The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[Richard Gawler]

I took one of my Intentio cassettes and their access ramp along to NEEGOG last month.

Here is Lady Marion doing her party trick.

Thank you to Julian Best (not sure if he is on WT) for filming this and uploading it to YouTube.

 

[Dog Star]

Excellent demo of what has been discussed on here.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I think Julian's filming is rather imaginative. I really like the pan along the length of the cassette, I would never have thought to include this.

The wonderful thing is, I can assemble a train off the track and out of everyone's way. Drive the train onto the railway, do some laps, and then remove everthing just as swiftly. I can even get to connect up the 3-links at a decent height above the floor and not stooping over the track

 

[Richard Gawler]

The Intentio cassettes have relatively deep sides. I have assembled another cassette, this time cutting down the sides to improve access to the stock.


I have shortened the sides and put in some strip wood to reinforce the floor. Aluminium angle might be better but I settled for some wood I had to hand.


The mildly stylish “slash cut” arrangement suits my left-handedness


The electrical connections are the same as on my other cassettes. I didn't show how I took the wires from the terminals to the rails, so this is how I did them.


Four pre-grouping wagons (plus brake) are likely to make the longest train on the railway.


I have a functioning fiddle yard. Two "short" cassettes (far left) match up with one "medium".

I am a bit surprised how flat the modified cassette sits on its baseboard. If warping occurs, I can think about fixing some aluminium strips along the sides.

 

[Liver & Fry]

I have finished off my GWR 4-plank wagon - paint and transfers and couplings.

View attachment 169137
This is how I left the model on 15th June - Halfords red primer (link).

I cut off the door springs, these seem to have been a later fitment.

View attachment 169138
I have now acquired 18 wagons and I still don't understand why coupling hooks should be sprung. Furthermore, if I take my wagons to the club track they could end up near the front of a forty-wagon train. So for this wagon, like my last, I have tied the coupling hooks together, and the wire link takes the weight of the train behind. I do hope someone will tell me the error of my ways if this is wrong.

I did all of the painting (after the primer) by brush. The underframe is Tamiya 'dark iron' with a little brown mixed in.

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I bought some Vallejo acrylics for the bodywork. I tried the recipe suggested by Mikkel Kjartan, this is:

• 3 parts 70908 Carmine Red;
• 2 parts 70829 Amaranth Red;
• 1 part 70918 Ivory.

The result seemed a bit too orange to me, so I increased the quantity of Carmine Red from 3 parts to 4. So 4:2:1 overall. The measuring is done by squeezing blobs of paint out of the bottles so this is a bit approximate and maybe I really did something nearer to 3:2:1.

I gave the model two very thin coats, the paint brushed on neat as thinly as I could (no thinning). The result after the second coat was still a little blotchy but I thought this took me part of the way towards a weathered look so I stayed with it.

View attachment 169135
The transfers came with the Slaters kit. They include the right designs but the wrong numbers. I really wanted the tare weight to be 4 tons but the smallest value on the sheet is 7 tons and I didn't fancy my chances of cutting out a '4' and getting into place. I am hoping, a casual viewer will notice the style of the lettering and not the values . . . although I haven't found many casual viewers on WT

The Heybridge railway is supposed to be a light railway with initially an six-ton axle limit. So I dropped the capacity of the wagon from 10 tons (which was included on the sheet of transfers) to 8, which with a tare of 4 tons would just about squeeze in.

These transfers went on with lukewarm water and sometimes Micro Set, but not Micro Sol.

The whole model has two light coats of Humbrol enamel spray matt varnish. These went on about ten minutes apart. The white witness marks in the photos are evidence of how the white printing on a box of Felix cat food sticks to tacky Humbrol varnish better than to its underlying cardboard box.

About to resurrect an old post and open a large can of worms, so I apologise, but regarding the elusive red livery; how did you conclude on red solebars/black ironwork. I've just gone down a massive rabbit hole with no clear answer and current suggestions for black solebars and underframe, everything in red, or the red solebar/black underframe approach as you've done. My head hurts!

Wagon looks great by the way!

- James

 

[Richard Gawler]

. . . how did you conclude on red solebars/black ironwork

James, I have completely forgotten.

I would have arrived at my paint scheme like this:
1. Mikkel painted at least one of his GWR opens like this (I know I studied his blog on RMWeb)
2. I borrowed a book 'GWR Goods Wagons' by Atkins Beard and Tourret
3. Most of my wagons have body-coloured solebars with black below these

This photograph posted by @Wagonman is from this book. The photographic film of the time did not respond to red, so red looks like black and photographs become difficult to interpret. I am sure I checked this photo when I arranged the transfers.

Beware, my model had several deviations from the prototypes; I put some of them right where I could.

 

[Liver & Fry]

James, I have completely forgotten.

I would have arrived at my paint scheme like this:
1. Mikkel painted at least one of his GWR opens like this (I know I studied his blog on RMWeb)
2. I borrowed a book 'GWR Goods Wagons' by Atkins Beard and Tourret
3. Most of my wagons have body-coloured solebars with black below these

This photograph posted by @Wagonman is from this book. The photographic film of the time did not respond to red, so red looks like black and photographs become difficult to interpret. I am sure I checked this photo when I arranged the transfers.

Beware, my model had several deviations from the prototypes; I put some of them right where I could.

No worries! I've gone through a lot of Mikkel's posts too but there's still quite a debate on the subject (as I say, can of worms!). But yes, one suggestion I've seen says "if you're unsure, just be consistent".

Thank you for the reply!

- James

 

[Richard Gawler]

. . . there's still quite a debate on the subject . . .

I broke up my lockdown layout a few weeks ago. Salvaged a complete Magnorail model, sold the point servos and their controller board, and kept most of the other control gear for a rainy day. If you build the wrong model, you cannot ever put things right. If it's a wagon you have a chance of selling it (I sold my GWR Hydra) but layouts have no marketplace unless they are exceptional - and even then, you will be fortunate to find something to fit your space.

On the other hand, if you build the right model and get some of the details wrong, it should hardly matter as long as you haven't claimed your attempt is 100% correct. You can go back and put some of the faults right, or just live with them.

I could make some replacements for my weakest wagons, but this will leave me wondering what to do with the originals. It would be a shame to get rid of the NER Lomac (wrong supporting struts) because it is the first brass wagon I made; and hard to part with the North British open wagon (doors 3.5 mm too wide) because a magazine published my write-up of the build.

Of course, for me these are foreign wagons from distant places. They look pleasing on the layout and in a display cabinet, and they sit alongside my RTR models without sticking out like a sore thumb. The "big picture" is okay to me as the project begins to come together. I would probably need a different mindset at the outset if I wanted to model a specific railway company.

 

[spikey faz]

I broke up my lockdown layout a few weeks ago. Salvaged a complete Magnorail model, sold the point servos and their controller board, and kept most of the other control gear for a rainy day. If you build the wrong model, you cannot ever put things right. If it's a wagon you have a chance of selling it (I sold my GWR Hydra) but layouts have no marketplace unless they are exceptional - and even then, you will be fortunate to find something to fit your space.

On the other hand, if you build the right model and get some of the details wrong, it should hardly matter as long as you haven't claimed your attempt is 100% correct. You can go back and put some of the faults right, or just live with them.

I could make some replacements for my weakest wagons, but this will leave me wondering what to do with the originals. It would be a shame to get rid of the NER Lomac (wrong supporting struts) because it is the first brass wagon I made; and hard to part with the North British open wagon (doors 3.5 mm too wide) because a magazine published my write-up of the build.

Of course, for me these are foreign wagons from distant places. They look pleasing on the layout and in a display cabinet, and they sit alongside my RTR models without sticking out like a sore thumb. The "big picture" is okay to me as the project begins to come together. I would probably need a different mindset at the outset if I wanted to model a specific railway company.

I suppose it depends on how sentimental you are about your models. I also have a couple of wagons that don't really 'fit in'. The more I think about it the more I'm inclined to look at rebuilding/repainting them to be more useful. There's even a couple of locomotives in my small collection that are unlikely to get much use. If I sold them I'd probably regret it, but at the moment they look nice on my shelf.

Mike

 

[Richard Gawler]

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I have repainted and highlighted some of details of No.4, especially the cab floor and the brake gear. I treated myself to a tin of Humbrol Metalcote "Gunmetal" (this colour suggested by @Yorkshire Dave earlier) and this is appearing in all kinds of places on my locos.

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The loco had her first run at NEEGOG today. This was the first time she had pulled a train, and all went splendidly. The running seems to be faultless, well done Dapol. I am not a great fan of RTR (especially at exhibitions) but it is difficult to abstain when it is this good, costs so little and is such a decent choice for the railway.

An update on my Dapol Terrier.

The LB&SCR gave their Terriers the names of places, and I imagine that the Heybridge Railway continued this practice for their own locomotive. H&LLR number 4 is now 'Heybridge'.


The clear sealer from Rustoleum sticks to most surfaces, including plastic and brass. The narrow tape is from Tamiya. I copied the location of the plates from a photo of 'Freshwater'.


This is my first portrait using my magnolia backdrop board. Tastes vary but I like the warmth and softness. I am glad I repainted the rails too.

The plates on all of my locos are from Light Railway Stores. Their service is very good (usually six to eight weeks for custom plates) and I think they bring a little life to the models. I cannot do much more to this one before weathering.

 

[Dog Star]

That is a delightful portrait of a lovely engine, thank you for sharing.

I like the friendly, calm, atmosphere of the backdrop.

Rgds, Graham

 

[Richard Gawler]

I like the friendly, calm, atmosphere of the backdrop.

I like having the backdrop panel detachable. I can remove it before I do any more scenic work (because it throws a false colour onto the model), I can try hanging printed paper scenes from it for photography, and one day I could have a completely different panel.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I am experimenting with a jar of brass-colour paint AK475 from the AK Xtreme Metal range.


This is the plastic safety valve cover on 'Blackwater' in its factory finish. I have posted this photo before, but this time I have adjusted the colours to make them more true to life. The whistle is actual brass.


This is the cover with the brass paint.

This is the best faux brass finish I have found so far. A Victorian railway needs plenty


I need to be careful with how I light the magnolia backdrop. Otherwise the subject can look a bit poorly. I'm still pleased with the colours of the rails.

 

[alastairq]

I like having the backdrop panel detachable. I can remove it before I do any more scenic work (because it throws a false colour onto the model), I can try hanging printed paper scenes from it for photography, and one day I could have a completely different panel.

Please, not Liberty pattern....

 

[alastairq]

I'm still pleased with the colours of the rails.

Please, can you remind me, what did you do with the rails?

 

[Richard Gawler]

Please, can you remind me, what did you do with the rails?

Well - I painted the rails quite a few times, in progressively less unrealistic colours.

The final coat is Humbrol matt enamel no. 29 Dark Earth into which I have added some 62 Leather and a little white. I used enamels because they stay workable longer than acrylics, and I did all of this with a brush. This is quite a strange colour because in an unlit room on an overcast day, it looks dark brown; but lit with bounced flash with the right white balance, it looks much more orange.

At the beginning, I sprayed a coat of Halfords grey primer and then Halfords brown camoflage paint to unify the mixture of plastic and wooden sleepers. I had rail fixings from multiple sources too. I have seen the camo paint recommended as a top coat for track, it looks okay but I wanted something lighter, more orange. The camo paint took subsequent coats of acrylic and enamel paints well.

The variations seen in my photo earlier today have come about because there were so many different shades underneath. I altered the Earth/Leather mix a bit as I went along, but not by much.

 

[Liver & Fry]

I am experimenting with a jar of brass-colour paint AK475 from the AK Xtreme Metal range.

Noted for a rainy day!

This is the best faux brass finish I have found so far. A Victorian railway needs plenty

I quite agree, the finish is lovely!

- James

 

[Dave Holt]

Richard,
I've often thought the sides on cassettes make placing the stock on the rails, especially bogie stock and locos, rather difficult. I do wonder if removing the sides from the centre portion, as you show, might result in bowing of the base, over time, even with MDF?
Dave.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The Intentio cassettes have relatively deep sides. I have assembled another cassette, this time cutting down the sides to improve access to the stock.

I've often thought the sides on cassettes make placing the stock on the rails, especially bogie stock and locos, rather difficult. I do wonder if removing the sides from the centre portion, as you show, might result in bowing of the base, over time, even with MDF?

I have my own doubts about how well the modified cassette will last.

On the bright side, I sealed the MDF both sides, and I have code 124 rail secured along one side with CA glue. If slight twisting begins, I can still plug the cassette in and use it. If the base starts to bow, I could fix on some flat strips of aluminium along the sides. This cassette is very much a one-off for me.

I don't have any bogie stock but the high sides make railing a tender loco like the Y14 quite awkward. In fact I sometimes load the cassettes from the layout. Perhaps the sides could be two-thirds of their original height, to make access that little bit easier and still help with long-term stability.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I have my first motor car for the project, a 1908 Renault AX.


The source model is a diecast model by Norev. It looked okay-ish but was let down by the garish brass work. Also the provision of a roof without a windscreen seemed odd.


The model was “an officially licensed Renault product” so hopefully it is fairly accurate.


I pulled off the roof moulding and repainted as many of the details as I could. I left the upholstery as bare plastic.


All of the prototype photos I have found show a boot as part of the coachwork instead of the tied-on trunk here.


I had trouble finishing the top of the scuttle panel (no burgundy paint) but to be honest, the model will look okay on the layout and it stands up to inspection much closer than the two foot rule.

I forgot to mention, the brass paint from the AK Xtreme Metal range responds to burnishing with a cotton bud a day or two after application. It’s a lot better than the gold-plated effect used by model manufacturers.