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Mikkel

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Blog Entries posted by Mikkel

  1. Mikkel
    Farthing, June 27, 1914. Europe is on the brink of war, but noone knows. The staff go about their morning routines, and No. 835 sleepily shunts a horsebox.
     
     
     

     
    Station Master A. Woodcourt examines the scene. He likes the order and calm of the bay area. He is feeling his age and hopes it will be a quiet day.
     
     
     

     
    But it is not to be. As he propels the horsebox into the sidings, driver T.F. Oberon notices a problem. Throughout his life with the railways, he has been able to smell a hot axlebox. And he can smell one now.
     
     
     

     
    As the "hot box" is confirmed, Woodcourt realizes he has a problem on his hands. There is a major event at the Farthing Race Course today, and there are no spare horseboxes to deploy.
     
     
     

     
    To make matters worse, the owner of the horse turns out to be the rather brusque and imposing Mr Bull. As Bull launches into yet another of his long-winded complaints about the state of the country's railways, Woodcourt realizes it is going to be one of those days...
     
    ***
    Credits: Horsebox built by Pete Morris.
    ***
     
    Will Woodcourt solve the problem? Will the horse make it in time for the races? What else is in store for the good people of Farthing? Find the answers in the next instalment of "All in a day's work"...
     
    Go to part 2
  2. Mikkel
    "Surely you do not intend to transport my prize-winning champion in that ?!". Mr Bull looked incredulously at Woodcourt, the Station Master of Farthing.
     
     
     

     
    Woodcourt was acutely aware that the situation required all his diplomatic skills. "I'm afraid this is our only option" he replied "and we do convey horses in cattle vans quite frequently. The sheeting will keep her from panicking." He decided not to mention that the only horses ever carried in cattle vans were lowly farm animals.
     
     
     

     
    Faced with no alternative, Mr Bull finally gave in. "But make sure to tighten the tarpaulin better. Those ropes look slack and I won't have my champion go down with pneumonia!". Heaving a sigh of relief, Woodcourt made a mental note to remind the staff of the sheeting regulations. Those ropes did look rather slack!
     
     
     

     
    As No. 535 moved the van and its valuable cargo out of the loading dock, porter C. Walker realized that he now possessed some very useful inside information. After that ride, chances were that Mr Bull's champion wouldn't live up to its usual reputation at the races today. Best get some bets in.
     
     
     

     
    Meanwhile, Woodcourt was happy to see the horse move off. He congratulated himself on solving the little crisis, and wondered if perhaps the day would turn out well after all. Little did he know that his troubles had only just begun...
     
    Go to part 3
  3. Mikkel
    The men stood in silence and stared at the broken crate. It had fallen on its side and the contents had spilled out. There was no mistaking it: There in the middle....
     
     
     

     
    .... was a human skull.
     
     
     

     
    Station Master A. Woodcourt was the first to speak: "Well it may be a murder, but it's hardly a recent one!"
     
     
     
     

     
    At this point the director of the travelling theater company launched into a major outburst: "A murder? Are you mad? We use that skull for Hamlet! Didn't I tell you we were playing Shakespeare? And now I really must insist that your men hurry up with the unloading, or there will be no play tonight at all!
     
     
     

     
    And with that, they all got back to work. All except T. Gradgind, the carter. For a long time, he stood looking at the skull: Those cheekbones, that forehead. It strongly resembled his aunt Augusta. Augusta, the would-be actress who disappeared under mysterious circumstances a few years ago. Should he tell someone? He decided against it. They wouldn't believe him. They never did.
     
     
     

     
    Meanwhile, Station Master Woodcourt had returned to his favourite spot at the end of the bay platform. He was thinking that it might be time for a toffee (and that he rather deserved it) when one of the men interrupted his thoughts. A point failure had developed at the entrance to the carriage sidings. It was being worked on, but the problem was what to do with the Slip coach off the 15:55: It was still sitting in platform 3, blocking the up main. Would it be acceptable to store it in the bay for the time being?
     
     
     

     
    That sounded good to Woodcourt, and so the handsome Toplight Slip was propelled into the bay siding....
     
     
     

     
    ....with the trusty No. 835 and driver T.F. Oberon in charge.
     
     
     

     
    This particular Slip was a compo to diagram F15, originally introduced in 1909. Like the other Toplight designs, it clearly signalled the modern and functional style that was becoming apparent everywhere on the GWR after the beginning of Churchward's reign.
     
     
     

     
    As the coach came up against the buffer stop, a new problem became apparent: The coach would block the exit to the run-round when the first branch train arrived tomorrow morning.
     
     
     

     
    Uncharacteristically, Woodcourt decided to deal with the problem tomorrow. It had been a long day and he really was feeling his age. Perhaps tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow was June 28, 1914. That sounded peaceful enough.
     
    THE END
  4. Mikkel

    The treachery of images

    By Mikkel,

    Modellers try to recreate the real thing. But sometimes we don't know how the real thing looked. Then what? These photos show my experiments with what I think was a standard livery for larger GWR goods depots around 1907, following lots of browsing of photos in books, and a brief discussion in this thread (many thanks gentlemen!).
     
     
     

     
    The trouble is of course that photos from the period don't have, er, colour - and are full of light and shadow. So it's hard to tell grey from light stone, or light stone from dark stone, or dark stone from chocolate. Above is the same photo again, without the colour. I think it highlights how hard it can be to interpret colours in b/w photos. Also, the photos themselves are just reproductions. Alas, the treachery of images !
     
     
     

     
    You'll be forgiven for thinking that this livery doesn't look very GWR. Neither did I at first. In fact I hated it, and thought it was completely counter-intuitive. I felt that shades of dark grey would be more appropriate. Or at least dark stone which was the preferred livery for ironwork on the GWR's public station buildings. But certainly not this BR look!
     
     
     

     
    Still, the photos that I could find suggested that light stone ironwork with a darkisk chocolate base (to hide wear) was in fact common. And that it was often more clean than I would have thought. So I left it for a couple of days, and I began to get used to it. I also realized that it made a lot of sense: In a place like this you'll want things to be as light as possible.
     
     
     

     
    Looking at the results so far, I think it may need a little more weathering after all. Maybe I should also align the height of the chocolate base so that it's the same all around (at 4ft heigh?). Plus, the weathering highlights in the chocolate has made it look too grey.
     
     
     

     
    Perhaps this livery didn't just apply to goods depots. Looking at photos of other large non-public buildings on the GWR at this time seems to show the same livery (see eg the photos of the Swindon Works Road Wagon workshop in Kelley's GW Road Vehicles p27)...
     
    But then again, I fully realize that this livery may turn out to be all wrong. So, any further comments and info would be much appreciated.
  5. Mikkel

    A roof for "The depot"

    By Mikkel,

    I’ve been working on the alternative side of the goods depot recently. The sides and roof are now more or less done and I'm preparing to lay the ground and track in front of it. The roof has caused much muttering and swearing. Some time ago I dropped the whole thing on the floor, and had to rebuild much of it. Because of the accident, the roof is now slightly out of true in some places. That's not really visible, but it meant I had to give up on flush-glazing it. Certainly a compromise, but I was getting close to abandoning the whole thing, so decided that I had better just accept it and move on.
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
    I like looking down through the glazing to the scene below. Not really what the layout was designed for, but a nice extra bonus.
     
     

     
    The roof structure gives a nice play of light and shadow inside the depot, which varies greatly with the lighting and time of day.
     
     

     
    I prefer it when the shadows appear naturally...
     
     

     
    ...but they can of course be further enhanced by "staged" articifical lighting as above.
     
     

     
    My struggles with the roof have been a mental barrier, so it's nice to be past that point. I can now get down to things I enjoy more, such as weathering these walls further, and getting the details in place.
  6. Mikkel
    When I was a boy I hated The Weasel with all my heart. The Weasel was our maths teacher and to me he was the prototype of the Evil Teacher. When he taught he got all worked up and saliva formed at the corners of his mouth, and he would walk down among the desks while talking and suddenly pounce on you and slap his hand into your desk and hiss “Am I RIGHT, or am I WRONG?!” It was a rhetorical question of course. We were expected to confirm that we was right, and we always did even if we understood little of what he said. Because quite simply we were scared to death of the man.
     
     

     
    One of The Weasel’s particularities was that – unlike any other teacher at school - he would not allow toilet visits during class.
     
     
     

     
    This became a big problem when one day I had the runs.
     
     
     

    I put up my hand and asked to be excused, but he would not allow it.
     
     
     

     
    A few minutes later I asked again and explained that I really needed to go, but he refused. By this time my mates were snickering and I stopped asking.
     
     
     

     
    So for the rest of the class I endured the stomach cramps and the urge to go, horrified at the thought of involuntarily soiling myself in front of my mates - and particularly in front of a certain girl. It was probably just half an hour but it seemed like a lifetime.
     
     
     

     
    When I finally got to the loo I sat there swearing revenge. One day Mr Weasel, one day!
     
     
     

     
    They say that time heals all wounds, and that the best revenge is to live well. But they are wrong.
     
     
     

     
    A few days ago, as I was finishing off the interior of my G20 Saloon, I spotted a figure in my parts box that reminded me of The Weasel. A devious plan formed in my mind.
     
     
     

     
    Following the ancient rituals of Voodoo, I glued The Weasel to the loo. I did not paint him, because ghosts from the past have no colour.
     
     
     

     
    I then fitted The Weasel in the lavatory of the G20.
     
    I did not model any doors to the lavatory.
    I did not model any water supply.
    And I did not model any toilet paper.
     
     
     

     
    I then glued a lid onto the lavatory.
     
     
     

     
    So there you have it. The Weasel is now forever entombed in the lavatory of a GWR saloon, with no means of flushing and with no means of wiping his royal a***.
     
    Revenge at last. You were wrong Mr Weasel, you were wrong.
     
    Go to part 5
     
  7. Mikkel
    A couple of the coaches I’m restoring had buckled or sagging rooves, so I’ve been rolling and detailing some new ones from Plastikard. It’s one of those pleasing tasks where you get the satisfaction of making something from scratch without things getting too stressful - although with brass rooves it can of course be a bit more tricky. Here's a brief illustration of what I've been doing.
     

     
    “So tell me dear, should I be worried?“ In retrospect, I can see why my wife was slightly concerned! But what we have here is of course just the Plastikard roof cut to shape and rolled tight around a tube. This particular tube is 3.1 cm across, and is in fact a bit of plumbing from a sink.
     
     
     

     
    The tube immersed in a tub of boiling hot water, left for 10 minutes and then cooled down quickly under the tap.
     
     
     

     
    The resulting curve works out right for the single-arc roof profile on these coaches. The Plastikard is 0.5 mm which I think is the thinnest I can get away with while still keeping it relatively sturdy.
     
     
     

     
    Gas piping from Alan Gibson straight brass wire (should it have been a smidgen thinner?) and lamp tops from IKB. The rainstrips are plastic strips from Evergreen.
     
     
     

     
    I’ve been ambivalent about grab rails on coach ends (life is hard for the railway modeller!). Partly because it can sometimes look too obtrusive on models: If you look at a real coach, it is not really something that captures the eye. And partly because I like to have my rooves removeable, and the rails gets in the way of that. So some of my coaches only have the grab rails indicated. But now I’ve decided I want it there in full, so the rooves will just have to be fixed in place.
     
     
     

     
    A trial fit and things look OK. But it seems I’ve gone and squashed the lamp brackets – hope I can get them straightened out!
     
     
     

     
    Glueing down the roof on a V2 that I finished some time ago. I kept the original roof on this one. The coach is on a flat surface with bits and pieces stuck in below to get just the right tension on the elastic bands - enough to keep it tight but not so much as to bend/damage the roof.
     
    I realize that plastic rooves are not as good as brass ones, and they require good internal support. But so far I haven't had problems with other rooves I've done in the past, so it seems to work.
     
    Go to part 4
  8. Mikkel
    Some years ago I picked up a number of secondhand GWR four and six-wheel coaches, originally scratchbuilt by Colin Edge. They were lovely models but had been worn by time.
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I have since been gradually restoring the coaches - not to finescale standards but to general working order. This and  the following blog entries is a lighthearted illustration of the work done.
     
     

     
    First job was to inspect the damage (with apologies to Chris Nevard!). The example seen here is a diagram R1 All First 4-wheeler in the lake livery.
     
     
     

    There must be a thousand coaches out there with broken or warped stepboards!
     
     
     

    Springs gone too. And the paintwork is looking a bit sad. Anyone aged 40 upwards will recognize the symptoms
     
     
     

     
    The roof has buckled, and the glazing isn’t so pretty anymore.
     
     
     

    So to summarize, this little R1 exhibits some very typical signs of wear and tear on kitbuilt coaches. But as long as the basic model is sound it is well worth the restoration effort, I think. More on this to follow...
     
    Go to part 2.
  9. Mikkel
    Here's a little scratch-building project that I'm working on in-between the coach painting. The prototypes were used extensively at Paddington Goods in the 1900s. A similar but more austere type was used at Hockley. I couldn't find any drawings, so the dimensions are guesstimates based on photos. The build was a real pleasure, especially sourcing the parts. I'll let the pictures explain the rest - gradually!
     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
    In other words, a shed crane. I still need to model the operating lever which was situated next to the crane, and which (as far as I understand) connected to a mechanism beneath the deck. I plan to build at least one more of these - although possibly a more heavy duty type.
     
    There are a couple of things I might do differently on the next one. I think the counter-weight is a little underscale. I will also do the pulley wheels different next time. We live and learn!
     
    PS: Thanks to Missy for the tip about the watchmaker's parts, available on ebay.
  10. Mikkel
    Here's an idea for a potential future layout in the Farthing series. The idea is to show a small section of the yard and sidings at Farthing. The trackplan is based on a real-world prototype, namely an interesting ladder of kick-back sidings in Gloucester Old Yard, which served a variety of purposes. By focussing on one end of the track ladder, the layout can feature a variety of stock movements in a limited space, while still following the prototype.
     
     

    Crown Copyright 1936
     
    Above is an OS map showing Gloucester Old Yard (as of 1936, hence past the 50 year copyright date). Goods depot on the left, engine shed on the right, and lots of sidings in between. Lovely!
     
     
     

     
    Here is the map again, after I’ve been at it with my crayons! As you can see, the red headshunt in the middle served a variety of interesting facilities (is headhunt the right word in this case? Americans would call it the lead, I think). This included the coaling stage, and a yard where the loco department deposited ash and stored the occasional loco. The engineers also had some special vehicles in these sidings, including an inspection saloon with its own carriage shed. The sidings also served the Gloucester water works, and a private goods depot used by, among others, a biscuit company.
     
     
     

     
    Here’s a close-up, showing how all sidings to the right of the headshunt were effectively kick-back sidings. Consequently, trains had to be propelled/drawn almost to the end of the headshunt to access the sidings. Two locos worked the sidings: The yard pilot and the shed pilot.
     
     
     

     
    Looking at photos I also noticed that by the late 1940s an additional point had been provided linking the headshunt in question with the mileage sidings (not visible on this 1936 map, but drawn in here). This included the two sidings seen here in green, which led to an end-loading dock and seem to have featured a good variety of vans and mineral opens.
     
     
     

     
    So how does all that translate into a small layout? Well the idea is that the layout will feature just the extreme uppermost part of the yard, as indicated here with the green outline. The rest of the yard is represented by an off-scene fiddle yard.
     
     
     

     
    The plan above illustrates the variety of stock and moves that can be justified on the layout. For 1-5, trains are drawn back/propelled into the headhunt (and hence onto the layout) before being moved into the relevant siding (ie back off-scene). Movements of the Loco Coal wagons were especially interesting: They were exchanged between the yard pilot and the shed pilot. The two mileage sidings (6) provide for a bit of general shunting (edit: and coaching stock storage, see below). The small section of track (7) is a scenic indication of the rest of the mileage sidings.
     
     
     

     
    Apart from the shunting, there could be a few interchangeable cameos/dioramas to indicate the passing of the day in a yard. See the “flexible layout” idea. I am playing with the idea of setting the layout in 1947, which would be a departure from my normal Edwardian timeframe. EDIT: On reflection I have decided to stick with the Edwardian period. An OS map from 1902 suggests that the trackplan displayed above was largely similar around the turn of the century, give or take one or two sidings.
     
    Note: Much of the inspiration for the layout comes from an article in GWRJ No. 45, which describes operations in Gloucester Old Yard. If I have misunderstood something (including terminology) please don’t hesitate to correct me.
     
    Edit 1: I have found the following 1932 photo on the excellent "Britain from Above" site. The layout will focus on the busy sidings upper right, where the road bends. Registered members of the site can zoom in on the photo - and this reveals that the two mileage sidings that I intend to include on the layout are crammed with coaching stock! More stuff to run and model then :-)
     

    Original image here. "You may, print, display, and store for your personal use at home and you may copy to a blog or personal web page as long as the page is freely available with no login restrictions and no charges."
     
     
    Edit 2: Since writing this post I have decided to stick with my Edwardian timeframe. The above post has therefore been lightly edited to avoid confusion.
  11. Mikkel

    Edwardian daydreams

    By Mikkel,

    Nörreport station, Copenhagen. Every day after work, I wait here for my local train home. Today it’s late, rush hour is over. Everyone is tired, noone is talking, noone is present. We’re not really here, we’re already somewhere else.
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    While I wait, commuter trains roll into the platforms and leave again. Many are nearly empty, having already dropped off most passengers at Copenhagen Central. They will terminate soon, at the next station.
     
     
     

     
    Then an ICE train pulls into the platform, all the way from Berlin. At the sight of it, something stirs inside the weary commuter: A slightly unusual train, an arrival from far away. Is there anything like it? And thoughts begin to wander...
     
     
     

     
    Imagine a fine summer’s day in 1906. Imagine the bay platform of a junction station. A 517 class arrives with an autotrailer. Bit of a cliché, I grant you, a bit twee. But as a tired commuter, I’ll go with twee any time!
     
     
     

     
    And the autotrailer, which one is that? Ah, it’s the unusual A12 from the Plymouth area.
     
     
     

     
    Oh and look, here’s another train. River Class No. 69 “Avon”. Odd that, I thought I’d sold it some time ago? And what’s a fast engine like that doing in a bay platform? Never mind, it’s my daydream so I can do what I want!
     
     
     

     
    Argh, what’s all this disturbance now? Oh, it’s the Nivaa train. Well that’s no use for me. And quit staring at me people, I’m not really here, can’t you see that?
     
     
     

     
    Ah that’s better. Now this is what I call passengers! Stylish, sophisticated and not a care in the world. No ashen-faced commuters here!
     
     
     

     
    A-ha, here's the River again. And the infamous fireman known as "Mad Charlie", in conversation with Station Master A. Woodcourt. I wonder what they’re talking about? How she’s running today, maybe. Or the qualities of different kinds of coal. Or the Bambatha Rebellion. Certainly not tax forms or car repairs or any of the other trivial matters of today's world.
     
     
     

     
    Speaking of the Bambatha Rebellion (yeah well, look it up), here’s some real buffalo power! And it’s propelling an interesting 6-wheel U28 clerestory.
     
     
     

     
    And here’s a Buffalo with a tender! Well sort of: The Armstrong Goods were pretty closely related to the Buffalo tanks, if I’m not mistaken. And in my daydreams I’m never mistaken!
     
     
     

     
    Now what? Oh, it’s the train I’m in. So it arrived? I got on board? Never even noticed! We commuters are like robots sometimes. But look, it’s been snowing again. Looks nice with the lights, eh? And these are decent DMUs: comfortable, sleek, effective. Come to think of it, reality isn’t that bad after all. I wonder what’s for dinner?
     
     
    Click images for full size
  12. Mikkel
    I spent an enjoyable morning installing my two shed cranes in the goods depot. As previously mentioned, the cranes are copied from the ones used at Paddington Goods, although similar types seem to have been used in other large goods depots in the 1900s. I have not been able to find any technical specifications, but I doubt if they were able to handle anything heavier than light goods in vans and wagons.
     
     

     
    The cranes were scratchbuilt using plastikard and various other bits and pieces. I've decribed the build here.
     

     
    Looking at prototype photos I noticed that when a shed had multiple cranes, they tended to be grouped together in strategic positions. This makes particular sense with these cranes, whose purpose was to move goods from the vans/wagons to the cartage bays.
     
     
     

     
    I therefore placed the cranes so that they were able to swivel between the goods stock and the cartage bays, thereby allowing goods to be transferred directly, as per the arrangement at Paddington.
     
     
     

     
    One of the cranes was placed so that it could also reach the balcony of the mezzanine floor. This is inspired by the arrangement at Hockley. The safety chains for the balcony have been temporarily removed as I wasn't happy with them.
     
     

     
    The cranes were operated by a lever which connected to a mechanism beneath the deck...
     
     

     
    ...and the lever was protected by a small cage. The latter hasn't turned out very well and I think I will have to redo them with more care.
     

     
    We discussed the livery of GWR cranes here. In my case I opted for the wonderfully ambigious "Medium Grey". Photos of the prototypes of these particular cranes alongside wagons suggest that their colour was not far from GWR wagon grey.
     
     

     
    Finally, a photo with the roof on. I do like the look of these cranes, it's a very neat design I think.
     
    The final photo also illustrates a couple of challenges that I have to address as the next step: The weathering of the walls is a work in progress, and is tricky because it shows up too strong in photos, while it looks fine in reality. I am also repainting parts of the roof structure, as I wasn't entirely happy with the shades I had used. It never ends, does it? :-)
  13. Mikkel
    No, this is a not a post about my financial situation - though it could have been! This is about building and painting wagons for my goods depot layout , which is set in the period ca 1900-1908. For wagons this was a real transition period, with a diversity of styles, technical developments and liveries. So I’ve started a wagon building programme which tries to capture some of that variety. Here are some photos of developments so far.
     

     
    First off was this 3 planker, which I built some time ago from a David Geen kit. It has those nice “old world” round ends. Many were later rebuilt to straight ends, but photos suggest that a few still had those enticing curves in the 1900s. The livery is the pre-1894 version, ie with the small 5inch “GWR” on the left side. It seems this livery could still be seen here and there into the 1900s.
     

    In 1894 the “GWR” was moved to the right hand side of wagons. I wonder why – did someone at Swindon wake up one morning and exclaim “I’ve had a vision! Bring out the paint brushes!”. The non-standard tare numbers seen here are copied from a photo of the real no. 64493. Others had the numbers in the normal italics. The 4-plankers were the dominant type among GWR Opens in 1900. This model is a Coopercraft kit but with the oil axleboxes substituted for (David Geen) grease boxes, which still featured on the majority of wagons at the turn of the century. Nick, I forgot to add the vertical hanger, will see to it shortly!
     

     
    It's been fun experimenting with the shade of red. Contemporary sources indicate a fairly bright (some say light) red. In my opinion, pristine bright red doesn’t work well on layouts, so I’ve gone for a toned down look but with a bit of variety from wagon to wagon. The photo above shows an Iron Mink in the the base coat, which is a mix of bright red and orange. This was then later toned down with dry-brushing, mostly more orange and pale sand.
     

     
    Here is the finished Iron Mink in the post-1894 red livery. I couldn’t fit “To carry 9 tons” in the panel on the left. The GWR painters had the same problem and some photos show use of smaller letters to fit it all in. So I'll order some 2mm transfers and do the same. The iron minks were numerous in the 1900s. This old ABS kit was in fact a Barry Railway version that I had lying about, which I modified to GWR style. I only now see that the doors have issues in one corner. Mutter, groan, grumble!
     

     
    Then it was crunch time. There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to decide exactly when he thinks GWR wagon grey was introduced! For my part, I've been torn between 1898 and 1904.Until recently I was leaning towards 1898, which was the year when the GWR introduced cast number plates as standard on new wagon builds. If that was the case, then new wagons built between 1898 and 1904 would have looked something like the 4-planker above, which I built and painted quite some time ago.
     
     
     

     
    The cast number plates seem only to have been applied to new builds (see notes below). If GWR grey was introduced in 1898, then older wagons that were repainted between 1898 and 1904 would presumably have looked something like this 3-planker, which I initially painted in the grey livery.
     

     
    Then I changed my mind! I went through the sources and debates one more time (summarized here), and began to see the logic of 1904 as the year when the grey livery was introduced. So I decided to adopt this as the assumption on “The depot”. The implications are interesting. For one thing, it means that wagons with cast plates would generally have been red. This 4-planker is the same as the one shown in grey above, but now in red. Quite a different animal to look at! (but where's the V-hanger, must have broken off while taking the photo - back to the workbench!).
     

     
    Another implication of the 1904 cutting-off point is that older wagons repainted during 1898-1904 would have carried the 5inch right hand side red livery right up to 1904. This 3-planker is another David Geen kit, but built to represent a 1900s version with straight ends and retro-fitted with oil axleboxes. The tare numbers are again a deliberate deviation from the norm, reflecting that these numbers were often painted on after the main lettering job. Whether or not the underframes on these wagons were in fact also red is a separate discussion!
     

     
    And then, at last, came the good old "GW" livery, which was applied from 1904. Together with the Iron Minks, these pre-diagram outside-framed wooden wagons were the standard vans at the turn of the century, until the "new generation" of wooden V5 vans began appearing in 1902.
     
     
     

     
    Finally a few of my own notes on cast plates, based on the info and photos I could find in my books.
    Plates experimented with from 1894, standardized from around 1898 (sometimes 1897 is mentioned), and in principle applied until 1904 Photos suggest that number plates were only applied to new builds during this period, not retro-fitted to older wagons Photos also indicate that cast no. plates were always seen in combination with oil axle-boxes, which makes sense as wagons built during this time would have been fitted with oil axleboxes A small number of wagons seem to have carried a transition livery after 1904 which had the cast no. plate and the large “GW” letters (but not the cast “GWR”). There are examples of an Iron Mink and (oddly) a 7-plank 02 in this livery. Photos suggest that wagons with cast plates were greatly outnumbered by wagons with painted numbers. Regarding the latter point, see eg the very interesting photos from Reading Kings Meadow yard around 1905-06, in GWR Goods Services Part 2A, pages 16 and 18-19. These show many wagons with pre-1904 small GWR lettering, together with wagons carrying “GW”. Only 1 or 2 wagons with cast no. plates can be seen.
  14. Mikkel

    Shoulders of giants

    By Mikkel,

    I’ve been reading Patrick McGill’s “Children of the dead end: The autobiography of a navvy”. McGill worked as a navvy in the 1900s and became known as the “navvy poet”.
     
    It’s a fascinating read, and it made me realize just how much we owe to the men who built the railways, canals and towns. Talk about standing on the shoulders of giants!
     
    So instead of the usual progress report, I’ll let the navvies do the talking this time. The lines are excerpts from McGill’s poem “Have you”.
     
     
     
     
     

     
    Have you tramped about in Winter, when your boots were minus soles?
    Have you wandered sick and sorry with your pockets full of holes?
     
     
     

     
    Have you sweltered through the Summer, till the salt sweat scared your eyes?
    Have you dragged through plumb-dead levels in the slush that reached your thighs?
     
     
     

     
    Have you worked the weighty hammer swinging heavy from the hips,
    While the ganger timed the striking with a curse upon his lips?
     
     
     

     
    Have you swept the clotted point-rods and the reddened reeking cars
    That have dragged a trusty comrade through the twisted signal bars?
     
     
     

     
    Have you seen the hooded signal, as it swung above you clear,
    And the deadly engine rushing on the mate who didn't hear?
     
     
     

     
    If you want to prove your manhood in the way the navvies do,
    These are just the little trifles that are daily up to you.
     
     
     

     
    And if you haven't shared the risk, the worry and the strife,
    Disappointment, and the sorrow, then you know not what is life.
     
     
    PS:
    The young gent in the left hand foreground is McGill (click image for larger size). His book "Children of the dead end" can be downloaded free here, and his poems "Songs of the dead end" can be found here.
  15. Mikkel
    Here’s an update on the sidings at Farthing, or "Old Yard" as I have now dubbed this part of the station.
     

     
    I have reached the point where detailing can begin. I'm going for the uncluttered look, although a few weeds etc will be added at some point.
     
     
     

     
    Inside the "biscuit shed" we find an old timber built buffer stop. Like the shed itself, it is a survivor from N&SJR days, before the GWR gobbled up the proud little station and turned it into a goods yard. Being a modest lot, the N&SJR built their stops from coffee stirrers.
     
     
     

     
    Elsewhere, standard GWR stops rule the day. These were made from the rather nice offerings from Lanarkshire Models.
     
     
     

     
    I've modified the kits slightly by removing the left hand section of plain whitemetal rail, as I needed to have proper rail as far in as possible.
     
     
     

     
    The finished kits have a nice chunky appearance. They look like they could, er, stop a train.
     
     
     

     
    Close-ups can be so cruel. Someone will be having a word with the PW gang about those chairs, not least the missing one!
     
     
     

     
    Mind you, the real thing wasn't perfect either. This was cropped from a larger photo, to illustrate that it’s OK if you bend the stay bar...
     
     
     

     
    I've also made some point levers, originally from the Southwark Models range, now available from Roxey Mouldings. They appeared around 1900 and can be seen in some sidings, yards and sheds of the period. There were two types and the kit allows for both. I chose the simplest type.
     
     
     

     
    I chickened out on the soldering. Gel type superglue worked fine though.
     
     
     

     
    The only issue I had was with the weights, which are built up from layers. They do need opening out, and the handles need slimming down to accept them properly. As you can see, I struggled a bit with this.
     
     
     

     
    This cropped detail from a larger photo shows how the levers tended to be fitted on extended timbers, with the rodding often - but not always - boarded over. The boards were arranged in various ways, sometimes parallel to the track, sometimes perpendicular to it.
     
     
     

     
    I wanted to suggest something rudimentary so went for this arrangement, although these low shots suggest that I should perhaps add some boards at the side. I wonder how shunting horses navigated the levers?
     
     
     

     
    Another crop here, showing what seems to have been the standard painting scheme, ie weight and main lever was white, the rest was black (including the tip!).
     
     
     

     
    The points - so nicely built by John Jones - use a moving timber as tie bar. I laid the boards to accommodate this, so that the timber slides below the boards. I really must trim that pin!
     
     
     

     
    I've also added some fishplates. On my last layout I used the etched ones on the left, but felt that they were virtually unnoticeable. So I decided to experiment and use the plastic variant this time, which has more pronounced moulding. These are intended mainly for isolating gaps, so a slight modification of the rear side was needed.
     
     
     

     
    But alas, I hadn't thought it through. The result looks OK from a distance, but in close-up they appear quite thick. Of course it doesn't help that there is no actual rail join in this case!
     
     
     

     
    I also had problems with wheels bumping on them, so had to file them down a bit. I'm not blaming the product, it's probably due to my incorrect use of them. This is what happens when irreverent amateurs try to be clever with finescale products
     
     
     

     
    A loading gauge has also been made, using the Smiths kit of the simple, early variant.
     
     
     

     
    The light stone livery may be a little controversial, as many modellers paint them white. However...
     
     
     

     
    ...looking at photos from the period suggests light stone on this type. Above is one example cropped from a larger photo, PM me for others. Stephen Williams' Great Western Branchline Modelling is onto something similar in his livery guide (Vol 2 p71). He says dark stone for base of post and white for the rest, but adds that some may have been all over light stone. Could it be a period thing, or was there perhaps a difference between wooden and metal types?
     
     
     

     
    Finally, a note on the backscene. After much back and forth, I ended up with my usual solution: A simple embankment wall. Once again I used the vacuum formed product from Langley. It isn't particularly well detailed but I feel it works OK as an unobtrusive background that adds to the atmosphere but doesn't steal the show. Such heavy infrastructure may seem like overkill for a handful of sidings, but I wanted to avoid a rural look, and indicate that we are seeing the margins of a larger yard and station.
     

     
    The embankment wall thereby forms a recurring feature across all my 3 Farthing layouts, as seen in the medley of photos above. I’m hoping this will help emphasise that each layout shows a small part of the same overall station. So if you think it is all becoming a bit repetitive, I have achieved my goal....
  16. Mikkel

    GWR large flat dray

    By Mikkel,

    Here's the third and last instalment about my recent trio of horse drawn wagons. This is yet another GWR "dray", as they are commonly known. GWR drawings generally use the term "trolley", which I understand was the original and more correct term for what is today popularly called drays.
     

     
    The wagon was built from an old Pendon kit, picked up on ebay. There is no mention of the prototype, but it resembles a 7 ton trolley drawing in the Great Western Horsepower book.
     

     
    An illustration of the variation in length and width of three kits for flat drays/trolleys – nicely reflecting how the prototypes varied too, as vehicles do of course. On the left is a Dart Castings offering (see earlier post), and on the right is the Slater’s kit which really is quite large. The Pendon kit is the middle one.
     
     
     

     
    The only structural modification I made was the addition of the rear flap (is there a proper name?). These are usually in the down position, held by chains.
     
     
     

     
    The main part of the project involved modifying the horse, the carter (aka carman) and "van lad".
     
     
     

     
    The horse is from the Dart Castings stable. The photo above illustrates some of their range (no connection), with the measurements as stated in their lists. I like their 1:87 draft horse, which has the bulk of a strong horse but isn’t visually overpowering, as I think some horses can be in a layout context.
     
     
     

     
    I had a couple of these horses so modified one of them by raising its head. The neck from a discarded old Langley horse helped achieve this.
     
     
     

     
    On the left is the original figure by Dart Castings (as used on my “Ratkin & Son" wagon), on the right is the modified one.
     
     
     

     
    Similar work was done to make the carter, using a Dart Castings body and an Andrew Stadden head. Period photos and
    show that on flat drays like these, carters very often sat on the left side, like this. Presumably it is the safest and most practical position when you have to get on and off frequently, as they did.
     
     
     

     
    The van lad was made by modifying an Andrew Stadden figure, as seen here. He has not yet reached the grade that allows him to wear a uniform.
     
     
     

     
    A load was made using surplus items from the goods depot, e.g. my DIY cotton bales and crates, and various kits and ready-made items.
     
     
     

     
    I added some indicative roping from EZ line. Just a couple of ropes, as too much of this sort of thing tends to distract the eye in my view. In any case, the roping and packing practices on horsedrawn vehicles seems to have been more relaxed than on the permanent way. Two examples here and here.
     
     
     

     
    The other side. I tried to avoid colour clashes when building the load.
     

     
    And finally the wagon in place on the layout. That concludes this little series of horsey updates for now. Keep on trotting!
  17. Mikkel
    Here’s a summary of the work so far on my attempt to backdate the Oxford Rail Dean Goods to 1900s condition. Thanks to everyone who has helped with advice and information.
     

     
    My model is based on a 1903 photo of No. 2487, sporting the S4 roundtopped boiler and wide footplate. Various features such as a short smokebox, large cab spectacles and "piano lid" cylinder cover will make it a bit different from the superb Finney kit models out there - no other comparison intended!
     
     
     

     
    The chassis is a good silent runner. The model comes with plain con rods and wide footplate. This particular combination was found on Lot 99 and 100 (nos 2451-2490), so is appropriate for my loco. Incidentally, some locos built with fluted rods later acquired plain ones, meaning that selected locos in the 2491-2580 wide footplate series could also be made.
     
     
     

     
    The cast footplate is also good in my view, so was retained. However the splashers and cab were discarded. The splashers are rather thin and high, and the cab is too tall for a roundtopped version. I might have accepted this on other occasions, but I wanted to see what I could do with styrene and a Silhouette cutter.
     
     
     

     
    The Belpaire firebox also had to go, and as the boiler then becomes too short for a roundtopped version, I discarded that too. The smokebox was sawn off and put aside for later modification.
     
     
     

     
    I made a new boiler from laminated layers of 5 thou styrene. Each layer was shaped by wrapping it around a former, taping it with duct tape, and dunking it in boiled water. I used a Lypsyl lip balm container as former, and stuck the duct tape to the workbench a couple of tiems to reduce strength. Next time I will probably use a single thicker sheet for the boiler, as I’m a little worried about possible expansion over time. So far however it has proven stable.
     
     
     

     
    This is the boiler test-fitted on the Oxford footplate and chassis. The Oxford chassis has a cast section representing the underside of the boiler. My boiler had to fit this, while still allowing the body to be detached if necessary. This is the most problematic part of the project. To make things easier, I built the boiler separately from the firebox.
     
     
     

     
    The cast underside of the boiler can be seen here. The join looks poor in this shot, as the boiler and firebox were still loose. The firebox was shaped as per the boiler, with a wood former for the sides. The smokebox is seen with the chimney cut off, rivets and other bits filed away, and the length shortened with a saw. For reasons I have now forgotten (must be all those designer drugs), I chose to shorten the smokebox from the rear.
     
     
     

     
    The smokebox pushed back to meet the boiler. The elegant transition between smokebox and boiler on the prototypes was not easy to get right. I did my best using a slice of the original Oxford smokebox, and a ring of brass wire. The leading boiler band (overlaid here with lining) helps too.
     
     
     

     
    The brass ring imitates the, um, brassy ring that can be seen on prototypes in the 1900s. It is a snap-fit, and won’t be finally stuck down until after the body has been painted.
     
     
     

     
    The smokebox door also needed work. Here’s how it originally looked.
     
     
     

     
    I added an outer ring to the smokebox door, and a new door dart. The ring was cut on my Silhouette cutter.
     
     
     

     
    The door was then lowered to appropriate height by carving out the lower part of the smokebox, and filling out the space above with plastic putty. The cylinder cover was filed back and will be replaced with a “piano lid” type cover later.
     
     
     

     
    The replacement splashers were made from 5 and 10 thou styrene, cut on my Silhouette, and reinforced on the inside with additional layers. I initially attempted to replicate the slight overhang of the splasher tops that can just be made out on the prototype. However it became too prominent in styrene, and was easily damaged, so I left it off.
     
     
     

     
    I made the splashers 20 x 5 x 4 mms, which is overscale compared to the prototype, but about 1mm smaller in all dimensions than the Oxford originals. As this (reversed) test fit shows, there is the ample clearance over the wheel flanges and I could probably have made them smaller, but wanted to be on the safe side.
     
     
     

     
    The boiler bands are a compromise, and possibly a mistake. I made them from 5 thou styrene strips, and deliberately made them too wide in order to fit the HMRS lining transfers. They do look rather too prominent at the moment though, and need some work.
     
     
     

     
    The body fits snugly over the chassis. So far I have made virtually no modifications to the chassis, as I want to be able to replace it without too much trouble in case of a motor failure.
     
     
     

     
    Work has now started on the cab. The sides and front were printed on my Silhouette.
     
     
     

     
    So that brings us more or less up to date. Above is the current state of play....
     
    Lastly,  a short video showing a running test I did the other day:
     
  18. Mikkel

    Fun with crates

    By Mikkel,

    I’m detailing my goods depot, something I’ve been looking forward to. As the layout is designed for close-up viewing I’ve been searching for goods items that could pass muster at a reasonably close range.
     
    To begin with, here is a selection of crates. I'm afraid it's my usual unholy mix of kitbuilt, scratchbuilt, modified and ready to plunk! Hopefully it will all blend in with a bit of weathering and careful positioning on the layout.
     
     

     
    First up are these rather nice crate kits from US-based Rusty Stumps (above). The kits are laser cut plywood and come in various types – these are for horizontal crates. They are HO but quite large. The instructions are very good and the kits are easy to build (I used wood glue).
     
     

     
    If you prefer a plywood side rather than planks, the kit can be modelled inside out.
     
     

     
    Parts fit together well and with care the lid can be made as a press-fit, meaning you can take it off if you wish to leave it open.
     
     

     
    Above are the built up kits next to another offering from Rusty Stumps: Ready-made resin versions of the same crates. The latter clean up reasonably well, but I think you’ll agree that the kits are worth the extra effort.
     
     

     
    As an aside, Rusty Stumps also do a range of resin workshops scenes. I have no particular use for these right now but couldn't resist having a closer look.
     
     

     
    Back to the crates. This laser-cut high quality card kit is from the German company Kotol, which Job brought to my attention some time ago (thanks again Job!). The products from this company are not cheap, and some of their items are distinctly continental. But it’s attractive stuff for those who like small details, especially as they use wood, cotton and card for their goods items – so you get lots of texture.
     
     

     
    Above are the Kotol crates built up (I made the front one different just for variety). The kits are a bit fiddly and the card is quite sensitive to glue and scratches. So care is needed. The smaller HO scale was an advantage here, as I couldn’t find any decent small crates or boxes from UK manufacturers
     
     
     

     
    The Kotol range is quite varied and has some unusual items (anyone fancy working bicycle lights in H0?). This wood kit for a set of makeshift steps was a quick and pleasant build, and comes with a convenient jig.
     
     

     
    Scratchbuilding is another option of course. Having built the above kits, I used some of the scrap ply and card to fashion a few extra crates such as the one above. This added to the output from these otherwise somewhat costly kits. The scribing etc does take time, but other than that I would certainly consider scratchbuilding as an alternative in the future.
     
     

     
    Good old Hornby do these nice ready-made crates (there are others in the package, this is a selection). Some of them are very large and would probably have been dealt with outside the goods depot, not inside. But I find the medium and small ones useful. The one at the rear is as they come, the others have been heavily dry-brushed to add texture and do away with the slightly translucent look.
     
     

     
    I found this and a couple of other bottle crates in my spares box, and thought it loooked a bit dull. So I decided to have some fun.
     
     

     
    The result was these three machinery crates from Carr & Sons, a well-known Farthing company. A tad fanciful, but I had a fun evening making them. The sharp-eyed may have noticed that “Carr & Sons" looks suspiciously like “To Carry 10 Tons” on a transfer sheet.
     
     

     
    As many will know, Carr & Sons were leading manufacturers of round tuits. The one at the bottom is the basic model. The middle one is the advanced version. At the top is another of the company’s products, the square bloke (a development of the regular bloke).
     
     
    PS: I have no connection with any of the above companies - except for Carr & Sons, where I own 51% of the shares ;-)
  19. Mikkel

    GWR 1854 Saddle Tank (2)

    By Mikkel,

    My GWR 1854 ST is now done. To recap, this is a much modified Finecast body on a Bachmann chassis.





    My original plan was to find an acrylic spray paint that gave a suitable representation of the pre-1928 green. When that failed, I was recommended the Belton bottle green which has the RAL code used for landrover green. However, while this and some of the others looked fine outside in the sun, they all looked wrong under my layout lights.





    So in the end I reverted to good old brush painting. Not my best effort but I can live with it.





    Lining is HMRS Pressfix. I never use the preprinted shapes as they rarely fit. Instead I cut out individual bits and piece them together.





    I know some people do not like Pressfix. Personally I feel that it gives good flexibility and leaves no traces of film.





    The number plates are from Narrow Planet. You enter the number you need on their website and receive the plates pre-painted. We have it easy these days. No. 1853 is for a future model of an 1813 class.





    I was going to fit a cab sheet, but on the photos I have of 1854s none actually have a cab sheet, so unless further evidence turns up I’ll leave it off. The fire irons are the Springside set for tank locos.





    Incidentally, I saw this nice fire irons fret by DJM on Mark’s blog, and ordered some from Kernow. They turned out to be a bit too long for this particular loco, but will find use on my 3232 class.





    So here she is messing about on the new layout. In my defence, there is progress at the other end of it!
  20. Mikkel
    Here’s an update on Farthing – and some new ideas.
     
     
     

     
    The “biscuit” and “jam” sheds have been painted and are ready to embed on the layout. The buildings are an attempt to hint at the past railway history of the area. They were originally built for the old N&SJR terminus at Farthing, which was alongside the Great Western station. When the GWR swallowed up the N&SJR, it kept the buildings and used them as loading and distribution facilities for the town’s booming industries.
     
     
     

     
    This backstory to the buildings is inspired by Witney and Stratford on Avon, where early passenger stations were also redeployed as goods facilities, for blankets and beer respectively.
     
     
     

     
    End view of the biscuit shed (not yet embedded).
     
     
     

     
    The track and chairs have finally been painted. I’ve tried to capture the effect of disappearing sleepers, but it hasn’t worked quite as I hoped. I’ve decided to live with it, but I won’t use this method again.
     
     
     

     
    Nothing like a cozy layout session to forget the cold light of day for a moment
     
    Then I started hearing voices:
     
     
    I was never a Reagan fan, but this particular advice seemed sensible enough, and so I took his cue....
     
     
     

     
    What you see above is two layouts positioned next to each other, with the backscenes removed. The current “sidings” layout is in the foreground, and the goods depot layout is behind it.
     
     
     

     
    The concept for Farthing has always been to build different parts of the same station on separate, self-contained layouts. But I must admit that this little experiment has whetted my appetite for joining the layouts together, in modular fashion.
     
     
     

     
    With such an approach, each layout would still be self-contained, but could then also be joined to form a larger layout. It wouldn't require much remedial work. The traverser could be moved to the right hand end of the sidings (nearest the camera), and the track extended accordingly, perhaps with an extra point or two for operational interest. A future module could fill the “gap” on the right. The whole thing would fit on my writing desk.
     
    Let’s see. For the time being I’ll finish one end of the sidings as planned, and then make some decisions.
  21. Mikkel

    SDJR Road Van

    By Mikkel,

    Last year we had a discussion about SDJR Road Vans here on RMweb, which revealed that – contrary to what one might think – these vehicles travelled well beyond the SDJR on a regular basis, including foreign destinations right up to London. For details, please see Buckjumper’s notes in the thread.
     
    I thought I might justify one of these vans making an occasional appearance at Farthing, perhaps carrying small consignments of cheddar, cider and other Somerset delicacies to satisfy the palets of Wiltshire’s gentry.
     
     

     
    The SDJR had at least two designs of road van, one of which was based on the Midland Railway diagram D363 vans. Slater’s do a kit for the latter MR van, so I thought this would be a good basis for a kit bash. As it transpired, the project came to involve a lot more scratch building than kit building!
     
     
     

     
    I began with the chassis. As can be seen here, the kit comes with oil axleboxes but my photos of the SDJR vans show Ellis grease axle boxes. So I removed the axleboxes and W irons, and also filed off some of the solebar fittings, to be replaced later.
     
     
     

     
    I bought in some MJT compensation units and and Ellis grease axleboxes from Dart castings.
     
     
     

     
    To make space for the MJT units, parts of the underframe from the kit was cut away, using what I call the “salami method”.
     
     
     

     
    Plastikard packing under the MJT units to get the right ride height.
     
     
     

     
    Then came the time-consuming part. As can be seen above, the Slaters kit has a sliding door type which is wrong for the SDJR vans. To make matters worse, the door is off-set to one side, meaning the Vs of the framing aren’t actually symmetrical. So I decided to scratch build new sides.
     
     
     

     
    For the new sides I used plain Evergreen 0.5 styrene, and did the planking with my new scribing tool. This makes a neat V-groove, whereas other methods – eg the back of a scalpel blade – tends to make an unsightly ridge along the groove.
     
     
     

     
    The framing was a bit tricky. The joins with the van ends are mitred, and the bottom framing is sloping in order to let rainwater run off. It helped to fit the ends to the chassis, so that I could offer up the sides to the van and check that everything fitted as I went along. I trust my fettling more than my measuring!
     
     
     

     
    The framing all done.
     
     
     

     
    For the strapping I used a general etch from Mainly Trains. Having done a full side, I realized that the strapping should have rounded ends. I decided to leave it, but next time I’ll use plastic strip instead as this can be fashioned as required. Door hinges and locking mechanism were made from plastic rod, wire and chain.
     
     

     
    Bolt heads were added using rivet transfers. The lower framing “dips” where each bolt is mounted. This was replicated with plastic putty filed to shape.
     
     
     

     
    Sides checked against drawing. The perspective makes the side look a little too long here, but it fits in reality (honest, guv!).
     
     
     

     
    My glorious reward for scratchbuilding the sides was that the ends now looked a bit coarse by comparison! I decided to leave them as they were, except for a bit of modification to the strapping (lower left is as it comes, lower right is modified as per the prototype photo).
     
     
     

     
    Ready for primer with brakes and various other fittings now added. The headstocks were extended a little to be flush with the lower framing, as per the photo in Southern Goods Wagons. The roof seemed a little short to me – even for the original kit – so I extended it by 0.5 mm at each end.
     
     
     

     
    The paint job did not go well. Unfamiliar with the livery, I first sprayed on a light grey, then tried a darker one, then the light one again, etc. As a result, the grooves in the sides started filling in and revealed that I hadn’t cut them all to equal depth. Lesson learnt, the hard way! I couldn’t find any available SDJR lettering, so used individual letters from various HMRS sheets (the SR pre-grouping sheet is particularly useful). Number plates are a print from the original photo, with the perspective changed in Paintshop. The split spoke wagon wheels are temporary till I get some new plain ones.
     
     
     

     
    Thankfully, the slightly heavy paintjob is not really noticeable in a layout context. One thing puzzles me though: Most SDJR wagons seem to have had distinctive black ironwork, but the 1896 photo I was working from shows no. 1038 in all-over grey, with only the number/works plates picked out in black. It’s an official photo taken at Derby works, so perhaps not to be trusted? For the time being I’ve left the strapping in plain grey but if anyone has further info I’d be interested.
     
    Thanks to all involved for helping out with the info used in this build, very much appreciated!
  22. Mikkel
    Here's a summary of my latest build, an agricultural merchant’s warehouse, inspired by this prototype.





    As has become my habit I've modelled all doors open to allow for…





    ...see-through opportunities.





    That approach does mean that the interior walls and framing have to be indicated - don’t look too closely though!





    I used Will’s corrugated iron sheets for the main walls. They are rather thick so I fitted sliding doors on the outside to conceal the thickness. The windows seen here were my first attempt…





    …but I ended up using this technique instead, after good advice from Richard of this parish (thanks Richard!). The glazing material was scored and painted black, and when touch-dry the excess paint was wiped off.





    This gave a much finer result as appropriate for this type of building, seen here on the right with the original effort on the left.





    The timber staging was built from stripwood, while the main deck is from model shipbuilders' decking. Oddly it seems that the latter is not easily available in the UK, though we have it here in Denmark.





    For the lettering I used a plain alphabet sheet from Fox. The Cheeryble Brothers appear as merchants in Nicholas Nickleby.





    I browsed the web for agricultural adverts and worked on them in Paintshop Pro to change perspective etc. For the time being they have just been printed on paper and varnished, but our printer isn’t quite up to it so I’m having them printed on proper photo paper instead. Thanks for the help and tips with this from Southernboy, Ian, Rob and others. I’ve put the adverts in a Flickr album here in case anyone has use for them (not to scale).





    The roof is Slater's corrugated iron sheets, cut into individual sections and stuck onto a base sheet. Rather than overlaying the sheets, I pushed each sheet slightly up and above the edge of the adjoining one, thereby hoping to indicate an overlap but avoiding the thickness.





    I slimmed the edges of the sheets with a scalpel. The slight size variation of the sheets is deliberate.





    The trimmed Slater’s sheet next to the Will’s sheet. BTW I got several other good suggestions for corrugated roof options, including H0 aluminium sheets on ebay (thanks Pete) and some intereresting looking Redutex types. May try these later.





    So, a rather long story for a seemingly simple structure. I learnt a lot from this build though, and many thanks to the many RMwebbers who provided input!
  23. Mikkel

    The Biscuit Shed

    By Mikkel,

    I've been working on the “Biscuit Shed”, the first of the buildings for my new Farthing layout. It is inspired by the “beer shed” in the GWR Goods yard at Stratford on Avon, which was used as a loading facility for beer traffic from the Flower & Sons brewery.
     
     
     

     
    The biscuit theme draws on the so-called “biscuit siding” in Gloucester Old Yard, which served a small loading shed that was used by various industries over the years, including Peak Freen’s biscuit company.
     
     
     

     
    Every building has a history, and so it transpires that the Biscuit Shed was the original train shed of the erstwhile North & South Junction Railway's terminus at Farthing. When the GWR took over that line it was decided to keep the shed as a transshipment facility for the area’s blossoming industries, and in 1899 the GWR entered into contract with Badger's Biscuit Company for just such a purpose.
     
     
     

     
    This non-standard history allowed me to use some roof trusses with a "Queen Post" pattern from an old Airfix station canopy kit.
     
     
     

     
    The side was built using laminated styrene and braced as per the beer shed at Stratford on Avon. I've only just discovered microbrushes (the green thing), they are proving quite useful.
     
     
     

     
    I used a small jig to make the supporting timber posts. The jig was developed with input from NASA engineers and proved an excellent way of gluing the posts firmly to, er, the jig! :-)
     
     
     

     
    I liked the “waisted” appearance of the timber support columns in the beer shed at Stratford at Avon, so I tried to copy this by fitting a hollow section of square rod around the bottom of each post, filed lightly at the top to add an angle. This was also a convenient way of hiding any inconsistencies in the height of the support posts (purely theoretical, of course!).
     
     
     

     
    Still working on the loading dock, it will have a polyfilla surface and sleeper-faced sides.
     
     
     

     
    The footprint of the dock is a bit odd as the building will be located in the front left corner. The white pipes on the roof marks the join of the Wills slate sheets. Once painted grey I hope they will blend in - sometimes I think it is best to hide a join in plain sight, so to speak.
     
     
     

     
    So just a little more work and then it's time to paint it before embedding it on the layout.
  24. Mikkel
    Line dance, 4mm style. I’ve been painting some figures from Andrew Stadden’s excellent new 4mm range of Edwardian figures.
     
     

     
    A group in primer, showing the detail of the figures.
     
     

     
    Being pewter, the Stadden figures are a little harder to modify than whitemetal ones. It’s not impossible though. This gent had his bag removed…
     
     

     
    … making him look more like a railway employee. I sometimes file the caps to represent the GWR kepi, although photos from the 1900s suggest that in practice, several different types of cap could be seen at the same time during this period.
     
     

     
    I still struggle with figure painting. In particular I can't seem to master that illusive shadow-work - but it helps a lot that the figures are so well modelled.
     
     

     
    On most of the figures, the close-fitting headwear conveniently hides the upper face, which I find particularly hard to get right. This is driver J. Chuzzlewit, a seasoned man of the footplate and known for his rough driving, poor jokes, and fanatical interest in leeks.
     
     

     
    Here we have GWR Policeman W. Walmsley of the GWR Goods Department at Farthing. This figure was modified from a guard/inspector. It required a bit of research since little has been written about GWR police uniforms. My theory is that in the 1900s the GWR police force had lost much of its former status, and the main distinguishing marks on their uniforms were a gold patch on one sleeve, and brass numerals on the collar. Later (possibly in 1918), they started wearing helmets. See this thread for details.
     
     

     
    Detective F. Benton of the GWR Detective Department at Paddington. The GWR seem to have had a separate Detective department from quite early on. Considering the total value of goods being handled by the railway, that’s not really surprising. I’m sure there was a scam or two going on!
     
     

     
    Stages of undress. What’s the weather like today? And what task is at hand? Miraculously, the temperature at Farthing always seems to be moderate, which is why some staff wear a coat, others wear vests, and the hard-working men only a shirt.
     
     

     
    I’ve decided that this trio will serve as "slipper boys" in the GWR goods department at Farthing. Slipper boys, as I understand it, would assist horse shunters with tasks such as “scotching” wheels and handling the horse’s chains. Clothes mattered a lot in Edwardian days, and photos suggest that even non-uniformed, lower staff grades could be smartly dressed. Even so, a couple of these lads look very smart indeed. Is there something fishy going on? Watch this space...
  25. Mikkel
    This is the third and final part of a story based on a real incident on the Great Western at the turn of the century. It draws on the transcripts of a court case at Old Bailey. The story is narrated by Dennis Watts, a slipper boy in the employment of the GWR. The story began here.
     


     
    Having produced their damning evidence, Detective Benton and constable Walmsley rounded up the four thieves and took them to court. I was the star witness at the trial, and made sure to tell the story well. Based on my testimony, Woods and Lawson were convicted and put away.
     


     
    Unfortunately Fraser and Marsh - the two other slipper boys - got off free. I hadn’t counted on that. After the trial they returned to work and cornered me.
     
     
     

     
    I ran off, but they chased me…
     
     
     

     
    …all over…
     
     
     

     
    …the goods depot.
     


     
    In the end I had to call for help…
     
     
     

     
    …and soon we were four against two.
     
     
     

     
    We quickly overcame the two villains, tied them up, and…
     
     
     

     
    …packed them in a couple of tea crates. They were forwarded that night on the 2AM goods, labelled for Thurso.
     


     
    Because you see, dear reader, I haven’t been quite honest with you…
     
     
     

     
    I’ve got a gang of my own, and we didn’t want those amateurs intruding on our turf. Not that they were any competition, really. We’re a pretty organised bunch. My uncle the goods checker is on board, and Watts the GWR copper. Handy people, if you’re into goods scams. You see, we don’t deal in petty theft. We aim much higher than that: We have ways…
     
     
     

     
    …of making whole trucks…
     
     
     

    ….disappear.
     
     
     
    *****************************************
     

    Editor’s notes:
     
    You may be wondering how much of this actually happened. The story roughly follows the real events recorded in the proceedings from Old Bailey up to the point of the trial (albeit in a simplified form, and with the names altered). The original theft of the satins and silks, and the clever detective work of matching the pieces of wrapping did thus in fact happen. The appearance of our “hero” the slipper boy as the star witness at the trial is also true, as is the fact that two of the thieves were released after the trial.
     
    From there on, the story is fiction. Or is it? A closer reading of the court proceedings leave certain questions unanswered, and it is these “loose ends” that inspired the rest of the story. As for making whole wagons disappear, I refer to “GWR Goods Wagons” by Atkins, Beard and Tourret (1998 edition) which in the preface states that 3 wagons were added to the condemned list in 1908 because “they had not been heard of for 10 years” (sic).
     
    PS: I’m using the term “truck” rather than “van” or "wagon", as that is the word used by all the staff in the testimonies of the court case at Old Bailey. I’ve always thought the words van and wagon were used at the time – perhaps that was the official terminology, and "trucks" was everyday slang?
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