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<p>Time for the final coach to be converted, I started the NUA a while back but stopped work after completing the first side due to lost parts. Given replacement parts arrived in the post with the NSA sides, it was time to finish it off.</p><p> </p><p> As previously mentioned, this conversion differs from my standard approach in that I have used a Mainline mk1 restaurant as a basis rather than a Bachmann mk1. Purely because I had the model sat in my scrap box as a left over from my 2006 Blue Pullman that I am in the process of selling off. </p><p> </p><p> The first job was to prepare the sides, fitting the window grills and cleaning up the components. I was still missing one door, so this was fabricated from some silhouette cut parts (a back plate with an outline cut of the door for alignment, the front of the door and a window frame. This gave a matching 20thou step between the back plate and the door front which matched the DC Kits parts. </p><p> </p><p> The side was cut away from roof / ends and 1mm or so removed from the ends, checking the fit to ensure that there was a good match. The first step was fitting a door to each side piece, before gluing the guards compartment side into position. As each section dried the next was fitted into position, adding small fillets of plasticard between the top of the side and the roof to reinforce. </p><p> </p><p> There is still a fair bit of work to do to finish the model, requiring a new way of fitting the floor (as the original retaining clips got in the way of the new doors), roof detail, post boxes adding / handrails and the step below the doors. The underframe also needs a lot of work, I am thinking the easiest approach here is going to be cut away all the trussing + any redundant boxes and replace with the kit’s parts</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21784]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095697-0-75611800-1546420299' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-67149200-1546420243.jpeg"title="E066A349-641B-48FA-9DF3-39E63EAA10F1.jpeg - Size: 81.55KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-67149200-1546420243_thumb.jpeg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095697-0-75611800-1546420299' style='width:800;height:191' class='attach' width="800" height="191" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Sorry I've been quiet. I've mostly been lazy lately, but I've had other business as well. Firstly, the 5600 was built and tested. Can't complete a circuit of the loop I have set up at work. Shame. I don't think I'll pursue it further; any money I saved buying the kit secondhand has been spent trying to get a decent 94XX donor. Secondly, found a couple of gentlemen with some bring-backs at the local model train show/swap meet. I picked up a Langley yard crane. A lot of flash, but the castings cleaned up well. I just before mentioned a loop I have set up at work. Our office is in a storefront, so for the Christmas season I set up some Kato and run as prototypical trains as I can. This also means that my locomotives are pulling long shifts, about four hours a day. I try to change out locomotives every other day or so, but I have had two casualties so far. My Dapol 14XX, which I bought second-hand, and a Dapol Terrier, which I found new. The 14XX just quit, but the Terrier started smoking at one point. I'll need to investigate at some point; if the Terrier is only afflicted with a fused wire, I may be able to fix it myself. I have a shot of the loop below; Finally, I picked up a nice Micro-Ace set of a Japanese DD51, a rake of side-dump ballast hoppers, and a Japanese brake van/caboose. I'm not sure if Japanese practice relied on the van for train braking, ala UK practice, or if it was more of a crew office, ala US practice. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I promised myself that I would spend some time turning the various bits I've cut out for the shunting tractor into something more tractor shaped. In the previous installment I'd cut out the main chassis frames on the milling machine. In fact the chassis has been together for some time but lacking any sort of superstructure. The body parts are cut from 5 thou K&S brass sheet using good old fashioned scratchbuilding techniques like a coping saw and Swiss files - the only concession to modernity being sticking a CAD printout to the sheet with Pritt instead of marking out by hand. All of the parts were made in pairs with two pieces of 5 thou sweated together. As well as making two identical parts, 10 thou of brass is a bit more stable than 5 thou on its own. Even though I only need one of each front part, I still made two. I'm pleased with the way it's coming along. In particular it is starting to look like a Weatherill L61 loader, which is nice because apart from a very small side elevation from a sales brochure, it's all done from photos. There is still a lot more to do though - putting pre-made parts together gives the appearance of progress but I've used up most of the bits that I've made so I need to go back and make some more. Some photos. No coins though! It's just under an inch long if you want to have some scale. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I promised myself that I would spend some time turning the various bits I've cut out for the shunting tractor into something more tractor shaped. In the previous installment I'd cut out the main chassis frames on the milling machine. In fact the chassis has been together for some time but lacking any sort of superstructure. The body parts are cut from 5 thou K&S brass sheet using good old fashioned scratchbuilding techniques like a coping saw and Swiss files - the only concession to modernity being sticking a CAD printout to the sheet with Pritt instead of marking out by hand. All of the parts were made in pairs with two pieces of 5 thou sweated together. As well as making two identical parts, 10 thou of brass is a bit more stable than 5 thou on its own. Even though I only need one of each front part, I still made two. I'm pleased with the way it's coming along. In particular it is starting to look like a Weatherill L61 loader, which is nice because apart from a very small side elevation from a sales brochure, it's all done from photos. There is still a lot more to do though - putting pre-made parts together gives the appearance of progress but I've used up most of the bits that I've made so I need to go back and make some more. Some photos. No coins though! It's just under an inch long if you want to have some scale. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Starting with a few dabs of paint on the underframe - silver on the exhaust, a couple of spots of orange and red on some mouldings. The Hornby underframe is fairly crude so the red and orange paint don't really match up to the prototype.</p><p> </p><p> After that dried I brushed over with some 'Rusty Wash' made using some Tamiya Orange Brown and a drop of Orange mixed with suitable paint thinners; and some 'Dirty Wash' made using some Tamiya Dark Grey and a dash of Orange Brown, again with suitable paint thinners.</p><p> </p><p> As you can see I managed to damage the glazing mould, I have had to order a complete body spare from Peters Spares. I plan to saw the glazing so I have access to the roof to fit the DCC Decoder, wiring and lighting.</p><p> </p><p> Next - Altering the internal seating to give a more prototypical look.</p> View the full article

<p>I decided to re-number my Hattons/DJM 14XX today.</p><p> </p><p> Much has been said about the 'sunken' number plates adopted by DJ Models for GW prototypes (14XX, 1363) and I have to say that I have yet to meet anyone who likes them.</p><p> </p><p> Some folk have decided that they're happy to live with the 'sunken' plates, which is fine.</p><p> </p><p> Those who need to re-number their model, however, have a choice - either remove the existing 'sunken' plates or simply stick new ones over the top of them.</p><p> </p><p> It's been said by some that the 'sunken' plates are effectively level with the rest of the body work, thus making the gluing of a replacement plate on top a simple job. I'm not so convinced that no part of the 'sunken' plate rose above the level of the body work and when looking at examples of replacement plates glued on top of the old ones, I felt that a small gap could be discerned.</p><p> </p><p> I decided, therefore, to remove the old plates and fit a small sliver of 5 thou plasticard in the resulting 'hole', to bring it up to the level of the rest of the body work.</p><p> </p><p> For me, the clean removal of the old plate, without damaging the surrounding paint finish, was paramount, so not knowing how solidly they were fixed in place, I didn't want to risk trying to prise them out from the side with a small screwdriver or scalpel blade.</p><p> </p><p> This is the original plate in situ:<br /></p><p> </p><p> To effect a 'clean' removal of the DJM plates, I decided that they would become 'sacrificial', so I drilled into them with a 0.7mm drill:<br /></p><p> </p><p> They actually came off pretty easily:<br /></p><p> </p><p> This is the resulting 'hole' after the residual glue had been carefully removed with a No.15 curved scalpel blade:<br /></p><p> </p><p> Two 'blanking pieces' from black 5 thou plasticard were then made up, about 3.8mm x 7.8mm:<br /></p><p> </p><p> These were then glued in place by applying small amounts of MekPak to the loco body and the 5 thou plasticard:<br /></p><p> </p><p> This pretty much brought the number plate 'hole' up to the level of the surrounding bodywork. I then glued the replacement plates for 1458 by 247 Developments in place:<br /></p><p> </p><p> I'm not a huge fan of etched smokebox door number plates and I normally prefer to use transfers. As the Hattons/DJM model came as 1450, I had hoped to merely replace the 0 with an 8, from a sheet of waterslide smokebox door numbers, but unfortunately the replacement 8 wasn't quite big enough, so I had to gently scrape the rest of the number off with a curved scalpel blade and start from scratch:<br /></p><p> </p><p> I have a sheet of ModelMaster ex-GWR smokebox door numbers, but not one for 1458, so 1437 and 5810 were used to provide the right combination of numbers:<br /></p><p> </p><p> I shall seal the transfers in with some matt varnish next and then continue with the last few jobs on the body, before painting and weathering both chassis and loco body.</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095491-0-03081800-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-05992300-1546363150.jpg"title="20181205_204340.jpg - Size: 115.72KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-05992300-1546363150.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095491-0-03081800-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095492-0-04044300-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-01739400-1546363204.jpg"title="20190101_111037.jpg - Size: 83.27KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-01739400-1546363204.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095492-0-04044300-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095493-0-04049700-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-23618000-1546363251.jpg"title="20190101_111324.jpg - Size: 108.24KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-23618000-1546363251.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095493-0-04049700-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095494-0-04054000-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-29236500-1546363327.jpg"title="20190101_112142.jpg - 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Size: 84.97KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-51512700-1546363417.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095497-0-04063900-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095498-0-04070400-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-68349500-1546363496.jpg"title="20190101_153230.jpg - Size: 90.39KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-68349500-1546363496.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095498-0-04070400-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095499-0-04076600-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-12736800-1546363596.jpg"title="20190101_155147.jpg - Size: 72.16KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-12736800-1546363596.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095499-0-04076600-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21780]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095501-0-04082800-1546363913' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-29970600-1546363656.jpg"title="20190101_160620.jpg - Size: 69KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-57-0-29970600-1546363656.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095501-0-04082800-1546363913' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

<p>Loosely (mainly!) based on Baker Street Station, Siddons Lane (just off Baker St.) is 12' x 2 and will be set in 1933 and based on the workings of the Metropolitan Railway/LTPB. The layout consists of two bay platforms, assessed from the Main Line by a scissor junction & double slip, in the centre of the bays are two through platforms bound for/from the City, the two bay platforms will have an isolated section to allow the changing of locos on the Main Line stock. Cassettes will allow access to/from the layout. Scenery will contain mainly of Georgian houses and some shops.</p> View the full article

<p>An update on the large door NSA<br />Now fitted with roof and VHF radio pod, along with window grills.</p><p> </p><p> Annoyingly I seem to have lost the roof for the second NSA (I am worried it’s lost behind the workbench (which means emptying most of the room to pull the desk out). I really need to get on with adding a back plate to it...</p><p> </p><p> After year end reporting is done at work, the plan is to convert the other side of the NUA and start thinking about the 2nd NTA.<br /></p><p> </p><p> Happy New Year</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21778]' id='ipb-attach-url-1095253-0-22038700-1546307512' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-58693400-1546306207.jpeg"title="33AE670A-47DD-400E-AE9B-3D4009EF28F9.jpeg - Size: 135.67KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-58693400-1546306207_thumb.jpeg" id='ipb-attach-img-1095253-0-22038700-1546307512' style='width:800;height:253' class='attach' width="800" height="253" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

<p><iframe id="ytplayer" class="EmbeddedVideo" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="https://youtube.com/embed/y6AWFbZYQfk?html5=1&fs=1"frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen /></iframe></p> View the full article

Happy New year, apologies if this is in the wrong section Where is the best place to sell Model Railway items?I use to use ebay/paypal which are very good but jolly expensive. Many thanks, Chris View the full article

The English Electric Deltic has long been popular with railway enthusiasts. It was a hugely powerful locomotive with a particularly evocative exhaust note, characteristic of its 18 cylinder two – stroke diesel engines. Production units began to appear in 1961 and ran initially in two tone green livery without names or yellow warning panels. D9002 – without name and warning panels 1961 It was about this time that I was ceasing to collect engine numbers. Notes inside the rear cover of my Ian Allan ABC book shows that I ‘spotted’ D9003 and D9004. From memory, I saw these locomotives speeding past the outside of Darlington Station on the ‘non-stop’. Train Spotting in 1961 The availability of some good quality old Bachmann models has prompted me to add to and reorganise my fleet of Deltics. There is a view below of my models of D9003 and D9004 with names and small yellow warning panels as running perhaps as early as 1962. Early model Bachmann Deltics, ‘D9003’ Meld and ‘D9004’ Queen’s Own Highlander I should comment that my model of QoH has slightly different shades of green and yellow to any of my other Bachmann Deltics. I do believe it is the oldest of my Deltic models, dating I think from 2002. Perhaps this particular model has seen too much sun light? Sometime after 2008 (the date printed on the internal circuit boards), Bachmann updated their Deltic models. The models were given a new chassis with a 21 pin decoder socket, six wheel drive bogies (and pick ups) and cab and directional lighting. The latter required that the dummy moulded red running lights were drilled out and a light bar fitted internally. The only other change to the body shell that I am aware of, was the use of etched grills to the cooling fans in place of the previously used woven wire. Deltc Chassis, 8 pin (bottom), later 21 pin with lights (top) Bachmann Deltic early four wheel drive bogie – note difference in wheel profile at the front end Bachmann Deltic later six wheel drive bogie - note difference in wheel profile at the front end Grills to fans, later etched (top), early woven (bottom) A little bit of history. At 69’-6” long the production Deltics were big, being longer than the longest Mk1 coaches with their 63’-6” underframes. Since the Deltics were designed to haul the fastest and most prestigious trains on the East Coast Mainline this excessive length would only have been an issue at the old steam depots used for servicing. By the early 1960s steam was being phased out and a discrete number of new servicing depots for diesel engines were under construction with presumably suitable track layouts. However for railway modellers, the 27.8mm scale length over the buffers causes a distinct practical issue. With overscale flanges and a rigid wheel base to individual bogies, the wheels catch the underside of the inward flared bodywork when negotiating train set curves. It is interesting to see how different manufacturers have approached this problem. For example Hornby Dublo solved the ‘train set’ curve issue back in 1960 by lopping a couple of inches off the length of their model. Lima on the other hand produced their model of Meld at the reduced scale of 3.5mm to the foot with seemingly distinctly underscale diameter wheels. There is an Appendix at the end of this Post with a couple of pictures of the Hornby Dublo and the Lima models taken with the permission of Hattons from their web site. Hornby Dublo news item, Railway Modeller December 1960 Whilst researching pictures for this article I came across a lovely period news item in the December 1960 Railway Modeller (and why wasn't the lady referenced?). As is still the case at Christmas time, manufacturers were showcasing their forthcoming products. Hornby Dublo were advertising the forthcoming launch of their model Deltic in advance of the anticipated launch of the full size locomotives. In addition to the Hornby Dublo model’s unrealistically short length the first models were painted in all over green livery with no lower band. One can only speculate as to whether the production of such a glaringly incorrect model contributed to Hornby Dublo’s demise and sale to Lines Brothers in 1963. Back to the Bachmann models and how do they accommodate ‘train set’ curves? Bachmann would appear to have adopted a ‘belt and braces’ approach. As already noted above they adopted a narrower profile for the leading bogie wheels. Then in addition, they controversially raised the running height of the model while at the same time thinning the bodywork with ‘cutouts’ in the vicinity of the front and rear bogie wheels. Deltic D9002 coupled to a Bachmann Mk1 Bachmann Deltic interior Bachmann Deltic bogie wheel cut outs The only thing that Bachmann did not do was to provide articulation within the bogie as was used on the old Bachmann / Mainline Class 45 models. My understanding is that the body can be lowered relatively easily and the model will still negotiate reasonable layout curves. However this is something that I have not undertaken. There is of course another recent model of the Deltic – Heljan’s DP2. Heljan DP2 and Bachmann Deltic – 1962? Heljan DP2 and Bachmann Deltic 0- 1962? The prototype DP2 appeared in 1962 and is reported as using the chassis and body destined for D9018. So identical externally to a production Deltic. The Hejan model, has the right scale wheels, is the correct scale length and has the right ride height. However in order to navigate train set curves the shape of the nose end of the model has been massaged. It is no longer tapered, and the cab windows are now parallel with the main sides rather than angled inwards in the direction of travel. Time flies. The sound from a Deltic is nearly as important as the appearance. It was back in 2016 when I wrote a Post about adding sound to D9008 ‘The Green Howards’ (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/880/entry-18194-my-deltic-sound-project/). As part of my reorganisation I have transferred the ‘sound’ from D9008 to D9002. In the process I have tweaked some of the settings to improve the running on my Analogue DC system. I have to say that there is only so much sound my ears can stand! Decent sound requires large speakers and only comes after some serious modification of the Bachmann model. 2019 will be interesting with the promise from Accurascale of a new ready-to-run Deltic with quality on board sound. Space for speakers is being made available by the provision of a smaller heavier tungsten chassis. Interesting times. Appendix Images of Past Hornby Dublo and Lima Models, Courtesy of Hattons Ltd Hornby Dublo Deltic from the 1960s Lima Deltic from the 1980s - 3.5mm to the foot? View the full article

Along with a few others, the end of the year seems like a good time to take stock of modelling progress over the previous 12 months. I set out this year to make progress with Cheddar, having previously been distracted by other projects and any excuse to avoid the wiring. Well I think it's safe to say 2018 was a year of ups and downs on a personal front. However, from a modelling point of view I've achieved what I wanted to; wiring was finished in March and track testing even resulted in some video clips. A lengthy and unexpected period off work in the summer resulted in a lot more time at home than I was anticipating and I'm pleased that I found the scenic work suitably therapeutic as part of my recuperation. Scenics are now well and truly onto the 5th board, the one with the goods shed and signal box. I've mocked up the station master's house based on drawings I found on the local authority planning portal. I've decided it's going to have a bit of compression eventually as it's too big presently. The permanent way shed beds in nicely and the yard has had coatings of Dulcote Stone scenic dust from Attwood Aggregates. I'm planning on bedding a few things down once it's all up and assembled. I've put a platform for the stone loading point on Bartlett's (?) siding and finished off the point rodding and returns into the mocked up signal box. Next will be to install the 2 rod point rodding for the Wells end turn out and then I can mock up the platforms. Board 4 is just about finished. Some additional weeds have been added to the extensive strawberry patches and I'm happier with these. So what's in store for 2019? Three boards to finish. Lots of buildings to make and two fiddle yards to build. Maybe even some signals. And an awful lot of detailing! Backscenes and lighting are a long way away yet. I hope you all have a great 2019 and I wish you all the very best for the new year. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

This topic will use an AMMO by Mig wash, Africa Korps Wash A.MIG-1001. Why? Because I have some and it has a red tinge to it, which I thought would work on a green vehicle. The jar needed a good shaking and mixing before being applied because the pigment had separated from the carrier and there was a ridge of hardened paint around the inside of the lid. I obviously didn't heed my own advice the last time I used it, and didn't clean the top and rim before replacing the lid. Application was done with a rigger brush, allowing capillary action to take the wash into all of the panel join lines and along body creases. It looks a mess at this stage, but will be left for 15 to 20 minutes to dry, before the next stage. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

This was going to be a real first - a live blog from 1000ft up a Welsh slate quarry - full 4g signal, pics on phone and then RMWeb in complete meltdown! All the nasties nicely sorted and the blow by blow account by Andy of what was going on was very nicely done. So back home from a crafty two nights in North Wales and here are some pics. After a relatively early start and big breakfast in Porthmadoc (nothing happening at Harbour or WH Heritage), a rapidly brightening day saw us proceeding on virtually car (and certainly coach and caravan!), free roads up past Beddgelert, Llyngwynant and Pen-y-Pass down to Llanberris. While Louise elected to go though the papers now not so little Iz and I went exploring and got a bit carried away. Straight up Dinorwic A1 incline, then A2 and then A3. I must point out that all this is completely within the bits that you are allowed in and we didn't go off piste at all but the amount to see was just staggering. Best of all it appears that you can just keep going up the A incline right to the top but we really hadn't equipped ourselves for such and adventure that day so turned around and headed for deserted beaches on Anglesey instead. Next morning while the girls were taking their usual and completely inexplicable long time getting moving I went off in search of the Ynys Pandy Slate Mill. I have previously failed to find it but was a bit more prepared this time and was completely successful although if the mist had been any thicker I might have missed it completely! Oh yes - the mysterious baby elephants! Well that is what I presume the family in the Travel Lodge room above us must have had with them. Up and down, bang, bang ,bang until well past midnight both nights, Funny thing was that we couldn't here any voices just ceiling shattering thumps. With all credit to the Travel Lodge staff who I have always found to be completely brilliant in every one we have ever stayed in , they did offer to move us but was going to be a bit complicated as there wouldn't as no cleaned rooms were available in the morning and we wanted to get off without moving the extra ordinary amount of stuff that the out numbering female contingent of the household seem to find necessary to bring for a two night stay! Any way back home with glass of wine and looking forward to a good nights sleep! And a Happy New Year to you all! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Another coach shell constructed for the TPO formation, this time a small door NSA from DC Kits bits along with a Bachmann mk1 Construction followed the same approach as the previous large door NSA with one small difference. I have started adding the window grills, these are being fabricated from a Pikestuff door cut into strips and then chopped to length. To assist fitting the inter corners of the window are squared off before flying the new grill in place. It’s not as fine as the prototype but better than nothing Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Another 1/43rd model, by Oxford Diecast.</p><p> </p><p> Back in the days when cars were cars and boys were boys, I spent my time car spotting. Trains had no interest for me, where I lived they were all green and electric. One of the cars I drooled over was the Sunbeam Talbot 90, and when Oxford Diecast brought out their model of it in 7mm scale, I just had to have one.</p><p> </p><p> This is what it looks like out of the box:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> This is what it will look like at the end:</p><p> </p><p> </p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21769]' id='ipb-attach-url-1094486-0-89488700-1546191902' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-10667400-1546191397.jpg"title="IMG_7847_Cropped.JPG - Size: 141.66KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-10667400-1546191397_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1094486-0-89488700-1546191902' style='width:800;height:404' class='attach' width="800" height="404" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21769]' id='ipb-attach-url-1094487-0-90407000-1546191902' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-46994200-1546191430.jpg"title="IMG_7863_Cropped.JPG - Size: 143.5KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-46994200-1546191430_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1094487-0-90407000-1546191902' style='width:800;height:428' class='attach' width="800" height="428" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

BR to NCB Hello everyone, this thread hopefully will evolve into a thread for sharing pictures of mainline (or BR locomotives) being transferred into industrial use. No NCB limitation, I just needed a catchy title. So as a debut post here’s my Bachmann Midland 1F convert from BR late crest, using Railtech transfers. With the crests removed and numbers too. These were replaced with NCB equivalents. And the driver and fireman are painted into Heapton Green overalls from ‘RTR’ figures. The lamp is hung for extra detail; as is the real coal and tools in the bunker. Too clean for a colliery locomotive of course! She will be weathered in due course. BR shed plates and number plates on the smoke box were kept as a nod to the loco’s previous life. This is not prototypical in anyway, although in the world of Heapton (my layout) the chairman of the BR Midland Region was closely friends with the chief motive collector- the bloke in charge of the motive power at the Heapton Colliery mine Railway system- (presumably someone like this did exists for one or a few mines together?) so when the ageing Heapton Colliery fleet went wrong favours were asked and one of these was the acquisition of this 1F (which happened to be the preserved example in real life) amongst others. After providing a good service a full purchase was made and number “722” became a prominent member of the fleet working across the network. From the inner city Wagon Works to the steep climb from the mine itself. Here working as banker as well as being banked with heavily weighted trains. Looking good with some Stoke-on-Trent based wagons and one of her shed-mates Here’s a link to my YouTube video on the topic So go for it- I look forward to seeing what you guys have done Oliver View the full article

Having really faffed around with doing individual panes of glass ( that should be pains of glass !! ) for the rooflight the Goods Shed is now complete. I wanted to make the rooflight more flush with the slates which I hope adds to the realism. Well to recap... I`ve gone from this........ To this........ Next to complete the overall project will be a bit of cheating........ I did`nt make this one. T`was bought of ebay back in 2010 for a very good price She just needs reverting back to 1930`s GWR building colours................ Bye for now.......... Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Getting the boiler and footplate fitted together was a time consuming task. Try, file a bit, try again, file a bit more. When in place I could make the spectacle plate and get the whole thing looking a bit like a D1. So here it is actually sitting on the track. Also seems to pass the push along through points and curves without the wheels fouling the body test. In theory that means the Gibson wheels will be fine. From the rear with the motor and gearbox in for a trial fit. There is room for some weight above and to the sides of the motor which I think will be needed. The centre of gravity is ahead of the leading driver due to the boiler and it wants to come back to between the drivers. Ok, this is the backhead from the kit, together with the wheel and worm drive cover. Hmm. A bit of help from the silhouette produced a styrene laminated one which is pretty close to the drawing and can be detailed reasonably easily. Also it can go in after the rest is painted. Since I have slimmed the width down to about scale size the DJH roof is now too big. It is too thick as well, so I thought it was simpler just to solder one up from bits of brass. Should be a fair bit of free time next week so things should get progressed at a better rate. Happy new year to all and I hope your modelling goes well in 2019. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I really ought to get cracking on this. My goal for 2019 is to complete this kit. View the full article

This is a model of a BR Mk1 gangwayed brake coach, often known as a Brake Goods or simply BG, done as a cut and shut of two Lima brake second coaches. The Mk1 BG had two compartments for luggage, one at each end, and with a compartment for the guard in the middle. In later years, some of these coaches were converted into newspaper sorting vans by removal of the guard's compartment and closing-up of some of the doors. I decided to model a coach in this modified condition for a few reasons - it is more useful on my own layout (which is predominantly a freight operation); I can apply a simple livery (rail blue all-over); and I can omit the periscopes and some of the door details. This is my first completed attempt at a model coach. Construction had five main elements, but the work on these often overlapped so there weren't really any defined stages: 1. Make a body shell by glueing together the 'brake' ends of two Lima brake corridor second (BSK) coaches. 2. Cut down the underframe from one of the donor coaches to fit the new body (57 foot chassis). 3. Reduce the ride height of the model on its bogies, and install new wheels and couplers. 4. Construct the roof. 5. Painting and assembly. I am not sure whether the Lima models are to scale length, so to make a 57 ft coach from two 64 ft ones as easily as possible I simply reduced the overall length by a scale 7 feet (24.5 mm). This photo includes the modified roof, body and underframe before I reduced the ride height. The body sides do not need any new windows. I used Milliput as the filler to hide the joins between the two halves and Revell Plasto around the unwanted doors. The body shell is quite a sturdy assembly (stronger than the underframe) and the important thing is to get the two halves in a straight line in both the horizontal and the vertical planes. My chosen paint stripper is methylated spirits, this seems perfect for Lima paint. The only modifications to the mouldings are to remove the toilet plumbing and most of the access steps on the ends, but I overlooked this until near the end. To shorten the underframe I cut out the section containing the moulded word 'Lima'. The objective was to finish with the length about 0.5 mm shorter than the body so I knew the body would fit. I have tried a few techniques for lowering the ride height of Lima coaches. This time I cut 15 mm holes in the underframe and installed new pivot plates from styrene in the body shell. A thick washer on the bogie pivot completes the job. The bogies are modified to fit by trimming away the two semi-circular ridges beside the pivot pegs. The pivot plates are 2mm thick styrene and the washers are M4 x 1.5 mm in stainless steel. The holes in the pivot plates are drilled 3.5 mm and then gently opened out and countersunk on the tops to let the bogie turn freely. The wheels are 10.5 mm plain discs from Steam Era models, these are a drop in fit into the bogies. I use Kadee couplers. When the underframe is sitting at its new height above the tops of the rails, a centre-set coupler in its draft gear box is at the proper height and doesn't need adjustment beyond a scrap of styrene below the shank to stop drooping. I cut away the ends of the bogies to let them fit each side of the draft gear boxes. Later (after I took these photos) I also trimmed off the moulded brake blocks - I think this improves the appearance and it is better to miss out a detail rather than have a detail in the wrong place. I made the roof from one of the two donor coaches. With the length correct, I trimmed the plastic lugs very slightly so they are easier to dismantle and reassemble. I did the same for the four lugs holding the body onto the underframe. The dome and ridge ventilators are Markits ones for 4mm scale, these are about 0.5 mm too wide and too tall for H0 but this does not look obvious to me. I fix the ventilators with cyano but I'm never entierly confident about this, hence the blobs of Araldite in the next photo. I added the foot boards from strip styrene, these are fitted only below the doors left in use. The glazing is from one of the donor coaches. There is no interior moulding to hold the glazing at the proper height, so I added two lengths of strip styrene one each side to hold it. I glued the ballast weight onto the base of the body, there is no longer enough space to fix it to the underframe. The model is held together by its original Lima clips - no glue except on the ballast weight. I am quite proud of this achievement. I trimmed a tiny bit of plastic off all of the clips near the start of the project, I find this helps repeated assembly and dismantling. I built most of the model in two evenings, and then spent most of ten days painting it. The painting went wrong near the end, but for simplicity, the painting which actually worked was like this: Body: Halfords grey primer Halfords white primer Rubbed down and additional Revell 'Plasto' filler: Halfords white primer A mixture of Railmatch 'Faded BR Blue' and Humbrol matt blue, applied by brush Revell light grey on the gangway doors Nothing on the gangway mouldings Humbrol matt enamel varnish Underframe: Halfords grey primer A mixture of Revell Aquacolour in a greyish brown colour Roof: Halfords grey primer Tamiya Haze Grey Tamiya Royal Grey - very light application to remove the bluish tint of the haze grey Humbrol matt enamel varnish Eventually, the model looked like this: It would be sensible to call this finished but I then repainted the roof. It has now gone from being too pale to losing detail, but the overall effect is about right. The model runs well, which is good. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The trends of my naming conventions are rough but follow a sort of convention. This is meant to reflect changing attitudes and preferences in the management of the NWR, and how they want to present themselves. I've added notes below in italics to explain the thinking behind each era. Passenger/Mixed traffic locos Manx/Sudrian authors, poets, notable historical figures - mainly locos that were there when the NWR was formed 1915-1920 e.g. Edward Faragher, Thomas Allen *William Montagu is the exception to this, having arrived in 1931. Maybe it took the name of a scrapped loco? The newly formed NWR, providing at long last a fixed link to mainland England, wanted to establish itself as devotedly Sudrian and to not represent 'mainland control' over the island, which has always been fiercely resisted. As such, locos present in 1915 were often named after local Manx and Sudrian heroes and notable people. Sudrian legendary figures - 1920s-1930s e.g. Thorkell, Sigrid, Godred Crovan, Thorfinn the Mighty Similarly, the NWR wanted to celebrate Sodor and Man's history and legendary tales. Contemporary Sudrians - 1930s-1940s e.g.Sir Albert Regaby, Rebecca Qualtrough, *Colonel Henry Regaby is an exception, the loco having been named in 1915, however the second loco continued the tradition in 1935 During the 1930s, the depression hit. There was a need to remind the populace that people such as themselves could make a difference, and not just characters from legend. The war brought a renewed sense of national pride and a will to celebrate the efforts and sacrifice of local people. Sudrian Icons (buildings, landmarks etc,) - 1950s e.g. Suddery Cathedral The post-war period was marked by a will to build a new society, and the management very much wanted to be a part of this, while retaining a sense of Sudric Pride. Goods locos (most railways did not name goods locos, but this one does, and it lines them out!) Warships built at Barrow - large locos e.g. Revenge, Illustrious, Triumph Courting business from Vickers-Armstrong, the NWR was a railway born in the fires of war and owed its existence to it. Submarines built at Barrow - small locos e.g. Perseus, Proteus Electric locos (1500v DC working the Peel Godred line) Sudrian geographical features - 1920s-1930s e.g. Corloey, Dubbhyn Moar Peel Godred had long been neglected and naming the locos after local landmarks which in turn gave the railway the hydro-electricity it needed seemed an obvious choice! View the full article

<p><span style='color: rgb(29,33,41)'><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><span style='font-size: 14px'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='background-color: transparent'><br /><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>It's Saturday morning here at Crymlyn A Shop and all the Boyos are in on overtime. </span></p></span></p><p> </p><p><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>There was such a row about being given Christmas Eve off without pay that the Foreman has let them work Saturday morning. </span></p></span><br /></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style='color: rgb(29,33,41)'><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><span style='font-size: 14px'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='background-color: transparent'><br /><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>Dai the Paint puts the final touches to the last wagons for the Harry D Evans & Rogers and the Ystradgynlais & Yniscedwyn Colliery contract. </span></p></span></p><p> </p><p><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>Our foreman inspects Dai's work for any spelling mistakes and Dai will be visiting the local optician's as his eyesight has almost expired! </span></p></span></p><p> </p><p><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>Our Foreman hasn't the heart to tell Dai that the first thing the wagon's new owners will do is to drop 10 tons of coal in them so we don't expect them to be this clean for much longer!</span></p></span><br /></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style='color: rgb(29,33,41)'><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><span style='font-size: 14px'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='background-color: transparent'><br /><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>Owen the Spanner can be seen making some delicate adjustments to the brake gear on one of the wagons while Baldrick, the A Shop Gofor, shovels up the ash in front of the shed yard.</span></p></span><br /></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style='color: rgb(29,33,41)'><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><span style='font-size: 14px'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='background-color: transparent'><br /><span style='font-family: Helvetica'><p class='bbc_left'><span style='font-family: verdana'>1338 can be seen in the background while 1140 rests in the shed.</span></p></span></span></p></span></span></span></p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21762]' id='ipb-attach-url-1094159-0-60937700-1546082161' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-14837-0-27379200-1546082009.jpg"title="DSC_2623.JPG - Size: 316.72KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-14837-0-27379200-1546082009_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1094159-0-60937700-1546082161' style='width:800;height:422' class='attach' width="800" height="422" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Following completion of recovery work on numerous lengths of track, I started testing the Clackwick layout on Dec 24th. It was clear the following morning that Santa had brought more than the usual range of presents, but nothing whatever appropriate to my layout. However, one large package contained a build-your-own wooden HMS Bounty. The parts schedule includes no less than 135 product lines ("Deadeyes" for example numbering 52), so I can't even guess at the total number of parts. I do know that after four days of graft I am probably halfway to having the hull completed. Meanwhile Clackwick waits patiently for its' former attendant to return to the railway room. View the full article

Full list of Marwick dcc sound projects from Wickness Models https://wicknessmodels.co.uk/information/soundscape-decoders/ View the full article