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Renumbering and Lettering DB Wagons
This really started when Ben was visiting me and the issue was raised of my set of 20 bogie hopper wagons that have only two running numbers. We jointly decided that it would be easier to replace the group of inscriptions on 3 lines (DB/wagon number/wagon designation) as a block, rather than try to replace …read more.
Jun 7, 2020
Class 455/9 EMU
The Class 455 four car multiple unit has for many of our members been the workhorse of their commutes and trips on the suburban ‘southern’ region. Here Chris outlines the prototype history and how he’s constructed the Bratchell Models kit to represent a South West Trains unit in OO gauge, with its colourful but tricky …read more.
Jun 6, 2020
Sarum Road – Part 4 – Track Laying
You can go back to the beginning of this series and see the previous instalments here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Each section of rail, irrespective of fishplates, etc, has its own wire droppers soldered to the underside of the rail to ensure electrical continuity. The rail sides were chemically darkened using gun blue before …read more.
Jun 4, 2020
Track Building – Part 2
In Part 1, I outlined the plan to build new track and points in EM gauge for Minories for the expanded fiddle yard. Here’s how it went, starting off with how it ended up – the full sized layout up in the library at Keen House. Most of this track building work took place in …read more.
May 31, 2020
Young MRC – Wagon Workshop
Although Young MRC meetings have had to be suspended, here’s an update from one of our regular attendees Ali and his dad Andy on some work they have had a chance to do at home. One of the projects I have been working on during lockdown and beyond was to sort out all of the …read more.
May 31, 2020
Class 419 “MLV” – Prototype history and a kit built model in OO Gauge
The Class 419 Motor Luggage Van was once a familiar sight on southern region boat trains at Platforms 1 and 2 at Victoria station. Here Chris outlines the prototype history and how he’s constructed the Replica kit in its later striking Royal Mail red livery. The Prototype In the decades before the advent of the …read more.
May 30, 2020
Sarum Road – Part 3 – Assembly and the aftermath
First Assembly The boards went together without any major problems except one – I should have allowed an extra 1/8″ to for tidying up the edges of the board tops and in two cases I had to swap the tops for backscenes – more of them later. Also, I had forgotten to drill the holes …read more.
May 28, 2020
Class 456 EMU
In the late 1980s, the success of the Network SouthEast sector, led by Chris Green, brought about an upsurge in the number of commuters on the railways. On the former Southern Region third rail lines into London, four car Class 455 EMUs had been plying the rails since 1982. Operations were normally conducted with 8 …read more.
May 25, 2020
Laser cut coaches
Like many Railway Modelling addicts I was born sometime in the middle of the last Century. At that time The Hobby (my capitals) was pursued in a cultural climate where television was monochrome if available and heavy industry was commonplace. Being a master craftsman was a mark of distinction. Computers were unknown to the general …read more.
May 24, 2020
Constructing an Ian Kirk ‘O’ gauge Siphon H – the hard way!
I decided to do things the hard way when building a Siphon H, instead of choosing the quick and easy (and more sensible) option. I soon nicknamed the project ‘Monty Siphon’ as at times it was almost like a Monty Python sketch, where I stumbled from one problem to the next. First a little bit …read more.
May 24, 2020
Building Trapezium Baseboards for Minories
The classic Minories layout is a terminus to fiddle yard design – and that is what we built back in 2007 and how the layout has operated for many years. With a good team of operators we’ve presented a slick service of peak hour trains running in and out of the station’s three platforms at …read more.
May 23, 2020
Lynton and Barnstable – an embryonic “OO8” project
I have always had a soft spot for the Lynton & Barnstable railway: a narrow gauge railway but with standard gauge style. Over the last couple of years we have holidayed a few times in North Devon, visited the area and, of course, the preserved railway itself. A grand little line, that is becoming a …read more.
May 22, 2020