The Bigbee Line

Not much today, just some end trimming. The use of the surplus coach ends seems to offer some possibilities, now need to do some more sanding:

The actual type testing coach will have scratch built ends. The ceiling section to the roof has had the gutter reduced in size to mirror the Hornby LSWR roof profile. An end of 20thou sheet has been cemented in place with some partitions. Need to get the roof squared up and the ends done. I've a BA bolt to secure the roof triang style, just need to captivate the nut to the roof section. There are metal Romford Coach Wheels to add, will need pick ups for lights. That's it for tonights session. Sorry for the untidy bench

Slow but steady progress.. I had a thought about creating straight ends on the Triang Clerestory coaches. How about leaving the top straight part and splicing in another straight section from a previously removed body.. Here is the bottom section cut out with a rotary saw blade.. Trying the spare section for size... Ready for gluing Side view of trial run Clamped up in position to set No coaches were harmed in this program.. Seriously, Not sure how this will come out. One thing that has struck me, is how the pictures I take show things I cannot see normally. So I'm working on the premis that its better to crack on and get the coach finished.

Is there scope for a bodge (using Hornby Dublo R1 0-6-0 boiler and smoke box plus new cab etc) to do an R1 0-4-4

I've increased my coach library of late. I think some similar coaches ended up in the lancing belle. Plus others as instruction coaches for a short time. PM me if you would like more detail.

Thanks for a good tip. I has a go with the end of a steel rule (crude I'm afraid, but that's me...), but hopefully some refined work with a stick will finish it off. Thinking about some 'varnishy' weathering, southern style. What are the suggested sources for the BR lettering etc. Do I really need to remove the 'stickers' from the windows? Thanks,

Progress is slow. I joined 2 roof sections together. Made a bit of a hash and will need to do a bit of filling. My supply of plasticard arrived and I set too adding a ceiling section to the roof. The piece sticking out will represent the gutter and be trimmed to reduce its size. A thin 6 inch steel rule was used as a fence to slice off some of the excess width. I'll probably ise something thinner and a sanding block for the final trim... Here the combined roof and ceiling section. I need to wait until the join is nicely set, then file the inside of the roof to take the end section. The nearby Hornby body is my example used as a guide Here is my 'paint' impression of the piece to be added to locate the roof correctly between the sides. It all looks very rough when enlarged in these pictures. I have torpedo vents and some buffers on the way. More progress hopefully over the weekend.

First outing after the new year. Leaving a 30mph into a stretch that floods after rain I accelerated to 40mph Not the absolute limit of 60mph. I spy the driver behind gesticulating because I'm not going fast enough.!!!! Two words and the second is "off". Once past the risk stretch I accelerate and the car behind trails away. Only to catch up when I slow to the 30mph for the next village. Speed limits not for them. Must be getting old.

One of the hardest pushes as Dover was to push a trip of 'loaded shipping' from the reception roads up towards Shakespeare tunnel. When the going got tough the loco would just not move. It would dig in and sit there. On those occasions the 'Town Pilot' could couple up and assist by pulling as well as the 'Ferry Pilot' pushing. On one occasion a trainload of export steel was tripped using both 'Ferry Pilots': Bent rods were more likely to occur when greasy rail was encountered when on the move...

A copy of 'An Illustrated History of Southern Push-Pull Stock' by Mike King was delivered to my waiting hands. Gosh what a complicated subject.... Numerous possibilities. I placed the Tri-ang Clerestories on the scanner to allow some cut and shut to see how various diagrams could be constructed using these as the core of the body. Here is a 46'6" diagram 33 Driving Corridor Composite, and a 58' diagram 417 Compartment Third.

I needed some first compartments for the project and got a couple of bargain coaches from Ebay. They arrived yesterday. I was surprised by how crisp the mouldings were, even more surprised when I looked underneath. Made in China.... Are they the original moulds, or did they re-do the tooling? What set are these from?

Excellent choice. I got some when they had a sale on. There is scope for slight improvement by replacing some of the fixings, I might for some additional bracing. But for me 10/10

Thanks, I've got a PP end and three ordinary coach ends, has these for .... years, living in a box with ratio coach sides for such a project.... Still might get a few more as Southern Push Pull sets have an attraction of their own...

Here is a picture of the cast white metal ends I'm using: With the 2-NOL it will need thinning down at the sides as the NOL looks quite slim... The wiper will go as well. I was toying with the idea of using a 2-BIL underframe... Maybe using the Ratio Midland Compartment sides.

Jez, I like the idea of the motor and truck swap. In my opinion the plastic used in their trucks is 'slicker' that that used by Athearn. Most noticeable with three axle units. If you run an Athearn SD40 and a Kato SD40 though a crossover the Kato will glide through, the Athearn doesn't have that silky flow.... Having said that I tried a more recent Athearn GP-35 (with the scale width hood) and was surprised by the excellent running. Keep sharing your ideas,

Continued from: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/100221-Hornby-announce-sr-58-maunsell-rebuilt-ex-lswr-coaches/page-28 The ends of the coach trimmed and a second roof cut down in height. Looking quite the part now. I think I will use a full width piece of plasticard between the sides with the gutter on top of that, then the roof section on top of that. With a few cut outs a lighting strip of LEDs could sit within the roof. Final job for today was to add some 'goo' to the inside of the join in the sides. Let's see what can be done tomorrow...

Thanks for the advice on the various roof sections available. I think I'll get some Ration Van B Sections. Meanwhile I thought I'd try a 'bodge it and scarper' dry run. A 56' Brake Third would be attempted. I added an extra set of doors, shown here before the curved ends are cut off:- As a rough and ready model I thought Id try and reduce the height of the parkside roof sections. A boxing day walk allowed me to think through the various options. One solution would be to make a miniature saw bench to allow a precision cut. Looking around when I got home I found that I could rest my rotary tool against the side of my work table and slide the roof along the blade: A piece of mounting board raised the roof to allow a slice to be cut from each side. Easier said that done, two passes took off what seemed like the right amount. Excuse the plastic dust. See the difference below I also had to remove the small raised lip to locate the original roof. Here with the reduced section in place: Now to compare my 'cows ear' with a Hornby 'silk purse': Just need to reduce the height of another roof section to make the full length roof. I plan to use the Tri-ang long screw to secure the roof.

Merry Christmas, Stupid question time: The SR rebuilds of LSWR steam bodies onto SR underframes ( as new Hornby coaches) have a triangular fillet as the underframe was wider than the bodies. However the 2 NOL units, again second hand LSWR bodies on the standards EMU underframe were without the fillet. Were the frames different widths? I'm bashing a 2 NOL using some 20 year old ( at least) white metal ends and tri-ang clerestory bodies.... I was hoping to use some parkside roof sections from the BY van, but the are a tad too wide (fixable) but a bit to high and not quite flat enough on top. Any suggestions?

Driving in Wymondham a couple of red kites were picking up road kill. Seen loads lately and plenty of Buzzards.

A comment after a week on the road. There seems to be an increase in flagrant breaches of traffic law.: Running red lights seems OK Taxis ignoring red lights in the small hours. is this a sign of things to come, when the only enforcement will be speed and bus lane cameras...

60 pages and counting. Wow. I have not read the thread from front to back and may have missed some comments. There is allegedly some synergy in point work with existing Peco geometry. The fact that the US outline Code 83 has different crossing angles is handy to make different configurations. I was wondering if the plain track will have moulded depressions under the sleepers to align third rail?? I note that newer Peco streamline has a hollow underneath. Is that to save material cost during construction? It should make PVA grip better. Can't wait to get a length...

........Don't worry about nobby who built the boards, wired the layout, built the control panel, built the goods shed, station building and pub, otherwise I agree it is up to Georges high standard........... It's a bit like a cinema blockbuster. There is only one Producer. Who of course has a team supporting him. Maybe you'll be nominated for an Oscar or Two.... Best Supporting ............... or something.

Linda and I had a trip over to Peterborough today. Amongst the layouts was this gem from George. Up to Georges usual high standard. A couple of views from one end: A 37 propels a brake tender into the platform: Long shot of some Grain Hoppers: The Guard has a chin wag with the Bobby: Finally on the way home a stop off at Whittlesea showed a familiar look: The use of sound that was not overpowering was very effective. Well done.

Nice, how do you weather?

Good morning, I am sorting out some parts to build a Southern Region Push Pull set and have several brake ends from the Tri-ang Clerestory coaches. I have seen some vans on the background of various pictures, panelled sides, duckets etc, some in the middle and some with duckets on each end. It got me wondering as to what happened to the pre-gouping (LSWR, LBSC & SECR) NPCCS. The large number of Southern PMV and CCT's probably spelled their doom. Any pointers to books etc would be appreciated.