassis fortunately seem to work OK, so as long as I can fit decent pick ups, we should have a properly functioning loco.
     
    I then kept the wander leads in place and fitted the body to the new chassis, using the fixing points that I had selected fore and aft:

     
    I had taken about 0.5mm too much off the tops of the frames at the front end, so the above photo shows the position after I had glued two small slivers of plasticard in place, to level the body off. The footplate is now the same height at either end, indicating to me that it's now sitting level on the chassis.
     
    I've also started to glue some lead inside the body. Having removed the nasty lump of mazak, there is quite a lot of room in the side tanks for additional lead weights. As I want to keep most of the weight above the two driving axles, I'm only gluing in pieces of lead that are 12mm x 12mm, so as not to extend the weight behind the second driven axle:

     
    Next jobs are to fit the brake gear, balance weights and any other detailing parts, together with the pick ups and then give the loco a further test on the layout.
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