The Bigbee Line

I’ve been trying out the manufacture of some T sections etc out of various cards. The favourite at the moment is a business card. Scoring down a 20mm wide strip gives something that bends cleanly. Two pieces then glued back to back onto some thin paper. After drying overnight it was trimmed and glued into position. A corner iron Views in position Finally a comparison...

I don't know where threads hide on R M Web, Just found this one....

Jim, In the Jim Russell book it is described as a 27 ton Diesel Shovel and is loaded on GWR 41988. The shovel is supported on timber cribbing, with timbers and chains holding it in position. The condition of the machine suggests that is had been loaded at some worksite after a job. The curved roof of the engine house would aid it fitting within the loading gauge. Such a load would have travelled 'Load Examined' if not as an 'Exceptional Load'. How time flies, it must be 30 years since I last signed off an "Exceptional Load" on the big railway. Also Lowmacs were not as useful as Weltrols when loading machines on and off at worksites. Tracked vehicles could be a pain in the rear end if there was any kind of super elevation. We loaded a tracked vehicle with a type of harrow that had been used to 'rake' the ballast to remove the indentations from the old track before laying the new. It was on the bank near Godmersham and it took forever.... Thanks Ernie

The roof is on. Plus first coat of Shellac. I’ll trim to length after dinner.

More random variety. While some adding some additional internal supports to the SECR roof, I need to wait for the PVA to dry... So looking round for a 5 minute job I chose the “Jugo”. I had dry run the brass buffers, but the spacing of the originals was too close. So yesterday I had used some styrene off cuts to create a headstock. This morning I created the holes and tried the buffers. Much better. Moving the buffers out lines them up with the sole bar, so maybe a compromise to make room for the springing. On the real thing, the buffer would have been self contained with rubber or steel springs inside... I’d also looked at fitting some better wheels. A quick axle length comparison showed that the Lima axles are a bit on the short side. So here’s the thing... I could kill more than one bird by splitting the underframe down the middle, allowing the axle boxes to be drilled out (leaving the moulded “RIV” on the bearing cover) for brass bearings. That would need the outer edge to be trimmed. As a byproduct the buffers might end up in the right position. So before I fit the headstock at the other end I’ll try it out.

Thanks for the tips, I also found this thread... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133218-ruston-bucyrus-drawings/ Not sure why I didn't find it before... I think I have enough to make a load for my wagons. As we are in Norfolk, Lincoln isn't to far away and if passing might have a 'look see'. Must avoid getting too interested... Thanks again.

I am kit bashing a couple of Loriot wagons that will need some suitable loads. Browsing my Jim Russell books a couple of Loriots were loaded with various items of earth moving equipment. To cut a long story short, is anyone aware of a suitable drawing or 7mm model. I need the one that has what looks like a huge garden shed on the back end, like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tudedude/9621980117

Merry Christmas Here in sunny Norfolk we are ready for a trip to the coast, no big trains today.. Before we go out I'm trying a 3 layer roof for my SECR van. Looking at the various pictures the roof is layered under the end eaves. So I cut 2 layers to length +2mm, then another layer at length +4mm from my best HMSO manilla index cards. This was then laid in a pyrex dish of water to soften up overnight This morning I found a piece of wood the width of a Parkside SR Van roof. The bars above the doors had been sanded off to let it be used as a former. The first layer was laid over with some weights to hold it down, Then a wipe of PVA, added the second layer, in a bit I will add the third layer...

The Loriot Y is getting the framing built up with odds and ends of plasticard, the underneath now has the bottom web done... I've also cut out a rectangle to form the floor. It has a couple of strips to form the inner part of the web, here upside down,... When in position I will do some theatrical infilling, here are some rough shapes... In the process I have discpvered a useful knibbling tool.... Heavy duty nail clippers....

I remember Airfix kits being painted on the sprue, then touched up after assembly. Did I imagine it.... My own preference (as I'm slow finishing things) is to get the base coat on quick. It doesn't look too bad then when it gets shunted about..

The Loriot Y has also had some attention, a piece of MDF was cut to give the two ends something of substance to support the ends. I can start to fabricate the girders between the ends, might need to set the angle of the end platforms as these seem to have been built with a slight positive camber.

I've started assembling the card sides around the wood core. In the spirit of re-cycling and 'waste not want not' I plan an attempt to create the T section and angle irons from thin card. The first side is on.... A dry run with the end... Then with the door... It will be interesting to see how this looks up against a Parkside rendition. I'm thinking that I will finish this one as a fitted van...

Santa Special on the Epping and Ongar yesterday. Interesting, but no present for me from Santa, must have been a naughty boy. Anyway, my plan over Christmas is to not start too many models and get some finished off. So door bar production line is underway, plus some hard core modelling. Here is the hard core..... A block of well seasoned timber that will form the core of the SECR van. The shellac'd board has the planks marked with a fine rollerball pen. These will now get cut out and assembled around the core, any width variation will be packed out with layers of card. Here is a cruel close up of the planked joints..

Adding the door bars to the LSWR van. Hinges - Flex Door Bar- brass rod and card In position Top Bottom

I got back from my trip on Wednesday. When I took the elastic bands from the roof it promptly pulled in at the bottom.... The action of the glue. It almost went in the bin. but was put on the shelf, just in case. The curve and the fact that the length was just a little shy of the required length looked like the 'death knell'. Then a brainwave... the first SECR vans with that roof were 9'6" wheelbase with a 17' length over headstocks, so a glimmer of hope appeared. If I could only beat the roof into shape and make it stable it had a chance for a life extension. Somewhere I had some thin ply, miracle of miracles, I found it and cut out a rectangle.. The rood was then cemented to the ply and left under a clamp. Then scraps of wood were glued inside. This should make a stable base.... This is my next victim from the OPC Illustrated History of Southern Wagons ; Volume 3 SECR. It is a 10 ton Covered Goods wagon, SR diagram 1426. Printed onto A4 label stock, stuck on card and shellac painted over...

Dave, I quite agree, helping a fellow modeller is the aim, nothing commercial. If a copy of the drawing is an influence to the person, that may then purchase such books when they see what an aid it is, will encourage book purchase. I purchased my copy in 1985, I'm still waiting for volume 2........

The LSWR van is plodding along. Buffers and couplings all round. I use a piece piece of sticky paper to hold the buffer nuts. Plus some brakes are appearing...

You can’t see but I have glued a single ply of tissue, another layer of sticks and a final tissue layer underneath. I’ll leave it for a couple of days to settle up. Then sand and fill. Thinking of a top layer of newspaper to represent the canvas topping.

Just had a thought regarding roof construction. A simple arc is quite easy from card. However what was I going to for some SECR vans I was planning... I could try and get some Parkside or Slaters mouldings. Then I thought would it be so difficult, maybe a wooden moulding... anyway reading old modelling books, they always made the roof from wood strips glued, filled and sanded, then covered with tissue. Thinking some more, always a danger of over-thinking, trust me. So tonight I thought what the heck, grabbing a handful of coffee stirrers, sorted out and discarded the ones that were like bananas.. Here's the model A number were roughly trimmed to length and a small blob of PVA put in a bottle top. The first full width stirrer was placed along the centre line, the stirrers were added one at a time. I kept to full width stirrers as far as I could. Some had a slight touch of the B&Qs (the slight bends and twists of their 'boat building wood). As I got to the point where there roof curve tightened up i split some along the length and finished to the edge of the roof. The glue left in the bottle top was spread along any gaps in the joins and across the couple of stirrers that were a bit low in the middle. I might wrap a couple of rubber bands around to keep in shape overnight. Then thinking about another layer glued inside to form a ply effect.

Brian, The 'Britain from above' website is good = https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW014548

I try and keep out of these debates.... but.... Working on the real railways things are manufactured to do a job. In most cases, If a drawing is produced the manufacturer will go to great lengths to make sure there is enough information missing to prevent the component being manufactured by a competitor... Sound crazy, but there it is. If you are lucky enough to have all the dimensions and tolerances, you then need to know what it's made of.... Another nightmare..... THEN.... When you've made the component and fitted it, the next stage is to know when it is worn out... So you need a dimension at which the component needs to be replaced.. You have 3 dimensions: New, permitted limit in service permitted limit at overhaul (part worn but ok to remain in service. I deal a lot with wheelsets, so find the modelling world quite amusing... One particular wheelset could be between 923mm - 860mm diameter. We limit to 13mm difference in a bogie and 24mm over the whole wagon. Flange limit is machined to 32.5mm an can run to 24mm, With numerous other dimensions to check. The roller bearings also have age criteria, Same with the grease... On top of that there is a whole range of non destructive testing that is carried out at key stages.... That is only the wheel. The other part of the interface, the rail has a similar plethora of standards... Finally there is the dynamic properties to consider, my wheelset might be loaded to 22.5 tonnes axle load running at 75 mph, Everything has to work....

Steve Like a lot of projects, I would do it another way if starting again... I have another body to do and have an idea of the method.... One thing I want to try, is to mount one axle with inside bearings as a 'cannon tube', with the tube soldered to another tube at 90 degrees to form a pivot. Giving some compensation. More later today...

Home after a week and a half away.... At the end of last week I visited Grangemouth refinery, so was able to fit in visits to Boness and Locomotion. So lots of thinking, not too much actual modelling.. A project that's been in my head for some time is a Loriot Y. I have previously bashed one in OO. The base is a Darstaed Well Wagon, using the ends from my previous cut and shut. Here is my butchery...

It’s all coming together now. Another coat of grey... All if the bits on the strapping etc are actually holes. That seems to be the way to go.

The end has got the thumbs up regarding bolt detail. Quite good enough, The strapping however is getting a negative effect, I use a sharp bradall to make the hole and the raised edge thrown up should do, especially when weathered as the edge will catch the weathering..