EM Gauge Layouts, Models & Projects

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With winter setting in (and heating economies meaning a colder workshop!) the opportunity was taken to finish off a few of the more esoteric wagon projects. First up was a Parkside wooden Mink van. A lovely kit it must be said and, with the addition of ABS push brakes, this one was destined to become one of two (of at least five) ‘Brimpex Loader’ vans. What these loaders, manufactured by the Industrial Machine & Equipment Co (Brimpex) Ltd of Camberley, were used for is a mystery but the vans lasted for many years. The additional steps were made from Evergreen beams cut down and the brackets made from split pins intended for three-link couplings.

Here’s the finished van with the photo of the prototype taken in the 1980s at Woodham’s yard in Barry. Two of the other Brimpex vans featured Churchward brakes and one of these may well join the fleet soon as the Parkside kit was such an enjoyable build.

The now painted van in a rather patched livery of black and freight red paint with a few planks missing any paint at all. The distinctive lettering was created on the computer and it will now be an occasional visitor to Morfa Bank, although exactly what the loader was used for remains a mystery! And where they were to be ‘Returned to’ as none of the vans seemed to feature a location for the next line.

The next van to be tackled was another Parkside kit, this one for a GWR Bloater fish van. It was destined to be the Neath CCE tool van, which was a later diagram of Bloater so needed most of the vents filled in. This was accomplished with small strips of plastic, which, once dried, were cut flush to the body with a fine chisel and then some plastic filler. The other side, almost finished, is visible beyond.

With the sides primed and ready for some more filler attention moved onto the ends. Again, all but four of the vents needed filling in. As a tool van the bodywork needed no further changes, other than using only one set of steps rather than three per side.

After painting all the planks with various shades of black the relatively frugal lettering was added and the van was ready for traffic. Here we see it parked up with the local staff van awaiting some late night engineering work. That will be a lot easier once it gains some couplings, of course. This particular vehicle avoided the fate of most of the local engineering stock and was preserved after 1976 at Didcot, where it can still be seen today.

Moving on and next onto the workbench was a Cambrian kit for a steel bodied LMS mineral wagon. This was destined to become one of a small batch of wagons built by Fairfield for the Steel Company of Wales and was virtually identical to the LMS wagon but lacked end doors. A new plain end was made up here’s the wagon part way through the paint shop (well stocked, on this occasion with Lifecolor paints).

Here it is, lettered up and ready for service on the scrap traffic between Knills and the steelworks. One of the ex-BR minerals that BSC had purchased secondhand and a purpose built version of the BR ore tippler sit either side.

Another internal user was next on the list. This one had started life as some species of GWR ballast wagon but seems to have been rebuilt once and then again. It was latterly carrying old coils but has now been relegated to the scrap flow from Knills. As a basis the rather nice Chivers kit for the GWR Tunny ballast wagon was used, along with the ends, suitably modified. New sides have just been added.

The ends were further modified with some distinctive welds on the central beams and new strengthening ribs added along the side.

Some suitable distressing of the rather flimsy sides (I wonder if the wagon had once featured a stronger top ribs that had since disappeared) and it was onto the painting, basically rust, rust and more rust! Here we see some ‘wet mixing’ going on within the body.

And with weathering complete and some suitable lettering the wagon it will soon be ready to join the other members of the fleet on the scrap flow from Morfa Bank to the steelworks.

Finally, another Chivers kit. This one the recently introduced LMS loco coal wagon. As usual from this stable, it’s a lovely kit with the only drawback being the solid strengthening ribs on the side due to moulding limitations. Perhaps these could have been separate pieces but that may have upped the price. A steady hand with a slitting disk and a mini-drill sorted these out.

After a good coat of BR grey and then some layers of rust it was good to go. Transfers came from the usual sources and it will make for some nice variation in the fleet of 21-tonners.

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MIKE WHITCHURCH

Now the dust has settled Wibdenshaw has been brought out of it’s hibernation. Due to various ideas not going to plan, the layout can’t be set up in it’s exhibition format as the building of the room won’t be going ahead, short of a lottery win! So a rethink was required, and luckily there is a join halfway along the layout which consists of plain track, this allows it to be split and used as two scenic sections. The baseboards legs have been worked on, and wheels with levelling feet fitted to allow the whole sections to be easily moved around, a necessity for one person. The 2 sides were then moved to their approximate positions.

The return track end boards were then assembled and fitted. They have been made square so that the goods yard as was, now split in half, can be developed as two separate yards to give more operational interest, with maybe a connecting line. So with that done the layout now looks like this.

One advantage of the split is that I now have space for a 122cm (4 foot ish in old money) extension on the city end before needing to construct the return baseboards, so a complete re-jig of the station is on the cards. Being rubbish at track planning/Imagineering I’m currently at a loss as to how this end will work out, so anyone with any input would be appreciated. There is room to get a gradient down and back up to have the fiddle yards under the layout, but this might be a bridge too far, we shall have to see.

Due to the alterations at the station end, drastic action is called for at the inbound end. What were the parcel platforms will now be used as through platforms with avoiding loops, so the goods loop has been pulled back to join the main line a tad earlier and a double junction is in the process of being constructed, Kier having thoughtfully provided enough room for the laying of a second track to the platforms, he must have known!

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KARL CROWTHER

Following on from last time, this month has seen further progress with the ground signals. Most now have their servos fitted and the LED wiring sorted out. Also since last time, I’ve managed to make all of the signals bar the one, into operational variants (rather than just displaying the lights). This has involved a bit more surgery to the baseboard framing, but worth the effort to have functional signalling.

After issues with getting the ‘Ultra Micro’ servos I was initially using, to function reliably, the change was made to the same type as used elsewhere (i.e. Tower Pro SG90 or Hobbyking SCM-9). To attach the servo to the base, its mounting brackets were first cut off, a styrene pad stuck to the end of the servo and then it was superglued under the signal baseplate. For the double signals, I simply glued a pair of servos together, again using pieces of styrene each side. You can also see the PCB pads I made to deal with the LED wiring, including the required 3.3KOhm Surface Mount Resistor.

Kentside GS No 5 now fitted onto the layout – this illustrates well, the LMS 1941 pattern (Palatine Models). The LEDs haven’t been totally successful, being too dim on some and too bright on others, but this one is just about perfect.

The Semaphore is the Kentside Up Platform Starter (Signal No 3), while the yellow disc beyond (Signal 18) relates to part of the goods yard. The double GS (Signals 11 & 12) controls moves over the single slip crossover/goods yard entry and the down lay-by siding. The LEDs on this pair are a bit faint at present, so I may try and remedy that at some point. Again, both are the Palatine 1941 type.

This is the yellow disc (Signal 17) at the opposite end of Kentside yard. The light in this one by contrast is a bit too bright! In operational terms, a yellow ground signal can be passed at danger for moves it doesn’t relate to. In this case this means the goods yard, and the signal is only cleared when the route onto the main lines has been set.

A close-up view of Kentside ground signals 11 & 12. Again the LED in this one is dimmer than I’d have liked. The upper signal always relates to the route furthest to the left, so the lower signal here (No. 11, relates to the points on the right controlling access to the Down lay-by siding. The upper disc reads to both the Up line crossover (via the single slip) and also to the goods yard. With luck I should have the ground signals at Kendal fitted as well by next month…..

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KIER HARDY

The Hornby Magazine / Dapol model of the LMS Stove-R has languished in a box for a few years, having been defeated by the awful chassis with its underscale wheels and unreliable running. Rather than be tens of ££s out of pocket with nothing to show, I've doubled my investment by acquiring an Ian MacDonald 6-wheel chassis kit that is nicely designed with comprehensive instructions. This view shows the chassis just prior to testing (near the front of a long parcels formation with a heavy trailing load) which performed well through complex pointwork on the layout.

The body has dimensional issues which I can just about live with and has been modified to fit more snugly onto the chassis by the removal of 1.5mm from the body end sections above the bufferbeam, thus reducing the overall height of the vehicle. Some of the beading has been removed, as well as the end steps, door top ventilators and other moulded detail.

A view of the underside of the completed model. The articulated moving parts of the chassis have been left unpainted, so just the normally visible areas (when it's on the track) have been finished and weathered. Rubber grommets have been fitted to the threaded pivots to prevent the flanged nuts from unscrewing. Ian's chassis kit can be seen showing the construction stage by stage on RMweb

LMS BGZ / Stove-R M33007M represents one from the last lot (#1262 built in 1940) captured here in use with newspaper traffic. The most important aspect of reliable running is now solved, and despite the body compromises, it's brought some welcome variety to the parcels fleet. The coaching stock book shows only 19 of these vehicles remained in service in 1974, with sister vehicle M33005M reclassified as a BZ when its corridor connections were removed.

Another project on the work bench is a rake of five 3D printed Conflat L wagons with containers. This view was taken after the application of the 150 separate container transfers (actually 149 due to the carpet monster consuming one). This is definitely a backburner project for sure!

With the weathering completed, the wagons have been tested for a few scale miles to make sure all is well. The next stage will be 60 individual holding down chains / shackles, so I don't expect this particular project to be finished any day soon.

As usual, away from the work bench and at the lineside, here are a few snaps taken during recent running sessions. Here we see English Electric type 3 locomotives 6999 & D6947 resting at Hornsey Broadway with a pair of independant snowploughs. Having been laid up all summer, it's time to dust them off and make sure all is well ahead of the predicted cooler weather.

BRCW type 2 D5382 is in charge of the breakdown train heading for East London. This and the following couple of images feature motive power from Paul James Eastwell fleet.

Sister locomotive D5385 is captured on the flyover at the head of parcels working.

A hybrid 4-car DMU consisting of a BRCW Class 104 DMC, Class 101 Trailer Brake Second, Trailer Buffet & DMC, working with a 3-car Class 111 at the rear on a northbound suburban service.

Now for a few snaps featuring some motive power from the Shenston Road fleet, starting off with BRCW type 3 D6566 & 6596 heading north with a train of Carflats.

Slim Jims 6596 and ex-works 6591 are captured with an empty MGR return working.

Peak 7 Ingleborough is held at the signals with a southbound coke train, whilst Hornsey resident Peak 5 Cross Fell waits in platform 1 light engine.

English Electric type 1 numbers 8078 & D8135 with a loaded coal train of 16 ton mineral wagons.

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PETE JOHNSON

The Tyneside show early in November gave chance for a few more photos of the layout in action. Saturday opened with a mid-60s Scottish sequence, a BRCW Class 27 is seen arriving in the yard with a class 9 mixed train.

A pair of North British 0-4-0s were busy within the docks.

Things moved forward a few years in the next sequence and a Barclay Class 06 prepares to head back into the docks.

The close of the day found mid-70s Barclay 06 002 slumbering on the quayside with the bunker oil delivery.

Sunday opened with a Tyneside selection from the beginning of the sixties. Steam survivor J72 class 69016 helps shunt the trip train it had recently arrived with.

Diesels have already taken over the dock work. Drewry Class 04 11224 heads towards the exchange sidings.

An early member of the Class 08 fleet is pictured at work in the yard.

Bringing the green livery to freight work, and carrying the new BR badge, Swindon-built 0-6-0 D2019 poses on the quay.

The 08 and 04 are pictured together in the busy yard.

Just before closing on Sunday, a mid-70s Class 03 heads into the docks with a consignment of steel bar. Many thanks to Ian and Craig for their help operating during the exhibition.

The ventilated conflat container is pictured after painting and weathering. The project stemmed from pictures on the Bartlett website, where because the metal framing appeared identical, I assumed the BM and FM containers were very similar. But after reaching this point on the model, I chanced on scale diagrams for the two types which showed the BM to be 18 inches longer, and 6 inches wider than the FM. Lesson learned – more careful research before cutting the plastic! (For the purist, the BM also has one more vent in the end panels than my bogus effort…..)

Despite the mess-up with the BM I’ve launched in another PECO/Parkside kit conversion….. after checking the wagon diagram dimensions first! This is for a BR Dia 1/200 ply-side van of the LMS pattern based on the kit for the Fruit Van version of the type. Photos suggest that all the Dia 1/200 wagons had 3-part pressed steel ends, so an extra seam join has been added using surplus parts from the Dia 1/208 kit.

A new loco project is this Class 26 for 1967-68. The spare Heljan bodyshell had been in the cupboard for many years, but a recent chance to buy a mech from Ebay is set to turn it into a runner. The shell is shown stripped ready for re-glazing and detailing.

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JONNY DUFFETT

Here's a selection of recent designs printed and painted, starting off with a shunter runner conversion from Conflat L Dia 1/068. Some had the sides of the chain pockets removed and fixed to the deck. Such conversions were to be found in East Anglia permanently coupled to Class 04 shunters. Shown here yet to receive decals.

Single Bolster Dia 1/402. Unfitted and derived from an LNER design modified with a lengthened 10' wheelbase. 4000 of these were made and this diagram had unique Dowty hydraulic buffers with a square section (not used on any other diagram).

Twin Bolster Dia 1/405. Same body as Dia 1/402 but permanently coupled with special intermediate buffing gear. Vacuum fitted with BR 8-shoe clasp brakegear.

Lowfit Dia 1/002. Two different sides in the diagram with earlier ones having fewer dropside webs. There was a variety of brakegear used, consisting of LNER, RCH and BR 8-shoe. All versions have been drawn and are available for free download at Thingiverse

Engineers runner version of Dia 1/402. A few had the sides and floor removed and replaced with steel section.

Conversion of Lowfit Dia 1/002 to Twin Bolsters. All sorts of the diagram were mixed and matched with permanent intermediate couplings and added bolsters. It's always best to check actual photographs for reference, as although one of Larkin's books gives the numbers of the wagons formed together, the orientation of the brakegear varies within the twin sets.

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STEVE CARTER

Slow progress of sorts as available modelling time seems to have evaporated recently! One conundrum solved on the Hudswell is the Jackshaft crank axles which were built from scratch and finally soldered up. In order to keep the crank as near to 90 degrees to the axle as possible a top hat bearing was first soldered in into which the axle was then fixed. The protruding front face of the axle was then filed flush whilst the rear section of the bearing was then filed away such that the axle would fit through the chassis bearings.

Next problem was how to be able to alter the throw of each crank in relation to the connecting rod as well as making them free to be removed if necessary? The outcome was a fabricated brass connecting block into which each crank + axle can be installed. The block consists of a central brass tube around which were soldered 1.5mm thick brass strips which were then filed back before two 1.6mm tapped holes were created to house 1.6mm grub screws.

The block seen in-situ with one crank fitted, this being a temporary situation as the two crank axles need to be cut to size to allow for any side play which may or may not be needed.

The underside of the chassis shows the four "T" pick-ups in position. The rear wheel pick up is a temporary fitting and will be replaced with two permanent ones when the chassis is finally assembled.

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PAUL JAMES

Following on from the Conflat L models featured above, here are a few images of preserved B738718 on the private site at Moreton on Lugg. This view shows the location of where the angled brackets were once located.

This photograph was taken during August 2014 during the wagon's restoration, with 66201 arriving with a stone train.

For bottom discharge of the L type containers there were six holes in the deck, but when the wagon was acquired (ex-cable drum carrier) the holes were covered over with square plates. These have now been removed and circular flush fitted plates welded in place to give a smooth deck and prevent a trip hazard. One circular plate is removable to allow the deck to be swept clean. This wagon is now regularly used for carrying materials around the site. Further images (10,000 and counting) can be found on my Jamerail Flickr website

Cut down cab Class 03 number 03145 is seen at Moreton Park on maintenance duties, with B738718 loaded with logs during vegetation clearance on the 20th of November 2022 (photo by Bartlomiej Rozycki).

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