Agreed, looks just right.
And the best is, not crowded out with activity, just a couple of guys with one taking the weight off, leaning on the railing.
Very natural. Very well done,
Peter
Blacker Lane Disposal Point NCBOE (4mm/OO)
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
And the best is, not crowded out with activity, just a couple of guys with one taking the weight off, leaning on the railing.
Very natural. Very well done,
Peter
Dave
Western Thunderer
Things are now at the stage of being just about complete but with lots of little bits to do. Being at this stage tends to mean they don't get done because I go in the shed and end up running trains instead.
I added to the loco fleet by taking a Thomas Hill 'Vanguard' diesel that usually runs on my scrapyard layout and giving it a makeover - well, some NCB lettering on the cab, anyway. The Ruston, the TH, and the Kerr Stuart Victory are all a bit of Modeller's Licence and didn't work at British Oak but that's one reason for calling the layout Blacker Lane and having it based on BO, rather than attempt to accurately recreate the true location.
I need to add many more trees, especially at the back of this scene to attempt to disguise how the viaduct ends abrubtly at the back scene wall.
I added to the loco fleet by taking a Thomas Hill 'Vanguard' diesel that usually runs on my scrapyard layout and giving it a makeover - well, some NCB lettering on the cab, anyway. The Ruston, the TH, and the Kerr Stuart Victory are all a bit of Modeller's Licence and didn't work at British Oak but that's one reason for calling the layout Blacker Lane and having it based on BO, rather than attempt to accurately recreate the true location.
I need to add many more trees, especially at the back of this scene to attempt to disguise how the viaduct ends abrubtly at the back scene wall.
Industrial
New Member
Dave. Look out for April 2024 Steam Days. Pages 34 & 35 in Colour of the area you are modelling.
Dave
Western Thunderer
My friend, Scott, came to visit on Saturday and we had a good session of running the layout. For "operational reasons" (some may call it Rule 1) BR were running beyond the exchange sidings and down the NCB line. Something to do with NCB shunters not being willing to couple up the hoses on fitted trains - a union thing, I expect. 
Dave
Western Thunderer
I have done almost nothing to the layout itself but have been busy adding to the loco roster. There was never a 16-inch Special Manning Wardle at British Oak but there is now one at Blacker Lane.
It is built using parts from a 3D-printed kit, a modified Hornby B2 Peckett chassis and some scratch-built parts.
There's not a lot of Hornby left in it. The chassis block, wheels and rods are all that remain and even then the wheels have been modified to remove the pizza cutter flanges and large balance weight overlays have been added. Even the motor has been replaced with a larger and more powerful coreless motor. The keep and pickups have been replaced, too. Parts from the 3D print kit that were replaced with brass scratched items are the running plate, buffer beams, cylinders, slide bars, motion brackets and cab steps. The brakes were all wrong and at the front of the wheels but should be at the rear, so they were all made from scratch. Frame overlays were made from 10 thou. brass sheet to give the correct length and profile and were epoxied to the Hornby chassis block.
All in all, a right faff! It does look the dog's though, IMHO, of course. It also performs well, weighing in at 215g, which is 40g more than the original donor model and with the power to take advantage of the weight with the new motor.
This is how it started out:
It is built using parts from a 3D-printed kit, a modified Hornby B2 Peckett chassis and some scratch-built parts.
There's not a lot of Hornby left in it. The chassis block, wheels and rods are all that remain and even then the wheels have been modified to remove the pizza cutter flanges and large balance weight overlays have been added. Even the motor has been replaced with a larger and more powerful coreless motor. The keep and pickups have been replaced, too. Parts from the 3D print kit that were replaced with brass scratched items are the running plate, buffer beams, cylinders, slide bars, motion brackets and cab steps. The brakes were all wrong and at the front of the wheels but should be at the rear, so they were all made from scratch. Frame overlays were made from 10 thou. brass sheet to give the correct length and profile and were epoxied to the Hornby chassis block.
All in all, a right faff! It does look the dog's though, IMHO, of course. It also performs well, weighing in at 215g, which is 40g more than the original donor model and with the power to take advantage of the weight with the new motor.
This is how it started out:
Suffolk Dave
Western Thunderer
Nice work!
Dave
Western Thunderer
My friend, Scott, came over for a play with the trainset, today. It was the kick up the backside that I needed to fit sound into the Ruston 88DS. I've had it since February and finished painting and weathering it early in March. I've even had the decoder, Stay Alive and speaker to put in in since April but didn't get it done.
It's all up and running now and we used the 88DS and Class 11.
The 16-inch Manning has been improved. The home-made transfer on the cabside was too modern. I had based it on one on a Hunslet diesel that worked at British Oak in the 1990s. It has been replaced.
It's all up and running now and we used the 88DS and Class 11.
The 16-inch Manning has been improved. The home-made transfer on the cabside was too modern. I had based it on one on a Hunslet diesel that worked at British Oak in the 1990s. It has been replaced.
Last edited:
timbowales
Western Thunderer
Absolutely beautiful,
Tim T
Tim T
Dave
Western Thunderer
The rolling stock for operating the period up to closure are Accurascale HAA hoppers and I've had some for quite a while now but have never properly used them. They had stretchers across the top of the hopper body, which weren't going to be a problem with the loading of loose coal but since I decided against that and used removable fixed loads I've put off chopping the hoppers. As it happens, lots of HAA did have these stretchers removed later in their lives, so removing them isn't so wrong.
I made 9 loads, today. Card bases, supported on coffee stirrers, with mounds made from card. Covered in superglue and dipped in crushed coal.
And then had a play with the trainset.
I made 9 loads, today. Card bases, supported on coffee stirrers, with mounds made from card. Covered in superglue and dipped in crushed coal.
And then had a play with the trainset.
Dave
Western Thunderer
Removing the coal loads in the FY has always been troublesome. Having to try and grab the peak of a coal mound with finger ends has caused many a derailment and it also takes some time to empty an entire train. If I'd have thought about it at the time I would have embedded magnets into the coal, so they could be lifted out easily by another magnet. I have now fitted magnets to all coal loads made so far and future loads will have the same magnets embedded in the coal.
The pen torch is my shunting pole and has a length of brass wire and a tiny magnet on the other end. This end now has a magnet to pull the loads out of the wagons.
The layout needs more trees, so I have had a go at making a tree as a test. I used galvanised steel cable, rubberised horsehair and a proprietary foliage scatter, put together using insulating tape and a hot glue gun. I'm rather pleased with how it's turned out. Not bad for a first attempt.
The pen torch is my shunting pole and has a length of brass wire and a tiny magnet on the other end. This end now has a magnet to pull the loads out of the wagons.
The layout needs more trees, so I have had a go at making a tree as a test. I used galvanised steel cable, rubberised horsehair and a proprietary foliage scatter, put together using insulating tape and a hot glue gun. I'm rather pleased with how it's turned out. Not bad for a first attempt.
Dave
Western Thunderer
In a parallel universe, Simon, perhaps. Not in this one and not if it's constructed by me it wouldn't. I don't have a great track record with that sort of thing.
Dave
Western Thunderer
Just a bit of fun...
I like grounded van bodies. I used to stop and photograph them whenever possible when I was all over the country for work and I think that every layout that I have built has had at least one. Blacker Lane already has 3 so another can't do any harm...
Ready to plant.
It will provide storage for those engaged in the production of rhubarb moonshine. After all, The Triangle is just a few miles north, across the river. I've also been working on their still.
I like grounded van bodies. I used to stop and photograph them whenever possible when I was all over the country for work and I think that every layout that I have built has had at least one. Blacker Lane already has 3 so another can't do any harm...
Ready to plant.
It will provide storage for those engaged in the production of rhubarb moonshine. After all, The Triangle is just a few miles north, across the river. I've also been working on their still.
Joe's Garage
Western Thunderer
Now, now Dave you seem to be trying to fool us with a sneaky "real" photo in the last picture in post 155!!!!!
I had to look twice, very realistic.
Julian
I had to look twice, very realistic.
Julian
Dave
Western Thunderer
I dug out the Jocko for a play. It's the Bachmann one that they did as a limited edition but I had to repaint the tanks as they had used a strange colour that didn't look much like the orange seen in numerous photos of the real thing. I bought it from ebay, where it was listed as being black and gold! I removed the vacuum ejector and added the sand box that 47445 carried during its time at British Oak. I think this must have come from a Hudswell Clarke that was scrapped on site not long before the arrival, in 1966, of 47445.
