Atso

Tom, that is stunning!

The J69 at Grantham was 7384 built in 1904, although there isn't any information on the date of the transfer or how long it lasted. There is a picture of it in the paperback 'Steam at Grantham' (ISBN: 0 906867 45 2)page 47. From the look of it this locomotive retained its original cab roof, chimney and safety valve cover but no tool boxes while stationed there. Also a second look shows vac pipes and wheel balance weights fitted. Hope this helps.

Lovely GNR line up there! I do like the D3 but I think you're referring to the chimney and dome looking a little on the tall side for a 1930's engine. Also did 4312 have standard size numbers on the cab? Most of the D2/3/4 classes seem to have the smaller font for numbers (but looking at my copy of the RTCS green series not all).

I never got to see this one in the flesh. Good work there Rich!

Glad I could be of help Missy! If anyone is interested in Missy's lining efforts, here is the part completed tender underframe she did - I timed this at around 6 minutes! Sorry this one was already pre-weathered but it was all I had to hand (don't ask what is going to happen to the B1 it was originally paired with!). Truro looks so much more complete with the cab now! Shame you're looking at the MKIII version already, where are the problem areas?

Fantastic finishing work there! For sanding work on my FUD models I used a piece of rubber cut to size to make a flexible sanding block (old silicone moulds but I would think an eraser would work too!) working against the print grain as much as possible, as you said. You can cut these quite small (my smallest is about 2mm wide!) to get them to fit awkward areas such as the splashers and they are great for getting even pressure over round shapes like boilers.. Also old jewelers screwdrivers are useful to get into those hard to reach nooks and crannies, I now tend to leave the glass fiber brush to working on footsteps and such like - chimneys tend to be done carefully with wire wool. I'm looking forward to seeing this one finished now as I've long believed that the Hornby (Airfix/Dapol) N2 was an ideal candidate for this conversion!

Hi Simon, sorry to hear that you will not be as prominent on RMWeb as you once were. While not always the best poster, this is one of must read blogs and it will be a shame not to see it up hear as your work (as well as others) has kept me going while I've been going through my own rocky patch. I will of course keep taps on your own webpage for my regular fixes. Should you move to North London, it would be nice to put another face to the name. While I do not live around there personally, I can be often found around Wood Green, Lee Valley and Enfield meeting friends as well as visiting the local railway sites. Good luck with all your future ventures!

Hi Julia, Nice to see you today. The Pecket looks incredible, wheel problems or not! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me, most enlighting and I hope to make use of your motor to get the N2 ready but not a 2mm finescale chassis... yet!

Thanks guys! It was great to see you both today! Julia the Pecket is just outstanding and thank you for the kind gift! Also thanks to MikeJ for letting the J50 out briefly on NOEL, even though they were running the BR period today! A couple of pictures of the '50 on NOEL! Also nice to see Tim again, I promise I'll call soon to finally arrange a visit!

Well 2012 wasn't the great year I was hoping it would be. I've now found myself single and managing the household bills that used to be covered by two salaries... Needless to say that various projects have slipped and my modelling mojo was at an all time low. Recently though I've started playing with CAD again and recently took delivery of several 3D printed bodies from Shapeways. These consisted of a C1, C12, J50 and N2 all produced in the FUD material. Unfortunately, the C1 has several design flaws which means this body will not be used to fit a modified Dapol B1 chassis (yes I know the wheels are undersized but they fit the splashers better!). The N2 will make use of a chassis converted from a spare Farish Diesel motor bogie with etched frames to create the correct wheelbase and fitted some spare Farish B1 wheels (which are actually a scale 5'9! - close enough for the N2!). This chassis has actually run but I'm presently looking for a suitable motor that will fit within the confines of the N2 body. For those who are interested I am presently here with this: The N2 body still sits a little high on the chassis but I am hopeful that I can get it within 0.5mm of where is should be (blue tack is to hold the body level for the time being!). Should this conversion prove successful then I have a method to create a new chassis for the C12 as well! So, what have I finished I hear you ask! Well today I've become the happy owner of a J50/3 and a K3/3. The K3 project was started some time ago but stalled due to problems fitting it onto the planned Farish V2 chassis. Much filing and fitting of new wheels saw potential but I was unable to regain the quartering of the center driving wheels among other problems. Enter Hans Starmans of N-Stars who kindly fettled the chassis as well as building me a scale chassis for the J50. The J50 chassis is a work of art using an 8mm Maxon motor and turned down Minitrix wheels. The only problem is the coupling rods which I had etched. These are too thin and therefore distort very easily. I will have another set etched in a slightly thicker material when time and funds permit. The K3 is fully lined using a bow pen. While I have successfully lined some repainted teak coaches before this is the first time I have lined a loco and I'm very pleased with the result! Boiler bands were made out of some 0.5mm strips of scotch tape with the red being lined down either side. Both locos still need some coupling hooks and vac pipes but again I'll add these when funds improve. Anyway enough rambling I'll leave you with some more pictures!

If you're interested, I've still got my laser cut wheels somewhere. Not much good for 2mm scale (1.5mm thick material) but it would give you an indication of how they would look.

Just as another line of thought, have you thought of having the wheels laser cut? I had some test pieces done awhile ago and they seemed very good and fine. Unfortunately I've never actually used them in anger - no available tyres in N gauge. However some of the German finescale modellers use the same method to upgrade Fleischmann stock examples of which can be found here: http://www.raw-nette.de/henk/Br65Deutsch.htm Sorry if you've already seen this page but it might prove to be a more precise route.

Those are looking really good. Congratulations on getting those complex shapes rendered!

Missy, I agree with Tom's comments. Your work is inspirational, please don't doubt yourself. Tom, loving what you're doing with those signals. Do you fancy trying your hand at some GNR somersaults next?

Well they might not be prototypical but they most certainly look the part! I do like you Gresley/Toad conversion!

Hi Les, Yes it sounds like I'm not missing out on much with that loco - however, it is good to see it has gone to a good home with someone who will make the most of it. I'm sure once you've finished it will be fantastic!

Hi Les, Liking the layout so far. I remember that D49 model on ebay and wondered who ended up winning it (it went above my budget at the time!). If you're interested, my thoughts would be that the boiler and cab are from a white metal J39 kit (I would assume BHE as the GEM one has an etched cab). The D49 shared the boiler with the J39 as a cost cutting measure by the LNER so it would make sense that this would have been the starting point for your model. I've got a 4P chassis to use for my own D49 and may likely use a spare B17 tender (including drive) once I've finished my original condition Sandringham loco. My own loco will eventually be fitted out with the cylinders and valve gear from a redundant V2 which actually is quite passable for one of the Shires. I've also got some spare Fleischmann wheels which are about a scale 6'8 which I intend to fit - although I understand that earlier Farish locos had the wheel moulded directly onto the axle and that this may present some problems removing the drive gear...

Great work there! I spent an enjoyable evening looking through your blogs, not often you see a scratch build N gauge chassis. A quick question if I may; on your pannier tank conversion which Fleischmann wheels did you use to represent the 4'8 driving wheels? I've got a couple of future projects planned for which I'd like some 4'8's with see through spokes...

Hi some great information here. As I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, is there any chance of seeing some pictures of the chassis without the body present? Many thanks

Hi Tom, That does look good. If it wasn't for the thickness of the locomotive driving wheels I would be fooled into thinking this was a much larger scale! Inspirational for us N gaugers! Looking at the yard area it almost seems a shame to cover all that lovely scale trackwork. Do you think that a rtr track system (does Atlas do code 40 track?) would look as effective if then combined with easy track for the rest of the layout?

Hi Simon, Shame there is to be no station at the moment. I always thought the bottlenecks between Hadley Wood and Potters Bar would be for some interesting train movements! Maybe as a later addition then? To help your searching I've dug out my own copy of Kings Cross to Potters Bar. It is mainly a pictorial record but has some interesting photos, information and track formations in it (sadly Hadley Wood is just a dot on an OS map so no help here for a track diagram but interesting pictures no the less...). Authors are Charlie and Jim Connor Published by Middleton Press ISBN: 978 1 906008 62 8 First published on 2009 so may well still be in print. Hope this helps Steve

Hi Simon, Looks like you're modelling is moving southwards now! If you'd like a double track section which includes a basic station yet still retain the two tunnels at either end try Hadley Wood which is fraction further south. There are a couple of pictures both before and after the quadrupling of that section (late 1950's?) in the book 'Kings Cross to Potters Bar'. Hadley Wood would also be a slightly shorter section of line... You'll need some quad sets now you're modelling an area which would be heavily worked by suburban services out of Kings Cross!

That D2 looks great! How is it coming on?

I've just checked the wheelbases. The L1 is 8'7+6'6+7'+6'2+6'3 The K1 is 8'11+7'6+8'9 The closest match for a Thomson/Peppercorn K1 would be a Bachmann K3 chassis which has an identical wheelbase and undersize wheels which may do for 5'2 drivers...

Just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying reading this thread being a fan of the 1930's LNER myself. You've really made a great start capturing the atmosphere of the location and I love the recreations of some of the trains. I've always felt that the LNER was a most interesting company where the latest state of the art innovations could be found alongside aging pre-grouping stock of 50 years of age or more! You've got this to perfection here! Also I really like the triplet set, I've got some old N gauge sides of a similar manufacture and seeing this has made me dig these out again!