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Corbs

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  1. Corbs

    Nil Unquam Simile

    By Corbs,

    With the Nailsea Show fast approaching, the first public outing of the NWR looms, so I've been giving a lot of thought to the display.
    I've long wanted to make my own version of the NWR logo as described by Awdry, here's my current attempt.
     
    "Per saltire azure and vert, Two gloves argent saltirewise 
    in fess a rose of Lancaster proper
    1st Azure a wheel or winged of same
    dexter vert a fleece argent, sinister vert a mattock argent hafted or 
    base azure herrings naiant argent
    Motto: "Nil Unquam Simile" 
    - "There's Nothing Quite Like It""
     
    This was made in photoshop using lots of borrowed elements. The majority of the heraldric items came from wikipedia, for example the fleece is from this Spanish coat of arms.

     
    The wheel is borrowed from the BR later crest

     
    Some handy stock images provided the missing elements, like this gauntlet.

     
    The end result is a bit flat in colour, so I grubbied it up a bit using the 'Burn' tool, and then overlaid a stock image of a fabric texture, set to 'Multiply' and with the opacity turned down. Quite pleased with it so far! No doubt it will be revised in the future but it'll do for now.
  2. Corbs
    An action-packed photo here from the 1920s showing ex-TK&F No.6 leading a string of lead hoppers into the yard whilst two goods trains pass on the main line above. China clay and empty alumina trucks in transit to Tidmouth, milk and fish heading east. Just visible behind No.301 is the tender of one of the ex-ROD locos lending banking assistance out of the steeply graded docks branch.
     
    The mighty air-braked hopper wagon is also visible. This was designed to be attached to passenger trains for the uphill run to Toryreck, but rendered obselete when Knapford (Harbour) station closed to passengers.

  3. Corbs
    FACT SHEET
    NWR No.
    901
    NWR Name:
    Revenge
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-8-0+0-8-2
    Builder
    Beyer Peacock, Gorton Works, Manchester, 1924
    Class
    Beyer-Garratt
    History
    Since Cronk and Maron are much higher than Suddery Junction near Wellsworth, the four miles at a ruling gradient of 1 in 45 have through the years been a testing ground for NWR locomotives. Bankers are stationed at Wellsworth specifically for this section.
    In 1924 the NWR ordered an articulated 2-8-0+0-8-2 Beyer-Garratt from Gorton, to do the work of two locos while requiring a single crew. The design was to use the wheels, motion and cylinders from ex-ROD 2-8-0s being sold as war surplus, enabling a commonality of components with other NWR locos.
    For crews, the Garratt was hard work. Lack of a mechanical stoker put a huge strain on the fireman. The enclosed cab, whilst a great help in Winter when the cold wind blows in from the Irish Sea, was a furnace in high summer.
    When compared to Gresley’s 6-cylinder Garratt, the NWR example was able to maintain a head of steam and occasionally worked service trains.
    Like most NWR goods locos, ‘Revenge’ was named after a warship built at Barrow, in this case the battleship HMS Revenge of 1915.
    The Model
    Hattons’ ‘Sale of the Century’ yielded a supply of cheap ex-GWR ROD 2-8-0 locos, the tenders of which ended up on the Woolwich moguls. The chassis found their way onto the Garratt.
    I had to re-mount the motors so they sat over the centre of the chassis, thereby locating them in the engine units and enabling the boiler frame to sit over the driving wheels.
    The boiler itself was also from Hattons’ spare parts department, a victim of Heljan’s burnt out motors and broken valve gear from the first production run of the LMS Garratt.
    The engine unit superstructures were mounted on running plates salvaged from Hornby 8Fs I was cutting up for the boilers and cabs, with the bodies made from styrene sheet. Handrails are from Markits and the filler lids were salvaged from Great British Locomotives static models.
    Click here to see the thread.
  4. Corbs
    FACT SHEET
    NWR No.
    403
    NWR Name
    Thorkell
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-6-0
    Builder
    Royal Arsenal, Woolwich/NWR Crovan’s Gate Works
     
    Class
    Maunsell SECR N Class Mogul (NWR Rebuild)
    History
    The N Class of mixed traffic 2-6-0 locomotives was designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell. Production of the first batch was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. Assembly began towards the end of the war and the first locomotive, No. 810, emerged from Ashford Works for proving trials in July 1917. No. 810 was trialled for three years before another 15 locomotives (Nos. 811–825) were ordered in 1919. These were built between 1920 and 1923; their construction delayed by a backlog of repairs caused by the war.
    The first batch of the N class proved successful in service, and the Ministry of Supply drew up a contract for a second batch to the same specification – to be built at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. Building of the second batch went ahead to retain skilled labour at Woolwich, and by 1924, the prefabricated components stored at Woolwich formed 110 complete N class kits for purchase from the government.

    Note: The above is true apart from me adding a fictional 10 loco ‘kits’ to include in my fictional universe. Info from wikipedia.
     
    In 1924, the NWR, in desperate need of locomotives, purchased several of these ‘kits’ to assemble at Crovan’s Gate works. 3 of the locos were built as 2-6-2Ts for working commuter services, with 5 becoming tender locos. They differed from their SECR counterparts by having enlarged cabs with side windows fitted (a blessing on a Winters day up in the North West). The NWR did not purchase tenders with the kits, and instead used tenders recovered from scrapped ROD 2-8-0s.
    All were named after important figures in Sudrian history. Thorkell of Norwich lived from 1035-1092 and fought at Stamford Bridge. He befriended his captive, Godred Crovan, and later settled in Sodor. The Kellson family claim to be his descendants.
    The Model
    THORKELL is made from a Bachmann N Class, with a GBL Hornby Black 5 cab fitted (the cab floor was extended). A tender was salvaged from a scrapped ROD 2-8-0 and attached by customising the coupling with styrene strip. Currently this is a non-runner after a valve gear malfunction burnt the motor out.
    Click HERE to see the build thread
  5. Corbs
    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    308
     
    NWR Name:
    William Montagu
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    0-6-0PT
     
    Builder
    Great Western Railway (North British Loco Co.)
     
    Class
    5700
     
    Purchased by NWR
    1937 (on hire from 1931)
     
    'Prototype' Info
     
    The legendary GWR 5700 class needs no introduction, but how one of these useful locomotives ended up in the North West requires explanation.
    In 1929, the GWR was building hundreds of pannier tanks, more than it needed at the time (due to changes in traffic demands) and Nos. 6700-6749 were put into storage. In 1931, the NWR entered into a locomotive hire contract with the GWR (as the Sudrians needed locomotives quickly) to provide several locomotives of different classes. One that was offered was 6723, but the lack of vacuum brakes was a problem, so 5741 was placed on hire instead, with 6723 coming out of storage and going to work on the GWR.
    The hired locos at first sported GWR green but were gradually repainted into NWR lined blue.
    As of 1937, the GWR offered to sell the locos then on hire, and the NWR accepted, 308 officially entering NWR stock in May of that year. 308 gained the name 'William Montagu' in the tradition of naming locomotives after important figures in Sudrian history.
    William Montagu was King of Sodor and Mann 1333-1344.
     
    The Model
     
    'William Montagu' also known as 'Duck' is a fairly standard Bachmann 5700, a repainted spare body currently sitting on the NCB version chassis (hence the red rods). The lining and lettering is from Fox Transfers and the plates are from Narrow Planet.
    It runs like a dream, although I need to get around to lining out the other side, fitting a crew and coaling it properly!
  6. Corbs

    Maps!

    By Corbs,

    This is something of a work in progress, but since it's likely to be a work in progress for a long time, I'm going to post about it now and update later.
     
    I've long wanted to map out 'my' NWR, and various places along the route, to work out what kind of traffic sources and destinations I have, and plan my timetables and traffic requirements appropriately.
     
    Which leads me to this - a map of 'my' Tidmouth. If it looks familiar, that's because the basis for it is an old map of Southampton, mirrored and turned on its side. That's why a lot of the writing is still back to front


     

     
    The big NWR station is visible in the centre right, with the NWR main line striking out towards Knapford in a cutting. The loco sheds are at the station throat, next to the school!
    Opposite the sheds, the docks branch curves away to the exchange sidings. Goods trains are brought in here, where a Tidmouth Docks Authority loco will take over, though some trains like the boat connections work straight through from the quayside.
    To the West of the station (and accessed via a tunnel underneath) is the gas works. The West Sodor Power and Gas Co.'s little engines can be seen fussing around here. The spur to the hydroelectric generating station carries on up the valley.
    South of the Inner Dock stands the imposing bulk of Slugworth's Chocolate Factory, a major employer in Lower Tidmouth.
    To the East, 'Ocean Dock' is built on the site of National Shipyard (North) No.1, which in itself was a big part of the line's expansion during WW1. Now it services transatlantic passenger liners and the ferries to Ireland and the Isle of Man (which formerly docked at Kirk Ronan).
    The Arlesburgh branch carries on to the North, over the River Tid. The bridge here has a weight restriction, barring bigger locos from the line. Upper Tidmouth has a small station serving the locals, who like to think of themselves as being on the 'correct' side of the river.
     
    Anyway I hope you enjoy this little excursion into cartography!
     
    Here's Southampton for reference:

  8. Corbs

    Sudrian Story Scenes - 2

    By Corbs,

    A couple of little vignettes from around the layout, sometimes referencing the books.
     
    Thomas and Henry swapping stories at the junction.

     

    My friend Rich gave me an early christmas present. All of the switches on the layout were previously marked by coloured stickers, which isn't very prototypical, so we decided to position appropriately-coloured objects next to the points instead.
    The little green Trojan marks the 'green' point, the red car denotes the freshly-replaced red one.
     
    I was missing a yellow vehicle, and Rich presented me with the Sodor China Clay company's new runabout.

    It doesn't show up in photos, but it's even got SCC lettering on the side.



     
    I'm chuffed with it!
     
    No.705 'Westlin' recently gained a new backstory and fresh numberplates (narrow planet). The lining on one side has always been a bit sub-par so it got more heavily weathered to represent the loco in the late 1950s, coming up to withdrawal.
    Here it clanks into the yard on a van train, an ignominious task for one of the former flagship locos.

  9. Corbs

    The Flying Kipper

    By Corbs,

    All kinds of ships use the harbour at the big station by the sea. There are passenger ships, cargo ships and fishing boats also come here. They unload their fish on the quay. Some of it goes to shops in the town, and the rest in a special train to other places far away. This is the train the railwaymen called 'The Flying Kipper'.
     

     
    Yes yes, I know that this story is before Henry I gets replaced with Henry II, just a bit of fun now I have weathered my insulfish wagon.
    I took this in the morning light on the DSLR while holding my iphone's torch just above the quayside.
  10. Corbs
    A large theme of this alternate fictional universe is to give things reasons to exist. I've changed a lot from the Reverend's version, as I wanted to backdate the opening of the main Sudrian railways and give the island a chance to industrialise rapidly at the beginning of the 20th Century.
     
    A big part of any railway is the traffic demands, these will guide what kind and amount of stock the line should have on its books.
     
    For 'fun', I've begun to devise timetables for the NWR main line and the branches. This will tell me how many trains need to be run per day, and thus how many locomotives, coaching sets etc. are required.
     
    The period I have chosen is high summer in the mid-late 1950s. Steam is still king (and the NWR remains un-nationalised here due to some complicated legal gubbins I won't go in to here. The IoMR remained privately owned long after 1947 so there!).
     
    I so far have been working on these services:
     
    Main Line (Express) - Tidmouth-Barrow non stop (with 3 services departing from the ship terminal at the docks)

    Main Line (Stopping) - Tidmouth - Carnforth
     

    Brendam Branch - Wellsworth - Brendam (but with 3 return trips per day to Tidmouth)
     

    Ffarquhar Branch - Knapford - Ffarquhar (with quarry workers train and one direct service to Tidmouth to connect with the Wild Nor'Wester)
     

     
    The Peel Godred, Kirk Ronan and Norramby branch lines still need to be worked out.
     
    For each service I've worked out the distance, average speed over that distance, and dwell time in stations to give me the overall travel time.
    The complicated bit is trying to work out how to connect services. For example, can people from town A get to town C in a decent time if they have to change trains at junction B?
     
    The other thing that this tells me is the type of loco required, and how many of them.
    Main Line (Express) - class 5-8
    4 train sets
    Main Line (Stopping) - class 3-5
    9 train sets
    Brendam Branch - class 1-3
    2 train sets
    Ffarquhar Branch - class 1-3
    2 train sets (1 passenger, 1 quarry workers) + railcar
     
    We can assume that each 'set' requires a loco. Plus a spare should be kept on the books for each group, assuming something will be undergoing maintenance.
     
    These locos are solely passenger or mixed traffic, goods locos are another matter. I'll need to take a look into the industries we need to serve and work out traffic requirements on that front....
  11. Corbs

    Sudrian Language

    By Corbs,

    It was once said of Tolkein that he ended up writing the Lord of the Rings as a by-product of creating the Elvish language.
    Whilst not quite as expansive as Middle-Earth (or even Westeros), I think Wilbert and George Awdry had a lot of fun creating the world of Sodor.
    The elusive book 'THE ISLAND OF SODOR; Its people, history and railways' is all about building the world that the stories inhabit, with its own colourful history.
    My modelling is my own take on this world, I've changed some details, but I share the belief that everything in this world should have a reason to be there.
    To this extremely nerdy end, for the last 4 years I've been building up a 'master document', a sprawling spreadsheet of info, made-up history and justification, using TIOS as the base and building my own world on top of it.
    This document is constantly changing and evolving, but I thought I'd post about it for a change.
     
    One of the sheets is an attempt to decipher the Sudric language. The Rev. Awdry provides a few translations for place names etc. in his guide, which was a good starting point.
    I thought it would be interesting to compare it to Manx (the real-life neighbouring island), then English, then Gaelic (Irish and Scottish) and Latin. I also tried translating a few words and phrases for which I had no Sudric counterpart, to see what it came out with.
     
    I've uploaded a screenshot of this here. I found it quite interesting to see the routes of the words (in fact I'm currently reading a book called The Etymoligicon) and thought it may be of interest to others.

  12. Corbs
    Here's the combined build story for my little Avonside-esque 0-4-0ST, NWR No.106 'Perseus' (or Percy for short)
     

     
    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    106
     
    NWR Name:
    Perseus
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    0-4-0ST
     
    Builder
    Avonside Engine Company (19??)
    Rebuilt Peckett and Sons (1920)
    Rebuilt Hunslet Engine Co. (1946)
     
    Purchased by NWR
    1920
     
    The loco known to Sudrians as 'Percy' first arrived on the island in 1920. Originally built by Avonside Engine Co. of Bristol, No.106 underwent a rebuild by Peckett (including a new boiler) before transferring to the NWR.
    Some time after the merging of the TK&F into the NWR, a short wheelbase 0-4-0ST was desired at Knapford docks. Crews were used to using the small wagon turntables to turn the vertical boilered 'coffee pot' locos, but as these fell out of use or struggled to keep up with train loadings, something more powerful but with the same operational flexibility was desired. Thus, 106 was assigned to Ffarquhar from 1935.
    106 ran as such until May 1929, when it gained the name Perseus, a ceremony undertaken to coincide with the launch of Barrow-built submarine HMS Perseus, for which the loco travelled to the Vickers-Armstrong works.
     
     
     
    FULL BUILD THREAD BELOW
     
    Much as I do like to model big express and main line engines, my layout is a shunting puzzle so perhaps not best suited to them. Time for some shunters.
     
    In terms of NWR locos, I have 308 'Montague', which sadly is non-operational and currently relegated to static display due to the motor issues previously described.
     
    301 'Thomas Allen' is in the queue and, while fully working, needs a lot of work cosmetically (such as conversion to the second batch of E2 locos with extended side tanks) which I would like to get right, so would like to practice some more on something a bit more freelance.
     
    What I had noticed when using 'Portbury' (see the cobbling thread) was that the short wheelbase actually allowed an extra wagon in the headshunt compared to using the SCC Jinty or 301.
     
    I had scrapped a rather battered Hornby 'Pug' to use the cylinders and motion on Portbury, which left a good starting point for 106 'Percy'.
     
    Percy is described as being a mongrel of different manufacturers, Awdry writes in TIOS:
     
     

    I've skewed things a bit in this universe, a lot of things happen earlier than in the original RWS timeline, where Percy arrives in 1949 - I'm under the impression that Awdry was trying to get his stories to catch up to contemporary events rather than being set in the past. I've gone for 1928.
     
    Anyway..
     
    I think the LBSC Terrier cab bears a lot of similarity to Avonsides, especially the door cutout and the bunker. Luckily I had a spare A1X body bought from ebay.
    It nearly fits... Think the distinctly LBSC cab roof needs changing for a curved one.


     
    Also bought from ebay was a set of motion and pistons from the Hornby Adams Radial tank loco.
    A bit of chopping and a bit of stretching to make them fit....


     
    This is actually motion bracket Mk3 after a few false starts

     
    The pug running plate is rather bendy and threatening to snap, I would quite like to make one but we shall see...
     
    After much fernaggling and confundering, I concluded the A1X cab wasn't going to give me what I was after without major surgery.
     
    I did have another 'Polly' in the drawer though, having chopped one up to make the cab for my model of Avonside 'Portbury', so this one went under the knife.
     
    Step 1 - reduce the bunker length
     

     
    Step 2 - lower the bunker level with the top of the door

     
    Step 3 - start conversion to saddle tank

     
    Step 4 - lower boiler pitch, new cab front, new running plate

     
    Step 5 - test look of saddle tank

     
    Step 6 - splash some paint around to even things out


     
    Lots of filling and sanding to do. I'm aiming for something a bit like an 0-4-0ST version of 'Woolmer'
    https://photos.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Longmoor-Military-Railway/i-Z99qd2Q/1/M/Longmoor_Woolmer_slide403-M.jpg
     
    Sorry, Smokey Joe (and thanks once again to Peter's Spares).
     


     
    Sand, glue, paint, sand, repeat


     

     
    As sanding and filling gets a bit repetitive, it was time to get some colour on No.106
    First some green, Halfords paint again

     
    Then some cheap satin black. Added the safety valves (a bit wonky) for some pics.


     
    2 Avonsides posed together

     
    I've got some transfers on order from Fox, hoping they'll get here soon.
     
    Really trying to get as much done as possible before the winter break.
    Got the handrails on last night

     
    Completely by chance, the boiler weight from the Pug donor fits snugly inside 'Percy's boiler.

     
    By chopping up some Stanier Jubilee cabside lining, managed to get one side of the cab lined out. Saddle tank is next, or I could leave it as-is, similar to how PBA S9 'Henbury' was lined out in the latter years of steam at Avonmouth Docks.
     



     
    Nearly there!
    Weight added to bunker, body fixed to chassis, motor fitted and soldered back in, tank lining and lettering, injector pipe added, lubricator fill up tank thing (from one of the pug's dumb buffers) added, a few adjustments to pick ups and she's a runner! The other side needs the lining finishing off, but I've run out of transfers for now. Need to add frame extensions and detail under the front end, and fit Kadees, but I'm very happy with how 'Perseus' looks (number and nameplates on order from Narrow Planet).
     
    Once all that's done I'm going to weather it a bit to hide some of the dodgier bits, and add some coal and glazing.
     



     
    It's not all that different from my initial photoshop mock-up I did a few years ago...

     
    Perseus has gained some Kadee couplers, which meant I was able to do some shunting with him on the layout. Works great! The tiny wheelbase means that you can squeeze one more wagon into the headshunt compared to using 301, the Jinty or the Pannier. Runs a lot smoother than 'Portbury', too.
     
    I had a go at adding some detail to the front in the form of a curved handrail, formed around a screwdriver handle, I drilled the holes slightly oversized, dropped some glue in, then roughly positioned the knobs before threading the handrail through. This pic shows it nearly all the way installed, before a dab of paint.
    It also shows the front frame extensions to get rid of the 'hovering front end' look.

     
    I like my locos to look well-used, so mixed up some weathering powder (smoke) with a bit of micro sol and water, then applied liberally to the body, let it dry, then rubbed most of it off with a damp cottonbud. My aim was to create a bit of streaking and general grime where the cleaners couldn't get to.
    I've also added some coal to Percy's bunker. This covers some 'liquid gravity' I glued in, to give the back some weight - the loco is very front heavy.





     
    I've got some number, name and builders' plates on order with Narrow Planet, then have a few details like glazing (and some crew) to add, then I hope he'll be more or less finished!
     
    Let's begin with the bad news.
    I wanted to paint a few bits of black on 'Percy', stuck it in the vice without thinking, and promptly broke the motion bracket. Hours and hours of faffing and different attempts later, I could not make a replacement up and rather dejectedly gave up.
     
    All was not lost, however. I had a second 'pug' which was disassembled to donate its motion and cylinders. I've retconned this by reasoning that No.106 works a lot on the quayside down at Knapford, and the tramway up at Ffarquhar, so in order to avoid more police notices, it's been fitted with covers on the motion, keeping the local bobby happy.
     


     
    The etched plates for No.106 have arrived from Narrow Planet.
     

     
    I've affixed them using some Klear for the time being but we'll see how well it sticks..
  13. Corbs
    Here's the combined build story for the flagship express locomotive of the North Western Railway, No.704 'Duke of Gordon' (or Gordon for short)
     

     
    FACT SHEET
     
    NWR No.
    704
     
    NWR Name:
    Duke of Gordon
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    4-6-2
     
    Builder
    North Eastern Railway
     
    Class
    A0
     
    Purchased by NWR
    1923
     
    FULL BUILD THREAD BELOW
     
    So, firstly, the numbering scheme...
    I always thought it a bit odd that a railway the size of the NWR would have such a small fleet. In 'The Island of Sodor' book, Wilbert refers to many other locomotives not featured in the stories, but the linear nature of the numbering does help kids with counting and recognition of characters.
    I've decided to re-categorise the locos so I can fit more in while retaining the original character numbers.
    For my donor loco, I acquired a Hornby railroad 'flying scotsman' unboxed for a very good price. I wished to run an ex-gnr tender, so hunted down the bodyshell from a3 'cameronian' on ebay for about a tenner. Comparing the two, I wanted to have the details included with the a3, as well as the superheater, so decided it would be less effort to replace the banjo dome with a round one, and use the a3 bodyshell. Cutting off and replacing moulded handrails is a bit involved for me at present.


    'Gordon' is, in my universe, a prototype a1, the A0. I wanted to use some beefier cylinders, so got hold of some stanier princess examples, again from ebay.
    This is my first adventure into proper model modification, so it was with a small amount of trepidation I removed the a1 cylinders.


    I wanted to retain the Gresley valve gear (Partially as it's probably biting off more than I can chew to change it at this time), so it required a slot in the cylinder to hold both the piston rod and slide bar thingy.
    I removed the back of the cylinders and inserted a piece of plasticard, cut to size. Reattached the cylinder ends and marvelled at how I'd overcome this so easily, put it back on the chassis, looking good, then stuck the body on....



    D'oh! Hadn't measured it against the height of the old cylinders!
    Hacked apart the original bracket and chose to build a new one up in plasticard, measured against the body for height.



    Much better!
    Now, I had to re-do the holes for the piston rod and slide bar by moving them down. Fashioned a lower bracket from pieces of scrap plastic.
    Hopefully I'll be smoothing out the nasty bits with miliput. Still waiting on a dremel to arrive so I can drill a mounting hole for the bracket to attach to the chassis.


    Overall, I'm pretty pleased! Taped in place, everything moves ok so I haven't wrecked it. Needs finishing off which I need a few more tools for.
    Next up, need to dremel out the horrid moulded coal from the GNR tender to add something a bit properer!
    Got my dremel through the post this week so first set about removing the horrid coal to get my eye in with using it.


    Going to be putting in a false floor and layering up some better coal, nice and full!
    Removed most of the excess with a file.
    Then I turned my attentions to the loco.
    I want to use the better detailed A3 body, from a tender drive chassis, so had to remove the underbody section. There must be an easier way to do this but meh.

    At first it wouldn't fit, turns out the railroad body's rear cab fitting is slightly further back and some careful grinding was necessary.



    It fits!
    Unfortunately I made a bit of a cock up with my cylinders. The piston rods would hit the end of the cylinders, so I cut them down ever so slightly, causing one side to fall out of my homemade bracket and jam the motion. Have extended the bracket as a bodge repair for now but these cylinders have been hacked about so much now, they look a bit carp.

    I've ordered a replacement set for about £2.50 from ebay. These worked well as a prototype, so hopefully I can do a much neater version now I know the mounting points and mods needed to do a good job. I think a tube (like a straw) will work much better for the piston rod than the bracket, to avoid the chance of it catching.
     
    So... the stanier cylinder conversion mk2 mounted on the gresley stretcher.

    Part of the motion was still fouling the cylinder, I don't know what it is but it's mounted rearward on the other side, so I cut it, and re-glued in position. Not the most elegant solution but probably won't show up too much under some weathering.



    And mounted on the loco (needs a bit of adjustment)

     
    I purchased a battered A1 bodyshell to use as a donor, removed the dome

    Offered up on the A3 bodyshell

    Finally bit the bullet today and cut out the banjo dome, then glued a piece of plastic in behind it

    Then filled with milliput

    And dome milliputted in place. Going to let this all dry before attempting any sanding, smoothing etc

     
    A bit more miliputting and sanding on the boiler top, methinks needs some paint and fine grain sandpaper to get it properly smooth.
    Also added a personal touch that's bound to annoy some people.... I like it.

    After a lot of persuasion and adjustment (and filing and glue and miliput) the cylinders now sit evenly on each side as well.
    Current state:

     
    A few pics from No.704. I've used filler primer to help blend in the area of filler, and the new dome. A few cracks/dimples were filled with blobs of paint (The yellow spots shown in the photos).
    The filler primer is in the process of being sanded back to blend with the original paint. An overall coat or two of primer will be required before final spraying. I might send this loco to the same chap who is doing the 'Green 5'. Livery will be based on BR Express Passenger Blue with the same N W lettering on the tender.
    As for the tender, the edges of the coal bunker need fillering in and flattening, and the coal itself needs adding.
    It's getting there...


    Apologies for the darkness of the pics, the desk lamp bulb has gone - not blown, but literally gone. I don't know where it is!
     
    One of the last few jobs to do on 704 was to sort a way of filling the tender with coal whilst retaining the old loco drive weight.
    I'd been thinking about this one for a while, and today decided to try it out. The idea was to get a bumpy, but not uniformly so, pattern for how the coal sits, without needing to cut the top of the tender weight off in order to fit a flat 'false bunker'.
    Piece of black material cut to size and draped over the weight

    Before being glued to the body

    Done! Needs smearing with some PVA, then will sprinkle some suitable coal on, probably woodland scenics as I have a bag of that to hand (But alas no PVA!)

    After the coal is added, it's just the smokebox door handle to be added, then it's off to the paintshop.
    EDIT - Also cut some front frames to shape and fitted into place - these had been cut away during the cylinder conversion.

     
    Finally bought some PVA, spread it on the material and added some woodland scenics coal. Rather pleased with how it turned out.

    That's it! Ready to be packed up and sent off for paint.


     
    Super duper! No.704 arrived at my work today, and was unwrapped as soon as I got home. Really please with how it's come out. There's a few things I may still tweak/change/add - needs detailing parts, might change the height of the cylinders as they look too low to me, and I'm on the fence about the N W on the tender - might get changed for a smaller font, but on the whole, I'm pleased as punch. This was my first ever attempt at modifying an RTR loco, and I think it's ended up really nicely.
    Painting/lining/weathering was done by David Penman of Custom Models - http://custommodels.org/
    Have some pics!


    and with his new stablemate

    EDIT: In fact it didn't take long for me to take the circular saw and dremel to the model - cylinders removed, measured and re-glued! Also re-fitted a stray front step - had to file down the underside of the bufferbeam a bit. One thing that is missing is the reversing lever, think it might be at the bottom of the spares box...
    Looking much better now, amazing how a little change can make such a difference.



     
    704 came out onto the layout for a little run today. Still has tension locks fitted which need replacing with Kadees before it can haul stock, but I took the opportunity to pose it with the other two blue locos, 705 and 805.
    What's in a name?
    I thought it would be nice to justify some of the names and liveries of the NWR fleet. I'll talk about 503's history in another post, but this came to light today.
    Upon investigating the origins of the name 'Gordon', I found out about the Scottish Clan of that name, so thought, maybe 'Clan Gordon' or 'Duke of Gordon' would be an appropriate name for the NWR's flagship express loco. It was then that I saw, another name for the Duke of Gordon is 'Cock O'The North'.
    From wikipedia: "For his notable contributions Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly was styled Cock o' the North, a designation which has ever since been accorded to the heads of clan Gordon"
    So, in this universe, what with 704's Gresley origins, and Sir Nigel using that name on the first member of the LNER P2 class in 1934, the name 'Duke of Gordon: Cock O'The North' was given to the experimental A0, and after that non-standard loco's sale to the NWR, the name was re-used in a shortened form on the P2. However, the name 'Duke of Gordon' stayed with the A0, thus, it is known locally as 'Gordon'.



     
    Finally got around to adding a brake hose and front coupling (both GBL parts) to 704 'Duke of Gordon'
     
    Front end looks a lot more acceptable now.
     

     
    Finally added a kadee to the tender (had to drill out the tension lock mount and chemical metal the kadee in)

  14. Corbs

    Numbering Up the Fleet

    By Corbs,

    Finally got around to numbering the mainline fleet with plates from Narrow Planet....
     
    805 'Suddery Cathedral' - needs N W letters still.


     
    503 'Colonel Henry Regaby'


     
    704 'Duke of Gordon'


     
    Much better I feel!
  15. Corbs

    An introduction

    By Corbs,

    I've finally embarked on a project to model the fictitious NWR as featured in The Railway Series by the Awdry family.
    I'll be putting my own spin on this, giving my version of how things could have looked. After all, a lot of technical details by the rev. Awdry were often 'retcons' to explain away the choices the artist had made (famously disagreeing with C. Reginald Dalby over unrealistic locomotives).
    Inspired by Gavin aka Knuckles' own uncompromising replicas of the locos as featured in the books, I hope to come up with something adventurous and fun.
  16. Corbs

    The TK&F - Braking

    By Corbs,

    In the early days, train brakes were not of much concern to the Knapford and Elsbridge Tramway, all the trains being unfitted goods, slowed either by the brakes on the loco or by pinning down the wagon brakes.
    It was not until 1904 that the company had to confront this issue, with the expiration of the contract for the W&S to supply passenger services. Both the 0-6-0T No.5, and the two new Kitsons arrived fitted with only steam brakes on the loco, and it was not until 1906 that all locos were fitted with Westinghouse Air Brakes.

     
    After the NWR's absorption of the TK&F in 1923, it was fortuitous that the air brakes on ex-LBSCR E2 No.301 had been retained, allowing it to operate the TK&F stock until replacement with vacuum braked coaches.
  17. Corbs

    Departmental Stock - 1

    By Corbs,

    Many many years ago, I was taken to the local model shop for my birthday (my poor parents...). The 00 'Queen Mary' brake van had recently been released, and I fell in love with the way it looked. Naturally, I chose the most colourful one.

     
    My parents recently asked me to clean out some of my old railway items from their attic, so I took this one home with me. The rather gaudy colour scheme doesn't really fit in with my steam era layout, so I thought it could become part of the NWR's departmental stock.
     
    The NWR house colour is blue (Vauxhall Regatta Blue to be precise).
    Bit o'primer

     
    I was originally going to try and keep a splash of yellow, but realised I'd inadvertently made the Mainline Freight livery of the 1990s, so the yellow ends were to go black.

     
    I kept some of the markings on the side, and cut out some unused transfers from one of my big Fox sheets. D12 denotes Departmental Vehicle number 12. Any relations to hip-hop groups are purely incidental.

     
    Nice smokey weathering wash...

     
    I'm pretty happy with how it looks, I wanted it quite grubby. Some of the matt lacquer bloomed in some of the crevices so I went over again with a bit of blackness to hide it.
     

     


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