Garden Railway Forum

Very clever. Very tricky to spot the join, as Eric used to say .....

Rik

Just thought... thats obviously where BR got the idea for "MerryGoRound" hopper trains from.

Well Andrew, you have done another excellent job on those wagons. They do look as if they have done some heavy work and the time you put into your builds is a credit to how you achieve a brilliant line, just like you have.

Need to get off the 3d printer now though, it's not doing anything railway related. I am doing some Minecraft stuff for the Anne's youngest grandson.....and then I can start building again myself.

Evening all!

The WHR brake van is nearly there. It's received lettering and weathering and, by popular demand (well, Philip said it would be a good idea), an interior of sorts:




It's only very basic, because it will be barely visible. The crates are offcuts of wood, the barrel's a cardboard tube, a Pritt Stick tube's pretending to be a milk churn, and the brake wheel is a button perched on a length of biro barrel. The guard once held a ramrod for use in a canon, possibly on board a ship, which might explain his jaunty attire and lack of shoes - I painted his feet to match the floor to disguise the omission, as well as crudely replacing an arm which was missing in action.

Once the roof's on you'll see very, very little of this, so I experimented with illuminating the van using a cheap battery powered flickering "candle". It worked too well, revealing the interior's lack of detail, plus my soldering's probably not up to the necessary modifications, so I shall stick the roof on and be done with it. When I've made a roof, that is. That and glazing are the finishing touches, plus a coat of varnish. I don't usually bother varnishing goods stock, but even minor scratches and scrapes seem to show up on the acrylic paint I've used so it seems a wise precaution on what will be a fairly heavily-used vehicle.

Cheers all,

Andrew.

You could always try dimming the candle LED by wrapping it in yellow cellophane (eg from a Quality Street wrapper) or even just painting it with acrylic paint. It'd be a shame not to see your interior detailing.....

Rik

Looking excellent Andrew! I'll have to do this van at some point, along with the two goods vans!

We currently have two new locomotives to add to the NWNGR/WHR theme: First is of course Russell...
This is actually our second Russell, the first was a Roundhouse mark 1 that was unfortunately sold many years ago. Always a locomotive we regretted selling so we've now righted that wrong! As per usual Roundhouse, ran straight out of the box in immaculate fashion!

The second locomotive is still under wraps.

We do have a third to represent 590, but I'm currently awaiting the WHHR to finish 794. This particular Baldwin has a rather unique history with us - we had a late member who wanted to see 794 steam. We did a memorial open day in his name and the proceeds went to the 794 appeal. It'll be fitting to paint the Baldwin as per 794 rather than strictly 590.

That Russell looks lovely! Beautiful lining...

Thanks Andrew, Matt Acton is to credit!
Russell ran again on our regular Sunday session - Simon Sparks captured it on the "long straight". Later on, after Beddgelert's run I took the opportunity to take a snap of the 3 NWNGR engines.

Hello!

The weekend saw me finish the WHR goods brake - not quite the "Wagon in a Weekend" it started out as, but still pretty quick for me. Here it is:


Sorry Rik, I did start continue a little longer with attempts to light, but my heart just wasn't in it, I just wanted to stick the roof on and call it finished! You do get a glimpse of the interior as it trundles along, and from certain angles, if the light's right, you get a better view!

Not sure what's next... Probably some carriage project stuff so I can spray varnish before winter arrives, and possibly a Timpdon kit of the FR hearse van, which should be relatively quick - plus it was a Christmas present from my wife last year, and I don't want to look ungrateful...

Cheers,

Andrew.

PS Lovely line-up Jason - I'm jealous!

I like it Andrew, a quirky little van with the kind of colour scheme I would normally invent..... but yours is real!

Hi Andrew,

It does look good. You can see how long it's taken - the undergrowth is growing under and around the wheels!

Seriously though, it's a superb build but I particularly like the finish of the roof and the vac pipe is brill.

It has always surprised me that (by and large) brake vans were never fitted with any sort of lighting. OK, most of the time the Guard needed his 'night vision' to see out along his train and to be able to sight signals (plus it helps sleep!). However, a guard is also required to keep a journal. If you want to see how it was done have a look at the BTF video 'Fully fitted'. The practiced 'cradle' of an oil lamp by the guard making up his journal as the train gets away from St Mary's is excellent. However, I can tell you from personal experience that this is not easy in a goods van, it must be night on impossible in an 'oscillator'. I guess vans didn't linger on long enough for the 'elf and hasty' brigade to decree that fixed lighting was a legal requirement. I'm sure the WHR were no exception to the 'unlit van' rule and I guess this makes your unlit van that little bit more prototypical.

Either way - I love it.

SVLR Andrew

Glad you like it chaps, thank you.

Actually, I think the original was lit, because there's a big old ventilator in the middle of the roof - you can't see my representation of it from this angle, but you can in the pics on my railway thread. Unless that was just for air circulation - there's one on the FR hearse van, and presumably the occupants of that didn't need much light?!

Bumping along at the back of an unfitted goods behind the Baldwin on a Welsh winter's day in this unheated chicken-coop of a vehicle must have been a pretty grim experience...

I'll have a look at the old BTF film sometime, thanks for the tip. I love those old films, and despite what I've just written, I do tend to romanticise the role of the goods guard. Blame Rev Awdry and his descriptions of cheerful brake vans with mugs of cocoa bubbling on the stove, their guards cheering on the heroic engines from the veranda as they attack a steep climb...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:35 am there's one on the FR hearse van, and presumably the occupants of that didn't need much light?!

Nah, but they might have been getting a bit smelly??

Hi all,

As I mentioned, I've moved on to the Timpdon Models hearse van kit, which is coming together nicely, a very easy build with clear instructions. I wasn't going to post any pictures until it was complete, but couldn't resist this one:


The octopus peeping over the top of the half-finished hearse is on a recreation of an ancient Minoan pot my wife's working on - yes, we've gone all "Dazza and MAM", working side-by-side on pottery and trains! I particularly liked how the grey primer on the van matched the colour of the octopus, but how both will ultimately end up black - although only one of them as a result of heating at 800 degrees...

A distinct advantage of Grace rediscovering her creative side is that I get to leave my half-finished projects out on the craft table that's now appeared in our living room...

Yours craftily,

Andrew

Andrew wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:48 pm
A distinct advantage of Grace rediscovering her creative side is that I get to leave my half-finished projects out on the craft table that's now appeared in our living room...

Sneaky!!

Seriously, both the van and the pot are looking good.

Looks great Andrew. Are you using the buffers in the kit? I replaced mine with smaller IP ones in the end.

JMORG wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:27 am Are you using the buffers in the kit? I replaced mine with smaller IP ones in the end.

I've done exactly the same thing, the ones supplied were HUGE... I've noticed that the original hearse had some strapping that the kit doesn't, which I'll add, but otherwise it'll be built as supplied.

By the way, does anyone have a tip for getting spray paint into the gaps between laser etched planking?

Cheers,

Andrew.

Puffs at different angles? Nothing really that can be done to be honest...

Evening all...

Although, in theory, my Ffestiniog waggons are a kind of supporting cast to the Welsh Highland stars of the show, with a new leading lady in the form of a Roundhouse England on the way, they've taken centre stage of late. Enough rubbish theatre metaphors, here's what I've been up to:


The hearse is now complete, and I've added larger buffers to my Swift Sixteen gunpowder van (the old ones didn't really allow the van to be propelled), and improved (I hope!) the weathered finish - that's in contrast to the hearse, the only vehicle on the line with no weathering at all and a satin finish. In addition to those two, I've added some weight to the one plank "beer waggon", so I should have a decent length Ffestiniog train for "Palmerston" to pull...

I'm not sure what's next. I've still got the two carriage projects to finish, fancy building a couple more vans, and have a half-formed idea for a rake of NWNGR slate wagons. I guess I'll see what takes my fancy...

Cheers,

Andrew.

They both look perfectly finished, weathered and not, as would be the way they were viewed at the time I'm sure. Is the hearse van green rather than black? The image on my screen looks positively dark green to me.
EDIT..... is that the Timpdon Models hearse van kit? How do you rate it?