Forward!

Re a method of making reins that will withstand a lot of handling- have you thought of an elasticated thread? The most common 'modellers' product is "EZ Line", but other non-modelling products are identical, cheaper and readily available from a local haberdashery.

Will

Interesting supposition. Is there any evidence that contractors used locomotives during the construction phase of the GWML? The research by Brian Arman has focused on Brunel's commissions.

And for what it's worth, my day job is in digital community engagement. On a good day, you could expect about a 1-2% active engagement (put simply- people commenting), perhaps 5% passive engagement. Without looking at the back end, I would imagine your blogs are probably some of the most engaged with on RMweb. 

Will

18 hours ago, Dave John said:

Thanks Forward. 

 

It would be an interesting project. "The Cathcart Circle " by Jack Kernahan is a good book, lots of detail. Caley coaches do an etched kit for the 104 class which would match the hattons coaches. Not just passenger traffic , a few of the stations had small goods yards too.

 

 

 

Exactly my thoughts! I have the Kernahan book, and a few of the excellent CRA books on operations and rolling stock. I think Maxwell Park is my pick.

Sorry I have nothing constructive to say, I just wanted to note that I spent a happy couple of hours reading through your blog from the beginning. Thanks for posting your really impressive pre-group modelling. I only stumbled on it as I have always had an interest in Glasgow's railways and when Hornby/Hattons announced their four wheel carriages I suddenly thought "h'mmm, is there a Cathcart Circle line layout in my future....?"

Will

Scotch whisky (no 'e' for the Caledonian stuff) could be apt, 'cos I think the wee mechanical horse has a Glasgow/West of Scotland registration. Whether it bothers you or not is another thing.

Interesting. The presence of the letter 'S' at the beginning of the regional codes usually denoted Scottish plates, so ASD 409 would have been issued by Ayrshire County Council....

If you really fancy some first-class modelling pedantry, the Wiltshire regional codes included AM, HR, MR, MW, and WV. A random example been 'AAM 123'

Keep up the good work. Great modelling.

Will

Great stuff.

I am currently contemplating Swedish narrow gauge myself, mainly collecting enough info to scratchbuild some stock. I am utterly enchanted by the little Swedish 'Nunnenbanen' Stavsjö Järnväg.

I am looking at 1:45 or maybe 1:43 narrow gauge where o:16.5 might look a little better for 600mm track gauge. HOe initially appealled, but the roco/ lilliput equipment is very expensive!

Do you have the books sold by the Mariefred Railway Museum?= I will be getting them soon, so hopefully the ones with detailed stock plans in them might be of use. http://www.oslj.nu/

good luck with your project. I never thought I would stumble across another UK modeller interested in Swedish narrow gauge!

Will

If I had to pick one thing, the change in end profile is the 'must have' element I think. Altogether this is very nice work and in terms of cost and time compared to two etched brass kits? stands comparison I think. Does Caley Coaches or some such supplier sell appropriate bogies for these vehicles seperately? That would really set them off.

Will

Hi etched pixels- nice to see more projects coming on- the ballast wagon looks particularly cool and I imagine it would service well for a wagon of any of the railway co#s from ay 1860s.

Regarding the Thompson carriages. I thought Worsley Works make these in N (1:148) scale? and Masterclass models have had them in their 'not yet available' list too, but for 2mm (sides ends roofs and underframes). The Masterclass Thompsons would be exciting as their current Gresley suburbans include resin roofs, interior partitions, underframe detail and bogies- the full job!

If it helps slightly, the 2mm f/s scale Gresley bogies available from the 2mm association are not that hard to put together but more importantly, you can fit N gauge carriage wheels (7mm dia) in them with no modifications. I agree with your comment that generally 2mm chaps want 2mm scale etches and N gauge chaps are happier to mix.

I imagine N gauge modellers use generic non-corridor stock because that's all there is available without resorting to batch-kitbuilding carriages. It isn't all doom and gloom though as I'm lucky as a GCR modeller that the generic GWR/SR Farish corridor stock looks remarkably like GCR mainline 'matchboard' stock. but even so I'm gradually replacing the whole lot with etched stuff. Thankfully the GCR used generally quite short trains, but this is still a very slow process because cost is always an issue in trying to do this. and the time taken to build the kits also slows things down.- And I do still cling to the idea that N gauge is supposed to be cheaper than larger scales!! I certainly wouldn't fancy etched kitbuilding a 10-coach rake, and I guess I will never fulfil my dream of a 20 coach rake of 6-wheelers on a turn of the century express! The cost and time would be preclusive.

I wish a Robinson 'London Extension' Clerestory carriage was widely available in N gauge as I could use a good number of them! Similarly a 6-wheeler of 1890s vintage. Like Etched pixels says= these lasted a suprisingly long time on all sorts of routes and the ex-GCR 6-wheelers even survived in service to at least 1943.

I wonder how many people are put off modelling N gauge steam era (especially 'Big-Four') because of the lack of easily available carriages and wagons. I would guess quite a number are?

Will

Looks great! The end mods/ brake wiring will certainly set it out as something a little more keenly observed than an 'average' model.

A big improvement to any ABS whitemetal kit would be to replace the brake lever guide with an etched item.

Will

wow- the K3 body looks like a pre-production model from a main manufacturer. One step closer to 'Atso Model Industries' ?

Will

I love swing and lifting railway bridges- There's one on the River trent I'd love to make, (and I'm getting to my point here slowly..) after pricing up the lengths of I-angle brass needed to build the whole structure I found my total was in three-figures! Put the kibosh on that plan!

I like you prototype- with all those plate girders it should prove quite easy to build. I wonder whether the drawings for the bridge survive at the National Railway Museum- might be worth a check?

Will