Monday 22 December 2014

CVLR Coaches - The Ex Eastern Region Thompson Suburban Brake Second (part 1)

As I mentioned in my first post of this blog, this year Hornby introduced the Thompson Suburban Brake 3rd Class coaches which have been a contributing factor in finally setting me off on this journey. The first of my pre-orders has arrived and the second is on its way according to an email today.

Its a corking little thing really, but then that response is hardly surprising as until this week, it had been 25 odd years since I opened a brand new Hornby coach. They've come on leaps and bounds since I was a kid and the level of detail and printing is very satisfying to see.


To my unexperienced eye, the paint work is good, detail is nicely moulded and I find the printing unbelievable at this scale. The solebar footboard wobbles around a bit down the length of the coach which is a shame, it was never perfectly flat on the prototype but its a little over accentuated here.

I don't have any drawings to compare it too, but scaling off various photos, it all looks and feels to be in the right ball park. If you've poured over the photos for a while, a couple of things make themselves known

  •  The ventilators in the doors are flush with the bodyside but it would be more prototypical if they were proud.
  • The door handles for the guards compartment. Its a great job in moulding them in plastic this thin but the lower mounting of the cranked horizontal handrail should be level with the door handles and door stops but is unfortunately lower.
Do they detract from the coach overall? Not really, the handle mounting is one of those things you can spot when you know about it, but its pretty close and I suspect the ventilators can be enhanced with some careful weathering and highlighting to make them pop. The web has proved very useful in finding a colour shot of one of the coaches as it ran on the CVLR, this one on the Disused Stations website of the The West Countryman Railtour on the 24th of February 1963 at Hemyock is very good at showing what I mean.

There are a couple of other interesting points worth mentioning here - the coach is showing its ID number top and tailed with the prefix E, despite by my reckoning having been on the CVLR for about four months or so. The writing above the solebar is also two lines of text and to the right of the door, the model shows it as a single line to the left. 

Stand back a bit though, and its difficult not to be impressed overall. 


There are a few cosmetic changes that would better reflect the coaches as they ran on the CVLR.  I'm not sure if there were any cosmetic changes between the Brake 3rd as it is and the Brake 2nd as they ran, but assuming its down to interior colours - the most obvious change is the vertical brass handrails next to the doors. They were certainly on the coaches when they arrived for use at the CVLR, but photos show them have disappeared by 3rd November 1962. A set of vertical bars to protect the 'driving windows' in the guards end would also help to capture that CVLR look.

I guess at this juncture then, its time to take it apart.

Testing

My test track is a strange thing, built last year utilising some Neil Rushby points that I had stored away from the last EM phase that didn't get off the ground. It was assembled using offcuts of timber which is why it is shaped this way.



The two main curves are 30" and 36" (the latter on a slight gradient) whilst the points were deliberately arranged to give me a set of doubled reverse curves - the idea is that if things work on here, they should work anywhere. It is wired up with all lines constantly powered and switched vees using slide switches that also throw the switchblades. It can be used for DCC as well as DC which is why there are just two wires to connect.

I sunk the magnets from the MSE starter kit into the cork roadbed, cutting the holes slightly undersize with a knife to ensure that the cork gripped the magnets - easy to remove and put somewhere else then. With the wagon, coach and Pannier, I discovered just how strong the magnets actually are


I have some tidying up to do of those loops too...

It gets a bit boring playing with just a couple pieces so another wagon has had the S&W couplings installed and I made a front loop for the Pannier too. In keeping with the rear loop, this one is demountable as well.

I started by filing a taper into a 1/8" square section of brass.


A length around 1/8" was cut off - this can then be inserted into the hollow section of the front sandboxes.


An offcut of scrap brass was cut to make an L shape bracket and soldered to the tapered section.


They both fit neatly into the sandboxes


The view from underneath


A coupling loop was folded up from 0.5mm brass wire and then soldered into place,  I used a toolmakers clamp to keep the bracket and tapered section together.


The assembly was given a good scrub in Viakal with a toothbrush, cleaned off, burnished with a fibreglass brush and then chemically blackened.


I gave it a minor tweak to set the alignments then dropped it into place in the Pannier chassis.


With the body on


Time to play test some more.

Saturday 20 December 2014

Sprat and Winkle

A day of learning today, playing with Sprat and Winkle couplings. I've never used them before, but as I'm finding 3 links in 4mm scale to be frustrating these days, I thought it worth trying an alternative. Alex Jacksons are certainly the most discreet coupling option available, but they can be a little fragile and prone to needing adjustment I've been told. Sprat and Winkles seem to have a good reputation and I like the idea of hands off operations and delayed uncoupling. You can buy a trial pack from MSE but I went for a starter pack instead, figuring I could experiment on a greater range of stock and get a better idea of their capability. A pack of the mounting plates made it into my basket as well on the grounds that they make the whole job of assembly and mounting easier.


I made a couple of couplings up last night, fitted them to a wagon with the loop at the recommended height of 12mm above the rail and stumbled across my first problem - I was having to bend the loop up above the bottom of the headstocks meaning the hook part of the coupling was now pointing skywards instead of being horizontal.

An quick email to Geoff and he suggested that 10mm above the rail was a far better height, but also that I was best to start with some coach bogies and use those to establish the height for everything else. I had just bought a Hornby Hawksworth Brake 3rd to go behind my Pannier so this seemed the best option for a gauge and coupling conversion. In terms of changing the coach to EM, I'll just point you towards Geoff's post on his Penhydd blog where he did the same, the only thing I did differently was to use a screwdriver to gently pry the bogies from their mounts.


When it came to mounting the couplings, I soldered a length of nickel silver to the mounting plate to create a T shape - it was then possible to locate the T along the centreline of the bogie giving a bit of room for adjusting the final position of the loop in relation to the buffer faces.


Whilst that worked nicely, it was pretty obvious that the mounting plates were hitting the coach steps, limiting the radius around which the coach could travel. The easy fix was to just trim the excess mounting plate off with a fret saw.


Mocked back up in position, the bogie now has a greater amount of swing.


The mounting plates were then glued into position with epoxy before the coupling loops were adjusted slightly to sit at the required 10mm above rail height. A simple jig made from layers of plasticard does the job of a height gauge.


After a bit more playing about, I finally ended up with two converted bogies that would happily couple and uncouple from each other, so I then converted a wagon for comparison.


The last job of the day was to create a coupling loop for the rear of my Pannier, a couple of nickel silver plates and some 0.5mm brass wire did the honours.


It mounts using the two screws that hold the bunker in position.


Testing times tomorrow then.

Friday 19 December 2014

Preliminary Ideas

Whilst I have defined the subject of this blog and I'm pretty sure in which direction I am headed, the individual models or dioramas are still under consideration. The time period that appeals most of all to me is from the late 50's (up to the winter of 62/63 passengers rode in the ex-Barry coaches, after that the Ex-LNER coaches were used) feeding towards the lines closure in 1975.


The 48xx / 14xx series of locomotives took over running of the CVLR from @1933 whereupon they ruled the roost right up until the last passenger train on Saturday the 7th of September, 1963. From Monday the 9th of September, the line started to see diesel occupation, this started with the 03's and ran through the Class 22's, a Class 31, a couple of Class 35's and a good handful of Class 25's.

As the diesels worked the line, the infrastructure started its decline towards almost total oblivion, just the platform at Whitehall Halt remaining along with a few tell tale posts. I find myself more interested in this later time period than the often modelled and celebrated earlier years - there is something about the lines struggles that seem amplified to me in this condition - the unused track gradually disappearing as the milk tankers continued their regular journey through the valley.

This is one of those shots that sums it right up to my mind

Hymek passing Culmstock station platform on 9th November 1971

In fact that whole sequence of photographs appeals, you can see that the train has picked up a grain wagon between ColdHarbour and Uffculme (George Smalls Mill had a private siding there) but more importantly for me, every one of those photographs can be modelled in a very modest space.

Combining the passage of time (which brings with it a greater variation in stock) and a focus on the smaller scenes will hopefully help to maintain a longer interest in modelling the CVLR. Coldharbour Halt and Whitehall Halt are obvious choices, as is George Smalls siding at Uffculme, the trailing siding / junction to Culm Davy Brickworks, numerous bridges, road crossings and even Culmstock Station in its rationalised and deserted state.

Those scenes can be party to representations of the every day life of the railway, some of the infrastructure changing very little between the late 40's and the mid 70's. Some of the well recorded trains such as the last passenger service, enthusiast specials, last freight etc are all legitimate targets for modelling and will allow a reasonably broad set of subjects for consideration.

All in all then, the aim is to build a series of small scenes in which to display a variety of trains, representing the passage of time on the CVLR. Each scene should be small enough to take outside, I hope to be able to make the use of natural light for photography and actually, I'd like to be able to use natural backdrops as well for an added dimension.

Reading back through that, I think there is enough to keep me busy for a while...

Thursday 18 December 2014

Why have I chosen EM?

Modelling at 4mm to the foot was my first choice for this project and that was based on my opinion of it providing the best compromise between detail, the space at my disposal and what I actually want to achieve. Having decided on the scale, the next choice was which track standard to apply. There are lots of different things to consider when making that choice and the answers will be different for everybody. Personally, I enjoy building  / making things the most, very closely followed by taking said things and running them in the company of friends.

Everything else is of secondary importance to those two objectives and if I'm honest, its the latter of those which was the driver for my choice, when I look at how I spend my free time, what I read about and who I talk / socialise with etc, I am exposed to more EM than I am 00 or P4.

I can see definite advantages in modelling with 00, particularly if one can have the layout / diorama with the rail close to eye level and the view largely perpendicular to the track orientation - PMP has shown this off (and many other things) to a great extent with Albion Yard.

Albion Yard at its last public showing, Warley 2013.
The need to not re-wheel stock is a huge advantage, particularly if you are modelling steam. My options are a bit limited in display terms though and I also want to take head on photographs - it is those type of views that highlight both the narrow gauge and larger flangeways of 00. I suppose one could also consider 00-Fine which has the same flangeways as EM but I believe it comes at the expense of a slight narrowing of the gauge to accommodate this. One also wonders at that point whether its then worth fitting wheels to an EM profile to improve the looks...

I did mention flangeways then, and having clocked that the flangeways on the real life railway were narrower than the actual railhead, its something I notice all the time. Some people are skilled enough to be able to hide any conceit in that area, or draw attention away from it with extremely well crafted scenes, me, I am prepared to accept the compromise of having flangeway and railhead close in size and thus sit neatly between the 00 and P4 options.

I do have some experience of the EM scene, I converted a Warship many moons ago (during one of my yo-yo periods of EMGS membership) and last year, with some encouragement from Geoff Forster (Llangunllo), I converted a Bachmann Pannier. Both have racked up some mileage on Neil Rushby's Morfa so I have some confidence that I will at least be able to get stuff up and running...

This is the Bachmann Warship, re-wheeled with Alan Gibson products, scratchbuilt steps under the buffer guides and some heavy weathering.


The cab interiors could do with some toning down and a light covering of muck up the sides won't go amiss either. The Pannier has just been re-wheeled using Gibson products again with the new components weathered to match the factory finish, it is shown here running over the bridge on Morfa and pulling some of Neil's stock.



Whilst neither of those two engines represent anything that actually ran on the CVLR, they will both prove useful in terms of validating my track construction and establishing the constraints of couplings, uncoupling magnet position etc. They also have given me the confidence for my chosen modelling period in that I should be capable of tackling the 14xx's and diesels I'd like to use.

Research Materials

As far as railways and research goes, the CVLR ranks fairly well in terms of the amount of material and data available. Books, magazines, a video, a DVD and countless photographs on the internet all serve to conjure up wonderful images of this little railway and its environs. It is entirely possible to work backwards from the departure of that very last train from Hemyock on the Blackdown Archives site all the way back to 1882 on John Spellers web pages without ever having to move from the PC.


 It has to be said though, I find studying a photo in a magazine or book a much more pleasant activity than spending yet more time in front of a computer. The two main books on the branch, both titled The Culm Valley Light Railway, one by Michael Messenger / Twelveheads Press and the other by Colin Maggs / The Oakwood Press are well worth the cost for anybody interested in the history and development of the line.


Both the video and the DVD contain archive footage shot on 8mm film, the latter contains footage from a Mr Arthur Harris, shot in colour from1962 and shows tantalising snippets of various parts of the line as he travelled along it. I'd like to be able to watch the video again as I recall  it containing different information to the DVD, alas, it has been sometime since I owned a video player! I keep a copy in the hope that I will bump into someone who hasn't upgraded to DVD like the rest of us.



Magazine wise, they can be split into the contemporary scene as it was (ie up to the 1975 line closure) and the reminiscent (ie post closure).

In contemporary terms, all I have so far is:

The Railway Magazine, February 1936. 5 present day photos and a short description of the history of the line. There is a part two to this article that I haven't been able to source yet.
The Railway World, February 1953. 2 page short history with a photo of No1300 at Uffculme 1882.
Railway World, November 1962. 6 photos and a description of the line.
The Culm Valley Light Railway pamphlet, 1964.

Reminiscent:

Railway World, March 1976. A memoir of the line with 5 photos.
*Railway Magazine, March 1987. Boyhood recollection of the line and some of its characters, 4 photos and utterly wonderful.
*Steam Days, April-June 1990. Ride the Culm Valley Mixed Train - 18 photos, heading  out and back, with a wealth of detail. A wonderful colour shot of 1421 and an Ex_ER coach at Culmstock to finish off.
*Great Western Railway Journal, No 5 Winter 1993. Two lovely double page spreads of Hemyock station in the early 1930's plus a half page shot of the dairy c1900-1910.
Steam Days July 1993. A trip through the history of the line, 18 photos (two colour) plus a cover shot. Photos cover from the 1900's to the 1960's
Steam World, No 75 September 1993. A brief mention of the CVLR in an article about a camping coach holiday, supported with 6 photos of the line (3 in colour).
*Steam World, No 82 April 94. A double page spread with five colour photos of the line in the 1960-63 period.
Steam World, No96 June 1995. Three page article on the Barry Coaches on the line, 6 photos (3 colour).
*Backtrack, Vol 16 No1 Jan 2002. Three pages with 7 colour photos of the line, again from the early 60's.
*Railway Bylines, Vol 8 No7 June 2003. Peter Barnfield describes a wet day out on the Hemyock branch, supported with 12 quite wonderful b&w photos.

As expected, some of the photos have been shared between books and articles meaning there will be a chance of repeats with any purchase. Its not a bad thing though, sometimes you notice something different on a second (or indeed third or fourth) look...and the CVLR is difficult to tire of in my opinion. If I was collecting again, I'd just plumb for those magazines noted with a *, the colour shots and stories are the most applicable to my interest and cover a good selection of the available pool of photos.

Other books feature photos and notes about the line, Great Western Branch Lines by Soggee & Welch has four pages with colour photos whilst Great Western Branch Termini (Vol2 or combined edition) has 24 pages of photos and text describing Hemyock station through the ages.

Drawings for the station building and goods shed at Hemyock can be found in British Railway Journals No 1 and No3 in articles titled Common Light Railway Architecture by Paul Karau.

Internet wise, well I'm just gong to suggest typing in Culm Valley Light Railway and having a surf - just put the kettle on first...




Monday 15 December 2014

Introduction

A very brief history of the Culm Valley Light Railway.
It was opened to much fanfare on Monday the 29th of May 1876 and probably never saw so many people again until the last passenger train left Hemyock station at 6.00PM on the 7th of September 1963. The line remained open, principally to support the Unigate Dairy at Hemyock, until that closed its doors on the 31st of October 1975. The last train on the CVLR was 7 milk tankers, pulled by 25063, leaving the line just seven months shy of its centenary.

The line lives on though, the printed page serving to immortalise a bucolic GWR branch line that scarcely seems believable in this day and age. It has held my fascination and inspired my imagination since I came across it 8 or so years ago. In that time, I've collected a good chunk of those printed pages, walked the route and been lucky enough to do a site study at the only surviving platform, Whitehall Halt (see header photo).

I've never actually done anything about it from a modelling perspective, despite the opportunities and information available. That is partly due to my easily distracted nature, but mainly because I have not been able to come up with a scheme that I was truly happy with. As time passes, subtle (and not so subtle) nudges arrive from friends to act as a reminder, and it was one of those from my good friend Geoff who alerted me to Hornby's production of the Eastern Region Thompson Brake Thirds.

A year later and the first of those has arrived, and whilst it would have been perfect had it been a Brake Second as ran on the line, its too good to turn down. An old Airfix 14xx body and enough parts from Mainly Trains to build a chassis for it means I am only a couple of milk tankers short of one of the typical early sixties trains, short and manageable.

Whilst I have accepted the constraints of the space at my disposal, it was changing from thinking about modelling a railway in a landscape, to modelling a landscape with a railway in it that has provided the final impetus to get on with something. Instead of focusing on the railway, I want to focus on the scenery and the landscape, with the aim of creating 3D versions of the photos I look at in the various books and magazine.

How successful it all turns out be is another matter, the aim of this blog is to document what happens.