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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
    • 8 comments
    • 3,303 views
The sleepers workspace

4101 Dubs 0-4-0Tcrane project part 1

With the 1308 Lady Margaret on hold awaiting nameplates I thought I'd get my next project underway. For some time I've been researching the Foxfield Railway's preserved crane tank loco.   Affectionately known throughout its life as "Dubsy" but never actually named, this locomotive was built by Dubs and Co of Glasgow in 1901 and delivered to the Shelton Iron & Steel Works in Stoke-on-Trent. It remained at Shelton Bar throughout its life. "Dubsy" was originally coal fired but was converted t
sleeper

sleeper

4
Dad-1's Blog

Plodding along - But some greenery at last.

I like making up scenes, but first there's all the boards & trackwork, which at times seems to go on forever. My coal siding board, which is also the north station throat has at last seen some greenery.     I get so pleased at reaching this stage that my camera comes out while things are still wet with glue Sorry !!     Ahh well, only 11 more boards to work through - Even this needs the cattle dock making and buildings finished, but at last it starts looking like a railway &
Dad-1

Dad-1

3
cornish trains jez's Blog

Par Station in N Gauge - Getting a bit "meshed" up!

Good afternoon,   I spent a few hours yesterday trying to make some progress on the footbridge for Par station.   I have now cut and attached some of the sections of mesh to the bridge (mesh courtesy of devondynosoar), and fixed them in place. I have ordered another section but it seems that most suppliers seem out of stock of this item so I can't progress any further until it is received.   I have also made some progress on the footbridge sides as the undersides needed trimming back to al
cornish trains jez

cornish trains jez

12
QRModeller's Workbench

A Wagon update + beginning next kit

G'day, about time I added an update here methinks!   Well, not a lot has happened between the last post and now. Wait, scratch that...   [rant mode on/]   Alright, firstly, during the holidays I had planned to finish the A wagon and get at least half way through another QR kit (more on this later) and begin/work on/complete a number of other things but instead, the universe had other ideas. It seemed that everytime I thought I would be able to go out and get a pack of couplers for the A wa
QRModeller

QRModeller

0
Brafferton - 2mm Finescale

Wagon Refurbishment?

Yesterday was the North East Area Group meeting of The 2mm Scale Association. We had a short overview/history from Mick Simpson on the various wagon chassis available over the years.   Then a good number of us sat down to progress various chassis building projects.   See http://neag.2mm.org.uk/ for more detail and a few pics.   Within my own fleet of stock, I have a number of wagons that run on the Mike Bryant etched chassis. These date from the early eighties, use wheels on 13mm axles and
Tony Simms

Tony Simms

3
Engine Wood

Callow Lane - completion of cobbling

I've returned to the cobbles for the last couple of weeks and tonight, I finally finished the last section of the planned cobbled area. Here are a few photos taken this evening, most (but not all), to show the cobbling (or granite setts).   The effect I'm aiming for is that the larger vehicle turning/parking area will have been tarmacked sometime after the war, but done 'on the cheap', and is now beginning to wear off, so the edge where the cobbles meet the tarmac is not regular and even, as s
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

21
dunchurch castle

the furthest i have got a layout so far lol

Well after a night pondering the track plan i realised it would be very restrictive so I added a loop. as per Ver2   Then spent the day in the garage with drill and jig saw screws and track results in the attached pics Track is fully laid on double sided tape . point motors fitted the big holes are to allow the point motors to fit and will be covered with card tomorrows plan it to do some scenery templates then its off back to london with it in the car hope fully by next weekend trai
nigelb

nigelb

0
draconusde's Blog

Cleaning Up

A First Impression of te Dapol Track Cleaner.   So for Cristmas I recieved a Dapol Track Cleaner in 'oo' guage, but due to certain restrictions I havnt been able to try it out, the snow meaning my baseboard space has been taken up by two rabbits. Joy.   But today I managed to make room to place the board on top of the table to finally give it a try, so here goes.   First Impressions....it looks the buisness. It comes ready to run in the box, in 'Vacuem mode'. It seems well made, and fairly
draconusde

draconusde

0
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

(Post 8 (LBSCR 'E2' Boiler Explosion!))

I think after I'm going to buy a Hornby body and have another go with that. Truth is I think this old kit body is pretty horrid. I naively thought at the time of planning, simply being a 'kit' the model would be far superior as a base to detail over the old Hornby plastic one but after having a good look I think I was wrong.     I don't know what is the most accurate in terms of basic dimentions so last night I measured my metal body to that of my Hornby Thomas, which is basically an E2 with
Knuckles

Knuckles

9
Maxstoke

Whats the point? installation

The Servo motors arrived this week, and to my great surprise the Servo4 board and Setting box worked flawlessly. A simple support cradle was swiftly assembled this morning from offcuts of ABS sheet. When assembled, the complete unit was mated with the turnout, and in-situ testing started.   Unfortunately the turnout would not fully throw in one direction. A bit of discreet measurement showed that addition of all the working tolerances meant that the pivot point for the lever arm, was too c
RichardW1

RichardW1

0
Richard Jones' Blog

Ply and rivet trackwork

Hi,   I've just completed the double slip for my layout - constructed using the ply & rivet method - any thoughts as to how you can test this sort of pointwork out prior to fixing it down and installing the turnout operating units?   picture at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/48426-double-slip-for-singleton/   cheers   Richard
Richard Jones

Richard Jones

2
SRman's Workbench Blog

Hard-wiring Lima's BR Blue Class 31, 31 004

Encouraged by how smoothly the DCC conversion of 31 327 went, I decided to do 31 004. This one also ran very smoothly on DC so I thought it would go just as well as 31 327. WRONG!!   The actual hard-wiring went more smoothly because I knew exactly what I was doing this time. I pulled the Digitrax decoder out of 31 327 and plugged it in to 31 004. It ran like a dog! It stuttered and stopped and refused to complete even one circuit without stalling. I thoroughly cleaned the wheels, oiled the mec
SRman

SRman

3
dunchurch castle

the beginnings

After a long time working on Grandborough and getting frustraited with my lack of progress I had a clear up of old bits n bobs and found just about enough N gauge bits to put a small fiddle yard to terminus layout together.   So here is the history of Dunchurch castle When the Rugby and Grandborough first surveyed the route between the two towns they would have to go through the earl of dunchurch's estate. well he was not too impressed untill he realised he could insist the build a short bran
nigelb

nigelb

0
The Sumtown Tramway Locomotive Workshops

FS Class 646 No.646 060 - A Profile

The Class 646 locomotive, as photographed in July 2012 not long after arrival. This locomotive was obtained on a whim like the GE 20T Switcher, and was bought with the intent of operating a 'world' fleet of locomotives from most countries, selecting the most historically relevant engines possible - this including the Class 646 from Italy. Manufactured by Lima in Italy, appropriately, the locomotive is more basic than the other engines but makes up for it with a charm of its own in terms of its a
Trainmaster64

Trainmaster64

0
Ffarquhar: A Thomas Themed Layout

It's Alive!

The track witing has been completed, and i works, the only thing giving me any trouble was the Doubleslip as I intially wired it up wrong.. Doh! Oh well as it is the first time I have used one I will let myself off... but just this once!   I have also constructed a control panel for as can been seen here:     as you can see it is run on good ols fashioned DC complete with isolating sections. The whole panel is hinged for easy access and is secured down with velcro. To finish all hat is ne
Flyingscotsmanfan

Flyingscotsmanfan

4
Tim V's Workbench Blog

Perhaps it's time

There comes a time when you realise that no matter how much you like your own creation, that it ultimately has a shelf life. I've realised that Clutton, now nearly 24 years old, is getting near then end. I've done pretty much all the shows I've wanted to do, there are a few left to do, and bookings go into 2016 now. A couple of major shows I might have liked to go to like Manchester didn't materialise.   So I promised Chris Challis that Clutton's final show would be where it started at. So Rai
Tim V

Tim V

15
Sixties Snapshots - 00 scale

Close coupling DMUs - an Addendum

Following on rather quickly from my last Post I can see that there is far more interest in Bachmann’s newer Cravens than their earlier Class 108s.     Cravens (top) Class 108 (bottom)   To prevent buffer locking on Peco Medium Radius points the Cravens appear to need an extra millimetre separation compared to the Class 108.   "Mind the Gap" - Cravens.   My Cravens do not get much use and hence I have not studied them quite as much as the Class 108s. I have been puzzling - “Why the d
Silver Sidelines

Silver Sidelines

1
SRman's Workbench Blog

Lima Railfreight Class 31, 31 327 - a quickie project

Another diversion from layout building and work on the G16 and 2 HAL. I looked at my Lima class 31, 31 327 in Railfreight grey and thought I would like to do something useful with it, as the 30/31 was a particularly good model from the Lima stable. Some years ago I fitted separate handrails to the front of my blue 31 004 and repainted the yellow ends completely. 31 327 had been languishing in a drawer because it had never had the side handrails which were supposed to be supplied in the box but w
SRman

SRman

0
4mm rolling stock

Progress during January - 51L MR long low, D&S Pigeon van and starting a David Geen Toplight

I've been busy with other things during the last month, mainly work and stage managing an amateur pantomime (oh no you haven't....), so it's come as a surprise how much I've managed to get done.   This is a 51L kit for a Midland long low wagon. It's the first time I've built a complete kit from this source, and it was rather good (although the fiddly etched brake gear was, well a bit fiddly). Apart from using some thicker Evergreen planked styrene for the floor, it's been built exactly as per
pete_mcfarlane

pete_mcfarlane

2
Ramblings from the Man Cave

Close Coupling in an Instant

I'd done quite a bit of thinking and head scratching how to make an instanter link for some time. The shape is not easy to make around a former. Indeed my first few attempts failed to make it off the formers. The process still makes some duds during the cutting and final shaping stage but on the whole I am managing to make some slightly better than triangular links most of the time.   This evening whilst clearing the workbench of assembled DC underframe etches and drilling headstocks to fit co
richbrummitt

richbrummitt

11
Stock for Brent 1947 GWR

More on 5512's new wheels

While my fiancée is out for the evening, I've taken advantage of a nights un interrupted modelling. So after taking the dog on a very long walk to ensure she passed out, I dug out the 4575 conversion to try and finish it off.   I will come back and add some photos tomorrow, as the paint is currently drying...   Starting off with the slide bar, The original pin on which the connecting rod (please correct me if I am using the wrong terminology) is linked to the slide bar was a larger diameter
The Fatadder

The Fatadder

2
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

(Post 7 (LBSCR E2) Chassis Complete!))

Updatiostini: Ok, where does this loco building n00b start.... Oh yes. Firstly I'd like to appeal to those of you who know better and have built a siable bunch of these. Much of what I've written below will probably make you cringe and be a good example of how not to do things! If that is the case then I'll just agree with you and try to learn. If your, like me fairly new to loco kit building then this post might provide some help or interest. I had to have a real good think how to buil
Knuckles

Knuckles

1

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  • Blog Comments

    • Neal Ball
      Autocoach upgrade

      By Neal Ball · Posted

      Maybe with the new bottle, I should have sent it back…
    • MikeOxon
      A Tender for Viper

      By MikeOxon · Posted

      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'.
    • The Fatadder
      Autocoach upgrade

      By The Fatadder · Posted

      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 
    • MikeOxon
      A Tender for Viper

      By MikeOxon · Posted

      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.
    • MikeOxon
      A Tender for Viper

      By MikeOxon · Posted

      My impression from the sketch was of a round section and I think the way they are arranged to slide through those supports works best of they were.  Round rods were often used on early engines when flat strip came later - possible driven by the availability of steel.

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