Minor Points: Annie's layout projects.

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

Absolutely delightful, Annie, and beautifully constructed.

Thanks James.  The silly thing is it wouldn't really take that much to complete it, - especially since I've got a brilliant new razor saw and other useful tools now.

I made it to take a Gem lever frame inside the signal cabin with a gap under the floor for the point rodding so the potential was there for it to be a working signal box.  The rear wall is able to be removed to operate the levers since nobody has made functional 16mm scale signal men yet.

[cornamuse]

Definitely needs resurrecting. The signal box is lovely. Is it 1/12th scale? Even if it was just to look at, finished, lit and in a shelf… 

 

no, I’m probably not helping! 
 

glad you liked the tram though.

[Annie]

7 minutes ago, cornamuse said:

Definitely needs resurrecting. The signal box is lovely. Is it 1/12th scale? Even if it was just to look at, finished, lit and in a shelf… 

It's made to 1/16th of an inch equals one real inch scale so a little smaller than 1/12th  scale.  I can still use a lot of bits and pieces that are intended for 1/12th scale though which is certainly useful.  It's an easy scale to work in and I was having a lot of fun with it before too much life happened and I had to stop making models.  As I mentioned it wouldn't take too much to finish it so I should do something about that as it would be a definite cheer up for me.

 

I really liked your tram and it reminded me of the start of one of my own efforts at building a tram.

 

[cornamuse]

That is utterly gorgeous 

[Annie]

Back to the 00 projects.  The vendor says this is an all metal kit built bogie van.  It has a strong scent of the GWR about it.  Any ideas as to its origins?

 

[K14]

49 minutes ago, Annie said:

Back to the 00 projects.  The vendor says this is an all metal kit built bogie van.  It has a strong scent of the GWR about it.  Any ideas as to its origins?

 

Keyser's IIRC. You're correct regarding the whiff of Brasso about it...

From "The Big Book of All Wagons & That" by Atkins, Beard & Tourett:—

 

Mink F, Diagram V1 30 Tons. Two unfitted 69996/7 built 1904, and six fitted 69998-70000 & 79598-600 built 1911. Spoked wheels as built.
All lasted in traffic until the early 50s

 

 

Pete S.

Edited July 25 by K14

[Annie]

11 minutes ago, K14 said:

Mink F, Diagram V1 30 Tons. Two unfitted 69996/7 built 1904, and six fitted 69998-70000 & 79598-600 built 1911. Spoked wheels as built.
All lasted in traffic until the early 50s

Thanks very much.  I was fairly certain it was one of the bogie iron minks.  Perhaps a little large for a small shunting layout, but I didn't want to turn down a vintage kit built GWR item like this one.  With only eight having been built I'm only going to ever need one of them.

[Annie]

What a morning!  One of my neighbours came by and enquired about an unrestored rickshaw I still had from the remains of my vintage bicycle collection I sold off last year and we worked out a trade where he's going to do a clean up of the rubbish in my carport and take it away as well as washing down my house and driveway in exchange for the rickshaw.  A good deal all round since it would have cost me $$$$ I don't have to get someone to do those jobs and he was very keen to purchase the rickshaw from me.

 

While sorting down through all my piles of railway stuff I found the bag of several hundred coffee stirrers I haven't been able to find for ages.  They are a different width and size to the million or so I purchased last year so that was definitely a useful find.  Lots of wooden tongue depressors and lolly sticks were stashed along with the coffee stirrers so i shouldn't be lacking for model making timber for a while.

A retractable tape measure and stapler I though I'd lost have also turned up as well as various electric motors with gearboxes attached I purchased ages ago from ebay.  There should be more of these somewhere.

 

I'm finding endless amounts of Lego as well.  Getting bit by type 1 narcolepsy banjaxed my brain, messing up my mental cognition and my hand - eye coordination, - so my answer to that was to buy lots of Lego (though some of it was Chinese knock off Lego) and spend time making things.  And it worked!  An absolutely brilliant form of therapy that I can thoroughly recommend.  I collected a certain amount of Lego railway stuff and messed around with that for a while; - and then I discovered Brick Wars, - which is a crazy form of miniature wargaming played with Lego people and mechs all constructed from Lego.  But eventually I got bored with Lego and now I've got a great pile of the stuff that I'm going to need to find new homes for.

 

I've been able to buy 3 Peco left hand curved points in really nice condition on TradeMe, - which is our local on-line auction website here in NZ.  I was able to get the three of them for less than the price of a single new point so that was a definite win.  There was no such thing as curved points back in the day when I was messing about with 00 so these are a bit of a novelty.  (Yes I know I don't get out much and I'm easily amused.)

 

 

The remains of an old Triang 'Hiawatha' Pacific was something else I've picked up.  The mech itself is in good shape and the wheels are barely worn, - it must've been somebody's pride and joy at some time going by how clean and unmarked the plastic body shell is.  Unfortunately part of the body has been broken away, but at least that means I can dismantle it with a clear conscience.  The wheels are the early cast Marzac ones which is a small disappointment, but for some reason it's become almost impossible to find Triang engines with the later steel rimmed wheels here in NZ.  However it will do for being promoted to 'O' gauge glory as a 2ft 6in gauge tank engine.

 

 

 

 

[Nick Holliday]

9 hours ago, K14 said:

Keyser's IIRC. You're correct regarding the whiff of Brasso about it...

From "The Big Book of All Wagons & That" by Atkins, Beard & Tourett:—

 

Mink F, Diagram V1 30 Tons. Two unfitted 69996/7 built 1904, and six fitted 69998-70000 & 79598-600 built 1911. Spoked wheels as built.
All lasted in traffic until the early 50s

 

 

Pete S.

Not K’s but Hobbytime 

 

[Edwardian]

15 hours ago, Annie said:

Back to the 00 projects.  The vendor says this is an all metal kit built bogie van.  It has a strong scent of the GWR about it.  Any ideas as to its origins?

 

 

I believe I may even have one of those, though I have not seen most of the GWR Grouping Era stock of which it is part since 2013. 

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Nick Holliday said:

Not K’s but Hobbytime 

 

55 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I believe I may even have one of those, though I have not seen most of the GWR Grouping Era stock of which it is part since 2013. 

The vendor who has this bogie Mink F seems to have the knack of finding all manner of older railway models.  With only eight ever having been built having just one of them on a layout is almost too many, - and especially on a small shunting layout.  Though I suppose sending a Mink F into the middle of a shunting puzzle should help to keep me on my toes.

[CKPR]

On 25/07/2024 at 22:48, Annie said:

Back to the 00 projects.  The vendor says this is an all metal kit built bogie van.  It has a strong scent of the GWR about it.  Any ideas as to its origins?

 

Agreed, it's a Mink F by Hobbytime of Kent [aka BSL coach kits] and here's a review from the Model Railways 'Wagon Survey' in 1977

Edited July 26 by CKPR

[Annie]

3 minutes ago, CKPR said:

Looks like a Mink F by Hobbytime of Kent [aka BSL coach kits]- here's a review from the Model Railways 'Wagon Survey' in 1977

Thank you very much.  From what I can see in the photos the Mink F seems to have been assembled reasonably well.  Interesting that the main body shell is made from aluminium.

One point of difference though is that the vendor says the bogies are plastic and not white metal. 

 

[Tom Burnham]

10 hours ago, CKPR said:

Agreed, it's a Mink F by Hobbytime of Kent [aka BSL coach kits] and here's a review from the Model Railways 'Wagon Survey' in 1977

 

When I was young I used to bike over to West Wickham to get bits and pieces at Hobbytime. A small but very useful shop in a suburban shopping parade near the station.

[richbrummitt]

I confess to having built 3 Mink Fs. I have bodies for some more. That’s the problem with having CAD skills and printer access. They’re all 2mm but I suppose the file could be scaled up, but maybe a little crude. 
 

@Annie you have some more PECO points on there way to you. One of them is also curved. 

[Annie]

8 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

I confess to having built 3 Mink Fs. I have bodies for some more. That’s the problem with having CAD skills and printer access. They’re all 2mm but I suppose the file could be scaled up, but maybe a little crude. 
 

@Annie you have some more PECO points on there way to you. One of them is also curved. 

Thank you very kindly Richard.  😁

 

It's a pity that the GWR didn't find the Mink F's more useful and make more of them as I think I can only ever justify having one of them.

[Annie]

While hunting for something else through the RM backnumbers archive I found this gem in Railway Modeller January 2008 page 22.

I was on the brink of cutting down a similar large cardboard box and I am so pleased that I stumbled across this article before I did.  I think I would have been very cross if I'd found this article after I'd cut up the box.

 

This is just the images from the article which gives a useful outline of how it was done.

[Annie]

More cardboard modelling.  As an impoverished teen I made almost everything out of cardboard, - but what Cardboard John is doing has me absolutely drop jaw amazed.

 

https://issuu.com/mortons-digital/docs/rmm007

 

 

[Caley Jim]

As an impoverished schoolboy back in the early 1960's I too started scratchbuilding in card in 00, making a FR 3 plank open from an Essery  article in the Toddler

And a CCT from a drawing in MRC.

My lettering was rubbish then too!

 

Jim

Edited August 4 by Caley Jim
forgot to add scale

[Annie]

17 minutes ago, Caley Jim said:

My lettering was rubbish then too!

Mine wasn't up to much back then either.

 

I can remember doing a Midland 3 plank dropside, a pair of vans and a couple of generic 6 wheel coaches from plans in RM.  I spent a weekend making a Caley brake van that surprised me with how well it turned out.  The most ambitious model I attempted was a Midland open 3rd Clerestory coach which ended up looking like it was a bit down on its luck despite my best efforts.  It's eventual fate was to become a grounded coach in the goods yard.

 

Your 3 plank open and CCT look similar to my own efforts with making rolling stock.  I would imagine that teenage model railway enthusiasts that make their own rolling stock from cardboard would be a very rare breed these days.  When I see how much a very ordinary RTR open wagon costs these days I would have thought that there would be a great incentive to scratchbuilt their own models.

[Annie]

Struggling a bit with sleepiness and chronic pain so it was a nice cheer up to have my digital copy of Railway Modeller arrive.  As someone who lives with a sleep disorder it is always a little unnerving to receive the next month's issue of RM, - ie. September's issue when it'd only just started up being August when I fell asleep this morning.

 

Not too many dismals this time and plenty of steamers which is definitely a good thing.  'Cobbolds Wharf' in S7 on pg 710 took my interest being based as it was on Ipswich dock, but it was 'Old Parrock' in The Small Layout Gallery on pg 728 that really made me sit up and take notice.  I have a feeling that I've seen this interesting small layout somewhere else before, - possibly on Western Thunder, - but it would have been when it was at an earlier stage of things.

At 4' 3" x 1' 6" it's certainly small and the track plan is simplicity itself.  The scenic work is a delight and the buildings are all made of card and painted with water colours which is very much down my street.

 

Possibly I wouldn't want to replicate East Sussex, but the thought of small and delightful layouts sent me back to my digital copy of the GOG's Small Layouts Vol 1 booklet and Giles Barnabe's Stratford (Waterside) layout based on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Moreton-in-Marsh Tramway.  At only 2 metres in length it's certainly small for 'O' gauge, but would be a lot smaller in 00.  Giles Barnabe has also done a small plan for Wantage which I've often frowned at and wondered about. 

 

This is the 'A' layout plan which is very 19th century.  The 1920s 'B' plan is a later version with more sidings and trackwork on a wider baseboard.

 

Wantage Upper Yard by Giles Barnabe.  From Carendt.com

 

 

The layout plan depicts the scene pretty much as it really was from opening in 1875 to the end of passenger service during the 1920s (freight workings continued into the 1940s). There was a passenger station with a roof covering part of the low platform (f) with an arch (g) in the brick wall passing through to the station and the road beyond; a timber-built locomotive shed and workshop (e); a couple of goods sidings serving a goods platform with a small, hand-operated crane (d) and a coal and grain merchants’ wharf (h); and a line serving the town’s gas works, which was reached by running through a second engine shed (j) and into the fiddle yard on the model.

The only exception to exact reproduction is the alignment of the goods siding and loco works, which have been adjusted slightly to fit within the baseboard. For scenic purposes Giles also has added a low-relief goods store (a) and low-relief stables (b), neither of which was actually at Wantage. The cobbled goods yard is indicated at (c), the loco service coal pile and ash dump at (z), and the water crane projecting from the end wall of the loco shed at (w). The iron railings fencing in the goods yard are indicated by (+ + + +).

Edited August 6 by Annie
added a picture, wrote more words

[Northroader]

I’ve been aware of Old Parrock for some time, and was lucky enough to see it at the SWAG bash in Taunton this year. To my mind it’s just so for what a line should be (apart from the wrong scale) You’re right, the best write up on it is over on the WT forum:

 

https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/old-parrock.6209/

 

what’s coming next?

https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/wolseys-creek.12887/

 

GOG small layouts volume 1 booklet, what about “Line with no name”, now that’s really good.

 

Edited August 6 by Northroader

[Annie]

9 minutes ago, Northroader said:

You’re right, the best write up on it is over on the WT forum:

Ha! - yes, - that's it.  It must be some time ago that I first saw it on WT.  It really is an exquisite piece of railway modelling.

 

12 minutes ago, Northroader said:

what’s coming next?

As tempting as Wantage is it's the Stratford (Waterside) trackplan that I want to have a go at for a cardboard baseboard 00 project.  Wantage has always been picked out for an 'O' gauge layout as it would make an ideal home for my collection of pre-war wooden 'O' gauge rolling stock.

 

I know things have been in a muddle for a while because most of my attention has been on caring for my daughter while she hasn't been well; - and then my own health has been patchy.  Hopefully I'll be able settle in and get something done now.

[Northroader]

Maybe Blessington? The Irish answer to Wantage:

 

https://irrs.ie/dublin-blessington-tramway-archive-photo-feature/

 

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

what’s coming next?

https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/wolseys-creek.12887/

Oh dear me no, - I really don't need the distraction and certainly not a layout with wharves and water.  Far too much temptation.

 

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

GOG small layouts volume 1 booklet, what about “Line with no name”, now that’s really good.

I think you sent me a scan of the 'Line with no name', - anyway I seem to have it amongst my files.  It's certainly a clever use of a sector plate and a cassette.

 

34 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Maybe Blessington? The Irish answer to Wantage:

Oh my, - don't tempt me. Those wonderful double ended tram engines are enough to turn my head.