On The Workbench Today...

All aboard the Merry-Go-Round Part 1

I've had a box of the original model Hornby MGR wagons for quite a while now, collecting them every now and then when they come up at a good price. Although not up to the spec of the later version of the Hornby model (which still seems to fetch a ridiculous price on a certain well known auction sites) in a decent rake and with a bit of 'fettling' and detailing they look pretty good to me. They're never going to win any awards for fine detail, but for the price and the fact there's nothing else out there at the moment to compete with, I figured I'd have a go at making a decent rake of them for Cradley Bridge. It also gives my Class 56 and Class 58 Railfreight locos something to haul. 

I'm hoping to end up with a train consisting of around 18-24 MGR wagons. Probably a little short to accurately reflect a rake of the real things, but more than enough to run on a small to medium size layout. The plan is to finish most of them in Railfreight livery - all the models i currently own are of the later EWS variant - so a spot of repainting is in order. I also intend to bring the detail up a bit on them - mainly by changing the awfully tiny moulded Hornby buffers for more accurate cast ones. I'm also going to change the way the wagons couple to each other. In a change to my usual method of using scale instanter 3-link couplings (which I will still use on the end wagon) I have decided to build my own wire and loop coupling to not only make it cheaper to do but also to utilise Hornby's self centering bogie configuration that the early models are fitted with (I've also adapted this slightly too) and to cut down on the inherent 'wobble' that all the early models seem to suffer. The rake will also be run as a loaded train. I managed to find some cheap plastic 'coal load' inserts which I've adapted and when covered with real crushed coal they look pretty realistic.

The wagons were first all stripped down to their component parts. Starting with the frame the underscale buffers were all removed and replaced by these cast whitemetal Oleo buffers (Inter City models) which instantly makes a difference. Dummy plastic hooks (taken off other models when I've fitted scale couplings) were then fitted and also copper wire was fashioned to represent the air pipes. I normally go overboard on the detailing with pipes etc., but figured that in a close coupled rake you'd be hard pushed to see any of the 'lesser' detail going on between the wagons and so decided to just super detail the end wagon - complete with flashing light (Express Models).

My adaptation to Hornby's axle. Nothing more than a piece of wire glued across each axle which still allows for a bit of adjustment and flex, but seems to stop any unnecessary movement and make the whole wagon far more stable. The splatterring of paint on the wheels is from Hornby's original weathering and nothing to do with my sloppy painting!!

Next to sort out was the actual cradle that supports the hopper. As I mentioned, all the examples I have are in EWS livery and for this particular rake I wanted to backdate it a bit to the Railfreight era so as to give some of my earlier models something to haul. This meant that all the cradles were going to be repainted in Railfreight red - with a couple of them finished in yellow to add a bit of variety. So first off all the cradles were given a quick spray with Halford's excellent plastic primer followed by a couple of coats of thinned paint. 

I decided to brush paint the cradles as i wanted them to look a bit patchy but also to try out some new synthetic brushes I'd bought from Expo tools and I must say I'm well impressed with both them and the result. I didn't paint the inside or underside of the cradles as you won't see any of that once the hopper is in position.

On The Workbench Today...

Bachmann BZA/BAA Steel Coils

Yet another steel train for Cradley Bridge, this time consisting of the very nice Bachmann BZA/BAA steel coil model with load. Typical of this type of train, they seem to take on an allover hue of rust and dirt so ideal for the type of stock I want to run. Also typical is that the rake of wagons is made up of a variety of liveries, new and old. I decided to model the majority of the stock in EWS house colours, but to add a bit of variety there are also a couple of old rail freight liveried examples and a unique trainload metals sector liveried one in there too.

The model straight out of the box is a great representation of the real thing - in fact the only things missing are lamp brackets at each end and a footstep at each end (which has probably been omitted to enable it to travel on small radius curves and point work). It even comes with air pipes too, which you have the option to add yourself. So the plan is to recreate a typical steel coil train the like of which I see traversing the network everyday and with that in mind I decided that between 12 - 14 wagons would be a good length to do so.

As it stands at the moment I have more than enough to work on with the 12 that I have - the additional ones will be picked up as and when. First thing I did was to remove all the bogies and wheels from the wagons to enable me to check the back to back measurements of the axles and then to paint and detail the wheels and bogies. The wheels are painted with frame dirt (Phoenix) and are then further detailed with etched brake discs (Colin Craig) which really makes a difference.

I normally use CC07W 10mm brake discs for all my Bachmann rolling stock (where fitted) but the profile on the BZA's seems to be different and so I had to use the CC02W's instead which were a perfect fit. Once these were done the bogies were also painted in frame dirt and also had their axle boxes picked out where necessary.

Next up the wagons themselves had the plastic air pipes supplied fitted and painted, buffer shanks painted chrome and instanter 3 link couplings fitted. I also fitted new overhead warning stickers to all the wagons(Fox) to bring them up to date. Once these had all dried the weathering began on the sides and ends of the wagons using my tried and trusted method of paint on - then  remove with thinners soaked cotton buds dragged in a vertical motion. I also did this with the cradles that support the coils too, this time overpainting with light rust (Phoenix) to give their characteristic look.

Slowly it was now coming together giving it the look of a real careworn steel wagon. The next thing to tackle was the actual steel coil load. Bachmann supply each wagon with 3 coils, moulded in a very shiney silver plastic. In reality they tend to look a rather dark grey so after trying a few shades of paint, I decided to go with metalcoat (Humbrol) which can be buffed up later to give it a metallic sheen. To finish off the load a small strap was wrapped around the coil made from insulation tape.

So thats where we are at the moment - all in all I'm really happy with how it turned out. Just got another 11 to do!!! To finish the whole thing off a little brake dust weathering powder (MIG) was dusted around the base of the bogies, the buffers were given a dab or NATO black (Tamiya) to simulate grease and as this was the end wagon a jewel lamp (Springside) was mounted on a lamp bracket made from a piece of brass strip.

On The Workbench Today...

A Small Fuel Train

The type you see being shunted around small refuelling depots and left in sidings near main diesel depots. I love these sort of wagons as they are easy to do, full of character and individual touches, but more to the point they're quite quick to turnaround. I'd seen a photo on the internet a while back of a rake of 5 fuel tankers sat in in a siding and knew I'd like to recreate that in model form. It actually turned out far easier than I'd expected as I was able to purchase a set of 4 individually pre-numbered Bachmann TTA fuel wagons as part of a limited edition set (Kernow Models) They came as a weathered set too, but to be honest they looked like they had just had a quick blow over with an airbrush to make them look a little less factory fresh - still as a basis to start from, these are excellent.

All four wagons are slightly different - in addition to the numbers they also had different logos, data panels, warning signs and Hazchem panels, which all adds up to making them into individual models rather than duplicates of the same thing. A bit of extra detailing and weathering and they should really start to come alive. The final addition to the set would be a single Bachmann TTA finished in black and unbranded.

So to start with all of them had their under frames painted in Frame Dirt (Precision) and then had a Smiths 3 link instanter couplings fitted along with an air brake pipe (Shawplan) at each end. The tank walkways were also toned down a bit with a very dilute wash of frame dirt and thinners. The buffer shafts were given a coat of chrome as the OLEO buffers are always nice and shiney - starting to look better already! 

Next each tank was washed over with a very thin mix of frame dirt and black and whilst wet a thinner soaked cotton bud was drawn down the side to simulate dirt/water/fuel run off. This was repeated for each side and both ends and then left to dry. Finally a good helping of black weathering powder (MIG) was dusted down the side to simulate where the fuel overspill had stained the tank. This was carried on to the underframe too.

After looking at the photographs, the only thing I would add is probably a little more staining to the grey tank sides - it is there, but probably too subtle for the camera to pick it up. I'll leave it for a few days then go back to it with fresh eyes and take a view on it then.

Sending Out The Right Signals...

Berko Colour Light Signals

To give myself a break from working on rolling stock, I like to occasionally have a go at something else that will contribute to the layout in the end. Signalling on many model layouts is often overlooked, or if not, the signals used are normally nothing like the real item and are either just overscale or are poor 'bare bulb' representations of colour light signals. You can get very accurate bespoke models made up by a couple of specialist suppliers, but these are normally quite expensive and I fancied having a go at adapting some of the current better ones that are available.

After having a look at what was around, the prebuilt Berko signals offered not only a wide choice of variants but also looked pretty good to me once I had 'tweaked' them a bit to how I wanted them. Consulting my design plans for how the layout will eventually appear, I managed to come up with a list for the different types of signal needed. Where non were available, I intended to alter the prebuilt ones to fit in with the design I required.

In all I needed a mix of 2, 3 and 4 aspect signals. Some with junction feathers, some with route indicators and some with call-on lights. When purchased, the Berko lights are basic but the detail that is there can be added to. For each signal the first thing I did was to remove the oversize telephone box and replace it with a white metal scale sized one. The signal base was then given an overall wash of Sky Grey (Tamiya Acrylic) and the signal head was given a coat of Nato Black (Tamiya Acrylic) which transformed them from their original glossy silver and black 'plastic' finish to something far more realistic. In time, no doubt, some subtle hints of weathering and rusting will be added to them also.  

This shows the initial models for the 2 and 3 aspect signals. A couple more junction 'feathers' still need to be added. The route indicators on the two rear 2 aspect signals are non-working. I've mounted them all on a balsa box for the time being so as to keep them safe but also so that I can test wire them up - photos of them lit and working will appear soon.

Signal numbers were then added to correspond with wherever the signal appeared on the track plan. These were drawn up in Adobe Illustrator and printed off, then stuck to pre fitted mounting plates. All in all I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. I've still to tackle the 4 aspect signals for the main line and also have some plans to produce a few ground signals too. For the time being the plan is to operate these manually with 2 and 3 way switches, but in the end I'm hoping that some kind of IR control (Heathcote Electronics) will be able to automate many of these - being triggered when the train passes by the signal and so starting the red to green sequence.

On The Workbench Today...

Heljan Cargowaggon Bogie Open

I had purchased a couple of these quite a while back, but had never really got round to doing anything with them. Whilst on a recent online shopping session -  at a well known Liverpool model rail retailer (OK it was Hattons) - I noticed that they were now selling these at half the price that I'd previously paid. Never one to miss up a 'bargain' opportunity, I purchased a further 3 units so as to make up a small rake.

The model itself is a pretty good interpretation of the real thing - once the glaringly bright colours are toned down and the overall model is given the 'Cradley Bridge' treatment, it should look far more like the real wagon. I intend to run the wagons in a set of 5 complete with loads - metal rods in this case. In real life they are normally seen on extremely long trains carrying long lengths of CWR (continuously welded rail) however I don't think I'll be able to model one of those trains due simply to the amount of room it would take up!!

First thing to do was to paint the bogies and wheels with my default frame dirt mix and the deck of the wagon was treated with Deck Tan (Tamiya Acrylic) and a wash of dirty black/brown. The sides of each wagon where then also treated to the frame dirt mix (Precision Paints) and then using cotton buds dipped in thinners, the paint was carefully removed in a downward fashion to simulate the dirt and muck these wagons seem to collect. When this was dry the sides were further treated with weathering powders in rust shades (MIG) which enhanced the detail on the sides and on the bogies. 

Just one more to go! By working through them each in succession, the dirt and rust really brought out the detail and helped tone and blend the colours on the wagon down to a far more realistic level and as a small rake of Cargowaggons, they look really good together.

To finish off, each wagon also got fitted with an air-brake pipe and a 3-link instanter coupling at each end. The loads for them are currently being worked on - lengths of spaghetti sprayed with red oxide looks to be about perfect... seriously!! These will be 'tied down' with small straps made from coloured insulation tape.

On The Workbench Today...

Bachmann 102 Tonne Thrall BRA Steel Strip Carrier EWS (Pt 2)

To give a bit more realism to my wagon rakes I like to renumber them if possible. Thankfully there are various companies out there that produce decal sets that make this very easy. I decided to use a pack from Fox Transfers specifically for this model. Before applying them I gave the area to be changed a couple of coats of Klear floor polish. It gives a really good base onto which you can apply decals and stops the silvering effect you see all to often, of the decal transfer film. Once the area was dry the individual number sets were carefully applied and then a final coat of Klear was used to finish off and seal the decals on.

Whilst these were drying I took the opportunity to finish off the base weather coat on the bogies and wheels. Left to dry, these were all then re assembled before I could start work on paint details of the main wagon bodies - this consisted of mainly enlarging the yellow panels on either end of the roof and also patch dirt painting on the 3 body sections. This was done in a quite random but prototypical manner so as again to give a bit of variety within the rake.

These were again then left to dry and harden off over night before final washes of thinned down frame dirt were applied to each section in turn - not forgetting the ends too. To finish off I then began using weathering powders (MIG black and dark rust) on the bogies and then on the top and sides I just used black to simulate the dirt and stains that the real thing exhibits.

These are pretty much done now - they just need the weathering powder dialling back/spreading a bit on the sides, plus a bit of grease on the buffer heads. Other than that a few little bits of the weathering just need tidying a little (more noticeable when you photo them than when you see them with the naked eye) but they're going to look great with all 8 hooked up together, plus a few other steel wagons...

Only thing I have to decide now is whats going to head up this train. After looking on the internet it seems a Class 66 would be the most suitable - the train is meant to represent a typical Margam to Round Oak steel train. I have 3 EWS Class 66's to choose from in my collection, so will get round to tackling one of those soon. For now I'm going to leave these wagons alone, step away from them and come back later as there's always the temptation to overweather rolling stock and as the saying goes 'less is more'. In the meantime this is the current state of play...

The Moaning of life...

Excuse the blatant rip-off of a current TV series!! 

I guess we all have hobbies for a reason (well you should have - life's just too damn short not to have some time to do something you enjoy for yourself)! I'm more than used to getting a fair old bit of stick from friends and relations about my love of 'playing with trains' but its all good natured and light hearted - in fact its surpising how many of them show an interest when they see them first hand - more so on the technical/artistic level, than on the subject matter itself I might add.

If I'm honest I tend to relax, chill out, calm down, call it what you will, after a few hours spent modelling. Maybe its my form of therapy to help me think and put things in perspective. That's not to say I'm not serious about my hobby - ask my partner and she would probably say that on occasion my interest borders on OCD levels - but on the whole I'm in my element if i can spend a bit of my spare time each day doing a bit towards the railway. I mean lets face it there seems to be bugger all on the TV nowadays. But I find it gives me chance to sort things out in my head and think things through - the only other thing that comes near to it for me is going for a run. Something I haven't done for quite a while.

My situation is probably different from many people. I have no children (well not at the moment). Not by choice, just the way its sort of worked out for now, so I guess I can allocate my spare time a bit better than those who have to juggle a job with family commitments and all that comes with that. I have a very understanding partner too - who doesn't take offence if i suddenly disappear into my workshop (spare bedroom) for an hour, then reappear covered in paint and smelling of turps, oh and usually with a scalpel injury of some sort!!

Its been a funny 12 months for me with my work too. I reached a low point this time last year with redundancy looming and had a few difficult months - Christmas was especially a bit flat for me - waiting to find out what was going to happen. In the end, after a bit of a battle I finally came out the other side with the result I wanted. Skip forward to now and as a freelance designer I find I'm either working round the clock being insanely busy, or quiet as a church mouse chasing clients for work. No matter what though, I always try and find a bit of time for my 'therapy' sessions in the week. It's nice to think that something as simple as this hobby can level things out when life throws you the occasional curve ball.

I received this as a Christmas present and at the time it summed up the moment perfectly - and still does!! Wise words indeed - thanks John & Kath.

On The Workbench Today...

Bachmann 102 Tonne Thrall BRA Steel Strip Carrier EWS (Pt 1)

In a previous post I referred to the fact that one of the train formations I'm modelling is a typical steel train that can be seen travelling on the network in the West Midlands. So in addition to the Dapol covered steel carriers, these wagons also help form a pretty good representation of a typical steel train rake.

Over time I have managed to get hold of around 8 of these wagons - all in the same EWS livery. The Bachmann model is a really nice example and doesn't need much work on it to get it up to standard in the realism stakes. You can buy a so called pre-weathered version - which seems to just have an overall spray of gunk and doesn't do the real thing any justice at all. 

For me the first thing to be done is that the wheel back to backs are checked and then the wheel faces and bogies are painted with my trusty frame dirt mix (Precision). The coloured axle boxes are then cleaned off with a thinner soaked bud and bogie detail is bought out by use of a pencil and weathering powders.

Having looked at many photographs of the real thing the level of weathering on the hoods themselves seems to vary from nothing at all, to caked in filth, sometimes even on the same wagon. I intend to replicate that on mine so it won't all look uniformly the same. For the first wagon I only weathered up to the solebar on the sides and 3/4 of each end - something that does seem to be common on most of them. At this point I've still to add the brake pipes and any weathering on the hoods themselves.

I've already mentioned that I've got 8 of these to do so the variation in weathering should really help with making them look like realistic rake of wagons. The final bit of 'extra' detailing would be to have them all a slightly different number so each one is then a model in its own right rather than just a carbon copy of the next one. 

Thankfully there are some transfer packs (Fox) available to do such a thing - so thats the next thing to do before anymore weathering is done (hopefully that'll be in Pt 2)

To DCC or not DCC....

That was the question

I've been a bit of a luddite as regards the whole DCC thing and its impact on model railways. To be honest I'd held off in the hope that by now the technology would be so cheap as to not even be an issue, but even now you are still looking at anything from £15 - £25 per loco for a reliable decent DCC chip - and don't even get me started about DCC sound, at around £110 a pop for each loco I'd have to have a bloody good lottery win to sound chip all mine.

Having said all that though, I felt the time had come to start making some inroads into doing at least something with the locomotives that I'd got and was intent on keeping (and eventually running) for Cradley Bridge. I'd got a fair few loco's that were DCC ready and needed either 8pin or 21pin DCC chips. I've only ever purchased 4 items that were already DCC'd and those only because I'd got them at a good price - 2 of those were fitted with Sound Chips; more on that later.

After having a bit of a dabble recently with a few 8 pin DCC chips from various manufacturers, I think the one I was most pleased with and seemed to be the most controllable/tweakable was the standard Lenz 10231-01 chip. As I said before, I do have a quite a few locomotives (several of each class of diesel) and whilst I would love to sound chip them all, in reality not only would it be amazingly expensive but also I'm not sure if the novelty would wear off or if technology will change again - so for the time being the plan will be to have one of each type represented with DCC sound, the rest will have to make do with a standard chip for now. Personally, as long as they are controllable, have lights and have great slow running capabilities, I'm a happy bunny. To me the sound (well certainly from a couple of manufacturers) is just the icing on the cake, but to me at the moment its just way too costly.

Anyways, back to these Lenz chips - after sourcing a cheap supplier of them online, I decided to have a go at doing them in batches, so this little lot has just arrived in the post. The technical blurb that comes with it says that its a back EMF, 3 function, 1 amp output protected decoder, with an 8 pin plug and Railcom - sounds good enough for me!

As for how all this technology is going to be controlled - thanks to a bit of internet research, some hands on experience and advice from a friend who's got one (cheers Red) I eventually went for the NCE powercab system. Not as expensive, comprehensive as some systems out there, but more than enough for what I want at the moment and probably will do for quite a while... famous last words!!

On The Workbench

Dapol Telescopic Hood Wagon

I've had a couple of these for a while now, but they are still available. They are a pretty good representation of the real thing, all be it that some of the detailing is a little on the 'chunky' side - a problem I've found with a few of the Dapol range. Nevertheless, with a bit of work and detailing they scrub up into a nice addition for the rolling stock on Cradley Bridge.

The most obvious things that stand out for me are the oversize ferry tie-down hooks and particularly thick brake wheel on either side. These were all removed and replaced with more suitable scale brass representations of the real thing. In addition, I also added scale 3 link instanter couplings  - to replace the tension lock ones already fitted - and also added cast brake pipes (Shawplan). The wheels also look a bit over scale but once given a coat of Frame Dirt (Precision Paints) didn't look too bad, so apart from checking the wheel back to back measurement (something I do with all my stock and it really makes a difference to how the model rides the track) everything was left as is.

Here you can see both wagons part way through their rebuild process. Whenever I've seen the real things on the network, they are in a pretty dire state of dirtiness and so this was reflected in the weathering process. My favourite base colour is again Frame Dirt. This is then wiped off with cotton buds soaked in thinner. I then go on to use a variety of weathering powders (MIG) - rusts, greys and black to introduce tones and hints - and basically tweak it till I'm happy and it matches whatever photo I have of the real thing.

The plan is to use these to make up an accurate representation of a typical steel train seen travelling through the West Midlands. As they will be at the rear of the train I also installed a flashing tail light (Express Models) to the rear most wagon. This is switchable from inside the hood covering and works off a 3V battery. So there we have it - hopefully a nice representation of a couple of well worn covered steel wagons.

I apologise for the state of my work bench - I am working on a little cameo scene at the moment so that I can photograph the finished items in a far more attractive environment. For now a white background and a piece of ballasted track is all there is...

So Where do I start?

I've been interested in model railways since I was a youngster. What kicked it off was the Hornby Royal Mail train set that my parents got for me one Christmas. It's a typical start for most model rail enthusiasts that I know. The little oval of track was regularly built up and then I'd I power the small Class 37 diesel locomotive at breakneck speed around it, then all too soon it was time to put it away. An additional little 0-6-0 Steam loco was added with a couple of wagons and my dad even mounted the oval of track on a 6x4 board so that I use my 'layout' whenever I wanted.

As I got older, a natural interest in the real thing developed and I trawled the country, camera and notebook in hand whilst I got the fix of the full size variety. The train set took a back seat at that point, and as the mid to late teenage years took over it was duly sold on. Skip forward about 15 years and whilst waiting for a train, on my way down to London for work, I was scanning the magazine section for something to cure the boredom, when what should I see but a magazine called Model Rail. I bought it and started to read the thing from cover to cover. This was the spark I needed and my interest was renewed - I couldn't believe how things had come on in the years since I'd last had my hands on a model train. The next few months were spent researching and making myself aware of just how far things had come on since my childhood model days and a decision was made to start the hobby again - not only because I'm a big kid and love making models, but also to recapture a bit of the lost youth of train spotting.

After a while I'd started to get together quite a collection of stock and whilst modern models have fantastic detail, to me they look too perfect and lacked the realism that I was after. Again a process of research, trial and error, experimentation and absolute disaster followed, but slowly and surely I started to get better at painting, airbrushing, detailing and scratchbuilding - the results being I finally had models of exactly what I wanted and more to the point exactly how I'd seen them.

So with the very brief history lesson out the way, we skip forward again  to present day, so welcome to the blog. It won't be for everyone I realise. If you are one of those collectors who values the models still in their original box, untouched by human hands - I'd look away now. Don't say I didn't warn you as I'm sure you'll cringe at what I've done to some things! That said it's my hope that what I will end up with is not only a great working model railway, but also something that looks and feels like the real thing.

There's no real track plan to show as yet - it's all in my head - so for the moment I'll concentrate on rolling stock and infrastructure. The idea is that the layout will eventually represent a fairly modern day scenario, but to be honest I have stock from many era's and so the occasional 'time slip' may occur. The location setting will be somewhere in the Midlands, hence the name - Cradley Bridge, a result of me living in the Black Country between Cradley Heath and Stourbridge.