DavidLong

There doesn't seem to have been much modelling done chez Long in recent months and output has been slow even by my usual snail-like standards. However, just to show that I haven't completely ground to a halt I recently took a few snaps which are reproduced below and there is a theme.

Over the last few years there has been some excellent work done by the likes of Bob Jones and Chris Higgs to produce a range of etched chassis', marketed by the 2mm Scale Association, with which to enhance both kit and RTR bodies. The wagons below are of both types and are still to reach the paint shop, a move which I confidently predict may happen by 2015 or 2016 or 2017 . . .

These two are closely related, the first being an LMS D1927 Double Bolster and the second, its successor design, a D2067 Double Bolster. The latter was the last wooden bodied double before switching to the steel-sided version. They both utilise Chivers bodies allied to Higgs underframes. The bolsters are plastic strip and, if you look carefully, you may just be able to make out the holes for the chain shackles at the bolster ends. The shackles have been made but are stored safely until required. D1927 has some scratch-built 2-rib buffers while D2067 has some early trial white-metal buffer bodies with separate steel heads.

By the mid-1960s both of these types would have been looking the worse for wear so the painting and weathering should be amusing.

The next is a B.R. Diagram 1/069 Conflat which has a Bachfarish body with an etched B.R. 8-shoe fitted underframe. I like this style of underframe, so much more interesting than the usual 4-shoe type. The body is a very decent rendition of the type and deserves the subtlety than an etched underframe provides. The buffers are some more pre-production samples, this time of the Dowty hydraulic type.

A couple of Medfits this time. The left-hand one is another Bachfarish body of LMS diagram D1927 while the right-hand one is a Parkwood body of B.R. diagram 1/017. Both were built unfitted and have been vacuum-braked by B.R. in the late-1950s, hence the 4-shoe vacuum brake gear with associated tie bars. I will be using them as engineers stock for carrying spent ballast as they would have run in the mid-1960s.

The buffer beams are Evergreen U channel strip as Association etches are to 2mm scale and lack a little in width for N scale bodies. D1927 has also acquired Dowtys but 1/017 is stuck with simple spindle types.

The last one is a bit of an oddity, apart from having no wheels and also having got as far as a blast with primer. It is an example of a batch of 32 wagons built to diagram 2/072 in the 1950s and lettered Flat ED. I photographed one at Bridgnorth a few years ago and I believe that a number have survived at preservation sites. They utilised an LNER eight-shoe style underframe but with B.R. style axleguards. By chance this is the same type of underframe used on some B.R. plate wagons and is available as an etch from the Association. The only real challenge with the scratch-built body was creating neat squares along the edge of the floor and then filling them with representations of the lashing rings. A simple enough wagon but also something a bit different. No idea what I'll use it for though . . .

David

I hope they also one day electrify the direct Manchester line via Atherton, and indeed on to Southport through Wallgate one day. (and extend also the third rail electrics from Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate)

 

 

The route to Wigan via Atherton is scheduled for tramtrain operation along with:

Manchester - Glossop

Manchester - Marple (via Bredbury)

Manchester - East Didsbury - Hazel Grove

Stockport - Altrincham

Manchester - Sale - Altrincham - Hale - Knutsford

Although to quote TfGM " tramtrain very much remains a long-term project for Greater Manchester".

TfGM don't really care about Wigan - Southport as it is outside both their patch and, indeed, Merseytravel's. It is really for Lancashire County to ensure that a through service continues to be provided between Southport and Manchester by maintaining a dialogue with TfGM and the establishment of Rail North may help in this context. Southport, a town of 90000, has had a raw deal over the last 50 years with its connections to the east and the basic service to Manchester leaves a lot to be desired. A long way indeed from Britannias, Scots, Jubilees and Patriots with 9 or 10 Mark 1s on the 6.10 p.m. from Victoria to Southport.

David

48 of 'em! Wow, that's a lot of wagons, Jeremy. Six of any one type is about my maximum but I guess clay wagons aren't often seen in ones and twos. The kit itself is quite nice but as a Cambrian production it does lack some of the crispness of Parkwood's Parkside produced items. As regards the width, I know that this would exercise some of my Association colleagues but I believe there to be more to worry about in a modelling life than whether a vehicle is a mill or two on the wide side.

At the back end of last year I had a go at one of these myself, not particularly needing one but just out of interest. I had intended to post a couple of pics when it was finished but as it has remained in primer these several months I didn't get around to it. If you don't mind I'll post a couple now which will add to Andy's comments and maybe add one or two other features that you may like to consider, although in the context of forty eight of the beasts you may feel them to be unnecessary.

The underframe is for a B.R. constructed wagon and uses the fitted 16T mineral wagon etch but has had the steel conversion solebars added. With the latter etch you get some door bangers which can't be used as designed with the etch due to the way that they are attached on the prototype. However, you can attach them in the format that Andy suggested by soldering them to the bottom lip of the bent up solebar. The downside is that the solebar rivets aren't all in the right places as the etch is designed for LNER vacuum brake gear but I wasn't too fussed about that. You'll notice that I used the Association cast axleboxes and springs as I'm not a big fan of the etched ones that are included as part of the underframe. They look a bit flat and they can be a bit of a b****r to put together!

On the body I'd suggest using the 3D printed GWR self-contained buffers or the brass B.R. 1' 6" buffers which are both available from the Association. The use of either will depend on earlier or later B.R. built lots.

I also found the join at the corners of the non-door end to be a bit iffy so I overlaid the cornerplate on the end with some 5 thou and replaced the bolt heads with little slices of 5 thou.

Andy's comment about brake gear/end door orientation caused me to go and check some photos but, thankfully, I had gone them the right way round!

Best of luck with the forty eight, Jeremy, and I look forward to seeing them coming off the production line and will be especially interested to see your hoods.

David

Sorry, there was one other penalty in the PL at the weekend which the ever-incisive Shearer described as 'stonewall' (whatever that means) and that was Steve Harper's hopeless lunge at Adam Lallana.  Hugo Lloris ('the sweeper goalkeeper') it wasn't and was duly despatched with customary violence and aplomb by England star Rickie Lambert. Bet the watching Roy was impressed with that one, although I expect that the nerveless Lambert will go all shaky when faced with Manuel Neuer.

Not to labour a point but the penalty given to Tottenham on Thursday was especially amusing.  After sticking a leg out and up-ending Eric Lamela the Sheriff defender turned away theatrically with arms raised hoping to indicate that no contact had been made.  Even the ever-incisive Shearer could have made the point that it wasn't the players arms that were the problem it was the fact that his foot had, undeniably, made contact with Lamela and not the ball!  No need for guessing by the referee on that one . . .

David

None of the three penalties in the Premier League this weekend should have been given. Reid made no attempt to foul Ramires and I don't even think that it was a dive, just two players coming together. Goal kick, nothing more.

Jaaskelainen had made a mess of collecting the ball but he was reaching out for it on the ground and had no idea that there was a player coming from behind him who then went on to fall over Jaaskelainen's outstretched arm. Certainly not an intentional foul and certainly not a penalty, despite what Shearer and Owen reckoned.

Swansea equally robbed by the referee making a guess at contact through a crowd of players. Even with the benefit of several replays from different angles it didn't look like handball so how the referee was so certain only he knows.  More worrying though for the Swans is their increasing ability to be in a position to give away late goals. As a side with their ability to keep control of the ball it is a worrying trend which won't escape the attention of other managers.

David

The wing rail crossing assembly is the exception when it comes to using long lengths especially, as you say, they have to be isolated for DCC. I make them up using the jigs which are some of the best items that the Association has produced and I have found them pretty near fool-proof in their use and results. 

How did you get on with producing the sleeper strips, Don?  I found this to be the worst part of the process in maintaining a consistent width between lengths.  The individual sleepers were ok produced with the help of a NorthWest Shortline Chopper but getting the strips in the first instance nearly drove me to distraction. Even worse when some are 2mm wide and others are 1.7mm wide. Some laser cut strips would be nice but I suspect that, frankly, we can whistle for those.

David

Don,

I would certainly agree that this is a perfectly viable method of building 2mm finescale track.  I like to use the longest lengths of rail possible in order to keep the trackwork flowing rather than building it up from smaller sections so I haven't used any of the plastic base easitrac.  I have also found that using the cast brass chairs to be useful in conjunction with pcb sleepers at the crossing and also at the closure/switch joint.  This means that the crossing and wing rails are bonded and also the switch/closure rails and the stock rails.  A couple of photos show this:

Using long lengths of rail makes it much easier to maintain gentle curves through switch and crossing work as can be seen on this illustration:

The sleepers have been stained which doesn't interfere with the chair/sleeper glue joint; however I'm not sure that I would bother in future as most of the staining colour will disappear under weathering.

Good to see you continuing to make progress with the layout, Don.

David

I quite like the sound of 3D printing using brass as this would satisfy a number of requirements:

1. Robust

2. Ability to solder the lamp section to the post

3. Consistency of output

I am still pursuing a couple of leads relating to a drawing.

And Don, I have absolutely no intention of trying to make them work!

Once again, many thanks for the responses.

David

Hi David,

It may be that the Lamp/standard in question is not an L&Y design but rather an LMS/ later BR modification but the same iron post, I could be well wrong on this.

The earlier type would probably have been of the hexagonal type gas upper, in which case there is at least one drawing in the LYR society platform magazine which shows the height of the lamp-post, at least you would get the height right.

Heights did vary of course but for the most part in goods yards etc, usually platform lamp standards were 'standard' size.

hope it gives you a clue at least.

cheers

Peter

Interesting comment, Peter.  There is a photograph in LMS Lineside of a similar lamp on the lineside at Wigan Wallgate which has a taller post and a fixed ladder attached.  This is described in the caption as being an 'LMS lamp' but, being at Wallgate, is on an ex-L & Y route.  Other than the height of the post it appears to be identical to those in my illustrations.

David

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions so far.   I have had 48 views but no comments in the Prototype Questions section so there is no more information about drawings and, therefore, dimensions.  However, I would think that Alan's estimate of 6" diameter or 1mm in 2mm scale is probably not far from the truth for the post.  I would certainly prefer it in metal not only for robustness but also for soldering the gas lamp apparatus to it.

David

This is a repeat of part of a question that I have asked in the 2mm Finescale section.  I am looking for a drawing for the type of L & Y gas lamps which are shown in the photos below.  LMS Lineside Part 1 has illustrations of this style of lamp but no drawings.  Any help in terms of dimensions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

David

 

As an aside one comment from the DM's readers page was:

 

Beeching was a pawn in a corrupt plan to make money out of road haulage. The lack of foresight was astonishing, even for politicians. My young son summed it up. After coming home from school where they had been talking about Beeching, he innocently asked "Is Mr Beeching still in prison?"

 

Regards

 

Richard

It may have been that he was an unwitting pawn initially but he was increasingly on road transport's case.  I've seen it suggested that, after Beeching 1 (Reshaping) and Beeching 2 (Trunk lines), his intention was to begin an enquiry which would produce data concerning the direct attribution of costs between road and rail.  He had become increasingly of the view that road transport was not bearing its full share of the costs which made direct comparisons between the two modes somewhat unbalanced.  It has been further suggested that in order to head off such an enquiry he was 'encouraged' to return early to ICI and, oh by the way, have a life peerage for your trouble.

I'm not sure that anyone has ever found irrefutable evidence that this was the case but it remains that such an enquiry has never officially taken place despite many suggestions over the years that road transport has never fully borne the costs of its activity.  It is also true that both the road transport unions and road transport pressure groups lobbied the (1964-1970) Labour government in support of their interests.  I can't recall all the details just now but I seem to remember that there was a particularly nasty scenario that developed over a proposed railfreight terminal at Didcot that was effectively killed off by such activity.  

David

See below a couple of shots of L & Y gas lamps:

I have long wanted to make some of these, especially as I can remember them (!), and they would do very nicely for a new layout.  The lamp part wouldn't be too difficult cobbled up from bits of wire and nickel with some clear plastic turned up for the lamp.  What defeats me is the post with its taper.  The post doesn't have much in the way of diameter and turning such a taper on a whippy bit of brass looks difficult to say the least.  Anyone on here got any ideas or should I just accept a non-tapered post in 2 mil?  The flared foot could be done with the old solder-flow trick.

By the way, if anyone knows of a drawing that they could point me at I would be grateful.  LMS Lineside has photos but no drawing; maybe an L & Y Society volume would have one.

David

Spotted this in the Indie today:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/end-of-the-line-50bn-hs2-rail-link-project-in-doubt-8905090.html

Nothing much new but a bit of 'scene setting' for the Commons debate next week.  Another showing for the £80bn figure which has now been joined by an alleged Treasury figure of £70bn.

I don't know how true the computer-generated rendition of the rolling stock is but it sure looks like another bland and uninspiring piece of kit.

David

This has probably been covered before,

 

However

 

When building pints, copperclad or easitrac, is it necessary to joggle the stock rails?

 

Regards

 

Ian

Only if you are building Great Western PW who I believe did use joggles. If you make sure that the end of the switch is filed really thin and the angle of cut on the straight switch matches the bend on the stock rail it isn't necessary. I've never had to put joggles in.

David

New book from Black Dwarf Lightmoor ... got my copy today ... and it's absolutely stunning. 280 pages, over 500 photos, and all in colour.

 

Best £25 I've spent in an awfully long time.

 

Usual disclaimers ... no links etc ... juts one very happy customer

You didn't mention it but I assume that it's this one:

http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/view_book.php?ref=L9761

David

Well, it's the big kick-off later today......in the Conference North (and South). Good luck to all the clubs involved, but especially the mighty Stalybridge Celtic.

Ah, the Bower Fold, one of my very favourite grounds :-)

David

Why doesn't football and football media coverage have an enforced break for a month in the summer, like F1.

 

Then we could have something more interesting in the sports news? 

I'm interested in railways and model railways and that interest carries on all year. I'm also interested in football so why shouldn't that interest carry on all year? Fortunately Waterford United (Airtricity League Division 1) play from March to October which supplements the time when Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and Southport aren't playing. Looking forward to being at Waterford v Salthill Devon on 4th October for the penultimate game of the season - unless they make the play-offs :-)

David

Spotted this editorial in the Indy today:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/never-mind-hs2-britain-needs-a-new-airport-more-8721016.html

I think that we may begin to see more of this line of argument.

David

A few photos from Blackgill which I'd like to submit here if I may. Some of you may have seen them before.

 

A view of Blackgill signal box from outside of the station:

 

Blackgill_Box_2013.jpg

 

The local coal merchants collect their stock from the coal drops:

 

Blackgill_Drops_2013.jpg

 

A visual inspection:

 

Blackgill_Platelayer_2013.jpg

 

All the best,

 

Arp

Blackgill - one of the absolute best!

David

Chelsea were missing Nathan Ake, the Ruud Gullit lookalike who's recently been promoted to the senior squad, but there can still be few complaints about a 4-2 aggregate win for the Canaries.

 

Of course, there were quite a few less desirable similarities to the senior game, too - stupid haircuts were much in evidence

The likeness really is quite spooky, are CFC into cloning now! Just have to see if he turns into as accomplished a footballer.

And what is about young footballers and questionable haircuts. Is there some competition to look as daft as possible? They can't possibly think that they look cool, can they? Can they . . . ?

David

Fancy starting a thread on this so we can follow your progress?

I for one would be interested to see your approach

Rgds,

Stuart

I'd be interested to see it too!

David

Brake vans did seem to be prone to wander. I seem to recall that the last train on the Wisbech and Upwell featured a couple of 16T minerals and a SR 'Pill-box' brake. Not quite what most people would expect. It would be interesting to find out how a LNER Toad E ended up in the remotest South West.

Enjoying the blog, Chris.

David

David,

Thanks again for posting these photographs, they really are a rare treat. I do like the way that Royal Sovreign keeps popping up, one of my favourite locomotives and always in lovely condition, befitting its role as the 'royal engine'. Exciting times as well with new engines appearing such as the new pacifics and the more mundane likes of B1s and the Ivatt engines.

Easy to forget in these days the endless numbers of coal trains that trundled around the system, many of them providing employment for the demobbed WD 2-8-0s which really must have been a godsend for a railway as traditionally hard up as the LNER!

Noted another delightfully moody shot of the Vic in Saturday's collection. That station did have a unique atmosphere, I don't know if it was its subterranean location but it did have a certain 'something'.

By the way, was 2614 the 'Royal Claud'?

David

Edited for question about 2614

Btw, never before seen as many photos of the Ivatt 2MTs and 4MTs in LMS livery.

David