Castle

Hi 69843, The pump isn't too bad if you get your calculations right the first time... I didn't put to tight a hole on the end of the pump body either, relying on the handrail knob to do the structure bit there just like some of the RTR offerings from messers Hornby and Bachmann. The thing to remember about the real thing is that the actuating rod itself floats about quite a lot in the pump as there can be all sorts of movement in the crosshead and the other bits it is attached to. If you pull the rod right out and wiggle it up and down and left and right, there is quite a bit of play which prevents the thing wearing out so the fact that the hole is quite large is almost prototypical! Thanks for the kind comments and likes everyone! All the best, Castle

Hi All, All hands to the pump! So then, now I have to get the running gear that once was little industrial and turn it into one of the hallowed products of Swindon. The biggest missing bit from the point of view of the motion is of course the vacuum pump that is powered by the driver's side cross head. This will require some grade A cobbling together as, this is one casting that wasn't in the box. The first thing I did was to get some brass strip, solder it into a 'T' shape and then solder a bit of brass tube to the end of it. This was then trimmed and fettled until it was the right size and shape to represent the pump body and its mounting. The brass strip was then stuck to the Electrotren frames with cyanoacrylate in the right position. This picture shows my second attempt at this. Enough said... Those red rods and cylinder cladding lining have to go too. My next aim was to get the thing working, figuring that if I got that far then I could make it look pretty afterwards! I had several mad schemes as to how to get the pump rod to attach to the cross head but the maddest of all was to solder up a bit of steel music wire into a Gibson handrail knob and then with due disregard for all that was sensible, I decided that the only way this was really going to work was to solder the thing to metal cross head. Figuring on a get it hot quick and get out fast policy, I turned the heat setting up to the metaphorical 11 on the soldering iron, sloshed on a bit of flux and went for it! With baited breath I put the loco on the rolling road and applied power... It worked - phew! I also fitted the etched cylinder drain cocks and mechanisms from the kit by drawing a centre line on the bottom of the cylinder and dipping the mounting pins of the etch in red acrylic paint to mark their position. A little light drilling and they were soon fitted. A few styrene details were then added to make the vacuum pump look the business. The bolts will be represented with rivet transfers after priming. The last things to consider now are the rear sandboxes. These are, due to the rear sections of the frames being attached to the body, going to be soldered to the main lump instead of the frames themselves. They are made from some box section brass from the spares box, cut to shape with a bit of sheet soldered over the top to finish. They are then fixed in between the frames and the cab steps and here they provide a great bit of structure to this area. Thanks to the great advice proffered by my friends on this forum, I managed to purchase a mini grit blaster unit and with some trepidation, managed to fire it up to produce the clean little specimen shown here. I had still to do the cab roof at this point. So, time for a little paint later on but for now it's my bedtime! All the best, Castle

Evening Star? I'll get my coat... All the best, Castle

Hi George, Why not use the gloss / not satin to put the transfers on and then put a satin varnish over the top? As long as it is well shaken and warm, you won't have any trouble with the Humbrol acrylic varnish cans and it will go well over the Halfords stuff too. That would save another layer of paint and / or another strip down. Just a thought! All the best, Castle

Hi Mike, Thanks for the information here - as you mention and I said earlier, I figure that we can loose the vast majority of the difference in wheel diameter in arguing the old 'tyres on the last turning' blag in the main if anyone is that geeky to notice! I must admit to not measuring the inclination of the Electrotren cylinders as I saw it as looking that particular gift horse a little too closely in the mouth... It looks right when seen without a drawing held right next to it. The vacuum pump is already on and working! Various bits of brass strip & tube, a few bits of styrene to detail it and a bit of thin piano wire with a Gibson hand rail knob soldered to the cross head later and it works like a charm. I will post a picture or two later in the week when I get 5 minutes. I have been building wardrobes this evening... All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, Thanks for the kind comments. I think that this could be a really useful chassis for kit bashers like ourselves. For the GWR geeks like me, I think to it might be useful for not only the 1361s but also the later 1366 and the earlier 1392 classes too. The only compramises being a slight difference in the wheels and, having looked at the thing assembled, I don't think that the cylinders are quite as inclined as they are on the real No. 1363 but that may just be my eyes! If it is, it is very marginal and not worth fussing over for the convenience of a plonk and play chassis. the only changes I have made to it is to fit the vacuum pump and to trim off the quite large circuit board for DCC as I think that when I get round to this, it can be done a bit neater and smaller with a hard wired chip. I am sure that my fellow RMWEB types can think of far more uses for this chassis than I can! I look forward to catching up with your build on you thread later on. All the best, Castle

Hi Lofty, Thanks for the kind comments and welcome to the forum. Some people think of it as a mere cuppa - to some, like us, it is brain lubricant... Nothing would happen either on my workbench or at Didcot without it! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I have used both primers on etched brass - the Acid #8 was used for the first time on little No. 1363 today (!) - and can report good things in both instances! The Acid #8 finish was really good - especially after the use of the new mini grit blaster... All the best, Castle

Especially when it was on fire... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Details, details... Having ruminated over the various options to fit the frames, I decided to commit a sin and cut up the rather nice frame etchings to provide me with locating units and to provide a bit of 'fill in' for the frames of the 1361 class which are longer than that on the Electrotren offering. The front and rear of the frames were removed as they also had the benefit of having the integral life guards etched into them as well and they have the correct shape to them too. At the front, after marking where the front of the Electrotren chassis had to go, I cut the frames to that length and then soldered them in place at the correct width. I then found a scrap of brass sheet and cut out the bizarre shape in the photograph below. The idea of this is that it fits into the slot in the front of the Electrotren cylinder block thus locating the chassis in place. The motor goes through the hole where the firebox would sit and then slides forwards, and this locks the frames in place. What's more - this mad idea worked! At the rear, I just cut the frames off, soldered them in place and gently fettled the front edge until everything would slide together. Once that was done, the life guards were folded into shape and away we went - bingo! On a roll thought I, boiler time! Again, I could have spent time swearing at a piece of brass, getting increasingly frustrated as the thing continued to be not round or I could go to my local model shop and pick up a bit of brass tube that is a quarter of a millimetre too small and have far less grief. Welcome to today's obvious answer! One trip down the road later and little measure and nibble with the Dremel and diamond saw bit gets us here: The slot for the gearbox was cut out and once it had all been test fitted, the barrel was soldered to the smokebox and then the whole assembly was soldered into place. The half etched sheet that was intended to become the boiler was then pressed into service to form the firebox / motor and gearbox visual shield type arrangement. This was then all soldered in place. After attaching the saddle, it was time to attach the buffer bodies. Rather than cleaning up the castings provided, I ordered some Slater's Churchward style buffers from Mainly Trains. Again, I tried the buffer alignment with my 41XX and it remains to be dead on! There are innumerable details to put on little 1363 so we had better crack on! The most significant of these is the cab roof. there is a nicely designed little framework that goes underneath to which the main roof is soldered. Then it is a case of the fiddly end pieces and the two rivet strips that represent the runners for the cab roof shutter. There are 23 handrail knobs of two sizes to fit and these took a bit of time to do. There was also the larger castings of the tank filler, dome, chimney, etc that were tinned and then briefly sweated on with a mini blow torch. The safety valve bonnet is just being balanced at the moment as it needs to be in plain brass and as it is made of brass I won't be attaching it until I have painted the rest of the engine. The smokebox steam pipe covers need attaching now as do the injectors and the other running plate bits and pieces. The tool box is a lovely touch and I am sure would make a great accessory if provided as an extra detail (hint, hint...). I have put the first of the leaf springs in place here and I have left them a little taller to help to hide the really obvious red gears in the Electrotren chassis from normal viewing angles. As reported by Collett2251's thread - the cab and bunker beading is a real finger toaster! Copious amounts of the carborundum grade Anglo Saxon was expended here too Chris! More bits on... The steam heat pipe (No. 1363 shunted boat trains so she required the ability to operate this equipment) Needs to run along the fireman's side running plate and this was fashioned from soft brass wire. The last of the details are now on and I have to turn my attention to the frames. Here is an overview of where I am at the moment with buffer heads in place for the first time. That's enough for now - little 1363 needs her chimney and front hand rail and lamp iron straightening, a darn good clean and then it's time for tea and buns... All the best, Castle Edit: Because it seems that I managed to delete the top bit of my post!

Hi Sej, While I obviously have a thing for producing models of the stock preserved at Didcot, there is something deeply satisfying about seeing these long extinct types come back to life - albeit small scale. They really do echo their time and it is a crying shame that so little of the GWR built in this elegant and refined era remains to be enjoyed today. Excellent stuff as always! I am also glad that someone else uses the 'arty' photo excuse... ALL my photos are very 'arty' indeed! All the best, Castle

Hi Neil, The chimney on a steam locomotive goes into the hollow drum that is the smokebox. Inside there are a few variations on what goes on but the essential idea is that there is an 'exhaust pipe' from the cylinders where the used steam escapes through an orifice called the blast pipe which directs the exhaust steam up through the chimney and out. This gives two main benifits: 1) this causes a partial vacuum In the smokebox. This draws the hot gasses from the fire through the boiler tubes and more air in through the grate in the firebox. This cause the fire to burn hotter and the water to boil quicker. The clever bit being that the harder the loco works, the more of this effect there is. 2) it makes that lovely chuff chuff noise we all love... There is a link to a page that shows the theory is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastpipe There is a LOT more to it than that but it gives you a starting point for your model. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Firstly, a friend of mine has started making noises about getting a kit to build No. 1340 Trojan (you know who you are!) and there were other noises that went along the lines of "know how you like building brass kits..." He is keen to learn how to do these things so we may see that one built here eventually as a joint effort. 7013: Thanks for the kind words - it is always nice to know that Little Didcot is enjoyed! I hope someone finds inspiration or at least the confidence to have a go here. I am humbled by your compliment to my 'does it look right enough?' style of model making. Let's face it, I model in OO, I can't even get the distance between the wheels right... All the best, Castle

Thanks Polly! I have seen two of the four UK based A4s at Didcot and the other (Gresley) has been in the past. The only one that hasn't been in preservation is the great speedy duck herself... No. 4464 now lives on Western territory of course being based at your project shed of Southall with a few of Mr Hoskins other machines. The LNER loco visit I am looking forward to of course is when we can repeat the Nos. 4079 & 4472 front buffer 'high five' as per the Australian tour in 1988! Hopefully it won't be too long before we can see that, the two engines should be out and about and in ticket at the same time together. It will be inevitable that the two will meet up. Nice to hear that you have joined the club! As you can see from the thread, I have done No. 1466 but I may have to do the chassis kit thing as I am definitely not happy with the performance of her at the moment. The trouble is with a visit to Didcot that inspiration will occur if you are of a GWR persuasion! All the best, Castle

Nice one Stefan! It is great to see some of the earlier GWR stuff done - it is really unusual to see a Dean 2-2-2 in model form and this is a very well done one at that. I look forward to seeing the Dean Goods develop! All the best, Castle

Hi Sej, If only I ate roll mop herrings - my modelling could be vastly improved! I do a lot of impromptu cutting and whittling of kebab and cocktail sticks in order to skewer my models together as I solder. It looks like some weird anti railway voodoo ceremony on my workbench at times... Thanks for the kind comments. All the best, Castle

Hi All, Saddle up partner! It doesn't matter how much I don't feel confident about doing this - the engine must have a curvy saddle tank. I will have to get brave and give it a go. So a period of contemplation was embarked upon. Coffee machine on... Rumination over and done with, firstly I did a dry run on the structure as per the instructions. This revealed that it would come into contact with the motor on the inside edge for a distance of about 2/3rds of the tanks length. A bit of marking out and liberal application of diamond edged grinding wheel in my Dremel resulted in this... ...which was then soldered together. These changes unfortunately also removed a bit of its torsional strength in the long axis so a rummage round in the box of brass stock and off cuts revealed some thin strip section. This was duly attached either side and the structure restored. A test fit got me to here where the saddle tank, body and chassis met together for the first time. It fitted too! That got me to the curved bit that I wasn't so sure about. I don't have rollers as I don't do enough of this sort of thing to make their purchase economically viable. I was confident in using the suggested method in the instructions of forming the main, larger radius curve with a rolling pin (a smooth barrelled fat marker pen fell into my hand here!) on a hard piece of rubber (I have just put some carpet tiles down in our home office - handy how these things work out isn't it?) but I was less sure about the tighter curves I figured that putting in a surface over which the curve could be formed would be the best bet. I rummaged around in the bits box again and I came up with a bit of brass tube that was uncannily the right size for the radius I had to bend! Giddy with success, I cut two pieces out slightly over length and then fettled them until they were a push fit in the frame. They then got soldered in. The theory was that if I can get the top to line up and stick then the tubes will take care of the tight bend ant the flats on the underside should be child's play. Hmmmmmmm... Using the ever helpful kebab skewers to line up the dome and safety valve holes, the top bit was tacked in place. Then through several acts of brute force and ignorance, the rest of the tank outer skin was forced to comply and bend to my will! This went so well that it was repeated for the two upper detail layers of plate work. Again, I used the kebab skewers to pin it in place. As before, I know when to quit (when you are ahead!) so, after the front overlay was fitted, a little bit of component balancing resulted in this picture here which I'm quite pleased with! Next I will have to get the chassis in place and provide little No. 1363 with a boiler. That is enough for now though... All the best, Castle

Hi Jim, This is the first time I have looked in on your thread in a while (more fool me!) and the progress and standard of modelling is excellent, real knock out stuff! I have the Oakwood Press book of the line and always thought that it would make a great subject - turns out I was right. I love it when people include things like the working latch and hinges on the cattle dock on a 'because I can' basis. I look forward to seeing this develop. Keep up the good work. All the best, Castle

Hi All, Correct - No. 93 is off on holiday! She will be visiting various places on tour and the highlight of this is her 'main line' debut on the Looe branch. Have a look at the DRC website for details of these trips: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/index.html All the best, Castle

Hi All, Burning the candle (or fingers) at both ends. Back to the 'Big 13'. Then I had a go at the basic cab structure that involves a nice planked effect etch for the floor and the front / spectacle plate and side sheet piece.the reverser and drain cock lever are part of the main chassis etch and are simply folded up. Once they were soldered in, I then attached the 'firebox' sides. This gave me the front and two sides of the cab. The next job was to start on the rear wall and bunker arrangement of the cab structure. The basics (and some bad soldering!) are shown here. Then the cosmetic overlay was fitted and the whole lot trialled in place. The small half etched bit that forms the recess for the handbrake lever to turn in was next. I then soldered it to the chassis after cutting a slot to allow the wires to slide in place. the two cosmetic overlays were then fitted. There are a few edging strips to attach to the cab aperture and the rim of the bunker but I suspect they are going to be a pain to do and not wishing to dampen my enthusiasm I figured discretion was the better part of valour here! The Smokebox structure was then soldered up, beginning with the rather nicely designed framework and then the overlay. I located it at the top with a kebab skewer (I always have a number of these squirreled away in the tool kit - very useful little beasties!) through the chimney hole and tacked it fore and aft. Once secure there, I carried on round - tacking and clamping as I went with a variety of weapons and coarse grade Anglo - Saxon as the feeling of lightly singed fingertips came about. I then cleaned up the chimney and balanced it and the smokebox in place. The chimney has rather cleverly been cast in copper to allow the cap to be polished - it's a shame I have to paint it black really... Again, I had had a good run so I decided to sit back and admire my handiwork for the rest of the evening. Adrian: Lovely stuff! nice to see the 1361 class appearing in force. Could this be an RMWEB first - the entirety of a GWR class kit built and on one thread? (single engines such as The Great Bear not included of course - that's cheating!) Mine will be No. 1363, yours is No. 1362. We will have to find out what one Collett2251 is doing over on his thread. That leaves us potentially with just two to find... Anyone out there got the missing links? I can see why your daughter likes it - it is an immensely attractive little machine isn't it? I hope someone takes this idea and runs with it for a production run like the Beattie well tank. The chassis is already available - that must make things easier... All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, Anything I can do to encourage the collecting of GWR machines... Just kidding - it is the fact we all love different stuff that makes the hobby and RMWEB so interesting! Not that I need one but I am looking forward to seeing the Bachmann Dukedog too. Enjoy No. 3650 - she is a lovely little loco with a great bunch of chaps that look after her. All the best, Castle

Hi All, Kev: The NRM is well worth a look as there are things there you simply will never see elsewhere. I think it is just Nos. 6000 & 2818 flying the GWR flag at the moment but if you don't mind the foreign stuff like me then well worth a go. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is also well worth a go too. Try and make it up there when they are going out to Whitby as Pickering to Whitby, fish 'n' Chris and a mooch round Dracula's gaff before heading home is a great way to spend a day! The scenery throughout the journey is breathtaking and the noise of the exhaust beat of a hard working loco echoing round the glacial valley has to be heard to be believed. Highly recommended and a lovely bunch of people running it all too. Chris: that is good to hear - a fellow 1361 class builder! I look forward to seeing another little saddle tank on the rails. I have been in touch with Roger Slade at CSP and he is going to reissue the 1361 kit but he wants to spend a bit of time refining the body etches first. He does do No. 1340, 'Trojan' (left the GWR too early for my collection sadly but I might be tempted one day...) and the 1331class. I am informed by him that the next priority for release in 4mm scale is the Cardiff Dock Railway Kitson 0-4-0 No. 1338 (another hole in the Little Didcot Fleet!). That Kitson-Hawthorn valve gear will be interesting in OO though... http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/1338/1338.html I also have some lovely etches and castings from him to do the 4 GWS GWR breakdown train vehicles (2 tool and 2 mess vans) to do when I have got through the current crop of projects. They look to my eye to be very nice indeed. Stay tuned! All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, Blimey - that is quite a lot of lining! I am glad my current 1361 class project is plain black and filth... All the best, Castle P.S. you need to get a GWR pannier to go with that Dukedog now!

Hi All, M.I.B. - I never cease to be reminded of how lucky I am to get to be involved with all these beautiful and historic machines. As a kid I lived too far away from any steam preservation sites to get involved so when the opportunity to join up at Didcot came up, I jumped at it and haven't looked back. That is also why I like to share stuff like this with my fellow RMWEB types. Kev - I aim to please! Like you, despite the GWR addiction, there is just something about that shape isn't there? I guess it is that it is so reminiscent of its 1930s art deco era. Lovely to see a live one with her skirts on too! Agreed about the chassis! I have done a bit on the 1361 tonight and will post again later in the week. All the best, Castle

Hi All, It’s big, it's painted blue, it's at Didcot but it’s not what you think… Another foreign visitor to GWR HQ came by so, in the finest tradition of Little Didcot, here is a special edition post to share it with you all. Due to a positioning move that needed to avoid a potential strike by railway staff, a certain big blue machine made 81E its temporary home for a few days a couple of weeks back. For the benefit of those who like to see the visitors, here are a few pictures of A4 Class No. 4464 Bittern. Here is a shot of her outside the shed with the GWS ‘Bus’. Here she is on the ash road. An ‘arty’ shot! And this is where I was invited into the support coach for a brew so that is where I will leave it… They are a lovely bunch of lads all round on the support crew of Mr Hoskins’ machines – especially considering that I got a doughnut with my tea! All the best, Castle