Under the skin of Blackpool 298

I love seeing quality workmaship, esecially on wood. What you are looking at here is Blackpool 298 undergoing some serious restoration. 

When Blackpool modernised their trams, a lot of the original features were lost. To most people, this wouldn't matter, but to those who did, the plan was to buy 298, which still had all the old details, and send it for restoration. 

The process took decades, and a couple of changes of venue, before the vehicle found its way into the tramway museum's bay.

Quite a lot of the tram was beyond saving. The chassis is now a feature on one of the outside walks, and much of the sides has had to be replaced. The roof, especially the sunshine top and corner windows, has survived, only needing repair.

London wandering

I love London. It's a city you can wander randomly around, and find interesting things. A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed a couple of days in Kings Cross, and before breakfast on the Friday, I went for a stroll. 

Heading up to the "Coal Drops", what is now place for high-end eateries and shops. But there is also the St Pancras lock, which I rather like the look of. In the middle of a lot of modern architecture, it seems a bit out of place, but then this mix of ancient and modern is one of the things I love. 

Of course, it wasn't the only place I visited, so here is a fuller album on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club: BR in the 1980s Birmingham New Street on 18th December 1987

It might be a wobbly VHS recording,but it takes me back. I could have been one of those people watching trains at Birmingham New Street back in 1987. Days when the railway was a lot more interesting to look at than it is now.

Tri-ang Railways, the first ten years

 

Can you sometimes remember an article, and not be able to recall where you saw it? 

I had this problem recently. I knew that Tri-ang had asked renowned artist Terrance Cuneo to weather a "Nellie" but then couldn't find it in any book on my shelves. Digging online revealed it was in Tri-ang Railways the first ten years, but I didn't (as far as I know) own a copy - so how had I read the article? 

Just over a fiver later on eBay, and a book was in my hands, and it's a very interesting volume. 

A5 sized and with 116 pages, its not just a history of the company, but a useful guide to model railways in 1962. 

We start with a forward written by Dr Richard Beeching (Boo!) and then move on via some waffle, to a chapter on homw models are made, from design, to manufacture. All of this taking place in sunny Margate of course! There are photos of jigs, machine tools and a production line, entiely staffed by women. Men it seems, do design and operating the vans. 

Pick up any item of Tri-ang Railways and look closely: say the EM2 with double pantograph, or the lovely "Lord of the Isles". Superb, aren't they? There's no holding back in the chapter "Perfection in Miniature" discussing scale and how Tri-ang are really really good at making trains. 

We run through different railways of the world, with a lovely photo of a yellow Transcontinental 4-wheel diesel with a snowplough attached. I don't think I've ever seen that accesory attached to this particular loco. 

We also get a lot of information on looking after your models, complete with some really lovely diagrams, normally found on the service sheets. I like the explanation of how motors, smoke units, automatic uncouplings and many other things work. It's pretty densly packed with information. 

And of course, there is Cuneo weathering, which is what I wanted. But you'll have to wait to find out why...

Maidstone bound

 

All being well, I'll be heading to Maidstone later today to take part in Rapido Railex. 

I understand that there is 6ft of space allocated to me, which I'll be filling with me doing some modelling chatting, and a few old projects. 

If you are in the area, it looks like a cracking show, so come along and say hello!

More details on the Rapido Railex website. 

 

A working chassis

 

The motor is back in, and the chassis works! 

This is great news as it makes a huge difference to the chances of this project being completed. 

One change to the previous lash-up is a blob of No More Nails where the Blu-Tack had been. It still provides the gear mesh, and stops the motor spinning around the retaining screw. 

All I need to do now, is fit some pickups, and this heavy beast of a chassis will be trundling along a track. I just hope I didn't mix up the insulted and non-insulated wheels...

Waggly bits attached

 

The chassis has had a coat of primer, and some back paint, so I can start fitting the wheels. With these in place, the slighly crude sidebars, connecting rods and whitemetal corssheads go on. There's no worry about binding, all the holes are on the generous side!

Still, it all seems to work. The back of the crosshead has a cutout to clear the cranks on the lead axle, so I didn't need to file them down very much. The only problem comes with the slide bars, which, initially, aren't fixed in place. 

Pre-formed lengths of metal are supplied, which slide through holes in the end of the cylinder. These are also generous, causing them to wiggle around. No worries, a bit of 100 degree solder fixes them to the bottom of the cylinders. They don't seem to inclined to move now. 

One crosshead included a moulded piston rod, but none of the others (there are three more) do, so I drilled and fitted a 1mm diameter brass rod. After a little trimming so they don't whack the end of the U-shaped bit of the slide bars, all seems to be moving freely.

Squeeze that motor into the chassis

 

It's big isn't it? 

Fitted into the chassis, the motor looks somewhat incongruous, but that is the way the kit designer intended it to be. I wonder if there were smaller options? Thinking back, if we ignore motors from the Tri-ang 'Rocket' or TT range, possibly not. 

Anyway, the chassis runs. Everything relies on the blob of Blu-Tack under the middle, which stops it spinning around the hold-down screw at the back, and gives a little backlash to the gear mesh. 

With the body in place, you can see what the England style tank appealed to DJH, there is space around the back end, but not a huge amount!

What's odd, is that there was a side-tank version released at the same time, and there's not space in there for the same motor configuration. I wonder what went in there?

Sunday Post

Sorry, I forgot. Been a bit busy recently. 

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Saturday Film Club: Tool Time at The Repair Shop | Part Two

Sit back and relax with some tool p*rn from the people appearing in the BBC's Repair Shop. I want all the tools!

Lady Anne restored to full health

 

When I failed to persuade my Roundhouse Lady Anne to light at a meeting, I decided it was time to look at the renovations the bargain loco needed properly. 

I'm willing to admit that I know little about tiny steam trains. More than some, but less than others. One of those other being my freind John Campbell. A metal basher and loco builder from the Black Country. 

So, I had a chat and he agreed to assess the loco and tell me what I needed to do. I passed to the model over to one of his mates at Llanfair show, for delivery to John. "I bet he won't be able to stop himself taking it apart." I was told with a laugh. 

He wasn't wrong. A couple of days later, I had a call, and then a series of photos showing the model in bits. 

The good news is that it's not in terrible shape. The non-working pressure gauge was traced to a bunged up pie running to it. A dip in the pickeling solution cured this. There was some weepy pipework, cured with a bit of silver solder. 

And the bolts holding down the back end of the boiler have been replaced. I had planned to do as much of the work myself as possible, but John described drilling out bolts in the boiler as "squeeky bum time", and it was a job that required a better pillar drill than I own - so I was happy to let him do this!

The loco came back to me at the L&WMRS reopening, but it took me a week to find time to get it out on the track. 

As you can see, it steams well. Really well. John tells me there is wear, but nothing to worry about. The loco is 25 years old, but has plenty of life in it for the time being. 

Of course, things didn't run quite smoothly. On the track, it wouldn't light. I could get a POP when holding a flame over the chimney, but no burner sound. I diagnosed a blocked jet, and working on the nothing ventured, nothing gained principle, decided to take a look. 

Undoing the pipe from valve to burner, I worked out that the valve was working, so extracted the jet, and blasted gas through it. Reassembling it with the jet poking upwards, I could now hear gas flow, so put it all back together properly, and it worked!

I know this is a fairly simple job, but I'm well pleased with myself for doing it. All that chatting to people like John and I'm learning a little.

Motor

 

According to the box, this is a Japanese motor, and it is in a pink carton marked "Mashima", so it's reasonable to assume this is true. 

The motor is also a bit rusty, and full of foam crumbs, the source of which is a mystery. 

Still, a few minutes with a stiff brush, some emery for the rusty bits, and a little light oil, and we have a result. 

Whack a 9v battery across the terminals, and after a little hesitation, the motor spins over very nicely. This thing was well engineered all those years ago!

Replacement Romfords

 

Close up, the Ghillie chassis is very much of its time. Rectangular frames made from thick brass are screwed together with spacers. Plastic centre wheels screw to a D-ended axle. There's a lot of K's kit technology in here. Not terrible, but dated. 

I'm not going to replace the frames. Since the loco is a pastiche, what shape should they be? Anyway, I like a bit of over engineering. The wheels will have to go though, as they are falling apart. 

Fortunatly, I have enough of a parts stash that four 16mm diameter Romfords are quickly found, along with the axles, which fit nicely into the original holes. I probably bought them for something else, but have forgotten what right now. There's almost certainly the wrong number of spokes too, but then this isn't a real loco, is it?

DJH "Ghillie"

 

I don't need any more locomotive kits, but when I spotted this unusual whitemetal model from DJH on RMweb marketplace, I snatched it. £28 later, and the box was whinging its way to me. 

You know by now that I enjoy weird stuff, and this loco is definitely oddball. Quite what well-respected firm DJH were thinking when they produced it I don't know. It's obviously based on an England class loco, as found on the Ffestiniog, but with a coal bunker and not the tender hauled by the real thing. Did someone expect that modellers would scratchbuild a tender - if so, why not put one in the kit? 

Anyway, it's wrong, so I want to build it. 

The body is part assembled, using epoxy glue. Whoever did the work has done a good job, so I don't expect to have to dismantle it. Instead, I can concentraite on sticking all the bits in the bag to it. Hopefully, not too bad a job (Famous last words?).

Underpinnings are also part assembled. K's type D wheels are included, but the plastic centres are crumbling, so I'll need to dig through the stash for some replacement Romfords. The axles should be the same size though, so this won't be a problem. 

A motor, that at first glance looks like and X04 is in a Mashima box. It's 5-pole and with a slightly more spohisticated brush arrangement than the Tri-ang version, so let's see how it goes. My guess is that the sheer size of this was part of the reason for picking the prototype, plenty of space in the saddle tank!

Note: Matt, if you post that you have two examples that I could have bought for a song, I'm not listening...

RIP Classic Train & Motor Bus

 

We start the week with some sad new - my local model shop has closed down. After 25 years, the owner has retired. 

(Click to expand)

To be fair, the shop never recovered from Covid. Tiny, they never engaged with online sales and so there wasn't much in the way of new stock much of the time. That said, they could get stuff in, and seemed to have a healthy number of locals who would drop in and buy ordered items from them. They also offered a service where you could put things away in a box, and pay for them as and when you could afford to. 

I always got the feel that the shop was a bit of a social service. Aside from the railway enthusiast hangers-on, various locals, I think living in the attached flat above, seemed to drop in and bother the owner, who was IMHO a bit too nice to them. 

That said, I managed to leave money there over the years. 

I bought my APT set from there. There was also the purchase of a Hornby operating accesory, the blog post for which I can't find, even after 20 minutes searching. I bought this the day they reopened from Covid closure. 

I'm sure there are other buys, on the rare occasion I bought big ticket items, I tried to do it at the shop. 

There were also a few occasions when I'd drop in there looking for an emergency project. Something from the second-hand pile to turn into a magazine project. 

Like all shops, sometimes it even surprised me with something random and good tucked in the back, including a tea pot that had, I was told, been around the West Midlands in a Class 37!

Sadly, I didn't know about the closure until someone mentioned it at the railway club. Pity, as I'd liked to have dropped in on the last day, for one more purchase, just for old times sake. And a final chat. There was a lot of chatting about trains, and I'll miss that. The scuffier end of Leamington is worse for the passing of this little shop.

A cab ride along the Kent & East Sussex Railway

A trip to Kent a few days ago gave me the chance to reaquaint myself with the K&ESR after many years away. Since I was nice and early, I enjoyed the trip to Bodiham from Tenterdon on the 8:45 train. Arriving at the terminus, I wandered around a little and then returned to the train. 

"Hello Phil. Would you like to ride up front?"

Of course I would! So, here is a sequence of photos taken along the line from the back (which was leading) of a Class 20 diesel. 

What impressed me was the professionalism of the crew. Every signal was confirmed, probably vital when travelling nose first, but still important. Every token, and there are many, was aknowledged. They might be volunteers, but they operate like regular drivers earning thier keep. 

 Of course, I need a model of 20 087 one day as a souvenier of the terrific day out.

Saturday Film Club: Talking model railways with Pete Waterman

Recorded during the L&WMRS reopening weekend, an interesting interview with Pete W. He was on good form that day, we'd already enjoyed a bit of banter over a cup of tea, but this is a proper interview.

Driver Phil

 

What should I get someone for their birthday? How about a little model of me. 

Obviously, this is what everyone wants, especially my friend Ken. This isn't ego on my part, but simply when we'd been running on his line, I gave the Rob Bennet make mini Phil I carry around at all times (that's not weird) a trip around the line in his AnDel Models gas-mechanical. 

Little Phil fitted in the cab perfectly, and Ken decided he'd like one as a driver in the diesel. Now, we can't have Editor Phil getting his tweed jacket dirty, what is required is Driver Phil

I had a couple of spare models, and so quickly painted one up with something a bit closer to enginemans overalls, and a suitable wash of dirt. 

As expected, Driver Phil is a perfect fit, and Ken is delighted. The figure is Blu-Tacked into the cab, carefully positioned to allow access to the on/off switch. 

Now, where can I get one of those locos? Ken's is a really lovely performer with its remote control. Time to start watching the second-hand market. At least I know where I can find someone for the cab!

A family affair in October's Garden Rail magazine

 

Grandpa William enjoys a fine-looking garden railway, and so do three generations of his family who are now taking the time to share it with the public to raise money for charity. Our photos transport you back to sunny days as you read how this lovely line was built.

On the workbench this month:

• Building a Boot Lane Works tram kit
• Laser cutting to produce bespoke nameplates
• Building skips wagons
• Free files to produce LNWR water cranes and towers
• Horses for railway trains

We also take a look at the Bachmann G scale loco that changed the world, as well as all the latest news for large-scale model railway enthusiasts.

Warehouse Wednesday: Tenterden Town Signal Box

 

My favourite signal box. I've loved it since I first saw it as a kid in the 1980s, and it's still pretty much perfect as far as I am concerned. 

According to an online history:

On 27th October 1968, the Saxby & Farmer signal box at Chilham, on the Canterbury West to Thanet line, was decommissioned. The timber cabin was subsequently dismantled and moved to Tenterden Town, where it was re-erected upon a new red brick base at the southern end of the layout in 1973, ten yards from the level crossing. The cabin’s 23-lever frame, also an original relic from Chilham, was interlocked to operate a host of recovered Southern Railway-designed upper quadrant semaphore signals.

So, it's older than I am, and has spent nearly my whole life in position on the K&ESR. 

To me, the proportions are spot on, and the size ideal. I don't know why I like it, but I do. How about a kit someone? 

 

Rubbish. I bought rubbish

 

Angry Phil. My old lighters for steam engines had pretty much packed up. So I went to The Range and bought three more. 

Took them to a steaming session in the afternoon. None lasted more than dozen clicks before we were getting no flame out of the top.

Yes, I know I should take them back and not break the tops off in frustration, but somedays I can't help it. 

I now have a blowtorch lighter. We'll see if that lasts longer.

Steam loco repair - with cardboard

 

Sunday - The Merlin Mayflower would raise steam, but struggled to move. We trundled back and forth a bit, but there wasn't any power, and the loco ran out of puff pretty quickly. 

I noticed that the drain plug on the lubricator was spewing out a watery oil mix. It's always been a weepy loco, but now things were getting messy. I wondered if that was where all my pressure was going. 

Monday - Thinking that there bolt needed an O-ring on the back, I searched the local stores. Halfrods sold me something that was close, but nowhere near close enough in size. 

So, I make a hole in a bit of Daler board, put it over the bolt, and tightened it up. Things felt good, so it was back to the track for a test. 

Result - it worked!

No more goo dribbling out of the lubricator, although the card gradually soaked up oil and became discloured. The loco was back to its free-steaming best. After a few circuits, I had the regulator barely cracked open as any more and the thing would run like a rocket. 

So, the next job is to stock up on proper O-rings. Something else for the travelling toolbox.

Planning, grass and welding in BRM

 

October's BRM includes the start of a layout build project for me. I'll be putting together a simple NG7 line, in the space you might consider too small for a OO one!

I take a look at ground cover, suggesting options for the modeller to use. 

And finally, the garage I built many months ago, is upgraded with a working welding light. 

On the DVD (newstand copies) there are a couple of features. 

I give the Proses track cutter a test. 

And Andy and I take a stroll around Highley on the SVR, to look at some modelling posibilites. 

All this in the October 2024 issue of British Railway Modelling magazine.

A BIG Eagle transporter

Some projects, I just have to doff my cap to. The Eagle transporter from the TV show Space 1999, is the bext sci-fi spaceship ever. There have been many models made, but none as massive as this 25-foot long version. It looks amazing.

Duck done!

 

It ducking well works!

The one and only disapointment with the Tamiya kit is the stickers provided for the beak and eyes. They don't stick to the plastic, and even if they did, the result would look rubbish. A few moments with some pots of orange and black paint gave a much better effect. This IS finescale modelling after all...

On land, the duck scampers around at great speed. Steering works, although not that well. You need to be alert to the progress of your waterfowl. 

On the water, the swimming is more leisurely, but just as effective. Not suitable for a stream, there's no way the duck would fight the currents, but idea for a pool. At some point, we will try the boat club pond, but only on a still day. And with a net handy to retrieve the bird from a random part of the bank!

A great fun kit, that goes together nicely, and if I'm honest, would take about an hour to assemble.

Feet on

 

I love how this kit prety much pushes together. The plastic feet slot into place on the yellow plastic curved things (I don't know that they are called, look at the photo) which also hold the foam circles that act as both wheels and floatation devices. It's all so well designed. 

The head and neck are articulated so they can bob back and forth. Although everything pushes together, I glued the two sides of the head as the halves didn't seem to want to stay aligned properly. ABS glue was required for this, Revell Contacta not being potent enough for this very hard plastic. 

The bobbing action is driven by a fork on the side of the unit being activated by a cam on the wheel, which is why it's important to get them on the right side. To be fair, there is a step in the instructions for each side, even though they are very similar. Another occasion when it pays to double check you have the right parts in your hand before assembly. 

Underneath there is a tail wheel to allow the duck to steer when on land. Another neat bit of design, which incorporates a tiny O ring to keep the until pointing in the direction you set it.