ian@stenochs

I built my first loco kit, Jamieson 0-4-4t, using an iron just like those. I worked in the kitchen and the iron was heated in the Rayburn stove. Nowadays I have an ersa soldering station. The mistake most soldering beginners make is not having a big enough heat. For successful soldering the iron has to heat the joint to soldering temperature quickly so for 7mm brass kits go for something rated 40 watts or more. Ian

I should add that if you are getting close to your model and have a lot of hair dust can descend from your mop! One advantage of being bald but otherwise wear a net or mop cap. How we suffer for our art! Ian

Make the dust settle in your painting room and keep it there while you paint! Before I had a dedicated painting booth I used the kitchen which had no fluffy curtains or carpets only hard surfaces. It was also quite small and easy to heat. Boil a kettle or pan of water and let the room get a bit steamy. Let the steam condense out on the work surfaces where it traps any airborne dust. Keep the doors shut to stop more blowing in. Wear fluff free clothing, cotton shirt etc, NO woolly jumpers! When the air is clear paint your model and place it under a shoe box immediately until dry. Best done when other half is out! Ian.

Sorry, but you will have problems getting pictures. Riverside is working more as a crèche than a museum. The stuff is crammed in and last time I was there there were displays all along one side of 123 with the other side partly concealed, everything below running plate, by the walk way! Don’t get me started on G&SW No9 which is poked out of a rat hole way up on the wall! If you want to measure anything make sure you get permission from one of the attendants, some are very helpful and welcome a distraction while others can be worse than Russian border guards! Just what harm will a tape measure do? Ian.

Hi, I have been to Glasgow to inspect the drawings on a number of occasions. I can tell you that the experience can be very rewarding but it can also be extremely frustrating! There is a catalogue giving details of works numbers and basic info, ie 0-4-0t etc. There is usually a list of drawings available for each loco but these are only very sketchily detailed and quite often don’t give you a real idea of what there is to see. What you have to remember with Barclays is that they built a lot of ‘standard’ locos which shared dimensions and common components but individual locos may have been altered to suit the purchaser. You frequently find that there is a cross reference to a previous build for a GA or detail drawing so it helps if you have researched your prototype before you go and know which locos were similar. When you request a drawing you get the set for the loco. These come as flat drawings in a plastic folder and some are very big and some are fragile too. It takes time to go through the stack and often you find things that have nothing to do with the particular loco but the archivist is very pleased if you find something out of place and you can help them put it with the correct batch. The Archivists are mostly young ladies and have only a sketchy knowledge of locomotive engineering so don’t expect them to recognise a cross head or clack valve unless it is written on the drawing! My last visit was to look for details of a loco in preservation which needed new parts made and we wanted the original drawing rather than try to copy the well worn original part. It took a whole day and I never found the drawing needed. However I did find other drawings of interest which I was permitted to take a digital photo of. If you do go it is best to request something to see beforehand and it will be ready for you to view. I always go in the morning and have always asked for additional drawings depending on what I found in my first selection. They are usually happy to help but you need to let them have time to locate the drawings. I go for lunch and return after about an hour and a half. There is an excellent Glasgow Pub, the Three Judges, at the cross roads at the bottom of Byers Road, about 5 minutes walk with 8 real ales on handpull. It’s very handy for the subway, Kelvin Hall station, if you want back into the city centre. Ian.

Mike, I have done something similar but used brass sheet which draws better than the nickel silver. However for what you needed here, just a subtle amount of curvature, the NS is the best material. It is also easier to solder the hinges onto NS than brass. Nice Work., Correction, Very Nice Work! Ian.

Years ago I used the Skinley drawing for my P4 model of the 306 class. Still got it and a recent photo attached below. The lettering on 306 was from Leteraset rub down transfers and hand coloured and shaded. For 323 I used the decals available from the G&SWRA. Since then I have built another in 7mm scale but this time I had sight of a GA. The Skinley one is not not too bad for accuracy and they were the only drawings available in the 70s. Probably the most significant feature on a locomotive is the Chimney. The Manson one was quite distinct. Ian

Jack Kites books, I have two, are excellent with most pre group companies covered. He had an eclectic taste in railways. However most views are late Victirian or Edwardian period as are most photos available from the collections from which prints are sold. Remember photography was new and expensive in the period we are discussing here. Worth trying the relevant line Societies for back copies of their journals as they often publish useful views. They also have experts who can help with specific questions but make sure you don’t ask for too much and you are prepared to give them something in return, at least a stamped envelope if you write or an offer to pay costs if you e mail. Virtually all are volunteers with busy lives too. Ian.

Northroader, While my post above didn’t include anything GWR it did have a loco which worked on the GWR! G&SWR No 168 was one of 7 locos from the Sou’West which was loaned to the GWR during the first war. It worked from Old Oak Common and replaced Dean Goods which had been requisitioned by the WD for use in France. I like your pug too, Ian.

Some locomotive action, or not!, this afternoon. The crew of humble goods engine No168 wait patiently for their turn at the water tank while 4-6-0 No 383 takes its fill. Ian

Hi, Some nice panels but can I make a correction Glasgow & South Western Railway was G&SWR not as you have it. Waist panels on coaching stock had semicircular ends and upper panels had curved corners at the top but square on the bottom. There were a few coaches where the upper panels were curved top and bottom but they were ex M&GSW Joint stock of Midland design. There was a fine crimson line 1/8” between the straw and the black lining but your drawing is probably too small to show that up. I don’t even attempt it in 7mm scale! The Garter Crest was not used on coaching stock other than on the internal linoleum and carpets. The G&SWR NEVER missed out the ampersand on correspondence, advertising or on rolling stock and never used GSWR which is a sloppy abbreviation which causes confusion with the GS&WR, an Irish Railway. Ian

I use the same system in S7 for 0-4-4Ts. However to minimise rear buffer throw I support the loco rear end on the bogie centre but pivot the bogie just in front of the inner axle. The bogie is three point suspended with the rigid axle at the front and the other axle pivoted at its midpoint. Because the sprung driven axle is within the tanks plenty of sideplay can be given to the wheels without compromising looks. I haven’t used the system on 4-4-0s because the inside motion tends to get in the way! Ian.

These Kirk wagons are pretty good when you consider when the kits were made and what was available at the time. They were easy kits for the maker too having opening doors at both ends, only needing mouldings for 1 side and 1 end! The G&SW was one of the lines which was very careful and only permitted a few private owners to run their own wagons. It controlled the condition of the vehicles running and could charge demurrage if the user was too slow in emptying them! When they were repainting wagons the G&SWR tended to forget the black ironwork on the bodies and just painted everything grey! Ian.

N! N! The lining is tremendous. Are you sure it’s N?

G&SWR 266class 0-4-4tank No 269 on a special working with the ‘Shebeen’ or Officers Saloon.

There are a couple of Scottish features which coincide with Glasgow Model Rail which is at the end of February, it is a semi tradition which goes back to the 70s when Tannochbrae featured on the cover. Cyril Freezer was a fairly regular attender at the show and Steve Flint is carrying on the practice. Nice to see the ‘Wee Bogie’ drawing. Willie Stewart was a prolific draughtsman and drew locos and other rolling stock for all 5 of the Scottish Railways. I am custodian of his G&SW ones for the G&SWR Assn. Willie worked from the GA whenever he could and all those I have checked are very accurate. However he had the slightly annoying habit of drawing the easy view! By that I mean he seemed to draw the side view without the reverser or in the case of the 119 class the Washinghouse pump! However the drawings are an excellent resource and I use his drawings alongside the GA whenever I can. This is a view of the ‘hard’ side of my ‘Wee Bogie’ Ian.

When I was taught how to sharpen chisels on an oil stone the instructor, a joiner of the old school, maintained that spermwhale oil gave the keenest edge. He also used to remove the ‘beard’ on the edge of his hand, same principle as stropping on a strip of leather but always to hand! Ian. I just noticed that I use a banned word,

I sharpen my scalpel blades on a Tam o Shanter ‘ Water of Ayr’ stone with a bit of water, or spit, to lubricate. These stones were highly prized worldwide for sharpening surgical instruments but the mine and hone mill closed many years ago. I got mine from my Grandfather. My maternal Grandmother also worked in the hone mill when she was a young woman. Ian.

Drummond, Peter that is, did build an inside cylindered superheated 2-6-0 and very handsome and efficient it was too! Ian.

I have just come across this thread. Very interesting and nostalgic. It takes me back to the 80s when I built a live steam 1/4 size Burrell. I had a lot of fun machining castings and fabricating parts and it gave me, and others, a lot of pleasure running it. I still have it, she got a repaint last year, but we haven’t steamed her for a while. Ian.

Fair makes your eyes water too!

Getting single driver locos to pull anything much is tricky and balance is all important but any weight carried on the carrying wheels is not aiding adhesion. I built a single wheeler, 4-2-2, with a trailing wheel which carries no weight but had pickups bearing on the tread to do as you intend. Even with the pressure reduced as much as I could the wheels did not rotate reliably which looked really bad. The solution I came up with was split axles and pickup through the axleboxes. Now just the weight of the wheels is enough to keep them turning and picking up current. My example is in 7 mm scale and I used the Slaters insulated axleboxes. I don’t know if a similar product is available in 4 mm but you could fabricate an insulated box using brass tube and bit of square plastic ‘Plastruct’ tube, Ian

Looking very good but one wonders what use the spectacle plate will be behind that massive, relative term, saddle tank! I have a lot of respect for the footplate crews of old who must have been hardy men to withstand the weather. No wonder lives were short for the majority. Ian.

And most who say that don’t even buy one!

Hi, That is the Caledonian cattle van you have there. The Drummond design started with Peter Drummond on the Highland and he took the same design to the Glasgow & South Western in 1912. The Caley also used the same design probably via Peters brother Dougal. The three versions shared the main bodywork with only the drop down doors being a bit different. All used the relevant company axleboxes, buffers and their own version of brake gear. All the Scottish companies standardised on the medium sized van for cattle. MWC did kits for a cattle van from each of them but the Highland outsold all the others by quite a big margin! I wonder why? Ian.