Ravenser

I know I suffer from getting most of the way on a large project , stalling , and then starting something else. Leading to complete distraction, loss of focus, acute guilt and nothing getting done. Once you don't actually notice them anymore when you look at the workbench, you're lost. I may not be the best qualified person to offer an opinion - but if you send off the OO jackshaft from the 06 for replacement , that at least deals with that kit , leaving you to focus on getting the RSH tank up and running . Then when that one's done (possibly just after the jackshaft arrives ) you've got a choice between the 06 and the Neilson tank, depending on which you feel like at the time. The 16" tank looks like a back number at present.... Just a thought - which would be the most immediate use on the layout?

I'm pretty sure Judith Edge have done the Steelman Royale for a Beetle , though the original 4 wheel Sentinel is intended for a chassis (Guess what I have lurking the cupboard, amongst the main "first loco kits")

Just before Christmas , Mallard60022 started a thread on "The first models I am going to build in 2010 are.., which you can find here: 2010 model promises As I said in there, I seem to have posted rather a lot of implicit promises - or at least pointed memos to self - just below in this blog. And as Mallard60022 has recently posted shots of his efforts to redeem his own pledge, I suppose I ought at least to post an installment payment... Well, for starters , the Walrus is done. Not painted , but done: Everything in white or metal has been added , and the bogies are replacements - current Cambrian 1piece items which are as easy to work with as the ancient originals were impossible . Quite a bit of work with pieces of microstrip, scraps of plasticard and bits of handrail wire was needed to cobble together an approximation of what was visible at the ends in photos in Cheona and Southern Wagons - it would have looked extremely denuded and empty if I had built what was in the kit and stopped there . I'm not saying it's spot on , or all there , but it's passable. And I'm rather pleased with the result. Not in any sense of cutting edge perfection - if I want to see its weaknesses I need only set it next to a Hornby Seacow and look carefully but in the bleaker more basic spirit of "we got a result" - an ugly draw ground out away from home for essential points . Ravenser, 0 - The kit, 0. I beat the kit , the kit didn't beat me... With all its limits, it will be able to sit next to a Hornby Seacow without too much embarassment - a decent weathered paint job can cover a multitude of sins. (I should stress this is an old kit - my example may be 30 years old - and has been retooled and replaced by Cambrian. Comments are not indicative of today's Cambrian range - other than the favourable ones about the new bogies,- but they may well be indicative of what you get if you dive into your club's rummage sale) One minor point - the Walrus has effectively decided that the early period Civil Engineers' stock from the crane train will get Kadees not Sprat and Winkle couplings. I can't get the S+W mounting plate under the platform without fouling the wheels - in fact I couldn't fit a full width mounting block under the platforms without fouling the flanges of the wheels. Thus a narrow mounting only , and therefore Kadees. Which means that a spare 31 or a 20 would be motive power and I can stop worrying about how I fit a decoder to the 29 which was never going to get Kadees - that little problem can be crossed off this year's list First cab off the rank in terms of projects for 2010 is a Ratio ex SR Van B , and I've made a start: This photo does reveal that I missed the top edge of the droplight , which is showing green , and that there is rather a lot of dust on the centre section - it will be washed off . The doors are not yet attached , which is why one has slipped. The bodysides and doors were sprayed on the sprue with Railmatch aerosol - the first coat was done when I was prespraying the PMV, and I gave it another coat at New Year. Unfortunately, the guard's doors are moulded on the sprue in reverse, so the back got sprayed. I painted the door fronts by hand in Railmatch BR blue - and it's come out gloss. I'm hoping a thin coat of matt vanish will leave it a near match for the sprayed version, and weathering will obscure any remaining differences I will need to touch round the etched droplights by hand which poses the same issue - again I hope differing materials on the prototype and a little matt varnish will deal with any difference Progress will now slow, as thanks to a link someone posted I've discovered that Roxey do etches for the bars behind the windows . This is infinitely better than messing around with cotton thread , though a hasty look at the relevant section of Paul Bartlett's wagon site suggests strongly that most Van Bs were grubby enough that you couldn't actually see through the windows. Anyway , an order is in the post to Roxey, and I won't be able to fix the doors in place finally till it comes I've also spotted in the instructions that the interior was largely a reddish brown - I was thinking of the guards compartments in Mk1s which I think were a greyish white. The photos on Paul Bartlett's site also suggest most of these vans actually retained their footsteps till the end, although a shot in the Cheona book indicates some had them removed in the late 70s (PMV seem generally to have lost them). Since trying to fill the slots in the solebar which take the footsteps would be problematic, this van will have the footsteps Over New Year I put a first brown undercoat on the sides of the two Ratio LNWR coaches. This doesn't mean that I've actually started them - I sprayed the sides for the Van B months before I started it - but I've come to the conclusion that Precision Umber , though in line with the darkest proposed interpretations of LNER carriage brown , is too dark. I let it down with some Precision Teak , but even that's on the dark side : I reckon I will feel most comfortable with a moderately darkened Teak rather than a lightened Umber And at St Albans I seem to have broken my resolutions to avoid filling the cupboard back up. Not only did I acquire a second hand Dapol wagon , which I take to be LMS dia 1892 - but repainted into a private owner livery and hand lettered on one side - but I also acquired a prepainted Slater's PO wagon kit from C+L "just in case" (it's much easier weathering an existing PO livery), and a wagon body for a spare underframe I have. Paul Bartlett's site only seems to have photos of these LMS opens which have been retrofitted with vac brakes by BR : I suspect as a steel underframe 10' wb type they may have been extensively targeted for this. So strip the current paintwork, add tie rods, vac cylinder and new fitted buffers and repaint. On top of this I've just ordered two wagon kits from Cambrian... I've made a little progress with the Pacer , in that I've largely removed the "black box " on the second car , but as this is the same work as I've already done on the first car , there's no point posting any pictures. And the replacement underframes for the 101 have turned up Focus.....

Is this the supplier who allegedly didn't believe in providing instructions, on the grounds that if you didn't know what to do with the kit already you weren't competent to build it? It doesn't seem the best way of encouraging folk to develop in the hobby

Looks like a fascinating and very impressive project Just two comments on the historical scenario - the isolated Ally Pally branch looks a bit odd. Would LT not have found some way to bring the Northern Line at Highgate to the surface to link with the branch - making Ally Pally/Highgate/FP/Moorgate an offshoot of the Northern Line network ? Also - just being a bit mischeivous, though we may have covered this before - the LNER had serious plans in 1930 (to the extent of parliamentary powers before a Committee) to electrify them at 1500V . Off-loading them onto the Tube was suggested as an alternative approach , and was no doubt gratefully seized upon by the LNER Board in the middle of the Depression as a way of dealing with the issue without having to come up with a substantial amount of investment capital in very hard times. Thus they ended up as part of LT, and bits of the GE inner suburban network were then off-loaded onto the Central Line thus simplifying the Liverpool/Shenfield electrification If these lines had stayed with the LNER/BR , presumably they would have done so as electric routes , and presumably the evolution would have followed the GE pattern with 25kV conversion . 306s into the Northern Heights?

I tried a fibre glass pencil (very gingerly , and on 31 270 which was stopped for other reasons, just in case) but this looks better , even if it leaves a shiny surface. I don't think the factory weathering is at all realistic, either

I doubt the confusion is helped by the fact that Karlgarin has effectively pulled out of 4mm, and his stand, the last time I saw it, gave the strong impression that he only did 7mm these days (You're unlikely to ask a 7mm trader if he is going to reintroduce a vanished 4mm range) The notice on the website has been there since he broke his arm several years ago - however as I'm not the best at updating website copy myself , I can hardly criticise

Try playing about with the CVs and see if it helps . Experimental CV tweaking won't cost you any money....

This may be a matter of inappropriate bodging, but would a large does of microsol result in them stretching sufficiently to accomodate?

It's the time of year for casting an eye over projects unfinished and unstarted, reviewing progress and considering what's been achieved, and making resolutions for the New Year. We could start with the 2009 New Year's Resolution (buried in a transfer off the old site far below): That one I actually kept, more or less. A few bits and pieces were bought - a couple of second had wagon kits, a 153 (but that was a carry over from the 2008 Rolling Stock Programme) , a Central 158 and a cheap black kettle. But I did manage to avoid racing out and buying a lot more unfinished kits. The two Parkside kits acquired are in the thread below , finished. I got round Warley without committing myself to anything significant new... There is still a large backlog, and some of it has been outstanding a long while. But having wholly or largely shed one or two commitments at the club recently, I have more time and there are signs of progress. So where do I stand? Wagons Air braked stock: Blacklade was designed as passenger only - apart from a couple of oil tanks (built) and maybe a short Civil Engineer's train it doesn't need wagons. Given the way things are developing with club projects, it's unlikely I will have much requirement for airbraked wagons in the next couple of years, and what I have may be unsuitable anyway . Apart from the PNA (see below) which is not really a priority, I'm not sure there's any point working on more airbraked wagons - I haven't got a use for them. That simplifies things a bit Steam age stock. I seem to have launched into a new round of stock for the plank. With 4 vans in the bag , or almost there, this means I need 2 minerals and an open. There's an MCV in the box with the stock off Ravenser Mk1 - a quick change of branding and some Spratt and Winkles and that's one mineral - the second hand kits included an old Ratio coke wagon - that's two. All I need then is an open - there's an ABS LNER 6 plank in the cupboard , and possibly a battered body or two somewhere. I could also very usefully finish off the DOGA LNER COV B which has been lying about part built for an embarrassing length of time, and was supposed to be part of a previous round of stock for the plank I'd almost forgotten the Walrus and WD brake, both of which need finishing Coaches Here it gets a bit more serious. The PMV is built and in traffic. The LMS BG is also finally in traffic. I can run a parcels train on Blacklade . However 50' BG+ 57' GUV + 31 is a bit long for the platform. I can manage, but the train hangs off the end by an inch. And a blue/grey LMS BG with gangways may well not be accurate for 70s/80s parcels - all blue with plated over gangways would probably be better So the Ratio ex SR BG is right at the top of the list to do. At Warley I got the underframe bits to rework one or more of the old Lima CCTs which were originally acquired a very long time ago for my first teenage modern image layout, so a revamped BR CCT should also be on the agenda this year . I acquired an all blue ex LMS BG secondhand at a show late last year but reworking that is less urgent - maybe 2011? Then there's steam age stock . The small GE BLT which a little group I'm involved with is nominally supposed to be building hasn't made much progress, so I've done little about stock in that direction. But some old comments I found in Michlner's workbench thread- have sparked a few stirrings. (My minor thread hijack is below all the pictures of fine LNER models...). A hasty check of the boxes has revealed that actually I chucked out the old Ratio clerestory kit as past redemption during a clearout, and I'm increasingly confident that the M&GN would only have had corridor vehicles transferred from the LMS , since Birmingham/Yarmouth on a summer Saturday is a long way for non-corridor coaches. (The kit I kept is a MR suburban, and therefore no use). For those interested, the Ratio MR clerestories Ratio MR clerestories are those in Historic Carriage Drawings 2 p96-7 ; the 51L clerestory kits, which may well be the corridor vehicles confirmed on the M&GN are covered in the same book p101-3 (and the well known Ratio MR suburbans are covered in the intervening pages). (NB I have no knowledge of the supplier linked to - he's just a convenient source of suitable images) And the ex LNWR 50' corridors known to have been transferred to the M&GN in the early 30s are these Ratio kits. Once again - I have no knowledge of this retailer, it's simply a source of images. My 2 kits (Brake compo/all third) came from a local model shop's closing down sale . Some survived past 1948 on the GE Section and like other pregrouping coaches maintained by Stratford, would have retained LNER Brown under BR until scrapping (see this rather fine model of a GE brake by Buckjumper). I'm not saying they'll be built instantly, but thanks to the thread discussion, I now have some idea how to do LNER brown, and painting the sides will be the first step. As for other bits and pieces- the 3 or 4 Bachmann Mk1s and Mk2s bought in the same sale, the Kitmaster Mk1 kit someone gave me, the two Phoenix/BSL kits - not this year. What use have I at the moment for a Gresley buffet?? It's very unlikely I'll have a fresh stab at cleaning up a Hornby Mk2b which I started then dropped in haste when the problems started emerging. There are plenty of more productive uses of time (The coach is off my first modern image layout, again) Maybe this year will finally get to be "the year of the Coach" DMUS And here it gets very serious indeed. One Pacer is already started, but will be a big job - new chassis, lights, modifications, DCC, Kadees. The second, a chocolate /cream reprobate exiled to the E.Midlands , will be a rewheel/DCC job , and I should have a go at the rewheeling asap as James Makin reports no problems... . That gets 2 unserviceable models into traffic. Smaller high priority jobs include weather/paint and people the interior of the 108 . (That's a "quick victory" to get another unit for Blacklade completed and looking the part). DCC installation on the Central 158. And a replacement for the damaged and patched underframe moulding on one car of the 101. A spare has been ordered from E Kent , along with a trailer moulding to allow a power/trailer conversion while retaining easy reversion to a 3 car unit. I'm in several minds where to go with this unit. 3 car is a bit too much and blocks up the fiddle yard. But the unit in question was a Tyseley unit at almost the right period. Did the TS 3 car sets sometimes run without their centre cars? Or should I convert it to a 2 car power/trailer unit - then hope one was allocated in the right area at the right time, and renumber? Leaving a surplus centre car?. Either way, the "black box" underframe needs tackling and if I have to replace the power car moulding anyway, that is the obvious time to do it. This looks like morphing very easily into "upgrade the 101" I really must build the DC Kits 105 this year - before Bachmann get their's out. It has to be the 105 because the 114 will be in blue/grey - a much more difficult paint job. The original idea was that the 101 could be sorted , slowly, once I had the 105 built to replace it...... And yes - it is high time I finished the Bratchill 150/2. Just to make it more difficult the person who was going to paint it in Regional Railways livery has backed out, and somehow I'll have to do it myself. What are the automotive spray can equivalents for Regional Railways livery - or at least the Hornby version: 'cos this will probably run with a 153 from time to time. And I've a Trains4U 150/1 on order which will need the usual weathering etc.... There's a lot of work to be done on this front (We'll ignore the Dapol railbus for the GE BLT..) Locos: None of which are weathered. There's an off chance my 57 might be needed elsewhere so an early weathering is desirable. And it's the smallest of my 3 Type 5s, so the most suitable for fuel tanks on Blacklade The 60 needs a small bodyshell repair - that's urgent. It and the 66 need weathering - not so urgent. Now for the more serious stuff. There's an elderly Bachmann 03 off Ravenser Mk1 lurking in a cupboard. I could usefully convert that to DCC - it would be ideal for tripping in a single TTA or shunting a CCT or PMV in the early period. And while I'm about it I should add supplementary pickups as I've done on the Silver Fox 05 (well, large Hunslet) which runs on the plank. And the recent George Dent book on Detailing & Modifying RTR Locos (Diesels) contains some notes about upgrading the handrails, cab interior, and windows.... There is also the case of the Airfix 31. It's running with a decoder but I have a spare body which I'm intending to detail up for it as 31 402 in blue. This may be an early project, and it's just occured to me that with all that fresh air inside if I ever wanted to have a DCC Sound loco , this would be the one to go for. It would give it something over and above the very serviceable Hornby 31 that's its rival (The loco is another vetern off my first modern image layout) (And while 31 174 is fine, I must check if I really can get the body back on the unhappy and stopped 31 270 - or whether it's a mazak casualty) Putting a decoder in the 29 was abandoned when it became clear it was one of the earlier Ringfields and not a straightforward hardwired installation. If I have time on my hands , chipping the Bachmann 08 (also ex Ravenser Mk1) would be more productive . There is also the Dapol/Branchlines 04 Drewery I started building for the plank rather longer ago than is comfortable, and whose part built chassis still adorns the bookcase. I really ought to do something with that, too, this year. It's not made any progress since this: This is rather a lot of stuff. Visions of stuffing Athearn chassis into a further spare 31 body (whether ochre or not - for the GE BLT) and an old Hornby 37 body, etched loco kits, whitemetal Y5s , Lima 20s etc etc can wait for another year. And speaking of weight, it seems sensible to decide at this point that the wretched A1 Models Baby Deltic kit has a promising future as ballast weights: The Sentinel got built , by the way . And I will have an ROD . A Frodingham one , if I can afford it... Then there's Layouts... You're probably as sick of me muttering "must build screen walls/motorise remaining points" about Blacklade as I am of saying it. It will get done in the next few months. Promise. There are a couple of structures I ought to finish for a club project I'm not even going to think about the half built light rail project , though as it's my occasional DC test track , I must repair the broken wire on the second board.... And if I get even 2/3rds of all that done in 2010 , I'll have had a busy and productive year. But - and it's a sobering thought - I don't need to buy much for all these projects. It's basically all stuff already bought and projects already committed to. It doesn't even clear the whole backlog. And the other theme is that a lot of this is about getting stuff from old layouts back into use and circulation. I've quite a lot of stuff that for one reason or another is "stored unserviceable". If I could recycle some more of my yesterdays , I'd have a lot more toys to play with and a lot more to show for myself.

I've put my usual TCS T1 in both of my 153s, and afer a bit of tweaking I'm very pleased with the running . Advanced consisting is fully supported , and with skateboards, consisting is very desirable . I hadn't realised the Bachmann/ESU decoder didn't support it but I am not likely to consist the 108 - Blacklade can't handle 4 car DMUs (or 2 x 2 car)

After a rather more protracted effort than it should have been, I've finally finished the vans and here they are: From left to right , ex LNER fruit, BR vent van, and rebuilt BR Shock. And yes , the Fruit and Shock still need couplings. Unfortunately I've noticed the chassis on the vent van is not 100% square . It seems to run fine, because it's been out on the shunting plank without trouble - it was only some time later that I noticed a fractional rock when stood on a mirror. Since I built it on a flat surface and (as far as I was aware) it was fine then, i don't quite know what has happened . I suspect part of the problem may be the excellent fit of the parts . On the other two vans the wheels are a little loose in their bearings , and there is a bit of slop which will accommodate any slight irregularities. But on this van the whole assembly is tight and the axles have no slop at all. I'm not sure what , if anything, I can do. The van seems to run fine in practice , and possibly will do, though now I know it's not 100% right I'm uncomfortable and a touch annoyed with myself. The only thing that comes to mind it to attempt to shift the errant bearing slightly with the tip of a hot soldering iron - either down fractionally, or in, which would then make the wheelset a slightly loose fit, and the slop would presumably solve the problem The box lettering on the Fruit is rather larger than the photograph I have (in Cheona Wagons 2) shows. However an old set of BR transfers (GeeDee?) had a ready made up transfer for the BR built batch of this wagon type and so I used that . The vac cylinder was replaced with an ABS one (I needed extra weight) and the buffers are ABS LNER fitted. The Shock shows why I thought it worth preserving the body. The brake shoes and cross rods on the new underframe aren't perfect - trying to cut down the Red Panda shoe moulding is not nice and I had to work round the lead weights stuck on underneath. I've added as much more as I can, but it's still only a fraction over 40g and really a bit light Fruit and BR Vent vans have canvas roofs (one ply of tissue stuck to the roof with solvent - I didn't dare try it on a painted body) and a suitably motley array of rainstrips, based on photos in the Cheona book (micro rod or strip ) . The end cappings were slivers of very thin card or think paper And yes , I will try to get the couplings on this weekend

The ones I'm certain of are ex LNWR 50' corridor coaches , of the type covered by the Ratio kit ,which from a discussion long ago I learned were transferred to the M&GN in the early 30s and therefore ended up with the LNER after the 1936 takeover. The previous discussion (RMWeb 3 or even 2) indicated at least one or two survived in brown into the early 50s - I think there was a reference to one at S.Lynn circa 1952 (possibly courtesy of Buckjumper). Obviously , as non-teak stock they would have been brown. I think the thread in question (2 years ago or more) was about how late brown coaches survived on the ER , and the consensus seemed to be that pregrouping coaches never receieved BR livery at all and continued to be repainted brown under BR until withdrawal in the earlier 1950s That was good enough for me to acquire 2 Ratio kits. I've not got round to building them - the last 2 years have been earmarked as "the year of the coach kit" and it hasn't happened. Now I'm onto NewYear's resolutions for 2010 and "must try harder"..... However Coachmann mentioned ex MR clerestories acquired by the LNER via the M&GN . That opens up a whole new angle - I wondered if there was any confusion or doubt about the type, or if the M&GN , and therefore after 1936 the LNER, actually acquired a number of types of pregrouping coaches built by LMS constituents . Certainly I'd assume that if Coachmann said MR clerestories , that's what he meant , and that he would know what he was talking about. Just how much pregrouping coaching stock did the LMS transfer to the M&GN between 1923-36 and what types? As a modern image modeller normally , M&GN coaching stock pre 1936 , and who was responsible for designing and building it, is right outside my field of knowledge... The LNWR stock I've already mentioned - I've even been shown a photo of one still in LMS livery on the M&GN just before the war. I assume it would have recieved a brown repaint by 1947 But we now have a third group - MR clerestories , presumably ex Midland/NB Joint Stock , acquired after the M/NB coach pool was split up in the late 20s. These presumably would be different from those depicted by the Ratio MR clerestory kits (the Ratio MR suburbans are arc roofed - the Ratio clerestory kits are non-corridor mainline stock from I think 1898) - if they were the same , 51L would not have done another kit... Just how many ex LMS coaches , of what types, did the LNER end up with????

2512SilverFox[Nick Campling] Apologies for something of a thread hijack but I've only just seen these earlier comments, and they've sparked some questions. In my "to do" pile are a couple of Ratio ex LNWR coach kits . These are intended for a 1950s GE branch terminus that a small group I'm involved with are vaguely intending to build. I had discovered some of these reached the LNER and ER via the M&GN and ended up in brown . In the absence of a convenient supply of LNER or pregroup GE coach kits, I acquired a couple of the Ratio kits on the cheap when a local model shop was closing down. What colour brown they should be painted has been a stumbling block. I had acquired a tin of Precision Pullman umber and LNER teak and was contemplating an undercoat of umber with the teak on top as an approximate brown . Would this produce something passable?? Coachman I know about ex LNW stock acquired by the LNER through the M&GN in 1936. But ex MR clerestories??? Ears prick up because in a box I have a Ratio MR clerestory built when I were a lad 20 odd years ago , and the last time I tackled a coach kit. I should be able to clean it up a bit and revive it so - if the LNER acquired any in 1936 , and if they survived on the GE Section past 1948 (big ifs, these) I could do a repaint into brown. Its New Year and with 3 days at my disposal [cue shot of Tony Robinson running across a large field] something could be done about it as a quick fix/ resuscitation. If I get the Model Strip on tonight , I could start work in the New Year.... I'd be grateful for any clarification / further info - in normal circumstances I'm a modern image modeller and my sole relevant reference is a copy of Harris' LNER Carriages, which , obviously is no use for this sort of question

Three years ago , I spent New Year clearing up my study , or at least the top of the IKEA bookcase & cupboard prior to launching into my Challenge layout. It proved a very valuable exercise (Unfortunately IKEA seem to have deleted the low cupboard and bookcase I had bought some time before - it was about 18" wide) I also found it invaluable when I bought a ready made workbench /storage box for all my stuff. It cost about 3200 and I know all the stuff about "you can make your own" - but I was never going to get round to it, and it was one of the best purchases I've ever made. I am struggling to remember the manufacturer , but he appears at Ally Pally each year

Does anyone have experience of fitting Kadees to these? I've got 3 , but have looked, swallowed, and ducked the issue so far. Another item on my "outstanding jobs" list....

There will no doubt be a proper way to do this, but I can't find a facility that allows me to store snippets of info... I don't know when Andy will be locking down RMWeb3 and whether I will still be able to gain access to old PMs, so to save embarrassment, - dimensions of a batch of PNAs , as kindly supplied by the Fatadder in May (scratchbuilt bodies, for the use of...) . I haven't actually got round to using them, mind, but perhaps this year.(It's the time of year for reviewing outstanding oprojects, progress or lack of it and tasks for the year ahead. This one's on the to do list) <H3 class=first>Re: On Rich's Workbench - Urchins and Parrs last page</H3>Sent: Tue May 05, 2009 10:00 pm From: The Fatadder To: Ravenser PNA details: Height - 14 top rib -2.6 other ribs - 1.6 length (excluding end ribs) 105 width (over top rib) -35.7 inner width 31.2 And I should get a proper blog update on the outstanding steam age vans up in the next day or two. I might even have the couplings on them by then so they can be released to traffic Addendum - New Year's Day, the year after the end of time... Just to add some further detail on this one while I'm about it: the Cambrian POA/SSA kits come with a lot of extra bits, including several types of solebar. While the Bachmann PNA covers one type of the wagon, PNAs seem to be a motley bunch, built on a variety of second hand underframes of varying lengths . There is a reasonably extensive section in the recent Burkin/BRM book Modern Wagons in 4mm Scale, which quotes wagons as having lengths of 28' 8" over buffers / 101 mm over headstocks (as Bachmann) , 103.5mm over headstocks , and 106mm over headstocks. The Cambrian solebars are 104mm long , so you get a varient with a very different underframe and length. Going through the photos turns up several wagons at the 103.5mm length, and CAIB3840 - disc braked , Gloucester suspension units, straight solebars , with 7 ribs spaced very differently to Bachmann and very minimalist underframe equipment - looks the best candidate (p99 bottom). It will certainly be a little different from RTR. One issue may be sourcing suitable transfers for the very weathered Railtrack lettering I think, as near as I can make out, it's one of these: It ought to be a reasonably straightforward scratchbuild job for the body. I had understood Cambrian sold their plastic fold up axle units seperately , but can't find them. I may use conventional W-irons as an emergency fudge to attach the moulded plastic suspention units to (Given how long its taken to find the Burkin book, I badly need a clearup in the study . And yes I am putting everything here so I can actually find it easily...)

Sorry to hear you're struggling on the job front , though it looks like you've plenty to keep you occupied while looking round

I've got one of these kits in the cupboard , though I can't recall whether it is fitted or unfitted . Anyway at least this reassures me there are no horrors lurking . I've never done a whitemetal wagon kit , though I've done quite a few plastic ones

You really don't like stone bridges , do you? I suppose its a case of familiarity breeding contempt - a stone block bridge sounds picturesque and interesting to me. For what its worth , I think I'd go with a longer version of the lattice foorbridge . As you say it looks rather nice (And for the record the ramped footbridge at Barnetby mentioned in that thread looks like a cross between a new multistory carpark for a shopping centre and a children's adventure playground)

Looks very good . It says something that I had to scroll down right to the bottom to check it really was N - I wasn't sure if it was a Bachmann one

I take it the car was originally owned by the man who designed the point motors? Having some problems with my own point motors (tortoises in OO on Marcway) in this department I know how you feel

The mouldings aren't 1970s - they're state of the art early 60s Dublo...... Looks very nice

The small shunting plank is firmly Transitional. It may use diesels (or an honourary diesel - Y3) but it's the sort of inner city goods depot you really can't justify existing after about 1970. Consequently the modest fleet of stock for it is very traditional indeed: no air brakes here. The ex LMS fish van is meant for it , and various circumstances resulted in me acquiring and building one of the new generation Parkside kits for the BR standard 12T van . Potentially very useful for the plank In the last couple of years I've been fairly heavily committed on a number of fronts , not least with Blacklade, and not much has happened on the plank side of things . In fact the little depot has hardly been operated - I seem to have been too busy. However with one or two commitments winding down I've a little more time , and one Parkside kit sparked off another and another. Ravenser Mk1 was a compact shunting micro of an unorthodox design, taken from a plan called "Swan Yard" in RM June 1988 (I think) . For various reasons it didn't work terribly well, but when the trains weren't falling off the tracks the operational interest was high. A fleet of about 20 wagons and half a dozen locos was accumulated over about five or six years. It was set in North Lincolnshire, and, largely by accident, in 1983 - I had some 16T MCOs and then discovered unfitted operations ended in December 1983. The Speedlink airbraked stock was RTR but the traditional stock was virtually all kit built . This was my first serious venture into building wagon kits, and nearly all of them worked . It was also my first attempt at proper weathered stock. When I moved into my present flat about 7 or 8 years ago, I had grand ideas about building Ravenser Mk2 . The study was earmarked for it. However I'd joined a club and a couple of societies, and became actively involved with a club project and one of the societies, which ended up meaning quite a lot of commitments. I'd also started a light rail project , and Ravenser Mk2 never actually happened. The shunting plank was built as a micro for a competition a little later and then I built Blacklade for the RMWeb Challenge to act as the larger layout I'd never actually managed to get. Ravenser Mk2 was quietly abandoned as an aspiration at that point. The main rationale for the early period on Blacklade is to provide a use for locos and passenger stock acquired for Ravenser Mk2; the later period provides a home use for various items acquired in support of a club project , though in both cases the core of what I had anyway has been expanded with new purchases However, this means that for the last 6-7 years all the wagons from Ravenser Mk1 have been sitting in a stock box in the study, unused. When I built the current shunting micro , I realised that it would have to be set pre 1970 and it became an excuse to build all the kits which were completely out of period for a TOPS era BR Blue layout but which I had somehow acquired or really fancied - fish vans, Palvans, wooden PO wagons, cupboard door and slopesided minerals , prenationalisation vans etc etc, and Silver Fox bodied shunters. It also became a test bed for trying something better than tension-locks - Sprat &Winkle couplings. TOPS lettered wagons with tension locks didn't suit, and there they sat. I've ended up with three completely different OO fleets, one of which hasn't been used in years . So, with one or two commitments off my plate , and a nice new Parkside kit under my belt in double quick time, I had a rush of blood to the head. Out came the old stock box and I had a look through it for suitable candidates for a set of new couplings and a revived life on the shunting micro. I said earlier that nearly all my early ventures into kitbuilding worked. One didn't. I built a Red Panda Shockvan , and it looked very pretty. Unfortunately the chassis wasn't square and it fell off the track with much more enthusiasm than the other wagons. Effectively it was useless . And Red Panda underframes are delicate and fragile and this one got some knocks and was rather battered with bits missing. A Shockvan would be very nice on the shunting micro , and a Red Panda underframe kit was found in the kits box in the cupboard. Not a pretty sight at first: .JPG] The old underframe has been removed. The problem has been identified - one end is very slightly lower than the floor at one side (the body is smaller than the underframe, since this is a shockvan). This has thrown it out of square. A little work with the file and we are in business. The kit provides for a sliding body and thus fills up part of the area between the solebars . This made it awkward to break out the old chassis bits , and it also means that there isn't much room to add lead . Sadly I didn't remember to put it inside the body in those days. the van turns the scales at about 35g - once the couplings are on and a bit more lead stuffed into the last orifices, I hope to get it up to about 40g , though that's really still too light I was rather pleased with the finish of the body and have managed to retain this. I was trying to retain the vac cylinder , but unfortunately stuck on the new solebars the wrong way round. I resorted to stuffing clippings of lead inside the replacement cylinder before supergluing it in place , in a desperate attempt to add a fraction more weight. Fitting the brakeshoes was not a nice job - the mouldings have to be cut down severely to fit and are easily damaged in the process. I got them in, just, but not all the push rods (45 thou wire) are dead straight . I've added rain strips of the 3 part variety from microstrip , after cleaning off most of the incredible never-drying matt varnish on the roof ) with white spirit. The van used to stick to the plastic lid of the stock box and was a mess. But I didn't dare try adding a canvas roof - I reckoned I'd damage the finish on the sides in the process I haven't posted in the first and latest models thread , but this one will have to do. "And here's one I made earlier". Its not in fact amongst my earliest efforts, but shows an old Lima body with vents added on a spare Parkside claspbraked underframe, which was a RTR upgrade for Ravenser Mk1 inspired by reading Rice's book. And next to it is a brand new Parkside kitbuilt van . (The thing they are standing on is my Sprat and Winkle fitting gauge) .JPG] The kit provides alternative ends and alternative planked and plywood doors. I went for plywood doors/planked sides for the hell of it , with the later hydraulic buffers. It seems ply doors/planked sides coincided more or less with the change to clasp brakes. Thus the conversion to the left is wrong - the doors shouldn't be planked ,or if they are , it should have push rod brakes; and that on the right is questionable - the clasp braked underframe would arguably have been more common on these , though lot 2990 apparently featured ply doors on the older underframe, and the wagon will carry a number from this lot. But the only photo I've found shows the older buffer design.... Oh dear! I can only plead that published info is limited, and when I did the original conversion years ago I had almost zero info on BR 12T vans The body and underframe are now painted and await transfers and weathering. I've got Spratt & Winkle couplings on this one andthe LMS fish van , so they are useable on the shunting micro - unfortunately there is a minor clearnece issue with the 12T vent van in one place, so a little discreet carving is called for. Getting Sprat and Winkles on the Shockvan will be more interesting as the lead sheeting prevents the normal mounting block and melt in staple attachment. It can be done , with wire fixing and the baseplate glued onto the lead sheet but it won't be as good and I'm uncomfortable about hanging a heavy load behind it. Fortunately on this layout it won't have that issue And with an excess of enthusiam , I've dug a kit for a Parkside LNER fruit out of the cupboard and made a tentative start on that as well....

TCS decoders at least come with a detachable harness that plugs into the decoder. Therefore you can remove the decoder leaving the harness attached. However if TCS decoders aren't your thing this may not be an option