David's Workbench

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Great stuff, this is going to be a good one

[David Holman]

Managed to fit in a bit of work on the railcar this week & and giving it to Mark before I go any further, so he can look at creating a chassis.

 Nothing to fancy in the construction. The sides are being built around 1mm clear acrylic sheet, overlaid both inside and out with 20thou plasticard. A fair bit of car body filler will be needed to create some of the curves and to deal with where my over enthusiastic use of MEK solvent has caused blemishes.

 One additional thing I'm doing for Mark is building a short piece of 21mm gauge test track. This is just a piece of plywood with two three foot radius reverse curves. If the railcar can negotiate these, it should be fine on my layout. Needless to say, this item is not finished yet!

[Tullygrainey]

Great progress already David. I like your technique of overlaying onto clear acrylic sheet. A much better approach for something with so many windows than trying to glaze it after the event. 
 
Salted away for future reference

[David Holman]

Thanks Alan. Somewhere in RMWeb there is a thread of one being built like this. Look up the images for Donegal railcars on Google and eventually you come to a picture and just visit to get to the thread. That's how I found the 1:14 plans from New Zealand as well. Only problem with such searches it (if working in more obscure fields), you think you found something useful, only to discover it is one of your own posts, often from this very forum!

[David Holman]

 While the railcar is away having a chassis made, have been using the time to finish off a few wagons, most of which have been lying around for quite a while - years in some cases! This is particularly the case with these three Clogher Valley Vans. 

 Two of them are made from resin sides, cast from my own masters. Having put the sides and ends together, they got no further, as I realised I already had enough vehicles for Fintonagh. However, the County Donegal bought several of them, many of which became the well known 'red vans', often accompanying the rail cars. As their original 2 foot diameter wheels didn't ride too well at the faster speeds the railcars were capable of, the Donegal fitted 2'7 wheels and, happily, these fit nicely in the standard Branchlines chassis. This raises the height slightly, as can be seen in the photos, when compared to the originals.

  The other wagon is a butter van. I made the body from plastic sheet, but again, it has languished  unused until the last couple of days, when I finally got round to adding a chassis. It also needs the double layered roof that was used to help insulation. It was used to carry rabbits late in its life, so I'm claiming that it was bought by the Swilly for the same purpose when the CVR closed, becoming their number 210. It runs on the original, smaller wheels.

[David Holman]

Three new Donegal wagons now just short of their couplings, after I made another go at the lettering. Read recently that they were hand lettered and when you look at photos, you can see that no two are the same. Hence dipping pen and Indian ink for me then.

  Also fitted a double roof to the CVR butter van, which is now masquerading as Swilly number 210

 

[David Holman]

A couple of weeks away from modelling is a long time for me, but life has been busy of late, with a week's holiday in Jordan [fantastic country], a family wedding and a two day headteacher appointment [I am a school governor]. However, with Fintonagh appearing at the Eastleigh show this weekend, the digit needed extracting, especially as CVR Railcar Number 1 has required a new motor.

 A High Level motor/gearbox was ordered and with the usual prompt service, arrived a couple of days later. Fitting was fairly straightforward [though I do find the parts can be fiddly], but then discovered that the cab would not fit properly due to the unit sitting higher than the previous Mashima. Therefore had to carve a few bits of the body work away, which means that the motor is rather more visible than I would like. However, with No1 soon to be repainted as Donegal No 10, am leaving things as they are for now. Did take the opportunity to add some lead to the front of the passenger compartment and [fingers crossed] the railcar is now much more comfortable than before with its usual load of a van and open wagon. Some black marker pen may help.

[David Holman]

New Sliding & Rotating Fiddle Yard

 Having been repeatedly stymied by having to send off for materials on current projects have finally managed to get on with something for a change, though even here, it was not without its problems!

 The original Arigna Town fiddle yard has earned its keep over the years. Based on a design by the late Robin Fielding back in MRJ 199, it proved ideal in meaning entire trains could be turned without the need for any handling - a real boon at exhibitions and still a talking point too. The only downside was that it was very heavy. I cut it down quite a bit to use with Northport Quay, making it both shorter and narrower, but it still weighed too much. I also wanted a fiddle yard that would work with Fintonagh in its Swilly/Donegal reimagining, so a brand new version was the only answer.

 There are three main parts to a fiddle yard like this: the frame, the sliding table and then the rotating track table.

 I made the frame from 12mm plywood. The ends are 90mm deep and 500mm wide. The sides are a long U shape [1000mm], with the cut away section accommodating the sliding table. The latter sits on two way drawer runners, which are screwed to more 12mm ply. Just like last time, I somehow got one way runners at first, which don't work at all and had to send off for replacements. Note to self - read the Amazon description more carefully in future! 

 Everything needs to be as square as possible, so I used 25mm square softwood to reinforce the corners, with a couple of cross braces and everything screwed and glued together.

 The sliding table bit was built in situ. I fixed the drawer runners to two pieces of 31mm square softwood, which form the ends of the table and then fixed these to each inner ends of the main frame. Two longer pieces of 31mm wood were cut to make the sides and these were aligned and held in place with rectangles of 3mm ply across the underside of each end.  Like the main frame, the sliding table is completely open, to save weight, though it also has a couple of cross braces on which sits a Lazy Susan [10cm cake turntable]. The height of this needed to be measured very carefully, so that, once fitted, the track table would exactly match up with the track leading from the layout.

 On the original model, the track table was a pieces of 12mm MDF - again, very heavy. This time I've used 9mm plywood, braced with 12mm and 40 x 12mm softwood along each edge. 

 Several additional items are needed:

• A piece of 12mm plywood forms the link to the layout. This has a piece of 36.75mm track on it, together with two home made bolts [brass rod, tube and plate] which both align with each of the five tracks on the table and carry power from the layout itself.
• A separate piece of 12mm ply will used to carry the two 21mm gauge tracks from Fintonagh. These are on a different alignment so the two must be interchangeable.
• The alignment sections for the bolts on the track table are similarly home made. When the track is fitted, Code 83 rails [21mm gauge] will be soldered in between the broad gauge, Code 100 rails, thereby enabling the new fiddle yard to work with both layouts.
• A spring connector will be fitted underneath the main frame to take the two track wires from the main layout. All fiddle yard tracks are isolated, unless connected via the alignment bolts
• A hinged barrier [aluminium strip] will be fitted each end to stop stock running off the ends
• A small bolt underneath is used to secure the sliding table for transport
• Two further small bolts [currently oversize in the pictures] are used to lock the track table in place when it is in sliding mode. Sliding the table from side to side enables all trains to enter/exit the layout. When they have all returned, the bolts are undone and the train table is pulled out beyond the entry track and then turned so that everything is ready to go out again. 

 Hopefully, the pictures below will help make sense of the above. There is a fair bit of finishing off to do, not least laying the track, but it all works very smoothly and weighs far less than the original version, which has to be a very good thing. Though quite complicated to make, to me, this is by far the best type of fiddle yard I've used and this includes points, cassettes and full turntables.

 

[Galteemore]

Just wow. What a piece of workmanship!  Great idea to make it multi-use, too. Will hopefully have a chance to see it on show soon.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Top drawer stuff Mr Holman, well done you

[David Holman]

 The fiddle yard's design has been, of necessity, somewhat organic - given it needs to serve two layouts, with different track exits.

 Getting track heights right at the two interfaces has been tricky. I used 12mm ply for the single, broad gauge track & [for once] careful measurement has meant that Code 100 rail and copper clad sleepers line up nicely with Northport Quay. The home made bolts line up the track table, though the ones on the 'bridge' have needed to be raised by one millimetre - not really surprising given that the track table uses 9mm ply. Another built in complication is that Fintonagh's boards are one centimetre deeper than NPQ's, so the fiddle yard requires a piece of plywood at the far end to level it up. However, fingers crossed, laying the track seems to have everything lining up nicely &, if necessary, the copper clad sleepers mean the rails can easily be adjusted.

 For Fintonagh, decided I needed a completely different interface, so when this layout goes to shows, the NPQ one will be unscrewed. After much thought, decided to make Fintonagh's hinged from the layout baseboard and wide enough to cover both layout exits.  However, the different baseboard height, along with the fact it uses Code 83 rail, has meant a degree of jiggery pokery has been required. The exit from the layout is 3mm higher than the track table, so rather than use copper clad sleepers on the bridging section, I've used small screws and soldered the rail to these. Have also used screws for the first 15cm or so of the track table, before the rail eventually gets soldered to the broad gauge sleepers. This reduces the gradient between the two to about 1 in 75, compared to 1 in 25, though am yet to find out if this works or not. Have managed to salvage quite a bit of Code 83 from Fintonagh's turntable fiddle yard, but not enough for all of the new one. At least I'll be able to test it, once the wiring is completed, while another, unplanned, test occurred this afternoon when the new fiddle yard fell of the work bench onto the workshop floor. It seems ok, though not sure how the floor would have got on if it had been the old version!

 

[David Holman]

Fingers crossed, the fiddle yard is now finished - at least as far as Northport Quay is concerned, though narrow gauge track still needs laying, once I eventually get hold of some Code 83 rail.

 Painting is a mixture of Sage Green, to match the layout baseboards and plain white [on primer] for the rest, mainly to put a protective seal on the timber.

 A couple of additions come from getting some 3mm ply sheet from Hobbycraft, to cover the open topped framework at each end. The 3.6mm ply I'd used elsewhere was just a tad too thick and made the sliding and rotating actions a bit stiff, especially when the table is fully loaded with trains. My locos weigh between one and two kilos each, so five trains come to between 10 and 15 kilos in all.

  A bit of sanding was needed in key areas of the 3mm ply, so that when the train table is turned, it rides smoothly over the ends. I've also reversed the electrical connection, with the crocodile clip connectors on the other end of the wire from the screw clipping onto the leads from the main baseboards.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Tidy work David 

[Metrovik]

And here's me, who can't make a traverser with Hornby set track!

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, David Holman said:

Fingers crossed, the fiddle yard is now finished - at least as far as Northport Quay is concerned, though narrow gauge track still needs laying, once I eventually get hold of some Code 83 rail.

 Painting is a mixture of Sage Green, to match the layout baseboards and plain white [on primer] for the rest, mainly to put a protective seal on the timber.

 A couple of additions come from getting some 3mm ply sheet from Hobbycraft, to cover the open topped framework at each end. The 3.6mm ply I'd used elsewhere was just a tad too thick and made the sliding and rotating actions a bit stiff, especially when the table is fully loaded with trains. My locos weigh between one and two kilos each, so five trains come to between 10 and 15 kilos in all.

  A bit of sanding was needed in key areas of the 3mm ply, so that when the train table is turned, it rides smoothly over the ends. I've also reversed the electrical connection, with the crocodile clip connectors on the other end of the wire from the screw clipping onto the leads from the main baseboards.

Excellent work as always1

 

[David Holman]

When the Clogher Valley Railway closed in 1941, Henry Forbes of the County Donegal Railway purchased three items of motive power. The Atkinson Walker tractor became Phoenix, while Railcar No1 became No10. Then there was  'The Unit'.

 Essentially a second tractor unit for the Railcar, it was fitted with a wagon body & indeed the loco parts were interchangeable. I guess Henry Forbes was hoping to continue the idea, though one of them was badly damaged, so there was only ever Railcar 10. Shame, as the Unit proved itself very useful on both passenger and freight work for the Clogher.

 Converting Fintonagh to a Swilly/Donegal branch means I can repaint all three of my CVR models just mentioned, so decided to make a start on the Unit. Working on the principle that, being a bit of a 'Rail-Lorry' decided to do the cab in red and cream, with wagon body in grey. The only other work has been moving the headlight from in front of the radiator to the cab roof.

 Not entirely sure about this livery combination & am wondering if the lorry bit would be better in red - as per a 'red van'. Let me know what you think. The cab side crests and numbers are from an LMS sheet of transfers by the way. Not too bad under the 'two foot' rule, I hope. I've given it the number 5, as this appears to be vacant by the time the CVR stuff went to the Donegal, though given the Unit's interchangeability with the railcar, may 10A might also be appropriate. 

 The model was originally built in 2017, using a set of Worsley Works etches and if you go back to that time in this thread, you'll see a few posts on its construction.

 

 

[Tullygrainey]

You've made a fine job of that David. A terrific might-have-been. I remember reading your posts on the original build and being mightily impressed. I wanted one, even though I hadn't anything to run it on.

The red and cream livery blends it nicely with the railcars but if we're taking a vote, I think I might favour an all red cab. 

[Galteemore]

Looks great David. I think it’s  worth experimenting with a red truck (maybe try a painted card  overlay as a trial ). On balance  I think the two tone cab should stay, as it would have allowed seamless swaps for maintenance when 10’s regular can required attention. Although I do see what Alan means ! 

[Paul 34F]

David,

I maybe wrong, but I’m sure the livery you’ve applied matches the CDR Lorry Fleet.  
It certainly looks the part.

Paul

[David Holman]

It does indeed, Paul. The model looks better in the flesh than it does in the photos, but Am still wondering if the wagon bit would look better in red. Think I'll try Galteemore's idea to compare the two.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

That's mighty modelling David

[Metrovik]

Love the idea of a railtruck referred to as "THE UNIT"

Edited June 2 by Metrovik
It's not a railcar, technically.

[Patrick Davey]

Such an unusual prototype and as always a fine model David.  Would be interesting to see the red livery for the truck, I think it might be more appealing than the current contrast with the grey?

[David Holman]

So, from a might have been to an actual, with the Donegalification of CVR Railcar 1. Had the privilege of exhibiting Fintonagh in front of Railcar 10 at Cultra's last show a couple of years ago, but like the Unit, it was made in 2017 and is covered from page 11 on this Workbench thread.

 Unlike the Unit, it was a scratch build, owing to the Worsley Works etches not being available at the time. The chassis is brass & nickel silver, but most of the bodywork is plasticard sheet and strip. As far as I can tell, the main changes in going to the Donegal involved  moving the headlight from the bonnet to the cab roof and adding a luggage rack and ladder to the roof.

 Needless to say, it wasn't a quick paint job & has been going on at the same time as work on the Unit. Being a dark brown on the Clogher, the first step was to paint the whole model in Precision Paints Donegal cream, to act as a kind of undercoat. Several coats were needed of this colour as it is not very opaque. The same makers Donegal red is much better and only needed a couple of goes over the cream for the lower panels. Transfers are as per the Unit and overall think the model is now looking very dapper in its new livery.

 Returning to the Unit, followed Galteemore's excellent idea and cut a suitably sized piece of thin red card and used Blutack to fix it to one wagon side. However, as well as this Plan B, also thought of a Plan C, which simply involves painting the top two planks cream - essentially matching the cab. Must admit, I quite like this, but will throw my self at the mercy of the jury, so please let me know!

Edited June 3 by David Holman

[Patrick Davey]

The red with the top planks cream gets my vote!

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Plan C for me.

[Tullygrainey]

Yep, that works better than an all-red cab. Plan C for me too then!

[David Holman]

Thanks folks - certainly helped with my thinking.

Here is the Unit, now Donegal No5 in its new, two tone livery. Very much shades of BR parcels lorries?

[Patrick Davey]

Result - no other livery need apply!

[Tullygrainey]

That's just perfect!

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Brilliant 

[David Holman]

While the Railcar and Unit were little more than repaints, a fair bit more work is required to turn the Atkinson-Walker tractor into Phoenix. The model started life as a set of etches from Worsley Works, but as these were actually for Phoenix, I had to adapt them for the tractor. This involved making a new, shorter 'bonnet', different roof, 'steam' chimney, fenders, headlights on the lower body and a representation of the vertical boiler and steam engine. All these now need replacing to put it back [forward?] to Phoenix!

 The first picture shows the chassis I used - a motor bogie I picked up from a second hand stall at Expo Narrow Gauge several years ago. While there is no evidence of a manufacturer, I think it might be Rivarossi. Either way, it is four wheel drive and comes with a flywheel too, albeit also a top speed much higher than required. Glued a couple of L shaped bits of brass to it, drilled to take fixing bolts to the body.

 The next pictures show the body, with some of the bits removed - headlights, roof, interior, fenders, etc. This morning I unsoldered the 'front?' windscreen and then set about altering the bodywork. Was hoping that I would find I still had the Worsley etches in my scrap box, but no. However, a reasonable substitute appeared in the etches from the J26 kit - namely the cab extension to turn it into one of the Waterford & Tramore locos. A bit of trimming was required, but along with a couple of spectacle rings I found, it all saved me a lot of awkward work.

 

The cab extension on Phoenix is wider than the A-W body, so needed a couple of strips of brass to fill the gaps, but otherwise it was only a couple of hours cutting, filing and soldering to get the basic bodywork to its new outline. The original tractor wasn't pretty, but Henry Forbes conversion did it no favours at all!

 Plenty still to do mind.

[Tullygrainey]

That’s coming along nicely David. There can’t be many examples of model locos being converted then converted back again (unconverted?) 

[David Holman]

Shades of the Bulleid pacifics. Can never understand why they were rebuilt and 'unrebuilt'. What was wrong with original?

[David Holman]

 Added most of the bits to Phoenix yesterday, so gave it a coat of primer and took these photos to check things.

 Now needs glazing and crew, then the roof can be fixed, then couplings & it will be painting and lettering time.