West End Workbench

[Chas Levin]

Nice work as Dave says and likewise, I have that booklet as a pdf if you'd like a copy Jonathan. It's nowhere near as nice as reading a paper copy - no sense of time and place - but just for reference, it's very interesting, especially for info about how different types of loads were secured.

[jwealleans]

Thanks, Chas: I've been provided with an online copy of both editions (!) which was very generous. It is a worthwhile read if you take an interest in wagon loads and securing them.



I've been beavering away with loco cleaning and stock testing over the weekend and up to last night. Checking stock for free running and obvious damage - not overly onerous but there's a lot to cover.



There was the usual round of repairs too: the cattle wagon had lost its couplings at both ends, the RTR wagon was tight on the wheelsets and needed a bearing recessing a little, the carriage didn't roll well and turned out to still have the masking tape on the wheels from when the bogie was sprayed (it's done 3 shows like that), the H & B van lost an axle when I was taking the wheels out to oil them and I had to glue the W iron back on again. The GN horsebox had lost the door controller and the brake van had a cracked gearbox (which is what they call the Kadee mounting block).



I also had two roofs coming adrift in the Scotch Goods stock and a corridor handrail fallen off one of the carriages. We've come back from shows with much worse. Loco-wise I had a couple of failed solder joints on loco-tender connections but that was about all. One of them was on a Hornby pacific, which is unusual. I'm back up to Grahams this weekend for some more testing so we ought to be in fair shape for Bristol.

[jwealleans]

I have had a request from a young Australian reader to show how I make up loco boxes for my kit built locos. I don't think this is terribly revolutionary, but no-one knows everything and maybe it'll be of help to someone, so here we go. Given that my stock travels a fair bit, it's important that it's protected and not too badly shaken about in transit. I try to have this kind of arrangement for all my exhibition stock. RTR locos usually travel in their original boxes, unless these become damaged or unusable for some other reason.



These are tonight's subjects, K3 17 (Bachmann/Wright) and C1 3272 (scratchbuilt, Mike Shepard). 17 came to me from Tom Foster and 3272, by the good offices of Roy Mears, from Hitchin.

I buy boxes at shows from Cheltenham Model Centre if I need any, although other retailers sell similar ones. 17 has one such box which came with it from Tom. 3272 is in the box it came in, which is that from an ABS V4 kit. These are a deeper box, so the engine can stand upright rather than lie on its side. Coopercraft used to do this size of box in dark blue and white and I have quite a few like that. NuCast and SEF boxes are very similar. I'm not sure upright or prone makes much difference if the box is properly padded.



I use upholstery foam as the basic material. 1/4" or 3/8" are equally good. I used to get it from a local upholsterer but they have since closed so I ordered this last lot online. You can buy it by the metre and it's not expensive. From memory this piece was 2m x 3m originally and it's lasted several years.



The Cheltenham boxes come with a foam bottom insert so I keep this. It's easy enough to make one by this method if your box doesn't have one.



This part is as simple as drawing round the box and cutting it out. Make each side piece long enough to do side and end so you don't have any fiddly little bits. Put the side pieces in and use the bottom piece to hold them in place. You can use double sided tape or tape loops to hold everything in place if you're especially tidy minded, but the idea is that the box will end up so full that nothing can really move about.



One of the problems with snugly packed locos is getting them out of the box. I make a cradle of bubblewrap longer than the loco and wide enough to allow me to pick it up out of the box. Now, I have heard of paintwork being marked by bubblewrap if left in contact with it for a long time, so although that has not happened to me to date, another layer is needed. I keep the acid free tissue which kit etches come in for this purpose, or you can just use kitchen roll.



17 snugly packed away. I have kept the larger foam pieces which came with the box to prevent it sliding lengthways. These are easily made from packaging or even rolled up kitchen roll or offcuts of your thin foam. I also always keep the little desiccant packets which seem to be included in everything these days and slip one of those in.



3272 equally snugly packed showing that it stays upright. Again I've kept the existing packing in the lid, the larger pieces at each end and a desiccant packet In each case just pulling up the bubblewrap at each side of the engine makes a cradle to lift it from the box and packing it away again is the reverse operation.

[Jim de Griz]

I have had a request from a young Australian reader to show how I make up loco boxes for my kit built locos. I don't think this is terribly revolutionary, but no-one knows everything and maybe it'll be of help to someone, so here we go.

Certainly of help and interest to myself!

Jim de Griz