Sithlord75

The return to school following the summer holidays (and the heat wave which arrived to welcome us back to work) has spiked the guns a bit but now that the initial flurry of activity has subsided I have managed to get a few things finished. The last of the Finetrax points I have have been built - so that's enough to finish the platform area and begin on the yard. With the resumption of mail to outside of the UK I can order the next batch. I have also built another LNWR bufferstop to put in the yard and made a start on the next one. I put a bit of wood as the buffing area on the principle that wood looks more like wood than etched metal does, no matter how I paint it. The blue wagon body is an experiment in a different resin to help with the structural integrity of opens - particularly when they have almost scale thickness sides. So far, the jury is still out. Seems to be ok however so I shall persevere. This is likely to end up as an Empire lettered wagon.

G'day all, The next ZAG meeting is this coming Saturday (28 January) from 0930GMT. Please adjust according to your location. As always, all are welcome to join in, and share what they have been building, ask for advice (and share their favourite tips for success) and generally have a chat about their projects. The link below should take you straight there or the ID and passcode. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83287616944?pwd=WGRnQkprN1IwcitVRm56OThtMUFVUT09 Meeting ID: 832 8761 6944 Passcode: 222372 Cheers Kevin

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Well, sometime in the late 1990s and in Australia (so it might as well be a galaxy far, far away really) I came across an article in the April 1988 Railway Modeller (I think at either the barber's or the dentist - either way, in keeping with the magazines in those establishments, it was well out of date and well read!) about the Ilford & West Essex Model Railway Club's N gauge layout of St Albans Abbey. At the time I was looking for inspiration for an exhibition layout with the track plan having to fit a space of 4000 x 800 mm. This was to include a 180d curve to the back. The track plan looked feasible albeit with some modifications (double track through station rather than single track terminus) but the GNR bay, the yard and the main source of revenue, the gasworks were all placed where they should have been. As an N gauge layout, St Alban's Priory made it to quite a few exhibitions from 2000-2008 when I moved to Longreach, Central Queensland, for work and the layout was stored. When I got back to South-East Queensland in 2012, SAP was taken out of storage and cleaned up with a view to seeing about taking it back on the very small circuit Down Here. I think it may have made it to one or two more shows before my modelling standards had increased to the point where it no longer satisfied me and I was left with either rebuilding it as an N gauge roundy roundy (with some changes more in keeping with the prototype) or doing it "properly" - that is, with finescale track, handbuilt points and minimal compromises with the track layout (so a terminus with only two platforms for example!). I procrastinated about making a decision for some time - I purchased the necessary Peco points to do the revamped N gauge version, but generally felt a 2mm finescale version would be more satisfying in the long run. All the while - from 1997 onwards - I kept researching and finding out bits and pieces about St Albans LNWR station (the Abbey bit was added by the LMS post grouping - there were once three stations in St Albans - the LNWR/GNR junction terminus which I am interested in, the Midland Railway one which became St Ablans City (and is still the main station in the city) and St Albans London Road, which was the GNR station first on the line out of the terminus and the original end of the GNR branch from Hatfield) its surrounds and the traffic which travelled on the branch. One of the reasons the original layout was eventually consigned to the scrap heap was the more I knew about the prototype, the more I realised I had compromised on the model. But equally the more I knew, the more I felt I didn't know which contributed to the lack of progress in replacing the model. Eventually a number of events cojoined to get me to do something... Firstly, my wife demanded I stopped building wagons and built something to run them on. I have at it happens, three N gauge layouts in various states of completeness. One needs the turnouts and turntable sorting, one needs the backscene sorting and one needs the last bit of track laid, the wiring completed and... And then there is the 2mm layouts - both started at various points in my 2mm journey, one never beyond laying some hand-built track and finding I wasn't as good with the soldering iron as I thought and one which served it's purpose when it made it to Derby in June 2022. The amount of 2mm wagons I have far outstripes the track to put them on. Secondly, I received a lot of gentle encouragement from the NMAG group (and some fairly robust encouragement too!). This prompted me to, perhaps rashly, say at the last NMAG Zoom meeting of 2022, that I would build a baseboard, lay some track and have a loco running by the first one this year... That was this morning Brisbane time. So... I said to my wife, that weather permitting, I would do something about a layout to put the wagons on, and would build said layout during the Boxing Day Test. With this in mind, I obtained some 70mm steel channel, typically used for stud framing houses where you don't want termites to have a buffet lunch. This is nice and strong and unlike what passes for quality pine timber, doesn't decided to revert to wood when the humidity is too high. I also obtained some 7mm ply to go on the frame I proposed to make out of the steel channel. However, a couple of issues presented themselves. I didn't know the geometry of the curve for the platform well enough to be confident in getting it "right" and I also wasn't entirely sure where all the turnouts would go. Enter Bruce Cook (@VRBroadgauge) who volunteered to sort this out for me. Fortunately I had found a Watford to St Albans branch group in Facebook which had as some of its members ex-BR staff who'd worked the branch and a question about the curve of the platform at St Albans resulted in the response that it hasn't changed since at least the 1960s. On the basis this meant it hadn't changed at all, Bruce was able to combine OS maps with photos to come up with a decent plan of the whole area: The grid is printed on A3 paper, which is trimmed to the margin and then taped together to give a full size 1:152.4mm drawing. I printed 1A-6A, 1B-6B and trimmed and taped and this was enough to make me decided that the track contained therein would do for Stage 1. And because I didn't want to have a base board join going through the turnouts in 4-6, nor through the platform (which incidentally I found out after Bruce did his drawings was 508ft long for the LNWR side and 345ft for the GNR face - Bruce's drawings were spot on) I resolved on a single board which is just on 7' long and 15" wide. As my daughter was redecorating her room, I used up some of the ceiling paint to seal the ply and give me a blank canvas to start plotting out track positions. Due to some inclement weather I was permitted to use the dining room table - it seats 10 (handy when we have 5 kids!) but a blanket had to be put down first. Here you can see the station building, trainshed and platform have been plotted. The OS map suggested the loco release was suitable only for small tank engines - at some point it was extended but obviously the Royal Engineers didn't see the point in doing all the work to add some extra track. So the buffer stop was placed far enough down for an 0-6-0 tender loco to comfortably clear the turnout without hitting said buffers. Some 3mm dress ply was rescued from the skip at work at the end of the school year and cut down to 20mm wide strips to provide track beds. The yard is generally all at the same height but this way some subtle dips and drains can be introduced between the lines - something which wouldn't be possible if the flat earth view prevailed. The strip was able to be bent to match the plotted curve - the straight bit at the far end has been changed to a curve - I had thought about coming off centrally to a fiddle yard but on reflection decided to keep the curve going where it should - Stage 2 will require it to be curved so any short-term fiddle yard solution will have to fit the right geometry. . The shadows make it look like its embossed rather than added but this is the passenger side of it all, more or less standing where the home signals would be. The GNR bay to the right, the LNWR platform and run around loop. Access was made to the yard both from the far end of the run around loop and from a crossover just out of view at the bottom of the picture. The black dots are holes drilled for the wires to the tie bars on the turnouts. The state of play as it currently stands - looking from the same position as the previous photo. All track is Easitrac with Finetrax B7 points. These are very easy to build - I suspect had they been around 10 years ago, I wouldn't be just starting now! They don't always work for the prototype - I know the point which is missing on the LNWR run around side (left of the coaches) has some catch points entwined within it, but I am not yet at the point where I'm willing to give that a go. The idea behind doing what I have done is to get something started. As my skills develop and what compromises I'll tolerate change I will revisit things - that point is on the list, but a fair way down! I have three more B7s to build - they'll fill in the gaps on both sides of the platform and get me started at the far end of the yard. After that, the crossing which takes arriving goods trains into the yard at the bottom of the photo needs to be looked at and then the yard - with two tandems very much in evidence in the photos. I haven't managed to get the track wired yet - that'll be next once the last couple of turnouts are constructed and built. I've a working Jinty plus a Class 24 to use as test locos but so far, the few wagons I rolled around have all tracked nicely though the turnouts and haven't derailed at rail joins. Once this lot is working happily, I'll paint the rails, get it back working properly, ballast it, then get it back working properly (!) and then doing something about the platform, the station building and the trainshed which Bruce has had etched for me.

Now to try and find out how to watch it Down Here.

A LNWR Loco Coal Wagon could be "loaned" quite easily should you require! I'll include a painted and lettered body in the parcel which is almost ready to send over. WD Barnett can be arranged too if there is a clear photo of one of their wagons. Cheers Kevin

This isn’t widely known nor appreciated so perhaps a note in the magazine/newsletter from time to time with information on how to get the components would be useful for those who seek to dismantle.

G'day all, Happy New Year (although it is the 13th so maybe not so new). The first ZAG meeting for this year is this Saturday (14 January) from 1930GMT. Please adjust according to your location. I'll be MIA as, to quote Dr Adams, I've a three line whip being enforced due to the 14th being my wife's birthday and the 15th being our wedding anniversary - and we have a kid free weekend. As always, all are welcome to join in, and share what they have been building, ask for advice (and share their favourite tips for success) and generally have a chat about their projects. The link below should take you straight there or the ID and passcode. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83287616944?pwd=WGRnQkprN1IwcitVRm56OThtMUFVUT09 Meeting ID: 832 8761 6944 Passcode: 222372 I hope it is an enjoyable and productive meeting. Cheers Kevin

The block has one axle, the next axle isn’t in the block, then the 3 drivers and the trailing axle - so I can see where @Chris Higgs is coming from.

Already here Jim! (just under 9 hours of 2023 as I type - seems ok so far!) Let's hope it is a Guid one!

The Midland D418 Milk and Fruit Van was so much easier! (Particularly since @VRBroadgauge had done me a replacement chassis 😉)

Don't worry about glacial pace - I'll be finally putting track down on a 20 year plus project in the New Year! I may even write something for TCH about it but given it's 2mm... Hopefully 2023 is a better year than the last couple - in every respect.

Very nice - I’ve 11 in the “to do” pile. These pictures will help enormously. I take it the etch doesn’t include axle boxes? If not I’ll have to get on to Shop 2.

Back at the workbench this afternoon after the innings break in the 2nd Test and I got the first of four B7 (two left two right) Finetrax points out of the packet and made a start. Pleasantly surprised to have a working turnout by stumps - twelve overs later. This evening I added enough easitrac bases to fit an Ivatt 2-6-0 then 8 copper clad sleepers before building the LNWR buffer stop which according to my information was at the end of the platform at St Albans. So I guess we could say the first spikes have been driven. At some point I’ll spin the layout stuff onto its own thread but for the moment I’ll leave it here.

24th December Given we are hosting Christmas Day lunch (with 28 degrees C forecast!) and with my wife having German heritage, there wasn't any chance of me being able to do any modelling today - it was spent getting the yard mowed, desserts made, house cleaning before we started the Christmas celebrations this afternoon with German snacks (although given the temperature, the mulled wine didn't make an appearance but some lager did!). We are presently having a bit of an inter-regnum before heading off to Midnight Mass at our parish church before an undoubtedly early start tomorrow. Thank to those of you who have been following along with my count down. I have managed to either complete or make significant inroads into over 24 wagons (which was the goal - obviously doing a few VR K wagons helped as these are really easy) and I've learnt a bit (special thanks to Stephen Lea @Compound2632 for the various insights into Midland practice. I haven't been scared off the MR cattle wagon - I just haven't found the chassis to put under it again. Stored somewhere "safe" but I'll get it finished. I will also track down some information on the D418 since that's what I am building in the NPCCS realm). In closing all that is left is to follow @queensquare's tradition of a suitably inscribed photo - in this case, a photo of my highlight 2mm wise for 2022. A train I built (or converted in the case of the Jinty) on CF at Derby.

23rd December Over the course of this Advent, I think I have built over a dozen wagons or NPCCS items drawn by Bruce Cook (aka @VRBroadgauge). Amongst the items which he kindly organised etches for me, were some chassis for planned 3D printed bodies. These included some MR/SDJR 25' 4-wheel chassis suitable for the Milk and Fruit vans shown in Tatlow on P106 (yes, big fan for the Tatlow drawings). The idea being that either @nebnoswal or I would draw up the bodies to plonk on said chassis. And then... The 2mm Association publishes the PDFs for the Newsletter and Magazine in the Members Only section of the website and so it came to pass that I read the newsletter the day it was uploaded and noticed that @2mm Andy (I think!) had some etches going cheap of the aforementioned MR D419 Milk and Fruit Van (I don't know what the SDJR diagram was, but the differences include foot-steps at one end on the SD one for access to the oil lamp so you could see inside. Obviously, the MR staff ate more carrots or had lanterns or something and didn't need the light). Andy also had a bunch of other etches so I sent him, and email and it came to pass that a) I was first to ask and b) I was able to obtain a pair of etches for three different vehicles. The etches from Andy arrived today, along with the magazine and newsletter. I suspect that had I inquired tonight, the answer would have been too late! So with new etches in hand - both from Bruce and Andy - I set to work to see how the 30-year-old hand drawn artwork (which I think has been shrunk going by the gap between the items) matched up with the 2022 CAD designed chassis. Fortunately, it would appear both draftsmen did indeed work to the same scale, and everything lined up - even down to the buffer holes so the body was able to be easily located on the chassis. Like a few things I have been working on, this one will require a roof - but the artwork for that is much closer to completion. I also need to pay a visit to a LHS and see what they have in the way of nickel silver or brass sheet in suitable thiness. As usual, I will need to tweak something after seeing the photos - in this case the footboard!

22nd December Something for Yeovil again today - although to be honest I am not sure if it fits @Laurie2mil's chosen/preferred time period. However, as I had the chassis built up, I thought it would be silly not to use it and so organised a print, which was then painted, to go with the chassis, which was also painted before applying decals from my Modelmaster collection. I should tweak the file to do the uneven planked versions (I've done the ply) and change the vent around (along with possibly the ellipse for the roof) for the SECR. I'm really pleased with these bodies - not particularly useful for my preferred period to but a vast improvement on the Farish or NGS versions which sometimes are seen on 2mm layouts. The advantages of CAD to get an accurate scale model!

21st December I spent some time this evening (had planned on it being this afternoon but Management decreed we had to brave the second largest shopping complex north of the Brisbane River instead - and three days before the deadline!) getting a packaged ready for Noswal Couriers to take to @VRBroadgauge - so Merry Christmas Bruce, hopefully it won't matter your present is delivered on the 27th not the 25th! Once that was all sorted I went into my collection of unbuilt chassis etches from Shop 2 and grabbed the 11'6" GWR one (2-363 for those playing along). I purchased this to put under the W1/5 GWR Mex B 3D print which @Ian Smith had drawn up. Initially I obtained some (plus a W2 and W3) from Shapeways but Ian has since kindly sent me the .STL files so in due course I shall have to build a couple more chassis. Ian I think used the drop in W irons and cobbled up some suitable brakes from his spares box - being a GWR modeller of high skill I doubt this would have extended him much! My GWR spares don't run to much at all - I've built one GWR Chassis (under a V3x Mink - can't remember which one it is - my daughter built the other) and I've got some Open Cs on replacement chassis but I don't think they ended up with DC brakes. In any case, it wasn't that much effort to adapt the underside of the print to accept the basic chassis - so basic I didn't add the solebars nor the axleboxes. I will in due course (having discovered tonight I'd used up my stock of plug on springs and axle boxes doing the LNWR D13s earlier in the month) sort the missing bits but over all I am pretty happy. I had to reacquaint myself with how DCIII brakes go - fortunately the rain stopped long enough for a quick dash to the shed to get the finished wagon out - and I also had a bit of a time carefully removing the Shapeways resin (FUD? FXD? who knows. My file didn't seem to worry too much but I did use a cheapy rather than my good one) to clear the space. I'll have a look at the .STL and see if I can alter it to accept the Shop Chassis for the extra two or three. I tend to think a GWR cattle wagon making it to Herts is unlikely to have come alone and even with the options of a W2 or a W3 to accompany it, extra W1/5s would be welcome in the LAG where there are more Western interests. At some point I had added buffers to the print and painted it, otherwise, expecting the modifications to the base to allow the chassis to fit, it's how it prints. A roof shall be sourced in due course too.

Is that one which was needing work when I was there Nick? And when are you planning on modelling it? Lent?

Did you send the form to the email address on the form? If so, then at some point someone will read the email and get in touch with the PayPal invoice. AFAIK it still involves a human rather than a computer so won't happen immediately.

20th December Technically something for me day but given the opportunity mentioned yesterday of getting some of Bruce's wagons to him I decided to work on another one for him - last one for the year most likely! I think this makes it 53 or something like that - he'll have to count them up when he has them all. This one is a T type insulated ice van - the three hatches on the roof are for loading ice for perishables to survive transportation in the Australian summer - particularly in Victoria where if a Northerly or Northwesterly wind sets in it comes from the Red Centre bringing soring temperatures and the risk of bushfires. Currently they'd probably welcome it a bit as the Riverland up near Bruce has been quite wet (like most of the East Coast in 2022) and the Murray River looks like reaching a flood peak in Murray Bridge (my mum's home town) as high or higher than 1956 (when she was 11 years old and a Girl Guide riding her bike around delivering messages - I don't imagine the Guide Unit doing such things in 2022!) A bit of weight in this one - not sure particularly why to be honest although I guess with the solid walls rather than the open sides of the M cattle wagons, there is a bit more metal in it. I didn't think to take a shot of it next to a M wagon to show the different heights, but it is significant - the advantages of the 5'3" loading gauge I guess. One other job I did today was paint the M wagon from yesterday - and then realised I hadn't put the shunters steps on it! This has now been rectified so touch up painting tomorrow, a bunch of wagons to have decals put on them in the morning and then clear sealed in the afternoon before knitting tomorrow night. Back on the UK wagons tomorrow. Something simple - GWR DC Brakes for some cattle wagons I have from @Ian Smith.

19th December Playing catch up on the Calendar - and trying to get as many things finished to send to @VRBroadgauge via Noswal's Courier Company before Christmas (opportunity to utilise the services of same was suggested at the weekend) had me back into the VR wagons and another M type cattle wagon was the result - I've lost count on how many of these I've soldered now. I know I'll need to get some more paint tomorrow as having painted almost 50 wagons for Bruce so far, I seem to have run out!!

18th December (a little late!) I had planned on posting every day (I mean what's the point of an Advent Calendar if it misses a day?) but unfortunately, I managed to wind up with one of those 24 hour bugs which come and go just after lunch yesterday (about when the South African team was two wickets down and still 63 runs behind) and the progress I had made up until that point on the LSWR 21' horse box (Tatlow again)@VRBroadgauge had designed for me (and for @Laurie2mil although he didn't ask! We think he may find a use for a couple) was halted until I was feeling better today. As I have come to expect from Bruce's designs, it went together very easily, and it'll make another welcome addition to my horsebox fleet.

Now there’s an idea…… What colour do you think they’d be?

17 December SEQAG Christmas party today so lots of talk about modelling, particularly with Matthew Wald who had escaped Cornwall for Queensland and brought some of his models with him. At least one of the AG members was heard to be muttering about wanting to give the card-built wagon bodies a go so we shall see what develops there. In the end the combination of a much later finish than we had anticipated, the excitement of the first Australian Test Captain to send the opposition (in this case South Africa) at the Gabba since 2000 (or anyone since Nasser Hussain thought it was a good idea in 2003 - in both cases Australia won comfortably) in - vindicated by SA being rolled for 152 with Australia 5/145 at stumps - meant the previous plans for the evening were scraped and so a proper build oppotunity came my way. I decided to do the second of the two GNR Horseboxes which @VRBroadgauge drew up for me - the D352. Contruction was straight forward, and I'd run out of etched bits (still have to put the footsteps and brake leavers on - plus add a couple of bits from the spares box) just on two hours after starting. Once again, this hasn't been cleaned up with the wire brush - just put through the ultrasonic cleaner to remove the flux. The pair of them in the same orientation as the drawings in Tatlow. Very happy with the results. Still none the wiser as to what colour they should be, but they look ok in North Somerset Light Railway livery.

16 December I got in early today and did a private owner wagon - and then realised that it was an even date, and I should have, if following my own rules, done Something for Someone - oh well. Rules are made to be broken! This particular wagon has its origin from Shapeways - specifically some LNWR wagon bodies which @Chris Higgs designed. However, I found when I went to make it as a LNWR wagon, the file was incorrect - it should have had rounded ends, not flat ones. No worries as Chris kindly sent me the corrected .STL file so I could print my own but what to do with the bodies? I've got four and rather than waste them I thought about making them Private Owner Wagons - after all, these seem to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. As part of the grand plan, I designed some decals to suit (a fictional firm of coal merchants) and sorted the wagon by building a 9' wheelbase chassis, painting the body with a rattle can I chose at random. It was while all this was drying (nice day for it down here) that I realised the date. Anyway, I finished it off. Pretty happy with the result. The AG part is my wife's initials, KP mine. We both love York. When I took the picture, I hadn't added the coal load but had fiitted the former for same. Doing the Challenge tomorrow is going to be interesting - we have the SEQAG Christmas lunch (with the Hon. Sec. of the 2mm SA joining us) and then we are going away for the evening. Hopefully I'll find time to do something.