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PaternosterRow

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  1. PaternosterRow

    BILSTON STEEL WORKS

    By PaternosterRow,


    BILSTON
    Some months ago I came across a fantastic website - www.britishsteelbilston.com - about the Bilston Steel works in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.  This has been put together by Mr Andrew Simpson who worked there and is well worth a visit - there are some fantastic photos including a section on the Work's locomotives.  In fact, I contacted Andrew and he put me in touch with a Mr Roger Deans, a chief fitter at Bilston, who has provided me with information and a lot of stories about his time there.  I was so taken with Bilston itself, and is a place I clearly remember from my childhood cycling adventures down the canals, that I decided to recreate a small shunting layout based on a typical British steelworks. 
     

     
    Bilston in its early 70s heyday - a clear shot of how close you could get to a Blast Furnace from the canals in those pre H&S days!  The furnace was called Elisabeth (with an s not a z) in honour of the owner's daughter and not the Queen as often suggested.  She was first lit in 1954 and closed down in 1977.  Her weekly output was about 5000 tons.  
     

     
    Canal boats would often float past even on the most busiest of days at the Steelworks.
     

     
    My take on part of a steelworks.  Note the mirror underneath the building at the end of the canal.  Like all micro layout creators I am obsessed with successful scenic breaks!  Apart from the obvious join line across the canal I think the trick works rather well.
     

     
    The Engineering Shop at Bilston.  Notice the uneven buckling of the corrugated panels - that is how they actually look in real life on all industrial buildings.  I'd like to claim that I have successfully emulated this in my own model but can't as it was entirely accidental. I guess when you use the correct thickness of foil you get the same effect!  The colour match is also a lucky guess and came from a discarded paint can found at my local tip.
     

     
    The above picture is actually from Shelton Bar Steelworks in Stoke on Trent.  I was so taken with the scene that I wanted to recreate it on the layout.
     
     

     
    May take on the Shelton Bar building over the canal.
     

     
    I love these wagons from Golden Valley Hobbies.  They are being hauled by a freelance version of a Hunslet 0-4-0.  Based on the cheap Hornby mechanism I have used bits and pieces from an old Dapol Shunter kit and a second hand Bagnell.  The Dapol 16T mineral is permanently attached and its wheels have been given extra pickups that feed the Hornby motor via small connect wires - whilst not a brilliant crawl type runner it works really well on the layout.
     

     
    Plan view of the layout - it has a fiddle yard to the right and is connected via a link to my Floodgate Street layout to the Left. I've done this for space considerations and also to allow FGS to share the new fiddle yard.  
     

     
    More pics to follow about construction etc.
  2. PaternosterRow

    BILSTON STEEL WORKS part 2

    By PaternosterRow,


    BILSTON
    I have decided to put another removable, half-relief shed where the backscene photo of the Cooling Towers are - they can still be viewed by simply removing the new structure if desired.  The new shed is being constructed at the moment.  I have also still got a pile of work to do on the steel wagon fleet - all will need Spratt & Winkle couplings like the rest of my wagons.
     

     
    The Yorkshire, sloped-sided shunter, common at Bilston was from Judith Edge.  I'm not particularly good at kit building and tried to short cut the process by using the motor and wheel set out of an old On30 Bachmann Porter.  It was a disaster and I just couldn't get it to run right - the motor was eventually removed and the Shunter is merely a cosmetic scene filler.  Maybe one day I'll save enough up and have one commissioned!
     

     
    Another picture of Shelton Bar in Stoke on Trent - a marvellous shot from a 1970 amateur film.  Proving how close you could get to Steelworks back in the pre H&S days.
     

     
    The start of construction.
     

     
    I make my own point switching devices - they work too!  The switch block shown here was temporary in order to test the isolated sections.  I have since replaced the nail contacts of each DIY polarity switch with Brass screws and a piece of conductive spring wire from some very old Lima points.
     


     
    The freelance Hunslet 0-4-0 - copied from the background picture.  This is permanently attached to a Dapol 16t mineral with added wheel pickups.  Not a crawl type shunter but works really well on the layout for a bit of general hauling.  A superb Bachmann Class 08 does all the heavy work on the layout.
     

     
    The end shed during making - just a 3mm MDF shell covered over with foil corrugated sheets.
     

     
    I'm not sure if Wills would approve but I used their basic corrugated sheet as a template to create my own foil ones.  Interestingly the foil came from the underside of a Thatched Roof at a holiday cottage complex!  The owner decided to have the roof replaced with a tile one and I was right in their gathering up bits and pieces of the foil as it was being torn down.  It's about the same thickness of baking tin foil you find under your Steak and Kidney Pie and holds the grooves well.  The foil was laboriously flattened out with a jam jar in order to remove any creases and folds, given a light sanding and then cut into 32mm wide strips.  These, in turn, were simply placed on top of the Wills sheet and a small screwdriver was used to scribe out each run of panels.  I think it has worked out rather well for a freebie!
     

     
    A superb shot of a Yorkshire shunter approaching the scrap steel bays at Bilston.  I might take a leaf out of Mikkel's book with his 'one bit at a time' method he uses for his Farthing layouts and have a go a modelling this bite of the Bilston cherry next!  Notice how dirty and black the track bed is - I tried to emulate this on the layout.
  3. PaternosterRow
    Some initial pictures of my latest scheme.  Like most of us modelling fanatics I haven't been idle during the lockdown period!   These are strange times indeed and I have no doubt that many of us have worried about income and job security so, with the exception of purchasing a second hand Hornby Q1, I have managed to construct the layout with materials and track I had to hand.  Folgate Street is a fictitious slice of third rail London and is an old scheme that has been revamped for the purpose.  The original station throat was constructed about 11 years ago and was made at the start of my railway modelling journey.  I was still fumbling about at this earlier stage hence the use of Code 100 and Insulfrog points.  It was a copy of a throat drawn up by the famous Cyril Freezer.  The original layout was actually once used as the basis of my 1984 model (see previous posts) and was gathering dust in a forgotten corner of my loft so I thought I'd put it to good use.
     

     
    The fabulous Hornby Q1.  This was picked up cheaply from Hattons.  It had a missing sand box and steps which have been knocked up from bits out of the spares box.   Despite a thorough wheel clean it runs intermittently and I wonder if has anything to do with the DCC decoder that it is fitted with?   I don't need it as I'm analogue and I know they'll run on DC current.  If I remove the decoder will I need a blanking plate? - any help would be greatly appreciated as it's a smashing model and it deserves to run properly.   The roof is another of my soldered wire schemes - to add a bit of interest I've used a downloadable texture from CG Textures for the roof lights.  Note the cardboard strips at the side of the track.  These have been made form thin card to replicate the wooden boards used at Southern stations to contain the third rail - they help to hide the absence of insulators and also disguised the oversized profile of Code 100 track.  
     
     
     
     

     
    A Hornby 2 HAL emerges from the right hand scenic break.  The Lyceum Theatre is a freelance structure made from Scalescenes Textures whilst the buildings on the overbridge are downloaded photographs from CG Textures.  These have been layered to give a little relief.
     

     
    The superb Heljan Class 33.  The station tower is another freelance structure loosely based on the Towers found at Cannon Street Station.  Again, I've used Scalescenes sheets to construct it.   The station roof is loosely based on the Suburban station one at the side of Kings Cross Station.
     

     
    Two tracks on a slight incline were added to the front of the original layout to add a bit of operational interest.  The signal box gantry, based on the one found at Holborne Viaduct Station over the Widened Lines incline, has been made from Plastruct girders and bits from various Dapol kits.  All the signals work apart from the one on the signal box - I think super glue seeped into the fine electrical wires and have caused a short circuit!
     
    The 5.5 foot layout is an end to end scheme with a main 5ft long fiddle yard to the right hand side.  The half station side is fed from a three foot long 'black box' section during normal operation.   I utilised a mirror at this end to lengthen the look of the station for the above photographs.   More pics to follow.
  4. PaternosterRow

    Happy Christmas to all at RMweb 2022

    By PaternosterRow,


    Christmas 2022
    Click the link to see my latest Christmas Train diorama for 2022.  This is version three over the last three years - the others have been given to friends.   Someone bought me one of these cheap Christmas battery operated trains as a bit of joke a few years back and I decided to put it to good use  - surprising how much fun you can have with something so cheap and tacky!  
     
    The 'Cold Mountain' scene is just cardboard and paper mache with a bit of polyfiller rubbed over it to give some relief.  Spray snow was applied once the coat of grey paint had dried.
     
    Enjoy and a very Happy Christmas to you all.  Have a great new year of modelling.
     
     
    https://studio.youtube.com/video/1StJLwc2RUQ/edit
  5. PaternosterRow

    Carlisle to Silloth

    By PaternosterRow,


    Carlisle
    Just a quick update at Carlisle Citadel.
     
    A picture from the other side of the layout for a change.  I doubt a Green 105 would have worked the Silloth Branch, but it's all I've got in the Green DMU era and I think it makes for a nice picture.  I know they worked Carlisle in the BR Blue days though.  Changing the destination board was a real pain and I also had to twist the frame as it seemed to be pushed up under the body shell and out of line above the bogies - ironic given that the problem was on the unpowered, and much lighter, car.
     

     
    A clearer shot of the Duchess taken with my smaller Panasonic - not great with depth of field but note the Lima Crab on the tracks at the other side of the access ramp.
     

     
    A BR steam era layout wouldn't be complete without a Black 5.
     

     
    It's a bit busy in this shot.  A Black 5 and an Ivatt 4MT Ugly Duckling.  Again, taken by the Panasonic so the screen is slightly blurred.
  6. PaternosterRow

    Carlisle Citadel

    By PaternosterRow,


    Carlisle
    Another update.  The platform buildings and footbridge is now complete.  All that is needed now is to create the links with my loft runaround scheme.  The followings pics are all early BR.
    #

     

     
     
     
     

     

     
    I very much doubt that 46151 ever hauled the Thames Clyde Express, however, other members of the class did work it North of Leeds.
  7. PaternosterRow
    The picture of the real thing (Mike Morrant Collection - Fowler 2P) that started the journey on this layout.  I've managed, after many hours messing about with a spotlight and my Panasonic Lumix, to capture the streaming sunlight effect I wanted.  Just wish I could photoshop some steam into the shot - I'll just have to put up with cigarette smoke for now!
     

     
     
     
    A couple of sepia images of a Duchess in LMS war time black.  I really like this loco - the streamline shape must have made for an impressive sight in the 30's when first introduced.  It's a great pity that WWII got in the way of further development of these type of trains.  The speed war between the LMS and LNER really produced some wonderful designs.
     

     

  8. PaternosterRow

    A Duchess at Carlisle

    By PaternosterRow,


    Carlisle
    The latest project.  I've been off and on with this layout over the last couple of years.  So I decided to buckle down and get on with it.  The roof is still under construction and I'm very much at the McGuyvering stage.  There's always a lot of niggles to sort.  This is a quarter of a station scheme with a mirror at the rear to double the length.  The whole layout is a mere 6.5 foot long.
     
     

    This is an original Hornby Margate version of a Duchess which has been fettled with.  The track is all Code 75 and the baseboard was made from an internal door picked up from my DIY store.  Using a door is quick and almost as cheap as making up one yourself.  It's also very straight and square as you can imagine and therefore helps when you make roof structures out of wire.
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     

     
    Although the station is not an exact copy of the North End of the station I have tried to remain faithful to the roof profile.   This has been made with 1mm dia wire that has been soldered together in various jigs.
  9. PaternosterRow

    A Duchess at Carlisle II

    By PaternosterRow,


    Paternosterrow Blog
    The latest pics of progress.  The roof is complete and a backscene of joined, white mounting card has been erected.  Just a small section of some platform buildings and a LCut footbridge to install.  I also need to get a printout of the real citadel building seen to the rear of the station - this will be pasted to card and placed in the correct position on the backscene.
     
     
     

     
    The above looks a bit like a painting in a way.  There is no photoshop trickery here - the photo has been merely cropped.  Taken by a Fuji Bridge, F11, 1 sec exposure, ISO 100 with a slight adjustment on the white balance to prevent washout.  I've used my homemade lighting rig cobbled together from an old overhead projector.   A mirror has been placed at the end of the roof section to make the station look much larger.
     

     
    Just under the screen - again, a cropped Fuji shot.  Note the reflection of the inside of the end screen in the distance.
     

     
    This picture was actually taken at night using a spotlight and a diffuser box powered by a LED 100 watt equivalent bulb (see pics below).  I got the spot from a man who used to be a projectionist many years ago.  The spot is as old as the hills but works brilliantly and it only cost me around £10.  I was trying to emulate streaming sunlight, but, as my wife pointed out, it just looks like someone shining a torch through the roof.  Some more thinking required.
     

     
    Another night shot - this time with my Panasonic Lumix shoot and go camera.  I used the 'Starry Night' long-exposure setting - placing my hand over the lens after about 4 seconds to prevent white out (the camera only goes down to 15 seconds exposure on this setting).  
     

     
    The cheap spot with my own version of a beam splitter taped to the front.
     

     
    The LED diffuser box.  It is just a simple cardboard box with tracing paper front taped over an ordinary bulb holder.
  10. PaternosterRow
    Had a couple of GWR ground signals turn up from an outstanding order a few months back so I thought I'd do a bit more work on Cheslyn. Also started installing some Spratt and Winkle couplings on some more coach stock.
     
    One day I was playing with a Vi Trains class 37 whilst working on the couplings at the same time - never a good idea. After the session I picked up the 37 and found a dirty great superglue blemish and a bit of finger tip hanging off the bodywork. This was quite a shock and I didn't know quite what to do at first, but out came the glass fibre pen. Unfortunately this fetched the original paint off right down to the white plastic shell. The situation was quickly getting dire. So out came the paint brushes and some rail blue acrylic. Unfortunately, the paint and body shell colour didn't match so out came some watered down black acrylic in a vain attempt to use a bit of weathering to hide the repair.
     
    After many hours messing about I decided to consult fellow Rmweb member Sandhill's magnificent blog and his easy to understand weathering method. The result is a follows and I'm quite pleased with the result. So a big thanks to Sandhill's. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42150-a-diorama-or-two-by-sandhills/
     

     

     

     

     
    Other traction which are RTR. Note the Heljan 33 - you might ask what this is doing on a GWR branchline - but it is my favorite model and it's my trainset after all!
     

     

     
    I'm not happy now with the Vi Trains windows on the 37 and I don't have the confidence to put in a Shawplan's etched window front - any ideas out there on what I can do to improve the look without too much hacking about with the model? Suggestions will be gratefully received.
  11. PaternosterRow
    Believe it or not, but this plastic Lobster has a direct connection with the real place. Along with the station there was four shops sharing the blue brick building on the overbridge. There was a clothes shop to the left, the station (a simple entrance with small ticket office), a shoe shop (if I remember right), a newsagent and a chip shop. The 'chippie' was called the 'Shell Bar' and had a small eating area that was festooned with fishing nets and lobster baskets etc. Plastic fish and Lobsters hung from the walls and climbed out of baskets. Don't forget, this was the seventies and all this seemed like the height of sophistication back then! It was our version of McDonalds and occasionally, after a shopping trip to the Bull Ring or Walsall market via the train, Mom would take both me and my small sister for a meal before returning home. A rare treat as my Dad was a real meat/fish and two veg man and banned rubbish like this from the house. I can still taste the greasy chips (fried in proper lard), the Fleur De Lys Chicken and Mushroom pie and small bottle of Coke (YUM). The place closed in the late seventies and Mom asked the owner for a momento of the place - the plastic lobster. Mom unfortunately passed away 3 years ago and when we cleared out the house I came accross the Lobster - wrapped in newspaper in a box in the attic! She'd kept it all those years, but what was more amazing is that she'd packed it and brought with her when they both retired here to Ireland. How's that for the past catching up with the future?
     

    The Lima Class 31 (one of my favorites). I've upscaled the cardboard cut out building of the Poly at the rear. This is nearer the size in the Steve Jone's original picture of the station.
     

    Class 20 pairing - should really be pulling freight although they did pull the occasional passenger train (mainly to Wales so never at Perry Barr).
     

    I like this shot - shows off the faded weathering technique I tried to pull off when doing the Class 20 project a couple of years ago.
     

    Tail end of a HST125 going through the station. Very much doubt the 125 ever came this way, but I love this Lima HST. I put a new brushless motor in the Power Car and it pulls seven Lima MK1 and dummy with ease (it doesn't half squeel when taking 2nd radius curves as the wheels try to grip) - it's just nice to see it run.
     

    Front shot of the full set approaching the station. A full seven car plus power and dummy set is a little under nine feet long - you'd need to build a mightly long platform to accommodate it!
  12. PaternosterRow
    I really love photographing my layouts and my ultimate aim is to make the locos and settings as realistic as its possible in 00 Gauge.  Getting as much as possible in focus has always been a bug bear of mine.  The relationship between F-Stop, shutter speed and ISO is complex to understand and I should imagine professional photographers spend a long time to master it.  I haven't quite managed this and have always found that the higher the F-Stop then the yellower the image simply because the more depth of field (or more in focus you want) then the smaller the aperture.   In addition, my camera will only stop up to F8.  A medium aperture but one that still restricts the amount of light you need.  This always spoils the photo and no matter how long you keep open the shutter you can never get rid of the yellowing effect.   Camera's therefore love loads of light where this is concerned so I decided to cobble together my own powerful lighting rig.  It had to be on the cheap because professional lighting rigs are an astronomical cost.
     
     

    The above shot under the rig.  F8 at ISO 400.  The camera sets the shutter speed itself and I set a two second timer delay to defeat any camera shake.
     

    The 'Heath Robinson' style lighting rig.  I found an old overhead projector at my local tip and took it apart.  I put the fan and bulb assembly into a wooden box, created a reflective direction device out of hangers and mounting card and put the whole thing on top of a stand that I bought secondhand from a builder for a fiver.   It was really cheap to construct and it works quite well.  Mind you, despite the fan it gets very hot so I don't leave it on too long in case the whole thing falls apart!
     

    The rig is about as good as it gets in creating artificial sunlight.  It's either that or lug the layout down from the loft and wait for the sun to come out and you could wait a long time over here for that!   Now to get rid of those pesky shadows on the backdrop!
     

    This is my take on a smashing prototype picture in Hornby's latest mag regarding coloured light signalling on the Southern.  The picture was of a Class 33 double heading with a BR Standard 5MT out of Waterloo in 1966.
     

    A summer afternoon at Folgate Street.  Note how the light rig casts realistic shadows under the signal box gantry.
     

    Light and shade.  Notice how the focus drops away and yet this is the best my Fuji Bridge can do.  It's a lot better than my other smaller 'snap' Panasonic Lumix which has a much narrower field of focus.  The only other route is photo stacking, but this seems like a magic trick far beyond my capabilities.  I guess I'll always be an analogue fuddy duddy!
     
  13. PaternosterRow
    More pictures. Note Steve Jones's fabulous shot of the station in 1978 with a Class 312 bound for Walsall. I am currently working on a Southern Pride Class 304 - this seems to be the only available WCML EMU kit available at the moment. Work is slow and I am awaiting parts that did not arrive with the kit - such is life, eh?
     

    Fabulous shot taken by Steve Jones in 1978.
     

    Class 86 'Planet' in early Executive livery pulls an eight coach train - made up of 7 Lima MK3s and 1 Bachmann MK1 full brake. The Class 86/87 pulled these rakes whilst BR awaited the arrival of the Class 90. It was usual to see 9 MK3s with accompanying MK1 Brake, but I figured 8 was a fair compromise for an 00 gauge layout.
     

    The brilliant Lima Class 101 - this little DMU must be Lima's finest hour with its flush glazed windows. Great little runner too.
     

    Class 86 pulling an early Freightliner train. The Freightliner containers are from Scalescenes and look quite good for a humble card kit.
     

    A ViTrains Class 37. Great runner but growls a bit (just like the real thing).
     

    No WCML scheme would be complete without a 'Hoover'. This is an upgraded Lima Class 50 - I should have renumbered it, but liked the D400 preTOPS number. A new motor has been installed for more power - now to try and resolve the pick up issue - any advice on this would be most welcome.
  14. PaternosterRow
    Hi all,
     
    Just bought the splendid Bachmann Ivatt Class 2MT but don't like the trailing DCC wires to the tender. I'm an analogue runner so have no need for the chip interface in the tender. Does anyone know how to get rid of these wires - found that if the plug is removed from the tender it wont run? I have no understanding of DCC electrics so if there's an easy way to remove them I'd be really grateful for info. It also judders when running slow - is this normal and will it go away after the customary running in period?
     

     

     
    Cheers - Mike
  15. PaternosterRow
    The Bachmann 9F arrived yesterday - Yipee!!! It's such a detailed model that I was quite frankly nervous whilst handling it. The detailed pipework is amazing and I'd have expected to have paid much more for something as finely produced. I couldn't wait to get it into the Shadow Box for a few pictures though.
     

     

     
    So nearly there - a comparison shot with David Shepherd's magnificent painting - I need to get another LED spotlight on the front yet.
     

     
    This shot shows how the mirror doubles the size of the layout and makes 12 locomotives out of only 6!
     

     

     

     
    Roundhouses and Sheds were much run down toward the end of steam and I wanted to capture that with a few details like the broken pallets. The ash is actually from my living room fire - you just can't beat using the real stuff.
     
    I gave up on the car headlight bulbs in the end and used proper 12 volt downlight bulbs for the transformers. They are just as bright as the car bulbs anyway.
  16. PaternosterRow
    Just a few pictures of a model of the Launch Umbilical Tower in 1/400 scale I made a few years ago.  The Saturn V is a Dragon model.  This is my tribute to those magnificent people that worked to put a man on the moon before 1970.  I still quite can't believe that there are still people who refuse to believe in this brilliant achievement.  Especially given the plethora of scientific information available on the web nowadays.  I'm really enjoying the event and there has been some great stuff on the TV showing a load of previously unseen footage of the event.
     

    A picture sourced from NASA showing the real Apollo 11 en route to Pad 39A.
     

     
    My take of the Launch Umbilical Tower as copied from the picture of the real thing behind.
     
     

    Outside shot in the garden.  The plane going over was just a lucky coincidence as I took the shot.
     
     
     
     

    All the way from Cape Killarney!  This is where I live in Southern Ireland.
     

    A night shot - the tower has been stuffed with a set of cheap LEDs run from a battery.  The light shines out of small drilled holes in the tower.
     
     
    I was a young boy in 1969 and the Apollo moonshots dominated our lives.  It was an exciting time to be alive during an era full of hope for the future.  We were a lot less introspective back then and all of us thought we'd be living on the moon by now.  What a wonderful achievement - the benefits of which we have been living off ever since.
  17. PaternosterRow
    I haven't posted in an age and, in fact, haven't even visited RMWeb for quite a while.  What a great new format and I'm really interested in becoming a Gold Member - currently in negotiations with the financial controller about the monthly fee! 
     
    The new layout, High Trees Junction, is nearly complete so here is a few initial test pics.  This layout forms part of a roundy roundy scheme in my loft.  My previous layout, Perry Barr Station, is on the opposite side.  I just wanted to get my trains running for a change so have turned away from micro layout building for a while.  After a previous country type layout some years ago, Cheslyn, I vowed never to go down the country route again.  However, the thought of building a huge suburban theme really put me off after many hours of drawing up several schemes.  It would just take too long to construct the required amount of buildings to populate it.   To my surprise I enjoyed building this one.  High Trees Junction is a simple enough scheme and soon became an essay in forced perspective.  Having grown up in Birmingham, like most city folk, I fell in love with the English countryside.  Whilst I am surrounded by natural beauty here in Ireland I do miss those English Church Spires.  It always seemed to me that you could always spot two, even three, Spires from high vantage points in Britain so it seemed essential to include two in this layout.
     

    The signal box is Scalescenes and the signals are from Ratio.  I really enjoyed making up these.
     
     

    I wanted to have a lead in curve although it is not based on a prototypical radius.  I think the radius is generous enough to make it look convincing.  The brambles are all made from rubberised horse hair and flock.
     

    There's always a Church Spire to be spotted somewhere in English countryside views.  The small church is probably around 1/200 scale is merely a downloaded photograph that has been made up into a 3D model from card.
     

    The fabulous Lima 101 waits on signal from an imagined Branch connection to the main.
     

     

    The entire layout.  All of the trees were handmade from seafoam and flock.  It was a large task, but once a production line was set up it didn't take too long.  I bought the seafoam from a Spanish modelling supplies company for a reasonable price and the flock from the UK.  All the trees came in for around £150.

    The village scene.  This hides the entrance point to the left.  The church (approx N scale) is freelance from mounting card.  The pub is Scalescenes and the house from Superquick.
     

     

    These two shots are from the same viewpoint at different angles.  The illusion of distant hills is busted once viewed from above.
     
    That's it for now.  More pictures at a later date.
  18. PaternosterRow
    A few more pictures of the junction in action.  My track laying leaves much to be desired in some of the shots.  This all looked perfect when first laid, but there are a few wobbles here and there that are more apparent in the close up shots.  It all works and I've had no running problems and yet it shows just how much attention must be paid to laying perfect, level track during the construction of long line layouts.
     

    A Hornby Class 20 combo hauls a short engineering train through the junction and down the branch.
     

    A Lima Class 101 passes on the other line.  This little loco is a superb runner for an old model and it has to represent Lima's finest hour with its flush glazed windows.  The motor is original so the model hadn't been used much before I picked it up cheap on eBay.  With a bit of weathering and detailing I think it has come up quite well.  One of my favorites anyway.
     

    The superb Bachmann Class 25 hauling a short Freightliner.  The factory weathering really makes this loco for me.
     

    A Lima HST set.  It's a real pleasure to see this run around and around now.  I gave it a new motor replacement during detailing and it goes like a rocket.  It seems ironic that these older models have no problem running through Code 75 track and points.  However, I did have to take down the flanges on the 'Pizza Cutter' wheels first.
  19. PaternosterRow
    Iv'e gone with LMS upper quadrant signals after taking Dave's advice.  These should now match the BR period depicted.  Instead of rushing these, I should have researched Semaphore signals properly - alas, that's how we learn!
     

    A class 31/4 waits on signal.

    A HST speeds past the junction on the main line.  This is a much beloved Lima set and it's great to see it run around and around.
     

    An old, detailed Lima 50 pulls an old Hornby class 86.  The 'Freightliner' flats are the old Hornby type.  I think they look much better with a bit of custom weathering.
     

    Just for a comparison - a new Hornby 50 pulls a new Hornby Class 87.  The difference in detailing is remarkable compared with the older varients.
     
    I've added a bit more flock detailing to the front of the brambles and also painted the distant forrest atop the rear hill a lighter shade of green.  A few telegraph poles have also been added.
     
  20. PaternosterRow
    Just an update after some much needed correction to the signals.  Many thanks to Dave for pointing out my glaring error in having the signal arms the wrong way around!  Despite having built loads of schemes, read numerous books about the railways and pouring over thousands of prototype pictures I am still prone to making embarrassing mistakes from time to time.  But that's what great about being a member of RMWeb - always loads of help and objective advice from my fellow modellers.   It also has to be said that in all my time as a member I've never once felt belittled, overly criticized or admonished by anyone.  so much appreciation and thanks to all those who have offered advice or spotted mistakes down the years.
     

     

     

     

     
     Dave also pointed out that it would be better to have LMS type signals instead of LNWR (as above) during the HST era and I might actually order some of these and make them up.  For now I'm just happy that they are the right way around.
  21. PaternosterRow
    The latest effort is a plan to recreate a part of the great Carlisle Citadel Station for my collection of steam locos. I want a half station scene with a mirror doubling up the length on the internal section. It'll be another one of my wire roof schemes. The tracks beyond a middle platform with act as a run through so that the station can be linked up to a future run around planned for my loft space. Station buildings on the middle platform will hide the hole in the mirror. However, I figured that if I couldn't make a half decent attempt of the magnificent neo Tudor Screen then it would all come to nought.
     

    I used a blown up photocopy of a picture from Denis Perriam and David Ramshaw's book as a template. This was pasted to card and the windows cut out.
     

    The smaller windows were drawn out and then cut.
     

    The middle section of the North Screen as per pictures in the book.
     

    The window bars were painted directly on to a piece of 2mm perspex.
     

    The finished article. Detailing was achieved using strips of Evergreen and whatever else came to hand. Althougth the original was painted white (or Cream) it was very dirty from smoke etc. My weathering is not yet finished as it needs a little more soot above the track positions. The weathering helps hide a lot of mistakes.
     

     

    An old Lima Crab under the screen. The height is right as far as I can make out from pictures.
     

    The book from which the model was copied.
     
    I don't think it's a bad effort, but there's a few wobbly bits and areas where things don't line up quite right. The screen will never be viewed straight on when the layout is complete. However, there's a long way to go yet and, knowing how quickly I can get bored with a current project, the layout may never be completed.
     

    An additional pic taken this morning after a few tweeks to the screen. I got really niggled by the line between the clock section and left hand section - you can see a distinct misalignment between the top arches. So I added a small 1.5mm wide strip of Evergreen along the bottom of the windows. This now lines up nicely. The eye forgives a lack of detail, but it always spots things that are out of true. The screen will also always been seen from this angle on the layout.
  22. PaternosterRow
    At last the Southern Pride Class 304 has been finished. The layout would have been incomplete without it, but building it has tried my patience and I'd think twice before having a go as such a large kit again. The instructions were clear and the kit itself is very well made, but you really need prior experience and I rather think I jumped into the deep end with this.
     

     

    The lead driving vehicle was the last car built and it has turned out much neater than the driving brake car (see below). I learnt an awful lot between each build!
     

     
    It's been a hard slog as these kits are not for the faint hearted. It arrived at the end of March, but progress has been interrupted by some house decorating - I was only supposed to paint one room, but ended up doing three plus the hallway! Then my boss had a bit of a windfall and some badly needed maintenance work was carried out at the holiday cottage complex where I work part time. All this took about 5 weeks so I couldn't devote the time I wanted to on the model.
     
    When the kit first arrived I was dumbfounded by the amount of stuff inside and was convinced that I wouldn't be able to complete it having never built a kit like this before. I decided to make the driving brake vehicle first - it was a near disaster and I ended up making rather a hash of it. However, I learnt a lot from those initial mistakes and the each car got a little easier thereafter.
     

    How not to do it! The first vehicle of the 4 car set was a right hash up and it was pulled back from absolute disaster several times. I really hate Humbrol warning yellow - it comes out lumpy even when spraying. The trouble is that I can't get quality paints over here and have to make do with what is available. On the other driving vehicle I used an acrylic car spray - it's not quite warning yellow, but it looks a hell of lot better than the Humbrol!
     

    The lead driving vehicle - much better work this time.
     

    Out of the box - the 4 car set at several stages of construction.
     

    The hinges being soldered onto the brass sides. There was a fret that contained the handles but I had no idea how you would go about soldering these on without making a real mess (seems like you need three pairs of hands or some sort of tool that I don't have). Therefore, I decided to make my own out of wire and solder these from the back.
     

    A finished side. It looks rather neat when first complete - that's when the real fun starts when you have to rebend it to shape afterward and glue it onto to base.
     

    You really have to go at the solder blobs at the back of the brass side with a sanding drum. This makes the brass flaten out and you have to really try and bring it back to the original shape afterwards.
     
    There was a load of fettling getting everything to fit correctly, but it has turned out fairly okay. The only modification I made was the full running board on each car. I distinctly remember these as a kid and they are a reminder of an earlier age regarding coaching stock. I also chose to use acetate for the windows which was glued on with some PVA to the inside face as, try as I might, I couldn't get the roof to fit using the clear resin window bars that came with the kit.
     
    The model isn't motorised yet. I might try and persuade Southern Pride to sell me the Driving Brake again - I'll make a better job of it next time around and also fit some Black Beetle units at the same time.
  23. PaternosterRow
    Just a quick update on progress so far. Upon showing the first pictures to my wife she said that the layout looked too rural for it to be Perry Barr. Whilst the there is a Park to the north of the station there were obvious signs of it being in a suburban, Green Belt area - it was right next to a Shopping Centre (Lynton Square in the 70/80's) and the original site of the Dog Track Stadium - but these could hardly be seen from the station as the ground sloped off rapidly behind the station. However, I put a factory in and some more trees etc to balance this out a bit. You can go overboard on backscenes so I like to keep them as simple as possible. The following pictures are the latest offerings.
     

    Hornby Class 86. With a bit of detailing these old machines look quite good. It's got a great motor on it too and pulls an 8 coach Bachmann MkI rake with ease.
     

    A detailed Lima Class 31 - a great motor but does not like running on Code 75 Concrete Track - there's a 3ft length of this in the lead up to the station. The old Polly in the background (now the UCE) is just a sourced picture pasted onto card and placed right behind the station building.
     

    Nice shot of the 31 pulling a bit of freight.
     

    This is a hacked about Hornby Class 86 (Pheonix) that has been renumbered and given an etched double arrow. Note the absence of the Springs - that was how the 86's first came out of the shop. They developed cracking on the frames so the suspension was beefed up, even the wheels were given rubber inserts I believe at a later date. It's pulling a Royal Mail train.
     
    Whilst these express trains never stopped at Perry Barr, they were often seen on this stretch of the line (The Chase Line) when maintenance work was being carried out on the Wolverhampton to Birmingham main line route.
     
    The Southern Pride Class 304 has arrived so I'm going to start work on that. However, it came minus the detailing frets containing the hinges and handles etc so I'm stuck for a while awaiting their arrival. Wish me luck as it's my first kit build and it looks like a lot of hard work.
  24. PaternosterRow

    Perry Barr Station

    By PaternosterRow,

    I haven't been resting on my laurels since my last layout and have been ferreting away as usual. So, and having grown up in Perry Barr, I thought it was high time to have a go at a model of the station there. I've had to rely on a couple of pics by Steve Jones along with my memory of the place. I didn't fancy using any of the available catenary so had a go at making my own out of wire. The are not perfect but look credible especially with Colin Graig's superb pewter insulators.
     

     

     
    A couple of Steve Jones superb pictures of Perry Barr - this was just how I remember it having grown up during that era. I've got to order a Class 310 or 304 kit from Southern Pride as of yet. I'm inclined to go for the 304 as I've never built a kit before so think it prudent to start off with a simpler model (the 310 looks really complicated).
     

     
    My take of the scene with a modified Hornby 86 and, as yet unmodified) Lima 101. The Lima is a superb little model with its flush windows - it needs a new motor and some minor alterations.
     

    The Lima 101 - many find the all over blue with yellow ends a bit boring, but I've always loved this simple colour scheme from BR corporate period.
     

    The other end of the layout. It's eight foot long - the bridge at the Park end is a ficticious scenic break - there was one like this but it was about 2 miles from the station. I used to walk to school across Perry Hall Park every day and would often have my face pressed up against the spear fencing. Every once in a while the drivers would sound off a two tone and wave to me. Great, great days.
     

    There are 4 light weight portal type gantrys at the station and two 'H' girder types by the Park end. The portals were made from 0.75mm galvanised wire - soldered together in jigs. The uprights for these were made from the same wire - soldered together in lengths and then given a hard filing to give crisp edge to the stanchions. The portals are slightly over scale - the prototypes are only 18inches deep and mine would work out to be around 22 inches square - I don't think it's that noticable now that they are in place. The 'H' type portals were made from Brass sections.
     
    Perry Barr is not an attractive station by any means with it's concrete overbridge and steps - this was installed in the early 60's to accommodate the widenning of the A34 Birmingham to Walsall Road. However, it is one of the oldest operational stations in the world. It was originally the fourth station out of Curzon Street on the old Grand Junction Railway - the world's first 'long-distance' intercity railway (4 July 1837). This Birmingham to Manchester route opened nearly a year and a half before the London to Birmingham railway which commenced on 17 Sept 1838.
  25. PaternosterRow
    Some update pics for the new Southern layout as promised. I've set this around the early 70's period - still want to use the Hornby 2 HAL and realise this was retired in 1971. I'm also a bit confused about using the Blue/Grey 411 CEP for this period as I've always laboured under the assumption that no DMU or EMU received this livery until the mid 80's and ran in complete Blue up until this time. However, I've seen a couple of pics (one on Mike Morant's site) dated around 1969 and 1971 that clearly show it running in the Blue/Grey livery - wonder if any Southern fans could enlighten me on this. There's bound to be a load of mistakes with accuracy but I'm really into atmosphere more than in getting it right. Besides, the layout is more a train set and it can be used for any city in any region - it's primary function is to play trains really.
     

    Detail shot of the scrap yard under the first two arches. It was a common site to see tower blocks going up in old run down industrial areas back in the 70's. Being from Birmingham, I remember a large scrap yard across the road from Tower Blocks in the Aston area - this was probably also the same state of affairs for parts of London at that time.
     

    Shot of the whole layout - doesn't look much from this angle but it's suprising what you can squeeze into a micro.
     

    The first batch of Class 20's delivered did work across London on freight duties so it's not beyond the realm of possibility to see them on Southern metals from time to time.
     

    The Crane is a Hornby offer - I've detailed it up slightly although it stills looks rather toy like. The jib runner is scratchbuilt from an old Lima car flat wagon - Jib runners were made from old coaching stock at that time. The Hornby Steam crane carries transfers showing it to belong to the Eastleigh depot - true enough as it's my understanding that the Southern ran the only Cowans Sheldon Steam crane at that time.
     

    The fleet waiting on the service loops behind the layout.
     

    The right hand scenic section - the flats behind the warehouse are photos sourced from the web and sized accordingly.
     

    'Mind the Gap' - even using the short connecter bars on the 411 the gap is still about 5mm wide.
     

    I've made some corridor connections - not the neatest effort but it all works fine and gets rid of that awful gap between corridor connections. This Bachmann model is superb and the interior detail is brilliant.
     

    A superb Bachmann Sealion - this is a Western Region machine. Civil equipment ended up all over the place so it wouldn't be out of place on a Southern layout (well I hope not anyway).
     

    A Midland Region sand tippler wagon - would love to know what region the van came from but can't ID it.
     

    An ex Southern Brake Van painted in Civil's Olive Green - note the air brake pipe at the side. The Southern Region was the first (I think) to have all its civils stock to go to air braking. There should be hoses fitted to the sole bars but I haven't got round to this yet.
     

    A couple of Eastern Region Grampus wagons - these are still in Engineer's Black and it took a long time for them to go over to Olive Green. Some never even made it and jumped Olive to the later Yellow and Grey livery of the 80's. Engineer wagons were a mish mash of different livieries and Codes. Note the S&W couplings - whilst not ideal they are a much better look than tension lock and they work brilliantly with the hand held magnet that is worked from under the base board.
     
    That's the lot for now - still having loads of fun running trains around. Might get the Green stuff out in a few weeks and have a go at the early 60's.
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