ian@stenochs

23 hours ago, Hacksworth_Sidings said:

How about this instead of collector braids?

 

Some small industrial locos ran with old mineral wagons behind them to use as auxiliary tenders to carry more coal (or so I’ve heard):

 

 

 

(Unsure of who took the photo, certainly not my own though)

 

16T mineral wagon with one end removed, hole drilled in the back of the cab (both to run the wires through, and also so a fireman would be able to reach into the wagon if you want brownie points for realism), either silver seal wheels in the plastic bearings, or Dapol’s wheels with the frames modified to take tophat bearings, copper or phosphor bronze on the tops of the wheels, wires running from the wagon to the motor in the loco.

That is on the Waterside system, ex Dalmellington Iron Company.  Loco been there since new, 1919, and still there but static, part of the Ayrshire RPG collection.
 The Tender carried enough coal for a few days work.  There was a small hopper fitted on the cab back and the fireman would shovel from the wagon onto the floor of the cab, then into the firebox.  The side bunkers were seldom used as they had to be filled by hand whereas the wagon could just go under the screens.

5 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

We have one already. 

 

What I need is one for cling film. 

 

We are currently discussing the relative size,  to Mrs SM42, of various relatives when it comes to assorted  clothing items she is thinking of giving for presemts. 

 

Needless to say, I'm considering carefully any comment before opening mouth. 

 

This will almost certainly guarantee nothing will fit anyone.

 

Andy

Scarfs are one size fits all.

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Bit like Moscow. It's about an hour from here.

Moscow is only 35 minutes from me.  Not much to see when you get there though!

6 hours ago, airnimal said:

Jim, I hope I have worked out how this end door operates.  Along with your help and looking closely at the drawing, the penny has finally dropped. I hadn't realised that the top piece of wood was fixed and there was a half inch gap between the top of the door and this fixed piece of timber.  It is not very clear on both the drawing and the photographs how the door swings up on the plate attached to the top timber which from the drawing scales out at four and a half inches square. I presume that the plate that the hoops rests on has some sort of guide or groove to retain the doors position and the weight of the door helps keep its location when the wagon is discharging its load. 

 

I will have to make a new end door to now to accommodate this information to leave a small gap between the door top and this fixed timber. I think that the door was made from slightly thinner planks but was heavily braced  on the outside for strength. I have made a pair of sides and glued them on and I will make the ends and the door to match these sides. 

Mike,

Here are a couple of views which may be of use.  Both early G&SWR but these doors were pretty common in Scotland.  Note the cast ‘shoe’ under the hoop.

Ian.

Monet paintings look good until you get close then they are just daubs of paint!

Likewise models. Some look great until you see them up close, even Ace trains tinplate look realistic from 20 feet.

Ian.

Mike,

To my eyes your original buffer guides look very similar to those used on some Caledonian railway wagons.  I know from experience that it is all to easy to make mistakes packing and labeling small components. However your modifications to the original have done the trick.

Ian.

1 hour ago, Canal Digger said:

Given the amount of recent interest re lathes, when I saw this I thought to give it a wider audience, I even edited the address to remove the crud. 

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/873228177620783/?

Looks a tidy machine with quick change gear box and a stand too. Long bed super sevens are not very common so the asking price seems quite low.

Ian.

S7 back to back is 31.2mm so we can set our frames to scale or very close. You don't need much sideplay, especially in fine standard 0, unless you plan on using trainset corners.

28 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

At Jill’s behest we once went into the Tate Northern in Liverpool. I won’t attempt to list some of the rubbish pretending to be ‘art’ in there but just to give two examples:

Standing in a corner was a broom handle that had been painted with bands of different colours; next to it was a closely typed A4 sheet explaining what the ‘artist’ meant with this ‘work’ ; Another was a collection of driftwood placed in a circle on the floor. Once again there was an explanatory sheet. I think that I upset one of the curators when I said to Jill as we left, “This place is just an example of the unscrupulous preying on the gullible.”

 

Dave

The real artistry is demonstrated by the creators of these piles of stuff in convincing the founders that their work is art!

13 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

That's nearly as many as the G&SWR had isn't it Ian? 😉

 

Dave

Only a third!

20 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Depending on how much plate you're heating and what equipment you have it might be worth experimenting with playing a large oxy-propane flame over it as I have done when preheating cracked engine blocks for welding.

Even heating and thus oxidation is only really possible in an enclosed furnace.  I had access to one in my working life but that was no longer an option for me. Anyway  I have now built two G&SWR Baltic tanks with painted boilers so that itch is well and truly scratched.

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

It might be worth contacting a gun shop and asking about barrel blue for refinishing and preserving the steel parts of weapons.

I tried that and I could get an even blue either. It always came out more black than the blue that I wanted.

56 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Good to see Douglas back again and happily fettling his new acquisition. Is that 'Russian Iron' the same stuff that was used for the boiler clothing on the G&SWR Baltic tanks?

 

Dave

Russian iron/Planished Steel could be the same. Blued steel was once used extensively for cylinder cladding on marine engines and widely available. A friend tried to obtain some for his 3.5” gauge Baltic but despite extensive enquiries couldn’t source any. He ended up using anodised Aluminium which started off ok as a deep blue but after a few firings turned a dull brown hue!

I tried heat treating the boiler on my Baltic and managed to get a nice deep blue colour in parts but not even.  I rather think a torch was the wrong tool as it was impossible to get an even heat over the whole boiler.  In the end I used paint!

Ian,

4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

But was there any significant mineral flow over the Caledonian main line to Carlisle? I would presume that most mineral traffic was confined to Ayrshire and the central lowland belt, through to Fife, these being the coal-mining and coal-consuming districts - and hence short haul. (Short-haul doesn't rule out big engines, of course.) My impression is that export of Scottish coal to England or vice-versa was not an economic proposition, given the local supplies. 

Most of the Ayrshire coal was moved by the G&SWR, the Caley tried to move in but only succeeded around Muirkirk.  There was a considerable coal export trade through the ports of Ayr, Troon and Irvine which resulted in all the G&SWR mineral wagons having doors at both ends to cut out the need for turning wagons prior to tipping into ships.

On the way to the Manchester show with ‘Auchlin’ our hire van broke down just as we entered Killington lake services.  Broken timing belt, quite a common occurrence with transits, so our breakdown man told us. It was a Friday morning, show opened late afternoon.  Eventually a relay truck arrived and we were loaded on only to be taken to Bolton, there to wait on another relay coming from Manchester, something to do with areas!

The upshot was that we eventually arrived on a low loader outside the venue, Coop hall, about the same time as the show opened to the public.  The layout and all our bits were taken into the hall and deposited behind the barriers just as the crowd flooded in.  Erecting the layout in a cramped space between to other exhibits while the public watched was interesting. However we gave the viewers an insight into what goes into an exhibition layout. Thankfully there were no other gremlins and trains started running within an hour.

The post show beers were very welcome that night!

I can positively identify it as a Model Wagon Co product.  The subject is the

G&SWR 6 ton van.  Quite a rare kit as few were made.

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

15 hours ago, wagonman said:

 

This is slightly undermined by the roofed lead ore wagons built by the Gloucester Wagon Co for J B Balcombe which came fitted with a chunky padlock. There were also secure lead ore stores at Llandovery station and Aberystwyth harbour – there may have others but these two I know about – presumably for the accumulation of enough ores for a cargo. I won't argue that it was probably the silver content that made the stuff nickable – except there was no silver in the Blaencaelan ore!

 

I wonder how ore was handled in these wagons.  It must have been difficult shovelling it into and out of the corners under that low roof and through that central door. 
 

Ian.

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Then there's the Midland Great Western.

 

And an interest in the G&SWR inevitably leads to accidentally discovering the delights of the GS&WR.

Yes, a real joy especially if you read the ‘Tales’ by David L Smith.  254 has that giant eel with ‘lugs like a horse’ in its tender tank!

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Ah, but you haven't costed in the value of the fun. The build is a leisure activity and should be compared with other leisure activities. I could spend an evening scratchbuilding a wagon for £15, or I could go out to the theatre, opera, or football for something around ten times that much. So clearly I'm quids in.

I have a friend who spends about the same time on a golf course as I do in my workshop.  I know, because he constantly tells me, how much green fees are and it is way more than I spend on modelling bits.  
 

Both of us enjoy our hobby but when I go there will be a legacy of models and a workshop full of tools. My friend will leave a set of clubs!

Ian.

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Easy!

• Dumb it down
• Ignore those visitors who love railways whilst “reaching out” to those who have absolutely no interest in either railways or visiting a museum.
• Make it “relevant”
• ”de-colonise” it
• install cheap and soon-broken interactive media
• Allow the “gift shop” to grow like a cancer and take up ever increasing amounts of museum floor space.
• Stock said “gift shop” with cheap trashy and tacky items, 90% of which have nothing to do with railways.

Trust me, it’s a tried and true approach.

Absolutely spot on.  Glasgow did the same with the excellent transport museum in the Kelvin Hall.  Built a new 'prize winning design' mega expensive building which is too small to display most of the collection. Now the vintage cars are on little shelfs, like toy cars, bikes hang from the ceiling and the locomotives are surrounded with cases and boards so they cannot be viewed properly. One exeption is the Drummond pug which is stuck halfway up a wall peeking out like a mouse from its hole.

It boasts excellent visitor numbers but they are mostly made up from creches and disabled groups because entry is free, warm and there is a cafe!

Ian.

This thread has been fascinating and thought provoking even though my interest is not the NER.

I have been building models from the same railway for 50+ years.  There is only one preserved engine from the line and that is late period.  The only contemporary model, more a toy, I know about is painted in municipal green paint!  

When I was younger I was lucky to meet and listen to ex employees and enthusiasts who remembered the railway and some even commented on my early modelling efforts. Despite bring painted in differing shades, whatever Humbrol or Airfix produced at the time,  the most common comment was 'that looks right'!

Since then my philosophy on painting is to ensure that I paint each part in the correct colour, ie, if the original was green it will be green on the model.  The colour or shade I choose is the one I think is correct.  Having read everything I can find on the subject I am happy that my shade is close enough!

100 years on since the grouping I am sure nobody can be any more definite.

Ian

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

To be a little contrary I rather like this in blue....but it is Scottish!

 

Most Scottish locomotives were not blue they were green!  Various shades I admit but green.

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

A little poser. The Liverpool and Manchester was the first 'Inter city' line to be built. In which country was the second one to be built and between which cities? A clue, it opened fully in 1856.

You have been watching Alice Roberts on TV last night!

Egypt between Alexandria and Cairo.

27 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

Despite being a resident of the picturesque village of Paisley (which pinched the design from India thanks to a certain Queen Vic) I never did own a shirt although I did have slightly flared trousers. A work colleague in Ayrshire said his father liked to refer to John Travolta as "John Tarbolton" which, if you knew the place, was pretty funny. It was also the haunt of a certain poet named Burns.

Nothing about sartorial elegance but being a native of Stair,  just down the road from Tarbolton, I can tell you that the local pronuciation is 'Tarbouton'.

Incidently my first ever steam loco footplate experience was in the yard of the station during a bit of shunting.  I would be about 7 or 8 and was with my Grandfather on a tractor and trailer collecting something from a wagon!

Ian.