ScR steam in the 50's

Lovely photos, as ever, Richard.    :cheers

It's just like being there.  
Can I ask what you used to make the surface of the yard between the tracks?

cheers
Marty

Thanks- appreciated. Yard surface is 1/16th cork sheet with Fine Poylfilla used to cover joins and gaps. This was then given a paint with Games Workshop Stormvermin Fur, which is a good shade for this sort of thing. A light sprinkling of fine builders sand was added while the paint was wet to give some texture with perhaps some spare ballast- Greenscenes 2mm ash- used alongside sleepers. This was done sparingly as the track "floats" freely on its base of Tracklay and I didn't want it tied to the baseboard, hence the gap that can be seen in some images. This is apparent only to the camera and more or less invisible to the naked eye…

It's been a while since I last updated here, but have been beavering away at various things, one of which has been a bit of a distraction, but which ties in with my alternative timeline of HR locomotives. I noticed that the 02 from Kernow bore more than a passing resemblance to a proposed tank engine that P Drummond had prepared drawings for but never made it to production.



Pic of a partially finished conversion in front of the plan. Here are an 02 and the finished engine side by side..



And the finished loco sitting at Helmsdale.



It is going to be weathered once the weather improves here - spray booth being the back door….


Having done one what-if, I took a look at another one that never made it - a larger tank similar to the C R type that was used all over Scotland in their later years. The drawing for that HR one bore a very close resemblance to the LSWR M7; perhaps nor suprising as the designers were brothers and a lot of their work suggests cross fertilisation. Once again, here is a model in front of the drawing.




And the finished article on shed, again waiting some added grime.





All in all, an interesting straightforward exercise, giving me a couple of engines that certainly wont be on many other layouts, and might even perhaps never been modelled before….

Nice job mate, I am very impressed, your attention to detail is excellent, just out of curiosity, where do you get your drawings from?

Cheers, Pete.

Thanks -its more of an impressionistic approach - if it looks OK then for me it is OK. I have come to the conclusion that one life is too short if I wanted to get a running set up based on this area, and thus a mm or two more or less is an acceptable compromise.

The drawings were published in a book on HR locomotives, the name of which escapes me for the moment, but I can give you details if you want. There are several types that never made it to production, these two being the most easily modelled, but I might pursue this vein further in the future….

Something I've had to come to terms with and adapt for too… life IS too short.


Lovely bashes/make overs on those locos.


Marty

Beautifully done Ben and it looks the biz, good on you ;-)

Phil

Cattle and sheep traffic was an important seasonal aspect of the HR in steam days, and this side of things had been neglected by myself until recently, mainly due to a lack of decent models of cattle wagons. The mainstay over decades has been the venerable Airfix model, which scrubs up into a  still acceptable runner with a bit of care. However, the main type used until almost the end of this trade was the LMS version, which underwent several changes over the years. The existing Bachmann LMS model is an ex Mainline moulding with basic faults that cannot really be sorted and should have been retired years ago, but fortunately Parkside Dundas released a nice kit of this type last year. It is of the most numerous build, but also the earliest one, most of which had gone by the mid Fifties. However, it can be turned into a later version fairly easily. Here is a shot of two on the bench. The RH one is straight out the box, while the one on the left will be vacuum braked and has slightly different doors - hacked and cut from the kit.



I have done about half a dozen of these, nearly all slightly different, but it didn't solve the problem of the later post war types with flush sides and a quite different overall appearance. However, careful study of the prototype and the kit showed that it could be tackled using the kit as a basis. In the end all that I used of the kit was the roof, ends and doors, both of the last two being altered, and in hindsight it would have been as easy scratchbuilding completely. Anyway, things proceeded and I set up a sort of production line, doing each stage at a time, and as it happened, went together in less time than I had anticipated.

Here is a shot of the parts laid out being worked on and awaiting attention, and a later pic with them assembled and ready for the paintshop. I used Archers river transfers on the bodywork, as test pics showed that the camera noticed their absence, so that was one detail that couldn't be shirked….







And a close up of one of them - there are several variations amongst them, mainly brakegear, and I have incorporated this in the build, even though it is hardly noticeable when on the layout…





Finally, in service… a view over the yard at Thurso showing most of them and then two cruel close ups.  It was quite a task, but is now done and won't need repeated. Judging by the rate of recent releases of R-T-R wagons, one of the later types can't be far away, but I like building things, and would rather get something running this way as opposed to opening a box.

Great looking wagons Ben…well worth the effort!

Phil

Very nicely done, definitely some different "characters" their.

Hi Ben
That's a fine job you've done with those cattle wagons. Well done!

Another project this winter past was a rebuild of a CR 0-4-4T that I had done some years ago from a Hornby M7(the new type) This was before the scrutiny of the digital camera and although it was passable to the eye, its faults screamed when seen on screen, so was taken into the works for remedy. However, I realised it needed so much attention that it would be easier to start from scratch, so a DJH kit was bought and made, using the very smooth running Hornby chassis. This was finished as the engine used here for a time -travelling in reverse must have been interesting with those extra bunker bars. I have seen photos of the same engine after it was transferred to Inverness without the top rails, so I suspect it was a local mod done  on the quiet!




the two tanks on shed - the CR one and the proposed HR build.

Any problems Ben, fitting the Hornby chassis to the DJH kit?

Phil

Not really - some hacking of the footplate to get clearance but nothing major. I removed some of the white metal bunker and cab and replaced with Plasticard to move the weight balance forward. The chassis is a bit of a cop out as the rear bogie should be further forward, but the motor mounting gets in the way of this and it would as much work as starting from scratch to alter this, so left as was and moved the bogie pivot to reduce the difference -  a couple of photos show the work done. I wanted to keep the very smooth running chassis and with the extra weight of the body it is a cracker of a runner.

The original bogie fixing is merely a collar over the stem and was prone to coming off so I replaced it with a nylon bolt and nut. A bit of experimentation was needed to get the right amount of springing for the bogie but once sorted it is going really well.

A bench view of the body - the earlier model was in the throes of renovation but I eventually gave up on it as being too much bother.




The bogie showing the mods. I have since cut back the Kadee to more or less buffer level as it looked so awful sticking out beyond the buffers.




the offset pivot can be seen - I had to file away part of the chassis to stop the leading wheels catching, but it has made a noticeable visual difference…

Recent activity has focused on the two turntables on the layout. Both were Roco sixty and a bit diameter tables, and worked superbly, but looked nothing like a British one. The Thurso one especially grated as it is right in front of me as I operate the layout, and also is the center point of the sheds workings. I therefore decided to replace this with an etched kit of a 50' Cowans Sheldon type that was the mainstay of many UK stations for decades. The kit, by LRM, went together beautifully, although a high level of precision was needed in the build - working tables are unforgiving things compared to some other railway builds - but it is now in place and giving a better impression of a branch yard.

Here is the original Roco table.



And a couple of shots of the kit one.







The Helmsdale one is not so obvious, and only has to work the one road, so a compromise was reached with it - adding cosmetic side frames that to my eye, transformed its overall appearance. The deck arrangements I have decided I can live with….








Helmsdale had a new table put in just after the war, and apart from the too wide deck at one end, this table will just about do for me. Thurso on the other hand had its original one, rails being bolted to it over the years to cope with larger engines, and a similar bodge to the Helmsdale table would not have worked.

Nice one Ben, is it motorized yet?

A good last picture but I notice quite a bit of noise?

Phil

The Thurso table is motorised - a geared motor attached to the pivot. Took a bit of tweaking to get it rotating smoothly, but that was partly to my under baseboard set up. Alignment is by eye, but the table is right in front of me so no real problem.

There is a lot of noise on the last pic. I tend to shoot underexposed and lighten up before posting, but I was playing around with settings at the time and this was the only image I took in this position. TBH, they were more or less WIP shots to show me where any tweaking was required - the digital camera is Very Good at this….. and if I was taking a proper pic I would have done it in daylight to get natural shadows and lightfall.

I have lost most interest in photographing the layout just now anyway - there's only so much you can squeeze out of a small space, but this recent work has given some more angles so it might encourage me back behind the camera. I'm still busy at the bench and operating it though.

Those photos are gob smacking, Richard.

No joking; they look like reference photos from the prototype.  :shock:

Thanks very much - it's what I am striving towards….. I like the photography aspect but it is very time consuming when one has a  limited portion of it to devote to the hobby. Here though are a couple more from the last session….






A view of the new set up at the Thurso shed and the Black Five on the turntable road at Helmsdale after being pointed in the right direction.