The Norwich & Mucklemouth Railway - Eastern Eccentricity in EM

[Herb Garden]

The passenger stock project continues....

The 4th set of etches is for another diagram 502 or is it? Thanks once again to the support and guidance of @Buckjumper I've learnt something about this particular set of etches.

The ends on the etch are for a diagram 502 coach but the sides are for the last batch of diagram 503 brake 3rds so neither matches. So what I've decided is to correct the 502 I built last week to be a 502 and modify the 4th set of etches to be one of the last batch of 503s... The two main differences are that the 503s were 3in taller in interior height. 1mm in model form to the centre of the roof. The last batch of 503s gave recessed top panels otherwise they are basically the same coach

So here's the 503 coming on with the Hornby body underneath extended to make a 27ft body and the start of laying some extra plasticard on the roof to bulk it up by 1mm in the middle I've then just got to blend it down to meen the sides giving a tighter radius arc than on the previous vehicles.


What I love about passenger stock is that to the untrained eye it all looks the same but there are little details that provide wondrous variety

 

[Herb Garden]

More of the roof profile coming together today


More judicious sanding and filling required.... But you get the idea

 

[Simon H]

Hi Simon,

Yes these are the Peter K ones. Goodness knows how old some of these etches were but some were almost brand new when I acquired them second hand

View attachment 261150
You can hopefully see the difference in levels of tarnish between the 2nd & 3rd form the left and the one of the far right.... Just goes to show it make a difference how you store etched parts

I think I must have bought mine at least 30 years ago and I got the impression that they weren't exactly the latest thing then.
Pretty sure I found out about them in an issue of "The Colonel" (Col. Stephens Society journal); IIRC there was a list of then currently available kits or parts that were applicable to the K&ESR...I also bought a D&S kit for a GWR outside framed goods brake van at about the same time, for example.
I've noticed quite a bit of variation in the condition of a lot of etches...perhaps something to do with who etched them and how long they hung about before being packaged, etc.?
Watching your progress with interest,
Simon.

 

[Herb Garden]

I think I must have bought mine at least 30 years ago and I got the impression that they weren't exactly the latest thing then.
Pretty sure I found out about them in an issue of "The Colonel" (Col. Stephens Society journal); IIRC there was a list of then currently available kits or parts that were applicable to the K&ESR...I also bought a D&S kit for a GWR outside framed goods brake van at about the same time, for example.
I've noticed quite a bit of variation in the condition of a lot of etches...perhaps something to do with who etched them and how long they hung about before being packaged, etc.?
Watching your progress with interest,
Simon.

Issue 31 of 'The Colonel' is the one you want. Can be downloaded from Thier website.


Whilst on a GERS zoom social tonight I've been able to make more progress on the 503 the roof shaping is complete. Ducket sides added and it has been dropped on to it's chassis.... Ride height still needs adjusting but it's getting there.




Getting there but still more to do and other tasks are piling up in the background.

 

[Simon H]

Issue 31 of 'The Colonel' is the one you want. Can be downloaded from Thier website.

View attachment 261332
Whilst on a GERS zoom social tonight I've been able to make more progress on the 503 the roof shaping is complete. Ducket sides added and it has been dropped on to it's chassis.... Ride height still needs adjusting but it's getting there.

View attachment 261333
View attachment 261334
View attachment 261335
Getting there but still more to do and other tasks are piling up in the background.

Thanks for that...I'd pretty much forgotten about the Society, as my modelling has gone in other directions recently. There's a (very) long term plan for an EM Gauge light railway, though I suspect it'll be freelance in nature...
Cheers,
Simon.

 

[Herb Garden]

So the fun of these etches is that they were definitely hand drawn which means there are some discrepancies between parts. No more obvious than the duckets.


Hopefully you can see the issue the individual ducket side doesn't match the coach end requiring yet more filing. But saying that it's starting to look like a finished coach.... Form this angle at least

 

[Herb Garden]

The basic form of the 503 is now complete! Absolute luxury if you were a 3rd class passenger in 1880s London



I'm trying to get them all to a basic form before detailing starts here it is posed with the 1870s diagram 216 composite.



They are still riding a little bit high if compared to the diagram 611 brake which is originally from the same era but I think I can adjust that.

 

[Herb Garden]

Hot on the heels of those coaches comes the next one

The diagram 501 is a Johnson suburban design dating back to 1872 or so it shares many features with the later 502 and 503 but has one less compartment.

We met it back in post 893 And at a length of 22ft 8in rather than the later 27ft the Hornby chassis (at a scale 26ft) has required drastic surgery



My first attempt made the wheelbase to short so I've had to cut and stretch the chassis again to make it suit the prototype.


You can see the blunder I made but it all will get covered up.


It will be a nice little coach when complete.


So here's the current state of play of the passenger fleet posed at Skeetsmere's station. Yep 8 coaches and not one finished... Even for me that's embarrassing. Probably with an up and coming exhibition deadline I will have to be selective which ones get finished first.

 

[Bigjohn]

Earlier in this thread smaller needle files were sought,. Not having read the full content of this thread, ESCAPEMENT FILES are available from watchmakers suppliers H S Walsh was my local supplier in S London, others are available. The quality ones are “Pricy” .various shapes round triangular etc. HTH……..….big J

 

[simond]

MrsD was kind enough to give me a set of Pferd needle files for a birthday a year or so ago.



linky thingy here, though the website could make life easier

PFERD TOOLS

uk.pferd.com

they're very good.

 

[Herb Garden]

Gents, I will make a point of 'filing' those suggestions away for future use, very helpful thank you.

This is probably going to be the last update on passenger stock for a bit as some of the components to get the electrical issues have arrived and getting that aspects of the layout working needs to be a priority

The 501 has it's duckets done now.


The 502 also has it's duckets completed and I've started filling the top panels as the 502 didn't have these unlike the later batch of 503.


The most progress has been made on the 216. Roof, end steps, waist panels and door vents have been added so it's started looking like a coach.

 

[Herb Garden]

So I've had to face up to the challenge and turn the layout upside down. I'm proud of my wiring but even I have to admit that 2 years and quite a lot of hot fixes have left the underside of Skeetsmere in a mess.


Also this being one of my earlier control units I see things that on newer units I wouldn't dream of doing again. It's all a learning opportunity.


So there's a mix of things to do:

1. Remove redundant equipment
2. Make permanent the hot fixes
3. Renumber cables (changes due to lever frame change.


1st job is to remove the Arduino and servos that were going to run the level crossing and never worked
Sadly I can't really make use of the free space much as I'm not going to move everything round as it's all set in place now. My hope in the future is to design a standard layout module using the same tech that can just be built on repeat but that is another challenge for another day.


In the meantime I'm getting on with updating wire numbers

 

[paulc]

MrsD was kind enough to give me a set of Pferd needle files for a birthday a year or so ago.

View attachment 261589

linky thingy here, though the website could make life easier

PFERD TOOLS

uk.pferd.com

they're very good.

Pferd, one of the best file brands around . Sold them for 30 + years .

 

[Herb Garden]

Theres lots of tidying up of wiring going on here at the moment but it doesn't make good post content.... So how about something completely different....

Folks outside the hobby find it strange that we would purchase an expensive locomotive then cut it up or take it to bits. But having been inspired by the work of my friend @Godders53 I've taken this cut and shut modelling style to heart and found it very rewarding. You saw what I did to the coaches didn't you?

Well here is another destructive project ....


I bought three Accurascale buckjumpers, the first you have allready seen and is nearly in service in as produced in GER blue. This one and another were bought to be painted into GER condition but after fitting it with EM wheels I thought it might be nice to do something a bit more creative with it.


Accurascale have produced many of the varieties of these locos but not all by a long shot. Given a full repaint was in order anyway some modifications to get something truly unique was not going to impact much. A bit like the rtr conversions George Dent did in model rail magazine in the Noughties... Before it got too commercialised.

This is the prototype then R24R (later LNER J69) number 382 like all the conversions from the original R24s it has widened tanks but these have the flare on to hide the condensing apparatus.


The new tank sides started as a spare moulding from a friend at Accurascale.


Soon reduced to a new set of sides


To get everything the right width I had to cut back the original tank side of the loco.... Not for the faint hearted.


But with prayers uttered... Perfectly feasible


And glued in place although I'm pretty sure I've now voided the warranty!