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  • SouthernRegionSteam

    Coastguard Creek - 15 months of planning!

    By SouthernRegionSteam

    Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)   I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted
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8Fs – Heavy goods engines starting with the Bachmann WD 2-8-0

One of the first engines that I purchased on returning to the hobby was a Bachman Austerity 2-8-0.     I remember seeing a number of these engines on Teesside in the early 1960s and I was keen to have a model of one on the layout. From memory the Q6s, J26s and J27s handled the local traffic bringing coal and coke from County Durham whilst the WD 2-8-0s handled more long distance freight south to York and beyond.     Whilst the detail on my Bachmann WD was superb, its performance I thou

Silver Sidelines

Silver Sidelines

One of those images...

I spotted this image on the RCTS site. http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?img=65-015-29&serial=45&page=2   Somehow, it encapsulated a time long ago, the thatched cottage, the single unit, the gate, it was all there in one image.   I went to Toller just before it closed in 1975. Probably didn't look much different to the RCTS view. I went there the following year after the track had gone.   I know the building is now at Totnes, but when I looked at street v

Tim V

Tim V

This week's challenge: Complete the test track

After managing to lay some more track on the test track last night, I have set myself a challenge: Complete the laying of all track before Saturday...   This is a bit ambituous, but should be entirely do-able as long as I can keep to this schedule: Tonight: Complete the main loop (one point and two pieces of track), celebrate by running some trains... Wednesday: Finish the two passing loops (one point and two pieces of track), celebrate by running two trains at once... Thursday: Add

AllScales

AllScales

RT Models Hudson Tipper - part 7.

These two wagons have now had the last few parts attached and are ready for the paint shop.   Above the brake centre pivot can be seen the lever which unlocks the body and allows it to tip, and on the solebar just left of the centre rib can be seen the catch which can be used to hold the body in the tipped position (click on the pic. for a bigger image);     Spares are included for a lot of the smaller parts, including the catches.   I used the buffers supplied with the kit, these were

halfwit

halfwit

Where were we?

Ah yes - the ill-fated 2012 Competition..   I'd always intended that 'Ambridge' serve a stone wharf - all that 'Borsetshire Broadstone' waiting to be extracted by the 'BBC' and earn the GWR mileage rates! So it became a 'stand alone' subject for the afore-said competition. When the comp closed in October last year, this was the 'state of play     (for those that missed this minor opus, the story is here...) http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/53606-scanmans-stone-wharf/

scanman

scanman

Blackpool Coronation Tram.......

Just a quick update on the Blackpool Coronation CAD, nearly done now, one minor amendment to attend to but pretty much there........             Huge amounts going on with Grime St, including sawing it in half, I'll update it with a load of pics just prior to the Beamish exhibition early April.....

Red Devil

Red Devil

Cold of Death!

I hate Cold of Death, it's so small yet so, so unbearable... meh!   I've managed to pretty much finish my lower body for my 16mm scale tram loco, only the floor planking is left to do which is currently drying off.     I'll need to cut into the planking for locating the speed controller and battery pack but all is done pretty much   The side skirts are 020" plastic card, with foot holes and panels cut out. Strengthened with mahogany and removable plywood panels added for access and to gi

Sylvian Tennant

Sylvian Tennant

A couple of steps forward and a small set-back.

The 805mm length of steps completed and inserted within the cork track base, cut and PVA-glued in place on a length of stiffened, varnished ply. The track base and inserted steps assembly was sprayed with Halfords primer. The steps have been painted (Acrylics) to represent the blue brick colour of the prototype. I have a blue brick base to my garage so had a ready colour check available just outside the window. The second length of the track now assembled and along with the first length, rea

DonB

DonB

Nottingham 2013

Ok, it was not at Harvey Haddon and the show was spread out over a number of locations. Ok, if you hadn't purchased a show guide you may have struggled to find everything, and ok there may have been parking problems. But Nottingham 2013 was a great show and great credit should go to those who organised the event in a relatively short space of time. It is not their fault the previous venue was unavailable, and it was not their fault that the weather caused some of the parking problems. (I remembe

andyram

andyram

Set 2 - MR suburbans : Part 1

For my next trick, as they say, I have a pair of Ratio MR suburbans. These are intended to form the second set of steam age coaches on Blacklade   The reason for selecting these is simple. In my early teens, before discovering modern image modelling , I perpetrated several Ratio MR coach kits . The best of them, replacing my first attempt at a kit , was this gruesome object . It's also pretty well the only one to have survived . I remember I was quite pleased with this at the time     The

Ravenser

Ravenser

Jeremy Paxman

Did you threaten to overrule him....? Aah, a truly classic political interview by the man at title. Now if I ran the BBC, all political interviews would be conducted with a Nicholas Parsons 'just a minute' style bell. As soon as the interviewee failed to answer the question or decried the opposing party, the bell would be abruptly rung and the interview terminated. Tell us what you're going to do, not what the other party aren't doing, otherwise you're off.   Anyway, as you've probably gathere

legomanbiffo

legomanbiffo

Box in a Box - and so to bed...

Having made all the track for the scenic section, it's time for it to bed down! As I intimated in a previous entry, I intended to use 'Depron Foam' - a high-density urethane foamboard used in the model aircraft hobby. It is extremely light-weight, stable, and holds pins etc. One thing it does not like is the heat from the soldering gun, so the first job was to place dropper wires beneath the respective running-rails. I thought I'd got away with making long runs of trackwork - but this ain't

scanman

scanman

Board 2

I've pretty much done all I can do to the first board (in the modelling room anyway). The remaining scenics are going to be best left until the whole thing is put up in the garage for final spraying, weathering, coaling and flocking. So I've put up the next board which essentially is the platform and yard throat. There'll be a couple of small sheds at the back, lineside fence and a few small trees. Couldn't resist putting most of the stock out on the layout and you can get a flavour for what t

ullypug

ullypug

The fine art of laying points

Well the replacement for the faulty point hadn't come in, so after a trip down to the Haywards Heath OO9 show yesterday (at which items were bought ), it was back to work on the test track.   This is now trundling along nicely:     Today, given the weather, I managed to lay another four points and the intermediate track, together with any wires required. As you can see above the main loop is starting to take shape.   While the track looks somewhat angular, it is no worse than the stan

AllScales

AllScales

Fiddly bits!

When I started off today I had a set of things I wanted to do:   1. Add the external steampipe from cab to smokebox 2. Remove the moulded coal rails 3. Add the handrails   Happily I can say I achieved all three....   The steampipe was the easiest bit to do. I had to drill 1.6mm holes into the cab front and the smokebox to get it to fit, and then gently file down the tank filler cap it runs past to get a smooth fit.   Moving on to the coal rails the first step was to cut down through

James Harrison

James Harrison

You've been framed...again...

Buenos dias a todos   Actually, its been raining here all weekend...can't win em all...   Slightly flimsy blog content this one, but just a small update as I secured the new platforms in place yesterday and have been pondering the next move to make. Rather than rush into the ballasting today I have decided to leave that until the Easter weekend...especially as I just found out this morning that the Outlaws are coming to stay next week for 12 days meaning they will be here, and still here,

bcnPete

bcnPete

Bulleid Pacific

Yesterday, after buying an eye wateringly expensive fragrance for a friend's birthday in the local shopping centre, I saw Tangmere chugging slowly past with its service coach it then reversed and headed briskly towards Old Oak Common- no idea what it was doing there but a real treat.

Pacific231G

Pacific231G

Choices, choices....

With the chassis completed I've been able to at least start the bodywork. The body comes as a single cast resin block, with a myriad of whitemetal castings tgo complete the model.   With the L1 you get a choice of no fewer than three different chimneys, two domes, two safety valves and a top feed. This is where drawings and photographs really come into their own....   I already knew that the L1's originally carried tall domes which were swapped in the 1930s for shorter, squatter examples

James Harrison

James Harrison

Take the high road

So where did it all start, one Saturday night in January 1989, standing on the end of Glasgow queen street station, looking at 37408, that was not in the best of health at the time, having been thrashed to pieces on the West highland line. The following conversation with my mate, and several cans of beer, and the “moves book” became a layout design book. From the sketches Lochaline was produced, a West Highland terminus set in the late 1980’s. We did a few local shows, but the invites stopped, a

sixteen 12by 10s

sixteen 12by 10s

Buffalo rescue

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the work of cat and dog rescue centres, donkey sanctuaries and so on. This entry is intended to be the start of the story of my attempt to rescue a bedraggled and mistreated Buffalo. In this case, an Alan Gibson pannier tank kit that I spotted recently on eBay and managed to obtain for rather less than half the cost of a new kit. Was it a bargain? Only time will tell. What follows is something of a catalogue of errors and, though I have no intention of poking f

buffalo

buffalo

Scalescenes hints

I have been asked by a friend why I don't buy expensive craft knifes for my modelling. It's easy, and although many people will disagree, this is how I see it.   Cutting thick card is not the most delicate operation. It abuses your knives, and has a tendency to kill them. Not just the blades, but the whole thing. I have used craft knives, and I snap them. I've used Stanley knives, and it caused it to drop to bits. Maybe if I had used a top quality product, then it may have lasted longer, but i

draconusde

draconusde

The wagons are starting to roll...starting with the BDAs

These have always been one of my favourite wagons and many years ago I bought a couple of the John Grey kits. I made the wagons up minus the bolsters: these were fabricated from the relevant thicknesses of plasticard.   The bolster pins were going to be made from Bambi mini-staples. I checked these against scale drawings and found they were spot-on. All I needed to do was to drill 0.3 mm holes through the width of the 40 thou plasticard I used for the middle bit of the 'H' of the bolster. Havi

RobboPetes

RobboPetes

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    • Hi Pete, excellent entry.  Can’t wait to see more updates.  Nice to hear from you again and note that you are enjoying getting out and about up in Scotland. It’s a beautiful part of the world up there - I spent a summer back in the 90’s walking and camping from Glasgow to John O Groats.  Never got to Kyle as I went up the straight chain of Lochs from Glencoe to Inverness and then North form there etc.  it’s surprising how similar to Scotland this part of world I am now in is - winter here with t
    • Maybe with the new bottle, I should have sent it back…
    • Thank you Annie - I really enjoy re-creating these early engines.  It would have been impossible if the young Edward Lane had not taken a liking to them in the yard at Swindon.  By then, most of them had been superseded by later designs, such as Firefly, but he must have had a sense of 'history'.
    • If the IPA is not removing paint, a good trick is to warm it up which makes it more effective.   Though like you say after a number of uses it does loose its potency, I recently had to change mine after it got to the point where it was barely touching the paint 
    • Thank you Chris - I think it's lovely too!  The Lane drawing was probably made in around 1848, ten years after this engine was delivered and after its time on the South Devon. As my final sentence suggested, I am now looking hard at 'Ajax' which had similar-looking solid wheels.
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