Do you have any model railway projects on the go?

[O8yityityit]

I recsll

Absolutely!
Or could you have one as a route learner perhaps?

I recall seeing SC55013 running around Waverley with white side windows as if it was being used for non passenger work.

 

[Cowley]

I recsll

I recall seeing SC55013 running around Waverley with white side windows as if it was being used for non passenger work.

@O8yityityit - Do you know what year that was?

 

[hexagon789]

Absolutely!
Or could you have one as a route learner perhaps?

Now I like that idea, a suitably muckied 121 as a route learner, looks like that's another item on the old shopping list!

 

[hexagon789]

I recsll

I recall seeing SC55013 running around Waverley with white side windows as if it was being used for non passenger work.

A Gloucester 122?

 

[hexagon789]

Oh blast, I've made a mistake. That number prompted me to turn to the railcar site and it seems while Bubbles did see use in Scotland particularly in the 1970s it was the Gloucester cars Class 122 not the Pressed Steel 121s.

Interesting how something I thought I knew turned out to be incorrect! And it was also these that were converted to parcels cars on the ScR as Class 131 as well. 55013 was one of three ScR parcels unit conversions.

 

[malc-c]

I was building the second Metcalfe kit yesterday and I'm really blown away by th realsium... they even manage to cover your fingers in soot !!

The first kit had the parts in nice dense grey card die-cut, but the second kit had all the parts laser cut from (IMO) inferior grade card, which left all the edges burn and sooty... I lost count of the number of times I had to wash my hands to prevent the soot from getting on the printed surfaces

 

[O8yityityit]

@O8yityityit - Do you know what year that was?

I've got a photo somewhere. It was with a 110 camera so I'd say 1979 / 1980.

 

[FrodshamJnct]

I’ve recently discovered Tajima1 scenics from some layouts I follow on Instagram. I bought a pack of gorse bushes to see what they look like for myself and I have to say I’m impressed. I think they look really realistic and have great detail. They should compliment nicely the standard Woodland Scenics bushes which can be a bit generic IMO.

 

[GusB]

Oh well. That’s the neighbourhood gone...
View attachment 78574

@
I'm maybe a bit late with the commenting, but I absolutely love this, especially the dilapidated coach (Duple Viceroy?) to the right. You have a very keen eye for detail, @Cowley

 

[Cowley]

@
I'm maybe a bit late with the commenting, but I absolutely love this, especially the dilapidated coach (Duple Viceroy?) to the right. You have a very keen eye for detail, @Cowley

Thanks Gus. I had to have a couple of beers before I did that to the coach. Nerves of steel mate.

I detailed this brake van tonight which I was quite pleased with:

 

[Peter C]

Thanks Gus. I had to have a couple of beers before I did that to the coach. Nerves of steel mate.

I think Fred Dibnah used the same method for climbing chimneys... said the beer made it easier! I expect to hear stories of you felling great chimneys from all across the south-west soon!

I detailed this brake van tonight which I was quite pleased with:

View attachment 78893

That looks really good! I think one of my brakevans has a man in it, in the same sort-of place as yours is there. Are the pipes on the end your additions too?

-Peter

 

[Cowley]

I think Fred Dibnah used the same method for climbing chimneys... said the beer made it easier! I expect to hear stories of you felling great chimneys from all across the south-west soon!

That looks really good! I think one of my brakevans has a man in it, in the same sort-of place as yours is there. Are the pipes on the end your additions too?

-Peter

Haha. Performance enhancing beer...
Yes I added the pipes Peter and I found a coupling in a pack that I glued on as well.
To be honest in this scale you have to look quite closely, but I know it’s there.

(I know that it needs a tail lamp. Just going to order one)

 

[Peter C]

Haha. Performance enhancing beer...
Yes I added the pipes Peter and I found a coupling in a pack that I glued on as well.
To be honest in this scale you have to look quite closely, but I know it’s there.

(I know that it needs a tail lamp. Just going to order one)

Did yer like that?
Oh yes - I can see that now. I agree - the size of some of the things is amazing, but seeing what you've done with it all has made me think more about looking into a little bit of N Gauge track at some point!

-Peter

 

[O8yityityit]

I've used my time to sort out a pair of Hornby 31s which had suffered the casting problem.
I'd done one a while back and it worked ok.
Basically I cut the chassis back to the good metal. That's in effect removing all of what remains of the cab floor.
Of course the coupling and buffer beam were all part of the floor so need to be reconstructed.

 

[O8yityityit]

Sorry pressed post reply too soon!

Next I fitted replacement buffer beams ( one set from a lima 31 or Airfix 31 and the other scratch built from plasticard and some parts from an old Airfix steam loco kit) , then made some cab floors from plasticard( 0.060") and glued them in place so they were flush with the bottom of the bodywork. I cut a slight crescent/ vee in the back edge to clear the bogie when it swings .Then I fitted NEM pockets on an upstand made from plasticard shims , adjusted to get the coupling height correct.
The item shown is from a coach I dismantled but the coupling parts were useful as it saved the number if shims/ packers needed to bring the height correct.

Of course , the coupling no longer swings, but I have quite gentle curves so it's not a problem so far.
Photo shows my crude but effective method of setting the coupler height.
The lights are no more, but I'm sure they could be reconnected if you were keen.
Anyway hope that's of interest and might save someone throwing away what is otherwise a good loco.

Picture shows what happened to the Airfix 31 which donated it's beam! Ouch....

 

[O8yityityit]

Missing picture

 

[Cowley]

Sorry pressed post reply too soon!

Next I fitted replacement buffer beams ( one set from a lima 31 or Airfix 31 and the other scratch built from plasticard and some parts from an old Airfix steam loco kit) , then made some cab floors from plasticard( 0.060") and glued them in place so they were flush with the bottom of the bodywork. I cut a slight crescent/ vee in the back edge to clear the bogie when it swings .Then I fitted NEM pockets on an upstand made from plasticard shims , adjusted to get the coupling height correct.
The item shown is from a coach I dismantled but the coupling parts were useful as it saved the number if shims/ packers needed to bring the height correct.

Of course , the coupling no longer swings, but I have quite gentle curves so it's not a problem so far.
Photo shows my crude but effective method of setting the coupler height.View attachment 79036View attachment 79038
The lights are no more, but I'm sure they could be reconnected if you were keen.
Anyway hope that's of interest and might save someone throwing away what is otherwise a good loco.

Picture shows what happened to the Airfix 31 which donated it's beam! Ouch....

Brilliant. And very convincing saggy nose on 31407 an usual but interesting project.
I did something similar to an 47 years ago but it wasn’t as well done as that.
I’ll see if I can find it.

 

[hexagon789]

Sorry pressed post reply too soon!

Next I fitted replacement buffer beams ( one set from a lima 31 or Airfix 31 and the other scratch built from plasticard and some parts from an old Airfix steam loco kit) , then made some cab floors from plasticard( 0.060") and glued them in place so they were flush with the bottom of the bodywork. I cut a slight crescent/ vee in the back edge to clear the bogie when it swings .Then I fitted NEM pockets on an upstand made from plasticard shims , adjusted to get the coupling height correct.
The item shown is from a coach I dismantled but the coupling parts were useful as it saved the number if shims/ packers needed to bring the height correct.

Of course , the coupling no longer swings, but I have quite gentle curves so it's not a problem so far.
Photo shows my crude but effective method of setting the coupler height.View attachment 79036View attachment 79038
The lights are no more, but I'm sure they could be reconnected if you were keen.
Anyway hope that's of interest and might save someone throwing away what is otherwise a good loco.

Picture shows what happened to the Airfix 31 which donated it's beam! Ouch....

Looks like the aftereffects of that one in that level crossing "safety" advert featuring Jeremy Clarkson

 

[O8yityityit]

Looks like the aftereffects of that one in that level crossing "safety" advert featuring Jeremy Clarkson

I always recall visits to Doncaster works and there were usually several 31s and 37s with that characteristic drooping snout.
To be fair the chassis on my Airfix 31 had started to crack and go brittle so it was just a case of helping it along a bit.
I really wanted to try to model a collision damaged 56 but I didn't have the nerve to pick up the scalpel!

 

[Bevan Price]

Thanks Cowley, I did know about Bubbles running on the ScR (they often did the hourly Dundee-Arbroath stoppers calling at all the wee halts that mostly get one train a day now) but I believe that ended some years before my period. Though I could apply Rule 1!

I once had a single bubble car on a Dundee - Edinburgh stopper once, substituting for a faile 26 or 27. However, the most interesting bubblecar sight was in the 1960s, when the train I was on overtook a bubblecar towing about 4-5 wagons on a engineering train west of Reading.

 

[Cowley]

I once had a single bubble car on a Dundee - Edinburgh stopper once, substituting for a faile 26 or 27. However, the most interesting bubblecar sight was in the 1960s, when the train I was on overtook a bubblecar towing about 4-5 wagons on a engineering train west of Reading.

I’d love to have seen that.

 

[hexagon789]

I once had a single bubble car on a Dundee - Edinburgh stopper once, substituting for a faile 26 or 27. However, the most interesting bubblecar sight was in the 1960s, when the train I was on overtook a bubblecar towing about 4-5 wagons on a engineering train west of Reading.

Whoever said DMUs weren't flexible?

 

[hexagon789]

I always recall visits to Doncaster works and there were usually several 31s and 37s with that characteristic drooping snout.
To be fair the chassis on my Airfix 31 had started to crack and go brittle so it was just a case of helping it along a bit.
I really wanted to try to model a collision damaged 56 but I didn't have the nerve to pick up the scalpel!

Westerns are one type i know that would bend upwards when engines were taken out for repair. In order to reduce engine noise they'd been built with the engines amidships instead of behind the drivers cabs so significant strengthening to the frame was made in the centre, the consequence was when the engines were taken out the middle would shoot upwards about 6 inches meaning the were out of guage and couldn't been transferred in such conditions.

There is another class which I'm sure I read tended to droop naturally with age but the number won't come to me at present

 

[FrodshamJnct]

My servicing shed arrived this week. It’s a Bachmann one and I’m really impressed with the level of detail you get out of the box. Time to ballast the other side of the yard I think! Has anyone done concrete hardstanding before? I’ve seen the Scalemodelscenery kit available and it looks straightforward enough.

 

[malc-c]

Having been very pleased with the metcalfe card station kit I ordered the good shed kit and spent last weekend putting it together in between other chores. However I ran into a small problem when I came to placing it on the layout. The two sidings were laid using the peco track gauge and when placed over the first siding there wasn't enough clearance for wagons on the second siding. So yesterday the track was carefully lifted, which actually went better than I had expected considering the amount of glue I applied to the ballast.

I was able to clean the track and relay it and extend the sidings slightly, and had just enough ballast left to complete the task. The ballast was weathered again, and I even added a touch of grime to the side of the shed wall. The pictures don't do it justice, but the layout is now starting to come together. I have some Gaugemaster 1960s station figures on order which should also bring the layout to life a little more, and now I'm getting confident with the airbrush will start to weather the wagons.

 

[GusB]

Having been very pleased with the metcalfe card station kit I ordered the good shed kit and spent last weekend putting it together in between other chores. However I ran into a small problem when I came to placing it on the layout. The two sidings were laid using the peco track gauge and when placed over the first siding there wasn't enough clearance for wagons on the second siding. So yesterday the track was carefully lifted, which actually went better than I had expected considering the amount of glue I applied to the ballast.

I was able to clean the track and relay it and extend the sidings slightly, and had just enough ballast left to complete the task. The ballast was weathered again, and I even added a touch of grime to the side of the shed wall. The pictures don't do it justice, but the layout is now starting to come together. I have some Gaugemaster 1960s station figures on order which should also bring the layout to life a little more, and now I'm getting confident with the airbrush will start to weather the wagons.

View attachment 79393View attachment 79394

That looks quite good. I posted a query about Metcalfe kits earlier in the thread and had some good responses. I think I'll order one and have a go.

 

[malc-c]

The two n-gauge station kits cost £8.95 each, and £14 for the goods shed. But you get a lot of card in the kit and when completed the building is very strong, heavy for a card kit, and the end result is very good. Granted you won't get that level of realism that you get with plastic kits that have embossed walls, but if you really wanted to, the Metcalfe kit can always be customised such as adding plastic gutters and drainpipes or if you were really into detail, carefully score the brickwork with a dull craft tool if you have the time and patience. The only real downside to a card kit is that where the folds are you have to colour the inner exposed core otherwise it looks odd. I've painted the edges on the kits I've made, but I'm still not 100% satisfied with the result as its still a straight line. In hindsight maybe copying the printed sections and printing them on paper and then cutting the quoin stones out and wrapping them around the corners to give a better look.

I would still recommend getting a kit, and just take your time.....the instructions are good, and easy to follow.

 

[Cowley]

The two n-gauge station kits cost £8.95 each, and £14 for the goods shed. But you get a lot of card in the kit and when completed the building is very strong, heavy for a card kit, and the end result is very good. Granted you won't get that level of realism that you get with plastic kits that have embossed walls, but if you really wanted to, the Metcalfe kit can always be customised such as adding plastic gutters and drainpipes or if you were really into detail, carefully score the brickwork with a dull craft tool if you have the time and patience. The only real downside to a card kit is that where the folds are you have to colour the inner exposed core otherwise it looks odd. I've painted the edges on the kits I've made, but I'm still not 100% satisfied with the result as its still a straight line. In hindsight maybe copying the printed sections and printing them on paper and then cutting the quoin stones out and wrapping them around the corners to give a better look.

I would still recommend getting a kit, and just take your time.....the instructions are good, and easy to follow.

You’ve done a very neat job with them I must say. What sort of glue did you use?

 

[hexagon789]

Having been very pleased with the metcalfe card station kit I ordered the good shed kit and spent last weekend putting it together in between other chores. However I ran into a small problem when I came to placing it on the layout. The two sidings were laid using the peco track gauge and when placed over the first siding there wasn't enough clearance for wagons on the second siding. So yesterday the track was carefully lifted, which actually went better than I had expected considering the amount of glue I applied to the ballast.

I was able to clean the track and relay it and extend the sidings slightly, and had just enough ballast left to complete the task. The ballast was weathered again, and I even added a touch of grime to the side of the shed wall. The pictures don't do it justice, but the layout is now starting to come together. I have some Gaugemaster 1960s station figures on order which should also bring the layout to life a little more, and now I'm getting confident with the airbrush will start to weather the wagons.

View attachment 79393View attachment 79394

Very nice - excellent job there and it looks the part. I've considered something not too dissimilar as a sort of run-down/abandoned lineside structure

 

[malc-c]

You’ve done a very neat job with them I must say. What sort of glue did you use?

Thank you, I've since used a light grey marking pen (my wife does card craft and has lots of gear ) and the edges of the windows, and side walls don't stand out quite so much now. The glue was a PVA type that I "borrowed" from the wife. Decanted into a small bottle which has a metal tube for careful application, similar to the ones Metcalfe offer. The glue is called "cosmic shimmer" acrylic - not cheap, but is very tacky and holds quick but remains manageable when gluing the windows etc. I dare say rocket glue or any other high tack glue would work