The Bigbee Line

Had a funeral on Wednesday, then a visit to Cardiff in Thursday, not getting home until lunch time, then more work......... Just had time for 5 minutes in the workshop, cutting some evergreen to add the extra height to the body. I have a wagon with what looks like a Slaters underframe to use as a donor. The side frames were stripped from the body and inspected ready for assembling onto a subframe. The wheels fitted were very coarse scale, so intended swapping with a set from a Parkside Kit. The axle ends on the parkside wheelsets were too big.... I might have some in the odds and ends box with thinner ends will need to find them tomorrow, or swap the brass bearings out. Things are never simple. So far this conversion is well under 15 minutes... If anyone has use for coarse scale O gauge wheelsets, send me a PM

It depends what you class as Modern Image... Gidea Park was most suitable to model: I have a raft of 1995 images on https://www.flickr.com/photos/55938574@N03/16589598141/in/album-72157650522858358/ As Operations and Traincrew Manager for Railfreight Distribution at Wembley, Gidea Park was on my patch with a daily trop service from Wembley.

In 4mm I couldn't cope with 3 link. In 7mm it's a different kettle of fish. I love them. Currently experimenting with non magnetic inner and middle links. Magnetic end link. That arrangement makes operation with a magnetic screw driver quite easy. Regarding modules. I think 7mm cries out for "audience side" operation. You can even have a driver and shunter.... I did purchase some dinghams. But finding the 3 links OK, they are still in the packet.

Mmmmm waiting for the paint to dry, might as well start Minfit2, with a few time savers. Here are the first cuts with a circular saw in the mini drill. The sides were scored outboard of the inner uprights. Here are the two parts after a little clean up. Now with a false floor added to space out the parts. With the false sides...

Couldn't resist the first coat of primer, quite pleased with the effect. Quite enjoyed the ride with this one... I think the underframe needs to be a black grey mix rather than pure black. Need to get the couplings on first and the door bangers...

Well Autumns here... gets dark early.. Hopefully the silk purse is almost finished..... from... to this, today saw the gussets replaced, more door detail added, the chassis evened up slightly and some brake levers fitted.. This needs some soft focus... don't look too closely.. I actually had my 'desk' reasonably clear today. It is topped by various sheets of glass, either shelves or glass doors. I was able to test the underframe to check it was square. There was a very slight rock. The two low corners had the solebar separated from the body and some packing inserted until is was nice and solid, no rocking. Then the slots patched over. I need to make a couple of brass door bangers, the little triangular fillets under the top section on the sides, fit some couplings, then weight up to about 5 oz... Then a first coat of paint, maybe by Friday...

Today was mainly spent in the garden, picked a box full of runners and a cabbage to go with the Sunday Roast. The prepared 2 - 8' x 4' raised beds, what to plant.......... Anyway I digress. The brakework on the wagon removed on one side and on the other has been re-aligned and a start made to add the pieces of T section plastruct.

Martyn, Well done. If I had not wanted to run US outline HO on the same track I would have gone EM. In the late 80's I converted 100+ wagons and vans to EM. Learnt a lot about brakework etc. I could not get a decent running loco and went to US outline with the coming of Kato Diesels, that's another story. Looking forwards to the next exciting instalment... Ernie

Back home after a week away.. Yesterday we went on a trip that had been postponed from May. The Atlantic Coast Express to Exeter with Clan Line up the front. In 1966 I went on a school trip that involved joining an ex Waterloo Boat Train to Weymouth. Not sure what was on the front, but we did see a few pacifics at Bournmouth Central. So yesterday was my first knowing trip behind a Merchant Navy. 12 reasonably loaded coaches and no diesel on the rear. I was surprised by how effortless the run was, good acceleration with only the slightest hint of slipping. I presume the big chimney and multiple blast pipes take the edge off the exhaust. We came back via Taunton so ran up Wellington Bank, effortless. Anyway, back to reality... In my last post I'd fixed the underframe to the body. Previously I had set it up so the wheelbase was symmetrical in relation to the door. I then got confused by the brakework (The donor underframe had the push rods set as either side brakes, so I'll have to swap the push rods whatever...) and turned the underframe, not noticing that I'd got it the wrong way round..... So first job this morning was to try and get it back out. Luckily it wasn't too difficult, phew... With a little cleaning it's back in the 'right way round'. If I get time I'll swap the push rods today. Exeter had a model shop, so had to make a call. Restricted myself to some weatherning washes, some Railmatch grey for the Mineral Wagons, and some Plastruct T section for the gussets under the side stanchions. I know this goes against the 'recycling' ethos, but it's maybe a little more robust..

Is it the gauge?

Arrived home from holiday and there they were. That big box from Hattons, a day I thought might not come..... They look very nice. I will try the Roco coupler frig to close up the coaches. No complaints. I wont change the coach numbers, but might change the set number. A big well done to Bachmann...

Did a bit more this evening. The headstocks and buffers from the Lima wagon were cut off and fitted. This prototype / type tester will be a 'knock about' wagon for playing with. It is good enough, the next one will be quicker, and easier (hopefully). The under stanchion, support gussets have been added. The door straps and hinges have been added from various pieces of strip etc. The GW label box and the round holes in the solebar will get sorted... The brake push rods will also get sorted...

Graham, You mention that the buffers are separate mouldings. Have you tried removing them? Just thinking of fitting shorter ones within the set. That would enable closer coupling, and the would have been close coupled in reality. I wonder how often they were actually uncoupled. I bet the couplings got seized up through lack of use.. Thanks Ernie

John Thanks for that. I can easily remove one set of blocks. What number series were the 1/108s. Ernie

BODY SUPPORTS At the botton of each side stanchion is a T section that supports the body. I suspect it goes the full width of the body, but I've never knowingly looked.... Here is a close up from one of my 1980's pictures: As these will be painted black and weathered I used some re-used styrene from a drinks lid in a suitable black colour. Here as a dry run in position. Some more fabbed up waiting to dry when they'll be trimmed to length The underframe has been sanded along the edges so it slips in nicely, with locating strips to position it. The T section body supports will be fixed to the underframe, allowing its removal if required. Not sure if there's any advantage in that. We'll see how that one goes.... The headstocks off the CC underframe will be trimmed for length and cemented to the body. I did wonder whether to fit vacuum brakes, will need to research that one...

Thanks Steve, I've got plans for the underframe....

We had a great day going up Snowdon. Just collected a couple of cup tops.... When we go back, just had time for a bit of filing and a test run with the cooper craft chassis.... More by luck than judgement it fits a treat into the 'hole' created by the styrene downward extension. Here are a couple of comparison shots with the Lionheart model... . Need to sort out the headstocks and some buffers. Quite pleased with this.

WARTS and ALL When taking pictures of on-going works it shows the progress in a 'warts and all' manner. In real life nothing looks as bad as in the pictures, but it's a useful tool. The current bashing exercise is a case in point. This picture shows one of the corners. The camera on the iphone struggles with the white of the Evergreen Strip. I think my limited holiday tool kit needs the assistance of an emery board from Linda, maybe some nail varnish would double as filler..... Here's the underside. I have a Cooper Craft built up 9' wheelbase underframe to use. If I can fit that (might try and find a self tapper today) I can start adding the below floor level items; gusset plates, hindges etc. This is a close up of the door, in need of more filling where the join has some porosity.

Not much modelling today. A drive to Porthmadoc and a trip on the Welsh Highland Railway. Very impressive, then the added bonus of finding a model shop in Porthmadoc. That yielded some Evergreen HO scale 6 x 8. The Evergreen was used to form the downward extension. Some plastic tops from drink cups yielded small pieces of flat styrene that were used with some of the 6 x 8 to extend the side stanchions downwards. A little oversize, but will file nicely to size. . I think it's almost there...

A few thoughts We had a day out yesterday. As we are on holiday my scope for modelling is somewhat reduced. However I did take the Lima body and a few tools. I have decided to have a concerted effort to re-use, re-cycle everyday waste in modelling. A couple of cakes were put in one of those expanded polystyrene folding boxes, usually used in fish and chip shops. I took a couple of pieces back to try out as filler with a little solvent. Cutting off a strip and laying it over the area to be filled. The application of a small amount of solvent soon shrivels it up into a thick jelly. More thin strips can be layed on to to use the volatility of the solvent. After allowing to dry overnight the still slightly soft surplus was sliced off with a new Stanley blade. One of the disposable knives was handy as a length of several blades can be used (gently) to reach the areas that a normal blade cannot reach. Obviously a very sharp blade requires CARE. Here is the body after the first application of filler and a rubbing down with some wet 'wet and dry' I was thinking that the conversion needs to be as simple as possible. As an alternative to the 5 cuts. used on the brown body. Maybe more cost / time effective to make 2 cuts, one in from each end. Then turn a piece round to create a new full width door. Making new side stanchions on either side of the door, these can be full height. The corner stanchions can be extended, the end stanchion that taper can be shaved off and replaced as a whole. Looks like 2mm needs to be added at the bottom to give the additional height. The end door can have the bottom cross bar that joins the securing pins, lowered and widened up a bit. Then 2mm lower extensions can have the joins disguised as welded repairs. Here is my Microsoft Paint illustration of how the cuts will be made on the next body and how it should look, proportion wise.

LIMA Cut and Shut Having a few Lima Minfits I've been browsing to try and find articles of 'doing them up'.... I didn't find as much as I thought..... I resorted to a comparison with a Lionheart version. The Lima is lacking in height, is too long overall and has a slightly narrow door. The body was cut into 6 portions; two very thin sections will be used to fill the missing door section and the remainder shaved to form some filler for the various gaps. I have a cunning plan to give the extra height.. The body could do with being a touch wider, but not bothering with that. Here is the body with one end already off and the next slice being scored ready to be cut through: The various pieces have been assembled with a new 20thou floor liner for alignment: With the Lionheart 'master' sat on top... .

I've had a quick speed read through the thread. There was a brief mention of the possibility of a Gunpowder variation. There is a picture in the Mike King Book, Southern Wagons in Colour, has a picture of an LSWR grounded body. Built by G.R.Turner. Corners are rounded, without the bonnet vents on the ends. The doors are flush not panelled, so hope for bashers... I'll try one in BR paint. Just need to scour the books for one in a Southern Region freight train.....

P class. Well done Hattons. Kingston Wharf here I come..... might swap the Roco track to Peco code 75 on the Cameo layout. Still pinching myself.

I have been hankering after the use of card for wagons, having built a couple of ERG wagons on OO many years ago. I have a stash of the card that is used for bordering pictures. Being as impatient as ever I tend to have a mental period where the ideas are mulled over. These centred on the use of a wooden core, with scored sides, treated with paint / shellac. With a thought of using insulation tape for the corner plates and strapping. Here is version 1. Can has one coat of humbrol and the 3 planks on the right have been sanded down roughly in the direction of the grain. Does it look like wood? Comments please...

Sorry to jump in on this one.. As always there will be exceptions, but often, the point levers are on the side that gives the best sighting for the shunter when handsignalling the driver. It avoids the shunter crossing in front of the move to pull the points. Where points are close together and there is a space restriction, the lever can be on an extended rod to take the motion under the adjacent track. In some yards where there were two shunters, one shunter would be pulling the points and the other would deal with the wagons as they arrived in the relevant siding. In the Ferry Sidings at Dover the shunting was done with the air brake in operation, but it was still possible to loose shunt. The air was trapped in the wagons being detached and the coupling uncoupled. The wagons would then roll without the brakes applying. The shunter 'receiving' the wagons would nip behind them as the passed and by 'dropping the tap' could bring the wagons to a stand..... Worked most times..... In the nearby yard at Dover Town the wagons were shunted loose. So trips from the Ferry Yard would get the 'strings pulled' on arrival, then shunted into the relevant roads. 2 shunters making it a less onerous task on the legs. A shift shunting improved the calf muscles no end... The lesson is to look at the shunting method and that will tell you where to place the levers. By the way, the levers look very nice.