Neal Ball

More Manor work this afternoon 😎 In which I take a drill; scalpel blade; cutting disk and soldering iron to my Manor class 4-6-0 loco no 7801 Anthony Manor. Anyone who is squeamish, or from the Accurascale development team, should probably look away 🤣 I started off with the loco on the bench and it was programmed as 7801 through Decoder Pro: Next up was major surgery on the tender: Space was cut into the tender base in order that the new speaker could sit above the DCC decoder. I have also drilled some holes into the false coal load - plus I have drilled out the base of the water filler cap. The new speaker will be a Youchoos 2watt 4ohm double ice cube speaker. But in order to fit it, I needed to remove the smokebox speaker - it was a simple case of snipping the cables. Then I had to take out the small speaker under the mainboard. By comparison the old speaker was tiny - no wonder you couldn't hear the sound. With the speaker removed, it was a simple case of soldering the speaker connections onto the strips under the PCB: This is how it looks under the coal load: The crew have been added (These are Modelu ones) and as I left the railway room, real coal had been added and glued to the tender coal load. The video below shows one scene before the changes and then several after. This loco is now as loud as my Castle class locos: Apologies for the shaky iPhone images! The difference doesn't quite come across, but its huge - it was definitely worth doing. It was ridiculous that the sound project was so low. Overall, it has been a very productive afternoon.

Wow! - presumably thats the CAD, what are the test prints like? Excellent work.

Then to finish off the Manor set of photos, it is seen here on the turntable at Henley-on-Thames. This one seems to be running ok - it defiantly is a different loco to the original one. I am hoping to get a complete day in the railway room tomorrow and should have the loco running round all day. Assuming everything is ok, I will add the crew and coal. Then change the speaker for a better one. Hopefully that will make it louder.

Apparently, I missed National Banana day this week! For my own celebration of all things Banana, how about a GWR / AEC railcar - built in 1936 by Gloucester RCW. Or how about a GWR 4-6-0 Castle class loco. This is no 5076 Dryslwyn Castle seen outside the signal box at Henley-on-Thames. This loco was built in 1938 and later named Gladiator in 1941, it was the second loco to be called Dryslwyn - the first one was built in 1936 and was 5051 - but was the renamed just over a year later to Earl Bathurst. The latter loco is now preserved at the GWS Didcot. I have recently been reading the "Castle class 4-6-0 locos 1923-1959" book by David Maidment & Bob Meanley, Im almost finished and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Apologies, its been a while 😎 things have become a bit busy of late. How about a Manor to keep you going?

Yes! Thank you -Thurs / Fri.

We prefer Blue Anchor although the immediate area around it is a lot smaller. Of course Williton also can be an interesting place to stop off. Careful of the day you decide to go, they don't always run trains on every day of the week. https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/calendar It looks like you might want to avoid Thursday & Friday. Nice to walk around the town and a couple of decent pubs.

However, the issue might be in getting some Dean buffers for the carriages. The last time I looked at MJT they were having issues in getting stock. I think there was an issue with the supply of castings.

MJT now stock both 8’6” and 10’ Dean bogies.

Thanks Mike.

6 Panniers - blimey I had better get a wiggle on :-)

Today has seen another day of running the Manor 4-6-0. I had filmed a couple of sequences, but wasn't happy with how they came out. Sometimes my DSLR doesn't focus very well in video mode - it was ok on the back screen, but not when I brought hot up to the Mac to make into a video. More running-in ensued! I also started to glaze the C23 clerestory - to be continued. Over the last week or so, I have re-written my loco blog and moved it into the same section as my carriages. This area is now called "Kit-built stock for Henley-on-Thames" replacing my "bodgers guide to Comet carriages" My next blog page will probably be for the Worsley works 3rd C22 46ft Clerestory carriage (details here: https://gwrcoaches.org.uk/Clerestories.shtml) as I have just received the required Dart castings parts to complete the carriage: (8ft 6 Dean bogies; Dean vacuum cylinder; Dean buffers and for the first time, door hinges). Then it will be onto the H26 70ft Restaurant carriage and who knows which carriage, or maybe loco next!

Thanks Nick. That roof shot of the canopy at Henley is interesting… it could do with a clean! Thanks again.

Highlevel - cant remember what gearing

Thanks Keith and Mike. Thanks Keith - so my little whitemetal metro tank won’t be hauling them I guess. It will be a shame if I have to split it into two rakes. I’ve got 6 on order Thanks Mike. I don’t have the Dapol 61xx, instead I went for two Hornby 61xx. These are carriages that were very much on my wish list when I set up the Toplights poll a few years ago. Maybe I need to reduce the order down to 4 carriages instead of the 6.

I think you have said this before Keith - I dont have any grades, but a min 3rd radius on the approach into the station - but am concerned if you are having issues, whether my locos will be able to pull them in. I wonder what the solution is...

Yes! They were still in a box on the bench, together with the coal. Plus once I am happy that the loco will run for more than 2 sessions, I will change the speaker for something beefier! (Crew, like the lamps are Modelu - normal ones, not those pre-printed ones)

Replacement Manor - its a long story and taken months to resolve - but finally, I have a working Anthony Manor on the railway, seen here with the 70ft carriages.

Thanks Andy The railway colours are Railmatch acrylic. The non railway colours are Vallejo acrylic.

They have both been sprayed with my Iwata airbrush.

Both 70ft carriages now have glazing and door furniture down one side. I am very pleased with how these carriages have come along.

I am still wading through 1935. When it was launch onto the GWS website, I think the idea is that it will remain free for a short while and then for a fee. But still free for GWR members.

And there is an index for every year! - I haven't seen that before. I was looking through 1935 earlier and searching "Henley" or "Regatta" ..... there was an interesting article about the new Centenary carriages. interestingly, I found a photo of the new train with a fully streamlined Manorbier Castle at the helm.

Reported in the January 1935 GWR magazine!

Today I have glazed the e112 Composite carriage. I have run out of time to add the door furniture today. Both 1st/3rd Composite carriages are seen together, although they are the wring way round - the 112 should be this side of the 111. (With a Restaurant carriage in between.)