West End Workbench

[jwealleans]

In between going cross eyed looking at lining, my patience gave way and I've made a start on the next carriage for Grantham.

This is a GNR D 218CC, which is a twin BTO-CK used on the Leeds services. Some of these or a very similar diagram had a pantry in the brake carriage but these are both ordinary carriages.



The brake end has been built along with the bogies and MJT articulation system. It's been a bit fiddly, this one, but I feel as if I'm getting into my stride with it. The other car will probably start to go together through the week.

What did strike me was how short these two vehicles are - here it's on top of a 61'6" FK so you can see the 11' difference in length.

[LNER4479]

Couldn't resist it, eh?

Looking forward to seeing it develop (naturally). After the Quint set, it should be a stroll in the park...

[manna]

G'day Gents

When I first saw what your latest build was, my first thought was one of the Ivatt steam railmotors !!

manna

[52D]

G'day Gents

When I first saw what your latest build was, my first thought was one of the Ivatt steam railmotors !!

manna

SNAP

[jwealleans]

No, nothing like that. I have seen a very nice model of the twins they were converted into after the motor part was removed.

Weather brought me home early from work today,so I cracked on a bit. This is the composite part of the pair.



I discovered, going over my source material on these carriages, that these were the first in britain to be built articulated (as oppose to rebuilt, one assumes.

[jwealleans]

Predictably, within half an hour of sticking the roofs on I'd found a photo showing the brake alarm gear at the other end, but it's too well stuck to come off now.

[jwealleans]

The paint shop has been busy over the last couple of weeks. This is more or less finished now:



Twin has had a coat of filler primer, the roof filled and smoothed and the roof furniture applied. Rainstrips are still to add, bogie steps and construction will be complete here too.



Also coming along, MJT BTK (4) destined for Teak Set 5 on Grantham. This was built by Dave Scott and traded to me for the NER vans I built a couple of pages ago.



TK, also MJT, also by Dave Scott. The darker primer will help darken the final teak finish.



Approaching the point of reassembly and testing, the pair of Atlantics





Red lining is still to do on both. This batch of green has come up paler than the last lot I used. Still, a little variety won't hurt.

[Atlantic 3279]

Mmmmmm. Nice.

[60526]

Graeme - Mmmmmm. Nice. Steady now!! Grantham is due to come down to Woking sometime, was it next year?

[LNER4479]

All cracking stuff JW

Yes - Grantham is at the REC Farnborough show in Woking 10th/11th Sept 2016. I'll update the info on the Grantham thread in due course.

[jwealleans]

This seems an opportune moment to wish the compliments of the season to my regular readers along with the hope that your projects all come to fruition in 2016.

[LNER4479]

All the best for the festive season to you and yours, JW. I trust you have a few wagon kits stashed away to be worked on during the quieter moments...

[jwealleans]

No kits (this may be a first) but I do hope to have some items for Mr King's attention come the New Year. I was thinking of renaming the thread 'SACM' for the duration as well, but the reference might be misinterpreted.

[52D]

JW I don't know if you have seen this pic before but its relevant to a layout you are involved with, ex SDR loco Adelaide being used as a stationary engine to power a mortar mill used in the building of the Zetland Hotel.

[jwealleans]

Sorry, George, I missed this with being on holiday. I'm not sure I've grasped which layout you mean?

I've been busy this week as Grantham's next show hoves into view. The other teak rake which I've been working on has been the focus of effort and I'm pleased to say that all the vehicles required have now been built. This set runs Down and firstly forms a working to Leeds, Bradford and Newcastle.

GNR twin built before Christmas - this is the main Leeds portion:









The remainder of the (truncated) Leeds portion is a 5 compartment BTK to D 37A. This uses Bill Bedford sides on MJT components:





After a BCK for Bradford, already built, the remainder of the train works to Newcastle. Missing vehicles here were a BTK (4) to D 114:





This is the carriage built by Scottiedog and passed to me. It's pure MJT and while nicely built, it's been a swine to paint and reinforced my belief in separate interiors and splitting carriages at the solebar.

The other missing vehicle from this set was a CK:





Full marks if you spotted that this is a Diagram 7, 2 1/2 - 5 rather than the much more common D6/D130 3 1/2 - 4. This is a Bill Bedford kit completed using MJT components.

This set is then remarshalled to form a Halifax/Leeds/Bradford/Lincoln working. The only missing vehicle here - and a type we've been missing for some time from the available carriages - is a Pantry 3rd.





This is a D151, the 1934 build with all electric cooking. Curiously, despite the plethora of battery boxes, the Isinglass drawing only shows one dynamo.

Tagging along with the batch, a D 115 TK, also by Scottiedog from MJT components. This will probably replace the Ian Kirk one which runs in set 3.





The aim now is to have these externally complete - there won't be time for interiors - for both Stafford and Nottingham. They can be finally finished at a more leisurely pace over the summer. Test running tomorrow evening at Ormesby.

(Before LNER4479 leaps in, I should mention that Set 5 also does a Ripon/York/Bridlington working but I have only begun to scope out what additional vehicles that will require).