Brettell Road, 1960s black country (ish)

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
detector.jpg
What you see above is a representation of a detector for the ground signal on Brettell Road. It was knocked up from scraps of brass using photos and Steve Hall's articles in MRJ 113 and 115. I always enjoy fiddly details like this even though I know it will go unnoticed to most people.
There's only going to be 1 point on Brettell Road that's operated by the off scene signal box, the rest being operated by hand levers. However I wanted to include remnants of what was there before meaning the double slip would have been operated either end with facing point locks. Also given the distance a couple of compensators will be needed so while it's not exactly complicated stuff it is worth doing.
My chosen route is the Brassmasters etched bits with rodding from MSE. I have also included the odd rodding stool where the rodding has been removed to help with the idea that it's not so much added to the layout as taken away.
compensators.jpg
Most of this stuff is quite basic if a bit fiddly. Above are a couple of compensators. The ones supplied are cosmetic and don't move and that's fine for the disused rods as per the one on the right however with only 1 run that does anything it would be rude not to make it work. Ok it's driven from the point rather than driving the point itself but let's not worry too much about that. 2 Brassmasters compensators were used to make the one on the left with the centre arm from one and a few brass pins meaning it will move when the point it thrown.
All in a fun little project see below for a quick video
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
I'm always surprised that we don't see more of this, particularly in 7mm where you would think it was easier. Very impressive Jim.

As a distance member of Yeovil MRG I know of a slightly more complex piece of properly functioning rodding which operates a crossover on a viaduct (on a curve, too, come to that). This was made from Colin Waite parts probably about 30 years ago by Bob Phelps and has lasted quite well requiring only occasional maintenance and replacement of the point motor. The only picture I have makes it look a bit crude but it works. The less said about this being the only point rodding on the layout, the better...

Colin_Waite.gif

Adam
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Hi all

I've had an enjoyable few days soldering stuff. Not random bits of brass to make bits of overhead but proper kits, designed by someone else!

20141106-200754.jpg

Starting with this rather nifty lever frame from the Scalefour Society. One of these can often be found on their stand at shows and it's pretty hard to resist having a play with it. At one point I thought of getting one just because it's nice! Now with Brettell Road I have an excuse!
It's build as per the instructions. The kit allows for additional micro switches to operate point motors but in this case I'm planning a purely mechanical system.

20141106-203723.jpg

Next up the High Level chassis kit for my Jinty. As supplied the kit is designed for traditional compensation but I wanted mine sprung. The current fad for continuous springy beams seems like a lot of faffing about (I admit I've never tried it) and doesn't really replicate what I see on real locos. The idea of equalised beams seems a whole lot more simple, uses less bits and is what the real thing does, (ok not a Jinty but think of a class 47 bogie).
Other than that I followed the instructions and for my first ever etched chassis I was surprised that it only took 2 afternoons to get it all together, I'm not sure why I thought it should take any longer to be honest. Obviously there's a bit more to do yet, balance weights and pick ups.

20141106-204650.jpg

Above a quick mock up of how it all looks. The steps don't come with the kit and are from the Brassmasters detailing kit I used earlier. It's something a bit different for me and it's really nice that someone has done the thinking about it stage for you. Makes a change from assembling a load of unrelated bits and having to figure out what to do with them!

Cheers

Jim
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Dear Customer (the letter reads). We are aware then many Falcon Brassworks kits have a reputation for being difficult to build or simply 'aids to scratchbuilding'...
...If you feel this kit is not what you had expected or you are not confident about completing it please return it to us in its original condition and we will be happy to offer a full refund.

You cant say fairer than that really and given my liking of ballast wagons and the way I get a lot of enjoyment out of making things that are difficult I have been building the Falcon Brassworks Kit for the LMS 25T Ballast hopper or Gannet as they became under BR.

108 of these wagons were built to Diagram 1804 in 1932 by Metropolitan Cammell, and further wagons of the same design (with slight detail differences) were built by BR to lot 1/518 in 1949. Usually branded as Gannet under BR some were also branded Trout and they lasted till at least 1976. Apparently they were unpopular with workers as you basically had to stand next to the falling ballast to operate the handwheels.

gannett.jpg

The kit wasn't too bad, some of the parts were not etched cleanly and there were no tabs to help with assembly but it all went together reasonably well. The W irons were replaced with Bill Bedford sprung ones and other parts such as handwheels, brake hangers and lever guides were replaced with better parts from other suppliers. The Brakes themselves had no detail on at all so these were given a bit of a work over with bits of brass.

Other than that quite an enjoyable little project. I don't know if id want to do a rake of them and its worth pointing out that the clearances between the hopper doors and the wheels is very very small. Some modification would have to be done for EM and i'm not all that convinced it could actually be built in 00!

RJ Essery's book on LMS wagons shows one in 1965 with a caption saying that it is in BR Livery. As the image is black and white i am guessing that means black but if anyone knows for sure I would be grateful to hear from you.

For some pictures of BR ones see http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brgannet/h58ef291#h15e03d3e
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Hi All

I've been busy finishing off some stock for Brettell Road. Starting with some wooden opens.

wooden-opens.jpg

The Tube is an old Colin Ashby kit and is sprung with Bill Bedford springing units. I think you can get a kit for these wagons from Chivers now. These wagons have been weathered to look wet but you cant see it in the picture.

Jinty-D-side.jpg

Back to the loco that started the whole project my GBL Jinty.

jinties-compared-1.jpg

Cheers

Jim
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Hi all

I must have had a Lima 94xx tank for over 30 years and its languished in the loft for a large part of that time. I was never a huge fan as with its protruding smoke box it never really looked like a proper Pannier tank to me. Its horrible chassis didn't help it but as time marches on things change and today its kind of gawky look appeals to my sense of wanting to portray the less pretty railways of the UK. Its extreme cousin was the 15xx tank, which is a particularly ugly monster of an 0-6-0 tank engine, appeals even more.

pannier-tanks.jpg

These pair are a little bit chalk and cheese in a way. The 94xx (at the back) is hoped to be a quickie while the 15xx (at the front) will be a very slow burner indeed.

The 94xx

The Lima body isn't bad at all, the tanks and boiler are a mm too long but over all its pretty accurate. To my eye the chimney and safety valve were too tall so I have reduced them a bit and the cab doors seemed a bit to flush to the cab side so they were cut out and remounted further back. Lima moulded bunker steps on both sides (which is wrong) so they were filled in on the side you can see. The handrails and smokebox dart have been replaced with wire. I plan to mount the body on a Collett chassis from High Level Kits.

The 15xx

I said slow burner earlier because I don't even know what i'm going to do about a chassis yet, but I'll worry about that later. The body is a combination of a Hornby cab lengthened by splicing in a 1mm section in front of the bunker and grafting another 1mm section to the front to which the windows were cut out using the originals a guide. The tanks (from another Lima 94xx) have been shortened and made deeper by adding another 1mm section of plasticard to the bottom before filling and shaping. The smokebox and first section of the boiler come from an old Airfix Prairie tank kit with the front of the lima smokebox grafted back on.

Cheers

Jim
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Thanks Corbs

It's a interesting link but I have to say the county chassis is a mile off looking right. The distinctive thing about these locos is the short wheelbase. I considered using the Lima cab but the roof is flatter on a 15xx, the side window is a different shape and the bunker is too.

Cheers

Jim
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Hi all

15xx-cab.jpg

The Hornby cab I used for my 15xx had no detail really so the rear window framing was added from the Mainly Trains etch. The rivets are the water slide ones from Archers which have been around for a while now. They make the whole task quite enjoyable but they are a bit tricky to use. The main problem is they come off very easily. You can overcome this by working in small areas and sealing them with Klear (or Humbrol Clear) to protect them while you work on the next bit. The other tip is don't be too adventurous. It's very tempting to try to add a nice long line of rivets in one hit but the transfer tends to break so I find it best to work with strips of about a dozen or so.

94xx-cab-detailed.jpg

The detail on the Lima 94xx cab is much better but oddly when it comes to the rear it doesn't match the rest of the model at all. It's almost like an early EP sample and when the final model was completed, the guy charged with doing this area pulled a sickie! As with the 15xx, archers rivets, Mainly Trains rear windows and bits of strip metal and plastic were used.

While work will continue on the 15xx (Handrails next) contrary to my last post the 94xx will now take a back seat while a third party looks into doing a chassis for it.

Cheers

Jim
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
I've always liked engineers trains (what do you mean, we know?) so a short one for Brettell Road was always going to be on the cards. I've shown you my build of a gannet before but now it's painted.
20150305-203405.jpg
Shown here with a Cambrian starfish ballast open.

From one of thier old kits to one of thier newest, the recently released herring ballast hopper. There were 2 very different designs of ballast hopper given the herring title. One of them was closely related to the mackerel and of the catfish ilk (walkway one end, single hand wheel).
20150305-203751.jpg
The Cambrian kit is for the GWR design and it suffers from the same problem the gannet had, that being to discharge the ballast a track worker had to stand by the side of the wagon, right next to where the falling ballast is going to be. It's a diminutive little wagon and features a one piece hopper and a one piece chassis, the latter being a big improvement on the catfish and dogfish kits. For such a small wagon there's a lot of details to be added and the underside shows a nicely pleasing complicated look. Of course most people probably won't notice so if you wanted a rake you could probably miss a lot of this stuff off but having said there nothing that's really tricky if you take your time.
I swapped the buffer heads for MJT ones and drilling the shanks for these proved a bit tricky with the sides ending up really thin. I didn't spring them (never do) but think the metal heads are a worthwhile improvement.
Some of the smaller parts had quite a bit of flash on them which was a bit of a surprise as most Cambrian kits I have built recently didn't have any. That's the only negative of what is a nice little kit.
20150305-204938.jpg
I have a couple of Tunnys still to do and I might throw in a catfish too but that's for another day.
 

Compton castle

Western Thunderer
Looks like your going for one of the Bromsgrove allocated 94 panniers Jim, with it having midland pattern lamp brackets.
I did a few conversions of these but using Bachmann chassis. Very enjoyable.
I'm looking forward to seeing your 15 coming on as its a particular favorite of mine.
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
It's difficult to see in these tiny pictures, Jim, but does that LMS low have a vac' pipe fitted? Since - with that underframe - the wagon appears to be unfitted it wouldn't have had a through pipe either (unless you have evidence to the contrary of course!). One other thing, BR livery called for black patches behind lettering on grey wagons. This didn't always happen on inherited stock - though, so far as I can tell from the study of photos was normal on repaints - but was more or less universal on new builds for BR such as steel minerals, though some of the early batches were released in bauxite as those that were built of the Ministry of War Transport.

Adam
 

Jim S-W

Western Thunderer
Hi Adam

The 1 plank wagon is fitted, not sure why the prototype was grey but that's the pic I found, there's another pic of a fitted one in the LMS wagon book.

I have moved the timescale of the layout forwards a bit to the late 50s and it seems the black patches weren't as set in stone then. As usual for me I dunno much about things like that I just copy what I see.

Cheers

Jim
 
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