Mrkirtley800

Just a couple of shots without a locomotive in sight.

If anyone even contemplates building an engine from scratch, this thread will have done a very good job. The thing to remember is, do not be put off if the result of your labours doesn't match your dreams. My early efforts do not bear thinking about. In the mid fifties I became interested in the pre group scene, the Midland in particular due to my frequent trips into the Yorkshire Dales on my bike and later on my old Lambretta, seeing a lot of the Settle-Carlisle railway which fascinated me. There wasn't much in the way of model locos then, Triang had brought out their crudePrincess and Jinty. K's were just starting up, but if you wanted a balanced fleet of engines you had to build them. I started with a Midland 2-4-0 (Johnson design). I was very pleased with it and proudly put it on the mantle shelf and sat down to look at it. Then it dawned on me, it didn't look right. The boiler, which should have been parallel to the footplate, sloped down from the firebox to the smokebox. Oh dear. My loco building doesn't match up with the present Hornby and Bachman efforts, with their crisp rivet detail, but at least they are mine and they work. The sense of satisfaction is enormous. Derek

Hello Dr.G.F Scratch building model locos is not rocket science, it is a minimum expertise with simple tools, an ability to study photographs and drawings and a lot of patience with a bit of determination. Like many things in life, the hardest part of the job is making a start. A couple of years after building the 3P I got a new job in Stafford. I made friends in the new place so one day I showed them my loco. One of them wished he could do something like that. I was in lodgings then, only going home at weekends, so had plenty of spare time. I offered to show him how, so went to his house every Tuesday evening for a loco building session. We chose a simple engine, a Midland class M 0-6-0. He had a few tools and with the ones I took with me we were set up, but I had to show him how to solder before we could make a start. Without going into a lot of detail, we both ended up with an 0-6-0 engine and tender built to EM gauge, AND BOTH WORKED. I left to take up another job in Scarborough this time, but when I left he was scratch building a LNWR G2 0-8-0 I joined the railway society in Scarborough and exactly the same thing happened. By this time I was married and had a house with a loft containing a model railway. Again a chap who became a friend and partner in crime for 42 years (before sadly passing away) expressed a wish to be shown how to "do it". Like before, we built a loco each, this time for me it was a NER P2 in EM, for him it was a LNER J27 in 00. Once we had an engine each, he was away, building a series of LNER locos B1 (with scratch built valve gear) G5, B16 etc etc. The common factor in both these examples is that, once they had been shown that it wasn't so difficult, they had the confidence to do their own thing. Sorry for high jacking your thread, Tony. Derek

Thank you, Tony. 1959 was a wonderful summer with endless sunshine. I was studying pretty hard for my finals for my chemistry degree, and built this loco for a bit of relaxation between whiles. I did it outside in the garden, using my parents concrete coal bunker as a bench, the vice was in the shed and used my dad's soldering iron, heated up with a blowlamp. Killed spirits (Baker's fluid) was the flux. Initially it was paired up with a Triang L1 tender while I built the bogie water cart. Finally it was (roughly) painted by me, and wasn't properly finished until Coachman Larry gave it the treatment quite a bit later on. Thanks Larry. Initially it sported Hamblin's wheels and a K's Mark 1 motor with Romford gears. As soon as decent wheels became available, they were used and now is powered by an Ultrascale motor/gearbox. Over the years I have added bits of detail and now can be classed as finished - or is it? Derek

How I agree with you, Tony, scratch built chassis using thick brass certainly gave a chunky feel. Actually, a friend was a printer by trade, and his company used "brass rule", a 1mm thick hard brass with beautiful straight edges, ideal for loco building. The company went on to using lead rule, so we had access to a lot of brass rule. I used the last of it about five years ago. Most of my building was done many years ago. The Midland 3P was built in 1959. Derek

Seeing DaveF's Settle-Carlisle based layout has awoken me from a lethargic period, enough, at least, to post a photo on here' Looking along the line gives the impression of toy points with their tight radii. This is Embsay Canal Road station, with a Kirtley 800 class 2-4-0 on stopping passenger duties. Derek

SNAP!!! Dave, you have started a very nice layout. It has the feel of the S&C and it has a track plan virtually identical to mine, although I model in EM gauge and in the Midland period (1908). Great stuff. Keep going and keep the piccies coming. Derek

I'll be right over, say 7.am? Derek

Come on, Jason, you know you want to. Derek

I shall now go and stand in a corner and sulk. Derek

Hello Jason, I have been modelling in EM gauge for about 55 years and I don't regret any of it. I find it most satisfying. Paul never gives up does he? I wish he would learn to spell. The correct spelling, Paul, is M----I----D----L----A----N----D Derek

No, I won't be getting one either, they were never finished off in lined crimson lake. OK coat and hat at the ready!! Derek

Superb modelling of the cottages Allan. Don't think much of the way you modelled the houses down the street in the fourth pic. though. Derek

Jeff, The only problem I found using three link couplings was when I exhibited a small station layout where there was a great deal of shunting. I operated on my own and after two days my neck and back ached. I couldn't stand up straight. After that I went on to using Alex Jackson couplings and after nearly fifty years I would not contemplate anything else. Yes, shunting is fun and with a station to fiddle yard layout you get the maximum amount of shunting to do. Having said that, I do spend most of my time bossing wagons about on Canal Road, usually while passenger trains are running through on the main lines. Good luck with whatever you decide to adopt on KL2 Derek

Jason. Here are the pics, which may have appeared before on RMW, with apologies for poor photography Derek

Jason, It is very easy to reproduce those intricate bargeboards. If you are interested I will tell you how I do it in 10 thou plastic sheet. Give me a few minutes and I will post a couple of piccies of mine. Derek

There certainly is some great modelling on here, hardly dare put mine on. It is covered in dust and looks a bit scruffy. But here goes. Just a bit of the scenic treatment. I wanted a canal basin served by a narrow gauge railway plus the canal disappearing through a tunnel at one end. The canal is a bit narrow, probably too narrow.

My wife bought me a Pro-Scale LNER P2 kit as a birthday present some years ago. It made up quite well, with the only proviso the etchings were a bit thin. The boiler I squashed a bit to try to produce the oval shape, but without too much success. I did the painting and lining which is --well--OK, but I am quite happy with it. It appeared to conform to the drawing pretty well, so all in all I am happy with it. But why should a modeller in EM of all things Midland build an LNER big engine in 00. Well, that is another story, but since our layout is 00 (my son's part) and EM (my bit) we can run it. Driven by an Ultra scale motor/gearbox, it performs well. Derek We do mix our periods shamelessly. It has been known, when he was very young for my son to by running his HST while a Midland Johnson Single runs on the EM side with a train of lined crimson carriages.

Here is another piccie of one of the bridges at the end of the line, where the fiddle yard starts. It is crossing the 00 track (my son's) the EM tracks are over to the right This stonework was done in the same way as I described. I think the final dry brushing used GW chocolate brown. Again, little is more. Derek

Allan, the buildings are basically boxes made out of plasticard. With stone buildings I use three layers of 40thou to get the thickness of the walls. The stonework is the soft base plaster, I think they used to call it 'browning' but definitely not polyfilla, that is far too hard. It is applied by brush, the plaster being the consistency of thick double cream. The building has to be laid down and the plaster allowed to dry thoroughly then soaked in solvent. In my chemical laboratory days I used chloroform, done outside of course, but any solvent will do. The solvent keys the plasticard and the plaster together. Allow to dry before the second side is covered .with the plaster mix. When the building is all covered I rub it gently with sandpaper, just to smooth everything out. Then start scribing the stones. The beauty of soft plaster is that it is so easy to scribe the stone courses. When all the sides are dry I use a wash of grey Humbrol let down with white spirit. The paint soaks in and hardens off the plaster. Then it is a case of dry brushing with the required colour - don't need to tell you about that. The stonework is pretty tough. I built a Midland water tower similar to the one at Garsdale. It was near the front of the layout and while working on something or other knocked it off the layout on to a concrete floor. The layout is set at over 4 feet above the floor, so I expected the worst. It was not even scratched. The only drawback with my method of building is the waiting for things to dry, so I have a few projects going along at the same time. Derek

Thank you very much Allan, that is a real compliment coming from you. I always believed that less is more when it comes to model railways, and I had thought I had made that particular scene a bit too busy. It is at the back of the layout which is never seen quite like that and does gather a lot of dust. I am writing up an account of the layout for the Modeller, Paul (Worsdell forever) has taken a fair few pics, but here is another taken by me, please ignore the background. I rarely take decent photos so I tend to hawk the good ones about and bore everyone to death. Derek

This is Embsay Canal Road, a station in the Yorkshire Dales about 1908. Midland Railway abounds. Not exactly Allan Downes but the best I can do. Derek

I never liked to be referred to as an expert at work, at least since I heard the definition. X--- for the unknown, and spurt ---- a kind of drip. Derek

Is that another name for crimson lake Derek