Killybegs

The trainshed roof and outer wall are now one unit. The jig to hold everything firmly in place while the two parts were soldered together was quite simple in the end. 3 lengths of brass tube that were a tight fit in the square tubes of the columns were let into the board to hold the wall vertical. 2 larger diameter tubes were notched vertically to be a tight fit on the wire cross bracing of the end trusses then let into the board in a position where the foot of the rafter butted against the inside face of the tube while locating the other end of the truss correctly on the wall. These 2 tubes were accurately cut to length so that, when flush with the underside of the board, they also held the truss at the correct height. To ensure accuracy and verticality of the holes in the board, they were started (just) with a 1mm drill in a pin vice then drilled out using my large pillar drill. Once everything had been double checked, it only took a couple of minutes to solder everything together using my RSU (whereas most of the soldering of the trusses was done with a soldering iron). A spot of cleaning, then it was out with the can of primer. Voila! I was so pleased with the result that, as the sun was shining, I couldn't resist nipping out into the garden to take a few pics.

The roof and wall structures are now finished. The next step is to build a jig to hold the roof and wall firmly in the correct position while I solder them together. Both components are too big to fit in the sink so I ended up cleaning them in the bath!

I'm starting work today on the wall which supports the outer edge of the roof. This will also be framed up in brass sections. The original was timber framed (with timber cladding and large glazed sections) but as the combined wall/roof needs to be removeable, the structure has to be fairly sturdy to cope with handling by 'semi-skilled' museum staff.

Hi Mike, Just under 600mm long at 5.5mm/foot. (3'0" gauge 16.5mm track). It's a reasonable copy of the County Donegal Railway station in Killybegs, unfortunately no longer with us, using a couple of photos taken inside the train shed in the 50's, as there are no drawings available. John

The basic structure is now soldered up but there is still a lot of work to do!

With holidays in France over for another year, the drawings finished and materials ordered and delivered, I really had no excuse not to get on with the train shed roof. Construction doesn't exactly replicate the original but it will be very close in appearance (as the trusses will be visible through the rood glazing). The main members are in brass hollow tube and have been drilled to take the lengths of 0.5mm nickel silver rod which represent the bracing. The roof will be removable which is why one end of the trusses have been cut vertical to allow them to fit against the outside wall of the station building. How this all works will become clearer in further blogs as the work progresses. I took advantage of the fifth consecutive days of blue skies here in Donegal to nip outside and take the pic below. Apologies to all you guys in mainland UK that are getting rained upon!

Now that I have officially retired, I have more time on my hands to get back to work on Worseter, my roundy roundy layout. The fiddle yards have been in storage mode for nearly ten years while I concentrated on getting Clinkerford finished and building stock for the layout. The fiddle yard is on three boards which are hinged at the rear to allow them to be folded up out of the way against the wall. Now that Clinkerford has moved on to pastures new, the boards have been lowered to operating level on a permanent basis and bolted securely together and to one end of the layout (the other end is connected by a 'bridge' across the doorway). Over the years some differential movement had taken place between the boards leading to tracks being slightly misaligned. The gaps between the ends of rails were also too much for my liking, so short sections on each board were cut out and replaced with a single length of track. The connection to the layout was even more critical as the tracks are on a 1200mm radius. These utilise timber sleepers with C&L rail and chairs, to facilitate gauge widening, whereas the fiddle yard uses preformed track. I left the timber sleepers in place, removing only the rail and chairs. New lengths of rail and chairs were then laid. I also took the opportunity to level up the trackbed which had settled a little over the years. It was very satisfying to dust off and connect up the control panel and find that nearly everything was srill working (once the rust had been removed from the top of the rails - one drawback of steel rails when you live close to the sea!), just one dodgy microswitch on a Tortoise point motor. Soon sorted with a bit of use. Interesting that only one board had a couple of loose droppers. I have to modify the bridge across the door before I can achieve continuous running again and the whole low level section of the layout which includes an MPD, factory and wharehouses has yet to be started! The pics below show the join between two of the boards during and after track modifications. The final pic shows Totnes Castle being turned on one of the two fiddle yard turntables. I believe in turning locos, not trains, just like real life! Locos are detatched and turned if appropriate before running round their train. Once the MPD is built they might even go on shed!

Ready, willing and, hopefully, able bodied! Are you going to be operating the main lines on DC for Railwells? John

Robin, you really are a glutton for punishment! However, I do agree that it's going to be a lot stronger and it's going to look so much better. I'm really looking forward to seeing the final result. Coincidentally, I have just been drawing up the roof trusses for Killybegs train shed which will also comprise metal tubing (rectangular) and wire, but I only need thirteen! John

I have at last been able to get back to working on the Cornishman this week. All nine coaches are now sitting on Bill Bedford Bogies complete with cosmetic sides. I take the discarded Bachmann bogies, cut off the sides and then reduce them to a suitable thickness - a very messy and time consuming task. The axle boxes are drilled out from the back (to allow the pin point bearings to move up and down) then the sides are carefully fixed to the bogies with epoxy. All the coaches now also have Kadee couplings fitted so the complete rake had its first run behind Totnes Castle this morning. I am happy to report that all went well! The last four coaches now need underframe detailing and corridor connections, then it's just a bit of renumbering and weathering to complete the job (apart from buying, painting and fitting a lot of passengers!). So, if everything goes well, they should be ready for their first outing on Barrow Road at Railwells in August.

The little Beyer-Peacock is finished at last. The Westinghouse brake casting from Alan Gibson was waiting for me when I got back from my hols (you can't see it as it's on the other side!), so that was cleaned up and fitted along with the associated plumbing. Branchlines chopper couplings were also added. It was then primed, filled, reprimed and painted. There is some doubt as to the colour it carried while at the C&VBT but the concensus is that it retained the LMS crimson lake livery it had while at the NCC. The NCC itself was formed in 1903 as the result of the Midland Railway of England taking over the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway and became part of the LMS in the 1923 grouping. After a week to let the paint harden, it was duly weathered today and taken out into the garden to be photographed as the sun tried desperately to break through the clouds.

This delightful little loco is nearly finished, she's just waiting for her Westinghouse brake (can't get hold of Alan Gibson Workshop to order one at the moment) and chopper couplings (they'll be fitted after she's painted). I'm sure there will be more filling required after a coat of primer. The brass patches are my attempt to modify the cabsides to replicate the prototype. She's a good little runner although with a worm and single gear box she travels a great deal faster than the prototype!

A little more progress on the 2-4-0 and it's starting to look a bit more like the prototype. However the further I progress, the more differences I pick up between the Isle of Man locos (on which the kit is based) and those supplied to the Ballymena & Larne (and thence on to the C&VBT). Most of these relate to the body. The side tanks should be taller, the bunker larger and there are lots of differences on the cab itself. As the buffers should also be a lot lower, I'm wondering if there was really very much the same! I guess each railway had its own specific requirements and locos were outshopped accordingly. Anyway I have been asked to build the body as the kit rather than scratchbuild all the bodywork, but I will try and modify the cab sides appropriately.

A couple of progress shots. This is the Branchlines IoM kit which is being modified to represent this particular Beyer-Peacock loco which started life on the Ballymena & Larne Railway in 1880 and ended up on the C&VBT in 1928 where it lasted for 5 years before the line was closed. There were various differences from the IoM locos, the principal ones being the fitting of a skirt to one side only (the tramway ran alongside the road and the loco was presumably always facing the same way!) and Westinghouse brakes. I have replaced the 3 piece footplate in the kit (thick white metal to the rear and two half etched ones at the front designed to be fixed to the chassis) with a single one which will be part of the body. This not only looks better but will allow the skirt to be attached to the body more easily.

Robin, Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We should have all bought bucketfulls of the Puffers buffers when they were around. I seem to recall that they were very reasonably priced. How were we to know that they would soon disappear for ever! John

It's the old carpet underlay technique but it still needs a lot of work doing on it. It definately looks better in black and white! John

In response to comments on my last blog, here is a B&W quickie showing progress on the rake to date. Two coaches are yet to be detailed and are sitting on 'bare' bogies. The last two are sitting in the cupboard! I intend to leave all the roofs to be painted at one go. Must get that embankment finished off, not to mention most of the low lvel part of the layout!

Paul, All nine coaches have had the strips removed. Can't say that I found it a satisfying process. Wouldn't want to do more than one in a session - I have to avoid the men in white coats! John

Hi Robin, Maybe when I get around to painting some roofs! John

Unfortunately you can't plonk and play in P4! I have to admit that my interest in model railways is far more to do with building (as close to the prototype as possible) rather than operating. I hardly ever play trains at home except a bit of testing prior to exhibitions (and not much of that now I have sold Clinkerford!). Is that a bit sad? I really must get my permanent layout up and running again (not to mention finishing it) and send a few trains rattling along the embankment. John

It's only a rake of nine coaches you say, shouldn't take too long. That's only 18 sprung bogies with 36 axles, 72 wheels, 72 pairs of brake hangers and 144 brake shoes to assemble. Don't forget the 36 cosmetic sides. Then there are 18 Kadees to assemble and fit (after modifying the coach ends to take them), 18 corridor connections to assemble and fit, 9 sets of underframe detailing to cobble up, 9 roofs that need all those strips removing. Numbers to be changed, bogies and roofs to be painted, sides and to be weathered and I guess we ought to have a few people. Well, actually, rather a lot of people to be painted and placed on their seats. BUT at the end of a day spent assembling just one pair of bogies (if there aren't too many interruptions), you can slip them onto the coach and send it gliding at speed through a double slip and a couple of turnouts without a care in the world. Ah, what joy! Ah well, with five coaches down and four more bogies built we are well on the way. If you forget about the other 12 coaches still in their boxes, that is!

Ho, ho. Have the same problem with my steel track, why didn't I stick with nickel silver! Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about weathering the sides of the rails! John

Looking good Robin. You will have to chase up the 'staff' to get those track plans finished. Work has started on the last 4 coaches for the Cornishman. I have spent this morning derusting and then blackenning lots of wheels, one of the downsides of living by the sea! John

Looking good Robin, keep at it! John