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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
Buckingham West

Servos - a ghost in the machine?

As mentioned in the last entry, over Christmas I made my second MERG Servo4 electronic module. You will recall I put too high a voltage through the first one (and one donated by a friend) due to H&M Duettes delivering far more voltage than they say when they are not under load - BEWARE!   This third module tested ok and looked right. I plugged it into a new (checked) 12vdc supply and still all looked and tested ok. I plugged 4 servos in and they worked. I wired it up the power for common r
Richard Mawer

Richard Mawer

2
halfwit's fantastic workbench!

Judith Edge Ruston 48DS - cab 2.

Work has slowed down again on these two. I ordered some phospher bronze strip over Christmas to make up the pick-ups, however it was out of stock. I'm hoping to find some at the Stafford exhibition and then get these two running.   In the meantime I've done a bit more work to the bodies. The kit is supplied with a couple of small etches for the cab floor, obviously not the whole floor as the motor and gearbox sit inside the cab. These pieces sit either side and are only used for the open cabbe
halfwit

halfwit

2
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

(Post 5 (LBSCR 'E2' Build))

Update,   The replacement sprung buffers have a small cap that needs to be soldered in place, but once that is done I found that the components were not supplied with a back buffer plate, and so I had to make my own. I did lose a cap but I made my own.   The following photograph I recieved from Tom Biddle (A.K.A Blue Pioneer), and may I say thankyou again, for it is a great picture. For a while I've been debating with myself whether or not to discard the 'enclosed' coal rails that came wit
Knuckles

Knuckles

2
Morgan's Workbench Blog

ECML pair leave the works

I finally finished off the two A3s last night and decided to wait for today to take a few photos outside. I thought the reflection from the lying snow on the garden table would be good for lighting up the motion. No such luck. It started to snow before I could get out and do the business. Content with having to take more indoor photos I've attached a few below. So, apart from actually lining and varnishing Cameronian both have also been coaled, crewed, fitted with express code headlamps and had
45609

45609

1
Stock for Brent 1947 GWR

Finney Dean Goods

Having picked up the kit today thoughts have now turned to what to model.   The prototype I want to model is going to be a Westbury based machine, for which there is a photo in one of the cheddar books dated 1949. This is an early build loco and would use the narrow footplate parts, fluted rods, however the photo is too grainy to work out which of the two fireboxes needs to be used.   As ever if anyone knows of a good source of photos of this loco please let me know.   I am going to be b
The Fatadder

The Fatadder

3
Bw Leipzig Hbf West

Trains alsaciennes – some snapshots from Strasbourg

Afternoon all!   We had gone on a short trip to Strasbourg from Thursday till Saturday this week, which, while not purely motivated by railfanning, did allow me to take a handful of tram and railway photos. As you will probably be aware of, Strasbourg, with a population of about 272,000 and a historic background far too extensive to be summed up with just a few words, is not only an important railway node in eastern France, but also represents a prime example of how trams may be successfully r
NGT6 1315

NGT6 1315

1
ess1uk's Workbench Blog

Seacows and sealions

In my collection of Lima and Hornby Seacow ballast wagons I so far have 5 Lima YGH and 1 Hornby YGB. The pictures show them as i weather them and detail them. As I received them from Temeraire. The first stages of weathering. The Lima versions need to be made a little more rusty looking. The Hornby one came from Neil Mason and needs a little attention, its missing a head protector at one end and a sets of steps has broken off. put side by side and you can tell they are by different
ess1uk

ess1uk

3
neal's Blog

Revell Corvette - making a start

Well, this is my first Blog entry, and whilst the model is strictly maritime, this is to complement the quayside scene being prepared on my layout.   The quayside currently has tramway and flags, but the harbour wall is yet to be added.   As far as the model ship goes, the Platinum model includes etches which replace moulded detail. These include portholes and shrouds (about 40 in number).   As it would be difficult to add these once the hull is assembled, I figured that this would a good
neal

neal

5
Maxstoke

Wagons Roll

Just to show that the wagons situation has not been neglected, here are some pictures from a batch build of Association wagons, currently in the shop!
RichardW1

RichardW1

3
Maxstoke

Coaching Stock

The Stonebridge Railway (Maxstoke is the station midway along the line) had very few passenger trains, indeed very little traffic of any sort! In the early days (1853 timetable) there were 5 daily passenger trains between Hampton and Whitacre- this was reduced to four in 1856. Throughout this period the first train of the day was a mineral train. in 1877 the passenger trains become referred to as 'Pass & Goods' on the time table, (four per day) with a passenger only train in the early after
RichardW1

RichardW1

5
Hydraulic Heaven

To The Manor Born

A little project that I've been working on for the past few weeks...     This is an Ixion manor bought on Ebay and now sporting a partly completed Nigel Ashton milled brass 2FS chassis.   This evening was its first proper test run. South Yard is a bit too short for this sort of activity so after a few initial runs there to make sure the thing could actually move it was up to the loft to try it on the rehomed (and not very scenic) Taw Bridge where there is at least 6 feet or so of clear ru
D869

D869

9
Blacklade Artamon Square

Time-slip (with continuity errors)

This blog hasn't been too active recently. Not a lot has happened on the layout in the last 18 months , though it's been up and run a few time. I had some time for modelling in the early part of last year , but that was almost completely absorbed by a bout of stock building. Only some of that was written up in my workbench blog , and I must add the other items.   Basically the idea was to try to sort out the outstanding/stalled projects , plus the easy bits and pieces then get stuck into some
Ravenser

Ravenser

0
cornish trains jez's Blog

First attempt at weathering with MIG powders

Good evening all,   I have decided to spend a bit of time weathering my Farish class 37 number 37206 and having bought some MIG powders about 6 months ago, it has taken me this long to pluck up the courage to have a bash at using them. I have already weathered this loco but I was just missing the smoke streaks on the roof.   I have used the "Black Smoke" pigment to create some smoke stains on the roof using some photos from Flickr as reference. On the box it recommends using a drop of turp
cornish trains jez

cornish trains jez

8
Stock for Brent 1947 GWR

3863 - Hornby Conversion to P4

Having now got 5813's chassis ready for paint, It was time for the next project   I made a quick start on 2220's chassis, got the jig set up so the next job is going to be prepping for the CSB locations (along with working out what if anything is going to need modifying to allow clearance for the beams.   The intention is going to be to build this before I start on the Finney Dean Goods (assuming that I manage to get into Bristol tomorrow.)   In the mean time I have got on with finishing o
The Fatadder

The Fatadder

0
barrowroad's Blog

Bristol Barrow Road - Test Fit of First Roof Pitch

With the layout now fully erected again following the Christmas and New Year break - the room doubles up as accommodation for guests - I have now had the opportunity to test fit the first of the roof pitches on the roundhouse girders.                 In the meantime I have managed to build another 14 trusses so hopefully the second pitch is not too far away from completion.
barrowroad

barrowroad

18
Sixties Snapshots - 00 scale

Hornby Hawksworth and Centenary Coaches – and some connectors I made earlier

In recent posts I have detailed corridor connectors for Bachmann Collett coaches and I have touched on the Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake.   Hornby Hawksworth Coaches as bought (left) and as modified (right)   When Hornby introduced their Hawksworth coaches back in 2010 I was most impressed with the coach detail but not so happy with Hornby’s corridor connectors.     I wanted the coaches to be more closely coupled and it took me a lot of courage to remove Hornby’s moulded black plastic
Silver Sidelines

Silver Sidelines

9
Eridge Mk 2 - rebuild of a P4 layout

Eridge extension

A bit of trackwork that we never had on Mk.1, the down end of the platform loops have been closed so that we get an extra bit of scenic section before the fiddle yard, and a simpler fiddle yard entry with only two tracks instead of four.        
10800

10800

2
SRman's Workbench Blog

The 'Tin' HAL continues towards completion

More on the 2 HAL: I have now started painting the interiors. I know they started with a reddish-brown for second class (ex-third class) but I have no idea what colour the first class seats should be. I chose a French blue on the strength of Hornby using blue for their Maunsell coaches but this is a tenuous guess at best! I will also paint the antimacassars white or cream for first class only.   The roofs were still in undercoat before and have now had a coat of a darker grey.   The interior
SRman

SRman

2
Fen End Pit's Blog

More learning with lasers

First up the results of my attempts to cut a mitre joint with a laser cutter. My jig worked pretty well but it was very time consuming to get the part on the jig correctly and to align the laser to where I wanted the cut to be. The biggest problem is that the 'red dot' is only really a rough guide for where the laser will cut and it isn't actually in the same place. It is good enough to spot whether the job fits the material when you press 'test' but not really up for fine alignment.     Th
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit

4
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

(Post 4 (LBSCR 'E2' Build))

Mini update. Where I accidently filed the rivets smooth I've drilled holes, inserted .45mm brass rod with superglue. Then they were clipped off and filed. I just need to finish cleaning them up, removing the glue and fine tune the tank extension shape as the join is smooth to the touch now. Also added the grab handle seen in photographs. Bunker gone! Will scratch build my own. Chimney position looks crap here so might resolder it. Accupuncture pin cushion Nails clipped and filed, still need
Knuckles

Knuckles

3
Clevedon WC&PR

Lower Queens Road 2

Evening Have been building the end terrace for Lower Queens Road (the house was purchased by the railway when the line extended to Portishead in 1911). It's taken a long time to get this far as I decided (foolishly it turned out) to cut and place each quoin stone by hand. It's all plasticard and strip of varying thickness and section. The lighting rig will be up against the houses hence my only modelling the front inch of them. The infill stonework was going to be Wills Course stone but I've d
ullypug

ullypug

6
Stock for Brent 1947 GWR

High Level Chassis

Over the past week I have been building a High Level kit for a 58xx chassis to use with 5813. Given the number of very good threads detailing the construction of these on here, I wont go into detail. Just a couple of photos.   Construction broadly followed the instructions, the slight differences were adding the horn blocks to the sides using my Avonside jig before adding the spacers.   I have also removed the springs to enable the removal of all axles (ive yet to decide on how I will keep
The Fatadder

The Fatadder

5

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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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