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I've been trying to work out how to make the motion. It is similar to a 4F with a rocker mechanism to to drive the valves, except that rockers are formed of two cranks on separate shafts as the valves are centred over the cylinders. I can't see how it could be made in situ, so needs to be a removable unit and of course it's all a little narrow. I'll see how far I get with it. Its all a bit rough and ready and it need a lot of tidying up yet, but the concept sort of works. The top drive rods are combination levers from 4mm 9Fs spare valve gear etch! It won't be 100% accurate, but hopefully will convey the flavour. The only way to convey the drive to the crank is to put a pin through - there are just temporary shafts there at the moment, they don't go all the way across. The other drive arm drops down next to the inside of the slidebars. I nibbled away at this for days on and off and finally got it all to fit in and work. I couldn't fit the droplinks to the upper ends of the expansion links ( just not enough width for them ) , so they are lifted from the bottom. It's not 100% accurate, but close enough as I can get it without spending weeks scratchbuilding the whole lot... Anyway I managed to make it so that the whole assembly and crank axle can be removed from the frames...

I've at last laid the main line copper clad turnouts in the storage yard which represent the lines going in the direction of Nottingham Victoria and Bulwell common. That spare bit of sky is just stored back there at the moment to stop it getting marked. Droppers and wiring next...

The front end is sort of completed, just need to straighten up that wonky gate. The camera always picks these things out. I scratched in the little locker and made up the handbrake from tube. Water valves are from Ragstone. The tool boxes could probably do with a flatter lid profile, but the are on now.. The steps look wide, but we'll see how they look when the loco is done. Just the whitemetal details to add...

Blandford - the B1: - I'm trying to remember back a few years here, I think the early B1 kit had a brass boiler, which appeared to be the correct size. Later kits had a whitemetal boiler If I recall correctly and that was over scale. Best to ditch that and make up a new brass boiler. Going back to the V2, at the time the only alternative was the Nu Cast kit ( discounting the Eames basic cut out brass parts ) . So the Proscale was regarded as superior as the etched brass created a crisper model than the whitemetal one. Regards Tony

The V2 will build up quite nicely, as long as you are prepared to tinker with it. The main issue was the firebox development, which was not symmetrical. The other thing to check is the the length of the boiler, as the two V2's I had looked slightly nose heavy. I've not built one myself, but I remember Allen Hammett building three at in one go... A good drawing is essential.... Best Regards Tony

One of the B16/1 photos jogged my memory. Yes - the coupled wheelbase was too far forward on the DJH kit - that was why I hacked it apart. It's interesting to look back at some of these models in the light of more knowledge., knowing that we'd do it completely differently now! We are having a J6 fest - mine is grinding along to completion.. I think yours will be finished long before mine Tony. Watch out for the tender though - most kits seem to cater for them in GNR condition. There appear to have been changes to the front coal plates in LNER days....

Thanks Chaps! I finally came to a resolution of the tender front, with an estimation from the various photographs. The tank top extends to behind the dividing plate, that allows the toolboxes to sit at the height you can see in the photo. The front plate was cut out and then trimmed to fit. They do appear to tilt back. There is a small locker to scratch up for the left hand tank extension. Tool box just plonked for reference. I've also been distracted by Crosby Hall which has come back from Alan Brackenborough for finishing. That will be the last GW engine here for a while..

Yes - the DJH B16 was the only kit available at the time and when it was nearly completed and it just looked wrong. So I hacked it apart again! It was to do with the relationship between the coupled wheelbase and the body, if I recall correctly. I do remember taking all the splashers off and moving them from the original positions. They were too far forward I think. Given the choice, I'd have gone for a more accurate kit of course and it has been mentioned about the 'oo' look. One of the reasons I moved to 7mm! At the time, it was great, but yes, it probably doesn't stand up to comparison with newer better kits. I'm trying to think about how long ago I built it, 15 years or more. I sometimes used to put the date underneath... Regards Tony

Thanks Jonathan, any sort of confirmation helps! At least I'm not off on completely the wrong track.... Best Regards Tony

I'm mulling over the tender of the J6, I think there was a reconfiguration of the 3170 gallon tender at some point. Moving the coal divider forward and down, also changing the tank top behind it to raise the tool boxes higher. They are often shown buried in coal. Most of them appear to have had this change. If anyone has any ideas or contradictions, that would help!

I dipped into the show and thoroughly enjoyed the videos. Did you have to restrain yourself not to waffle all the way through Tony! It was nice to see Bytham running with the great variety of trains. The only thing I found a bit alarming was the Westbound 'Leicester' traversing that crossover at some speed! It was good to see Retford running too. Well done to all for putting on the show, all from the safety of an armchair... well office chair actually! Regards Tony

I haven't posted for a while, but work continues in the background. Mostly power wiring, connecting droppers and fitting point motors. There were plenty of them to prepare. I bulk bought Tortoises a good few years ago, they seem a little difficult to get hold of new at the moment. DLOS kindly machined me some more point blades, and on their delivery, I've been able to proceed with the last of the running line turnouts, namely the long GN crossover, which due to the disposition of the layout has ended up on the curve at the end. Jim Guthrie kindly designed me a single slip with switched diamond, which although not prototypical for the location is necessary for reliable running. It's long - at 1.1m... There is one more long turnout to make and then all of the main running lines can be completed.

I've now carved the loco body off the frame jig, it was etched from some pretty hefty brass. Cab and boiler are now firmly attached. Details include little crank ( sanders? ), Griffin GNR lamp irons. and bolt heads on the cab roof. Buffers are from Gladiator, I shortened them slightly and reduced the diameter of the base. That was drilled and and I've added 0.8mm bolts from GHW-Modellbauversand ( Germany ), they look a bit too plain otherwise. Jaunty chimney not attached. Those rain guards were well tricky! The frames needed some attention, I could not find any photos of the leading lightening gap, and in some photos there is a hint of it being blanked out. So that's what I've done. The ashpan was a solid fill in those rear frame gaps, so they were chain drilled and filed out. It looks better, more solid at the front and lighter at the back.

Thanks Tony - J6s rule! After making so may 'modern' steam engines, its nice to create a period piece. There seemed to be all sorts of lubricators fitted to the J6, the closest I could find was a Ragstone one with it's drive arm. As is the snifting valve, I need to put a plate under that.. Rob keeps finding me things to do.. The brass chimney was solid, so I drilled that out on the lathe. Washout covers are Finney7. The smokebox ring is now in place and since this picture I've drilled the chimney for the bolts.

The front end wasn't looking quite right as the lower smokebox was too narrow, so I unsoldered the sides, teased ( bent ) it out and inserted two strips of 0.7mm strip behind the lower wrapper to beef it out. I've taken the picture before tidying so it can be seen. It fits snugly now. I've attached the cab to the boiler so that it is all one unit. This helps getting decent fit of the boiler to the cab front, and importantly you can ensure the bottom of the smokebox is in the same plane as the bottom of the cab. I need to do something about the smokebox door ring as that is not represented yet. After a little break, I've been tinkering with odd bits of the J6, and I wanted to create the smokebox door ring. A hunt through the scrap etch drawer turned up one on a Sans Perail Standard 5 etch. It needed a mm taking off it, but how to do that consistently when it has a big hole etched in the middle - too small to go on the outside of the chuck jaws. So I came up with this Heath Robinson arrangement - clamping it between two old Peco wagon wheel on some 6BA studding! However - it worked...

I ended up separating out the front splasher development and attaching the top separately. The front wouldn't fold up tidily, so I replaced that with some brass channel that gives nice sharp edges. Even though the tops were full thickness, the brass is quite soft, so it formed easily. There was some fettling to get all these various bits of frame and splashers to fit. I shall add detail next before putting the boiler on. Oh dear - look at that untidy soldering on the inside! There are some nice little etched brackets for the splashers that nicely cover the join.

Despite my best efforts, I still managed to put the wrong smokebox wrapper on - very neatly I might add. So out with the blowtorch to take it off and put the correct one on! The cradle is etched out of 0.9 nickel silver and there was not enough material in places on one side of the fold line to get it go over at all. So I just did the ends. I didn't use the etched beading in the kit, opting for soft half round jeweller wire. The mud hole doors have been cut out and blanked from behind. Ragstone clamps. It's all just plonked together at the moment, I've also made an infill for the back of the saddle, but that has to allow for the valves. There are rather too many sections of half etch that have to fold, along and edge where they meet the full thickness brass. That never works well, I shall have to have a think about that..

We three should go out for a pint or two sometime.. 'Who's round is it?' 'Tony's' 'eh?'

I used to dislike the appearance of the Romford/Markits wheel nuts, so would fill them to a smooth finish. Once painted, looks a whole lot better. The filler could be dug out of the nut if necessary to get the wheels off. Can't remember what filler though.... soft enough to dig out I guess.... You can just about see on Tony's phot of my O4 - sorry I only have handful of my 4mm stuff digitally recorded. How many locos do you need to do that on Tony?

I've been away from the loco workbench for too long, working on the layout. I'm having a little break from the layout, so I've dug out one of the oldest kits in the cupboard, a Four Track J6 to be 64219 of Colwick shed. The etches are blown up from the George Norton kit designed back in 1992... I've made a start on the mainframes, fitted Slaters hornblocks and made up the springs from Ragstone castings. I turned up the shock absorbers on the lathe. The centre spring can be dropped to allow fitting the crank axle. I've used the P4 spacers ( with a smidge filed off them ) to make the frames as wide as possible for fitting the inside motion.

I've had another go at the backscene to give it a bit more contrast. It doesn't show well here, but it's a bit bluer at the top. It was a nice afternoon yesterday so I knocked up the control panel for the storage yard. I prefer to cut the wood outside if I can, it minimises the dust in the railway room. So its just a paper printout on hardboard as a temporary arrangement.

Is that another bridge in the far distance Tony? There is also a slope sided mineral wagon in the yard with those opens and I can see the battered abutments of the M&GN line bridge. I don't think I've seen many A3s with missing dome covers though, a rarity? I have to agree with the rather thin captions that tediously talk about the loco's withdrawal date etc, and ignore other interesting background detail. I end up grumbling to myself, 'but what about that so and so in the background?'!! I've always been a fan of extended captions, and even though they often describe what is in front of your eyes, you might well have missed a small detail.. Regards Tony

Now that the good weather has finished, I can duck out of jobs outside that 'er indoors has found for me. Now I have the rail joiners, I've had a push today to get the storage sidings laid. On the right is a headshunt for trains backing out of the dead end Down Victoria sidings with a loco spur alongside. We'll see how that works in practice. Minimum radius throughout is 6 feet. Down Victoria sidings on the left, with the down line from Bagthorpe Junction curving round. Bulwell common line in the background. Main lines will be in the centre. Now to wire it up and fit point motors...

Figures have vastly improved with 3D scanning here's a Modelu me smoking a fag, whilst waiting for the next job on 68074. I think we set the cab side height by me leaning on an ironing board ( something our wives use Tony! ) in my kitchen. Some of the sculpted figures don't fare particularly well when pictures of them are enlarged. I unashamedly have a connection with Modelu, Alan used to live in my village.. They still have to be carved around a little when seated sometimes, and I'm always uncomfortable performing surgery on them. Maybe I'm just sqeamish anyway.. Regards Tony

The down Bagthorpe line is the through one, one of the up lines will be kept clear for through running.... possibly... I've been preparing drawings for some of the buildings that I mocked up, starting with the signal box and the buildings on the up platform. All estimated from photos, as I have no actual drawings for them. The rail joiner situation for the storage yard is resolved a speculative purchase proved fruitful, they fit the C&L bullhead rail perfectly. Work on the backscene continues as well as the design for the control panel for the storage yard. More to follow soon...