SRman

Well, my GAP Z arrived today. It was a little delayed as it broke GAP's mould! Chris Meachan included a note of apology and explanation of what happened. I immediately started a cleanup of the flash and moulding pips. I then took the Stanier body off its chassis and removed the front pony truck. The rear tender coupling was removed and the wires snipped back near the decoder socket. The Socket circuit board was filed down as per the instructions and the inside of the body cleaned up with a milling tool in the Dremel. I carefully drilled out the chimney, starting with a small pilot hole then progressively larger drills until I got to the right diameter. The result is not quite sitting correctly yet, currently being about a milimetre (or less) high at the back. I'll sort that out before long. The wiring will be simplified as I eliminate the capacitor and remove the tails of the wires to the tender coupling. Anyhow, here are a few photos of the start I have made. Note in the first two shots the Stanier 8F body can be seen in the background In the foreground is an old Triang 'Nellie' locomotive that I have decided to upgrade and detail a little. It has gained Romford wheels and axles cascaded from my Craftsman 07 diesel shunter - that received new Markits wheels and axles. I also shaved off all the moulded handrails on the boiler and smokebox and replaced them with proper handrail knobs and wire. I had to make up a replacement baseplate from 40 thou plastic as the original disintegrated! Because I have used insulated wheels on both sides, I have to rig new and extra pickups then I may even stick a decoder into it as the chassis will no longer be live. I'll post pics of that in my workbench blog when I have better light for photography.

To get us back on track (a pun??) here are a couple of quick videos of the Heljan class 16 taken on my phone camera. The first is just of the 16 on a representation of a transfer freight, the second includes the same train with a Dapol track cleaning car in vacuum cleaner mode, after I had painted some more of the third and fourth rail installations and disturbed a little of the ballast. It is followed by an LT CO/CP stock train.

Sorry, I wasn't disagreeing with you either, Keefer. I am agreeing with you, at least in part. I think. There is a bit of conflict in the scant information available. I also looked at the SEMG headcode pages which seem, from what I can see, to go only from SR days with the latest one that I can find being from 1944 onwards. I am still wondering how many class 16s found their way to Hither Green. I'm sure the odd 15 got there but the NBL locos were noted for being unreliable (as has been said a few times earlier in this topic). Just because one had the Hither Green headcode doesn't mean it actually got there!! Quite a few of the photos that I did find were either at Crystal Palace LL or at Clapham Junction: both ideal locations for a bit of inter-regional train spotting. There were other locos such as class 25s and Westerns on these freights too but they had four-character headcodes (such as 1O71) ... still my excuse for owning models of such beasts on my predominantly BR(S)/SR layout!! I must get myself a Warship too, especially as they belong on the south western main lines in the later 1960s. Sorry all, rambling here and taking us a little off topic! Thanks for the compliments too, Keefer.

I'm sure the codes have changed periodically. Most of the photos I have found with any detail of the headcodes and routes involved have been dated as 1962. As with everything where human beings are involved, there is room for error, even from the most reliable of sources. As information is hard to find, especially from here in Australia, I can only take the word of the author/owner of any published photos.

I found another in Fleet Survey #4 - a class 24 D5065 in 1962 from the GNR passing through Crystal Palace LL with a top disc, one over the left buffer and one in the centre. Haresnape describes this as Norwood Junction via the widened lines, Snow Hill curve and Tulse Hill, whereas the top + left buffer on a class 15 was described as Norwood Junction via the West London Line. I am using left and right to refer to as we look at the face of the locomotive, in the cases I am describing. EDIT: fixed up a typo in the book title. Full title and details here. British Rail Fleet Survey: 4 Production Diesel-Electrics Types 1-3, Brian Haresnape 1983, Ian Allan Publishing. Number 1 in this series also has the prototype batch of class 15s and the class 16s, which never had any more produced after the initial 10.

One very minor point I should clarify from my earlier post regarding the headcodes: I have no evidence that D8219 or D8404 specifically ever carried those headcodes; just that at least one class member of each did so in real life. That was sufficient for me to use them on my models.

Nice pics - that second one looks a tad faded but it is great for modelling a 'tired' unit.

I was working from photos in various reference books to do the headcodes. The Hither Green one used three open discs in a triangle, that is, the top one and the left and right ones. I believe that SR locos would have had the top disc and the two middle ones showing but, as Stewart has pointed out, the ER locos didn't have the extra discs so the lower ones would have been used. I have evidence of these headcodes being used on both classes 15 and 16 at some time in the early to mid 1960s.

I use a similar technique to run wires from trailing bogies, usually with a slightly wider slot to allow for tighter curves. It works for me! The company mentioned re the coiled spring pickups is DCC Concepts (which is Australian). Their products are available from some UK suppliers as well.

Thanks for the kind comment.

And now for something completely different! I performed a quickie weathering job on a Bachmann blue class 25, 25 276. This locomotive has lost its sound-fitted chassis to a green example. I have used the usual weathering mixes of Humbrol #62 leather, #85 coal black and metallic gunmetal, plus some matt varnish. I have tried to be subtle on the sides, leaving some nearly pristine blue showing. As a visual displacement technique, I have carried the yellow of the front up over the centre part of the gutter to disguise the too-flat curve over the windscreens. While this is fairly obvious in the photos, it works reasonably well to the naked eye at normal viewing distances. I may, at some stage, renumber this locomotive into the pre-TOPS style.

A couple of shots of the new Heljan class 16 in service. This one is D8404 with Stratford style yellow panels. The model runs almost silently and very smoothly with a Bachmann 21-pin decoder fitted, with 20 wagons in tow. The headcodes I chose for each end are similar to the ones I put on the class 15 and represent transfer freight runs on to the Southern Region, with this one representing Norwood Junction as a destination and the code at the other end (not visible) being for Hither Green.

How does the new timetable affect connections in Sydney for the Melbourne XPT? In the past one was able to change at Strathfield for the northbound services but the southbound ones missed completely!

I managed some further work on the brake gear on the ex-LCDR brake van on the weekend. All rigging is now in place - at least, all the rigging I am ever going to do! - but the tops of the brake blocks are not yet anchored. I have threaded the tops through holes in the floor. Where I managed to break off the top strips I have soldered short lengths of wire for the same purpose. The last photo shows these projecting inside the van body and also my stove, made from a resin barrel with a brass tube stuck into it! The tops of these strips or wires will be bent over to locate the blocks at the correct height, then araldite will be used to fix them permanently.

I use some black-tack or Blu-tack to keep them from falling off while retaining the ability to remove them at will. Even so, you are experiencing what the real ones used to do anyway!

Do you think it would look OK in malachite green with horizontal yellow stripes??

It looks absolutely stunning in the pic on Facebook. As I said on FB, I model BR(S) and SR but I still want a P2!

Having found the correct SECR grey I gave the ex-LCDR brake van a quick coat. The grey is darker than I thought it would be and seems to resemble Great Western wagon grey fairly closely. The paint will have to be touched up as construction proceeds but it is nice to get an idea of what the final appearance will be like. I have now commenced fitting the 'wooden' brake shoes, adding them to the rigging already started last week. I have only done one side as this is extremely fiddly work and I was getting tired and clumsy as work progressed! The brake shoes are not yet fastened to the floor so look a little uneven in the photo. While the metal parts are being soldered together, the upper parts have been passed through holes drilled in the plastic floor and will be araldited into place when I am ready. I intend adding a thickness of plastic inside the brake blocks. After the brake gear is finished, the next thing will be fitting handrails and footboards, glazing, then finish the painting and add transfers. It shouldn't be too long before it is complete.

Commenting on my own blog! Guess what ... I just found that missing tin of SECR wagon grey. I have now given the brake van a quick coat of that grey, which is rather darker than I expected. I thought the Humbrol #79 grey was too dark but, in fact, it appears more like a faded version of the correct grey, possibly useful later when/if I do any SECR wagon kits ad want to make them look well used.

Also on the workbench again is the SECR (ex-LCDR) brake van. After pondering the diagrams and thinking about how the brakes would work, I have finally worked out how to do the rigging. This photo shows the first steps, with a little black-tack holding the components in the middle. Next items to be fitted will be the wooden brake blocks. The kit has etched brass blocks which are way too thin to properly represent the wood, so my intention is to use the brass blocks as templates to add some 40 or 60 thou plasticard, which will be glued to the brass bits then fitted to the van. Once those are done, I can fit the hndrails, lamp irons, step boards and complete the painting and decorating for full service.

A couple of shots of the Bachmann SECR 'C' class from my phone camera, using only the effects available on the phone. I actually took these to show off the newly painted crew, which actually look a little too glossy still - matt varnish coming up shortly! The full colour originals show the true colours, then the 'sepia' and 'antique' effects on two of the shots show how they might have looked at the turn of the 20th century. I was unsure what colours to use for them so made it up as I went! My good friend Graham in Brisbane picked up the crew for me on his recent trip to Britain. All that's missing are steam and smoke effects (these would not be in the spirit of the 'How realistic are your models' thread if I was to photoshop them in but I may yet do it for my own satisfaction). I will do something about that metal coal load, too!

A couple of shots of the Bachmann SECR 'C' class from my phone camera, using only the effects available on the phone. I actually took these for the workbench thread to show off the newly painted crew, which actually look a little too glossy still - matt varnish coming up! I'll start with the full colour originals, then the 'sepia' and 'antique' effects. All that's missing are steam and smoke effects but they would not be in the spirit of the thread if I was to photoshop them in. I must do something about that metal coal, too!

Some very nice footage there, David. I barely recognised a couple of the locations, they have changed so much since my day! Nice bit of wheel slip coming through the 'hole in the wall' too!!

Thanks Pete. Yes, they are nice kits and the service from Cambrian has been good too, in my experience.

Almost all done now. The two Cambrian wagons have been running in service. However, they were still a little too clean so I have lightly weathered them with mixes of Humbrol 85, 62 and gunmetal, dry brushed or washed on according to the needs of the particular areas to be weathered. The effects are fairly subtle and only just show up in the photos. I also made a couple of videos of them in service with the Bachmann SECR 'C' or the Hornby LBSCR Terrier hauling them. I have posted these elsewhere but I add them here as well. This is in colour more or less as it came out of the phone camera (a small amount of trimming and editing only). And now, as I have tried to simulate some old movie footage circa 1910 or so.