Downendian

After a mammoth 2 day session fixing decals (I’m sure my close up vision and dexterity have increased), progress so far on the Clayliner rake. Six D1375s (Cambrian) on the far left, next six Hornby ex GWR/LMS 5 plank opens, with the rest being dia 1/039; 1/044 and 1/045s built from Parkside PC02As. In the process of fitting more Smiths instanters (assembled and fitted two this morning), and the Hornby wagons (which are darker I admit due to spraying over Hornby’s representation of bauxite) need buffers painting and tie bars and vac gear adding which will come from Cambrian bits and wire. Next big task is weathering which I’m going to take time and care over! Some test applications have already been made. Ignore the hunt coupling on one wagon - a test - it will be gone soon. Decals were from CCT, Railtec and modelmaster and I’ve tried to mix up data panels/china clay only as to what would represent a mid 1970s rake. All Paul Bartlett’s photos are from the late 1970s early 1980s when they were on their last legs. Capturing images of how they looked from 1972-7 is a bit more challenging especially in colour.CCT transfers are 1960s style many of which still lingered on into the 1970s before TOPs classifications and data styles were applied en masse. Trialling fitting weight to the PC02As- liquid lead underfloor and a 1M roll of lead flashing turned up yesterday - enough to use on every wagon I’m ever likely to build in five lifetimes. There’s probably far too many wagons for a single rake, and contemplating the sheet-fitted Northbound working 6M55 but will need renumbering to a different pool number and working out how best to fit the sheets. I need to recover from this lot first, and get a trial run with them done. Great to see the forum image placement issues have been sorted! Neil

Hi 37403, thanks for looking in - no not really - there is normally sufficient “slop” in the bearings for this not to happen, which has been mostly true of Parkside models- main issue is to make sure the bearings are fully bedded in. If the solebars are too tight, then application of more polystyrene cement to their inner faces, leave to soften and then they can be encouraged to move to get free spinning wheels. Same trick can be applied to incorrectly bedded bearings. Of course everything must be completely square. The catfish wagons have been the biggest headache - the hopper must be completely square on the chassis structure otherwise it pushes the chassis out of true. I’ve had to remedy three of them because of it. The preformed Cambrian chassis should be perfect, but both on the Herrings and the D1375s on several one axle is slightly stiff, however this was resolved on the Herrings at least by running in. Today a bit of loco action- a long term resident on the workbench - my hybrid Bachmann-Hornby class 24/1 which has been test fit to a new generation Bachmann 24 chassis- some mods needed but good progress I think. I hope to post on this in the next few days. It started life well before the Bachmann model ever saw the light of day. It will be in green full yellow, a much neglected livery in my opinion. Meanwhile the chore of fitting decals to the clayliner rake continues - about 2/3 the way through - takes an age especially lining up the pool numbers. The Hornby ex GWR/LMS 5 plankers have now all been fitted with Lanarkshire buffers as have all the Cambrian D1375s. Some weathering also happening to this rake. Neil

Very nice coil Js Phil

Strange - I watched it on my virgin catch up TV, just after it was scheduled to finish on Monday. I tuned in on my bedroom TV which has a free view aerial to find it had been cancelled, but watched the first episode downstairs. Don’t ask me re content as I wouldn’t want to spoil your enjoyment next week. There must have been a glitch in the system which I somehow bypassed. Neil

I was unhappy with the D1375 buffers as supplied with the Cambrian kit, they look far too long and will undoubtedly give running problems when coupling with instanters. Whilst having to cope with door springs pinging off and brake hand levers whilst handling the wagon to fit, I’ve decided to fit Lanarkshire buffers of BR pattern to all six having done one this morning as a test. A much better result I think, waiting for glue to cure then they will be painted. I’ll use Smiths Instanters on these wagons, slightly oversize but again the paranoia with running issues is the boss here. S1013 should be S7013! Brake rigging onto the remaining 1/039 Parksides (x12) this morning too, plus tax return done so busy! Order placed with LMS for more buffers- I had 3 sets in stock, their additional weight will be a bonus of course. Neil

And here’s an extreme weathering of the clayliner, D1070 on 6/8/76 on 6V53 originally posted in the dedicated clayliner thread. What an excellent photo by Suthensofty on Flickr edit : I was at Winterbourne /Bristol Parkway all afternoon and evening that day- I must have missed it in the morning. edit edit - this image is my endearing memory of this classic BR working, but perhaps on reflection the ghostly appearance of the wagons was extreme. The summer of 1976 was of course extremely dry- It hadn’t rained for 3 months. In our normal rainy climate the wagons don’t appear quite so white in prototype photos with at least some of the original livery showing through, I hope to reflect this in my weathering. Neil

An old topic, but I’ve eventually got round to my clayliner rake. It is a mix of Cambrian D1375 10’ wb opens ex SR and LNER , and a number of Parkside 1/039; 1/044 opens. Plus a few Hornby/airfix ex GWR/LMS 5 plankers. The build is on my workbench thread and should be complete in a couple of weeks. Here’s one of the D1375s awaiting china clay weathering powders Neil

Thanks, Still waiting for weathering powders Phil - hopefully early next week.

Getting there - a fair few hours spent today applying decals and finishing the D1375 ex SR/LNER clayliners. Railtec bespoke numbers arrived mid-morning and were on six wagons within a couple of hours. US army Gothic yellow numerals was used for pool numbers (slightly too large, but smaller typeface on order), CCT transfers the rest although I’ve used some more 1970s data panels of other wagons from modelmaster to give a bit of variety. The railtec transfers from Steve - what an excellent service - ordered Thursday here this morning - 12 bespoke wagon numbers- will be using this again for sure. With hydraulic confusion creeping in plus ordering Siphon G numerals I made a mistake with one number, should have been S7013 - I ordered S1013. Awaiting weathering powders, and a coat of Matt varnish - it’s amazing grabbing a cruel close up photo reveals some blemishes identified to be rectified tomorrow. Sorry for the rushed photo - under tungsten light and edited using my iPad software so the real thing doesn’t look quite so garish. I’ve got all sets of door springs fitted, despite three pinging off into the carpet and search/rescue finding all OK. I’d prefer to fit finer buffers, but for 20 odd opens in this rake costs need to be kept down. There maybe no choice here however to put shorter buffers on to prevent buffer lock on the helix, a compromise I’ll have to accept, couplings yet to be fitted. Just one wagon shown here for clarity but all six at a similar stage.

Terrific Brian thanks - the axle box situation is something I’m keen to model, all of these Cambrian wagons have had wizard models roller bearing axle boxes added as per photos of the period. These prototypical observations are like proverbial gold dust. Neil

Hi Phil, yes the Southbound working which was always late I seem to remember! There was a fair bit of room on the floor of the Cambrian wagons to get 10g of lead underneath, they’re around 22g in weight - a bit on the light side but only running will tell if OK. I may consider the northbound loaded working at some point, but I’m increasingly getting the feeling that there’s more to railway modelling than building wagon kits! Neil

Progress on the Clayliner rake today - brake rigging added to the six (I found another lurking in the kit box) Cambrian dia 1375 13T opens - tested my sanity somewhat - but got there. The etched bits and wire need a coat of black paint, which is the next job, but will be hand painted. I often wonder if the huge amount of work put in beneath the floor is worth it- on balance I think yes, it captures the prototype much better than many RTR wagons. I had a go at weathering the wagon internals with kaolin - ok ish but a bit “gritty” for my liking, and still not enough - the prototype wagon internals looked almost whitewashed, and I’ve ordered some china clay weathering powders so see how they look before attacking the wagon bodies. I’d raided my now scrapped fleet of Hornby MSVs for wheels, however they are a smidgen oversize and foul the brake rigging so more will need to be ordered which are of a much finer appearance anyway. Buffers need adding plus the door bangs which are again a pig to fit but compared to the brake rigging is a relative cinch. Having built 20 Herrings and 6 of these from the Cambrian stable, I’ve concluded I’m not a fan of the preformed solebar/floor. The resultant running qualities are variable and I’d rather adjust using individually attached solebars the conventional kit building way. The Parkside 1/039 and 1/044s are almost done just vac cylinders and pipe work to add on these. Then the fun of adding decals and weathering in earnest to take place, plus blackening random planks in addition to the data panels and then 6V53 will live again. I can hopefully rekindle part of my youth seeing this train snake around my layout, and was a daily working we looked forward to as it almost always was a Western (or seemed so, rise tinted etc). I will need to make sure my Western/46/47 fleet is suitably headcoded for this working. Neil

First new year action - I had a dose of covid between Xmas and the new year, now negative but the wife is still positive and off work. Just mild cold like symptoms, but the pain was losing my sense of smell and taste, and as I enjoy cooking and we have a lot of fine wine and cheese from Xmas a minor inconvenience. However it is coming back. six vanwides now near enough complete, more weathering to roofs needed (I’m not sure if I like those tide marks) and a coat or two of Matt varnish but they’ve come out rather well- must get the SLR out for these shots for better resolution, but will do so when they are on the layout. Transfers for these were taken from the Parkside kits and from modelmaster. whilst wagons were in the spray booth I quickly put together a Parkside ex LNER plate wagon - if anyone is contemplating a go at kit building this one was really simple and was largely done between jobs in a day. Longest waits were for paint to dry. This will not be vac braked, so will need to run in an unfitted/part fitted rake which there were a few still about in the mid 1970s. Weathering was a bit more heavy on this one to represent an end of life wagon in this time period. I’ve yet to add rust spots and then Matt varnish. The deck probably needs more filth to be honest. Weighted with black sprayed tyre weights under the floor which are virtually invisible. The final wagons of the clayliner rake have been started yesterday, five Cambrian dia D1375 five plankers which will all get S and E prefixes - numbers taken from Paul Bartlett’s site and railtec transfers ordered for bespoke wagon numbers. It will be a rake of 22 opens but with a couple of vans added. A near disaster yesterday evening when I spilt a near full pot (18ml) of poly cement when assembling the body of the first of these, but seems to have recovered the glue marks quite well with brush painted bauxite. I’ll try not to be such a clumsy git in future. happy new year! Neil

Lovely stuff on Highbridge Phil, browsing it now. As discussed before with you both my maternal grandparents grew up there and I have fond memories of Highbridge in the 1960s. Neil

There are plenty of steam era photos on the wonderful Railscot website, many of which are identified as Queen St Waverley workings https://www.railscot.co.uk/companies/E/Edinburgh_and_Glasgow_Railway/ Neil

Of course the Queen street - Waverley Swindon inter city units were not class 123s which were delivered to the WR, but the earlier 79XXX numbered Series nice history here https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/swindon-79xxx/operations I remember lines of them scrapped at Swindon works in 1975 Neil

Indeed Phil, Rapido have been churning out the ex SR wagons recently, but alas not the D1375, Anyhow the Cambrian kits are far cheaper - and I’ve become a bit of a kit building addict, plus I get to customise, chose running numbers etc. However time to pack things away in the dining room ready for Xmas! Noted re tarp/sheets I had seen that before, plus I hope to include a couple of Parkside box vans in the rake. I also need to get the final wagons in these rakes fitted with working tail lamps. Neil

Hi Martin. The ratio (now Parkside kit) is I think for the BR built 9’ wheelbase china clay tippler which saw use mainly in Cornwall, although I’ve seen photos of them at Stoke Gifford in Clayliner rakes. I’ve got plenty of the Bachmann version of this wagon, but wanted an authentic clayliner rake which were mainly 1/044 and D1375 wagons, with a small number of ex big 4 5-plank wagons too. All these were 10 foot wheelbase. The GWR builds of 1911 or so were long gone by the 1970s. Neil

Progress this week on the clayliner rake. Parkside PC02A diag 1/039/044 in progress here x9 will form about half the rake, Cambrian diag D1375 of LMS/SR vintage and five Hornby ex GWR/LNER five plankers will make up the balance. All of which were part of authentic clayliner rakes of the 1970s, as Paul Bartlett’s excellent site confirms. The 1/044 wagons have been painted railmatch bauxite but will get a liberal covering of kaolin to match their mid 1970s condition. I’ve added the black data panels with a sharpie, and are awaiting gloss varnish and decals from Cambridge custom transfers. The rake will be hauled of course by a Western, or rarely a class 46, headcode 6V53 (empty) or 6M55 (loaded). I’m still undecided whether to fit tarps, will aid in hiding weight, but I’ll try and add liquid lead to the underside of the wagons first as I’d prefer the Southbound empty working as it’s the one I saw the most. The pool numbers will be added using yellow US Air Force decals which are the closest in font and size I can find. 8/9 Parkside wagons have had roller bearings (wizard models) added after carving off the oil axle box covers, a bit of a faff but most clayliner wagons had these fitted due to the distance and speed of operation. another project in the planning is an upgrade to my Lima siphon Gs (yes I know Accurascale ones are imminent- I have many on order), but I can justify a few more as they were regularly in parcels trains of my youth. Plus I have seven excellent Blacksmiths etches to convert the siphons to O.62s, the Lima bogies will be replaced by suitably modified Mainline/Dapol bogies which are more accurate. I was rather lucky to pick up the excellent HMRS volume by Jack Slinn and Bernard Clarke for just £14 recently and will be a significant aid in attempting to build these models. Neil

Ah there’s a few more cock ups than that Mike, managed to get the floor upside down on one vanwide, thankfully the poly hadn’t cured and pulled apart easily. Still don’t know how that happened.

Yes noticed the two different solebars Phil, but only after fitting bearings to a couple. I guess the sprues are used for other kits as there are lots of spare brake levers too. I’d patiently read the instructions but still managed to muddle two of them up. Hope that you Teri and the family have a lovely Xmas. Neil

Nine more MSVs approaching completion. Railtec transfers applied over a gloss varnish finish and waiting for the decalfix to dry. Awaiting a third set of transfers to complete the final wagon. All of these need to be renumbered, I’ll use the Parkside transfers for this (not accurate, but don’t tell anyone). All will be in the diag 1/184 and 1/185 range, interestingly Parkside transfers provided with the kit include two from earlier diagrams that were 9’ wheelbase wagons - so incorrect. Will need stone loads adding next, hopefully giving sufficient weight to them. Rake of 24 will then be weathered and Matt varnish applied to seal the decals, but it needs to warm up a bit, otherwise I’ll need to move the spray booth from the garage workbench to the utility room for a day, but don’t tell the missus. Only one roller bearing and brake lever lost in the whole build- trying to source a spare Parkside sprue to rectify this but no response from Peco so far. To break up the monotony of the MSV build, this week I put together five of the Parkside vanwides. Very easy assembly and the models need decals and weathering, currently waiting for it to be a bit warmer (-7C here in Bristol earlier) to spray with gloss varnish. Roofs are loosely placed in place, and are in grey primer and waiting a railmatch delivery to spray them. The prototypes worked out of Avonmouth in the 1970s, I’m assuming on Rowntrees or Fisons fertilisers traffic, and were included in mixed rakes of vans, hauled by pairs or single 25s or 31s depending on their destinations, LMR or ER respectively. However, pairs of 20s sometimes put in an appearance although rare. As only 8 or so worked from Avonmouth, I now have 6, supplemented by a solo excellent Bachmann RTR version. However, these are much more cheaper - many have languished in the kit drawer for over a decade. I’m yet to make a decision whether to fit separate door handles etc. The final rake will be a mixture of 1970s era vans to replicate those distinctive Avonmouth services. 2022 has been a good year for wagon builds - 20 Herring, 16 catfish, 24 MSVs, one mermaid, one BBA, one dogfish with a few more in prep. However the kit pile is still fairly large, but I have learnt a lot from these industrial scale builds. Xmas will see plenty of family time, but I still intend to get the layout running (some point motor repairs needed to access the lower deck fiddle yard) to test these rakes and have some fun with my two grandsons. Finally I hope to get one more fishing session in - before Xmas, I had a 20lb common carp from the lake I routinely fish a few weeks ago, however the lake currently has a lid on it. Happy Xmas to readers of this thread! Neil

Thanks Mike here’s the original thread Neil

D7052 is a very complex weathering project, faded blue and patches of primer showing through, it was in quite a state . It also carried the D prefix until the end, Grahame Wareham’s excellent photos are the best source (Grahame’s Flickr photo below, linked to Flickr) Heljan have not appeared to have done any chassis weathering and the floor level door handle modification, present on all blue and some late in green locos is still missing. I was hoping to see this on the new tooling. I can’t tell from the RoS photos if they have done the distinctive roof fan and grille I’ll be detailing my existing fleet instead I think if it’s missing.

And my source for the headcodes, Geoff Woodley and Ian Jones’ excellent pocket handbook for 1979 workings in the Bristol Parkway-Filton-Patchway triangle. As I modelling five years earlier I’m hoping the codes didn’t change. Diagrammed then for two class 37s, 47 and 46 locos, in 1974 it was very Western dominated. In fact my first recorded Western D1016 was seen shunting a rake into the down sidings in July 1974. Those middle of the night workings I could hear were Western hauled when lying in bed- an incredible sound as we lived just over a mile away from the ex GW mainline through Winterbourne. Neil