Cowans Sheldon Crane

 

Spotted at the Battlefield Line - the prototype Cowans Sheldon Crane as modelled by Tri-ang and later, Hornby. 

I always thought they did a pretty good job of this. The most obvious change being substituting chains, which hang properly, for the ropes, which in miniature, don't. 

Someone did produce a detailing kits for the model, and I'm having another go at getting my hands on one. 

Best of all, guess what I found on a society stand in the good shed? 

I know I have one in the stash already, but this is in excellent condition, boxed (complete with inner cardboard), and at £7, was cheap! It also seemed like fate was telling me to spend some cash. And who am I to refuse fate?

Ramsey bus station kit

 

I've long wanted to build a model of Ramsey bus station. It's a modest size, but has all the features you'd expect. The frontage is detailed, but with nothing that layers of Plastikard can't handle - no fancy carvings for example. 

Back in 2019, I spent time taking photos from all angles with a long-term view of building a model. I believe that the station is under threat, and has been for many years. It's not ideally situated, being inside the TT track. Having said that, it's still there!

I'm sure I paced out some measurements too, but now there is an alternaive - it turns out that Kingsway Models, make a kit!

OK, it's a bit basic, but as a guide for a more detailed model, it's fine. The version I picked up is second-hand and has several sheets already stuck to Daler board as required. 

Dimensionally, the building will be 215mm wide and 250mm deep. I've always thought it would be the perfect regional bus depot, but then digging around the Kingsway website, there are quite a lot of similar sized options out there. 

Anyway, this lucky find will be stashed into the Isle of Man folder for the time being. If I get there again this year, I might just take a few more photos to be on the safe side though.

(Nearly) finished coach

 

OK, for the moment, I'm going to call the Roundhouse coach kit finished. 

It needs people inside, but I'll pick those up at a show. It's nice to go with a shopping list as this reduces the amount of random "stuff" will buy. Because you simply must buy something at a show. 

Screwing the roof down has worked, and from normal viewing angles, isn't as horrible as you might think. Once I glue the top down, I'll give it a coat of tissue - being able to see the wood grain is far worse than four small screws. 

The "quick" project took a little longer than expected, but it was fun, and if I can pick up another couple of kits for the same price, I'll happily make a three-coach train. My little improvements made a difference to the outside, and I'll certainly do those again to add a little life to the sides. 

Right, now what next?

Battlefield line "Winter Warmer" event

Every so often, I get the urge for a day out. Something to do with working from home I suppose, combined with a month that includes no work trips (this changes big time next month). Waking up on Saturday and being unable to see the bottom of the garden for fog, didn't help.

Some photos on social media of the 16mm trains at the Battlefield Line "Winter Warmers" gala looked good, and a quick check on Google maps showed it to be only 50 minutes drive away. How have I never been there? 

Sunday dawned bright and clear, I hopped in the car, hoping for some steamy goodness. I wasn't alone, as by the Market Bosworth car park was full. Heading back out to find an alternative, a helpful steward moved a barrier to make an extra space for me. 

Outside there was a GWR 1320 class hissing away, and an Austerity further down the line. 

The show part took place in the good shed, so I wandered in to the warm and imediatly found plenty of friends to chat to. And the warm smell of sausage batches. 

The 16mm layout "Llantaliog" was providing more steam entertainment, and proving how much fun you can have in 10' by 8' in 32mm gauge. 

Outside, there were more bigger chuffers running. 

The sausage batch and chips was excellent, but there was a marked lack of cake. Still, a jolly few hours was had, and I'll certainly be back again in the future. Not least because there is a cafe at Shakerstone station appearently.And the fish'n'chip trains later in the year sound fun too.

Saturday Film Club: Tram 28

With a bit of luck, I'll be heading off for a Lison city break in a couple of months time. The draw, for me, is the vintage tram network. Tiny four-wheelers dodging in and out of narrow streets. For tourists, Tram 28 seems to cover all the sights in an hour. This means it's busy in peak tourist season apparently, so we'll see. Worth a look though.

Playtrains join the collection

 

Back in 2022, I made a video reviewing Hornby's new Playtrains range. Obviously, I'm not the target market for a set aimed at children, so I recruited a freinds daughter to give me a hand. As a thank you, I made sure she recieved a set, which was later added to with some more track and a second loco. 

Now, I've always liked Playtrains. It's a good solid product that allows youngsters to build a railway. Not just a circuit of track, but a proper model railway with points and loops and sidings. The prices are good - when it first launched, I worked out £250 would buy you everything in the range, which would be a good investment for a collector. 

I even ran the flagship product "Flash" on Pete Waterman's first layout at Chester Cathedral, much to the pleasure of the visiting public. You see, unlike previous efforts, these trains can be run on standard OO track. 

Anyway, time moves on, and my little assistant hasn't really played with her trainset. She prefers Lego, and other toys I don't really understand because I am too old. "Flash" and "Thunder" had been banished to the loft, and one day, it was time for the loft to be sorted. 

Generously, I offered to provide the toys with a home. 

Now, I love toy trains, and think these are an excellent addition to my Tri-ang/Hornby collection. At one point, it looked like Playtrains was to be pensioned off, but it seems this isn't the case now. As a collector, failed products are more interesting, but in this case, I hope Playtrains enjoys much more life in the Hornby range. 

For the moment, my pieces have been squirelled away in storage. Maybe one day I'll find one of the 1980s push-along 0-4-0 steam locos that used the name before the modern products. Well, they are much more fun than a proper, serious, collectables!

Roof matters

Things I am not very good at Number 10423: Bending wood. 

My first go, with the roof piece supplied in the kit, spent 12 hours soaking, and was still as stiff as it had been when dry. Trying to force it into anything like a curve resulted in a splintering sound, and a handful of fodder for the fire. 

Fortunatly, I have plenty of spare, thin plywood, so I cut another piece out, rounding the corners using a 10p piece, and dropped it on to soak again overnight. 

After making my breakfast, I pulled the wood out, and strapped it to a large can of varnish using elastic bands collected from the Post Office. The ones they generously leave on the pavement. 

A few hours later, and the wood was released, and proved to be just as flat as ever. All that soaking being a waste of time. 

Still, the material was bendy, so I decided to fix it in place anyway. Prior to this, I'd lined the top edge of the coach with obechi stripwood just under 10mm wide. This would provide a decent area for glue when the roof was stuck down. 

Another issue is that the coach needs passengers, and I don't have any. I know I can order online, but it's not that far to the Midlands show, so I'll pick some up there with a bit of luck. For now, the roof is held down with four self-tapping screws. Not pretty, but not as objectionable as I expected. 

The good news is the plywood has bent pretty much as I want it to, so when there are people inside, I can glue the roof down, and use the screws to hold it while the adhesive dries. Then I'll fill the holes and give it a fresh coat of paint.

Warehouse Wednesday: Rail traverser

A bit of a photo dump today. When I was last at Steam in Swindon, I took some shots of the traverser at the back of the sheds. 

 

Paint on

 

Sometimes, an evening of modelling can generate several posts. Not this time. Getting the paint on the Roundhouse coach has been a bit of a mamoth effort, taking several sessions. 

First thoughts on the livery involved white above the wasitline, and so I put on some fresh Revell Matt white. But it didn't look right.

Next, I changed to Humbrol 121. This creamy colour looked nicer, but took four coats applied with a flat brush. To be honest, I've never really got on with flat brushes, but didn't have a big enough round one. Yes, I could have sprayed, but it was cold in the garage so I didn't fancy it. In my head, avoiding the masking and airbrush cleaning is a good thing, but in truth, it probably would have been quicker. If Humbrol would put 121 in a spray can, I'd defintely have used it. 

The green is another Revell colour. I'd visited the excellent hardware shop in Bourne and picked up some fresh. This only required two coats, but again, that's time. The black bits were all one coat Revell anthracite. 

Window frames were stained with some Coach & Wagon Works walnut colour, and then individually glazed. I didn't do a great job with the Glue'n'glaze as there are bits on the plastic, but I doubt anyone will notice with the coach is in a train. 

Every frame needed a little adjustment, but they are now in. Phew!

Great reading

 

If I have anything approaching a new years resolution, it's to get on top of my reading. Lots and lots of magazines come my way, and they pile up. What I need is less doom-scrolling, and more reading the words of people interested in the same things I am. 

Watching the piles grow, especially of society journals, is embarrasing. I know how much work goes into them, and so they deserve to be read. OK, I'm still likely to drop the mag into the recycling, but at least I should have extracted as much information out of it as possible. They is definitely a better use of my time than reading clickbait headlines on the interweb. 

Mind you, knowledge can be expensive. When I read that the Hartz railway is to de-carbonise, which I take to mean no steam trains, I'm looking up the price of trips to visit. It's always been on my radar, but not high on the list. Time for it to jump the queue. Sadly, the first trip I can find clashes with a show, but I wonder about the autumn...

In the bin Twitter

4698 days. That's how long I've been on Twitter, but no more. 

At first, it was something interesting. There was a lot in the news about this new website, and I decided to give it a try. 

A little bit of me wondered if getting to know the Blue Bird, would help me drive visitors to this blog, and other websites I looked after. Something I learned fairly early, was that answer was "no it won't". That didn't matter, I looked in to get my dopamine fix, and occasionally, people wrote something interesting. 

However, once it was renamed "X", the site gradually developed into right-wingers screaming at each other, and to anyone not close enough to their political persuasion. Once we past the most recent UK election, things got much worse. Mostly people who forgot thier party had been in power for over a decade, and decided that every problem in the world was the fault of the current government. 

To be honest, it was making me miserable. So, I have dumped my account. I'm sure I won't be missed. 

Of course, I have dabbled with the new boys on the block. Over on Threads (I hate that name) I am practical_phil. It seems OK, even if most of the comments are people saying how much nier it is than Twitter. Right up until the Zuk said there wouldn't be fact-checking any more and they got upset. TBH, I've never seen any evidence of fact-checking on Facebook, or Threads. Possibly an American only thing? 

And ever curious, I'm on BlueSky as practical-phil Not sure what to make of this. Lots of Americans, so most stuff isn't relevant to me. Maybe I'll gradually find people to follow. Maybe I won't. 

Of course, the big problem with this sort of social media is: people. Many people online are vile. They love abusing others because they don't think they can be tracked down. People will move from one site to another, and then moan the neigbourhood isn't as good as it was. Here's a handy hint, there is NO general discussion website that is nice. There will be idiots. Plenty of people are online because it's too cold or wet for their main hobby of shouting at pigeons in the street.

You might say something about pots and kettles since I'm a moderator on RMweb. I know there are some people who really hate the site, you can read them on Facebook shouting things that would certainly have seen them moderated. It's not perfect, but generally better behaved than Facebook, and especially YouTube, commenting. Watching any RTR manufacturer do a video launch, it doesn't take long before the comments reveal a few real crazy people. And those are the ones you remember, not the majorty. In the same way RMweb is "known" for the fight in the pub car park, not the huge amount of quality modelling to be found on the site, and the areas devoted to supporting other members with various ailments. 

Of all the social media, I think my favourite is Instagram, where I am (surprisingly) practical_phil. I love popping up odd photos I take on my phone. It's properly disposable media, and all the more fun for it. I don't take it seriously. 

There is Tik-Tok, where I bagged practical_phil, but I'm not 12, so I haven't posted anything. 

Being old, I am on Facebook, but tend to limit friends to people I have met. It's mainly for groups nowadays anyway, and if you can find mutual interests, there's an awful lot to be said for it. I know I regularly find interesting content. 

Mind you, there's no escaping moans about price. In the last week I've binned one group finding interesting stuff in charity shops because it just became abuse aimed at people running those shops for the prices. On Threads (I think) someone started threatening anyone who bought partworks as apparently these are an evil scam too. 

The other thing falling out of the Twitter fun and games is people discovering they really should build a website, and not have their entire online presense in someone else's walled garden. A few people have even suggested that blogs should see a resurgence. Now, wouldn't that be a good idea...

Saturday Film Club: Behind the scenes of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Vengeance Most Fowl was the best thing on TV over Christmas, and I'm fascinated with how it is made. So, here we find out.

Fixing Jupiter

 

Derek at Footplate knows how to make a sale. Early in our chat last week, he mentioned this old Airfix GMR loco, that he would be taking to a swapmeet and flogging for a tenner. He said it didn't work, but that wouldn't matter. Someone would buy it. 

An hour later, that someone was me. I've often fancied one of these. In fact I fancy the whole Wild West Adventure set, but those things are rarer than Unicorn poop. I don't think I've seen more than two ever. The coaches do appear, they were sold seperatly, and I've nearly bought them in the past, to sit in the Tri-ang operating models collection. 

Back home, I took the loco out of its box, and spotted this wire. Could this be the problem? 

Logically, this model should pick up electricity using the American system - one side on the tender, the other on the loco. Sadly, not. The tender can do both sides, the loco is just extra pickups. I replaced the wire anyway with something thinner, and the model ran. And then stopped, all locked up. 

The model was too small, back in the day, to cram a motor into the firebox. Drive is from the tender via a cardan shaft that plugs into a white nylon worm gear that drives the wheels. 

After a big of dismantling (Hint, there is a bolt under the chimney which you access by pushing the pony to one side. The body can then be lifted off) I worked out this had worn. Driving forward it's OK. In reverse, it jumps the gear, and needs to be recentred by poking some tweezers in there. 

I'm assuming that this gear will be made of unobtainium, but that won't stop me keeping an eye out for one. The loco still happily trots forward, so I'm not unhappy. I have a cheap loco, and enjoyed fiddling around trying to fix it. The only trouble is, it will be harder to resist buying the coaches in the future!

Garden Rail February

 

The North Teign Light Railway took Max Jones over five years to build. Meandering through an extensive garden, sadly it is no more. We enjoy a trip along it in its prime, showing just how a model railway can enhance any garden

Over on the workbench, we have three coach construction articles, working on a 16mm scale Talyllyn Railway four-wheeler, Gauge One pre-grouping body and finishing the amazing Darjeeling and Himalayan Railway vehicles.

We also build a Planet locomotive in 16mm scale, as well as converting an old Tri-ang 'Big-big' model to make it look more realistic.

Finally, Simon Atkinson paints and weathers his superb Tallyllyn viaduct. It not only looks great, the finish will stand up to the British weather!

All this, and the latest Product News for large scale modellers.

Warehouse Wednesday: Leeming Bar factory

Another excellent spot from Duncan Young - this factory in Leeming Bar is very modelable. If nothing else, those painted signs are pretty inspirational. Thanks Duncan!

Balcony

 

The kit balcony rails aren't bad - at least for laser-cut wood. Round metal ones would be nice, but I'm not in the mood to make a set, and anyway, I doubt anything I produce would be that much better. 

What I can do is round off the top and end rails. Hopefully, this will look OK when painted. I'm not dodging in and out of the fancy curved bits with a sander though!

The plain walkway didn't look great either, so I scribed a piece of plywood, and then notched it to fit around the handrails and dor moulding. If I can keep this natural wood colour, then it will look a lot better. A small detail, but worthwhile. 

The only other job was to make some steps to save my minature passengers leaping up from the platform. I can't find the photo of these, so you'll have to wait for another day. Don't get too excited, we're talking a couple of rectangles of wood in each corner, nothing fancy. This is supposed to be a quick project.

Recycled underframe details

 

Getting back to the Roundhouse coach kit, the underframe details are basic in the extreem. OK, there are axleboxes and W-irons, of a sort, but nothing much. Now, I know that you can't really see much under there, and this is a model designed to stand the rough and tumble of garden operation, but I thought it deserved a little better. 

So, casting around for some wood to make axlebox covers from, I found a lollypop stick. This was quickly chopped down into squares, and these fixed on the pre-cut wooden parts. Incidentally, one of these had lost its hanger, which was replaced with a slice of coffee stirrer, that happens to be the same thickness. 

Waste not, want not!

Can you identify this old car?

Spotted last time I was in Bourne a few weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't get the chance for morethan a quick look, and can't work out what it is.

This is anoying me - can anyone tell me what I saw? Thanks

Saturday Film Club: 1975: Kids Choose TRAIN SPOTTING

Why do, or did, kids enjoy train spotting? The BBC's Nationwide went to ask them.

Ballast in hessian sacks

 

I love a good model shop, especially one where they have built up a healthy pile of "stuff" over the years. 

My December trip to the SVR includes a stroll down to Footplate Models, and a long chat with Derek about the world of model railways. I also get to look in the back room, which contains piles of models, and some delights. 

Anyway, he knows my interest in historic model railway stuff, and bring out a box. In the box are a couple of hassian bags, full of ballast. Each is the size of a donut, and both were made before I was born. 

The bags were full, and sealed, so I couldn't peek to see if the contents were both the same. They weren't for sale either, or I'd have been tempted to add them to my collection!

Date-wise, I'm thinking late 1950s and early 60s, but that's nothing more than a guess. I wonder how many other examples there are out in the model railway community?

Calendar Time

 

Time to start filling in the calendar for 2025. The number of weekends given over to shows hasn't decreased, but here's what I've put on the list so far.

Work events

8/9 February - Doncaster

21-23 February - Glasgow

1/2 March - Midlands Garden Railway show

15-16 March - Ally Pally

6 April - SWAG (RMweb Taunton)

12 April - National Garden Railway Show

3/4 May - Bristol 

7 June - Llangollen garden rail show (Not on a stand, just wandering around)

27 September - Elsecar on tour at Barrow Hill (Not on a stand, just wandering around)

25/26 October - Great British Model Railway Show

22/23 November - NEC

13 December - Rowington garden railway show (Not on a stand, just wandering around)

Non work

20 April - York

26 or 27 April - Key Model World

14 June - 7mm Narrow gauge show

19 July - Gauge 1 north

2 or 3 August - Art in the Park

28 September - Stafford

8 or 9 November - IPMS Telford

7 or 8 November - NEC Classic car show

That's 18 weekends accounted for already then, and I know I'll add more to this list during the year. For a start, there are dates not yet set for some shows. I have a few ideas for exhibitions I've never been to that I'd like to see - Blackpool model boat show perhaps. There really ought to be a trip to the Isle of Man too, the heritage festival is at the back end of July. 

Add in some club open days for both boats and trains, and the calendar is filling up fast!

I know people who are amazed at the number of events I'll head out to in a year, but the truth is that I really enjoy all of them. Working from home, getting out is a good way of taking a break, it's too easy to slip into doing something because it is there, but if you are out and about, you are forced not to. As far as the model train show go, it's a great way to find inspiration, or chat to readers and find out what they like for future magazines. 

Despite this, if anyone has suggestions for places I should visit, pop them in the comments, and I'll take a look. 

And if you are at one of these events and spot me, please come over for a chat. It's always nice to meet blog readers. 

Oh, and the header image is from the KMBC calendar. I nice shot of my boat on the water. The first time that one sailed for quite some time!.

2024 - Review of the year

349 posts. A couple of breaks in the year, but not too shabby. Yet again, my ability to create content from very little is impressive, to me anyway. 

Vistor numbers average 264 per day. This seems to have stabalised, but I wonder if that might change. I'm sure I read somewhere, that blogs are becoming fashionable again. Perhaps the lure of long videos with minimal content is starting to change. Who has time to watch them all anyway? Text is a far faster way to deliver information. 

Income from adverts has plumeted, something to do with the way Adsense works I believe. A couple of friends have suggested I use one of the "Buy me a coffee" sites to bring in some income. I'm not all that comfortable with this, and my blog isn't really about money, but it might be worth a look later in the year. 

The Garratts, railcars etc. that are briefly mentioned each year have made no progress. Sadly, this is also the case for my Beetle, although I might have some leads on a restorer from the VW club I chatted to at the NEC Classic car show. If I can find the card, I'll join and see what I can do. It was suggested to me that I ought to give the bug up as a bad job - but that would mean letting the bas**rd who runined it win, and I can't quite live with that.

The camper has not been investigated, and my mate seems to have stopped posting on Instagram too. I'm in two minds about this. On one hand, it's unfinished business. On the other sorting it out would be a cost, for insurance at the very least. Do I just quietly walk away? 

Anyway, back to the modelling projects. 

First out of the gates, or at least the Pod on TB2, was a muscial Thunderbird 4. 

 

A festive gift, and very quick project, was this platform trolley in 16mm scale.

Strictly speaking, this PW clearance car was built by my Dad, but I painted it, so I get a little claim.

We've had Mine Hutch wagons on here before, but at the NGRS, I bought a couple more kits, which actually got built.

Not the most exciting project, but I restored a Matchbox VW Beetle, by repainting it, and adding a whitemetal engine bay lid.

An expensive project was this G1 wagon. Not that the kit cost a lot, but it persauded me Northern Finescale kits were fantastic, which meant I had to spend big in their closing down sale...

A motorised duck was built from a Tamiya kit. I don't have a nice photo of the finished model for this post (there is video on the relevant thread), so here's a shot of the box.

 

And I finished the year with a couple of tiny Timber Kits.

Along the way, I have started, and not finished, an Ivor the Engine in O gauge, O16.5 tank engine, and a 16mm scale Roundhouse coach. The last two are progressing, but as they aren't finished, can't be included in this post. Maybe next year!

I think I ought to mention a couple of holidays too. First, I headed to Switzerland for a week, travelling by train and gawping at the scenery. 

 and then a city break in Paris, with a trip up the Eiffel Tower. 

I know you are probably unimpressed, but for someone who never really goes on holiday, two foreign trips in a year, is pretty good going. Admitedly, both ate into modelling time by forcing me to get myself ahead with the work projects, but it was worth it. And before anyone reminds me of the content of last years port, Lisbon is very much on the list for 2025.

I read an interesting article about your "future me". The author described how we all think that once we get past the current rush, or pressure point, everything will be easier, and we'll get more done. The problem with that is that we are the same person, and if that person isn't getting things done, moving part that pressure point isn't really going to make any difference. 

So, the mad rush from the run-up to Switzerland until after the NEC show wasn't replaced with a calmer time when I could relax and doing a few things for myself. Maybe there was a little more time, and I have used this reasonably well, but certainly not the endless hours I'd love. 

All this means, no new model boats, the Tamiya Baja bug kit is still in its box, along with numerous other kits and bits, that at the time of purchase, I felt sure I'd crack on with quickly! 

On the positive side, I've found myself uninterested in adding to the pile at most model railway shows. Despite my rule that I have to buy at least one box, it's sometimes a struggle. OK, I can farm some interesting projects in the direction of work, but even then, I can be a little jadded. 

There has been a lot more show visiting. Covid made me realise how much I love this. They say you should find your tribe, and mine inhabits exhibition centres at weekends it seems. There has been plenty of small scale chuffing too, something I want even more of in the future. Mind you, I'll need to go through the fleet and fix a couple of locos!

So, another thin year on the personal modelling front. Maybe 2025 will be better. Thanks to everyone for reading my blog, and I hope you all enjoy your hobbies over the next twelve months.