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Barry Ten

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  1. Barry Ten
    Over on my S&D blog, Colin (@BWsTrains) kindly asked if I had any close-up shots of the station building when the layout is in GWR mode. I promised to dig some out but was surprised at how few I had that offered a clear view of the model. I can't take any fresh ones of the building in-situ right now, because the layout is still in S&D mode, but I did grab a few snaps of the model on its own.
     

     
    It's no great shakes as a piece of architectural modelling, but it does have enormous personal significance as the model is not only very old, but possibly my first attempt at scratchbuilding. Anyone familiar with the constituent railways of the GWR will hopefully recognise a William Clarke building, and in fact this one was constructed from the plans for Abbotsbury in one of the Paul Karau volumes on GWR branch termini.
     
    The model was built in 1982 during a few days off from school, using offcuts of stout card surfaced with vac-formed stonework and paper. I've a vague recollection that it was made around the time of the Pope's visit to the UK, which (other than the Falklands War) was one of the main news items in the first half of that year. My grandfather worked for the Co-op and I think the card was donated by him from packaging and sales advertising. It would have been made using UHU or similar and plastic cement and other than some slight distortion here and there, has stood up to the ravages of time quite well.
     
     

     
     
    There is nothing sophisticated about the interior and without reference to the plans, I would hazard that these internal walls don't correspond to the actual partitions. Other than painting the card, and adding some posters here and there, there is nothing by way of internal detailing. The lighting was added much later, along with plastic ducting to tidy it up to a small degree.
     
    Turning the rear, it was never intended to be visible and I did the bare minimum on it:
     

     
    As much as I like these William Clarke designs, I do like a station building with a proper door in it. With these, access to the platform was always from a gate at the side.
     
    Over time, the stone facing began to buckle away from the card on the rear. To remedy this in the short term, I cut through the stone beneath the third window along, and
    then glued it back down. If I were ever to present the model from this vantage, I'd need to do a lot of additional detailing and remedial work.
     
    Turning back to the front:
     

     
     
    The canopy had begun to buckle as well but I believe I succeeded in detaching and straightening it without the need to redo the glazed portion. The canopy on the original model had valencing cut from plastic sheet by hand, but when I came to repair it I used the Ratio stuff. Some etched supports were scrounged from a Scale Link sheet, but they're only representative. The chimneys are the third attempt, and still not quite right, but much better than the first two goes! I'm not sure about the ornamental stonework on the tops. In some photos and drawings, it looks as if there are four to a chimney, while other shots seem to show just a pair. It's sometimes a little difficult to interpret, so I'll leave as is for now.
     

     
    Some of the crudity of the modelling is evident in this close-up of the toilet block it but looks somewhat better when in situ, especially with some platform clutter to distract the eye! More recently, when reworking the chimneys, I used some card, plastic and filler to attempt to better depict the ornamental stonework on the ends of the main building. The signage is entirely bogus and incorrect, and needs to be changed in due course, but again it's just one of those jobs that never seems to get done.
     
    Anyway, for all its faults it is still very pleasing to me that the model still has a function on my layout. Here's an old shot of it as it ought to be seen, taken a good few years ago before the addition of the trailing connection to the goods yard, and before a GWR-pattern footbridge was added.
     

     
    Hope this is of some interest and thanks for reading.
  2. Barry Ten

    2021 class running trials

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    I've pushed on with the Nu-Cast 2021 class to the point where it's nearly ready for painting, although it might be a case of putting it back in the box until I've got another GWR loco to do at the same time (there are some candidates in the stash!). However, it has now begun to settle in when running under load:
     
     
    Not much more to add other than to say I'm always quite relieved when a loco gets to this stage without any major gremlins, as I can then start thinking about another project!
  3. Barry Ten

    Building a GWR 2021 class

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    Most of my blog posts, few that there were in recent months, have been over on the S&D blog I started, but this one really seemed to belong back in the old "mostly GWR" bit. So here we are!
     
    Way back when, in 67, ... no, that's a Steely Dan song. Way back when, around five or six years ago, I came back from Railwells with a complete Nu-Cast kit for the rather petite 2021 class pannier, including motor, gearbox and a full set of Markits wheels.
     
    Nice, as Louis Balfour would say.
     

     
    There matters rested, though, as I got distracted by various things and the poor 2021 class gradually sunk to the bottom of the ever-growing kit pile, seemingly doomed never to see the light of day. Whenever I opened the box and peered at the contents, it was a case of ... not tonight, Josephine. In the meantime I built a few other locos and chassis, all of which appeared more attractive starting propositions than the Nu-Cast one. Not that there was anything visibly wrong with the kit, but it just never looked like something I wanted to dive into there and then. Perhaps it was the instructions mentioning early on that clearances are tight between the wheels and the footplate, making it sound challenging?
     
    It turned out that, while some care needed to be taken, it wasn't any trickier than any other loco I've made. In fact progress got off to
    an encouragingly quick start due to a very well engineered etched chassis. The fit of the parts was so precise that I didn't feel the need to get out the jigs at all, with the whole thing just feeling right from the outset. The axle holes needed very little opening out for the bearings, and the coupling rods were practically a drop-fit straight onto the crank pins, needing just the tiniest smidge of extra clearance to give nice free running. It only took about an hour to get to this stage:
     

     
    Next I set about making the simple Branchlines gearbox, which gave no difficulty, and after a short period of running in without load, I installed the motor and gearbox into the chassis. Running on test-leads was very smooth and encouraging, so I went ahead and soldered the rods on and then made some pickups. I also began test-fitting the dreaded footplate.
     

     
    The pickups, below, are simple but reliable. I made plastic pads to go between the frames (almost but not quite a force fit) then glued longitudinal strips of pre-tinned PCB to these. I just use long PCB sleepers as supplied by C+L, trimming off a length at a time. The contact wipers themselves are 0.33mm phosphor-bronze, soldered to the PCBs, and with fine lengths of wire connecting everything together and to the motor contacts. Inevitably I got it backwards so the wires will need to be reversed at some point, but once that's done, there'll be no further need to touch the electrics as the loco will only run on DC.
     

     
    The next step was to solder the splashers in place (a bit tricky, and needed a lot of adjustment to get them all level and in line) and then tweak things because of the dreaded clearance. It is a bit tight, but I found I only needed a bit of filing around the inside of the splashers, coupled with some slight shimming-up of the chassis to sort things out.
     
    I then proceeded with the superstructure, starting at the smokebox end, and working back. The pannier tanks are just loosely in place in this shot below, while I adjusted the rear support to make sure they were perfectly level and parallel to both each other and the footplate. I had to do a lot of remedial work on an older DJH pannier that I built where things weren't quite square, so I was determined to get it right first time here.
     
    In case anyone else tackles one of these, I found that the rear support needed to be positioned a fair bit higher than seemingly intended by the kit designer. Fortunately this wasn't hard to arrange and the relationship with the cab then seems to fall into place quite well.
     

     
    Once I was satisfied with the basic squareness of things I started soldering it all up solidly, beginning with tack soldering, checking and double checking, and only later proceeding with full soldering along each join. The kit advises that the footplate details be added before the tanks are in place, and I would recommend doing it this way as far as possible.
     

     
    I started adding the boiler-top details, but the dome is a bit poor, so for the time being it's just resting in place while I decide what to do with it. It's always an option to buy an alternative casting from another supplier, but I haven't always been knocked out by the quality of these either, so it may be a case of making do with what's on offer.
     
    Following a short trip abroad, I then returned to the model full of vim and vigour and completed one of the tasks I'm least fond of, adding GWR-style handrails to the panniers and smokebox. For once, with some careful measurement and taking things slowly and calmly, I was happy with the first go, even though it took all evening (half of which was spent on the floor looking for handrail knobs, but that's another story).
     

     
    There is still quite a bit to do but the basic pannier character is starting to come through, I think.
     

     
    I should add that the kit caters for many different possibilities in the building of the loco, ranging from bunker type, closed or open cab, different chimneys and smokebox doors, as well as different parts for the reversing lever and sanding gear. The latter is a bit difficult to discern in photos, but I've gone with what seems to me to be the most common setup. As for the cab. the etched parts for the closed variety look very good but I felt it would begin to look just like any other pannier, so I opted for the open cab and the "flared" style of bunker, which provides a nice contrast with my otherwise similar 27XX class. which has the straight-sided type.
     
    Anyway, although not yet finished, I didn't run into any big snags with the kit, and I would recommend it to anyone fancying one of these smaller-wheeled panniers.
     
     
     
     
  4. Barry Ten
    Yesterday's recap seemed to go down well (thanks all who kindly visited) so I thought I'd take a few
    more general snaps around the layout for the benefit of those who haven't seen it before, or lately!
     
    These were mostly taken freehand with just the automatic setting on my camera so the depth of
    field is fuzzy in places. Normally I use a tripod but it wasn't handy there and then. However I
    think there is something quite pleasant and old-school about a good old slightly fuzzy photo, 
    reminiscent of old railway modelling magazines?
     

     
    Anyway, this one was taken with a tripod (or rather on of those flexible octopus type things) so isn't too bad. This shows the general arrangement at the station throat
    with the Bachmann Shillingstone-type LSWR signal box renamed and slightly repainted. Beyond, the servo-controlled level crossing gates (fun, but a constant
    maintenance headache) and one of several scratchbuilt, freelance cottages. Oh, and a fallen-down bloke: must be the heatwave, what a snowflake.
     

     
    A slightly more shaky-cam view up the road, with the venerable Superquick "Swan" pub creeping into view in top left.
     
    These crossing gates are very wide as they have to span a pair of tracks on a curve, so there needs to be allowance
    for overhang of longer vehicles. I'd have been better off putting the crossing on a straight bit, but c'est la vie.
     

     
    A pair of scratchbuilt cottages. The pink one is more than 40 years old, made in my early teenage years with scribed card in an enthusiastic if misguided attempt at emulating the Pendon
    method in the spare half-hour before teatime.
     

     
     
    An as-yet unnamed pub from the Wills Craftsman series. Quite a lot of work, these kits, but very satisfying as they come together. I built this one exactly to the plan.
     

     
     
    Into ready-to-plonk territory now with the main station building being very obviously the Bachmann Shillingstone model. As those who have been following the blog for a while may remember, the layout
    was originally conceived around 2007 as a model of said station, as I have a strong family connection to that part of the S&D. However, it took a detour into GWR mode for about ten years, and then by the time it
    returned to the S&D theme, I'd decided that it needed to be a freelanced location. The idea is that it's located just south of Blandford, on the double-tracked portion. It's spelled Stourpayne rather than Stourpaine to keep up the naming convention of my layouts, Payne being a family connection.
     

     
    Off into the countryside now as S&D 4F 44422 approaches the branch junction with a goods train. The 4F is on the main, while the line coming in from the foreground is the branch. This is roughly where the bridge used to be on the old winter scene - in fact it's the same bridge, recycled - but is much better for photographic angles.
     

     
    The same 4F trundles through the station. It's a tender drive model, and one of the best runners on the layout, capable of incredibly slow, steady crawling! I've done nothing to it except shorten the loco-tender gap, and replace/rework the guard irons, brakes and sanding gear. The prestwin in the foreground is the Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol model, which I made last week and is just waiting on final painting and weathering now. A tad unusual but will add some variety from time to time. While I'm mentioning kits, the vehicle behind the 4F is a Chivers 6-wheel LMS fish van.
     

     
    A helicopter shot of the same train in the station area. Trackwork is Code 75 bullhead for the plain track (Peco and C+L) and Code 75 flat-bottom for the points, blended as best I can. The bullhead points weren't on the horizon when I started this but would obviously be an ingredient now.
     

     
    Moving back out into the country, this time on the old spring module - not that there's any distinction in the seasons modelled any more - and S&D 5MT 73049 approaches Stourpayne Marshall with the Cleethorpes-Exmouth train. Normally this service only ran as far south as Templecombe Junction so what it is doing on the Blandford-Broadstone section is anyone's guess. The train is a mixture of Gresley,
    Thompson and Stanier stock.
     
    I alluded to the layout being in GWR mode: perhaps confusingly, it has two identities. The other version is King's Hintock, also nominally somewhere in Dorset but this time firmly on GWR metals. To swap between the two, I just need to move around some removable scenic modules and swap a few bits of infrastructure. It only takes about 20 minutes, but changing the stock is far more protracted! Perhaps that's why I've not reverted back to GWR mode in the two years or so that the S&D identity has been in place.
     

     
    An older shot of King's Hintock before the trailing goods access was put in. In other respects, this is how it would look if I put it back into GWR mode. The loco is an Airfix prairie on a Comet chassis, pulling a pair of Slaters toplights. The station is a scratchbuilt model of Abbotsbury.
     

     
    A view of the goods yard in GWR mode. The cattle dock goes where the S&D goods shed is, and the GWR goods shed sits roughly where the S&D station building is. The siding for the goods shed runs right under the S&D station, hidden by a slight rise in the forecourt.
     

     
    A more general view of King's Hintock. At some point it will revert back to GWR mode for a period, but I must admit I haven't stopped enjoying the S&D stuf just yet!
     
    Cheers and again thanks for reading.
     
     
  5. Barry Ten

    Pub refurbishment

    By Barry Ten,

    Back to the winter module, now. Currently a work in progress is the overhauling of this Superquick "Swan" pub, which is now well into its fourth decade. I would say it's been on every layout I've had, but the truth is my mother built this in the 70s to replace an even earlier "Swan" which got squashed or trod on or something. The model has had quite a bit of remedial attention over the years, having been damaged in storage, but was still in good nick. However, for a long time I've wanted to give the roof a bit more detail, especially as the model now has pride of place in the foreground of this module. To that end, I've been cladding the existing roof with Wills sheets, quite a lengthy job as the roofline is fairly complex for what is a small model. However it's more or less done now, other than work needed around the chimneys. Later the roof will get a very light dusting of snow, probably not fixed permanently, just enough for it to sit happily in the winter scene but not to obscure the detail too much. I also intend to tweak some of the other aspects of the pub, but not to overdo it and risk losing the character of this very attractive little kit.
     

     

     
    While we're at it, a few more winter shots. I'm still trying to get to grips with exposure here, but the colour balance is looking a lot more healthy. It's going to be a hell of a shock for the passengers, going from high summer to the deep of winter in a few feet...
     
     

     

     

     
    Cheers!
  6. Barry Ten
    I've really neglected this blog since 2021, mainly because I was more focussed on the French stuff in the build-up to the RMweb member's day, but it's high time for a modest update to show some recent alterations.
     
     
     

     
    In this shot, S&D allocated 9F 92006 waits for the go-ahead to depart Stourpayne Marshall with a Bournemouth to Bath stopping train.
     
    What may be of interest is that until recently, this shot couldn't have been taken, as it would have been impossible to position the camera
    on the road bridge at this end of the layout. However, that's all changed.
     
    Perhaps a recap is in order:
     
    The layout was initially conceived as three linked but scenically-independent modules: a spring module, a summer module, and a winter one, connected by short stretches
    of off-stage track. 
     
    Here for instance is an old shot of the spring module, taken in its earlier guise when it was just single-track (ignore the N stuff below it):
     

     
    And here is the similar but smaller winter module, also single track:
     

     
    Two major design reconsiderations have happened on the layout in the last half decade or so. The first was to go double track, not because I didn't like the single track nature of the old, but because double track actually makes more efficient use of the limited space available for the storage sidings. With single track, for any given number of roads, you need one more set of points at either end compared to double. Since these points inevitably eat into the available space, removing them allows the roads themselves to be elongated a bit, with the only downside being that each train is now confined to either the up or down direction. Whereas before I had one very long road and five increasingly short ones, such that roads five and six were barely large enough for a DMU, even the shortest roads are now suitable for 5 - 6 coach trains and the longest can accommodate 8 - 9 vehicles in addition to a loco. With the addition of cassettes, the length and variety of available trains is not too bad considering it's all squeezed into a spare room. In addition (following the subsequent changes) there are now three branch roads available, with expansion to four coming soon. 
     
    The second reconsideration was to knock-through the scenic divide between the summer and winter modules and create a single, much larger scene. This was partly to allow a double junction off to a branch, but also in recognition that, after a number of years, the separate module concept wasn't really working for me any more. The winter module looked quite good but it was surprisingly difficult to photograph, and the available sight-lines turned out to be not very satisfactory, limiting camera angles and variety. I've never regretted the decision to create a much larger scene.
     
    However, that still leaves the division between the spring module and the summer module. What, if anything, to do about that?
     

     
    Here's a shot from around 2008 showing how the track spans the doorway by means of a plywood nod-under, so that one just has to duck slightly or not at all when entering the layout room.
     
    Subsequent development saw curved skyboards wrapped around the summer module, with a hole for the tracks to emerge through, subsequently to be disguised by a road bridge.
     

     
    And here we are with the finished article, much as it's been for the last 10 years or so:
     

     
    The goods yard trackwork was reworked a few years ago to allow a trailing connection from the down line, but in all other respects not much has changed. To be honest I was happy enough with it to be somewhat cautious of going further, but gradually I decided that the layout looked too hemmed-in at this end of the module, and needed to breathe a bit more. Perhaps it was just a reaction to allowing the other end to spread out a bit more. In any case, over the last half year or so, I started making some vague steps in the direction of opening out this bit as well. However, I decided early on that it wouldn't involve linking all the way through to the spring module, as that would involve a lot of messy and destructive reworking that I didn't feel like tackling.
     
    What has been done is much more modest, with little damage to existing scenery. Esssentially all I've done is "unwound" the old backscene. It no longer curls around behind the road bridge, but now continues in more or less a gradual curve out onto the nod-under.
     

     
    Not that this wasn't without some mess. The backscene was carefully cut away from its original position, hacked about where necessary, and then forcibly re-straightened until it assumed the desired trajectory. One of my concerns had been that the EZ-Line telegraph wires would snap under the strain of being elongated as the backscene pulled away from its original angle (they were glued into it, hidden by bushes) but amazingly they held. 
     

     
    The original nod-under had been designed for a single track plus one siding. It had already been widened to go double track, and now it gained two additional cheeks on either side, enabling a continuation of the scenery beyond the road bridge.
     
    As can be scene, a new piece of backscene, as yet unpainted, has been grafted onto the end of the old section. One consideration at this point was whether or not to continue the backscene right around the nod-under until it meets the end of the spring module. After clamping in a test piece, I decided it made the railway room feel too closed-in, so I've opted instead for the backscene to have a gap in it, arranged at about the spot that normal views down the length of the summer module still look OK. I cut a curve into the top edge of the backscene to make it look like a design choice, rather than me just not finishing it off properly!
     
    The benefit of this is two-fold, or even three-fold! The room doesn't feel closed-in, I can still tell the time by glancing at the railway clock on the wall, which would have been hidden by a continuous backscene, and finally, not having a backscene there opens up vistas like this one:
     

     
     
    OK, it'll look better when scenicked and ballasted, but it should give the rough idea. It's an entirely new angle on the layout which was previously frustratingly hidden, but where trains are seen from an enjoyably different angle as they take the curve. In essence, it's just a few more feet of layout "reclaimed" for scenery and photography, but in a small-ish room that's not too bad an outcome after more than a decade of development.
     
    Cheers and thanks for reading.
     
     
     
     
  7. Barry Ten

    Tarting up a 1981 Hornby Spamcan

    By Barry Ten,


    Bulleid pacifics
    One of the models that's survived with me down through numerous upheavals and house moves is this Hornby Battle of Britain class "Spitfire". It was a Christmas present in 1981 so will soon have been in my possession for forty years. 
     

     
    The model was much anticipated as the original Triang-Hornby Spamcan had been out of the catalogue for some years and I had high hopes that Hornby would have used the gap to improve the product a bit. After all, this was the time when Airfix, Bachmann and even Lima were putting out models that, at least in looks and finish, were a huge step above what had been available before. Hornby had started to meet the competition with models like the Schools and Fowler 4MT that, for their time, were nice products. However, when the Spamcan reappeared not much had been done to it! I think there were shiny wheels, possibly a keeper plate with some incorrect brake blocks, and that was that. However, I did like mine and thought it looked good with a bit of weathering. I added rear cab sheets out of plastic card, filled in the sand box holes, and added front steps and some extra weight in the body.
     
    Forty years on, and although I was still fond of the model, it had to be said that with its solid plastic deflectors and lack of brake gear, it couldn't stand muster next to one of the modern Hornby Spamcans from the early 2000s. I didn't fancy building a new chassis as I felt that we could rapidly get into Trigger's Broom territory! More importantly, and allowing for it being powered by an X04 motor, it still ran fine. So what to do? Ebay came to the rescue with the purchase of a vintage Crownline detailing kit intended for this very model! I'd been aware of such kits when I was younger but they were well out of range of my pocket money, not to mention skills!
     
    Before tackling the body I thought I'd work on the chassis. There was no point doing anything else if this bit couldn't be made to work properly.
     

     
    On with the brake gear! This already makes a huge difference in my opinion. The gear is a flimsy etch which needs to be glued to the Mazak chassis block. For added peace of mind with regards to short circuits, I first glued very thin acetate to the chassis block, then glued the etches onto that - the idea being that each half of brake gear is totally isolated from both the wheels and the chassis. The kit also includes proper slide bars, to replace the dummy plastic ones on the original model, as well as parts to adapt the piston rods into proper ones that fit into the slide bars.
     
    Next I tacked the main work on the body. This involves some major surgery to the front end, but it's nothing too difficult. The solid deflectors are removed, blanking pieces are fitted in to replace the gap in the casing, and then nice etched deflectors can be fitted over the top. Along the way, the front of the loco, with the smokebox door, is also replaced by a new casting of the right width.
     

     
    Throughout the process I tried to limit damage to the original moulding and paint job, as I felt I would save myself a lot of work if the basic Hornby finish could be preserved. For old time's sake I wanted to keep the name Spitfire.
     

     
    The kit also includes replacement buffer beam and buffers, new castings for the ash-pan and bogie, and some etches to improve the look of various details on the body.
     
    With the major work done, I indulged in some test-running. The loco was hooked up the fairly taxing "Pines Express", which is seven Bachmann mark 1 coaches which are somewhat on the heavy and draggy side. Other than some initial slipping, the Battle of Britain was well up to the task. Once run in, though, I imagine it will rarely be asked to pull such a heavy train.
     
     
    More work followed with the addition of some of the more fragile parts, such as front steps and cylinder pipes. I also used some of the parts intended to improve the tender. Touch-up painting then ensued, using Railmatch malachite which was a fair match to the Hornby shade. To my eye, it looks almost bang-on but the camera inevitably picks up some variation in hue, as evidenced between the body and the deflectors.
     

     
    The model very much still displays its Triang-Hornby heritage around the wheels and rods, but I feel that, taken as a whole, it's now far more at home among the more modern models - a testament to the basic body shape being very good, and in proportion. So there you go - nothing very clever, and very far from finescale modelling, but a nice way to keep an old loco in running condition.
     
    Cheers and thanks for reading.
     
     
     
     
  8. Barry Ten

    A tale of two Blandfords

    By Barry Ten,


    S&D
    It must be about twenty years since Hornby released their improved West Country/Battle of Britain pacifics, supplanting the old triang-era model. I've got four of these nice models, mostly acquired with little thought to region/period suitability. It was only when I started work on Stourpayne Marshall that I started taking a closer look at what I had, and how they might fit in with the S&D theme.
     
    Back in October, with the help of some friendly commenters, I came up with this non-exhaustive list of original condition Bulleid light pacifics as seen on the S&D prior to closure:
     
    4109 Trafford Leigh Mallory
    34040  Crewkerne
    34041 Wilton
    34042 Dorchester
    34043 Combe Martin
    34093 Saunton
    34037 Clovelly
    34044 Woolacomb
    34095 Brentor
    34107 Blandford Forum
    34110 66 Squadron
    34108 Wincanton
    34102 Lapford
    34103 Calstock
    34067 Tangmere
    34079 141 Squadron
    34051 Winston Churchill
    34105 Swanage
     
    and just before closure:
     
    34006 Bude
    34057 Biggin Hill
     
    My models in BR condition were Tangmere, and two Blandford Forums. Tangmere can stay as it is - it wasn't a "regular" on the S&D but it did traverse those hallowed metals at least once, so it gets a pass. Blandford of course suits the line even more so by dint of its name, but what to do with the two models? Ending up with two was an oversight. I'd bought and weathered my own example, then several years later, for some reason, I forgot that I had it and bought one of Lord & Butler's very fine pre-weathered models.
     
    Unfortunately the optons for renumbering Blandford were a bit limited, requiring it to be wide-cab loco with a cut-down tender. Calstock and Lapford were identified as suitable candidates, but there's a bit of a snag with the body. Those Hornby models. like Blandford or Tangmere, that have a town crest or RAF plaque, have it attached via a plastic moulding which plugs into a hole in the bodyside. Lapford and Calstock have just the name, so one is left with the problem of dealing with that hole in the side. I believe Hornby did take care of this with some of their other releases, which had a modified tooling, but I had to work with the models in my possession.
     
    One of the Blandfords would need its nameplate and plaque removed, and the safest best seemed to work with the one I'd worked on, as the weathering was much lighter than on the Lord & Butler example. The plastic mouldings were easily prised-away with the edge of a knife, leaving two holes where the nameplate clipped in, and another for the plaque. I'd ordered some Fox plates (having opted for Calstock) and the etched plate easily fitted over the two holes, meaning they could be left untreated.
     
    The small hole for the plaque posed a more serious problem. I couldn't see any plausible way to use conventional filling and sanding methods without losing both the rivet detail and having to repaint some or all of the body. I didn't fancy that at all! So I opted for a pragmatic approach, aiming to minimise the visual effect of the hole without concealing it completely. The first job was to drip glue-n-glaze into the hole until it filled the cavity, leaving a clear plug. This already looked better. Once I'd added two layers of glue-n-glaze, I then retouched the hole with Railmatch BR green. I felt that this reduced the visual impact of the hole from normal viewing:
     

     
    I felt that this worked well enough that I was happy to continue with the work on transforming Blandford Forum into Calstock. The cab numbers were removed with T-cut, a cotton bud, followed by gentle abrasion with a cocktail stick. I added replacement numbers from the Fox range. The etched plates came with a smokebox number. No other changes were necessary. I must say that these Fox plates are splendid, and the red really pops. It lifts the somewhat drab BR green quite nicely, I feel. 
     
    As for the other Blandford, I've still to add the detailing parts, as well as a decoder, but the excellent L&B weathering should be apparent below:
     

     
    Look at the subtle work around the rivets, and the pale staining between the nameplate and firebox. I find a lot of commercial weathering to be a bit meh, but Adrian seems to get a lot of tonal variety into his models, without obliterating the underlying colours. It's an effect I struggle to achieve when I do my own weathering, so I'm all the more impressed and willing to spend a little more for the quality of the work. I still think this model will benefit from some etched plates, though.
     
    Next in the renumbering queue will be a pair of rebuilt pacifics - but that's another story.
     
    Thanks for reading!
     
     
     
     
     
  9. Barry Ten
    Incredibly, it's 12 months to the day since I posted the first pictures of Stourpayne Marshall on rmweb. As elaborated on at the time, this isn't a new layout, but an identity-swap for my existing GWR-based layout King's Hintock. Using various dodges, King's Hintock can be swapped over to an S&D station (and back again if needed) in about twenty minutes. In the course of the transformation, the station building moves from one side of the tracks to the other, the goods shed is relocated, and the sidings are somewhat truncated.
     

     
    Although still fictitious, Stourpayne Marshall is much more rooted in reality than King's Hintock, as it has a clearly defined location, rather than just somewhere in the West Country. Set on the double track section of the S&D a few miles south of Blandford, its name is a cunning amalgam of the two halts Stourpaine and Durweston (just north of Blandford) and Charlton Marshall (just south). The spelling of Stourpayne rather than Stourpaine is in keeping with fictitious locations on previous layouts, honoring a family name of Payne. The station building and signal box are from the Bachmann models of Shillingstone. The goods shed is from the same range but I've set to see a photo or drawing of the supposed structure at Shillingstone. However, with some added details and weathering it looks in keeping.
     
    The main function of the model was to scratch a long-standing itch to model the S&D, owing to family connections, and I've very much enjoyed the journey so far. Other than the scenic side of the layout, much of the work so far has been directed to recreating specific locos that ran on the line, drawing on the many books and articles which the S&D has attracted. A  certain amount of modeller's license has been applied with regard to period accuracy, however, as the layout's remit is very much about having fun and not being too bothered that this engine couldn't have run with that one, and so on. A case in point is this Fowler 2P which is correctly numbered for an S&D example, but which is carrying early "British Railways" lettering on the tender, which was gone by the mid-50s and so wouldn't have been seen in conjunction with Maunsell coaches in Southern Region green, as hitched behind the equally out-of-period lined maroon GUV below:
     

     
    A similarly lax attitude is taken with regard to Bulleid pacifics, in both original and rebuilt condition.
     
    Having at least some focus has been enjoyable, nonetheless, and it also applies to the two long-distance passenger trains which operate on the layout. No longer are they just any old trains, but one is the northbound Pines Express, and the other the Cleethorpes-Exmouth service. Although very little effort has been made to model accurate formations, at least the trains have a definite identity and a sense of where they are going and coming from. The same applies to the various stopping services which operate on the layout.
     
    Even after a year, there's still much to do. Late last year I started drawing up lists of which Bulleid pacfics would be suitable as renaming candidates for my existing locos, but it's only in the last couple of weeks that I've actually ordered the plates. Having a few S&D stalwarts among the roster will, it's hoped, further cement the line's sense of place. In the meantime, work on the passenger trains continues with a much-needed catering car soon to be added to the Exmouth service.
     
    In addition, although it could equally well apply to the GWR-version of the layout, slow progress has been made on the scenic treatment for the branch junction, which has been looking very unfinished since the major work a few years ago. I must admit, once the electrical side of it was done, and the branch could function as an additional off-scene destination, I was quite happy just to
    enjoy the extra operational possibilities without worrying about how it looked.
     

     
    However, I've vowed that I won't start some major work on the other side of the layout until this area is largely finished, so progress has at last been made over the summer. There's still work to do but it's mostly of the pleasant kind rather than anything too messy.
     

     
    The junction is quite a bucolic sort of place and I look forward to adding greenery around the river banks, before pouring the water. I could have squeezed in another building or two here but I tried to resist the urge, as it's one the parts of the layout where things aren't too busy and I think it would be good to keep it that way.
     
    In addition, there's also been some slow progress on adding some period S&D stock to the layout, for pre-grouping or early Big Four operations. Thanks to Jerry Clifford, I was finally able to complete the decals on this passenger luggage van:
     

     
    There is still much more to be done not just with this vehicle, but with the seven other S&D passenger carriages still to be finished! However, hopefully it will be a inducement to further progress.
     
    Perhaps the obvious thing to ask at the end of this is, when will the layout revert to GWR mode? The truth is that I'm in surprisingly little hurry. There is still much more to be done from an S&D standpoint, and from an aesthetic standpoint, there's something about the current arrangement of the station which actually looks a little more balanced than before. Oddly, it actually works better with the shorter siding - not just from a visual point of view, but also operationally. Having a long siding just meant that it got clogged up with goods vehicles, whereas now some discipline has to be applied and the result is all the better for it.  Having the branch operational, too, allows for a steady flow of traffic on and off the scenic part of the layout. So, for now, the layout is very much remaining as Stourpayne Marshall.
     
    Thanks for reading, and following over the last year.
     
     
     
     
  10. Barry Ten
    After the full brake I showed in the last entry, I cracked on with a second vehicle from the same range of kits, while the build sequence was fresh in my mind. I think it's a composite!
     
    I haven't progressed this second one completely as I'm still puzzling over the roof details, and might want to revisit the first one in the light of better understanding. The kits come with
    four different types of castings representing the set-up for day and night running, but the instructions are frustratingly terse, just telling you that the drawing on the front of the kit is
    running in day-mode, and leaving the modeller to figure out which castings are which and how night-running would work! A little drawing would have cost nothing and saved hours
    of doubt, but hey-ho, such is the way of the great British model railway kit and I suppose it's what we call character-building.
     

     
    Now if I was being clever I'd crack on build the other two, but I felt that I needed a bit of motivation before soldiering on, and anyway I'd run out of wheels for the time being. I'd had the airbrush out in the conservatory for the first time this year, so it seemed like a good ideal to paint and line these two to give me a bit of confidence moving forward - keeping in mind there are also four bogie vehicles to be done at some point.
     
    I don't have any etching primer at the moment, so the models were treated to Halford's white primer, but  being careful to let it bake on for at least 24 hours before applying a colour coat. I don't want to put words into someone's mouth but I recall reading one of the professional painters saying that they got on fine with the Halfords stuff, but it was important to let it dry thoroughly. Once I was happy with the primed coaches, I mixed up some thinned Railmatch S&D prussian blue and applied several very dilute coats over about 24 hours. I was very happy with the way this went on and after five or six coats I felt I was getting the right depth of colour.
     
    The models were then left well alone with another 24 hours and then the lining commenced:
     

     
    I used neat Humbrol enamel gloss yellow from a fresh tinlet (it just so happened that I needed a new tin anyway, but all the books seem to recommend using a fresh tin and it seems sound advice considering the relative costs of paint and kit). I must admit, despite some attempts, I haven't really got to grips with my Bob Moore lining pen, so for these I went back to the bow-pen which has served well enough in the past. I did however, have a bit of breakthrough in terms of technique. In the past I've always loaded up the pen with a decent blob of paint, but then I've found that the flow quickly becomes erratic and the pen needs to be repeatedly opened and cleaned. In Geoff Hayes' book on painting, which I picked up a few weeks ago, he says that you only need to apply a single drop of paint from the end of a cocktail stick, and that even two such drops is too much. Hmm, interesting - and completely counter to what I've been doing, which probably equals about 20 such droplets. I was a tiny bit skeptical about this but I have to say it works splendidly, and  was able to line most of the horizontal bits of these coaches with just a single application - maybe three or four in total for the vertical bits, corners and so on. Better still, because there's such a small amount of paint, most of it gets used and there's very little build-up of dried gunk between the jaws of the pen. Rather than cleaning it properly between each drop, using thinners, I just wiped it clean on tissue and applied another drop. For these coaches, too, I also tried to slow down my drawing of the line, giving the paint time to flow out and not stutter. Although the drawing is slower, the process as a whole goes so much more smoothly that the job is much less time-consuming. taking about 30 minutes per side.
     
    I'd purposely not lined the ventilators as I wasn't decided how to tackle them. Over on Wright's Writes, Ian Rathone helpfully suggested leaving them off on future builds, only adding them after the lining is done - which helps get everything square, too. For these, though, I returned to them tonight and added the lining onto the ventilator itself, which is probably a no-no but looks fine in context and much better than leaving them unlined.
     
    Based on my 7mm S&D stock (see earlier), the droplights should be a reddish-brown colour which I think will add a little something. Then it's on to transfers and door handles etc. Fun!
     
  11. Barry Ten

    S&DJR passenger brake

    By Barry Ten,


    S&D
    A year or two ago I acquired four kits for S&DJR six-wheeled vehicles from the Connoisseur Models range of 4mm "Pocket Money" models. These kits were reduced from the 7mm vehicles in the main Connoisseur range and judging by the packing on mine, date from the 90s.
     
    An evening's work saw the main body put together without too much difficulty. Although I have a rolling bar, I'd misplaced it, so all curves were formed by gentle finger pressure. Once completed,
    I then found the offending rolling bar! The remaining folds were done with a Hold'n'Fold tool.
     

     
    The six-wheeled chassis threatened to be a challenge, but it turned out to go together without much difficulty - and more importantly, it ran!
     
     
    It's probably worth mentioning my non-technical approach for 6 axle stock. Rather than faffing around with compensation, Cleminson underframes and so on, I take a very simplistic approach and just make sure the centre wheelset can go along for the ride, doing no work of supporting the vehicle. Perhaps because I work in 00, and favour RTR coach wheels (Bachmann or Hornby equally good) I find that these vehicles run with no trouble once set up. With this particular one, I didn't fit bearings for the centre axle, just allowing it to slop around in the white metal axlebox castings. The result is a free-running axle which can float around enough to absorb dips and rises in the track, while also allowing ample side-play. Since the axle is doing no mechanical work, and this vehicle will only accumulate very modest mileage on my layout, I don't envisage difficulties with wear - but if that proves to be the case, there are a few options available.
     
    A little more work saw the major elements finished:
     

     
     I don't like the idea of not being able to get back into my coaches once finished, so in this case, I've made a friction-fit arrangement for the roof, so it can be clipped on and off when needed. In his coach-making book David Jenkinson makes use of push-fit roofs, I believe, so I've merely adapted the great man's approach, albeit with more of a bodger's approach!
     
    As an idea of how this model ought to look, when properly finished, I can do no better than show this beautiful 7mm example, purchased at the Bristol O Gauge Show:
     

     
    Being based on the same Connoisseur design, it's been a useful reference when building the 4mm version - although we differ as to which end the steps should be at! In all respects, the design and
    construction appears to be identical, so I imagine if these kits go together well in 4mm, they must be a joy to build in O!
     
    In time these four six-wheeled coaches will be joined by a four-coach rake of S&D bogie stock, from the Mallard range.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  12. Barry Ten
    I've been working on and off on an old EFE Hants and Dorset bus. After opening the bus up and painting the interior, as well as adding people, I wanted
    to make the front axle rock, to help the bus sit nicely on uneven ground. I also wanted to add a slight turn to the wheels, which I think always makes for
    a more interesting look.
     
    The rocking mod is quite simple and I've done similar jobs on kit-built road vehicles as well.
     

     
    First, the existing axle was discarded and the wheels put aside. I had to use a bit of force to get the wheels off. I then used two lengths of brass rod to solder up a cross-shaped rocker. One arm is the axle, and the other the bit that rocks! The axle ends were then sleeved in plastic rod to get a snug fit back into the wheels, with a "turn" added to each wheel by bending the ends of the rod. The other arm of the brass rod was also sleeved, to allow the rocking motion. I cut a cross-shaped rebate into the bottom of the plastic chassis and then glued the rocking arm in place with small dabs of cyano, so as not to gum everything up. Only a small rocking motion is necessary to cope with typical undulations.
     
    And here's the proof of the pudding!
     
     
    I'm not sure I'd bother doing this for a car, but with buses and lorries,  I reckon it's a worthwhile touch which isn't too hard to arrange.
     
     
     
  13. Barry Ten
    As mentioned in the Paynestown topic, I was a bit underwhelmed with the slow speed running of the Dapol N pannier. So, determined to give it a proper run-in, I temporarily back-converted the Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern to DC and let the pannier do many laps (nearly 3 scale miles each time). The running did improve, but that's another story. While I had the layout connected up to a DC controller, I remembered a little 009 loco that had been in my possession for 18 years, but which had barely turned a wheel.
     
    Flash back to 2003: when my wife and I lived in the Netherlands, we often enjoyed visits to the Valkenburg narrow gauge museum and railway:
     
    https://stoomtreinkatwijkleiden.nl/en/
     
    It's a great little museum, situated next to a fine cafe/restaurant (which changed hands several times while we were there, but which was always worth the trip) and
    near enough to our house that it was within cycling distance if we were feeling adventurous. The museum hosted a narrow gauge model railway exhibition from
    time to time and I visited one of these in the aforementioned 2003. The Dutch are very into Welsh narrow gauge so there was a strong representation of British
    themes, as well as some UK-based models and a presence by the 009 society. 
     
    After enjoying the exhibition, I was tempted by one or two goodies on the second-hand stall. The idea was to possibly add a narrow gauge feeder line to my then-layout,
    still based in the Netherlands. For various reasons that never came close to happening, but I did acquire a small 0-4-2T loco and two coaches. 
     
    Subsequent research has established that the loco is a Roxey model of a Kerr Stuart type sold to Hampton waterworks, while the coaches are I think Dundas models,
    possibly WHR types, although I must check.
     
    There were a few problems, though. First the loco barely ran, which is why it got put aside for 18 years. I also managed to lose part of the pony truck. But, spurred
    on by the Dapol pannier, I took another look at it. Once the wheels and pickups were cleaned, the loco grumbled into life, powered by an Ibertren chassis. A little
    lubrication also helped, followed by lots of running-in which gradually saw the performance moving from dreadful, to acceptable, to - actually, that's getting quite
    good now!
     

     
    There was still an occasional tendency to stall, not helped by running it on deeply ballasted Code 55 track (i've a feeling it would be fine on Peco 009), so I added a couple of extra pickups to the restored pony truck, visible below:
     

     
    One painted black, I think these will be nicely inconspicuous.
     
    Speaking of paint, the loco was quite well assembled but the paint was a roughly applied shade of unfetching light green. Since I had no plans to do anything prototypical with this model, I decided to cut back the paint and reapply a gloss blue of my own choosing, the idea being that the Kerr Stuart has been sold into private usage.
     
    The coaches were well assembled, but alas very poorly painted, with splodges of cream all over the glazing. I couldn't get this off to any satisfactory extent, so I bit the bullet and carefully removed the roofs and a sub-ceiling, thereby allowing the glazing to be removed and discarded. The cream part of the panelling was redone in BR cream, and then the lower part, which had been brown, was redone in the same blue as the loco. Glazing was then reinstated and the roof temporarily balanced back in place.
     

     
    This shows the first carriage to be so treated, with the second one still being worked on. It's a bit of a cheat as the rear one is only running on three axles! At some point I've lost a wheel. That was when I discovered that N wheels aren't any good as the axles are shorter. So, a new wheel will need to be obtained! Various bits of damage to roofs and step-boards are also being attended to.
     
    I rather like the setting above, as although the train is posed on N scenery purporting to be somewhere in Georgia, it could just as easily be somewhere in North Wales. Where will this lead? Who knows ... but
    some ideas are quietly brewing.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  14. Barry Ten
    I'm building an N version of my old 4mm Paynestown layout, in anticipation of the Sonic Models 56xx tanks. The new layout will
    be about half the size of the old and uses Code 40 Finetrax components for the points and plain track.
     
    In the previous exciting installment I showed some laid and partly ballasted track. Well, hold onto your horses, because here's
    some more laid and partly ballasted track.
     

     
    At last I've got the basic essentials done, in that there's now a functioning run-round loop. I must admit I had to force myself to push on as I neared this stage, as making
    and installing the points was becoming just a little repetitious, and I was starting to make excuses rather than go into the modelling den. But Dunkirk spirit etc and I
    dug deep and got the most tedious stuff done, at least for now.  A headshunt and a couple of sidings are still to be added, but they're not difficult.
     
    The blue board, in case it's not obvious, is one of those 4 x 2 insulation panels, so hopefully gives an idea of the size of the thing, and how it can be easily accommodated
    on a single board. In fact, I'm giving serious thought to making the whole thing, including the fiddle yard, as one unit - say somewhere between 5 and 6 feet long, I know
    4 feet is generally considered the sensible upper limit for layout modules, but I think - in this case - being able to have the whole layout in one piece, would be worth the
    slightly extra hassle of it being a somewhat long single module. My P51D wing, incidentally, is 53 inches long so I've got quite used to handling that without clonking it
    on things.  Having an integral fiddle yard would eliminate a whole raft of other layout issues, such as track joints and electrical connectivity, so I think it's well worth
    pursuing, especially as train lengths will be nicely short.
     

     
    At the moment, the foamcore sub-base is just resting on the blue stuff as I haven't quite decided what sort of angle I want it to make as it cuts across the scene. As you'll note from
    the shadow, there's also now a sub-frame to the foamcore, but again just more of the same stuff, partly to stiffen it as it got longer, but also because I needed some depth under
    the boards to add the electromagnets. I've installed one so far, and I'm pleased with how reliably it works with the DGs. I'm less convinced that the delayed action will be 100%
    reliable, so as a precautionary measure, I'm going to put in enough electromagnets to enable all shunting moves to be done with or without the delayed action. It'll be nice
    if it works, then, but not a show-stopper if it doesn't. We don't use delayed action on Dave's Sherton Abbas and I don't think anyone's ever missed it - it just means a few more
    magnets dotted around.
     
    As a point of comparison, here's the old Paynestown at an early state of construction, on the same bit of lawn 11 years ago!
     

     
    The differences, and similarities, should be reasonably evident. The old layout was built on a rather severe curve due to me having some old Peco curved turnouts I
    wanted to use up, whereas the new one is on a more gentle alignment. I don't think one's better than the other, but the straight geometry of the Finetrax points
    obviously made it easier to keep things straighter, notwithstanding the one point I built on a curve. The bay is still in place, and I'm aiming to have a similar
    covered carriage shed - Ratio do one in N - which I think looked good on the original. The station building this time will be parallel to the platform, not
    at a right angle to it. And rather than an engine shed on one of the kickback sidings, there'll be a covered goods shed. The engine shed was derived from an
    even older layout, but it turned out not to have as much play value as I hoped, as other than moving a loco in and out there wasn't much to be done with it. I
    can't remember now but I think possible there was an option to drop a coal wagon or two off at the stage, but in any case I think it'll be better if that siding
    is now purely for goods services. At the moment, I'm undecided about the road which passed under the platforms on the original. It looked good from most
    angles, but it was a bit a problem head-on as I had to cut a hole in the backscene so that the road didn't seem to disappear into subterranean gloom. As
    an additional factor, the point operating switches and so on might mean that a road wouldn't be as easy to arrange as before, but we'll see. I'm very much
    one for not planning too much in advance, just sucking and seeing as I go along.
     
    But - but - there's one possibility which I will need to either incorporate or dismiss at an early stage. Take a look at that pristine sheet of 4 x 2, and imagine 
    Paynestown cutting through it on a higher level, at some diagonal angle. Now what about an entire loop of track at the lower level, with the back half hidden,
    but the front making a gentle arc through the scene? Plenty of valleys towns were served by two stations, often at different levels, so the temptation to
    add a Paynestown Riverside or Paynestown Low Level is quite high! The lower station wouldn't be more than a halt, but with a pair of controllers, or a DPDT
    switch, it would be a way to keep something moving at all times. Between moves on the top level, or when a train's being made up in the fiddle yard, a DMU
    or auto-train could pootle around on the lower level. Another factor is that I rather over-calculated how much Code 40 plain track I'd need, so there's plenty
    left over!
     
    Finally, for now, some thought's been given to the final structure and framing of the layout, with an eye on keeping it all as light as possible. At the moment I
    can pick up the entire terminus between thumb and forefinger! Obviously that won't last as stuff gets added, but I'm very keen to use foamcore and extruded
    foam as much as possible, and (if I can) no wood at all. To that end, a friend's kindly doing some batches of fibre-glass reinforced foamcore for me, to get a feel
    for how much extra durability the glassing imparts. It seems that a single layer of glass-cloth is enough to armour the foamcore against dents, which may be
    all that's needed - it's not about structural strength, so much as protecting the foam against knocks and dents as it's transported. Anyway, it looks promising
    so far.
     
     
     
  15. Barry Ten
    I'm building an N version of my old 4mm Paynestown layout, in anticipation of the Sonic Models 56xx tanks. The new layout will
    be about half the size of the old and uses Code 40 Finetrax components for the points and plain track.
     
    With the fourth point to be constructed, I wanted to add a bit of a curve to help with an overall bend in the platform road, partly to
    get away from everything being too linear, and also to make the best use of available layout width. Running track through a scene
    at a diagonal, and/or with a curve in it, gives you more length compared to the linear dimensions of the module. Obvious really
    but it's surprising how often exhibition layouts are built with all the track dead parallel to the baseboard edges.
     

     
    I wouldn't have attempted this on my first go at building these kits, but with the fourth one enough confidence was creeping in that I felt I could experiment a bit. I began with the basic Finetrax turnout base and then used a rotary cutting disk in my mini-drill to introduce slits between the sleepers at about every fourth sleeper or so, going about three quarters of the way across the turnout, creatint a sort of comb that could be gently bent. I did this after I'd added the stock and check rails because I felt they'd add a bit strength when the base was at its flimsiest. Once I was happy with the general shape of the turnout I glued it to a sub-base of foam core for the rest of the assembly. Everything else went smoothly and I then dropped the turnout and sub-base back into the main module. Test running hasn't yet thrown up any problems: the sharper route through the turnout is indeed very sharp but as this is the entry to a siding, I don't think it'll throw up any difficulties as only short-wheel base stock will be propelled through it.
     
    One thing I've leaned with these kits so far is that it's critical to get a smooth transition between the cast frog and the four rails that approach it. I was finding that the frogs had a tendency to sit slightly too high, at least the way I was building them. Although the difference might just be a few fractions of a mm, and would barely register in 4mm, I found that it was discernible in N and even if it didn't affect the running, there was a bit of a lumpy look when stock was running through. To get around this, I've taken to easing the frog down into the base with a slight touch from the soldering iron, just until it sits absolutely flush. Where I'd already fixed the frog in place and soldered the approach rails, I used a grinding wheel and files just to skim a bit off the top of the frog. Again, we're only talking tiny measures here.
     
    Oddly enough I didn't have any worries with the first point, so perhaps I just took more care over that one! But with the others, I've been keeping a careful eye on the frogs. I've now started building the crossover for the engine release, which will be the last set of points needed.
     

     
     
     
  16. Barry Ten
    Since this layout is hoped to work as a branch terminus, some consideration needs to be given to a hands-off coupling system. I used Spratt & Winkles
    on the big Paynestown, and while these are available in 2mm, I can't say I remember seeing them in use. More to the point, I find them enough of
    a pain to set up in 4mm, so it wasn't a road I necessarily wanted to go down again.
     
    I'd liked the look of DG couplings so while I wasn't sure how I'd get on with them, I thought it was worth the relatively small investment of a couple
    of etches and wire from Wizard Models.
     

     
    This Toad was the first recipient. It took me about three goes and most of an evening to form a working coupling, and then I carried on and made a few more, enabling a short train to be formed. After some tests, I found that I was struggling to get the loops to engage with each other so following what others seem to do, I only fitted a loop at one end of each vehicle. Trains will never be turned around so provided stock is marshalled correctly at the start of operation, it should all work.
     
    There is a clever little delay latch in the DG design which allows stock to be uncoupled and propelled, much as with S&Ws. This is the bit I found I trickiest as the latch has to fall back into position on its own, and I found mine were tending to stick in the vertical. How they work in reality will have to wait until I have some electromagnets in place. A test over Kadee magnets on the American layout seemed encouraging, though.
     

     
    This Bachmann Farish 64XX has had a hook and loop fixed at the rear, which I think is relatively satisfactory compared to the original Rapido job. At the front, there only needs to be a hook so the effect will be better.
     
    Incidentally I acquired the Bachmann loco because I wasn't at all happy with the running of the Dapol 57XX, and wouldn't have had confidence to proceed if the Dapol one represented a typical benchmark for a tank loco in N. Happily the 64XX is by far the better runner, with smooth starts and an ability to plod around quite nicely at shunting speeds. After lockdown, I'll ask a mate to look at the Dapol one for me as he has a lot more experience of N mechanisms and may be able to diagnose why it's not capable of the same performance. I gather these Dapol models aren't too bad so mine must be a rogue of some kind. It's a pity as the detailing is excellent.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  17. Barry Ten

    Adventures in Code 40

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    It's a start, at least:
     

     
     
    The reason I've built this Code 40 point, from the Finetrax kit, is that I'm hatching a plan to redo my old layout Paynestown, except in N rather than 00.
     

     

     
    The idea isn't to copy it slavishly but to end up with something with the same basic design of elevated track and valleys architecture. The
    track plan of Paynestown was satisfying to operate so I've planning something very similar, the main difference being that the release
    crossover won't be on a curve this time.
     
    The scenic part of Paynestown was about 7 feet long so the idea is to accommodate the entire scenic portion in about 4 foot in N, on a single
    lightweight board.
     
    Why didn't I do it in N originally? Partly because the idea was to use up a surplus of old track and buildings, but also because the signature
    loco - the 56XX - was only available in 4mm in RTR. The Sonic Models 56XX, of which I've got two on order, was the motivation to start thinking
    about this new version of Paynestown.
     
    Since the layout only required six points on the scenic part, I was minded to try a finer scale approach than Peco Code 55, so a set of Finetrax
    point kits, rail parts and jigs was acquired.
     
     
    Control will be DC, at least initially, with DG couplings and electriomagnets for operation. Paynestown could be operated hands-off so that
    will be the intention.
     
    There is no timescale for this project, so developments will be intermittent.
  18. Barry Ten
    My track building program continues apace, with half of the turnouts now constructed and fitted!
     
    I thought i'd have a go at ballasting the completed section, to see how I got on with a slightly different
    technique to what I'd normally use in 4mm. Rather than sprinkle on the ballast dry, then wet it and
    add PVA, I used a small brush to puddle areas of PVA between the sleepers (a few at time) and then
    sprinkled the ballast onto that. I felt it was more controllable, especially given the way the sleepers are
    moulded into the turnout base. It's not an original method as I seem to remember Captain Kernow
    uses a similar approach on his wonderful layouts.
     
    I used normal ballast of the type employed on my American layout. Now I know the clever thing would
    probably have been to order some Chinchilla dust, but for the sake of this little module I didn't want
    to end up with yet another bag of ballast material - I get them mixed up enough as it is.
     

     
    The ballasting of the points was quite satisfying to do, and far less messy than the usual approach 
    in fact I did it on my lap, listening to the radio - the benefits of working on such a small module. Once
    I'd done a bit, I just tipped the layout upside to dislodge any loose particles into the bin, I was using
    such tiny amounts that it wasn't worth recollecting them. The track was cleaned, and a test run
    done using a couple of locos, just to make sure all was well.
     

     
    I've touched a bit of paint to the rail sides but the sleepers will also be painted in due course. I'm never sure which is best - paint
    then ballast, or ballast then paint. Whichever way you do it, there's always a bit of touching up to be done later.
     
  19. Barry Ten
    I had another go at building a point on Monday evening, hoping I'd be able to do one in its entirety from start to finish. I didn't' quite succeed, though, but
    only a few bits were left to be done on Tuesday.
     
    With two points in place, it was time to sort out the frog switching:
     

     
    I ordered some small sliding SPDT switches from ebay. I drilled a small hole in the plastic switch and then glued the SPDT down over the wire running
    to the tiebar. With the switch then soldered to the rail feeds and frog wire, the polarity change-over worked perfectly. Not getting involved in point motors,
    and all the wiring that comes with them, is a big plus on a small module like this.
     

     
    I thought I'd try this Bachmann 2-8-0 through the points as it's a bit of a picky runner where bad trackwork is concerned. This was not necessarily a good thing! I'm testing the layout
    with a very unsophisticated Trix DC controller which I normally just use for throwing points and testing motors. The Dapol pannier runs like a jack-rabbit on that controller, but
    the Bachmann 2-8-0 was capable of very smooth stop/starts and very nice slow running, which had me wondering whether I ought to build the module as an Appalachian coal mine
    instead! But I'm pretty sure the Dapol engine was OK on a decent controller, when I first tested it, so hopefully the performance will perk up when I wire in the "proper" controller.
     
    I think the Bachmann engine has an advantage as it's fitted with a dual-mode DCC decoder, so presumably the jerky low voltage control of the Trix unit gets smoothed out somewhere
    in the DCC circuitry. In any case, the loco didn't have any trouble through the pointwork so again I'm confident about pushing forward.
     
     
     
     
     
  20. Barry Ten
    Before I press on with the construction of the other points on the Paynestown 2 project, I felt I'd gain a lot of confidence if I could test the first one thoroughly.
     
    To that end, I've begun building a small section of the final layout on foam core, which - if all goes well - can be integrated into the rest of it later on. Provided
    it's treated properly, foamcore is exellently stable, as the scenic modules I built for my American layout 10 years ago are still perfectly straight. So i've no qualms
    about using this material as the basic foundation for the track. In fact, I plan to go further and build much of the baseboard from the same material, albeit
    with strengthening against damage.
     

     
     
    This point is the entry into the bay on Paynestown. Immediately preceding it will be a right hand turnout, but for testing purposes I've lightly glued in a short stretch
    of track to give the loco a run-up to the point. The intention here is that all the wiring and point control will be arranged above the board, with operation from the rear.
    There'll be a steep retaining wall between the loco and the wiring here, with a hillside on top of that. Strips of copper clad serve as "north" and "south" rail buses, 
    which should keep everything reasonably organised.
     

     
    Point actuation is to be manual, using wire in tube as shown here. I've added an Omega loop to absorb any extra travel, with the intention being to work the point via an SPDT sliding
    toggle switch, with the actuating wire going through a small hole in the sliding switch. I'm copying this from Marc Smith's layouts which I've operated and which work well. I like
    the idea of keeping this layout as simple and clean as possible, so no under-layout wiring and no point motors etc. Although there might end up being electromagnets.
     
    At the moment the frog polarity isn't switched, but touching the frog wire to one or other of the bus rails proves that the frog is working as desired. The Dapol pannier shown here
    won't traverse the point unless the frog is live. In all other respects the point seems to be working properly so I'm confident about building the remaining ones.
     
    The little Dapol engine has barely been out of its box since I bought it about 8 years ago so I was pleased when it whirred it life very happily. Together with the 56xxs it will be an
    important part of the operating roster.
     
  21. Barry Ten
    Some recent low-stress modelling on Stourpayne Marshall:
     

     
    This Bachmann Jinty was renumbered to a Bath example and then weathered. It came with "British Railways" lettering which I was reluctant to remove, even though I don't have any evidence that this particular loco carried that scheme. A number of S&D locos did, though, right through until 1953 or so, so it's not obviously out of place.
     
    It runs smoothly, and incredibly quietly, but I can''t get it to start and stop at as low a speed setting as I'd like with the decoder  - some tweaking is called for as I suspect
    it's down to motor feedback variables and so on.
     

     
    In this picture the Jinty has just arrived with the branch goods, coming in off the junction to the south of the station.
     
    This branch has really added to the play-value of the layout, I've found. It gives a reason for shunting the goods yard and enables stock
    to be swapped between sessions, adding to the variety.  With the run-round facilities at the station, the typical train is just six wagons
    and a brake. Longer trains can be run-round, but it becomes a bit of a faff as the engine has to use the junction itself, rather than remaining
    within the station area.
     
    What happens after the yard has been shunted is that an up goods will then arrive on the main and do some picking up and dropping off
    of its own. Down goods can also collect  or drop off wagons from the yard, Last week I added a couple more uncoupling magnets which now
    means that - in theory - it can be all be done hands-off. And 90% of the time, the Spratt & Winkles play ball. Now and then there's a sticky
    coupling or an unwanted uncoupling incident, but the reliability is good enough to be satisfying to me.
     
    Onto the goods shed:
     

     
     
    As mentioned in an earlier post, I wasn't all that enamoured of the Bachmann model out of the box. I felt that the doors were clumsy, and there was something wonky about
    the windows on the front, especially the one on the left. It's not also clear to me what the building is based on, as I've yet to see drawings or photos of the Shillingstone shed,
    and it's certainly not extant now. Someone suggested that it looked very like the Midsomer Norton building.
     
    Whatever, it doesn't really matter as the layout isn't meant to be Shillingstone, so as long as it can be made to look semi-plausible in its setting, it'll be fine.
     
    In any case the doors and their associated sliding fixtures were removed and disposed of, and new ones made up from plastic card, as seen above. They're much less chunky
    than the originals and the slidey-bits are also a little finer. I also made sure that the slides were level, as that wasn't the case with the original.
     
    However, I do need to add a strip along the base of the doors that cover the railed entrances, as there's a bit too much of a gap at the bottom. I made the mistake of taking the
    measurements off the originals.
     
     

     
    I also addressed the windows, which didn't turn out to be too hard. The more wonky of the two was the one on the left, which had a distinct lean to the right. After removing the window, I could see that the plastic glass hadn't been trimmed back neatly to the etched frame, so that it couldn't sit straight even if it wanted to.  That took care of some of the lean, and the rest of it was addressed by gently grinding away some of the resin around the window recess, creating just enough room to let it sit vertically. This results in a slight gap between the stonework and the window, but it's barely worth the trouble of filling in, so I'll likely not bother.
     
    The right window was addressed similarly, but needed less correction.
     
    The stonework on the recessed portions still has a bit of a slope to it, for some reason, but it draws the eye much less than the wonky windows. All in all, I was very happy with how easy it was to fix this most glaring fault with the model.
     
    In earlier shots of the goods yard, there's sometimes been a Provender store tucked next to the shed. As much as I liked the store, and it did seem to sit quite well in that position, I've now decided to leave it out. Not only did it block the road access to the shed, but I think the yard needs to be given as much room to breathe as possible. It's a shame as I'd really like to include the store somewhere, but perhaps something will eventuate in the future.
     

     
    With the shorter main siding of the layout in this configuration, the more space the better.
     

     
    I quite like this sleepy, not-much-happening view of the yard. Although the wagon capacity is down compared to King's Hintock, there's still plenty of space for some interesting shunting sessions.
     

     

     
    The last two views, above, show developments on the down platform. I'd cheated a bit with the valencing on the shelter, using "horizontal" valencing on the sloping sides, but that's now been corrected and although it's a small touch, I think it helps with the model.
     
    The other structures seen here are all very much open to being removed or reworked. The gents toilet is the Wills kit cut down, and with a tin roof added, but I don't think it really works in this context. Presumably the passengers would have been expected to make use of the facilities attached to the main building on the up platform, rather than the gents having a urinal all to themselves. What do you think?
     
    I've also added some lamp huts, since I had a pack of Wills ones going spare. These are GWR pattern ones I believe, but the Southern used reasonably similar looking structures (as in corrugated sides and a curved roof) so I feel they'll do the job for the time being, especially once they've been properly painted and weathered.  I found a photo of an example at Ropley which was painted overall green rather than cream and green, so that's what I've gone for. I think what will happen eventually is that the toilet will go, and the greenhouse and cold frames (see above, next to the Jinty) will end up more or less in the same position as the urinal, on this side of the fencing rather than beyond it.
     
    Lots to think about anyway, but all good fun in the end.
     
    Thanks for reading!
  22. Barry Ten

    Stourpayne Marshall - 7Fs

    By Barry Ten,


    S&D
    7Fs are vital for any representation of the S&D so plans have long been afoot to make sure the layout can call on a number of these fine, versatile locomotives.
     

     
    Shown above are  a Bachmann example, and a DJH one of which more anon. Two more are in the works - another Bachmann, and a large-boilered DJH.
     
    Back when I started thinking about the layout, the Bachmann model was a distant gleam in the future, with the two main options besides scratchbuilding being
    the DJH kit and the Gibson one. I think I may have seen a resin kit for the 7F body on a Hornby 8F chassis at some point as well.
     
    I discounted the Gibson one as it wasn't in production at the time, and to be honest an all-brass loco would have been a bit of a stretch for my skills. But I'd
    built a couple of DJH locos so I thought might be able to make a fist of their kit, even though I'd never built anything with valve gear or more than three
    axles!
     
    Fate intervened, however, with the option to buy a ready-made small-boilered 7F on the second hand market, along with an unbuilt kit for the large boiler
    variant. The unweathered loco in the above shot, 53808 (but we'll come to that!) is the DJH one and it turned out to be built to what I'd call a reasonable, if
    not brilliant, standard. The smokebox door was crooked, and the front bit of the tender isn't square-on with the sides. Other than that, though, the main
    body and cab were OK, and paint job was fine. Running was a bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. Initially it wouldn't go through the tighter route of Peco
    curved turnouts, due to insufficient side-play. But this turned out to be easily resolved by adjusting the main gear's position on the axle, which was too
    far over to the one side, effectively giving the loco lots of side-play in one direction but not much in the other. Pickups seemed OK. The loco didn't run
    all that smoothly, though, and I wasn't happy with the Portescap gearbox/motor as supplied, which was horribly noisy. I fitted a decoder, ran the loco for
    a few days, then decided I just couldn't get on with the Portescap's constant graunchy whirring. Luckily, I had a DJH AM10 gearbox going spare. I managed
    to swap it in fairly easily without having to remove the motion bracket or cylinders, aided by the drive being onto the third axle. If it had been onto the
    first, it would have been a far tougher job. I was pleased to see that the running was now much quieter and steadier. But with that improvement, I became
    aware of a tight-spot which had been masked by all the other issues before. It looked as if one of the crosshead spindles hadn't been trimmed to length
    properly, with the result that it was clonking the front of the cylinder! To cut a long story short I managed to shorten the spindle and was pleased to see
    all but a small residual tight-spot which I haven't yet diagnosed, but which disappears above an absolute crawl. It might be slight non-concentricity of the 
    gear, rather than anything to do with the motion. But I must admit, were I building this loco myself, I would have hoped to eliminate both these problems 
    before continuing. However, the main thing is that the loco will now plod around with a nice goods train which it couldn't do before. I also added extra
    pickups to the front bogie, eliminating a slight tendency to stall on occasion, probably due to an over-rigid chassis (again, with mine, i open out one or more
    of the bearing sets to allow a tiny degree of axle float).
     
    So we've got another smooth-running 7F to join its Bachmann stablemate? Well, not quite! As far as I understand things, 53808 was one of the later series of
    locos which were initially fitted with large boilers, of which some reverted to the small boiler, but always with the left hand drive. However, the DJH boiler casting
    is for the earlier, right-hand drive series, with the associated plumbing on the right side of the boiler. At the very least, then, again as I understand it, 53808
    is an inappropriate number, so I've tentatively earmarked 53801 for this loco. But the fun doesn't end there, because the reversing lever has been fitted to the
    left hand side, not the right! Unfortunately, then, it isn't going to be a case of simple renumbering, but some remedial work on the body itself. How easy it will
    be to remove and re-fit the reversing lever remains to be seen!
     
    These problems aside, the DJH model sits quite nicely next to the Bachmann one, I think. The DJH boiler details are poorly defined, and there's a slight different of
    opinion about the degree of drop on the front of the running plate, with the Bachmann one being more accurate, but it's surprising how a smooth-running mechanism
    can make a model go up in one's estimation. I look forward to sorting out the details, renumbering and weathering this one. Then it'll be onto the large-boilered 7F,
    which Bachmann have never done, which should add a bit of variety.
     
     
     
     
     
     
  23. Barry Ten
    I decided to crack on and get the DJH 7F back into correct right hand drive condition!
     
    As mentioned in the previous post, the model as acquired by me was a bit of a dog's dinner in that it
    had been incorrectly numbered in the 1925, left-hand drive series, whereas the DJH castings are only
    good for the first batch of locos, with small boilers and right--hand drive. However, the model had somehow
    ended up with the reversing lever on the "wrong" side for the boiler, so it was neither one thing nor the
    other!
     
    Here's the result after a couple of evening's remedial work: 
     

     
    OK. it's not pretty - but the scars will soon disappear beneath another coat of black! Relocating the reversing lever was a pain, and resulted in total destruction of the white metal castings
    and linkage for the lifting arms (to which the lever had been incorrectly attached - it wouldn't work that way) so after the damage was inflicted, I rebuilt the necessary details in brass. It's
    all very "looks OK from 3 feet away" but that was also true of the DJH bits so it's no worse than before, and at least it's on the correct side. in reality, the reversing lever tucks down between
    the frames a short distance aft of the visible part of the linkage, so this is how I've now fixed it.
     
    While I was it ait, I also filed off most of the pipework on the front of the boiler, which was too wimpy to look the part. I think it's a vacuum ejector, but whatever it is, the DJH representation
    was too low-relief compared to what is a prominent piece of plumbing, and very evident in photos of 7Fs. The details were rebuilt using brass, wire and plastic, and a fair bit of squinting not
    just at photos, but also the Bachmann model. I know, shoot me. I also removed the handrails along the boiler, as on the real thing they did double-duty as a thicker pipe, so a replacement was
    made up from brass and split pins.
     
    I mentioned a lingering tight spot in the chassis. I couldn't live with it, so further dismantling ensued. The basic 0-8-0 chassis ran freely with just the coupling rods, so the problem had to be in the motion somewhere, but it was a real swine to spot. Eventually I realised that one of the connecting rods was just contacting the motion bracket during its travel, just enough to add a bit of resistance at slow speed, but which was smoothed out once the loco was running normally. I filed back some extra clearance and all was well. There's still a small cyclic tendency in the running at low speed, but it can only be in the gearing, so I'm assuming it will "improve with running-in" as Railway Modeller always promised would happen. Weirdly, although I filed a flat spot onto the driving axle for the grub screw, i found that the running got a bit better when I eased it "off" the flat spot. Go figure!
     
     
     
     
  24. Barry Ten
    Westward Ho, above: seemingly not a regular on the S&D.
     
    I've seen lists of the Bulleid WC and BoB classes which ran on the S&D, but I can never find them when I want them. As much for my own reference purposes as anything else, as I look to renaming some of my examples of these locos, I thought I'd have a go at compiling a non-exhaustive list.
     
    I went through all four volumes of Ivo Peters' photo albums on the S&D in the 50s and 60s and noted all the WC/BoB classes I could find, in both "unrebuilt" and rebuilt condition.
     
    The majority are the unrebuilt locos, listed here in rough order of initial appearance in the volumes:
     
    34109 Trafford Leigh Mallory
    34040  Crewkerne
    34041 Wilton
    34042 Dorchester
    34043 Combe Martin
    34093 Saunton
    34037 Clovelly
    34044 Woolacomb
    34095 Brentor
    34107 Blandford Forum
    34110 66 Squadron
    34108 Wincanton
    34102 Lapford
    34103 Calstock
    34067 Tangmere
    34079 141 Squadron
    34051 Winston Churchill * see comments
    34105 Swanage * see comments
     
     
    and just before closure:
     
    34006 Bude
    34057 Biggin Hill
     
    The Rebuilt locos that I noted were:
     
    34039 Boscastle
    34028 Eddystone
    34042 Dorchester
    34046 Braunton
    34029 Lundy
    34045 Ottery St Mary * see comments
     
    I made no distinction between locos which were regulars, and those which only showed once or twice, as any loco that ran over the S&D at any point is fair
    game to me in modelling terms. If anyone has any further observations, such as engines that didn't appear in the Peters volumes,  or which I may have missed,
    I'd be happy to add them,
     
    I have currently acquired two of Hornby's 34107, so I'm looking at carefully at renaming options based on the cab type and tender. My other unrebuilt loco
    in BR condition is Tangmere, which does appear in the list, albeit as a rare visitor. I may look at renumbering it to a more typical example. As for my three
    rebuilt members, I don't think any of them are suitable as they stand, so they'll join the queue as well.
     
    The Bulleid Society has a very useful table showing build details and modification dates for the class:
     
    https://www.bulleidsociety.org/OVS_Bulleid/OVSB_Light_Pacifics.html
     
    I'd also recommend Graham Muspratt's very handy blog pages, for the ins-and-outs on deflector types, cabs and so on, and how to model them.
     
    https://grahammuz.com/
     
     
  25. Barry Ten
    A minor digression into drawbars, here.
     
    Hornby's Rebuilt West Country/Battle of Britain models are nice products, with a couple of annoying quirks. The first and worst of these is that
    they're prone to gear failures, at least the ones produced in the early batches. I ended up with three, and after a few years two of them were
    both non-runners due to various issues. Hornby's repair department was no help at all, which I found very disappointing as they are by no means
    old models, and the Rebuilts have been in the catalogue relatively recently.
     
    Anyway, Ian at Redgate Models did a fine job with the models and while they were away I asked him to install sound as well. As a result I
    got my two Bulleids back in fine working order.
     
    The second quirk is less bothersome, but still annoying: the excessive loco-tender gap. See below:
     

     
    This is hideous, and unnecessary. Hornby did a much better job with the earlier Bulleids, so why this ridiculous gap? I've no idea but it makes them look daft, in my view. The gap is at least a scale foot too wide.
     
    I've tackled this in two ways. With the sound equipped locos, I didn't want to lose the extra pickup connections between the loco and tender, so I set about modifying the existing electrical drawbar. First, I unscrewed it, then unsoldered the two small wires which feed the two track polarities across the gap. By elongating the hole which the screw goes through, I was able to move the drawbar about 2mm nearer to the loco. I then made the hole round again by soldering a bit of scrap etch over it and filing it back to shape, effectively moving the hole. I had to nibble a bit away from the loco end of the drawbar for clearance. The connections were then re--soldered and the loco tested, and found to be all well. 
     
    As shown below, the gap is now closed by about 2mm - small, but enough to make a difference.
     

     
    I could probably get another mm or so out of it, but there's a complication here in that the sound in the tender needs an extra plug-in connection between loco and tender, for which the space is already tight. One possibility might be to substitute a slightly smaller plug but as it is, I feel that it's enough of improvement to be going on with.
     
    With my first Bulleid, however, the one that never developed a fault, I was happy to lose the electrical connection and substitute a dummy drawbar from plastic:
     

     
    This one has never given any trouble with pickup from just the loco alone, and with the gap closed by another 4mm, the relationship looks pretty close to photos. However, I'm not sure that the sound-fitted locos would be as reliable as they are without the extra pickups. 
     
    The remaining loco will get the shortened drawbar treatment, and then I'll be allocating new names and numbers to two or three of these,
     
    Thanks for reading!
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