Captain Kernow's layouts

Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Also started doing some wagon conversions to P4. This is one of a couple of Bachmann minerals bought by John Farmer on Ebay. I tend to either fit internal rocker compensation (MJT) to such RTR wagons or simply convert them rigid.

20201027_113151.jpg

I know there aren't any holes in the wheels, but John has opted for the true running qualities of the Black Beetle product and to be honest, you can't really tell.
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Neil said:
Very tidy work CK. Out of interest how do you decide which P4 conversion technique to use?
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Generally, it's down to a couple of factors:

- how difficult would it be to fit springing or an outside bearing rocker unit

- how confident am I that I could perhaps just get away with putting in lots of weight and not even compensate or spring the wagon at all

In all honesty, I've found that trying to add springing to existing RTR wagon chassis is fraught with quite a lot of extra work and if springing is essential (which I find it not to be, much of the time, if the track is OK), then it's as easy to simply completely replace the RTR chassis with an etched chassis kit or a combination of etched springing parts and a Parkside chassis, for example.

If I'm feeling a bit lazy (which is much of the time), then it's much easier to install an internal bearing rocker unit and keep the RTR chassis 'as is'.

When I first started in P4, I was all for as much fidelity as possible, lots of springing and I went to some lengths to achieve this. As the years went by (and the layout still wasn't finished!), I started just converting wagons as rigid, unsprung or uncompensated, provided there was additional weight provided. As long as they then stayed on the track, I was happy.

Some people say they can see how springing causes a heavy model loco or wagon to replicate the way that the prototype negotiates prototype track, but I'm afraid that I just can't see this (yes, I've tried!).
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
I know what you mean, Tim - I decided a while ago, that (in EM) I can build things that stay reliably on the track without recourse to springs for the most part and now cheerfully and without any guilt at all simply rewheel RTR and solder up the spring carriers supplied on sprung chassis. Dad has a slightly different view, but he enjoys the mechanical fiddling about more than I do. I will admit that his sprung 37 does look better in motion than it did before though...

Adam
 
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Neil

Neil

Western Thunderer
Thanks Tim. I think I'd be far too lazy or too slow a worker to achieve anything in the finer scales with the consequent need to keep fine flanges on the straight and prototypically exact width. My earlier EM stuff was just built to ordinary OO standards with the wheels pushed out a bit. That's not to say I don't admire finer stuff, more power to anyone's elbow who takes it on, the results can be spectacular, but it's just not for me.
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Neil said:
Wrong sort of van I'm afraid.

View attachment 131712
(Photo harvested from the internet, happy to remove if problematical. Vans are Italian, date possibly suspect.)
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Do you know, the more I look at this photo, the more I am convinced that it isn't actually Kington at all, but Pembridge, one of the intermediate stations between there and Leominster. This view is reinforced by having watched the excellent Jim Clemens footage taken on the branch in 1964 again.
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Since finishing the above '0395' project, I've been working on more P4 wagons, mostly Cambrian 'Herring' kits, plus a Chivers 'Ling'.

I've also been looking at making some more magnetic coupling poles, given that the excellent product previously sold by Lanarkshire Model Supplies is no longer available.

I bought some very small magnets (1mm x 1mm and 1mm x 2mm) from First for Magnets, to see which was the most suitable and a shunting pole was made up with each type of magnet.

1mm N/S rod formed the main 'pole', with a thin brass sleeve fashioned around the magnet and soldered to the nickel silver rod. The magnet itself was glued into the hollow part of the sleeve (don't try applying heat near one of these magnets, as it takes away the magnetism!).

This was the 2mm x 1mm magnet shunting pole (both poles used pen torches that I already had):



The tip of the longer (2mm) magnet can be seen protruding:


In practice, I found that the larger (2mm long) magnet was a little too powerful, when used with the Smiths steel links on the end of my couplings. It was a little difficult to get the link off the magnet!

I then made another shunting pole, this time using a 1mm x 1mm magnet, which ended up being totally encased by the thin brass sleeve:





This proved to be much more workable and will form the basis for further magnetic coupling poles in due course.

The reason the second pole has a bend in it, is simply due to ensuring that the magnetic business end is in the same place as the beam of light from the pen torch!
 
GrahameH

GrahameH

Western Thunderer
Very often some of the best ideas are so simple and this only goes to show that with some ingenuity you can make uncoupling easier, nice work matey.
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Over the last few weeks, I've been building and converting P4 rolling stock, mostly engineering wagons and I'm about to continue the weathering of Herrings 3 and 4 and also the Ling.

In the meantime, I remembered that I already had a couple of (very) old and completed Parkside Dundas Grampus, together with an ancient Jidenco 4 plank GW open, which were sitting rather unloved and sorry for themselves in one of the Bleakhouse Road stock boxes. None of them had ever been lettered or weathered.

The Parkside Grampus kit must have been upgraded over the years, because the two old OO examples didn't quite have the same level of detail on the mouldings that a more recent one, which I had built in P4 a few years ago. Both had been finished in Olive Green.

Rather than get involved in an all-singing, all-dancing upgrade, I decided to just letter and weather the wagons as they were.

The Grampus were given some of the excellent Cambridge Custom Transfers lettering, which was all sealed in with a coat of Humbrol Matt Acrylic Varnish. The 4-plank wagon was re-painted, to represent unpainted, weathered planks, lettered and similarly varnished. Some weathering was then applied with enamels and then powders.

Here they are, posed on Bethesda Sidings:





A pannier from Croes Newydd was sent down later that week to shunt the yard:








1458 has just brought the engineering wagons and is in the process of stabling them, for work over the following weekend:


Later in the week, a pannier indulges in some desultory shunting of the same wagons:




Following the weekend work, which took place a mile or so from Capel Bethesda, the two Grampus are loaded with spent ballast:
 
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Easterner

Easterner

Western Thunderer
Alan said:
Just what I need . I have days when it takes minutes to couple and uncouple wagons on Blakeney using a bent bit of wire. Other times it's seconds. Thanks Tim.
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I'd of thought with all the years of practice I gave you in 4mm with Potterbourne before going to Sprat & Winkle it'd be a doddle for you in 7mm :p

I like the Magnetic Pen, I too must get round to making some.

Where did you purchase the torch from? It looks like the ideal size!
 
Alan

Alan

Western Thunderer
You mean when I lifted several wagons in the air at Southwold. I thought my ineptitude was the reason you switched to Spratt & Winkles
 
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