David Holman

Am sure there must be plenty more where that came from - no mention of brother Red Shanks, famed for his bright socks?

An interesting conundrum, but if all the model does is stay in its box, then one will never know if it works or not. Guess it is the same with all those unmade kits stuck in cupboards for that rainy day. Ultimately making, using, playing with models is good for you and even if you don't currently have the time or space for a full layout, suggest that there is little to stop anyone from setting up a bit of track to run a loco and a few wagons on. It doesn't have to be scenic (though eventually it could be), but will certainly enable stock to be tested, with a bit of fun along the way too.

 Feel their pain and they are right to go out on a high. The Chatham Club's Dockyard exhibition initially disappeared due to problems in the venue itself, but ultimately withered on the vine for similar reasons cited by the Warley Club. Exhibitions are seriously hard work for those who run them and the bigger the show, the greater the work.

 However, for Chatham, it seems there may still be a yearning to return to the past. This year's new show, back in the Covered Slipway in the Dockyard has generated masses of interest with traders, layouts and societies actually asking to be included, simply on the back of the memories of twenty years ago.

 And at the time, it was great, because the venue added that special something - like Cultra - which a sports hall can't do on its own, however good the layouts and traders. The Chatham Show was a proper day out, because it was not just about the model railways - there was a whole lot of other stuff to see too.

 Come the last weekend in July, we will see if nostalgia actually is what it used to be, but (fingers crossed), it is looking good from a financial point of view, while post Covid, the Club has seen a large influx of new, younger members, who have breathed new life into not just the evenings, but daytime meetings too. Some of this is down to our large 00 layout which is fully DCC and last night up to a dozen people were happily running their trains via their mobile phones. Seems weird to me, but it works and that is what is important. The rest of us get to see all the wonderful latest new models trundling around in a realistic setting too.

 Our big 0 gauge tail chaser is likewise important for folk to run their trains, while we now have new projects 0 and 0n16.5 which are focussing on layout construction and which will eventually become small exhibition layouts too and the main 00 layout is being continuously developed. Somehow, and in a very short time, things have moved from the Doldrums to being very positive - and long may it continue. 

 Still not entirely sure why things have blossomed, but newer members are very active on social media and this has generated a lot of interest which in turn brings more people down to the club to see what is going on, who then want to join in. So the virtual world can contribute and the delights of the real world of model railways can still work its magic.

Nice one - and think you are right to avoid the sea itself. Waves can look great in photographs but (beyond ripples) start to lose something in reality. The shoreline detritus works really well and is not something you see very often.

Thanks folks. Black it is!

Thanks, Paul.

 In the revised edition of Patterson's book on the Swilly, he quoted a Mr H S Irvine as saying that in 1948, No4 was black, lined in yellow with the number 4 on both the bunker and bufferbeams. 

 Norman Johnson's Narrow Gauge in Colour shows No2 in 1953 and the tank sides appear the same colour as the smokebox: black, lined in yellow with red buffer beams, while the rods are black. It has the LSR lozenge on the tank side, whereas pictures in the 1940s still have the LBER initials on the tanks.

 Much as I really like the Swilly dark green (and the colour picture in NJs book of No5 shows it to be very dark), my preferred period is the mid 1940s, where all the evidence this far points to black.

 Ultimately, suspect that with a light coating of grime, it will be hard for anyone to tell the difference, but when I do one of the Pacific tanks, hopefully it can have the dark green.

As a former head teacher and leadership advisor, getting colleagues to reflect was a key part of my work, particularly in the annual appraisal cycle. In education, folk tend not to dwell on the past, mainly because there is always another new challenge around the corner, be it self imposed, or from our political masters. Maybe because of that, I've long kept what I call my model railway 'journal', an informal diary that I use to record thoughts and experiences - a bit like some of my ramblings here, so am in danger of repeating myself!

 Whatever, it is good to reflect and to look back on those reflections once in a while, because it helps in avoiding mistakes and realising you solved a particular problem several years ago, but had forgotten about it.

 John's little essay soon got me thinking, because over the dozen or so layouts I've built some have been a lot more effective than others. However, as they were almost all built for exhibition purposes, the criteria are different because factors like ease of transportation, setting up times, reliability and so on are just as important as operational enjoyment.

 On balance, Fintonagh remains a firm favourite and now very much a benchmark for other projects. Easy to transport, quick to set up and, though small, more than enough operational potential to be enjoyable to run. At the other end of the scale was an 0 gauge continuous run, called Eatonswell. Four, four foot by 2'6 scenic boards were joined to similar sized storage loops by double track half circles. The whole lot was about 30x13, took forever to set up and was very unwieldy, to say the least! Did one show with it before the continuous run was scrapped and replaced by fiddle yard each end. Forgot to mention it was on two levels as well - a double track secondary line with a low level goods yard. So, in effect, four fiddle yards and up to six operators. What was I thinking? Eventually, stripped off the buildings and used them on a decent terminus to fiddle yard project of the same name that was much more effective.

 I still dream of a roundy roundy layout, but the nightmare of the original Eatonswell soon brings me back to earth.

10 hours ago, KMCE said:

That's a damn fine project - nicely done! 

I feel your pain with the rods, I've been there many times - I'm sure someone somewhere will create a tee shirt for it....

Got a drawer full, if anyone's interested!

Looks great.

Colour is such an emotive thing and so much depends on ambient lighting, to say nothing about the effects of dirt, fading and so on. The variations display really are significant though!

Thanks folks. The shiny metal is now covered with primer and (fingers crossed), now awaits a black top coat. If anyone can tell me the Barclays were given the Swilly dark green in the 1940s, then I have a can of Ford laurel green to go over the black, which should work. Otherwise, I'm going to need to do a bit of lining.

 Been fine tuning the chassis this afternoon to get everything running sweetly before reuniting it with the body.

Yep, that's a wow from me too.

 Have been adding various bits and pieces this week - a case of studying as many photos as you can, because a lot of stuff doesn't make it into a line drawing, let alone a Worsley etch! In no particular order I have:

• tidied up the smokebox saddle, filling in gaps with thin brass sheet and solder
• added the four cab handrails, cursing myself for cutting off the thin strip of brass in the space. Had I just cut it in the centre, it would have been perfect for a simple fold back around the top of each handrail instead fiddling around with tiny bits of brass strip
• handrails along the tank tops
• fitted bunker extension pieces: on three of the class, it was the usual coal rails, but No4 had them plated over, so this is what I've done
• added vacuum pipes, from the spares box
• tank filler caps, made by adding a thin oval of nickel silver to a thick oval of brass
• smokebox lamp iron, simply made from a piece of bent brass strip
• cab beading, from phosphor bronze strip
• cab spectacle plates - thankfully in the etches, because they would be a swine to make otherwise
• a white metal brake cylinder, from the spares box
• various pipe runs along the boiler from cab to smokebox
• various operating rods, mostly I'm guessing for the sanding gear

 The cab interior still needs to be done, but have put in an order to Laurie Griffin Miniatures for a suitable set of castings, plus a sset of loco jacks for the footplate and something to represent the curious spherical valve [taps? sticking out of the front of the sand boxes.

 I'm also pondering on couplings, having come across the Zamzoodles, which are working chopper couplings and would really look the part. However, the curse of the turntable makes them problematic for shunting mixed and goods trains because, like Dinghams and others having two hooks together is not recommended, so I may yet be sticking with Kaydees.

 So, while waiting for my orders to arrive, have started on the Great Clean Up, prior to the first 'witness coat' of primer & then however many further sessions of filing, scraping and sanding in order to get a decent paint finish. The various implements of torture are shown below:

 The set of 'whiffers' [variously shaped needle files] are always useful, as is the dreaded glass fibre brush meaning I can look forward to the usual nasty little splinters in my fingers for the next few days.

 As already mentioned, the loco is going to be No4 and a correct set of Barclay builders plates have been ordered from the Light Railway Stores for well under a tenner [including postage], which is great value. I'd been looking forward to creating that rather splendid Swilly [very] dark green, but Patterson's book says the Barclays were black with yellow lining for No4, though if anyone knows different, please let me know. The remaining pictures show the loco ready for that first witness coat, so it will soon be goodbye to all that shiny brass and nickel silver.

Oh my. Well done Ken. This is where the 3D thing can be so effective, because you have already done all the hard work.

Respect!

Alternatively get the Alphagraphix card kit of the Sligo brake van, for about four quid, in 7mm scale. They also do various other wagons for the same price.

So reassuring when things work as they should. Never heard of that gearbox tab before, yet so simple. Am inclined find a way of adding it to future builds. A couple of bits of brass, soldered to the outside of the gear box, engaging on a bit of brass wire fitted between the frames might do it.

Will such a thing work in making your own transfers? I wil be needing some L&LSR logos.

Amen to the above! Rule number one - never, EVER, start with a loco kit. A wagon much better and you could do a lot worse than JM's products.

 The golden rule of soldering is undoubtedly 'cleanliness comes before godliness' - hence Galteemore's suggestion of the glass fibre pencil. A necessary evil as you will forever be getting bits in your fingers. Flux is essential too - I use Fry's Powerflux paste because it stays where you want it, though it does leave a residue to clean up afterwards and other brands are certainly available! While I use 240 degree multicore solder for electrical work, my go to for kit making is 145 solder, which is ideal because if you want to solder several pieces close together, it can be useful to use different temperatures - I've got 80 and 188 as well for that very reason. 

 However, no need to get ahead of yourself. Practice on bits and pieces first. Soldering can be seen as a bit of a black art, but it just requires care and the right tools. Another one is the iron itself - you will not be able to solder large or thick pieces of brass together with a 15 watt iron. I use mine for layout wiring, but have a 50 watt one for loco and kit building - though I work in 7mm scale, where my 100watt iron also comes in useful. 

 Another tip - try not to pick up the iron by the hot end. Seems obvious, but we've all done it - and it really hurts!

 Always sad to see institutions like this go, especially as it is because of the B word. There are still a few big guns around, if the adverts in Railway Modeller are to be believed, not least Kernow, who have been expanding of late.

 Something that is also very noticeable is the rise of the "We buy your model railway" concerns, which shows how the second hand trade is booming and there are a few folk happy to buy up stuff to sell on. Mind you, when you look at the cost of brand new, that is hardly surprising.

 As a builder, rather than a buyer of rtr, the loss of folk selling components is just as worrying. Maplin was the easy go to for electrical bits and pieces, while the gap left by Eileen's still hasn't been filled. As for getting hold of fine metal strip, it is becoming almost impossible without going on line.

 Such is progress...

Lovely stuff Ken and done with your usual panache for detail and neatness.

 Slow, but steady progress this week, adding most of the remaining Worsley etches [cab steps and sand boxes], then making the major boiler fittings. I also had to cut a section out of the boiler, so it would slot over the motor-gearbox.

 Dome, safety valves and smokebox door, all came [to greater or lesser degrees] from the spares box. As a kit builder for many years, it is amazing how many bits you accumulate, though I've no longer any idea which kits they came from!

The smoke box door seems about right for two of the four Barclays - the other two had a thicker version with the brackets much closer together, but beggars can't be choosers and I found a suitable 'dart' too. A point to remember here is that one of the handles should always be pointing at six o'clock.

 The dome is a white metal casting that was the right diameter, but just needed shortening a little, while for the safety valves another casting had the valves cut off and replaced by two brass castings. A curious thing about both items is that, by the 1940s, they were no longer is the positions indicated on the drawing - both having moved forwards along the boiler. Annoyingly, this meant moving the boiler bands to accommodate them. Not sure if they are in the exact position, as I don't have side on view of the loco, but three quarter views enable you to line them up with the driving wheels, so this is what I have done.

 No luck in sourcing a chimney, so out came my micro lathe and some round brass bar. My first attempt turned out to be too slim, though it may well be adaptable for one of the Swilly 4-6-2Ts I want to build. Came close to making a bit of a Horlicks on the second attempt too, but managed to rescue it via the application of some car body filler and then using various files in the lathe to get the shape right. After, a lot of work with a half round file to get it to sit nicely on the smokebox. As per my usual practice, all these fittings are fixed with 5 minute epoxy, which is ideal in terms of getting the positions right.

GER J15s are pretty engines, but to my eyes seem a long way from an Irish one. For one thing the dome on the former is well forward, quite close to the chimney, whereas it is well back on a 101. Very different tender outline too, while the loco body shape is likewise very different.

 However, far be it from me to spoil anyone's fun, it's your railway, to do with as you please and a J15 is a very nice model. Nevertheless, an alternative thought might simply to assume one or more somehow found their way to Ireland, after all, several went to France in the Great War and in their long lives they proved themselves to be very useful, go anywhere engines. 

 Feel sure there must be a space in the CIE numbers list for a couple. Meanwhile, such a scenario might also beg the question of what else could have made its way over the water? Ideally, any steam loco with a high footplate and no splashers, probably. Stainer 8F, or any of the Standards?

 Exits, stage left, pursued by a bear...

Nice, very nice!

Just as well you are not modelling 5'3 though, as a fair bit more surgery would be needed. From what I remember, even the full sized version had issues with wheels and splashers because of the broad gauge.

 Know little to nothing about these wagons, but that weathering looks very good indeed.

Yep, the colours look really good.

Splendid and as you say, fiendishly difficult. A coach is a box (albeit with many add ons), a steam loco is a box with a boiler (ok, sweeping generalisations for both), but a railbus is another level in terms of all the complex curves and glazing. Road vehicles likewise, which is why we don't see many scratchbuilds of such things. 

 Seriously multimedia and great to see a whole host of techniques brought together. Very neat on the trailer too and will have to look into the idea of a capacitor for my 2b. Shame they never ran the two back to back, Colonel Stephens style - it would solve the problem of turntables!