Lacathedrale

An RTR D1 would be all my Christmasses coming at once. I was planning on building one from a kit to fill that gap...

Preordered 113 without a moment's hesitation! Thank you! I guess I can't really justify No. 127 Poitiers in Goods Green, even with the Westinghouse lining it's ~4 years too early, but hard for me to pass up such an iconic livery.

@Mikkel as you know I'm about to embark on the bashing of some Tri-ang clerestories for my LBSCR layout, and I was wondering if you had any tips re: bogies (i.e. is there any way to save them, or are they best replaced completely? If so - how?) and on cutting the body since it seems the floor/sides are one piece!

Well, the layout is being built in the following thread if you wish to see the ongoing saga: In terms of changes - a couple of small ones - an extra carriage siding in the foreground and another crossover between P1&2 - so it's a bit less Minories and a bit more pre-group friendly.

Wizard etched bogies and buffers have arrived, so baby permitting I should have the D67 48' Billinton All Third ready for transfers soon. I took apart the Triang Clerestory to get an idea of how that would look and was a little surprised (but shouldn't have been!) that the bogies are rivitted in place. The bogie positions for all but the tri-comp are fine as-is, so I interpret Terry Gough's cutting remarks as a suggestion to slice through the entire coach body in one fell swoop, which seems a little optimistic when it comes to getting it straight and level? in three planes with no flat reference surfaces? Any ideas?

Control panel is almost done: The unmarked toggle on the far right will be used as a temporary toggle to energise the connected traverser track. The guts: The terminal strip at the bottom shows all of the outputs (P1-3 main, P1-3 buffer-end, Loop, Loco Siding, Empty (FY Controller), Station Controller, Down Main, Up Main. All the switching logic is kept inside the box. I have a little more to do: The big rotary knob is used in conjunction with the adjacent shunt signal to determine which target road to make live, so I need to wire up the rotary knob outputs (it's double pole so only half are being used) to the various shunting destinations. One of the poles on all the light blue DPDT switches needs to be bonded together and proxied through the Advanced Starter The Advanced starter needs connecting to the two Controllers. I have checked all the circuits for everything that's in place and it appears to work a treat. I've got some more wire on order so I'm hoping with its arrival I can finish up the box. The plan is to build the layout and use this box as an interim lever frame with finger actuated turnouts and then eventually transition to a S4S frame. I have wondered whether it might be prudent to set up the TOUs and the relevant polarity microswitches for lever frame actuation, but have the rodding terminating temporarily through the baseboard fascia? Though I don't get the full lever frame experience the layout could be fully operable much earlier. Thoughts? Speaking of the actual layout itself: the laser cut baseboard parts arrived today, but probably going to sit gathering dust for a little while... Slightly horrid to think that's about £700 sitting those boxes! Why did I ever stop with the tinplate 0 gauge?!

@Nick Hollidaythank you so much for your thoughtful and illustrative replies. Do you know of any pictures of boxhill as a 2-4-0 in umber? It looks like my IEG boxhill is going to need to be repainted regardless!

All is well - mum is resting and everything is about as prepared as it can be. @Nick Holliday re: battering of time period - I've decided that my 'ideal' date is 1911, I am going to flex a little either way - a couple of year either way. From a functional perspective, I only need one motor-train fitted A1, and one station pilot - whether the latter is a Terrier or not is somewhat irrelevant, but I have no idea what other locomotive might perform this duty? I understand the following would be suitable for Terrier variations in the Brighton area: 2-4-0T A1 in IEG I could run the Dapol Boxhill converted to a 2-4-0T in IEG. While you mention the loco was shedded at TW, there are pictures of it at Brighton and Hove between 1905 and 1909: 0-6-0T A1 in Goods Black Using one of the new Dapol A1 models as a basis, it could be repainted into LBSC Goods black and numbered 682, lettered Locomotive Department - maybe a bit of a stretch that it would be performing pilot duties at the station, though? 0-6-0T A1 in Umber Re-numbering the Dapol Umber Terrier 643 to 679 would fit the bill for a motor-train fitted Brighton-shedded A1, at least until reboilering, as would 673 (pictured at Lewes 1906-1912 in Modeller's digest in an article by Mr @Nick Holliday). The below photo is has no confirmed identity but illustrative: 0-6-0T A1x in Umber An A1x is the wrong side of my desired time period really, but may be expedient to leverage if an RTR A1x is going cheap. It's not clear at all to me what A1X's would have been shedded at Brighton - any ideas?

No danger of that @Nick Holliday - I’ve just become a dad!

Given I've been checking the liveries, numbers and names of the E1's and the E4's I thought I'd better check the A1's. Annoyingly, none of those offered are correct for the Brighton area in 1911: Rails A1 Terrier No. 643 (Gipsy Hill) - needs renumbering The new Rails/Dapol Terrier A1 No 643 (Gipsy Hill) was only de-named in 1919 and so the locomotive would need to be renumbered to fit into my time period, really. 679 Minories (apt!) ran motor trains from Brighton in 1907-1910 so that's the target if I can get my hands on these. Dapol A1 No. 82 (Boxhill) - needs converting Boxhill and Beulah are two very interesting Terriers: they underwent successful motor train trials as 2-4-0T's from 1905-1911. It seems Boxhill retained her name and the IEG livery until 1909, so it only remains to de-couple the front wheel and fit a little leading wheel, any ideas? It must be said that from 1909 the locomotive was re-numbered to 682 and potentially re-painted into Umber, but there is no photographic evidence - and it would be nice to have a bit of IEG on the layout! Dapol A1x Terrier No. 662 (Martello) - technically OK The 1980's Dapol release is correct for 1912 condition but the Dapol livery has the wrong font, no dark-umber borders, etc. so it probably needs a re-paint - and if I'm going to do that I may as well buy a the more modern model and benefit from the modern mechanism/etc. Both No 662 (Martello) and No. 678 (Knowle) were motor-fitted and converted from A1 to A1x in my time period. The latter was allocated to Littlehampton so ideal for East Coastway services.

With the kind advice I think I've sorted out my E1 pre-orders. The Rapido E1 in Lined Goods Green, or Lined Black (i.e. @BlueLightning's Train Times exclusive) would be just in period. I guess it makes sense given the Marsh black livery adoption, but it didn't twig for me that Umber was only applied on Goods locos post-1921, which has saved me £140 - thank you @Nick Holliday! This Umber question of course made me immediately start to worry about my E4 and annoyingly, neither of the RTR Umber E4's are correct for 1911 - Birch Grove was de-named in 1906, and No 579 was still called "Roehampton" until 1912. Ah well, I guess we're going into 1912 too. I will do my best to hold off running it alongside a Jenny Lind after all. Posted a WANTED add on FB for an Umber Terrier and got this warning:

That's a really good point. I've re-lined the coaches over the top which was fairly successful in evening out the gold, but I still need to tidy up where I've gone over the lines. I realise having taken the photo below that I've forgotten to line the sides of top-left panel for the second time: This is taken at about as low as I think I'm going to get for these coaches and I don't think (!) it looks wrong. I think the relief on the panelling would make the top lining much less visible than the rest with light/shadow being cast from above and as my lines are still rather wide I think adding it there might up highlighting the over-scale width and look a bit heavy-handed? This is my mantra currently, courtesy of the bard: There's definitely a case for a proper order of operation on these coaches - they've had so many coats of paint and varnish and it's felt like a really long-winded process. Bogies, Buffers and Gas lights are en-route from Wizard so hopefully I can finish construction on the Bogie soon. Right now, I'm working on the control panel for the layout these will run on.

Hi Khris, it's in my signature:, but here's a link to my first efforts:

The Easi-liner handle fits dip pen nibs , so you just need the nibs. I lost out by a few pennies on a box of mixed vintage nibs which would have been fun to experiment with but the one I have seems to be fairly decent:

Or people using dip pens who don't want the paint to dry on the nib? :)

Thanks Nick, your prodigious knowledge makes a fool of me. I will revisit this in earnest shortly. For the seven carriages in my possession, my outline plan is roughly as below: BT + BT = 9 Compt. All Third D162 (yielding two spare brake ends.) BT + BT + Panels from one spare Brake End = 5 Compt. Brake Luggage 3rd D74 (yielding another spare brake end) C + Spare Brake End = 5 Compt. Brake 2nd with Luggage D129 C + C = Tri-Composite D151 Given the apparent freedom in which D74s were allocated to even relatively short trains, clearly there was a good deal of luggage to manage, so a D129 would also be appropriate. I am desirous to include 2nd Class travel if only because it is so far behind us! In other news, my dip pen nib arrived and I'm very pleased with it. My method so far has been to mix Vallejo Retarder Medium with Vallejo Sunny Skintone in a palette and then brush it onto the nib. I draw the pen on the paper below and get going. Here's an in-progress shot of the Billinton D95: Clearly I still need some practise but it's a good deal better than the easi-liner. Here's my first pass at the D67 Billinton Bogie Third where I was able to line both sides of this coach with one loading of the nib: I've deliberately only lined the bottom half of each panel to try to give the effect that it's only on the sides of the moulding and naturally you wouldn't be able to see it from the railway viewpoint. Like most things it's only going to get easier by doing it so this coach will get some tidying up with umber and I think I'm going to call it good. I think if I were using enamels or inks this line would be a good deal thinner, but I'm happy with my acrylics for now.

I have steered very well clear of enamels since I was a teenager except for live steam where it's a much more industrial affair. I have recently tried out a fine tipped dip pen and found the results very satisfying, generally finer and at least as easy as easi-liner - notes in my workbench thread shortly.

If you've been following my workbench thread you'll know that the interminable to and fro of ordering detail parts has made progress on the carriage front rather slow. In the meantime, I've started to knock up the interim "lever frame" discussed earlier: Each of the switches represents a signal lever. Of course, there are no actual signals attached to them, but they will perform the correct function of making or isolating track sections. Keeping the electronics simple is a deliberate choice, as beyond simple switches it is very much a weak point of mine and does not come to me naturally. While it might look complicated, but the wiring is very simple - and should give me a decent approximation of the 'signal block' style of layout operation is like before I go to the expense and time of building five or six of the etched S4S units: For an arrival on the down mainline, this is dealt with by the Station controller which is normally connected to it. Once the train is on approach or halted at the signal gantry, home levers are pulled to make a connection from the down mainline to a particular platform and it can be driven to the buffers. For a departure, the relevant departure signal is pulled which makes a connection from that road to the up mainline. Puling the Advanced Starter makes a connection from the up mainline to the FY controller and the departure can then be driven into the Fiddle yard. For a shunt within station limits, the relevant shunt signal is pulled which makes both simultaneous connection to the up mainline as per a departure signal, and a connection from the Station controller to the up mainline.

@Mikkel I have used retarder medium from Vallejo with unthinned paints and it seems to work ok through the 0.25mm easi liner nib in terms of flow, although as you have seen the line width is still quite wide. I don’t trust myself to trace panels at velocity (vs. Against a ruler)

The following photograph turned up on the Brighton Circle illustrating the E1. It shows the ramp-end of the Eastbourne platforms some time between 1903 and 1906, and gives a general feel for what I'm trying to achieve: This shows E1 Calvados in Goods Green, which was de-named in 1906. It looks like there are examples of Umber (brake), Mahogany (3rd class coaches), and Umber/White Lav First (?) all in the same train. Of minor interest it also looks like the foreground post was originally slotted - you can see the slot and the slightly fatter cheeks, and a metal bracket forming the pivot point for the ringed shunt signal.

Lining Dip pen nib duly ordered. My easi-liner handle looks to be compatible and I have some acrylic retarder which should help with gumming up. Brakes I was double checking the placement of Westinghouse brake hoses in the picture above, and though I thought I was completely finished with the construction work on the D95, I realise I need to add the actual brakes! Luckily I have them to-hand and I don't think I'm going to be disassembling the carriage again so I'll put them on shortly. I refuse to buy Westinghouse Brake castings at this point, it seems crazy to spend £1.50 for a whitemetal casting of a cylinder! 54' Marsh Carriages Speaking of having things to-hand: a shoebox of Tri-ang Clerestories arrived over the weekend, from which I should be able to cobble together three Marsh bogie carriages (an all third, a brake second luggage, and a tri-composite). Though they will need a bit more work than those of a Ratio origin, they should be quite cheap as it's 90% styrene sheet and I can re-use the existing bogies suitably bushed rather than building new ones. Really, I could do with a brake third also, but I think that can come in due course - maybe one with some LBSCR-style end duckets at last?

@t-b-g to confirm, you're using ink rather than paint in your lining? I've used a flesh colour which comes out as a warm gold when it comes to paint, but you're using white and yellow ink, if I remember correctly?

@Tom Burnham you're right, I didn't - but it was my first time seeing a Terrier in the flesh and it was wonderful nonetheless:

Though the layout is still moribund, I've been keeping an eye out for stock and when I saw this 4TC at the Bluebell Toy Collector's Fair I couldn't resist: I'm going to need to make sure I have the MU-fitted Class 33 to go with it!

I went to the Toy Collector's Fair at the Bluebell today in search of a) the Hornby Skaledale Horsted Keynes signal box and b) the Dapol A1 Terrier in Umber. Neither were forthcoming, but I did find this nice print from the carriage art shop showing H1 No. 40 (to be St. Catherine's Point) pulling out of Brighton, while B4 No. 52 "Sussex" (nee Siemens) pulls into Platform 8. It looks like a C variant in the platform in Goods Green: The B4 was only renamed Sussex in 1908 but still has the IEG livery, interesting but maybe anachronistic? Anyway, not directly related to the layout but very much akin to it.