Downendian

Progress on the 6M55 rake to date. It will total 22 wagons - so almost at the adding decals and weathering stage which takes forever anyway, but well over halfway there. Lots of wagon details still to add, brake handles, buffers, door springs to most and needing some hand painting, and sheets need spraying grey on most. Two wagons (both Parkside ex LNER) have their sheets drying at the front and a PC01A (diag 1/041) started this morning - yes these were in clayliner rakes too. I was somewhat distracted by 24 136 (now glazed, numbered and looking at chassis mounting options) and NPCSS (4 LMS design CCTs and 2 Parkside Southern PMVs). These are for something for the 24 to haul- 4V20 Manchester-Bristol parcels and 4M05 Penzance-Manchester as a return working. I never saw a 24 in Bristol but they were rumoured to operate on 4V20 (routed through the Marches and crewed by Salop drivers), that’s my excuse anyway. Plates for D1045 and D1059 have also arrived - to pull the clayliner in “strictly 1974 “ mode- both were relatively early casualties but I saw them multiple times in late 1974. I’ll also dress up a class 46 with suitable headcodes. Neil

Ah that explains it - they are indeed the Dublo version - scratch that then - will need to source more airfix bodies. Neil

Progress to date on 24 136. in the paint shops the last few days - long story but the upshot is I’ve still a lot to learn about masking up and paint mixes. I used a mixture of enamels (railmatch warning panel yellow, pre 1984) and acrylics loco green and diesel roof grey. Despite using my airbrush frequently, it’s mainly for single colour application on wagons and NPCSS. The model is drying after a few touch ups including the chassis and boiler room panels which were prototypically blue. It is yet to be weathered, decals applied, glazed and cab door handrails fitted - I have some brass masters ones somewhere - just not immediately to hand! I’m going to be patient and let it dry thoroughly before attempting anything else. The cab floors and bulkheads still to be affixed and hopefully this will remedy the slight gap between the body and chassis at the cab ends. The photo reveals yet more touching up required, but the weathering especially the roof will help mask the blemishes. 24 136 as I saw her in April 1975 will ride again! masses of china clay wagons still undergoing work - more Parkside and Cambrian kits on their way plus some Dapol 5 plank bodies (ex airfix tooling) just ordered - I’d forgotten about their cheap wagon bodies - obviously needing appropriate chassis. Paint, kits etc due to arrive today and progress will be resume after a loco interlude. Neil

Of which I have a copy by Jack Slinn and Bernard Clarke. The last O11 siphon G was withdrawn in December 1962, so none ever received blue - I remember them in the 1970s well - they were all inside framed vehicles by then. Neil

Progress over the last few days - slow but steady. Three more Parkside 1/039 to join the 6M55 rake, wagons now complete needing decals and weathering. I’ve another 3 Cambrian D1375 to build and 4 more 1/039 but taking a bit of a pause as awaiting transfers and more roller bearings, plus the Instanter pile has taken a bit of a hit. I’m also looking at a batch of five airfix /Hornby 5.5 plank bodies that I bought a long time ago for the clayliner rake. I’m pondering the correct chassis for these models which will be GWR O39/O40 which according to the GWR.org site had Morton brake gear and `RCH vacuum. Of course many were built under BR, and many examples can be found on Paul Bartlett’s site. So I’m pondering what chassis can be used, especially considering that by BR days there was much standardisation. I’m aiming for a rake of 25 wagons as this fits my passing loop so still more to purchase. Four more 1/039 bodies mentioned above assembled this morning and sprayed with primer. Progress on 24136. Having received the new tooling Bachmann 24 chassis from @sulzer71, a test fit was in order. After some fettling (mounting sockets reduced and fan grille mounting screw holes removed) the body fits to the chassis like a glove. I’ve got to do some work to get the bulkheads and cab floors to fit but progress none the less. I fitted a Shawplan 24/25 grille and was pleasantly surprised how easy that was. I was ready with a dremel to remove the Bachmann fan grille and to my surprise it just popped out, held in place by 3 spigots. With a bit of trepidation I assembled the 3 piece grille using the supplied jig and very runny superglue as recommended on the Shawplan blog pages. I was amazed how powerful capillary action was to stick the two grille meshes together and with a little bit of patience the surrounding ring went on OK. You need both grilles to maintain the correct height - I had contemplated using only one but glad I didn’t. The jig is great for forming the correct curvature too. I fitted cab front handrails this morning and a waft with primer revealing still more sanding/filler/sanding cycle is needed before it’s ready for the three top coats. More work done since the photo to get the body to sit properly on the chassis.

Nice to see you albeit briefly too Phil, my grandsons were quite keen to return to the playground behind the halls where we spent much of our time! A nice little show though, I did politely refuse my grandson Harry’s request to buy him a number of locos - I explained the different scales to them, attempting to persuade an N-gauge layout route. However they both insisted they want it to be the “same as grandads”. Turning the clock back fifty years or so ago I was often awoken in the night by Westerns growling away with their 02-0300 departures on Tytherington stone trains. As our house at the time was a little over a mile from the Winterbourne embankments in Bristol, I must of heard the entire class at some point. Neil

Images of green TOPS class 25s are quite rare, so I was pleased to pick this one up. It’s one of my green 25s that’s awaiting further detailing. No information re location and date, but will be around 1974/5. My copyright Neil

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Cheers Dave PM sent

Brilliant Sulzer71 just bought one on eBay- hadn’t thought of looking there. I’ll drop you a PM as well- I really need green underframes but happy to do the swop myself. Neil

Ah thanks, but that’s not the point Sulzer71 - this has been a project hatched long before any headcode 24s and 25/0 potential conversions were available. I want to complete the build started many moons ago- it will have flaws but they’re my flaws! However if you have any spare motors and drive trains for the new tooling 24 I’d be very happy to buy them from you. I do have a new tooling headcode 24 too and a couple of SLW 24s. i also have a Craftsman conversion of a 25/3 and 24 both from Hornby bodyshells, projects halted because of the arrival of Bachmann models - they began in the 1980s! They may be permanently stored or just maybe I’ll see what can be done. The 25/3 was from a Hornby 25 first release that I’d saved my paper round money for back in 77/78 so there’s an emotional tie in to that model, very much like my upgraded Hornby Hymek. Neil

With the modelling mojo fully restored, I can’t just sit back waiting on the postie for new clayliner wagon kits to arrive. After excellent service from Jenni and Georgina at Bachmann spares a little parcel arrived with Bachmann class 24 underframes - purchased with the intention of upgrading some 24s and more importantly my large Bachmann 25 fleet. This one has a long history - it started over 10 years ago and features in the earliest postings on this thread. The bodyshell is a Hornby cab/Bachmann 24 body which is still very much a live project. This morning I fitted the light surrounds (some brass etched washers I had in the spares box which were the perfect size), and I’ll need to work on a solution for the lights. The Hornby cabs had their horn cowls surgically removed to represent the headcode box 24 and 25/0 locos. That roof fan is going for a replacement from Shawplan. There’s still more prep to do though before getting painted, traces of filler evident and still some sanding to do. The Bachmann underframes are a decent fit - not perfect at the cab ends, but with me needing to fettle a new cab floor they will lose any gaps by screwing the frame to it. The quite drastic surgery has meant the body is not a perfect fit too (about 1mm too short) but difficult to spot unless you’re told. I can’t wait for the new Bachmann 25 to arrive - I’m sure to buy a few chassis underframes as spares. With a bit of fettling I’m certain they can be attached to first generation Bachmann 24s and 25s which I’m not (yet) considering selling, I also dismantled a first generation Bachmann 25 chassis to test for fit to the new Bachmann subframe- achieving loss of the erroneous solebar and getting some fantastic looking water/fuel tanks in one swoop, I purchased the 24 frame with weight block and the bad news is that the old Bachmann motors and bogies won’t fit the new ones. The motor flywheels are too large, and the mounting points of the bogies are incompatible with the version 1 bogies. So for this old model I’m going to treat it to a new motor, bogies and perhaps even a PCB which in total will cost around £120. However the up side this one will become 24 136 in GFYE complete with snow ploughs - one of the first 24s I saw in visits to Crewe in 1975 when it was still in service. My only other route to this as a model is a repaint of a green new generation Bachmann 24 - not the cheapest of options. I have a strange affection for class 25/0s too, intention is to produce at least two for the layout. On my frequent reminiscing of my spotting notes I noticed that in early April 1975 two 25/0s 005 and 016 were copped on Bath road on the same day. I obviously didn’t think much of it at the time as they were infrequent visitors to the WR, those two were then Tinsley allocated, so I’d love to know what service they arrived on - I assume they were double headed to see two at once. I will of course need to remove the water tanks from the chassis as 25/0s were NB.

Saturday 8th February 1975 bitterly cold like our recent weather, but we decided to take a short trip via a Swindon 120 unit to one of my favourite places on the WR, Severn Tunnel Junction - in years ensuing we cycled there, a 44 mile round trip. Fascinating place, watching the hump shunting activity around the marshalling yards, and frequent arrivals of freight from far off destinations, including a huge variety of foreign motive power, including frequently class 20s, 40s and records show class 44s on at least one occasion. Today was a bit more mundane, and the cold enforced an early return to Temple meads to thaw out in the buffet or stand amongst the steam released from steam heated stock. Locos only noted but I have the DMU lists as well. Temple Meads and Bath road 46 004/026 Pilning 08 888 STJ 08 029/119/652/654/848/932; 25 165/257/258; 31 105/271; 33 113; 37 215/216/225/234/243/291/305; 45 003/006/017; 27;46 018/024; 47 041/076/081/119/149/450/473/479/484/494 (still green) 495/505/530 Temple Meads and Bath road 08 089/140/377/402/900; 25 080/152/186; 31 256; 33 020 (on footex from Portsmouth) 45 007, 45, 49, 114; 46 015/016/021/046; 47 011/082; 50 001/025/042 D1027/31/54 and 3H 1104 and 1126 Funny what you remember - 33 020 was on a through road after returning from Ashton gate on a footex where Portsmouth were beaten 3-1 by Bristol city. Lots of Portsmouth fans had trekked back to Temple Meads and had obviously missed the train which had departed from Ashton station at the time still used for footexes. As it was in a through road they crossed the tracks and boarded the train somehow! The spotters at the end of platform 11 received a hail of used beer cans, and most like us had retreated into a less conspicuous platform or the buffet. A class 33/1 at STJ was not that rare (or for that matter 33/0) - I noted several, almost all were from working an Eastleigh-STJ service which was worked forward by a 37. However this was normally a weekday working so it’s a mystery why it was there in a Saturday. Neil

Another good day on the workbench methinks, progress on the 6M55 clayliner wagons. I’d always been concerned of how to model the sheets- having owned several of the Kernow 9’ wb tippler flat tarp release - they were not that convincing. So having watched several YouTube videos on making tarpaulins (sheets) using tissue paper wetted with a 50:50 mix of PVA, I had a little trial run. Briefly, the entire wagon is wrapped in cling film (to protect the model) and I used wettable tissue paper of the type used for building model aircraft/gliders (remember doing that as kids?) to “wrap” the wagon with. I cut a rectangle roughly 3-4cm longer on each side of the wagon, With three hair bands purloined from my youngest daughter the cling film/tissue sandwich was clamped to the base of the wagon. The paper was strong enough to coax under the band into convincing folds in the corners (by the way I’m useless at wrapping parcels). The excessive size of the tissue sheet will be dealt with later. I then daubed the tissue with the water/pva/washing up liquid ballasting mix which gave some quite pleasing effects. The corner folds became appreciably tighter and there was a convincing sag in the middle. After allowing to dry (this tissue paper dries clear- remember those Keil Kraft gliders)- the sheet was trimmed to size after removing it from the wagon via the cling film- carefully. The sheet was then given a couple of coats of grey primer. They’re still a bit fragile but I’m sure will firm up after painting/weathering/varnishing. I was really pleased with the results - they are custom fit for each wagon and just need some ties to complete. Old braid/Dacron fishing line should do the trick here - may treat myself to a small spool of red braid (red ropes in some prototype photos). The wagons are minus all underframe details so as no detachments of these delicate bits were possible at this stage. The sheets are readily removable for this work. Lurking in the background is another long term resident on the workbench, a Stanier bogied brake tender, a genesis kit with Bachmann bogies. Decals today - unfortunately I applied the XP and tare markings, moved the model into the sun to set and these decals were never to be seen again, I’m sure I’m not the first or last to do this.

Not you Phil - it was me! Amended my post above.

Great post Halvarras - indeed D6302 (not D6303 as I originally stated) had them, I’d missed D6306 - I’ll edit my post as I don’t like leaving incorrect info on the web! unfortunately I have little memory of class 22s, they’d gone before I started spotting, but I’m fairly certain they were on Bason bridge milks that I used to see when visiting Highbridge. I take your point re Dainton and Rattery banks, but LA class 25s were visitors to Bristol occasionally later in the 1970s- that’s my excuse anyway. neil

Somewhat foolhardy I suspect, but I’ve decided to move several wagons (1/039 and 1/044) from pool 7409 to form the northbound St Blazey-Stoke 6M55 complete with sheets. Therefore I need more clay wagons- three started yesterday - again Cambrian D1375 ex SR/LNER. The start of the build shown - schoolboy error forgot to attach tie bars and roller bearing axle boxes before priming the chassis, now rectified. Weight of course can be added under the sheet this time so no more faffing with underfloor stuff. I’ll want some more ex GWR five plankers as these were common in such rakes, but can’t see a suitable Parkside/Cambrian kit although Parkside pC564 looks remarkably similar to Paul Bartlett’s photos of the prototypes except a brake gear change and new wheels will be necessary. I’ll give the crepe/tissue paper over a cling filmed wagon method a go. Old fishing line of course will be used for ties. Another vanwide had escaped within the large rountuit kit pile- nailed it! With much WhatsApp discussion between myself and Phil Bullock this last week with the news that Kernow were supplying D6XX spares. One of our long term aims was to produce a class 22 with those ugly headcode boxes applied before Swindon standardised the headcodes so that they were internalised in the cab front end. D6XX headcode boxes are a perfect match for these locos (from memory applied To D6302/06/07/17/24 and D6326 -thanks Halvarras my memory was a tad out, see below) D6324/6 had the standard panels applied later, but Phil found an excellent shot of D6324 at St Blazey with small yellow panels and the pig-ugly boxes. D6307 was another candidate as it carried them till the bitter end, but would necessitate a respray as the yellow panel was reduced in height. So D6324 it will be- headcode boxes applied one end and a start made on the numerous front end ironmongery changes - lamp brackets removed and superfluous marker lights filled with plastic rod. I’m building up the courage to scribe the folds in the doors- another error Dapol made with the disc fitted locos- they all had folding nose doors (as below no they didn’t!). A disc headcode fitted Dapol model was the donor. 7C39 was a Stoke Gifford - Tavistock service normally using a Western or D8XX but they were often so short a type 2 was not impossible. The headcode boxes required removing from the inside the existing headcode - I used T-cut and a lot of patience. New codes were precision labels products. Now to find a suitable Northbound working. Laira type 2s were not uncommon in Bristol so I think I can get away with it.

Looking into the loco roster for 6V53 - looked at data on the excellent Taunton trains website - only a snapshot for late 1974/5 but was approx 50:50 split between classes 46 and 52 with the occasional 47. I’ll be forced into fitting this code to one of my Bachmann 46s. Date Time loco 18/7/74. Not recorded. D1035 26/7/74. Not recorded D1028 27/7/74. 1505. 46 015 9/8/74. 1158. 46 016 10/8/74. 1709. D1029 11/10/74. Not recorded 46 042 (GD) 15/10/74. Not recorded D1030 31/12/74. 1310. 46 007 17/2/75. 1545. 47 281 the Taunton trains website is an excellent resource - I’m gradually adding workings to my spotting notes from 1974-8 and I saw 46 007 at Bristol on that date. I foolishly didn’t record workings, but then I didn’t expect to be using my own observations nearly 50 years later. Amazing what I’d missed though- D1035 - I was there but obviously not in the time frame (I only saw Yeoman working once) and 46 042 which was one of the two 46s I needed to clear at the time. I was also surprised by the wide variety in recorded times met with my memory of it being lunchtime-ish. An amazing number of Westerns worked SW-NE services as well as Cardiff-Penzance lots of codes for my fleet. I’ve started arranging the 6V53 rake on the layout in prep for a running trial, and check for fit in one of my passing loops. I put two of my new 10’wb wagons alongside two Bachmann 9’ wb china clay tipplers for a comparison . The difference in size and finesse is immediately apparent (well if my iPad camera was up to it- the Bachmann wagons are on the right!). I’ve still some weathering to modify - it’s taking a fair while to complete but so be it- they have to look right before the varnishing. I’ll be getting rid of my Bachmann wagons in due course.

Superb stuff Patrick - really enjoyed reading your build. Neil

Kernow now have spares in stock for the D6XX models https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/c/1767/D600-Class-41-Spares Neil

Clayliner rake taking shape nicely. After multiple rounds of weathering powder/acrylic paint applications it’s getting there now. Not satisfied with first applications, too grey/white; too clean/filthy finally getting to a state where each wagon has its own identity. Still odd jobs to do, tie bars need replacing on a couple (Parkside moulded tie bars are very flimsy); Hornby wheels too big (apparent in ride height), Instanter links need adding to a few still. Holding off the Matt varnish application until I’m fairly satisfied with the weathering (never going to be 100%) and they’ve had a test run - should be later this week. It’s also too cold- to risk varnishing - fishing was abandoned yesterday as the lake was totally frozen -8C when we arrived. It’s going to be too long to get all wagons into my passing loop, so some with incorrect solebars (what was I thinking when I did them years ago) will be relegated to needs attention pile. I’ve also put together 2 Parkside vans to go in the rake, they’re awaiting decals. I’ll get better photos with a Western up front.

Some weathering has started- still a way to go - but generally a transformation to ex-works wagon. Lead weight added this morning to all the Parkside wagons. Neil

Thanks Phil, if I take responsibility for the instanters and the rake behaves itself, I might seek a permissive working up to Abbotswood 2 and Norton junctions. Neil

Just off round mums for coffee. Completed the vac fitting and associated wires/rods and added Cambrian tie bars to the ex GW five plankers this morning plus painted buffers in primer and all underframe gear on all. Need a coat of grimy black and then on to the weathering once all traces of decalfix have dried. Another 4 Parkside wagons had vac rodding fitted too- all complete except needing to add roller bearings to one wagon- can’t find the box I put them in! im not the slightest bit worried re using talc, having spent my career handling some noxious chemicals with suitable precautions it’ll be fine. After all i’m only going to brush it on wagons, and not on my Crown Jewels. Neil

Thanks John - very useful information - I don’t want to mess up the wagons having put that amount of effort into it. neil