EM Gauge Layouts, Models & Projects

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The Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co introduced the Class 104 in 1958, in a variety of diagrams and formations. This 3-car unit was one of seven sets allocated to Stratford depot (reformed from ex-North Eastern 4-car sets), operating local services in North & East London and into Essex during the early 1970s.

The 3-car sets were configured as DMCL-TBSL-DMCL, with some of the driving cars built to different diagrams. Here is E50576 (dia 559 1st class non-smoking) and E50555 (dia 580 1st class smoking), the only obvious difference being the fitment of ashtrays. With their blue square coupling code, they were occasionally reformed as hybrid sets with Stratford's Met-Cam Class 111 units.

The model utilises a heavily modified Hornby Class 110, with the addition of 3D printed cab ends, underframe components and roof ventilators, shown here during the painting and decorating stages.

Bogie footsteps of the 'one-shoe-size' have been formed from plastic section, and the distinctive fabricated buffers are 3D printed. Operating requirements result in a gap between the buffers, so the model can negotiate 3ft radius curves.

A broadside shot of TBSL E59212 (dia 584) showing the 3D printed underframe components and bogie centres moved out to a scale 40ft. All the vehicles in this batch had a luggage area instead of the double seat (opposite the lavatory) resulting in the small window without top light ventilators. All the door droplights, including the guards door had a notice pasted, perhaps relating to clearances on some of the routes they worked.

There are just a couple of small jobs left to do, including fitting a driver in the cabs, speedo drive cable and a removable tail lamp.

A passing shot of the signal gantry at the end of platform 1, and a reminder that some masonry work is required on the retaining wall.

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KARL CROWTHER

Most of the month has been taken up on the turntable at Kendal. Getting the electrics sorted was something of a marathon, mainly due to my mistakes with building the control board! I’m really grateful to the help here of Richard Challis, without which I think it would have been beyond me to fathom out. It’s now just about sorted (hopefully!) bar a few tweaks. In practice it was found that the bush I’d made to connect the gearbox and TT shaft wasn’t up to the job, so a friend with a lathe is going to make one for me. Here can be seen I’ve now fixed the entry/exit roads into place. These were a bit awkward to arrange as they have to be very short lengths of rail to line up perfectly at each end (and there’s a baseboard join as well a couple of inches away!). The second road off the TT leads to what I’m going to model as the remains of a small engine shed, now demolished. Also can be seen, extra platform work that will support the signal box (a Metcalfe substitute at present).

A highlight of the month was a visit for an operating session by John Elliott and crew from the Leeds City North project – and the turntable came into use for the very first time. Here can be seen Pete Rigby’s Clan Mackenzie, whose appearance on the layout caused quite a stir (I’ve since bought one, having always fancied these locos!).

Clan Mackenzie having arrived at Kendal, with Clayton D8532 busy shunting the morning goods (a Heljan mode fitted with Digitrains/Zimo sound decoder).

You really can (just) fit a Clan on the 60-foot turntable! Having seen a DVD of Britannia “Flying Dutchman” on the 60-foot TT at Windermere, we just had to try this. About 1mm spare at each end, excellent driving I thought! Seriously, the loco-tender distance on the model was probably working against us. That said a 60-footer seems the sensible size, given the cue from Windermere – anything longer seems only to have been found at the larger MPDs. Next month – back to signals (hopefully!).

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GREG BROOKES

A panoramic view of BSC Shenston, showing the recently constructed chimney and plant house on the left of the scene.

Made from a selection of Evergreen styrene section and the rest from my box of bits and left-over kits.

The first of a pair of Bachmann Warships fresh from the work bench, starting with 839 Relentless lightly weathered to its 1971 condition.

839 in action.

D831 Monarch as it was in 1968. Added details include Shawplan grills and extra bufferbeam detailing.

Another view of D831.

Long time member of the Shenston Road fleet, Peak 123 heads an Up Postal service.

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STEVE CARTER

With limited time for modelling, progress has been confined to constructing the last few remaining components needed for the 1/337 demountable tank vehicle, first up being two walkways. The method utilised sees a square / rectangular form of thin brass strip (thinner is best as thicker strip yields rounded corners) soldered into position on a Scale Link etched brass sheet SLF018 (soldering the outside of the frame limits the ability of the solder to infill the etch). After cutting the frame from the sheet it can then be filed into shape. The support legs were then added, ensuring each leg was positioned correctly by using a plywood jig after which they were then trimmed.

Next on the agenda were the four retaining shackles which secured the tank to the chassis. Firstly four rings were made from 0.5mm brass wire; round nose pliers help to form the circular element which can then be pinched together whilst they are still in position before they are trimmed to the required size using a sharp heavy duty knife blade.

The bottle shackles used on the tanks were rectangular in section (a type which were also used to secure Conflat L containers) and are represented using elements of an Ambis CS3_4 brass etch I had to hand (unfortunately a subsequent order with Ambis reveals the CS3 type now available have been upgraded to a more modern angular version but the owner has said he will try to locate the original artwork). Once again use of a ply jig helped to align each element and by cutting a slot into which the hook can be secured it allows them to be pulled taut before soldering together.

The concoctions seen loosely in situ - another small component can be seen in the form of the tank discharge valve which is a mishmash of brass tubing and two brass track rivets soldered back to back! The shackle assemblies will need small angled brackets to affix them to the solebar and will be done from plastic strip rather than brass.

A top down view of the wagon showing the effectiveness of the two walkways. The brass rod protruding from the left of the tank barrel is part of the discharge valve assembly and will aid its location before being trimmed short.

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HYWEL THOMAS

Over the last few months I’ve been concentrating on a new 1970s South American narrow gauge layout, showing some of the stone and rock carving carried out so far.

One project that has been progressed is the long-standing lack of a decent backscene on Morfa Bank. As you can see, at long last, this has now been rectified. The first view looks across the lock-ups and an eerily empty yard. The initial idea had been to paint the back drop but with advances in high resolution printing accelerating that option seemed fraught with potential disaster and so a printed back drop appeared to offer the best chance of success.

The first stage was to collect as many images of the Port Talbot area from the early 1970s as I could lay my hands on. For particular features this included views from books along with any images online. Next was to collect a selection of screen grabs from Google Streetview. These were done using a high-resolution monitor to get the best quality ready for the next stage in the process. Another empty yard view shows the difference a new backscene makes.

With the images assembled I then used a large scale map to plot out the view from the imaginary area of the port where Morfa Bank resides. The distant hills are a very distinctive feature of Port Talbot so needed to be right in terms of distance and profile. The grabbed images were then opened in Photoshop and a start made in slowly piecing together the various views into a coherent and seamless image. Each image was given a new layer and the edges feathered and tweaked until they looked right – a time consuming task but worth it.

Using the original map plot I also had to establish where the various gaps in the modelled scene occurred so that they could also be filled. No attempt at this stage was done to remove any later features or other changes from the original images. The gap where the maintenance canal passes through the high level retaining walls was a typical example and was given a vague treatment of undergrowth. This view also shows the steelworks in the distance, which was given a layer of its own. Currently there are two blast furnaces in operation but in 1972 there were five so a black and white view of the works from the hills behind was reversed and various parts coloured and altered until they fitted correctly into the scene.

Moving around the corner and the foundry blocks out most of the view except for the sky. Once the landscape images had been pieced together and blended as required using the useful clone tool in Photoshop I then removed all the sky from the various layers. This was where the editing really began and included the removal of such things as more modern developments, pylons and wind farms along with any of the original views that clashed or appeared out of scale. Next, the colours were altered subtly to better match with the model colour palette and also muted to suggest some distance. Then a new sky was dropped in behind all the layers. I wanted to give the impression of a slightly murky day with sunny patches so with plenty of threatening clouds. Finally a light grey layer was added above all the others and this was given a graduated tint to reinforce the murk that was common at that time with all the smoke from the works.

Finally a view with some old internal wagons placed in the scene. The back drop was printed for me by a company specialising in exhibition banners and displays who I’ve known for years through work, and a superb job they made of it. It’s printed onto a 1mm vinyl backed material that is normally used for the kind of pop-up banners you see at exhibitions. I then had the rather stressful task of laying it out along the length of the kitchen and hallway to accurately cut out the various holes for access to the fiddle yards and headshunt – no room for error there. All the buildings, scenic modules and stock were then removed from the layout (a massive task in itself!) and the old plain back drop removed. Bit by bit the new one was then unrolled and held to the support frame using small bulldog clips...and after several hours of stressful balancing and stretching over the layout it was up. And very pleased with it I am too!

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