Jump to content
 

Corbs

RMweb Gold
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,637

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Corbs

  2. Corbs

    Colour Film of Tidmouth Docks c.1962

    By Corbs,


    Sudrian Life
    FROM THE ARCHIVES Colour footage of various locos engaged in shunting at Tidmouth Docks in the early 1960s. Visible on the quayside are USATC S100 'Marcus', Bagnalls 'Liberty' and 'Atlantic' of the Tidmouth Docks Authority. North Western Railway 'Perseus' also makes an appearance, handling a private owner wagon rather roughly. In reality this is a bit of shunting filmed on Bob Edwardes' marvellous M Shed (Bristol) diorama at the Thornbury Model Railway Show last weekend. The locos were being run on a mix of DC and RC.
     
     
  3. Corbs
    NWR No.
    700-703
     
    NWR Name:
    Erin, Triumph, Vanguard, Powerful
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-8-0/2-8-4T
     
    Builder
    Various
     
    Class
    ROD 2-8-0 (GCR 8K)
     
    History
     
    The first locos of this class were among those drafted in by the ROD to operate the newly-formed NWR during WW1. Upon cessation of hostilities, masses of these heavy goods locos were surplus to requirements and put up for sale.
    The embryonic company, faced with the withdrawal of government support, recognised that goods travelling via Tidmouth would be the lifeblood of its survival. It sought to purchase several of the ex-ROD locos then on the market. Of these, 4 made it past the grouping, the others were scrapped for their tenders or in the case of two, stripped of their vital components which were used in the Beyer-Garratt 'Revenge'.
     
    The best of the bunch were overhauled and given side-window cabs. They were named after great warships built by Vickers at Barrow-in Furness (the NWR clearly wanted to keep one of its biggest clients on-side).
     

     
    No. 702 'Vanguard' is pictured in this condition with original boiler. 
     
    In 1926, one of the group was rebuilt into a 2-8-4 tank loco at Crovan's Gate. Train weights were increasing and delays in getting outbound trains up the sharply-inclined harbour line were worsening. No.700 'Erin' was thus allocated solely as Tidmouth Docks banker and spent most of its life on these duties.

     

     
    No. 700 'Erin' missing plates and whistle, fresh out of the paint shop.
     
    These brutes were the mainstay of NWR goods locos until the 1930s, when a purchase was made of several LMS designs, including several brand-new Stanier 8Fs.
    As the ROD boilers, which retained their steel fireboxes, came up for overhaul, they were rebuilt using new LMS type 3C boilers built under licence. This enabled standardisation of several components with the new locos.


     
    No.701 'Triumph' shown post-rebuild with 3C boiler.
     
    In this form they lived out the rest of their lives.
    One modification of note was the fitting of a Giesl Ejector to No.703 'Powerful' in the mid-1950s. This was an experiment to reduce fuel consumption. In the event, it was not fitted to any other members of the class although 703 retained the unusual chimney until withdrawal.
     


     
    No.703 'Powerful' with 3C boiler and Giesl Ejector.
     
    The Models
     
    More children of Hattons' 'sale of the century', I had long wanted to add some RODs to the fleet but this was a chance to acquire a few at bargain prices. The models are built from a mix of ex-GWR RODs and ex-LNER O4s, the GWR examples being rebuilt using second hand Hornby 8F bodies from the 1990s.
    The 2-8-4T uses another Hornby Fowler 4P body, Peters' Spares was selling a few new old stock plain bodies which have come in very handy. Between these and the cabs for the tender locos I am hoping to establish a 'house style' much like the neighbouring LMS. The extended tanks match the Woolworth 2-6-2Ts and No.301 quite nicely.
     
    Check out the build thread from this page for more!
  4. Corbs

    NWR No.705 'Westlin' - Info Sheet

    By Corbs,


    NWR Locos
    Here's the info sheet on NWR No.705 'Westlin'. The build was covered in my cobbling thread.
     

     
    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    705
     
    NWR Name:
    Westlin
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    4-6-0
     
    Builder
    North British Locomotive Company (1929)
     
    Class
    Hatt 7P
     
    Fate
    Withdrawn 1961
     
    'Prototype' Info
     
    Designed and built during Sir Topham Hatt’s tenure as CME, this loco was the first of three ‘Hatt Class Sevens’. Hatt was able to procure drawings from Swindon for the GWR ‘King’ class through his contacts there, and his drawing office used these to design a 4 cylinder locomotive to pull the heaviest expresses, but with more sure-footedness than a Pacific (after the experiences with No.704).
    The first loco was built with Walschaerts valve gear (it is thought that the young Charles Hatt had some say in this), though the second and third had Lentz rotary poppet valve gear.
    Construction was contracted to the North British Locomotive Co. due to the success of the ‘Royal Scots’ on the LMS and the new engine, 705 was named ‘Westlin’ after a Sudrian racehorse entered in the Grand National.  It was delivered in the summer of 1929, with classmates No.706 ‘Thorfinn The Mighty’ and 707 ‘Starstrider’ following in 1930.
    Mainly used on express passenger services and boat trains alongside 704 ‘Duke of Gordon’.
    In 1961 ‘Westlin’ was in need of major overhaul. It was deemed uneconomical to repair and was withdrawn.
    The model depicts ‘Westlin’ between 1940 and 1961.
     
    Model Info
     
    This is a static model built from the leftover parts from my Cathedral project, plus any spares I found in my parts box. It's named after my partner's surname with plates from Narrow Planet.
    Boiler, tender chassis and loco chassis: GWR King
    Cab and safety valves: LMS Stanier Pacific
    Tender body, chimney and dome: LMS Black 5
    Motion: Walschaerts
    Smoke deflectors, under cab pipework and side feed injectors: SR Schools
    Smokebox door: LNER A1
  6. Corbs

    'What's in a Name?' Part 2

    By Corbs,


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

    Sudrian Story Scenes - 1

    By Corbs,

    I've been mucking about practicing focus stacking in photoshop and using the DSLR. What better excuse to channel my inner child and make little homages to scenes from The Railway Series?
     
    "I see Daisy's left the milk again..."

     
    "I'll have to make a special journey with it I suppose. Anyone would think I've nothing to do."

     
    "It was raining hard. Water swirled under my boiler. I couldn't see where I was going, but I struggled on."
    "Oh, Percy, you are brave."
    "Well, it wasn't anything really. Water's nothing to an engine with determination."

     
    "What are you engines doing here?"

     
    Thomas is a tank engine. He has six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome.

     
    and buffer to buffer, the allies puffed home...

  12. Corbs
    Hello, I have been entertaining myself with trying to make posters for the North Western Railway in a sort of Art Deco style to try and root my version of the NWR in the world and give it more than just some models. Here's how I did it!
     
     
     
    If you are interested in buying one, my shop is here:
     
    https://www.railwaymania.net/shop
  14. Corbs
    Tidmouth Yards, Winter 1960. An intrepid enthusiast has braved the cold weather to capture some rare colour footage of NWR and SCC locos at work. The tight confines of the yard here make for some interesting shunting manoeuvres.
     
    This is something I've been working on for a while, I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to give the impression of a small story unfolding, but with no voiceover or titles, just the engines going about their business as if someone was really filming them. This video took AGES to make. The snow was done by sprinkling flour over the layout, all the locos in the video run off battery power, radio control so pickup wasn't a problem. All the audio is from real locomotives, particularly footage I shot of 'Willy the Well Tank' at the Avon Valley Railway, mixed in with some ambient winter town sounds. I've tried to make it as believable as possible. The smoke and steam FX were all added in Adobe After Effects using green screen footage of smoke charges going off, which were keyed, masked and modified to try to provide as much variation as possible. I'll try and make another video on how this was done.
  24. Corbs
    Here's the full story of the making of NWR No. 301, hero of the Railway Series books and the subsequent TV series. I've combined all the previous blog posts into one.


    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    301
     
    NWR Name:
    Thomas Allen
    (Thomas Allen was a real life Manx author, my rationale is that the newly formed NWR wanted to draw on local heroes for names for its locomotives)
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    0-6-0T
     
    Builder
    London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (1915)
     
    Class
    E2
     
    Purchased by NWR
    1919
     
    History
    The loco that became 301 was built in 1915 as LB&SCR No.106, but was requisitioned by the war department to work on the building of National Shipyard (North) No.1 and No.2 in WW1. Originally the whole batch of extended tank versions was to be sent, but this was cancelled when an order was placed for smaller locos more suited to the port environment. ‘Thomas Allen’ had already arrived by this time!
    It seems the LBSCR did not want it back at the end of the war (having already built a replacement No.106), so it was sold to the NWR. Apparently the LBSCR thought that it would be in such a state when they got it back that they would effectively be building a new one anyway!
     
    FULL BUILD THREAD BELOW
     
    Unsure why I've been putting this one off for a while. It's one I would quite like to get 'right' in this interpretation of fictional locomotives from children's stories.
     
    Anyway, ebay provided me with an old Hornby LBSCR E2 loco a while back, complete with tiny flanges, jerky running, a mismatched smokebox door, and of course, traction bands.
     
    After reading about another chap's 'rebuild' of a similar model, I trawled ebay again for a china-made Hornby 0-6-0 chassis.
    Of course, this wasn't really all that hard, with a model aimed at children. I imagine quite a lot end up like this!
     



     
    Perhaps rather oddly, this is in fact the first 'Thomas' I've ever owned, although I did have a clockwork 'Percy' a long, long time ago.
     
    2009-made so relatively new, am yet to check the running, but firstly, off with that rather play-worn body.
     
    The two chassis side by side.

     
    And trial fitted under the intended recipient. Tank extensions need to be added to bring this one into line with the 2nd batch of locos. This chassis also has the effect of lowering the bodyshell somewhat.

     

     
    Total spend so far, about £25....
     
    At last we come to the titular character of the television show, and the big star of the books.
     
    I've previously mentioned I salvaged an old Hornby E2 body to butcher into one of the later LBSCR E2 locos, on a china-made 'Thomas' chassis. Since I wished to make a good job of this, I wanted to get my eye in on some other locos first, so I've ended up with 106 'Perseus', 503 'Col. Henry Regaby', 704 'Duke of Gordon', 705 'Westlin' and 805 'Suddery Cathedral', before 301 'Thomas Allen'.
    In the meantime, Knuckles had started up Sparkshot Custom Creations, making amazingly accurate 3D printed locos, including the E2 with the larger tanks. It was clear that this was the way to go!
    I finally bit the bullet last week and ordered one of the proper E2 bodies in FUD, which arrived yesterday. Unwrapped it to have a look - I had no idea 3D printed models smelled like marzipan!
     

     
    The detail is exquisite. Here's the body alongside the chassis and the older E2 body. When you compare them it's evident where Hornby adjusted the dimensions - stretching the running plate up, and the body shorter.
     

     
    As it is, the underside of the boiler fouls the chassis block somewhat.

     
    While SCC makes chassis kits, I wanted to stick with the Hornby one, for a few reasons.
    1. I already had it
    2. It's cheap
    3. I am scared
     
    I got the old razor saw out and managed to hack a chunk out of the chassis

     
    This allows the body to come down a bit.
     

     
    Now, it is prevented from becoming level as I need to remove material from either the underside of the body, or the top of the chassis. I'm tempted to strip down the chassis to its bare bones, take it to the workshop along with the P2 I'm working on, and use the grinder to chop the sections out. Possibly it may be easier to chop a section out of the body, but I am wary of weakening it too much.
     
    Here it is posed along with the 'Thomas'-derived 0-6-2T NCB loco I made a while back, from the loco that donated its chassis to this project.
     

     
    Exciting stuff!
     
    As previously mentioned, I'm using the Hornby China-made 'Thomas' chassis for this, partly as it's such a good runner.
     
    As the excellent body from SCC is designed to fit a printed chassis of the correct dimensions, a bit of modification was necessary.
     
    Even with the chunk of chassis removed, the body sat very high. Today I opted to chop a chunk out from under the smokebox, where it will be hidden.
     

     

     
    Overall this enabled me to get the body level, but it was still quite tall, as evidenced when placed alongside the vintage E2.
     

     
    Note the difference in buffer beam height (and please look past where I've clumsily broken one of the front steps!)
     
    It towers over the suburban carriage in this pic.
     
    It becomes evident why Hornby chose to stretch the curve in the running plate in the way they did.
     

     
    However, Gavin has handily made the cab floor nice and thick (very strong), so after switching the dremel head to a sander I was able to reduce the height at the rear. Chopped a bit more out of the front, too.
     
    Getting closer...
     

     
    I am satisfied with this - note the buffer beam heights compared to the earlier photo.
     

     
    Now I just need to finalise the body fixing, clean up the underside, then the fun part can begin!
     
    Bonus couple of pics of 301 coupled up to 106. Quite a size difference!
     


     
    Made a bit of progress on No.301 (apart from dropping it and snapping the steps off - aaargh clumsiness strikes again!).
     
    The frosted-ness of FUD makes it quite hard to see what you are sanding, so after a good scrubbing (as per Knuckles' tutorials) I gave it a couple of splats of my favourite filler primer and left to dry overnight.
    Hopefully this shows there is not too much sanding to be done, and also shows the fidelity of the 3D printed model far more than the 'bare bones' look.



     
    I love having proper liveries on my freelance railway, and by proper I mean having a set style that works across all the locos and stock. It's always great parking up two engines side by side and having them obviously belong to the same company, albeit fictional!
     
    Both No.301 and No.5 are in the initial paint stages while detailing still needs to be carried out.
     
    Final stages of primer here

     
    Then Vauxhall Regatta Blue as per the other NWR stock, with brushed on black details.

     
    A size comparison between Thomas and Percy, Thomas is one of the best runners in the fleet, very smooth and powerful. Not bad for a childrens loco chassis.

     
    I really don't like doing lining but I quite like how this came out. Needs some Klear to seal it in before I can add the dullcote.







  25. Corbs
    Here's the full (relatively short) story of the making of my 'Green 5', No. 503. I've combined all the previous blog posts into one.

    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    503
     
    NWR Name:
    Colonel Henry Regaby
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    4-6-0
     
    Builder
    North British Locomotive Co. (1935)
     
    Class
    Stanier 5MT
     
    Purchased by NWR
    1935
     
    History
     
    After the Killdane accident in 1935, No.303 was written-off. At this time, the steel fireboxes on the ROD 2-8-0s were wearing out and a second motive power crisis loomed.
     
    The story current at Crovan's Gate Works is that Topham Hatt and William Stanier were apprentices together at Swindon, and that on at least one occasion, perhaps more, the future Sir Topham was able to help the future Sir William to escape the consequences of what might have been a serious scrape. The arrival of Stanier at the LMS in 1931 had marked the beginning of the end of the ill-feeling the LMS had toward the independent NWR.
    Thus, Hatt was able to arrange the purchase of two 5MT and three 8F locomotives. These were built by the North British Locomotive Co. to drawings borrowed from Crewe (the LMS not being allowed to build locos for other companies). The NBL 5MTs were distinctive from the early LMS ones in having the top feed on the front ring of the boiler, a feature which would appear on the later LMS locos.
    One of these, numbered 503, became the second 'Colonel Henry Regaby' and inherited the nameplates and lined green livery of its predecessor. No.504 was named "Sir Albert Regaby' in honour of the recently retired chairman, and painted standard NWR blue.
     
    FULL BUILD THREAD BELOW
    Whilst at the Shepton Mallett toy fair, the good people at Ray Heard sought out for me the elusive 'black 5' I had been searching for. This one ticks all the boxes:
     
    Super detail
    Loco drive
    Dome and top feed in the correct places (top feed far forward) to represent Henry
     
    All for a great price! Please excuse the grainy iphone pics.
     

     

     

     
    So, my intention is to get this one repainted professionally. In the spirit of my project, I am going to draw from real-life liveries, in this case the BR Green applied to classmate 44932 in the early days of preservation, similar to the green 'Jubilees'
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/8569896180/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyraildays/6872089709/in/photostream/
     
    With the letters 'N W' on the tender and a GW-style numberplate on the cabside.
     
    Work on 704 'Gordon' has stalled, but with my housemate now moved out I have enough space to model again!
     
    A little update on No.503. As previously mentioned this is being resprayed professionally, today I was pleasantly surprised with some in progress pics!
     

     

     

     
    I'm excited!
     
    Just received these pics of a completed No.503, with lettering, lining, real coal and weathering all completed.
     
    I'm very pleased with how it's come out! Cabside numberplates are likely to be etched GWR style ones, will have to get some transfers for the smokebox door.
     
    Tender numerals are based on the wartime LNER style. I asked for the loco to be given a light weathering to show it's actually been working and go for the 'realism' aspect.
     
    Extremely happy with it!
     
    Now, pics...
     

     

     

     

     

     
    I just wanted to give a shout out to the chap who undertook No.503's repaint and weathering - David Penman at Custom Models
    http://custommodels.org/
     
    David's service was great and I was over the moon with the end result!
     
    BONUS HENRY PIC

     
    I haven't really posed 503 on the layout yet, so got it out of the drawer, fitted a number 20 Kadee and played with the goods stock.
     
    705 and 805 lurk in the background.
     





     
    NWR 5MT - The Green Five
     
    So, why is 503 green when the NWR standard livery is blue? Well, I'll tell you....
     
    In The Island of Sodor: It's People, History and Railways, written by the Rev. W Awdry, the following is written of one of the Sudrian characters of note:
     
     
     
     

    So here is where I pick up the story...
    Albert was the chairman of the NWR in 1918 when his eldest son, a Colonel, returned from the battlefields of France and Belgium.
     
    Col. Regaby had served first in the Sodor Regiment before transferring to the Rifle Brigade and seeing combat during the Somme offensive.
     
    In 1919, the NWR's loco No.303 was named Colonel Henry Regaby in honour of the chairman's son, and repainted green (the traditional uniform colours of the 95th Rifles, the predecessors of the Rifle Brigade). No.303 was sadly a notoriously poor performing loco and eventually written off in the Killdane accident of 1932.
    The replacement was NWR No.503, a much more powerful loco. This engine inherited the name and livery of the scrapped No.303, looking not dissimilar to the example seen in this photo:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/8569896180/in/set-72157622685450759
     

×
×
  • Create New...