West End Workbench

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jwealleans
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Re: On the naughty step (don't mention the GC!)

Post by jwealleans »

I think it's time we cuffed this thread firmly around the ear and brought it back onto modelling before it disappears up its' own fundament in an ever decreasing spiral of self-referential in jokes....
could those blank areas above and below the pressed ducket have represented plain panelled-over sections on a Toad B latterly modernised by the fitting of new duckets? I have a VERY vague idea that such things happened in certain cases.
Graeme, I had that thought rattling around the recesses of my mind and I have located why; there's a picture on Page 61 of David Larkin's Pre-Nationalisation Freight stock on British Railways showing just that. Larkin says that the wooden ducket version mainly ran in Scotland and the pressed steel one was used in England. I have no idea of his sources and it will be interesting to see whether Tatlow 4B casts any further light.

From a modelling point of view there is matchboarding above and below the ducket which I don't have on the model and might not have wanted to try to scribe on even if it had come to me in the flat (which it didn't). So I'm sticking with the wooden duckets. It's been through a first coat of paint; I've decided to do this one early BR for use on the Ely layouts.

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Another little job which came across the bench last night; we who spend all our time building kits tend to forget sometimes how good RTR stock is these days. This caught my eye at (I think) Nottingham. In about half an hour it's had the moulded end handrail replaced with wire and painted, the couplings replaced with 3 link and the roof painted with my grey-and-talc mix. A waft of matt varnish and subsequent weathering and it won't look out of place at all.

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I have seen a picture of the wagon on which this is based - can't remember where, of course - but I'm pretty sure Salt wagons weren't pooled in WW 2 and weren't nationalised so this can be run into the earlier part of the BR era. I expect someone will put me right if that's mistaken. If anyone can point me to the picture, the jury's still out on those buffers as well.
Last edited by jwealleans on Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.
ecgtheow
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Re: On the naughty step (don't mention the GC!)

Post by ecgtheow »

The "little job" done so neatly & quickly provoked me to ask how you fit a 3-link coupling so well. What technique do you actually use?

Thanks in advance.

ecgtheow
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Re: On the naughty step (don't mention the GC!)

Post by Coboman »

jwealleans wrote:
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I have seen a picture of the wagon on which this is based - can't remember where, of course - but I'm pretty sure Salt wagons weren't pooled in WW 2 and weren't nationalised so this can be run into the earlier part of the BR era. I expect someone will put me right if that's mistaken. If anyone can point me to the picture, the jury's still out on those buffers as well.
Yes I'm sure your right. Mangers in Stafford had their own wagons right till they closed in the late 50s, I'm sure other companies did too.
Its good to know where you stand. Saves making a fool of yourself later......
jwealleans
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Re: On the naughty step (don't mention the GC!)

Post by jwealleans »

Thank you for confirming my thoughts. I've found a few pictures of other salt vans in the second collection of vans in the Railways in Profile series, although not the colour one I remain convinced I've seen. If I'd put some 'Non Pool' marking on this one before I weathered it I could have used that on the Ely layouts as well, but it's too late now.

Changing couplings is very easy. The Bachmann ones are on a mounting which is fixed with a screw and comes off very easily. I then separate the chassis from the body - one further screw. The moulded coupling hook is cut off and one or more .95mm holes drilled on the former location of the hook.

I use Smiths 3 link couplings and always buy the self-assembly ones (because I'm tight). Taking the hook without links attached, I enlarge and join up the drilled holes to form a slot into which the hook will fit. In the case of this wagon the thickness of the moulded floor in the chassis left the top of the hook proud of the top of the rest of the chassis. I applied light pressure with a hot soldering iron until it sank in to the right depth. A spot of cyano once it's cooled holds it in place and then the links are attached.
ecgtheow
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Re: On the naughty step (don't mention the GC!)

Post by ecgtheow »

Thanks for the detailed information. It's more or less what I try to do, but the results take longer & they are not as neat. I guess that practice makes perfect?
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jwealleans
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

A little project which has kept me busy for a couple of evenings last week and this. One of the features of the Pilmoor layout at Ormesby Hall is the automated shuttle which runs up and down the Pilmoor - Knaresborough branch line (in fact, in and out of a cupboard). For all the time I've been a member, this has been worked by a G5 and push-pull set. A Sentinel railcar has sat in the sidings behind Pilmoor station and seldom moved. The reason is very apparent if you tried to drive it - it went like the wind in one direction and staggered along like a movementially challenged tortoise in the other. This apparently being due to the state of the 'Spud' which propelled it.

When I built my version with the BullAnt aboard, it was suggested I might like to do the same with this one. However, in order for the remote controller setting to remain the same, so the operator could alternate between this and the G5 without having to climb into the cupboard, it would require a much higher gearing. I spoke to Geoff Baxter about this and he - top marks for being straight - said we'd be better off with a Black Beetle. So a BB it was and it came through commendably quickly from motorbogies.com.

This is the state of the railcar when examined:

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The roof popped off very readily to reveal a wandering internal partition, bits of glazing hanging off and the roof itself had a very apparent join in the middle. Glazing which was still attached had blobs of glue all over it:

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... at least swapping the bogies would be very simple, they just screwing up through a brass plate in the floor at the boiler end of the car. If only.

A Black Beetle, as I then discovered, is quite a bit higher than a Spud.

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All was not lost, however. The large plate from which the motor bogie hangs is screwed to another smaller plate, tapped 8 BA on the other side of the floor. So reversing the two plates would bring us back into line. The constituent parts are shown below.

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It wasn't quite that simple; I had to pack the plate up another 60 thou inside the car to get it level, which in turn meant that the screws weren't long enough and had to be replaced. Then I had to radius the leading edge of the hole to allow the bogie to pivot. All that done, though, it worked as we hoped and under test so far has behaved very well. The cosmetic sides were removed from the Spud and EvoStuck to the BB, both level at the second attempt.

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Glazing was replaced except where I had to retain the supplied pieces with painted curtains. These had a coat of Klear to restore a bit of a shine then were replaced using less and less apparent glue and lined up with the window frames this time.

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Partitions and crew were replaced from whence they had come. I've also tidied up the joint in the roof and will repaint it. The roof will have to come off if the bogie is to be removed in the future but we'll just have to live with that. I did contemplate fitting pickups to the other bogie as well, but I think we'll give it an extended run first and see how it performs.

It's a shame this kit is no longer available, but if ever a vehicle was suitable for a plastic moulding or even an etched body, this is it. It might even run quite happily with a Spud then, instead of chewing them up at the alarming rate they do.
Last edited by jwealleans on Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Atlantic 3279
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

So, on the same voltages, is a Black Beetle a slower runner that a Bull Ant with maximum gear reduction :?: :? Or was it just a matter of matching performance / gearing to the push-pull loco?

I do like green and cream. I'd rather see a rake of Mk1s on the NYMR in incorrect (for them) LNER tourist livery rather than have chocolate and cream in the North East, any day - but that's just my parochial view.
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1

Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
mick b
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by mick b »

Yes they weigh a ton. I ground some metal out the roof on mine, it didnt take the weight down much :shock:
jwealleans
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

I lightened mine by making a new floor of Paxolin to fit the BullAnt. I expected to do the same on this one but if the BB stays the course, won't have to.

Graeme, you've hit it on the head. My model has a 38:1 BullAnt Major and will creep along quite happily. It has a much larger motor that the BB (forget which) and a hefty flywheel as well. The imperative here was to get both trains working at a realistic speed on the same controller setting. Most of our volunteers are past retirement age and it isn't fair or practical to ask them to duck backwards and forwards under boards to tweak the controller, especially when they might be running one or two other trains and talking to the public.

This is a 15:1 bogie and is surprisingly nippy even on half wave on my old Hornby controller. So far I'm impressed with its capability. The G5 has just had to be rebuilt after 12 years shuttling up and down those fifteen feet of track so I shall be very pleased if this unit manages the same lifetime.
mick b
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by mick b »

jwealleans wrote:



It's a shame this kit is no longer available, but if ever a vehicle was suitable for a plastic moulding or even an etched body, this is it. It might even run quite happily with a Spud then, instead of chewing them up at the alarming rate they do.


One for Hornby next year :shock:


A kit for the Clayton version would be good to :D
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manna
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by manna »

G'Day Gents

Excellent job on the railcar, would certainly be a good future project for Hornby.

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jwealleans
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Right, a bit of a retrospective this evening. I've been fiddling on with a few things, mainly weathering and nothing really worth posting. One of the items I finished off, though, was a container flat for the fish train for Thurston. Not desperately momentous except that it was the last item of rolling stock for that train - the train is now finished. Again, not in the sense that any model which is used is finished as there will always be maintenance and repairs or improvements to make. In this case it's quite simply that the stock box for fish vans is full, as (almost) is the road in the fiddle yard, so it's unlikely I shall build any more for it. It's been developing since about 2005 along with the rest of the stock for the layout and will also work on the replacement which the Ely club have already started building.

So here is a stroll along the train parked in and almost filling my test track.

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The train engine is a Bachmann K3. Bought from the well known string bound parcel emporium when they first came out, renumbered to an Ipswich engine which features often in Dr Ian C Allen's East Anglian books, detailed and weathered. It ran mechanically unaltered for a long time, but the last set of additions to the train, the containers, required the addition of a fair amount of lead along the boiler either side of the motor and in the cab roof. It handles the 21 + brake which now makes up the consist with no problem.

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The leading van - cast, like all the first few vehicles - is an LMS D1664 van. This is an ABS kit. As the layout is set in the early BR period (1947-55) this has not yet been repainted into BR livery, though it has the M prefix to the number. LMS vans were quite common in the East Anglian ports from very early in BR days.

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The next pair are at the very end of their working lives - an ABS LNER outside framed van and an ex-North Eastern F6 van from 51L. Penny numbers of these made it after the war and the ABS one would most likely have been converted to general use by now. I have a thing for outside framed vans, though, and the GE kept stock years after anywhere else would have scrapped it.... Neither has or will receive BR livery or lettering. I was pleased with the effect I got on the 51L van with the older lettering showing through. It's slightly small but under normal lighting doesn't show up as well as on the photo so it's less obvious.

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Next the first set of container flats I put together. I acquired some Bachmann Conflat As and I've also built a pair of David Geen GW ones, an H6 and an H7. These are whitemetal so they can go fairly well forward in the train without fear of being pulled off by the following wagons. The picture shows how similar these vehicles were; Bachmann BR version first, followed by the H6 (9'wheelbase as opposed to 10') and then the H7. The containers are Bachmann repainted and renumbered using the pack available from Cambridge Custom Transfers.

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Immediately after the containers an LMS d 2059 fish van (Parkside) - there are two of these in the train. Then the LNER 12' WB fish van. This is very much the staple of the consist and was where it all started. I bought a job lot of 5 off Ebay and repainted and detailed them. The kit is available from Parkside, but I think these are Cotswold as they have whitemetal solebars. There are differences between them - different shades of brown, patch painting, one still in LNER livery - but they are intended to give a certain amount of uniformity to the whole train.

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In among the 12' wheelbase vans are a couple of the older 10' ones. These are cut down from the longer Parkside kit although they will be available from Bachmann sometime in the future.

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The LMS 6 wheeler from Roger Chivers was just irresistible when it came out and gives some visual variety while not being massively different from the LNER vans which surround it. The other D2059 is marshalled next to it.

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Getting towards the rear (I didn't photograph all the duplicates) there is an LNER corrugated end van. This is the Parkside kit and is derived from a photograph in the Cheona LNER wagons book showing one in Darlington Works with FISH plates fitted. The less usual position of the plate is also from that photo. Next to it a Cambrian LMS d1885 van, cracking kit of a distinctive prototype. It looks quite different with the side vents, short wheelbase and white upstands indicating a through piped vehicle.

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Two more containers, as above, one on a Bachmann Conflat A and the other a Parkside Conflat S. The S should have the steel chocks in place to hold the container. The chains are made from Roxey shackles, fine chain and a length of Evergreen rod for the shock absorber.

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Lastly the Dapol brake van with Monty's (I think) guard. A full set of lamps - he can be confident he won't be looped anywhere.

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... and it all fits nicely into the box ready for Nottingham in March.

A couple more little jobs which might be of interest; I seem to have acquired a number of 4 wheel Passenger Brakes, largely as parts of job lots. I have three in teak livery and so thought it would be nice to line one. Makes an already attractive vehicle really eyecatching. This one is a D & S kit.

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This was one of the very first etched vehicles I built, also from D & S and shows me how far I've come with kit construction in that time. For these purposes I was more concerned by the fact that both solebar and cornice were black and so both have been corrected with Humbrol 62. There are some markings to go on the solebar and then a varnish and light weathering to blend them in.

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Last edited by jwealleans on Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:47 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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manna
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by manna »

G'Day Gents

What a wonderful collection, you have there, always enjoy you pics.

manna
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marksouthcoast
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by marksouthcoast »

I agree with the last post, your models are supurbe. And inspering.
jwealleans
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Some finishing off this lunchtime. Firstly some wagons also destined for Thurston and beyond. As we move back towards 1947, we're out of 16 tonner territory and into ex-PO wagons. Since only about 30% of those were to the 1923 RCH standard (I forget the exact figure), these two Cambrian kits I picked up at Wheels of Steel when I was there earlier in the year seemed ideal.

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I'm quite pleased with the way these have come out. The fragments of lettering were done using some Powsides transfers which I wrecked a number of years ago.

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This ex-GE van was an Ebay buy (in bits). The lowfit is Parkside and the 3 post augurs seemed appropriate as regular readers may recall 3 Ferguson TE20s also on Lowfits which I made up last year.

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Lastly, very excited about this as I've wanted one for ages.

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It'll need a repaint and a bit of tidying up but runs pretty well. As and when Arthur releases it I'll replace that tender with the original design. I foresee an extended running session at Ormesby next week for this one.
Last edited by jwealleans on Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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