The LNER Encyclopedia

G'Day Gents

Thanks for that, I doubt I will ever see it in the flesh, but I've 'tramped' all over the area depicted, and I love your recreation.

manna

PM sent to you Tim Watson.

A prominent landmark in Kings Cross GY was the roundhouse, originally made for the Midland Railway. This was demolished in 1931, but it has always been in the plan to include it on the layout.


It would sit behind the ‘elbow’ on York Way where there is quite an awkward patch of ground.


There was never going to be enough room to model it ‘in the round’ and simply painting it onto the back scene would have been challenging. So I made a rough placeholder out of card, approximately painted to see if a silhouette structure would work.


The effect was quite encouraging, but the colour saturation was too strong and the perspective would need to be worked out very carefully. A new card silhouette was made that was designed to be both semi-curved, but also painted to represent the cylinders, cones and frusta of this complicated building. Once painted it was fixed to a plywood former, giving a rather alarming shape when viewed from the wrong aspect.


The painting is a bit impressionist in style but the shadowing is correct for our lighting. The ground will need to be made up around the sides of the building where the painted perspective kicks in.


When viewed side on, the effect is quite distressing.


From normal viewing distances the round house merges quite nicely into the haze. There will probably now be scope for representing Top Shed between the roundhouse and the saw tooth roofs of the St Pancras Goods Station, next to the NLR incline.


Quite a fun days work.

Tim

Having taken up Tim's offer to look in at Keen House on Thursday night, it is amazing how much he has been able
to improve the roundhouse overnight.
The whole layout is really stunning up close, and the trackwork is amazing.
It was really good to see locos running on many of the different lines.

If you can make their open day I suggest you try, then you might need to re-consider your skills!!!!

Payl

Also dropping in to see CF on the evening of the 18th April as Tim Watson had invited, I wholeheartedly agree with John Coffin's comments.

I have started work on Valour, the GC 9P / LNER B3 over the last couple of days. I have etches for the engine & self trimming tender reduced from 4mm scale, courtesy of Nick Easton & Paul Craig (if anyone is interested in a set - as a scratch building aid - please PM me). Even though the chassis could be used with extra bearings and spacers I preferred to make up a conventional phosphor bronze and double sided PCB structure. I know these work well on CF. The errant extra holes in the PB strip are a function of using some frame material from a previous project.



The two brass tubes and 14BA bolts that are used to set up the chassis are old faithfuls: they have been used on all my scratch built engines since 1982 and are removed once the chassis is soldered up. The alignment of the frames is simply checked by using drills as sighting rods and then the double sided PCB soldered into place.



The kit frames are in 8 thou nickel silver and are used as an overlay and will also support the cylinders etc, supplied in the kit. However, I wanted to have the front end removable so that the cylinders & motion support brackets can be made away from the rest of the engine.



The front assembly locks into place and is held precisely by two 16BA & one 14BA bolt. The kit is supplied with the spring etches and so it would have been churlish not to fit them - they can be seen quite well through the large wheels.





The rear cosmetic frames are fixed to the main sub assembly with 16BA bolts and the axle holes opened up to 1.6mm, so as not to impinge on the 2mm Association brass stub axles. The wheels are only placed loosely in the chassis, at the moment. I will set the chassis up with some trial muffs shortly and, of course, make the coupling rods. The worm gear head will be a massive lump of brass that will also occupy the ash pan.

Quite quick progress, for me, but it dies help having the etches. Valour should look very fine in full GC livery on CF.

Tim

Impressive, and I'm interested to see what techniques work for 2FS. It sounds as if you may delve into your reduced scale ST tender etches before either Graham Nicholas or I have chance to test out the 4mm versions. Your discoveries will be keenly observed.......

2mm FS, a guilty pleasure for some... This chassis however is stunning - bravo.
I sense that the starting gun is being readied elsewhere mind?

Atlantic 3279 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:11 am....sounds as if you may delve into your reduced scale ST tender etches before either Graham Nicholas or I have chance to test out the 4mm versions........

Will there be 4mm self-trimming tenders available?

Too early to say with certainty. Some independently produced test etches will need to be tried out and if they are suitable various castings will then have to be produced.

Atlantic 3279 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:00 am.... test etches will need to be tried out and if they are suitable various castings will then have to be produced.

Judith Edge for GCR resin castings? Their axleboxes would be correct if you're not doing the Iracier ones.

Should be suitable, one would imagine.

Atlantic 3279 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:51 pm Should be suitable, one would imagine.

...although the waters are slightly muddied by today's appearance of Bill's tender body which, if true, means it "only"* needs an underframe / chassis to go with it.

*will actually need a number of detailing parts to finish it off

The 2mm scale etches were kindly made available from Paul Craig’s artwork reduced in scale. Tony Gee had made one in 4mm scale as a test, but the coal space shape was probably not quite correct, requiring further modifications. That is quite academic in 2mm scale as it will be occupied by an 8mm diameter motor. Might be nice to get some 3D printed axle boxes. Does anyone have some decent drawings for them?

Tim

Thanks for the nod Tim, I hope you find the basics right for your task.

Just to put it into perspective, this was designed more than 10 years ago, when we had fewer of the
tools than we have now, no decent 3D printing, simpler cad, not least in relation to folding up
sheet metal. We had been trying to do our own version of Valour, but then I got ill, and it went
on the back burner. Since recovery, I have been back looking at GN pre -Gresley locos rather than
going " off-piste" again.

Trying to make a one piece "self trimming" section of the tender in etch is more complex than it seems.

However, since Tim only needed the outer parts it was a no brainer. I look forward to its escaping
captivity.
Paul