Gallows Close

This is truely epic Ron. Not only are your buildings eyewatering in their scale and complexity (not to mention excellence), but the very nature of placing them in to a scene on the layout now also requires it's own appreciation. Can't wait to see it coming together "on the ground" Best wishes, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, I just noticed how long it is since I did anything with the Class 307 - August last year Over the last couple of days I have been busy finishing off the driving trailer brake. This involved moving the guard's van from behind the cab to the other end of the unit. A pantograph well has then been created above the van area. All joints are glued using plastic weld, as this gives a strong bond and allows some repositioning time. Getting the two parts square is of paramount importance. With this completed I was able to fill the two surplus windows on each side. I place a thin piece of plasticard behind each window to be filled and once set, I fill with Superfine Milliput. After a good long hardening time I then rub down with P180 Wet & Dry, before finishing with a finer grade. With the pantograph well created I needed to make a new end for the coach. This was again done with plasticard - At this time I have not fitted the gangways, as I want to make them all batch style to ensure consistency. The pantograph itself will get a makeover in a future post. The roof was sanded smooth after carefully salvaging the air horns and ventilators for refitting later. Finally I tackled the cab front. I have removed all of the furniture from the EPB to get down to a basic front end to which I can add the new M/W gear for the Class 307. I'll also need to fabricate marker lights and a destination blind. This is how it looks so far. I must sort out the ride height, as it sits quite high on the B4 bogies. I photographed it today in the company of the other coaches. I have been busy using the same techniques to create the other coaches - more of which to come. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Thanks for all the comments guys, the positive feedback is very much appreciated. I have parked the rapid loader for a short while, whilst I work out the best way to install a staircase at the open end of the structure from ground level to the conveyor transfer house at the top of the structure. This allow me to finally paint the white steel work at that end of the building. With that done I'll be able to install the conveyor between it and the blending bunkers. So, what to do whilst the rapid loader is on hold again - well it's back to the Class 307 build. Being a layout based on the Leeds - Doncaster line just after electrification I wanted to have a Class 307 in Metro Train livery. This has taken the form of a heavily modified Bachmann 2 EPB unit (well actually two of them). Here it is in the making. The photo shows the first outing of the four car train as a rolling entity. More on my rolling stock thread. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

It is epic Alex! A visit to Boxenby never fails to both awe and inspire. Best wishes, Chris.

Hi Jez, That is a good rendition of what I remember as British Steel Blue. With the 'S' logo on the gable that will be the business. It reminds me of an anecedote from the early nineties. A mate and I were sitting in the beer garden of a pub one early summer's evening in Shelton when a van pulled up and aked us if we knew how to get to the steel works. We both looked at each other, and admitted that we had no idea.. Non-plussed, the guy drove off. Satified that we could do no more, my mate and I drained our glasses in unison, and turned towards the warm glow from inside the pub. As we looked round we both saw a huge gable end painted in just the blue you have used - And on the end was emblasoned "British Steel Shelton Works". Sorry van man, never ask a student directions.. Great work Jez, Chris.

Thanks Alex, those class 20 links certainly livened up the New Year telly! Thank you for your comments David, and a Happy New Year to you.. I have painted and weathered the control cabin, see what you think. I have bent a couple of the handrails, as that is what you see often in reality. It does look better in it's natural environment - here it is. I just need to glue it in place now. As it is the end of the Christmas festivities, I was busy taking down the fairy lights from the trees outside today. Out of the string of 180 odd LEDs some of them had become dim, or not even lit at all with all the rain so I was going to scrap the set. But, before I did I thought I'd try one of them on a 12 volt controller with a 100 ohm reistor in series and see what happened. Well, let's just say I'll not need any white LEDs for a while. Thanks for looking in and all the positive support, Chris.

That's an impressive set-up Jez. I like the scale of the buildings, and the coke ovens look really the part. You can't beat railways and heavy industry together, and the time period you have picked just means it gets even better. Let the Grids roll.... Best wishes, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, It has not been very rapid progress on the rapid loader, but I have been busy. The bunkers have all been fitted with clam shell doors and weathered. They are awaiting the fitting of hydraulic rams, which although well hidden from most angles I think will enhance any photos taken under the loader. I have also knocked up a control cabin from a few scraps of plasticard and the clear packaging that surrounds almost every children's toy (well it has been Christmas - shame to waste it ....). Finally, the brick base for the building has been added, painted and weathered. Here it is plonked in position. I need to add a handrail, paint, weather and it's done. I'm in a blue phase at the moment. It is somewhere around late 1988, and we see a local train heading south towards Doncaster having just bowled a northbound MGR. Finally, as I'm also in a class 20 mood, here a pair of choppers appear in to the light during the slow load up with another MGR for one of the Aire valley power stations. Thanks for looking in, and my very best wishes for 2013, Chris.

Gosh, that's impressive Ron. I have to make do with a 10' x 10' Shed.... And I know I'm lucky! I'm loving the underbuild just as much as 'The Build' Best wishes, Chris.

Hello Ben, I've PM the RLB drawings to you. I have lots of material on surface plant and underground plant collected over a long period of time, so shout if you have a specific request. You might also try the mining museum at Cap House Colliery in Wakefield - their library staff are extremely helpful and their service was free. http://www.ncm.org.uk/home The below sketch shows a cross section through a 42" trunk conveyor (from H07 Loader Gate at Hatfield). The design is simple, but it does show how depressed the centre of these conveyors are. Most surface conveyors are elevated in some way, which makes them interesting constructions, and all the more challenging to make work! I'll have a look in the signalling handbook for the Toton indicators, but there are way better qualified people on here to explain signalling. Best wishes, Chris.

Hello Ben, Thanks for your post, and the kind coments within. Your message is timely as I have been thinking about the RLB again after more or less settling in to our new home. I opted for the clam shell doors because that is exactly what the real thing uses, there have been however a number of niggly problems with the set up. I will try and explain. I had real difficulty in finding a suitable coal substitiute. Initially I attempted to use real coal, however grinding and sieving enough for a 36 wagon HAA train was really triresome. I also had some concerns about the fine coal dust - It got literally everywhere! I then tried a very fine lignite powder, which we use at work. This was a really good facimilie of the fine power station coal I intended to emulate, however there were difficulties in getting it to flow correctly through the bunker. It tended to want to bind together despite being totally dry. I finally settled on a fine decorative black sand, which although not fine enough for power station coal is a reasonable representation and flows through the bunker a treat! The sand is available cheaply from the garden centre. I wanted automation. I figured (correctly) that as the model train loads up the loco will begin to work harder to move the train through the loader, and thus require really careful throttle control to maintain a constant speed. As the layout is only operated by one person, I felt that controlling the train was all important, and that the clam shell doors could be automatic. I have got to a stage where the operation is reasonable, by using an IRDOT control board from Heathcote Electronics. I used a board with a delay function, as you need to open the doors as the wagon arrived beneath the loader, and close them before it leaves - A straight forward detection leads to a massive spill on the track, not least because the rear of the wagon seems to fill up really rapidly as the depth shallows. The same occurs with HHA wagons too. I do not know whether to persevere with this, or may be I should go for a manual control with a small camera mounted inside the bunker?? The auger idea sounds interesting with some kind of metering, but I think it may lead to an uneven loading as I have had with gravity loading. With a steady flow the load depth will be shallow at the front of the wagon and overfilled at the rear. Ideally the flow should be fast to start and slow down as the wagon fills and moves forward. I'm also interested to see how you tackle conveyors. I'd love to have a working conveyor from the pit head skip plant to the preliminary grading plant! I do have the drawings for the RLB at Gascoigne Wood if they are of any use to you? Thanks again for your message, best wishes, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, The first coal train ran last night since moving house - And it turned out a pair of Choppers..... I was on hand with the camera to record the moment. The slow load up. The loaded train re-joins the main line. Hope to get started again with the Rapid Loader soon, but for the next few weeks I'll be busy making the new railway room more homely. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hi Alex, The white lining tape is really effective - Top Tip (Mark37 & Alex) Best wishes, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, I thought I'd outline how I intend to make the Driving Trailer Brake. A link to the 80's Rail website shows a side view of the DTBSO from 307120 in 1985, this should show what I'm trying to achieve. http://80srail.zenfo...90684#h28b90684 The 80's Rail website is excellent by the way. For both of the driving cars I will use the non-brake coaches from the 2 EPB, therefore for the DTBSO I have this to work with. Basically the rear two compartments need to be removed and the brake end installed. The roof above needs to be altered to make a pantograph well - but more of that in a later post. This is intended to outline only the sides at this time. I intend to cut the two components along the red line. The door and the compartment window immediately left of the cut on the top bodyshell in the picture will be filled, and on the lower bodyshell the cab end will go, and the van end on the right will be cut to fit with the end of the upper body. That should make a DTBSO! With the new sides made, I will then tackle to roof and pantograph well. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Thanks for the hip-hip-hooray Will - Much appreciated. Here is the assembled MSO (motor Second Open). I filed away quite a bit of the chassis blockat the former cab end to get a snug fit for the body. The roof is a rough fit at the moment. I have removed the ventilators for later, and rubbed down the rest of the EPB roof ready for re-fitting. I also had to trim the roof at the former cab end so it sits flush, and thin the profile down to match the other end. I will glue this to the body once the gangway ends are finalised. The gangway ends will be batch done, as I'll need to accomodate the low corridor connection by the pantograph well, and batch fabrication will ensure consistency here. The MSO sits on two motor bogies, of which one is powered as per Bachmann, and the second is a trailer only with power pick up. This was taken from the other powered driving car purchased at the start. Next I'm planning to tackle the DTBSO (Driving trailer brake second open). This car is the pantograph coach. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, It has taken longer than I thought to get started with the class 307, but at last I have begun! Hi Cheesysmith, thanks for the tip. I actually went for the Bachmann coach to be sure that the body side profile would be a perfect match, and as Brian says below I only need to use the 57 footer as a donor coach. Yes. The alteration of the refurb windows will be accomplished with spare compartments from the short coach - the seating comes in handy too, and the toilet window will come from sections of a Mk I full brake. The large guard's windows are perfect for the toilets and the large compartment window on the refurb class 307. My disappointment comes from the fact that the suburban coach is not flush glazed. I will rectify this with Replica flush glaze. Tonight I made a go of the MSO. This is the most plain of the four coaches, and contrary to my normal practise of beginning with the hardest bit I opted for what I hope will be the simplest. First I dismantled the 2EPB Driving Motor Brake. I kept the lighting, glazing and all the other goodies for later. The roof looks like the ventilators are a push in item. I will therefore push them out for re-use and rub the roof down smooth in due course. The idea is to cut off the cab and brake compartment and replace with compartments from the suburban coach. The roof from the suburban coach also needs to be removed, to allow re-use of the original 2 EPB roof. And now a trial fit on the powered underframe. The gap is too large due to the metal undeframe being shaped to fit the original profile of the cab. This will need to be filed smooth before I make another check fit and glue the two halves together. This looks like a good job for the weekend, so for now thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello RMWebbers, With my layout Kinsley Colliery in warm storage in the railway room after a house move, I decided to put the poor summer weather to use with a rolling stock project. I was looking at the Bachmann 2EPB and wondered if it might be possible to convert a pair of them in to a class 307 EMU. The link below is to Chris Booth's Flickr site, and a photo of 307130 in MetroTrain red - Perfect for complimenting my class 308 and 321 models. http://www.flickr.co...N05/5553226273/ I duly ordered up two EPB's and a Bachmann Mk I suburban coach in order to work out what needed to be done. The main issues to overcome are as below:- 1. Move the guards van to the rear of one of the driving trailers and create a pantograph well 2. Use the Mk I suburban to create a motor coach from one of the driving brake coaches - The Bachmann power bogies are correct for the class 307 3. Use the other end of the Mk I suburban to create a trailer second lavatory coach from the other driving brake. 4. Insert a toilet compartment in to the second driving trailer coach - I think I'll use the large windows from a Mk I BG for this. 5. Mount the trailer coaches on B4 bogies, and correct the ride height. 6. Correct the cab fronts by removing the headcode box and repositioning the jumper cables. All in all, I think this should work out OK. Now I just need to get cracking. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

I received the keys for my new house last week, and in and amongst all the other jobs going on I thought I'd post a photo of Kinsley's new home. The railway room (as I'm grandly calling it) is 3.5m x 3.5m. For now, the model will be housed in there as the shed is, but for 2013 I'm intnding to line it out and make the whole place much more suited to modelling all year round. It will do, and it is certainly much better than the damp garage I've had for the last three years to work in. The ghostly figure reflected in the glass is me. As you can see, the controller's chair is already in situ. The layout itself is still at our other house for now, as I discovered tonight that it is too long at 2.5m to fit in to my friend's van! A new soulution will have to be found. Hoping to be able to show the model in place on my next post, but for now I'm more than satisfied with at last having a true modelling space. Best wishes, Chris.

You already do Tim. Very nice! Best wishes, Chris.

Looking forward to the painted Clayton Brian, with all you have going on at the moment I was beginning to think you'd forgotton it. Best wishes, Chris.

Thanks Pugsley, that certainly is a beast of a machine, and very suited to pad loading of MGR's. There has not been much progress at Kinsley as the focus has been more on packing up for our approaching house move, however I have finished painting the cladding on the RLB and the blending bunkers. The idea is to represent a building with translucent panels to allow in natural light - I hope it has worked out. There is a brick base to add below the bottom of the cladding, and the whole thing needs weathering of course. This will be the last modelling update for now, as the packing boxes are calling. The next time Kinsley is out will be in the new railway room.. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Thanks for the info '65 - I did have a look at the shovel on E-Bay, but it is (as you say) a little large for my application. I'm still looking at backdating the Volvo for the model. I will team it with a typical late '80's 8 legger tipper to create a little cameo on the layout. In the mean time I've put a coat of paint on the rapid loader to try and represent the cladding and translucent panels as per the original. I'm not happy with the first attempt which was airbrushed and brush painted on. So I have decided to have a go with some cans of spray acrylic in different colours to see how that comes out. If we get the weather (don't start me!) I'll get chance over the weekend to spray and post some photos. I've also picked up another batch of H profile plastics in order to finish the lattice work on the blending bunkers - so again I'm awaiting a painting window! It's got to happen soon as I'm moving house in eight weeks - And this time the model will survive and continue at the new location...... Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Jeff can't argue with that Brian I'd love to see it. Good luck! Best wishes, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, I have spent the last few days building the Blending Bunkers. These cylindrical bulk tanks contained the various grades of coal separated from the run of mine raw coal by the washery. They would then be blended together to make the final market grade coal product which then would by transported by conveyor to the rapid loader. The idea at the moment is to finish the RLB and blending bunkers together as they share a common construction, and paint them both at the same time. I have also built and rigged up a covered conveyor between the two buildings to see how it will look - I don't think Its too bad. The RLB is awaiting cladding on the lower half - I'm trying to work out how to make the centre panels removeable so I can get to the sensors..... Fianlly a couple for the gallery. Thanks for looking in, Chris.