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SEPTEMBER 2017 UPDATE
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KIER HARDY *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
OCTOBER 2017 UPDATE
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KIER HARDY *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
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PETE JOHNSON *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
KEITH TRUEMAN *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
STEVE HARROD *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
NOVEMBER 2017 UPDATE
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STEVE HARROD *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
PETE JOHNSON *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
KIER HARDY *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
DECEMBER 2017 UPDATE
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PETE JOHNSON *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
KIER HARDY *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Peak class 44 number 5 Cross Fell waits for the road at the
head of a unfitted coke train with diesel brake tender. This is the Dapol model,
acquired sometime last year.... there's been a minimal amount of work, but
all the better for seeing it out of its box and in to service.
Showing the underside of the tender, the handrails and brake
wheel having been removed and refitted closer to the body. Conversion to EM
is straightforward, and easier if the hangers are removed and refitted after
the wheels (Gibson in this case) are in place.... most of them fell
off anyway! The opportunity was also taken to add some additional weight -
strips of lead flashing bonded to the chassis.
A southbound Shell BP tank train snakes across to the East
London Line, hauled by Brush 4 number 1720 bound for the Thameshaven
Refinery, and is another of Greg's tank trains from the Shenston Road fleet.
Barrier wagon between loco and train.....
.... and another at the rear with brake van.
Another project on the backburner is the construction of a
signalbox, the brick base seen here under construction using SE Finecast
embossed sheet laid onto a 1.5mm plastic card structure.
The base of the signalbox built around a plywood plinth.
The upper part of the Midland based signalbox is made from two
Wills kits spliced together, plank clad and grafted to the base. There's still a
lot more work to do before it's finished, but for now its skeletal presence
gives a good idea how it fits into the station throat area.
A flurry of type 1 motive power is captured in this view, with
pairs of BTH class 15 locos 8224 & D8242 (SYP), along with D8228 & D8204.
The nearest pairing are North British class 16 numbers D8406 & D8402
at the head of a departmental ballast train.
D8406 (nearest) is the latest addition to the Hornsey fleet. A
Heljan model converted to EM using the existing wheels reprofiled on the lathe,
and some body customising to include enlargement of the windows and removal
of vents on the cabsides.
A major road building project to the east of London is producing
regular appearances of Western Region motive power hauling stone from The
Mendips. This and the following snaps were taken by Paul James, capturing
a selection of Greg's Warships and his rake of Tippler wagons.
814 Dragon hauls another load of stone. Knowledge of the WTT on
this particular week has resulted in a few cops!
825 Intrepid passes through a couple of days later.
Hornsey regular 826 Jupiter on yet another stone train.
Now for some of the Eastwell fleet, starting with BR Sulzer type 2
number 7677 hauling coke wagons....
.... followed by 7635 on a coal train.
Eastwell Ironstone Company Janus - recently decorated with its
owners lettering, and modifications to the bufferbeam.
Brush built 1200 Falcon is a long way from its home in South Wales,
at the head of a heavy oil tank train.
Finally, a moment captured 'on shed' featuring a growing fleet of
visiting class 24s (SLW model).
First off this month is a few snaps taken by Paul James. D1057 Western Chieftain
hauls a rake of mixed 21 ton wagons in the direction of
East London. Another of Greg's Shenston Road loco & wagon visitations.
Captured later in the day on the depot headshunt.
Another Shenston Road combination, with D1005 Western Venturer
at the head of a newly formed stone train, the wagons having been
detailed, repainted and lettered.
With the stone train held at the signals, Warship D815 Druid
heads north with a mixed freight.
Now a couple of class 24s snapped from the Eastwell fleet -
this one being 5081, a SLW model.....
....and now 5041 heading along the branch line. This model
is a Hornby body / Bachmann chassis hybrid.
This Bachmann Conflat A has been rescued from the scrap line
and given some shackles to secure the container, made from an etched brass
mix of 51L and Roxey etchings. I can live with the chunky chassis for now,
and it will add some variety to a mixed freight on a quick turn-around.
However, I can't live with the the bogies on the Oxford
Carflat and its undersized wheels. The frames seem very undernourished, and
converting to EM or making space for 14mm wheels isn't an
easy option. The lefthand carflat has been fitted with Bachmann LMS bogies
and Gibson 14mm coach disc wheels. The lamp brackets need to be
removed and placed further down the end flap, so they're not protruding.
Some surgery is required on the underside of the chassis, to
give enough clearance for the flanges. With the careful use of a Dremel, some
curved channels can be made, similar to the underside of a Bachmann
mark 1 coach, and gives enough articulation of the bogie to cope
with most track conditions.
With some temporary 3-link couplings made up between the plastic hooks,
the carflats have been tested and run smoothly on the layout.
So now it's back to the works for some new couplings and light weathering.
A quick plug - Paul James has just finished his O gauge class 08
and it can be seen on Bill Connelly's 'Blowers Green Wagon Works',
which will be appearing at the Swansea model railway exhibition
on the 7th & 8th of October. Also showing is Phil Bullock's
Abbotswood Junction OO gauge layout, so worth a trip if
you're into blue and green diesels.
After a bit of a summer break from the hobby things are underway
again on my bench. A few Parkside 21 ton hopper wagon kits have been
started, these being a mix of the original and re-built BR patterns.
A Bachmann Class 20 is also in progress. This view shows the cab
front after removal of mould lines and re-positioning of the marker lights to
scale spacing. Thin white undercoat has been applied ready for
restoration of the yellow finish. The model will be completed as an early
blue repaint from the pre-TOPS era of the Scottish Region.
The detailing etches for the 35t Blue Grain hoppers have now arrived,
and my first attempts at etching artwork seem to have worked well, with
PPD Ltd of Scotland completing the process. In this view the roof
walkways, in two styles, are shown.
A second sheet, in thicker nickel silver, contains the brake gear and
ladders. These are also to two patterns to suit the early and late version
of the design. The hope is to have a completed string of at
least six finished wagons in time for Canada Street’s appearance at SECC Glasgow
in February…..but there is a couple of
hundred small fixing holes to be drilled first!
Lesney Park made its second appearance at the Strathpine show
down here in Oz during early August, and was received well by fellow
modellers. Most of the public walked past it of course, and
probably wouldn't have got to grips with the 'how and why' of it. Alongside
L.P was my mates VR H0 scale branch line layout making
its exhibition debut, and which I convinced him to bring along to help fly the
'model railwaying' flag.
My usual crew supported both our layouts and that kept
them very busy - going from one to the other when operator relief called for it. Nick,
who I met at last years event was a huge help to me in
being able to come in for the two days shunting, so, with just the five of us with
layouts to drive, we did okay.
A 2-EPB slows down for the stop at Lesney Park.
Recent addition to the fleet is this Hornby class 08 with Ultrascale wheelsets.
I have been putting my time into scratch building the Newton Abbot
traverser, however without having any plans I have had to
revert to images to help me get it as accurate as possible. The
only items that will not be scratch built will be the track and
the rolling under frame for the traverser for which I have
used 7x Ratio 546A Rolling Under-frame kits. This shows the parts
for the cabin laid out and ready to assemble.
The Traverser Operators cabin ready for painting, as well as
the motor cabinet and various electrical cubicles.
The above two images show the alignment jig used in the construction of
the traverser, with grooved wheels which run along the 7 rails. There is an
interesting article in Traction magazine (issue 241) by Alex Fisher, on the works at
Newton Abbot including a good photograph of the traverser.
The rest of the chassis has been cut from various thicknesses of plastic-card
and is seen here with a Warship added to show its length and width.
The cabin has operating levers and electrical switches and has been flush glazed.
With the kind donation of some SMP EM track from the editor of the EMgauge70s
website, the many parts that I had previously cut out from various thicknesses of
plasticard for the Newton Abbot traverser could finally be assembled (thanks Kier).
This aerial view of the traverser shows the scribed plastic-card to represent the
wooden decking, also visible is the electrical pick up points between the rails,
made from bronze strip, with the centre section awaiting its turn to be fixed into position.
This image shows the West side of the traverser with its end facias,
the traverser table has been marked out for the wooden foot-treads.
The traverser table showing the first few foot-treads (over 160) made
from plastic-strip, the rectangular spaces are for drivers to step down
from their locomotive to prevent them from twisting an ankle (Health & Safety 60s style!)
The East side of the traverser showing its cross support girders
The almost complete 83A traverser showing the added safety rails made
from brass strip and right angle plastic-card, all thats left for me
to make are the 3x capstans, 2x lights and the overhead catenary post
that will be located front left of the picture below. As can be seen on
the protruding platform is the already complete operators booth, motor
and electrical cabinet, also complete are another 2 smaller
electrical cabinets and notice boards. Next stage once
complete is to prime the traverser and then paint & weather.
The past month has seen good progress on the Blue Grain project
using the etched parts for the underframe detailing. This view shows the
basic ‘jig’ for holding the brake lever pieces during assembly.
An example of a completed lever after soldering, on this one the
ability to model the lever in the dropped position has been used. A 0.3mm
brass wire has still to be added in the missing bolt position, this
then being fixed in a hole drilled into the solebar to secure
the V-hanger to the underframe.
‘Vat 69’ – an early pattern wagon, shows the etched brake lever system in position.
‘Good old Johnny Walker’ displays the brake rigging of the other side.
A Triang ‘00’ gauge wagon of this branding, received as a Christmas
present when I was about 10, planted the seed for this project of some 45 years later!
‘Haig’ shows the slightly different etched parts as fitted on the later style wagon.
The bodyshell of the Scottish Region Class 20 has now been completed.
Prior to lettering, a thin coat of Railmatch BR blue, in places blended
with some pale grey, was applied to cover the rather dark shade used by Bachmann.
D8095 would look to have been an early re-paint into BR blue to judge
by the small arrows badge and lack of wrap-round of the nose end
yellow. But it was pictured still wearing this livery in late 1971, so provides
a useful wide operating period for the purposes of the layout.
Canada Street is featured in two magazines currently in the shops -
with a detail piece on the dockside inlaid
track in ‘Model Railway Journal’ No. 258.
….and a general layout feature in the ‘Railway Modeller’
for November, which leads in nicely to the return of
the winter exhibition season,
with ‘Canada Street’ set to appear at the Wakefield show on November 17th to 19th.
There are several projects on the go this month, to include making a
start on the first stage of weathering the Carflats. Once they are
loaded with vehicles the decking will be partially hidden, but
anything's got to be better than bright coloured plastic! They are pictured
here in the works, alongside long-term resident class 501 (#2) and a
selection of other rolling stock awaiting modifications / customising.
Deltics at the Hornsey Road fuelling point with the new shelters
starting to take shape, made from some very thick plastic card and brass tube.
Also a return to the last bit of trackwork, showing this copperclad point
being constructed in situ'. The geometry might not match any published
drawings, but I have found it a quick and easy (and cheap) way to build
track for reliable running.
Showing the stock rails in place ready for soldering, with just the
blades and check rails required before gapping, testing and wiring. The track
in the foreground is for a siding (awaiting bufferstop), and will be used
to stable wagons after arrival, and before despatch to the stores (enparts)
fuel discharge siding (tank wagons), or vans for sending up the branch.
A view behind the scenes showing the bullet-proof H&M point
motors (fitted with VCF type micro switches). I've never experienced one fail
in over 30 years of using them, and there's also something
comforting about their clunk when you pull that switch!
To hide the point motors behind the retaining wall, these two
buildings have been made from left-over bits of plastic card
and windows from a kit.
A view looking towards the headshunt and boiler house after the
application of some vegetation and track detail. The distance is deceiving in
this snapshot, with enough space beyond 2164 to switch a pair of class 25s.
The structures surrounding the depot have been created to give
the illusion that they are built on lower ground, which not only
justifies the retaining wall, but also keeps the overall height of the backscene
low at this end of the layout for social purposes.
After a bit of a wait faded blue 08 296 was finished in time for a
first appearance at the Wakefield show.
Bachmann Class 20 D8095 has also been completed, and is shown
after weathering of the underframe.
As a running partner for the USA tank pictured a few months ago,
an example of the re-tooled Heljan 33 has been bought. One aspect of
this model that has drawn comment is the stand-out of the bodyside grill
frames. To address this, the grills were carefully prised free of the
shell and then rubbed down with wet-and-dry while being held in a
cut-out of matching size in a sheet of 20 thou. This supports the fragile
grill, whilst also limiting the thickness the abrasive will remove.
The re-fitted grill is shown after thinning of the frame.
A general view of the shell of D6505, now ready for weathering. Minor
adjustments to the white and green paint around the windows, and the
roof fan grill have also been made.
Chatting at the Wakefield show has given inspiration to a couple
of shunter projects…. The first is a new Class 04 swop-body for the
Southampton sequence at the Canterbury show, this time to be
finished as D2294 in rail blue for the 1967-71 era.
The second is the mech for the Hunslet Class 05 Mike Edge kit for which
the bodyshell is already at an advanced stage. The completion of
08 296 saw Lima/Crownline 08 114 withdrawn from the fleet, and
the Portescap motor from that mech become available. It is hoped to
have this model completed in time for the Liverpool show in April, as
a few of the type saw use in the Mersey docks in the late 1960s.
And now here's a few snaps taken by Paul at the recent Wakefield show.
08296
3316
Paul's 5025
Paul's 5081
2595
A Gateshead allocated EE type 3 number 6742 heads a freight towards
East London, just glimpsed through the railings on Market Street.
This and 6731 are both new to the Shenston Road
fleet, and finished by Greg.
Thornaby's 6731 heading back home with a string of unfitted empties....
....adorned with mini snowploughs and 51L depot code.
The photos this month are courtesy of Mr James and his F stop.
Another Shenston Road loco, this time NBL hydraulic D6328 passing through.
It's been through the paint works for a 'refresh',
highlighting the poor condition of the roof.
Shenston Road's D8400 has been in the fleet a while.....
...and is joined by Greg's newly customised D8409, both having had the
exhaust ports opened out. This does improve the look over the clumsy
grid moulding, so is on the 'to do' list for the Hornsey fleet.
A view taken from the back of the depot, showing a selection
of visiting motive power.
A brace of English Electric type 4 locos stop for refreshments.
More type 4 motive power from the Eastwell fleet.
A few austere bus shelter components under construction using
a plywood jig base. This typical London style was widespread and basic in design.
With the bus shelters in place, more detailing work has
been carried out on Bridge Street.
