[dwb]

Another great job

David

 

[Bear 1923]

Meanwhile... Steaming on...
Steam heat would require at least a suitable Mixed Traffic loco, if not a Passenger loco. I haven't a clue what happened with dieselisation. My only knowledge is that the Co-Bo locos were Co-Bo because of a boiler at one end...
Other than that these vans wouldn't have (normally) been run in any passenger movement - because, although continuously brakes and steam heated, they didn't have a long enough wheelbase or the correct suspension for really fast running. This links back to the question of which headcode/class they ran under... I am suggesting that they might have run Claas A or at least B in order to give them priority - not because they would be exceptionally fast. A block train of them would certainly have had enough brake force to fit them into the top categories. I wonder what brake vans they would normally have been run with.

 

[34C]

QUOTE (Derek Goodwin @ 8 Dec 2020, 11:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Well here is the meat wagon all weathered and on the layout...
Wagon 7 by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

Off the topic of kit built wagons, next to your 'top Banana' is the strangely malformed undersize ex-Mainline now Bachmann LMS 'minivan' representation. (Quite what went wrong in the long ago tooling of this item, so that the height and width dimensions were scaled well under 4mm/ft? Never seen an explanation.)

And of course Airfix GMR - acquired by Mainline - produced a far better rendition of this essential type of van. This provides a simple fix. A purchase of the Airfix GMR body moulding only, still available at giveaway price from Dapol, and substituting that on the wagon chassis makes an instant improvement. Not perfect, but at least the van body is correctly proportioned and doesn't call attention to itself as the previous body did.

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Hi

Thanks for all the comments. I was aware of most of the info you have provided, but my knowledge of wagons is somewhat limited. I am finding out as I go.

Here is my banana train.

Banana train by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

Now on my to do list is to weather the rather bright ones.

Checked out the repacement van body for the Bachmann wagon as suggested. It is not available locally, and as my credit card has been used on Spainish amazon, I have had to cancel it. I am awaiting a replacement, so in the meantime, no mail order.

I am making a trip to Gaugemaster today as I need more paint. See if I can only come out with whats on my list. Its unlikely.

Thanks agian
Derek

 

[34C]

QUOTE (Derek Goodwin @ 21 Dec 2020, 10:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...Checked out the replacement van body for the Bachmann wagon as suggested.

I am making a trip to Gaugemaster today as I need more paint. See if I can only come out with whats on my list. Its unlikely...
Should have mentioned that the replacement body requires adaption to the Bachmann chassis. I think all it needed was a new screw hole in the chassis floor, and a little bend in the ballast weight to make it fit - this is all well in the past. It was very simple, whatever!

I believe the whole purpose of a proper bricks and mortar model shop is to surprise with items that you hadn't planned to acquire....

 

[PAPPA.B]

Hi Dereck. You have done a good job on the wagons though i'm no expert . You inspired me to buy a couple of wagons myself, a GWR Mink and a Beetle. I can see what Graham was saying with the brass bearing cups pushing the axle boxes out of upright. It was a bit of a fiddle. I built the Mink next and the floor was twisted so i had to pack one of the axle boxes too straighten it . They both went together fairly well but i don't understand why one has metal wheels and the other plastic . Did you find this with your models ? I hope had a good and safe Christmas .Jim

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Hi

The kits I have made so far (3) have all had metal wheels and yes I have rummaged around on the floor looking for the brass bearings inserts, its amazing how far they go.
1 floor had a slight warp in it so needed a little fettling.

Ignorance is bliss. As one of my photo shows I have an undersized fruit van and as suggested replaced the body with a dapol one. The difference is now obvious.
It is very easy to fit, as only slight modification to the chassis is required.

Dapol van body by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

So if you are wondering why you cannot find any spares anywhere, it is because they are all on their way to me. A quick look around the layout found some more. Not 1, 2 or 3, but 8 of the little blighters.

All the rest by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

You can go off people you know...

With the present covid restictions and the poor weather (golf course is closed) I will have plenty of time to modify the remaining ones, I have what I hope are the correct transfers on the way.

As ever comments are more than welcome and no offence is ever taken.

Looking forward to some visitors some time next year.

Stay safe

Derek

 

[34C]

QUOTE (PAPPA.B @ 28 Dec 2020, 13:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...I don't understand why one has metal wheels and the other plastic ...
Charitably I might suggest it depends what wheels were available when the kit was packed. There are less charitable explanations available. I have learned to inspect kits very closely before purchase as a result of such experiences in the past, what with metal wheels being so much better.

QUOTE (Derek Goodwin @ 29 Dec 2020, 09:14) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...As one of my photo shows I have an undersized fruit van and as suggested replaced the body with a dapol one. The difference is now obvious.
It is very easy to fit, as only slight modification to the chassis is required...
And it will look so much better, when mixed with the other group's and BR standard vans.

QUOTE (Derek Goodwin @ 29 Dec 2020, 09:14) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...golf course is closed...
In the words of a near neighbour who is a keen golfist and on the politburo of the club he favours, you know you are in trouble when the first tee is a water hazard.

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Well here we are nearly a year on and back where we started. No golf, garden waterlogged, thank god for this hobby.

I have finished replacing the body onto the bachmann chassis. Looks good to me.

Dapol by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

5 more will arrive today so I will set about them.

I have completed 3 more kits.

LMS 13t by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

LMS CCT by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

cct by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

I am well on the way to completing a fourth, just transfers and weathering to do.

None are perfect, but I am getting better at it and they look all right from normal viewing distance.

I now have rule No2, don't pick up finished models when you have paint on your fingers.

My Christmas present to me arrived just in time. A 1F, weathered, youchoose sound and a stay alive. Here it is on a local freight.

1F Freight by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

Stay safe and hope for better times.

Derek

 

[34C]

It will get better! And we are in the happy position of having a hobby which 'works' in these conditions. At the rate you are going there will be too many wagons to fit on the layout by the time lockdown is over...

Like the chalk scrawl on the van door, once such a common sight. The remains of trader's labels are something my vans and containers are short of too. Must put in a little effort there, as these things were so characteristic of the steam railway.

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Hi 34C, thanks for the reply.

The chalk marking are transfers from Railtac, and come in regional variations.

The latest van to be almost finished is a pallet van, crossed out chalk marking for Crewe.

Pallet van by Derek Goodwin, on Flickr

It has some very thin and fragile detail on the end, which I must have broken 5 times. Today I will add wire replacements as well as some vacuum pipes. The replacment bodies from Dapol are painted and will probably be finshed this weekend. Always room for a few more wagons even if I have to rotate some on the layout. Got my eye on 4 or 5 more.

If it was not for the lockdown I could have got up this morning at the crack of dawn, scrapped the ice off the car, hit my ball off the first tee and spent 5 mins getting cold looking for my white ball in the frosty long grass. Some compensation I suppose.

Derek

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Well I have finished all the kits for present, I was happy with them until I filmed them. The first train in the video is my latest purchase, pulling all the kits with the exception of the banna van. Three have quite serious wobbles, the pipe wagon I knew was not quite right the others I felt were fine.

I will have to work on correcting them. The van train behind the 9F includes all the ones modified with the Dapol bodies.

The last bit is my first ever sound loco, if memory serves me corretly from ebay. To cure the poblem when the horn is sounded I replaced the speaker with a Bay Boomer and all is now fine. The speaker was blue tacked into place, not something I suspect done by Bachmann. I have a couple of other locos which exhibit the same problem and will have to work out how much space I have in them for replacement speakers.

All for now Derek

 

[dwb]

That's an enjoyable video

I can't say that I noticed any particular wobble.

David

 

[Norman Byrne]

Hi Derek,
My my, how times fly - hard to believe how long since last caught up with your posts / Progress !
The progress is amazing - the Engine Shed is a Master piece / well done that man.
Well if golf courses are closed, tag wet down here just now; but your wagon modelling / learning as you go are also really impressive, as David said - didn’t see a lot of wobbles !
Keep up the great work and hopefully, catch up soon, Cheers Norm

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Hi

Thanks for the comments. I am keeping an eye on your progress Norm.

Made another video, it's a bit long at 13 mins and features most of my diesels. The first loco is the class 25, it sounds a lot better with a decent speaker and I might change a few other diesels.

A correction to the last post, I doubt Bachmann used Blutack and the replacement speaker is a Rail Exclusive Baby Boomer. As I have said before I will not use Ebay for anything like loco's as I have been caught out too many times.

Link for the video

Hope you enjoy it. I will probably make one of the tank loco's some time in the next week.

All for now, got to get some shopping as it looks like snow tomorrow.

Derek

 

[dwb]

That was great

. I really enjoyed it

.

You have some great train spotting locations on the layout and it looks to be pretty much complete?

David

 

[34C]

Looks good. The 'wagon wobbling' will be more visible to your eye tracking a specific wagon, than slightly 'mushed' by a video presentation, where in any case the viewer's eye is drawn more to the overall impression of the long fitted freight rolling past: which looks most satisfactory.

Surely no snow will settle on the balmy South coast? If any comes down in our Hertfordshire garden it will melt in the surface water. (The water table is at surface, never seen the like in 25 years here; we are on top of as high a hill as may be found in Herts...)

 

[alanoes]

Hi Derek,
Great videos of a great layout

As others have said, the wobbles aren't too obvious , but I know what its like, when you know something isn't quite right, to you it stands out a mile.
Just a general question on your layout. Some of the locations look pretty inaccessible, especially by the Stanley Mill and in the cutting. Is it just clever camera angles or do you have secret access panels built in?
Regards
Alan

 

[Norman Byrne]

Hi Derek,
Also really enjoyed the latest video, it really does give a great overall view of your layout / railway room; and love the atmosphere of the sounds / etc - fantastic stuff.
Your diesel collection and the rolling stock also really looks the part - you should be really pleased, with the result of all your hard work (* if the RM is this good - won’t ask about the golf lol !).
Alan’s question on access is a key one, know have chatted about previously.
Thanks for sharing, and look forward to continuing to see further running sessions.
Cheers Norm

 

[Derek Goodwin]

Hi Guys

All four corners of the layout have access hatches, but I don't remember removing any of them for months. It's surprising what you can do with a yard stick and a bit of blutack. The track cleaning in hard to reach areas in mainly in the hands of a CMX wagon. The carriage sidings at the back of the station are a bit inaccessable, but as I loco's do not venture too far along them it is not too much of a problem. The Diesel fuelling area is on two removable boards that slide out when I need to get to the junction.

The layout is more or less complete. There is a problen on the grade down to the storage area, a bit of 2 by 1 has bowed down behind the viaduct and is starting to foul the highest of the loco's. It may mean removing the viaduct to get access to rebuild it. In which case I will probably lower it's height and widen the stream and add a road.

I have spent a bit of time experimenting with weathering powders, before doing some more of the rolling stock. I am not a lover of perfectly clean loco's.

As for snow on the south coast. I can say it's only made a pathetic attempt here.

More later

Derek