My 7mm scale 1950s workbench

[Midland Man]

Amazing stuff @Galteemore they do look a pain to make.

[JasonB]

On 4/30/2020 at 10:36 PM, Galteemore said:

A small but frustrating model is done. The humble platform barrow. This one consisted of some 17 separate parts. It has collapsed on numerous occasions during the build but seems to be holding up now....all part of my quest to replicate the platform as seen at Dromahair, a typical 50s SLNC station....

As usual, your attention to detail is top notch. Maybe a little frustrating to build, but that scene proves it was well worth the effort.  

[Galteemore]

It’s been quiet on the Galteemore workbench of late. Well actually it hasn’t. There have been screams of anguished rage as chunks of metal fail to cooperate. A machine tool from Germany, inbound this week, will hopefully allow me to progress that particular project to the extent that I can share it. I really don’t want to talk about it right now! 

Pending the arrival of mechanical aid from the land of beer and sausages, I have endeavoured to do something at least. A Sligo Leitrim saloon brake has had the panel layers cut and prepared.

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Galteemore

[Angus]

That's looking good Galteemore, 

No 4 is on my to do list also, a quintessential SLNCR carriage!

[jhb171achill]

Superb, Galteemore! Just right for SLNCR. It was one of the last 6-wheelers in regular use, getting a decent repaint as late as the early 50s, by which time paintbrushes had become foreign objects in all areas of the SLNCR, from signal posts to carriages!

It seems to have been a very cheap-and-nasty job, though, possibly with no proper preparation of the surfaces, as by closure the coach was in an abominable state cosmetically.

Edited June 7, 2020 by jhb171achill

[David Holman]

That's looking good - and an interesting use of a broken handled coffee mug too!

[Galteemore]

Thanks all - seemed a shame to dispose of a nice espresso cup. Just right for Limonene solvent - must remember not to drink it!

[Galteemore]

Bit more progress on No 4. The ‘box’ that comprises the main structure (the panelled sides will be stuck on as an overlay)  is done, as is the chassis. Last year I built a TPO which went ok but I have become increasingly dissatisfied with the finish. And its running gear involves some £30 worth of brass and steel - it needs to earn its keep! So last night the TPO was grounded and the  rolling chassis (compensated Alphagraphix) transferred over. I also had to cannibalise the brake gear a bit as SLNC coaches only had brakes on the middle wheels and one end...

Edited June 13, 2020 by Galteemore

[Midland Man]

Looks really good. The chassis Looks real sturdy for the job in hand. 

[David Holman]

The Tyrconnel chassis is really well thought out - rather like the model of the Sligo saloon!

[Galteemore]

After the fiddly work of gluing sides together and making footboards, the paint is making an appearance....rolling part of chassis is masked off as it’s black already. Halfords red primer for now. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Galteemore

[Angus]

Looks good Galteemore, certainly captured the look of the carriage.

Just out of interest what drawing did you use as a starting point?

 

[Galteemore]

Thanks Angus. It’s my first attempt at building a passenger coach so happy enough so far. It’s based on an Alphagraphix kit as the drawing source. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

Wish my first coach was that good!

[Midland Man]

just seen this,looks great.

[Galteemore]

This was meant to be a quick fill in project but I think we are finally done after 3 weeks!
 

R W Sparks’ 1920s rebuild of 6w saloon No 4 awaits her loco in the evening sun....loads of mistakes made and lessons learned. It’s not perfect by any means.  But for a first effort at an SLNC coach I am not completely disheartened. The real No 4 makes an appearance in an @Irishswissernie shot ..seen here at Enniskillen.

This one also made it behind the platform - echoing how the SLNC 6w were stored at Manorhamilton, and where the real no 4 spent much of her last years.
 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by Galteemore

[Midland Man]

Lovely stuff. Lovely the colur on the SLNCR. Are they decals or hand painted?

MM

[Galteemore]

Cheers MM. They are Methfix transfers from the Historical Model Railway Society - 1920s Southern Railway. The labels such as ‘guard’ and ‘third‘ are straightforward. But producing ‘SLNC’ means cutting out individual letters from the  ‘Southern Railway’ carriage transfers. There is if course, no letter C in that phrase. So I took the letter ‘o’ and sliced a chunk out. It was a fiddly job...

[jhb171achill]

Always thought that coach was a great "character"! Senior saw it often, though he seemed to remember it spent most of its time parked up. In later days, the railbuses and railcar handled almost all the passenger traffic.

[David Holman]

You say it may not be perfect David, but it has the look - that almost indefinable something of proportion and colour which says it is right. Placed in the setting of Rosses Point, which also has all these qualities, then it all adds up to very fine modelling!

 Already looking forward to seeing what comes next.

[Galteemore]

Your wish is my command, Mr H - next project under way. Although this one is an altogether bigger job...done under the watchful eye of the Collooney station staff in the background...

Edited June 27, 2020 by Galteemore

[JasonB]

On 6/25/2020 at 6:32 PM, Galteemore said:

This was meant to be a quick fill in project but I think we are finally done after 3 weeks!
 

R W Sparks’ 1920s rebuild of 6w saloon No 4 awaits her loco in the evening sun....loads of mistakes made and lessons learned. It’s not perfect by any means.  But for a first effort at an SLNC coach I am not completely disheartened. The real No 4 makes an appearance in an @Irishswissernie shot ..seen here at Enniskillen.

This one also made it behind the platform - echoing how the SLNC 6w were stored at Manorhamilton, and where the real no 4 spent much of her last years.
 

 

 

 

Not my era of interest, but it's fantastic work. Always enjoy your updates. Top notch modelling.  

Edited June 27, 2020 by JasonB

[David Holman]

16 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Your wish is my command, Mr H - next project under way. Although this one is an altogether bigger job...done under the watchful eye of the Collooney station staff in the background...

That looks an interesting bit of kit - tell us more!

[Galteemore]

Long story short, @David Holman! I have recently made my first small steps in metal scratchbuilding  as opposed to plastic work. I quickly discovered that the Archimedes drill does not cut nickel silver sheet quickly or efficiently! I discovered that many modellers use a small pillar drill. I’d fought shy of this before as I thought it would be bulky and not really of much value to my needs. This one is ideal though - it’s a Proxxon TBM220 with compound table. It’s already proved its worth. As for the new project, I’ll hopefully be able to post an update this week.

Edited June 28, 2020 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

Nice!

[Georgeconna]

smahing bit of kit, Does it come as one or do you have to buy the drill and then then add ons?

 

[Galteemore]

TBM 220 comes alone George. There is a cheap vice available. But for precision you really need the compound table and steel vice. I also upgraded to a Roehm Chuck which makes swapping drill bits easier than using the supplied collets.

[Galteemore]

George - just to give the whole package...Here’s the vice  @Georgeconna

Edited June 28, 2020 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

38 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

George - just to give the whole package...Here’s the vice  @Georgeconna

Ah!! A machine to "amend" graffiti artists!

[David Holman]

Proper boys' toys - though girls can play too, of course!

[Galteemore]

Long post tonight  ....complete with a lengthy introduction......

On the first Friday of October 1957, the shed staff at Sligo turned out to a man as a train of wagons pulled off the goods branch, and  stood in tribute as the Sligo Leitrim passed by into history. For this was the last steam working over the line, recovering the last oddments of stock on ‘foreign’ metals. As the last wagons passed slowly by, chalked on the brake van could be seen the words ‘The Very End. Goodbye‘. As the train gathered pace on the main line, the housewives of Treacy Avenue ran into their back gardens waving dishcloths in farewell. After a very brief halt at Dromahair, the sad cavalcade negotiated the treacherous check-railed s bend near Lisgorman for the last time. Given that it was October, there’s a fair chance my grandfather was out on the river, less than a mile away, fishing and would have heard the loco working hard .....
 

The loco in question was ‘Enniskillen’ - apparently the best loco mechanically at the end, having been given a major overhaul at Dundalk in 56. At journey’s end, she joined the two Lough class tanks in the GN shed at her namesake town. For a year the locos slumbered, growing a little dingier each month as the weeds grew up outside. As the world outside moved on - the microchip was invented, Pizza Hut was launched, and the Beatles (known as the Quarrymen then) made their first record, the ladies slept on.

For the Lough tanks, a handsome prince in the (very) unlikely shape of the UTA came to the rescue. Not so ‘Enniskillen’. The bang of the auctioneer’s gavel had barely died away before she was hauled the bare few yards outside the shed and rapidly dismembered. JJ Smith was on hand to record the final moments....

‘Get on with it!’,  I hear you say. Very well.

When I abandoned RTR modelling last year, and jumped into this, the phrase ‘build the 7:20 mixed’ advanced with ill deserved confidence into my consciousness. I have built a coach and some wagons towards that end but a large steamy object is also required.

So for about a year I have been slowly accumulating the drawings, tools, and fittings to model this - in my opinion at least - archetypal SLNC loco. After many false starts and rending of garments, we have made sufficient progress to break cover. An early problem was the coupling rod issue. I thought I was being clever by asking a model engineering firm to make me a set. Despite my advice, they were made to dead scale, which will not work with finescale flanges (the spacing on SLNC rear drivers is such that you could clip your toenails with them). So I had to make my own. Each rod has ten separate parts of metal soldered together....I also had to learn how to use a piercing saw and a pillar drill. And lots more besides, not to mention making my own drawings. As another scratch builder put it, one is basically making up ones own kit as you go along.
 

What has helped immensely is a chassis jig which basically uses the rods as a datum point for soldering the axle bearings. Pretty handy when you have six bearings and two chassis sides that need to be in perfect alignment with one another. Hopefully the jig will iron out builder error...and thankfully it seems to have done so.
 
Tonight the chassis was assembled. Amazingly, it ran first time. Loads to do, and updates will have long gaps between them. But progress is being made. 
 

PS - the rods are red because SLNC rods were red when freshly shopped. And it means I don’t lose them in the pile of nickel silver offcuts on the bench! 
 

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Galteemore

[Angus]

Hi Galteemore, great progress there! I find it is always good to have a connection with the loco you are building, it feels more personal then.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one develop.

Angus

Edited July 11, 2020 by Angus

[KMCE]

Now that looks proper.  Nothing like the feeling of getting a chassis rolling for the first time.

Best of luck with it - long way to go but the journey is rather enjoyable.

Ken

[David Holman]

So, the secret is revealed! Splendid stuff and a project to savour. As Ken says, a rolling chassis is a really satisfying way to start. 

[Galteemore]

Thanks everyone ! As you can imagine, David, your build a few years ago has provided more than a few pointers !