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PaternosterRow

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Blog Entries posted by PaternosterRow

  1. PaternosterRow
    In the lead up to Christmas I wanted a break from the next phase of making the control panel for my Barrow Hill Yard layout - wiring just ain't fun enough! So, whilst perusing the internet during this let up period I came across David Shepherd's magnificent painting called 'On Shed' - this features a dirty 9F awaiting its next duty. This really got the juices flowing so I put together a quickie layout for a Shadow Box scheme (I've had a Bachmann 9F for Christmas which I'm eagerly waiting for the postie to deliver right now). The idea was to try and simulate David's painting by having streams of sunlight coming through imaginary skylights etc. This, I thought, could only be done by constructing a Shadow Box. Anyone familiar with military modeling will have probably heard of Shep Paine who honed this way of making dioramas way back in the 1980's. For anyone not in the know, a Shadow Box is basically a model within a sealed box with its own hidden light source that can be used to simulate sunlight through a window etc etc.
     

     
    David Shepherd's magnificent and very dramatic painting.
     

     

     

     
    My efforts so far. I'm still playing around with positioning the light bulbs and led spotlights. The beams have been generated by cutting tiny slits and holes in the roof of the layout - the roof has a sealed box glued on top which contains the lights. The bright light is generated by three 55 watt car headlight bulbs and is the closet to sunlight as you can get without burning the house down! Getting the lights to work was the most frustrating part of the project. However, I spent a couple of enjoyable hours with my local mechanic (Mike Dillane) in his workshop with card board boxes and different car lights. His son happily obliged us by blowing smoke into the boxes to try and create the beaming effect. Mike suggested using a car battery and battery charger, but I didn't fancy lugging this stuff around. In the end, I used simple AC 12v 60 amp transformers used for Kitchen downlights - these quite happily run 12v DC car bulbs and they were only a fiver each! I started off by running an extension cord from the battery of my car to run the bulbs, however, SWMBO put a stop to this in case I did damage! Then I tried an old drill battery charger but this was only putting out 2 amps and not the 15 amps I required - it lasted all of 15 minutes! It's all part of the learning curve I suppose, but to me, this is were the fun is.
     

     

     
    The layout is quite simple and is basically a quarter of a roundhouse which has a mirror placed along one side. I initially considered taking a saw to my Barrow Hill Roundhouse model but reason prevailed. The layout took about 10 hours to build from bits of scrap I had lying around etc - the lights have taken about 6 hours so far. I used the same method of roof and smoke construction - this time without the skylights as the light can only be let in very slightly so you get the streaming effect without washing it out. Photographs have been taken at night with room lights off for maximum effect.
     
    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL RMweb members.
  2. PaternosterRow
    Over the last few nights I've been knocking up the following Class 13 Slave unit out of an old Lima Class 09 shunter. Bought a copy of a special edition of Modelling British Railways about all the TOPS Diesels - really brilliant and haven't been able to put it down. When I saw the section about making a Class 13 out of a couple of Hornby Class 08s I started watering at the mouth! 'I have to have one, I have to have one' became my mantra around the house for a few days. Always on a budget, I can't afford to hack about with a pair of new locos worth £75 each so I had a go at an old Lima instead.
     
    The result - I've put my Bachmann Class 08 with it for a few piccies. There is no way I'm going to start hacking away at my Bachmann though to complete the unit. The pics are just for example. I like the black and white ones personally.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    The backing plate is cardboard and so is the cover box. I used the original back to the cab for the cab surround but had to make up the height with a piece of 3mm card - just carried the original wasp stripes up to the lip. I've used a cut down wooden coffee stirrer for the brake rods - crude, I know, but I figured that it was better to have something rather than nothing. To hide the clunky rods I've blackened them with metal black then painted 2/3's so it looks in proportion.
     
    The lengthened buffers are just pieces of plastic cut from a Cracker Box and then painted yellow. Pipes and knuckles are from the spares box.
     
    Cut off the molded hand rails and replaced them with wire - these look okay but could be better. The steps have been made from pieces off an old brass fret and the cab ones are off an old Airfix/Dapol Battle of Britain tender.
     
    First time I've converted anything so pleased with result so far. Got to give it a bit more of a rub down with the glass fibre brush and also coat of matt varnish after the Overhead and Double arrow transfers go on. Ordering these from Fox transfers.
     
    Now it's down to the Master - however, I need another Lima. If anyone has an old unloved one for sale please let me know. I had to remove the motor from the slave so have one spare. Just need it to be Blue and have original wasp stripes. Also need the rods.
  3. 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.
  4. PaternosterRow

    UP THE JUNCTION

    By PaternosterRow,

    It's an age since I posted anything, but that don't mean that I haven't done anything. So here goes with the latest model. It's a four by three foot micro that has been connected up to three continuous loops so that I ran run trains to my heart's content - a real train set at long last. There's also a small shunting yard at the front for various departmental wagons and freight - depending what mood I'm in. The shunting yard is all operated by Spratt & Winkle - I just use a hand held magnet under the board to avoid the old 'hands in the sky' method. Whilst it is a Southern type scheme I can run any train depending on what I fancy - I've added some third rails (lengths of code 75 glued down beside the running rail) but you can't see these from the yard level etc.
     
    I wanted to create real depth to the cameo hence the yard, the double viaduct behind and single viaduct to the very rear. The viaducts are glued together Scalescenes Bridge kits.
     

    A Lima HST going over the front viaduct - a test shot and demonstrating that I can use just about any train from the corporate era.
     

    Setting up the scheme and playing about with positions of the viaducts.
     

    A test shot to ensure the holes in the backscene can't easily be seen from the front. Scenic breaks are the bug bear of all micro layouts.
     

    I took this picture of Bordesley Viaduct way back in 1995 from the third floor of a warehouse in Digbeth (long expose using 35mm film - the bad old days of photography - modern cameras are brilliant aren't they?) and wanted to emulate a part of this sodium lit night scene.
     

    My take with a block of flats (the right hand side scenic break) lit with a single light bulb inside.
     

    The flats are a super detailed Kingsway model seen here in the set up picture.
     

    Preparing the flats - each have windows with Scalescene's curtain textures etc.
     

    The front of one of the sections - I used sand that was glued to the front with a watery mix of PVA.
     

    The flats in daylight - Hornby 2 HAL with a Bachmann Class 416 on the front viaduct. Note the detailed Lima Class 73 on the rear viaduct travelling from behind the flats.
     

    You can get a feel for the depth of the cameo in this shot.
     
    I'm finishing off the departmental wagons, cranes etc for the yard at the moment and will post update pics at a later date.
  5. 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.
  6. PaternosterRow
    Spent a great day out yesterday at the Chester MRC's event in Blennerville, County Kerry. The group have generously donated their model of the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway to the centre. This will hopefully provide a great boost to the fledgling Irish Railway Society that have recently started up.
    Some pictures of what is an already well known and highly crafted layout.
     

     

     
    John Campbell and Neil Ramsay were also in attendance with their fabulous collections of 16mm live steam and rail car locomotives. All hand built to extremely high standards, the locos on show were a real treat to look at.
     

     
    A video of John running one of his superb engines. John is from Cradley Heath and we spent a lot of time talking about Birmingham and the Black Country (I hail from Perry Barr, Birmingham originally). Julie, my wife, was quite captivated by live steam and I was nearly on the point of convincing her what a good investment a garden railway would be. That was until John mentioned costs and her jaw dropped to the floor! Looks like I'll just have to stick with 4mm for a while yet. I think you'll all agree that John's work speaks for itself - they are finely crafted locos of high quality and it was a real privilege to see one of them running.
     
    The next few pics are of Neil Ramsay's brilliantly hand crafted 16mm narrow and broad gauge models. Neil must be the only man in the world who runs them on a accurately scaled version of Irish Broad Gauge track in his garden. The railcars have been built from 3mm ply - unbelievable how he has managed to get ply to look like metal! Really skillful workmanship. The Class C Metrovick has directional lights, real smoke exhaust and a working extraction fan - it is battery operated and is correctly gauged to 79mm (5ft 3inch).
     

     

     
    This last shot is of the Blennerville windmill just outside Tralee. It is a working mill and actually does grind corn for some local bakeries.
     

     
    All in all it was a great day out as I don't get to meet many fellow railway modelers here in Ireland. I'm still working on Julie about the many advantages of live steam - wish me luck!
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. PaternosterRow
    Gosh, it’s been well over a year since my last post. But it has been a crappy time and life has thrown my wife and I some right old spanners to contend with.
     
    The worst of it was when my dear old Mom passed away in mid November after an 18 month long battle with Bladder Cancer. Thankfully she was in a care home for the last 6 months so she was extremely well looked after and had little pain to put up with in the end. Marvellous places.
     
    Whilst all this went on modelling took a back seat, understandably, but I did manage to get a few hours in here and there. I’m thankful for the distraction it gave – immersing yourself in the unimportant is a great stress reliever. I really feel for those who have to juggle work and life with the needs of a very sick parent – it’s quite a strain. Watching her suffer from this dreadful disease was unbearable at times.
     
    It was around early June last year that the late Bob Barlow, another victim of this savage illness, contacted me about doing an article on my Shadow Box Roundhouse for his new magazine – Finescale Railway Modelling Review. It was just the right sort of ‘pick me up’ I needed at the time. In fact, Mom was so delighted that she insisted on showing her copy to all of the other residents when it arrived. She rallied just a little and it provided her a much welcome, although all too brief, distraction - for this alone I shall be ever grateful to Bob and the Greystar team.
     
    After her passing I threw myself back into modelling which helped enormously in the aftermath. So I thought I’d push the Shadow Box concept further and have a go at modest station scene. Here are the results.
     

     
    Waterloo Sunset. XP64 with its new livery pulls in to the station. The station scene rough covers the BR period and therefore reflects the dilapidation of these Victorian super structures at that time.
     

     

     
    The following shots are taken under the Shadow Box lighting rig. This has been simply placed over the top of the roof and uses 12 v Halogens as the light source. I wanted to create a Cathedral like atmosphere with shafts of sunlight beaming down through broken skylights.
     

     

     
    The following are shots of the construction methods used.
     

     
    The simple baseboard set up.
     

     
    The plasterboard jig for the arches.
     

     
    Once complete the arches were transfered to a board with a detailed plan of the wall and curve of the baseboard.
     

     
    Completed wire roof structure before the covering went on.
     

     
    The Mirror trick. This doubles the length of the scene - it was crucial to get this exactly square on the end of the model in order for it to work.
     

     
    Last train at Platform 5 - the magnificent Bachmann Peak. The Mirror really comes in to its own here and perfectly reflects the curving sweep of the layout. There really are only 3 coaches in this scene.
  11. PaternosterRow

    1984

    By PaternosterRow,

    I was reading 1984 a few weeks ago when I came across a blog entry by Scots Region called Victory Road - http://www.rmweb.co...._fromsearch__1. A fictitious layout of a station from the novel. This really got the modeling juices flowing and I began the usual postulating when we get an idea into our heads. I had a half completed station throat model that I'd never been happy with and started to put two and two together. I PM'd Scots Region who kindly allowed me to proceed with his original idea.
     

    The original model underneath the new overall station roof.
     

    INGSOC logo - Newspeak for English Socialism
     

    Underneath the arches - old derelict London where the Proles live.
     

    The Platform and INGSOC advertisements. These were sourced from the internet.
     

    Another shot of the platform and the INGSOC logo.
     
    With most of the work been done it was easy to knock up a bunker style roof out of 6mm ply - this was covered in PVA and given a shake of fine sand.
    I wanted to capture the feel of the novel by using a 'Big Brother' utilitarian style overlaying the remnants of old London (Air Strip One). The four big ministries from the novel are housed in pyramid type structures so I wanted to also capture a Pharonic architectural feel - this seems apt to the 1984 theme.
     
    Orwell has to be one of my favorite authors and I'm a great admirer of his plain English prose. Many of his novels contain a gritty reality - read 'The Road to Wigan Pier' for a desperate description of poverty in the North of Britain in the 1930's. He is, of course, most famous for '1984' and 'Animal Farm', both parodies of Totalitarian society's, but he was also an avid reformer. He championed the need for a welfare system, but was always aware of the hidden dangers of ideologies and religions. Most particularly the Soviet regime of 1930/40's Russia - it seems that just causes can always be twisted out of shape by zealots or a power hungry elite.
     
    There's a lot of fun to had with this scheme and I can't wait to start knocking up an armored train. If anyone has any ideas for motive power and coach types I'd be glad to hear them. The novel suggests that things started going awry shortly after the Second World War and the only R and D that went on was related to all things military. Steam would therefore be still being used in the alternative 1984 and there would be a lot of run down engines and coach stock about.
  12. 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.
  13. 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!
  14. 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.
  15. PaternosterRow
    These models are more than a bit naff, but for the price they are great for static displays. I had to strip down the Mallard one and reglue the wheels straight and rejoin the wobbly bottom half of the tender. I also did a little bit of weathering on the Mallard. You know I often wonder why Airfix/Dapol never made these part of their plastic kit range.
     

     

     

     

     
    I've only bought the Flying Scotsman and Mallard issues and now wish I'd have purchased at least six of the Mallard ones - repainted them appropriately and had a bash at recreating a cheap version of the Great Gathering. Wonder if the mag will be reissued?
  16. PaternosterRow
    I've finally buckled down and decided to build a layout based on Barrow Hill's Service Yard. At first I'd made great plans to somehow incorporate this with my layout of the Roundhouse, but reason has prevailed and I've decided to just model the yard which will butt up against a low relief version of the Roundhouse.
     

     
    The coaling stage and ash plant, heavily modified versions of the Super Quick models, are just for scale. I made these at the same time as my 'D' Shop model during the brief interludes whilst glue was drying etc.
     

     
    I've used the brilliant Peco track templates to help get that fan shape that's typical of the point layout at Barrow Hill. I've also used a Google Earth Print out of the prototype to help get the planning right - you can see this and a photo of the site pasted down on the layout boards. Also learnt that a bargain isn't always a bargain as I bought the plywood in a sale at a local DIY store only to find that it started to slightly de-laminate once I started pasting down the paper templates. So I've resorted to tacking down certain areas with panel pins where it has lifted. As my dear old Dad used to say - "there's no such thing as owt for nowt."
     

     

     

     
    The above demonstrates how I constructed the coaling stage ramp. I've gone for Scalescene's brilliant coaling stage kit which has been slightly modified. Although there is no stage at Barrow Hill at the moment there are plans afoot to restore the original. However, this was more like the Metcalfe version, but I just thought the Scalescenes Didcot type was better looking.
     

     

     

     
    I'm just waiting for track, points, motors and some other bits and pieces to arrive now.
     
    I don't use DCC, too expensive, so I've come up with a cunning plan for a lot of isolating sections. This will involve screw heads, lots of wire and some stud probes - more later as the layout develops.
  17. 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.
  18. PaternosterRow
    A little project to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. I always loved the red flash double arrow logo and wish BR had adopted it for the whole of the corporate era.
     

     
    There's certainly a lot of life left in these old Lima models. I spent a lot of time trying to match the colour BR had first used - turquoise blue - and eventually found this colour. It's not a perfect match and seeing how I'm limited to using spray cans (I haven't yet plucked up the courage to go buy an air brush) it was the closest I could find. The transfers are from Railtec and are brilliant, but fell apart when I used my particular brand of matt varnish - good job I bought two sets!
     

     

     
    I wished I'd had sprayed the yellow panel - it was hand painted with Humbrol Insignia Yellow and turned out a bit lumpy. I should have removed the square headlamp and also wished I'd have gone for flush glazing. However, for only my second loco bash I'm pleased with the result.
     
    Happy Birthday XP 64.
  19. PaternosterRow
    In response to fellow RMweb members who were interested in how I made the overall wire roof the following is an article that was scheduled to appear in a future edition of FRMR. The baseboard for the model had been completed by the end of December and the roof structure by the end of January. It was around this time I emailed some pictures to the late Bob Barlow, who in response asked me to write a short article about its construction. By the time this was sent the poor man was probably starting to become very ill. It would be in bad taste, as much as a lack of respect, to send it on to another magazine but it’d also be a great shame to just bin it. So here it is. I’m sure Bob would have put his experienced editorial eye over it before it made it to print so this is it how it was submitted without any adjustments.
     
     
    An Overall Station Roof from Galvanised Wire
     
    By Mike Lynch
     

     
     
     
    After the success of my ‘House of Shadows’ layout I decided to push the concept further and use the same internal lighting technique for a small station scene. The general idea was to construct an overall arched roof on a 6 foot long curved layout and enclose it in a custom made lighting box. Most of my previous roofed dioramas have been made from 1mm diameter galvanised wire and I could see no reason why this roof couldn’t be made the same way. Being from the ‘make do and mend’ generation, I’m always looking out for ways to model on the cheap. This can be an expensive hobby and the amount of brass material required would cost way too much for what will only really be a photographic display. Bundles of galvanised wire were found at a tip some years ago so all my roof schemes have only ever cost the price of the solder and flux! Many modellers would recoil at the thought of using material like this because it is not an accurate representation of that used on the prototype. But I’m more of a ‘fine art’ rather than ‘fine scale’ modeller (if there can be any such thing) so it’s only the overall impression I’m interested in. To me, the background is incidental to the stock so as long as it looks fairly realistic that does for me.
     
    The first thing to do before undertaking any such scheme was to trawl my collection of prototype books for pictures of Victorian Overall roofs. The thing I noticed most was how the curving steel stanchions seem to disappear into the sides of the support walls instead of sitting squarely on top of their masonry columns. This means that the feet of these half circle stanchions rest much further down toward platform level. In order to create the same effect small curving flutes were made from cardboard, painted and then mounted onto the wall. This arrangement dictated the circumference of the wire arches; they would now need to be about a third of a circle in diameter instead of a half. The photorealistic wall texture, Carlisle Station Wall, is from the Smart Models range and very much lends an authentic look; the three arch bays also neatly predetermined the stanchion spacing.
     
    Station roofs, like all roofs, are made from a collection of standardised components that have been pre-made in a factory, delivered to site and erected. The same process needed to be mimicked in model form. Therefore, each of the arches had to be made exactly the same in order to achieve the duplication found in roof structures of this type. The layout needed 13 spans; 11 of these were going to be double sided with two single arch spans at the entrance and at the rear. The entrance span was going to be glass fronted so it required window bars to match the acetate texture that was going to be used. A mirror was going to be employed to double the length of the scene at the rear of the layout so the other span would need to be single in order to create the correct reflection and neatly reinforce the illusion. In total then, I’d need to make 24 single sided arches in some sort of a jig.
     
    A side elevation plan of the layout was drawn up for reference beforehand and then transferred to an old off cut of plasterboard which would be used as the master jig. The wires would need to be held in place by small grooves during soldering so these were simply scored out with the tip of a small screwdriver once the paper covering had been cut away to reveal the Gypsum underneath. Plaster board is excellent for this type of work as it’s easy to score out (try scoring curved lines in wood!), it also doesn’t absorb much heat from the soldering iron and subject metal.
     
    Once satisfied that all the measurements and lines were correct the wire was prepared. This had to be stretched by use of a vice and pair of pliers in order to straighten it out; the wire is quite soft so this also introduces a little tension and ensures that it doesn’t bend as easily when working with. It was then cleaned with some Emery paper and cut into the predetermined lengths required.
     
    During the making up process I found it best to quickly drop a little blob of solder on each of the joints first, let it cool and then go back and work it around properly. I also like to be liberal with the flux; it’s messy but it makes for a solid joint and there’s also nothing quite so satisfying than watching solder flow easily over metal. In the first test arch only the uprights between the outer and inner curving wires were soldered. This was then taken up and offered to the master plan for checking. However, the outer wires started to bend up out of shape after a few minutes and I thought that at this point the scheme would come to nothing. Going back to the prototype pictures I soon began to realise why the engineers had introduced angled locking bars between their uprights. These were introduced into the master jig and another arch was quickly soldered up; it worked and provided a powerful insight into the design of these types of structures. In fact, just to ensure against any further springing a longitudinal locking bar between the arch feet was also incorporated; these can be found in a lot of roof structures and are commonly referred to as Collars.
     
    Once these arches were complete 22 were joined together at 10mm apart with temporary wire spacers to make the 11 double arch spans required. These wires would be removed later when the spans were finally linked up with each other. The entrance and mirror arches were modified accordingly. Once washed down the spans were transferred to a master plan that had been carefully drawn out on a separate board. This plan mimicked the curving wall and its column locations exactly. At this stage another template was scored out on the plasterboard in order to make the triangular glazing sections that sit atop the arches. These were relatively quick to run off and were soldered on in situ without too much fuss.
     
    Joining all of the spans to form a cohesive whole was very straightforward. Using cardboard spacers as guides, simple lengths of wire were soldered along the outside length of the span run. It was crucial to ensure these joiners were spaced correctly in order to accommodate the acetate glazing panels that were going to be used. Where these joining bars needed to be thicker, individual lengths of wire were soldered together before being fitted. In order to ensure the curve remained true, so that the structure exactly fitted the sweep of the wall, 5mm square metal bars were soldered on the feet bottoms at both sides. These were picked up quite cheaply from a local DIY store and were easily bent to shape. Once the structure was complete it was thoroughly washed down with hot water and detergent. I did this in the bath and won’t be doing anything like that again simply for the sake of domestic harmony!
     
    On a final note, this has been a very cheap project to date; even the baseboard came off a disused hoarding found at the road side. The roof took about 30 hours to complete and, as described, was very simply and quickly put together. Researching the prototype was also very enjoyable and gave plenty of insight into the design and assembly of this type of roof construction. Some of these Victorian super structures are now over 150 years old and despite the weather, Hitler’s bombs in some cases and the appalling lack of maintenance during the BR era they remain solid and true. They are testament to the abilities of the original designers, engineers and erectors. This has made me wonder just how long my simple model will last; that’s in scale years of course!
     
     

    The Master Jig - an old off cut of plasterboard.
     

    The jig took a bit of a bashing but is still servicable should an extension be made at a later date.
     

    Once joined together the arch spans were transferred to an accurate plan of the layout drawn out on a 'making up' board.
     

    There was a fair bit of fiddling about during the making up process and the entire structure was regularly test fitted against the layout.
     

    Once the structure was complete it was offered up to the mirror. The purpose of the single arch span at the rear of the layout is now obvious. Its reflection reinforces the illusion of an unbroken series of double arch spans.
     

    An initial test shot during the covering stage and before the Light Box section was made.
     

    A shot of the completed structure under natural lighting conditions.
  20. PaternosterRow
    I happened to mention to SWMBO that I might build a Tinsley Micro plank so that I could take pics of my Lima shunter to Class 13 conversion in an appropriate setting. This sparked off the inevitable debate about the amount of time I spend modelling. However, seeing how SWMBO spends her time in the evenings watching all of the soaps (television I point blank refuse to watch) I countered that the micro could be done in an equivalent amount of time over a week or so. We finally agreed a ten hour time limit - from first cut of wood for the board to the first photograph. The prize - some goodies if I won! The following is the result. Unfortunately, in my haste, I did not document the build but have included a small demo of the method I use to build up the scenery.
     

     

     
    The Lima conversion looks quite passable in these shots. The first shot was the first one taken on the new micro - the embankments and track ballast was still sopping wet, but I proved my point to SWMBO!
     

     
    'Google Earth' view.
     

     
    I painted this backscene for photographs some time ago now. I've never been able to repeat the realistic method for cloudy skies though.
     

     

     

     

     
    The upper track is supported by a strip of 6mm ply on 75mm tall wooden supports - these supports are spaced every 2 inches. I then use cardboard to build up the profile of the embankments - the glue gun is brilliant for this as it gives instant results. Once the profiles are complete, I cover them in flower basket liner and then apply the static grass whilst the liner is still sopping wet. I prefer this method to ripping the liner off once the glue dries because the finished effect looks just like the dead clumps of grass underneath fresh growth as seen on embankments etc. Despite it looking all a bit flimsy, once the glue has dried the whole structure becomes stiff and is quite robust.
     
    The prototypical concrete box tunnels are just knocked up from pieces of 6mm ply. Again, the glue gun is used to give instant results. The sides were scored with a screwdriver to give the layer effect - they were then given a coat of watery glue before being covered in a fine sand and fire ash mixture. Once dry they were given a black wash. The ash comes direct from my living room fire and the sand from Castlegregory beach in Dingle. The railings have been 'borrowed' from the turntable on my Barrow Hill layout.
     

     
    A nice shot of my Hornby Grid.
     

     
    The whole layout - exactly 3ft long.
     

     
    My superb Bachmann Class 08 pulling a crane.
     
    The whole thing took just under 10 hours to do and cost about £25! All of the wood was taken out of the scrap pile we use for burning. SWMBO argued at first that it couldn't be classed as complete until everything had dried out. However, I thought this very churlish seeing how I had done everything according to terms of the agreement - she finally backed down. I'm now very much enjoying tormenting her as to the value of the goodies I'm going to order!
  21. PaternosterRow
    Whilst finishing off Barrow Hill I inevitably started thinking about what next - I guess we're all guilty of that during builds? Then, whilst browsing on RMweb one day, I came across Geoff Forster's blog of his layout 'Penhydd' - this, in my humble opinion, has to be one of the most perfect models I've ever seen. It has everything - a station, three goods sidings, roads, lots of perfect greenery and potential for lots of expansion. It offers loads of operational fun and makes for a great photo setting. I was thinking of moving up the fine scale ladder and experimenting with automatic coupling anyway so thought a small GWR branch terminus would be the way to go.
     
    Geoff kindly allowed me to copy the track plan simply because it couldn't be improved upon. Code 75 track and points have been used. It's worthwhile noting that a move up to this finer profile track will prove a little difficult if you're used to the robust Code 100 like I was. It doesn't like any undulations in the base board and I spent a lot of time fiddling about with cardboard wedges to get it all level.
     
    There are six isolated sections - each of the tracks roughly split into three at the points - and standard Peco point motors to control the points. The sections are controlled by simple switches at the end of the baseboard and the points by a homemade stud probe. The wiring under the board ain't in the least bit pretty to look at, but it all works fine.
     

     
    I've used Spratt and Winkle couplings on all the stock. I got a starter pack from MSE who offered a superbly quick service (3 days to arrive here in Ireland from the original order request). Like everything fiddly there was a lot of apprehension about mounting them - the lower method was used and is highly advisable if you're a novice like me. There was a few mistakes and the chains were really awkward to make and put together, but the first one went on without too much bother. When tested over the supplied magnets I was both surprised and delighted that it worked brilliantly first time. The magnets have been sunk into the base board and glued in place. Mikkel (The Farthing Layouts) has written a superb article on how to mount and use these couplings to their full effect which can be found on this link http://www.gwr.org.uk/procouplings.html . I was careful about following both Mikkel and Geoff's advice about not painting the couplings so ordered a bottle of Brass Black from Eileens Emporium - another superb service (arrival time from order was also 3 days). It's worthwhile noting about how it is important to get the track perfectly level if you want to use S&W couplings - if it ain't then you'll get no end of problems with the stock uncoupling where it's not supposed to.
     
     

     
    A close up of the superb Bachmann Pannier Tank. I also have a Hornby GWR Pannier from the Rail Road range which is a great little runner, but once you've purchased the Bachmann one there's no looking back.
     

     
    The following is a link to a video I've made of the Pannier in action.
     

     
    I'm toying with Cheslyn Hay as a name for it. This is a real place in Staffordshire and was the home of Rosemary Brick and Tile where I worked as a maintenance man in the 1980's. It did have a rail link which had long been abandoned when I was there, but I'd like to eventually expand the layout so it could incorporate a small add on of a brick works. Suggestions, comments are most welcome.
     
    Mike
  22. PaternosterRow

    The Works

    By PaternosterRow,

    Anyone familiar with my models will know I’m a bit of a ‘Shed’ nut and this is another one. In response to an article in Railway News last summer I’d set my heart on a depiction of a locomotive works once my Barrow Hill layout was finished. The fact that I also grew up in Birmingham has something to do with a fascination for factories. It seems the industrial areas of my home town have left an indelible mark that just can’t be ignored even though I now live in rural Ireland.
     
     

    Horwich Works – an Ivatt Mogul being brought out of the erecting shop via the traverser. This is basically what I want to emulate. The photo is from the October 2012 issue of British Railways Illustrated.
     
     
     

    Stage 1 – the traverser and interior area. The traverser is a simple piece of 3mm Perspex with a piece of Code 100 glued on top. The wheels are upside down bogies from a couple of Lima Mark 1 carriages.
     
     
     

    Heljan Class 33 atop the traverser unit. Two pieces of electrical wire hang down from the underside and connect the traverser track with the middle running tracks below – this allows the trains to run by their own power along the traverser deck and on to the internal shed roads.
     
     

    The first wall section and the internal over head crane support beams in place. The windows are Brassmasters – these have been doubled up with a piece of plastic between so they can be viewed from inside and out. All the brickwork are good old Scalescene's textures - Painted and Aged Brick.
     
     
     

    Couldn’t resist including this exterior effects shot. It’s the good old Dapol plastic kit of a 9F. I drilled a hole in the underside of the boiler and pushed a straw into it – the straw extends down under the baseboard so smoke could be blown up into the boiler and out of the double chimney. The top of a Superquick Coaling tower cab be seen above and beyond the external wall.
  23. PaternosterRow
    The arch infills and girder bridge are now completed.
     
    There are no station names in 1984, only Newspeak abbreviations. The station is known only as INTSEC 3/19 (Intersection of Main Line 3 and tube station 19) - you can make your own mind up as to which North London Station it represents!
     

     
    Winston stands alone on the platform and watches a B set pull in amid the smoke and steam - I must get around to giving him a pair of eyes!
     

     
    I figured that seeing how Orwell wrote this in 1948/9 BR would have already come into existence. Praries and Mark 1 coaches would have therefore been used and continued to have been used in his alternative future.
     

     

     
    The Prole area - Old London, although bombed and derelict, still exists under the concrete monoliths of Big Brother. Under the official party posters Winston could make out various prole advertisements. As long as they remained dormant, the majority of the population were allowed their cheap thrills and entertainment. Party members were strictly forbidden from attending these events, but if offered a glimpse of how the world was before INGSOC.
     

     
    Winston had met Parsons on the way in. He had a low level job at the Ministry of the Truth and was therefore Winston's colleague. He also lived on the same floor of his apartment block so it was difficult to avoid the man. Short and rotund, Parsons was full of boyish enthusiasm and was endlessly attending meetings, community hikes, demonstrations and the like. He was a leading member of the INGSOC Sports committee and cut a ridiculous figure especially when bounding about in his jogging shorts. It was Parson's sort of unquestioning devotion, along with thousands of others just like him, that the party depended on. A blind faith that was more important to its survival than the Thought Police. He and his ilk irritated Winston with their slogans and doubleplusgood mindset. Parsons had been discussing some or other droll event with a couple of members of the anti-sex league in the subway entrance. The tall blond women, with a scarlet sash wound tightly round her waist, the vile symbol of self imposed purity, reminded Winston of his own wife, another empty-headed party devotee. The memory of her chilled him and he'd been relieved when they had decided to part ten years earlier. Their type had survived the endless purges of the last 30 years until they now dominated the ranks of the outer party; any chance of a counter revolution had therefore long since vanished. Winston was dead, he'd known that the minute he'd committed his first thought crime, but Parsons and his type would thrive and the party would endure for a thousand years because of it.
     

  24. PaternosterRow
    The 3mm leds arrived today from Express Models. Really are superb quality lights - relatively cheap and very easy to use. Their service really is an express one and these have again, like all my other orders, arrived very timely indeed. I've stuck a couple in the ends of short pieces of plastic straw and used them as directional lighting (tiny spots) to highlight the front of the 9F. A couple have also been stuck down a couple of the smoke hoods to simulate the sunlight coming down them as it would on the prototype. I've had to be careful not to use too many lights at the front because they would simply drown out the lighting effect at the rear of the model. It's been quite a balancing act but I think it's just about right now.
     

     

     
    David Shepherd's superb painting and my take on it.
     
     

     

     

     
    I quite like the black and white versions.
     
    The Bachmann model is unbelievably detailed and it has been beautifully weathered. British RTR is really cheap when you compare it with the European stuff - we really are lucky and seem to be able to have twice as much for the same price! Note the plastic Dapol model in the road next to it - this has turned out quite good for a layout filler.
     
    I don't think I can go any further with the project now except to take a few more pics of my diesels etc. You could literally spend hours and hours adjusting the lights, taping over the holes in the roof and making new ones, but I think the effects would be more or less the same. It's been an interesting exercise and has provided plenty of food for though with regards layout lighting for the future.
  25. PaternosterRow
    I was going to have a go at making the yard at Barrow Hill to compliment a previous model of the Roundhouse made about a year and a half ago. However, after much thought, I decided that the original model just wouldn't do - so here are some pics of my second attempt.
     

     
    The turntable is from Walther's Cornerstone which matches the one at Barrow Hill although it's longer. Some say the model isn't up to scratch, but it was easy to put together. I did have some problems with the motor, but after a bit of jigging about it works okay. Pollyfiller was used on the last model, however, I decided to go for card this time. The sections were carefully measured up before cutting and placing between the rails.
     

     
    The roof structure is made from stretched lengths of galvanised wire (0.75 mm thick), which has been soldered together. Templates were made in order to ensure all the trusses lined up. This a pic of it being cleaned of flux in the bath - I got into a lot of trouble over the mess!
     

     
    A test shot of a few models before the walls get made.
     
    Few more pics today of the roof being test fitted before measuring up for walls etc:-
     

     

     
    I've used a couple of Peco inspection pits and probably could have used more, but costs are always an issue and also having too many holes in the base board would have weakened it. I'm keen to avoid sag especially when all the stock goes on.
     
    By the way Will J, the plan is not based on Tyseley as stated - sorry, my mistake - but on the Saltley Depot in Birmingham.
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