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Captain Kernow

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Blog Entries posted by Captain Kernow

  1. Captain Kernow
    One of the perils of adding cosmetic fishplates is that if you are using the rather nice P4 Track Co plastic ones, you need to cut them in half (unless you are putting them on an actual rail joint).
     
    When laying the track on Callow Lane, I prefered to lay the track more as lengths of (made-up) flexi track, using their components, rather than actually try to lay individual 45' or 60' panels.
     
    This means that I now have to cut small grooves in the tops of the rail heads at the appropriate intervals and glue fishplate halves on each side of an otherwise solid rail.
     
    Apart from the extreme fiddliness of cutting the plastic items in two, you then need to square up the ends where they have come off the sprue, and cut off the remains of the tiny plastic joining piece on the back of each fishplate half, so that it will glue nice and flat against the side of the rail.
     
    Of course, once it's all painted and weathered in, there could be a risk of it all disappearing into the overall scene of the layout, but I'm hoping that those on the main running lines at least will stand out a bit, as the rust colour will be fairly light (based on Humbrol No.62 Matt Leather), with the fishplates freshly oiled by the PW, and thus a darker colour.
     
    That is, unless the men in the white coats don't cart me off first....
  2. Captain Kernow

    Dirty modern stuff!

    By Captain Kernow,

    I've been detailing and weathering a couple of Re6/6's locos, together with a couple of his 'Sharks' for Matford. Not quite my usual period, but it's been fun, and I also get to play with them at Scaleforum!
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  3. Captain Kernow
    I've just come back from the Three Spires show in Truro (Falmouth MRC), and we all had much fun operating 'Engine Wood'.
     
    This was a very nice show, and friendly hosts, and there were some other nice layouts present as well. It was particularly good to have the chance to have a good look at the lovely 'Treneglos' and meet 2Manyspams and his colleagues!
     
    I found myself admiring the operational discipline of the 'Treneglos' team, in terms of the fact that you only ever saw locos on their layout that would have worked the North Cornwall line. All the trains were also correctly formed.
     
    This got me thinking about my own slightly more liberal motive power rostering policy on 'Engine Wood' and my other layouts too.
     
    There's no shortage of published material about what locos worked on the S&D, both from the point of view of locomotive classes, and individual numbers too. The amount of material available in books and on the internet means it has never been easier to research the correct type and number for one's motive power choices, and indeed, I have ensured that most of my 'authentic' loco types have numbers appropriate to the S&D.
     
    However, the 'slightly more liberal motive power' policy I mentioned above, means that I sometimes use other types of loco as well, in particular the use of diesels. We all know that the S&D closed in 1966, yet it amuses me to run green diesels too, sometimes in a 'diesel-only' operating sequence, sometimes mixed in with the steam locos.
     
    My use of locos like the WD 2-8-0 is also a bit on the liberal side, and last weekend I also found myself enjoying seeing John Farmer's 45XX prairie tank working trains as well!
     
    It occurs to me, that a goodly proportion of exhibition visitors will be non-enthusiasts, who wouldn't necessarily be able to tell the difference between an authentic loco and a non-authentic one. On the other hand, there are plenty of folk who will know!
     
    On balance, I think I will keep the green diesels on the roster, because at the end of the day, it is my train set, and I think I'd prefer to run what gives me most pleasure.
     
    Now then, should I weather that Robinson 04 and fit scale couplings to that next, or what about the Super D? I wonder if I could really get away with a Class 17?!!....
  4. Captain Kernow
    In my previous blog entry, I referred to the fact that the ballast on the main running lines on Callow Lane would be 'grunged up', with mud/cinders mixed in with the ordinary ballast, plus weed growth.
     
    Since making that comment, I've been checking out some photos of goods-only lines in the area (North Bristol/Gloucestershire) in the period (1960s), in particular the former MR Stroud & Nailbridge branches (the Oakwood book by Colin Maggs), and I've noted that despite these being freight-only lines, the ballast on the running lines appears neat and devoid of weeds and grot.
     
    So, I'm thinking, that I might scale the 'grungification' of Callow Lane back a bit, and just have the 'cinders/mud' ballast on the sidings only?...
  5. Captain Kernow
    I've made a start on the weathering of the track and ballasting on Callow Lane.
     
    I would normally do all the track weathering first, which usually involves painting and/or dry brushing each individual sleeper, plus painting the rail sides and chairs varying shades of light/mid rust-brown/brake dust etc. This would then be followed by ballasting/siding grunge/weed growth etc.
     
    My ballasting methods on previous layouts such as 'Engine Wood' and 'Bleakhouse Road' have generally involved painting PVA between each individual sleeper bay (3 or 4 at a time before the glue starts to go off), and sprinking ballast on top of the glue. The shallow depth of C&L or SMP sleepers makes this possible and I have been very happy with the results.
     
    Callow Lane, however, uses track with 'full depth' sleepers from the P4 Track Co/Exactoscale, and when I tried 'The Captain's normal method', this was the result I got:

     

     
     
    I'm using a mixture of beach sand and 2mm ballast from the likes of Woodland Scenics and Carrs, and I wasn't particulary happy with either of the above two experimental sections. The ballast was too low, and I didn't like the way it clung to the slides of the sleepers on one of the sections. It might be possible to repeat the process to get the required ballast depth, but I simply couldn't face that....
     
    So, this time, I have reverted to an alternative method, which is used by many others and which I have used myself in the past, involving the laying the dry ballast first, very gently wetting it with a misting spray and then dropping dilute PVA (with a drop of washing up liquid in it) onto the damp ballast.
     
    Here is a 9 inch stretch where the ballast has been wettened and dilute PVA applied. The cut up bits of bin bag are obviously there to protect the rest of the layout, including any of the steel rail within range of the spray:
     

     

     

     

     
    The bit of vertical white plasticard is a temporary representation of the brick face of the old disused platform, which will be installed once the ballasting etc. has been completed. I would add that it took over half an hour just to get the ballast reasonably neat on that 9 inch section, plus a fair bit of time faffing around wetting it, applying the glue and clearing up!
     
    Here is a shorter section which I did a couple of days ago, at least the glue has now dried solid (initially I used too dilute a mixture, and had to give it two goes, the glue I used tonight has a bit more PVA in it!):
     

     

     
     
    08/7/10
     
    Well, I've tried vibrations (to settle the ballast more evenly), and I've tried Klear on the ballast. The latter was more successful, but despite it's lack of viscosity, it is still apt to form 'bubbles' in the ballast, displacing carefully laid and tamped material... :headbang:
     
    Anyway, I did a section on the main running line tonight and when it's dry, I'll see how durable it is and how neat the ballast has come out.
     
     
    09/7/10
     
    The bit I did with Klear yesterday didn't come out too badly, but one or two small sections came away when I vacuumed up residue this evening. Some small spots of PVA have secured new ballast to fill the gaps.
     
    I've now done another section with Klear, however, this time using a small wooden tamper tool (idea from Re6/6) to tamp the ballast down neatly when still dry, and then have applied the Klear, which seems to disturb the ballast less, when it's been tamped with the wooden tamper tool. I've also deposited much of the Klear on the sleeper tops, from whence it has flowed around the ballast. We'll see how the sleepers have dried in the morning....
     
    However, another advance is the use of grease-proof paper (idea from Will Vale on this forum), to tamp down any wet blobs of ballast, once the Klear has been applied. What's also been quite effective is using the wooden tamper tool on top of the grease-proof paper...
  6. Captain Kernow
    I've now finished P4 box vans numbers 7 and 8 in the current batch build for 'Callow Lane'. These are two Bachmann insulated planked vans, which have had the Bachmann chassis completely replaced with various components from Parkside, Bill Bedford and our very own Craigwelsh of this forum.
     
    Notwithstanding the valid debate about the mouldings of the planked Bachmann vans, I had acquired a number of examples when the came out, and I wanted to use them on Callow Lane, (the OO layouts having enough box vans for my usual operating sequences).
     
    Whilst the Bachmann chassis are pretty fine, especially by the standards of only a few years ago, the conversion to P4 provides me with a number of smallish headaches, which I now prefer to solve by complete chassis replacement.
     
    On some of the vans I have converted (as opposed to having built from kits) during this batch, I have provided compensation, but I decided to build these two completely rigid, albeit with the usual pin-point bearings, and see how they perform. They have slightly more weight (60 grams) than my previous compensated or sprung examples (50 grams).
     
    During hand-powered speed trials on Callow Lane, with the route set over the sharpest turnouts, they held the track fine....
     

     

     

     

     
     
    Whilst most of my P4 stock admittedly has some kind of compensation or springing, not fitting it to these two has certainly saved me some time (although I would have had to have re-thought that, had they not run OK on the layout).
     
    I have used some of the Parkside brake gear, albeit modified. Also, for the first time on my P4 rolling stock, I have used some of Craig's 10' Morton brake levers. Whilst the ratchety bit (the bit that hangs down) was very fiddly indeed to put together, they did get easier the more I did, and I have to say that I am very pleased with the result indeed.
     
    I've now completed eight of the batch of box vans, which I think is enough for now, as I really want to get back to working on the layout again...
  7. 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!...
  8. 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:
     

     

     

  9. Captain Kernow
    Last night we got the OO P87 circuit on TT2 temporarily wired up and actually ran some trains on the new facility for the first time.
     
    The honour of breaking the metaphorical ribbon went to John farmer's LY pannier tank, which was swiftly followed by a succession of other Western Region, Southern Region and S&D trains.
     

    The first powered movement on the completed OO circuit.
     

    A general view of the test track
     

    10800 getting his version of The Cornishman ready to put on the track
     

    This is the best that the camera on my phone could manage in terms of replicating the famous Turner painting 'Rain, Diesel & Speed'....
     

    Re6/6 takes the controls as his Light Pacific eases away with it's long train
     

    The lack of a third rail wasn't going to put 10800 off from running this!
     

    A change of motive power on the Cleethorpes - Exmouth. The spamcan and 80XXX came off and were replaced by motive power from the Captain's shed (both locos to be weathered in due course for use on 'Engine Wood'_
     
    Finally, here is the link to the YouTube footage taken by Brinkly, of Rod's T9 and an unreasonably long train...
     

  10. Captain Kernow
    This is what almost 100 bases for point rodding stools look like before they are cut out of plasticard:

     
    And this is what they look like after they have been cut out!

     
    Here is a two-rodding stool mounted on a base:

     
    ....and with a 5p coin for size comparason:

     
    This is the jig that I'm planning to use to space the rodding stools and their bases at the correct distance from the track (9mm) and from each other (24mm - for pre-Grouping round rodding):

     
    Next up is to start drilling 1.0mm holes in the right locations in the baseboard, with the help of the jig, and to start glueing the bases and rodding stools in place.
     
    When they and the cranks and compensators are in position, but before the rodding itself is added, I shall paint them and do the track weathering and then the ballasting.
     
     
    Update 30/4/10
     
    Well, I'm becoming more and more aware of the fact that nothing else has yet been done to the point rodding since I last posted this several months ago!
     
    Until I at least get the bases and stools down, plus the cranks and compensators, I can't really start the ballasting, and I certainly won't do anything permanent about scenery until the track is fully ballasted and weathered...
     
    So, hopefully we'll see a bit of action on the point rodding front in the next few weeks...
     
     
    Update 02/6/10
     
    Well, it's certainly been 'a few weeks' since the last update, but I'm very happy to say now that work on installing the point rodding has at last commenced, with all locations marked out and drilled, and the bases and stools are now being epoxied in place. The cranks, compensators and actual rodding will then follow. Photos in due course...
     
     
    Update 08/6/10
     
    I'm happy to report that I finally glued the last cranks, stools and compensators in position with epoxy this evening. I won't be adding the rodding itself (0.45mm brass wire) until the track has been weathered and ballasted.
     
     
    Update 24/6/10
     
    Here are a couple of photos showing the current state of affairs - just awaiting painting and the actual rodding.
     

     

  11. Captain Kernow
    Those who recall my layout and workbench threads on the old forum may remember the adaptation of a Hornby 'Thomas' range resin 'bookshop' to a chip shop to serve on 'Callow Lane'.
     
    I've now fitted part of the interior detail and a LED for interior illumination (the LED itself won't be visible from outside the building), plus some of the signs such as menus and a 'Closed' sign on the door. I've also done the main premises name board - 'Algy's Fish Bar'.
     
    This is the interior dividing wall prior to being glued into the main resin building:
     

     
    The wall is now glued in place:
     

     
    There a few more photos on my thread in the 'Buildings & Structures' section, but here are a couple, showing the building in position (temporarily) on the layout:
     

     

     
    I've now added some card 'ledges' to the base unit, on which the scenery surrounding the chip shop will be attached:
     

  12. Captain Kernow
    Well, here's the first entry on my new blog. It's the first time I've ever had anything to do with blogs, apart from reading those posted by other people.
     
    Like most other folk, I shall start posting workbench and layout progress here, as and when there is something significant to report.
     
    The current layout project on-going are the construction of 'Callow Lane', my first P4 layout, set in the North Bristol/South Gloucestershire area and based on Midland and GW practice.
     
    But in a surprise development yesterday, an opportunity arose (or perhaps, more accurately, a reason) to build my long-mooted OO gauge layout 'Burrowbridge'. This was always going to be a small layout, very easily transportable, and capable of either being exhibited/played with on it's own, or plugged onto one end of 'Bleakhouse Road'. Burrowbridge is one end of the South Polden Light Railway.
     
    On the workbench are various items associated with 'Callow Lane', including an unfinished chip shop, which is a modified Hornby 'Thomas' range bookshop, of all things! I am also building retaining walls and will then paint them and the central girder bridge over the layout engineers blue brick colour and weather it etc.
     
    I also need to re-start the point rodding for the layout soon, to enable me to then weather the track and ballast it, prior to making further serious progress with the scenery.
     
    There is also a S&D/L&SWR 'Road Van' on the workbench at the moment, which is a 30 year old TMD kit, in many ways an 'aid to scratchbuilding' rather than a kit. It is being painted at present, which will include (hopefully) faded brown paint coming away in places, revealing weathered wood underneath. The vehicle is now owned by the South Polden Light Railway, and hasn't had much TLC for quite a long time.
     
    My modified 'Knightwing' diesel shunter has now had a Black Beetle motor bogie fitted to it and run in, and is a lot smoother now. I am now contemplating using the original single-axle drive chassis I built for it on another variation on that kit, only with ALL the weight over the driven axle! The previous configuration would not pull the skin off a rice pudding....
     
    Also contemplating some plastic wagon kit construction 'therapy' in the near future, there are several Chivers kits beckoning....
     
    Friday 02/10/09
    Well, I've done a little more work on my TMD Models L&SWR/S&DJR road van, namely painting patches of bare wood on it and applying small, random patches of Maskol, prior to spraying it with a dull-ish brown topcoat.

     
    Saturday 03/10/09
    I've posted a few photos of 'Plantaganet' running in, on my circle of Lima track, taped to a clean tiled floor. I don't mind using my rolling road if I have to, but I prefer to set the circuit of track up for running in if I can, as I think it gives slightly better results. I also have a circuit of P4 'set track', which I made up myself from C&L flexitrack, for running in P4 locos.

     

     
     
    Wednesday 07/10/09
    In a bit of blatant consumerism, I today took delivery (from the sorting office!) of a cheapo Bachmann class 47 in BR blue from Kernow Model Centre, only ??34, I think it was (as advertised in their newsletter last Saturday). It will be destined for a conversion to P4 and running on Callow Lane, in due course...
     
     
    Friday 09/10/09
    When I opened the box, I realised that the loco had 'dominos' in the headcode boxes. Whilst I was happy to change the number to a pre-TOPS one, I can't be doing with messing around with headcodes, for what was meant to be a fairly quick conversion and weathering job, so I've decided to sell it to someone at work and look out for a proper pre-TOPS blue example.
     
     
    Saturday 10/10/09
    Was supposed to have been going to the Taunton show with Re6/6 and a couple of other friends, but something dodgy has been playing around with my digestion, so discretion being the better part of valour, I felt it prudent to have a quiet day at home instead, if keeping an eye on a new and completely mad kitten can be called a 'quiet day'....
     
    When t'Missus gets back later, I will put him in another part of the house and put 'Bleakhouse Road' up for testing (Cheltenham show in two weeks) and for a photo session tomorrow.
     
    Tuesday 20/10/09
    Well, I did indeed erect BHR and photos were taken of it on the Sunday following my previous entry, but once the layout was safely stowed away again, the dodgy digestion problem re-emerged with a vengeance and laid me low for the best part of the following week, the end of which coincided with the forum being off-line.
     
    I've now re-started work on the S&DRJ road van in OO, and this is now half-way through being weathered. Whether I take it to Cheltenham this weekend or not will depend on having a chance to finish the job tomorrow night.
     
    I've also serviced a couple of locos that were showing signs of 'screeching motor' syndrome - my J72 now in NCB livery and my North British/Paxman 0-4-0 diesel - a little light lubrication sorted that out.
     
    Finally, I thought I'd lost the glazing for the chip shop on Callow Lane, but luckily found it again and that will soon be fitted, so that I can get on with another part of that layout project.
     
     
    Thursday 22/10/09
     
    I managed to get more of the weathering done on the S&DJR road van last night, which is finished in a tired and flaking brown livery of the South Polden Light Railway. I painted some old/bare wood colour on some areas of the planking and applied Maskol when dry, a la Martyn Welch method. When the top coat had been sprayed on and dried, the Maskol was removed, leaving the old grey wood showing through, as if the top coat of paint had been flaking over the years.
     
    I also applied some small, discrete lettering by hand, using a sharpened fabric pencil, which although sold as 'silver', comes out as a nice faded grey on the model.
     
    Hopefully I shall be running the van at Cheltenham this weekend, in the company of 'Plantaganet' and other light railway items...
     
    Tuesday 27/10/09
     
    Here are a couple of photos of the finished road van, taken on BHR at Cheltenham last weekend:

     

  13. Captain Kernow
    Background
     
    Having completed my first new loco for several years, namely the 'Planet' diesel, which will form the 'modern image' motive power for the Vale of Radnor Light Railway and still not being in a position to build the baseboards for 'Bethesda Sidings', my thoughts have turned to providing one of the steam locos for this outrageously improbable light railway.
     
    All the locos of the VoRLR are authorised by the Western Region Sectional Appendix to run into the BR yard at Bethesda Sidings, for the purpose of exchanging traffic with the light railway.
     
    Although I have other OO industrials, I do like building locos and rather like the idea of providing all-new motive power for this particular layout, hence this next project.
     
    I should make one thing clear from the outset, though. The Captain doesn't normally 'do' the LNER. I don't know that much about it and normally stay in the security of my GW/MR/S&DJR comfort zone, and don't go anywhere near the products of the eastern side of the country.
     
    However, there are exceptions. I'd do almost anything to help any B12 that was lost on a dark and stormy night in the West Country, having owned at least two Triang/ Triang Hornby ones in my youth. Also some locos that look a bit like B12s might also find sanctuary in Kernow Towers, such as a Claude Hamilton, if the price down in Camborne is right.
     
    I was also rather taken by the recent Hornby J15, but was a bit put off by the handrail knob 'issue'.
     
    The other exception is the rather cute little J72. I got introduced to the old Mainline one many years ago, shortly after they first came out, when I bought one on behalf of a friend in Germany, who liked to have a few English locos on his vast Fleischmann/Marklin layout, so I was charged with bringing one back after a break in Blighty, when I was working over there as a student.
     
    A few years later, and I eventually ended up with two of the coves myself, one was black and I don't recall the original colour of the other one. They were both Mainline examples, of course, as Bachmann UK was still some years away, and they both had the horrible old split chassis system. Apart from that, though, I thought they were fab.
     
    Notwithstanding the fact that I very much liked these Eastern engines, neither was destined to remain in BR (E) or LNER liveries for long. In fact, one of the reasons I like them, is that they seem ideally suited to being sold out of service for further use in industry and/or light railways.
     
    The black J72 was the first to be given the ‘treatment’, and was heavily weathered, named ‘Charlotte’ and re-lettered as a loco sold to the National Coal Board. She then went back in her box for several years, until I had need of an NCB loco, when ‘Engine Wood’ made its first exhibition appearance in 1994.
     
    Although ‘Charlotte’ initially ran on ‘Engine Wood’ with the old Mainline split chassis, that eventually gave up and was replaced by a Perseverence chassis, which (despite the loco being in OO), I fitted compensation to, for improved electrical pick-up.
     

     
    The other J72 was re-sprayed in GW green in the early 1980s (Brunswick Green, yes, I know, great, isn’t it?) and given the name ‘Jennifer’. She adopted the guise of a loco sold to an unspecified light railway and which eventually ended up in the care of the Herefordshire Railway Society at their preservation base at Lower Vowchurch. When that group eventually disbanded and vacated the site, ‘Jennifer’ was removed to a private location, where she is probably still resident today.
     
    The 4mm version of ‘Jennifer’ also retained her old Mainline split chassis and never even had a layout to run on, as she wasn’t really suitable for ‘Engine Wood’. By the time that I built ‘Bleakhouse Road’, her old split chassis had also given up, and so she wasn’t going to be usable on the South Polden Light Railway. As such, she just stayed in her box for many more years.
     
    I even bought a completed etched chassis from a friend some years ago, with the intention of getting ‘Jennifer’ running again, but the chassis never worked very well and turns out to have been for a J71 with larger wheels and was eventually disposed of.
     
    Fast forward again to the decision to build ‘Bethesda Sidings’ and the subsequent announcement of the Cameo Layout Competition. Here now was an ideal scenario to run ‘Jennifer’ and I got quite energised at the thought of putting a new etched chassis under her.
     
    First thing was to get her out of the box and pose for some photos:
     

     
    I then went about getting the necessary parts to get her running again, principally a Perseverence chassis kit, some Markits 4’ driving wheels and a spare High Level gearbox from my Spare Gearboxes box.
     
    More to follow.
  14. Captain Kernow
    Following on from the testing of the left-hand point that I put up on my blog a few weeks ago, I have in the meantime added cosmetic plastic chairs.
     
    What I should really have done, is put spacers between the copper clad sleepers and the underside of the rail, which I have done before, but I didn't do it in this particular case. It's somewhat easier, I find, when building the point, if the rails can be soldered direct to the sleepers, but you do pay the price later, when you come to add cosmetic half chairs, to give it a semblance of bullhead track.
     
    I have used plastic P4 Track Company chairs (now marketed by C&L). These are cut in half and then cut down in height. Both the outer half and the inner half need to be cut down, but when using OO and RP25 flanges, the inner half chair needs to be cut down rather more than if you were doing this in P4 (which I have also done). The outer half chair, which also has the key detail, also needs to be reduced in height, but not by so much.
     
    The purpose of this test today was to ensure that typical loco flanges wouldn't foul the inner chairs, so I used a Bachmann pannier, a Hornby Peckett and some other locos that use etched chassis and RP25 profile wheels.
     
    Bachmann pannier starting the testing off (this loco will eventually get converted to P4, but I have another Bachmann pannier in OO that will eventually run over these points):

     
    Hornby Peckett:

     
    Mercian X Class Peckett 'Plantagenet':

     
    Another type of Peckett. This is a scratchbuilt model of 'Marcia' from the K&ESR, built many years ago by a friend of mine, and currently in my care:

     

     
    This photo shows just how small 'Marcia' is, compared with the Hornby W4, which itself is pretty small:

     

    Now that this testing has been satisfactorily concluded, the next steps will be to add cosmetic chairs to a copper clad 'Barry Slip' that I bought from Gordon S recently, which was surplus to his requirements, and complete the track layout design for the new OO shunting layout.
  15. Captain Kernow
    It's been a busy week and today I've had the first chance since last weekend to do a bit more on the new chassis for 82044.
     
    To re-cap, it's a Bachmann body, but the chassis just wouldn't run smoothly until I dismantled all the valve gear. Having seen how essentially loose and apparently wobbly the valve gear was, I decided to build a replacement chassis, based on a Comet kit for a 76XXX 2-6-0.
     
    The Comet side frames needed a lot of alteration to fit the Bachmann body, and they also needed to be extended at the rear, due to the fact that this was now going on a 2-6-2T and not a 2-6-0.
     
    Today I fitted the driving wheels, having first taken a tad off the flanges to give a slightly more satisfactory appearance. Yes, I'm using Romfords, despite there not being the correct number of spokes. This project is all about using up some of the stuff I've had in the Nutkin Store for years...
     
    And anyway, no one has thus far tried to count the number of spokes on my other 82XXX at exhibitions...
     
    Having soldered up the coupling rod overlays, these were fitted, together with the crankpins and retaining washers on the outer wheels and the whole thing directly wired into the motor and given a test on the bench. To my relief, it all worked nice and smoothly first time. Having said that, I'd have been slightly disappointed if it hadn't, given the very basic, uncompensated chassis...
     

     
    Rear chassis extension:

  16. Captain Kernow
    Just a quick entry, this, because I have to get back to the hair shirt....
     
    I managed to dismantle the Bachmann chassis for 82044 and found, after some cleaning and careful re-assembly of the side rods only, that the problem was in the valve gear. The basic 0-6-0 chassis ran reasonably well with wires directly soldered to the motor and the valve gear and cylinders removed. I found one of the connecting rods quite badly bent and twisted. They are of very hard metal, so it could not have been careless handling on my part.
     
    After that, however, and having had a long, hard look at the way it is all so loose and just wobbles all over the place, I decided that I wasn't going to do any more with it, so it has been discarded in favour of the modified Comet option.
     
    So, I am currently building a Comet 76XXX chassis, with extensions soldered on the back, and have spent most of today doing that for one of the side frames, carefully modifying it so that it fits the Bachmann body.
     
    I'm not quite there with it yet, however, as more major surgery is necessary to the Comet chassis around the cylinder area. I've built the cylinders and slide bar assembly already, because that really has to be in the right relationship to the body before much more is done to get the chassis running.
     
    I had a spare Mashima 1620 round can motor and DJH 50:1 gear box, which I'm using for the project as well.
  17. Captain Kernow
    My thanks to Brian (Taz) for bringing his new City of Truro for me to have a look at the other day. I really do like this one, and my resistence to getting one is wearing extremely thin.
     
    I thought she would look good posing on Callow Lane, seeings as this is the only layout that is normally kept in a 'put up' state at home at the moment (for construction).
     
    But no, I didn't do a quick P4 conversion job - we simply balanced the loco on the P4 track, and mighty fine she looks too!
     

     

     

  19. Captain Kernow

    Bleakhouse Road

    By Captain Kernow,

    Tuesday 27/10/09
     
    Here are a few photos taken on Bleakhouse Road last weekend at the Cheltenham show. These two were taken during 'happy hour' towards the end of the Saturday, allowing Re6/6 to run his new Bachmann 150 and give us a glimpse of what BHR might have been like, had it survived to the modern day...

     

     
    Re6/6 has charge of the shunting at this time...

     
    I'll add to this particular blog as and when, but more information on this and my other layouts can be found at www.enginewood.co.uk
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