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NOVEMBER 2020 UPDATE
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PETE JOHNSON
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GREG BROOKES
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KARL CROWTHER
Click here to visit - Missenden virtual October event. *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
KIER HARDY
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HYWEL THOMAS
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The first stage of weathering is pictured on the 16 ton minerals. These three are for the
early 1960s and have had rust patches applied using Revell matt 84 and a little black with
reference to photographs from that era. Original style markings have been applied and are
showing the effects of rusting.
This pair are for the middle years of the 60s, most of the paintwork is still original but
the markings on one will be modelled re-applied during a workshop visit. One is heavily
rusted and would be likely to be re-bodied by BR workshops during the early 70s.
The final pair will cover the final years of the 60s and into the 70s. Panel repairs are
evident, and strangely these seem to be rusting even more quickly than the original
bodywork, as shown by the photographs that guided the paint finish. Datapanel type
markings have yet to be applied.
The Dia 1/184 Ore tippler has also reached the same stage based on a Paul Bartlett
photograph. Re-applied number and tare weight markings will be added before a final coat
of grime-stained matt varnish overall.
A new project started this month is a second early-type Hudswell-Clarke 0-6-0DM for the
fleet. Based on an Impetus kit that Paul J was selling a few years back, the mechanism parts
are shown ready for final assembly. My usual slotted bush location with rocking beam
compensation has been added, and the jackshaft uses a cut-down Gibson wheelset shaped
with epoxy putty to ensure a matching crankpin throw.
The bodyshell for the model is shown nearing completion. Although the kit did not feature
many tabs and slots to assist construction the fit of the pieces has been good. The
finished model will join my scratchbuilt example, which dates back to the early 1980s,
in a 1960s Birkenhead sequence on the layout.
With most of the scenery and structures in place at the gas works end of the layout, this
is a good opportunity to take a few snaps and show progress to date. Showing the south end of
the steelworks in the background, this office block is located on the works boundary adjacent
to the locomotive depot and facilities block. Constructed from a Tri-ang Arkitex construction
set, similar to those used on Hornsey Broadway.
Swinging around to the right sees the gasworks forming the background, with a Janus loco
parked in front of the facilities block.
The gasworks continues to fill the skyline, dwarfing the 2-road maintenance shed.
Anchor Engineering have taken over these old Victorian premises, filling a nice gap
between the loco shed and the scrapyard.
As well as the ongoing scenic detail work on the layout, a few rolling stock projects
have been on the work bench for wheels, couplings and a bit of customisation....
... showing a couple of Bachmann Grain wagons afer weathering.
Apologies for lack of a progress update last month as I’ve been heavily into wiring the
storage area and there’s a lot of it! This shows the diagram that will form the front
of the main storage area switch panel. You can see there’s one through road (C1) which
will be live all the time and switchable to analog control (encompassing the whole main
circuit). Then there are three loop roads (C2-C4), with all the remaining tracks being
dead end sidings, consistent with the primarily end-to-end operation that will take
place. Roads C5 and C7 form ‘kick-back’ reception/departure roads allowing access to
Sidings A, B & D. Route selection will be via a single panel switch on each road which
will operate a set of diode matrices to change all of the points for that route (Richard
Challis has kindly designed and built this for me). Once selected, an LED will illuminate
to give a visual indication of the route selected. The only ‘rule’ to be observed is that
only one switch should be selected from a given group of sidings at any one time. I also
wanted to have only those roads actually selected to be live, and this will be done via
relays to switch on track power to the selected route – yet more relays!
Presently I’m around half way through this phase of the wiring - this is Board 9. You can
see the servos (the blue SG90s), the MERG Servo 4 driver boards and (with the orange
connector blocks), the relay boards – extra ones here to energise the selected roads.
You’ll see there are a mere 7 turnouts on this board – the adjacent board has 13! Also
note the two turnouts split across a baseboard join – adding a further complication to
the between-board wiring. The rear of the board (with track on it) is bottom of frame;
the top/front part with nothing on it at present is where the line from Heversham
Junction to Natland Junction & Kendal will pass, including of course the Marthwaite
Branch storage area.
Looking across the adjacent Board 9 toward Heversham Junction. The loosely-placed piece of
flexi track marks the approximate location of the up line from Kendal to Heversham and
again to the right, the area to be occupied by the Marthwaite Branch sidings. Work on this
and the Kendal part of the track won’t start until the main storage area is fully wired up
and operational. The tracks in the distance are Sidings E (on Fig 1) and will be hidden
behind the backscene, while the short road (i.e. Siding E4 on Fig 1) in the foreground
will be for berthing locos waiting to couple up to trains in Roads E1-E3, thereby allowing
changes of train loco where needed. This is a fancy way of saying there was space here for
a very short siding, though I do think it will serve a useful purpose……
Enough of wiring – to give a bit of light relief I’ve been working on a couple of rolling
stock projects. Firstly this maroon livery Hornby BR CCT, done exactly as with the rail
blue one on Hebble Vale. Bill Bedford suspension, removal of the raised window surrounds,
replacement windows/safety bars, upgrade of buffers and brake gear etc. from a variety of
sources. Will look good in the daily Ks Shoes parcels train which is gradually increasing
its available rolling stock selection….
And secondly this Ratio ex-LMS 12T van. Upgraded to represent a vehicle retro-fitted in BR
days with vacuum brakes and the diagonal strapping on the bodysides. Etched W-irons from D&S,
buffers with collars and hook with extension plate from Lanarkshire, brake gear from a
combination of the original kit parts and Mike Clark Masokits, axlebox/spring castings from
MJT and chalk board on the end from Rumney Models. The diagonal bracing was cut from 5-thou
styrene and the bolt heads are 10-thou cubes of the same material (and I’ve since put filler
into the small gap at the corner joint). I’m no expert on LMS vans but should add a bit of
variety, given I already have an ‘original condition’, unfitted version of the kit in the
fleet. When it will get painted is anyone’s guess……
I don’t know if you’ve visited the Missenden Railway Modellers Virtual Autumn Weekend 2020,
but if not it’s well worth a look (link below). One project I covered for that was a build
of a trio of ‘Dapwells’ – Dapol 21T hoppers upgraded with Dave Bradwell’s etched parts.
Here are the chassis from underneath showing the arrangement for mounting the bottom door
operating handles, plus some replacement buffers (MJT). I decided I could live with the
‘solid’ moulded brake lever as it would really be too much effort/impossible to remove it
neatly. From normal viewing angles this isn’t really all that obvious.
And from above, I’ve fitted the new end platforms and you can just see underneath, the end
steps which go at opposite corners of the wagon.
And finally, a trio of completed wagons with all the fiddly handrails added, now awaiting
weathering (I suspect some of these fall into the ‘and here are some I made earlier’
category….). In the process of doing all this I discovered you can still get these wagons
in unpainted form at a very reasonable price which is great for me as I need lots of them
– both for the full and empty coke trains and also to service the quarry sidings.
Class 47s pose for the camera at Hornsey depot, 1932 being a Bristol Bath Road loco which
seemed to get around a bit in the early 1970s, fitted with ETH and the boiler removed /
isolated. D1100 from Gateshead and dual-heat 1510 from York were both regulars at Kings Cross
on East Coast express services. 1790 is a non-boiler 47/3 allocated to Thornaby, which later
became Knottingley's 47309 and was one of a small batch that were fitted with sanding gear.
1530 is a Stratford steam-heat loco for use on East Anglian services.
I chose to model 1790, as it was the last one I needed to clear the class in my ABC,
albeit it with its later identity 47309. I made a special journey to Knottingley on a sunny
Sunday in August 1978, where I eventually caught up with it on its day off. It would appear
that some Class 47 sand boxes were removed or reinstated in a random fashion.
New to the Hornsey fleet are 1530 and 1790 which are in the process of being finishing off. The
existing three Class 47s are also on the work bench for refreshing and replacing missing /
lost detail parts. All Heljan.
With the locomotives back into service, here's a few snaps showing them at work starting with
1932 in charge of a southbound Pullman service.
D1100 is well suited to the 1L34 Down Yorkshire Pullman, made up entirely of Metro-Cammell
mark 1 vehicles and a lone BG in the middle.
1510 heads a Anglo-Scottish express consisting of mark 2A coaching stock.
1790 is at home on the MGR circuit, the HAAs having been crying out for some 47/3 haulage.
The headcode 6E43 is for the service that regularly ran to and from Northfleet cement
works. Some additional bodyside staining and a light dusting with the airbrush should just
finish it off.
1530 is seen heading for Stratford International Freightliner Terminal, the bogies showing
signs of fracture testing. The headcode is showing it as a Liverpool Street to
Norwich passenger, as the crew haven't bothered to change it (which wasn't uncommon).
1801 is a visitor from the Shenston Road fleet, representing 47/3 and having been allocated
to D05 Stoke Division, D16 Nottingham Division, and Tinsley in a short space of time during
the early 1970s.
An overall view of the depot showing a few visiting locos. There are a couple of Lima 47s
in the holding sidings, previously captured for the album and still giving good service.
With the dark evenings upon us and the model room workbench chair having moved up to the
‘home office’ due to the pandemic, modelling time has been limited to weekends and the
kitchen table. A new chair post-lockdown will be welcome so the work this month has
concentrated on finishing the ferry tank fleet. This Liliput HO acid tank was earmarked
to become a diagram E445 bromine tank, the most complex of the conversions so far.
Here we see it having had the obligatory chassis mods completed - an extra 3mm width and
8mm length plus a new top lip to the solebar to bring that up to 4mm scale depth. The tank
has been stretched using an old model of a static storage tank with a plastic sheet overlay
to bring it up to the correct diameter. The new dome cover is Evergreen tube with a
filed top. More Evergreen strip provides the additional chassis members.
The underside of the chassis shows how the sections containing the intricate brake piping
has been retained. The addition of 12mm EM wheels in the existing axle boxes, replacing
the smaller HO originals, has brought the chassis up to the correct height. The tank has
been raised slightly and also a start has been made on the drip tray framework and new walkways.
The chassis was painted before the tank was fitted as it was easier to get into the nooks
and crannies. As much of the fine solebar printing as I could save was retained. Some
extra detailing on the tank is underway and, after much singing of the fingers, the new
walkway has been fitted with handrails.
And here we see the completed tank. The VTG logo is from Germany and the number board
was created on the computer and printed with a photograph order via Photobox, cut to shape
and then matt varnished. Weathering used the excellent Oil Brushers from Ammo of Mig, the
military modelling suppliers.
The next tank was a lagged example, again from VTG, and to be used for phenol traffic. This
began life as a Roco tank so the modifications to the chassis were similar to the initial
conversion covered two months back apart from additional length to accommodate the longer
wheelbase of this diagram E356 tank. The tank itself was almost the right length but needed
lowering by a fair bit as the original model was to the Berne Gauge and sat too high, The
number panel will have to await the next photograph order although the artwork is done.
This is the next tank (and last but one of the batch). It will become a diagram E158 tank,
fitted with a sun hood. As can be seen another old storage tank model has been butchered
to gain the extra 6mm in length. The chassis has been cut in a slightly different way but
will also need another 6mm inserted. This was a Roco model but I think has its origins with
another manufacturer as it is assembled very differently to the other tanks from that stable.
More progress, hopefully, for the next update. At least the dark evenings have enabled
some most enjoyable operating sessions to take place - especially given the quantity of
new wagons that have appeared due to the pandemic restrictions.
