James' workbench- ex-GC locos and stock in OO

[James Harrison]

Well, err. Everything has ground to a halt, almost, because I moved home a few months ago. This weekend is the first time in a long while that I've actually done any modelling.





So this is City of Lincoln being repainted into Great Central lined black livery.

[James Harrison]

A bit more done- next stage is the number and nameplates.

[James Harrison]

All done, except for a final coat of varnish.

[James Harrison]

And another one got done.







I think this is a Millholme kit?- for the GCR class 8.

[James Harrison]

The last few days I've been looking at one of my Imminghams, and repainting it into GCR black from the dark green it wore when I bought it.

I'm also buying up stock for a parcels/ perishables train, something I've had in mind for a little while now. I have the GCR vehicles to hand, though not neccessarily built, in the form of a couple of bogie fish vans, newspaper bogie brake and a CCT. Then there's a couple of GWR vans- a Python and a Dean K14 brake- and a GNR parcels brake.

[James Harrison]

It's been a few months but things have slowly moved forward; the Immingham has been repainted and is abou half lined out, just the boiler bands to address. I've finished and painted a Ks kit for a GWR Dean luggage van, which will eventually be marshalled into a south west - north east parcels train (alongside a Python van, GCR CCT and 40' brake van and a GNR milk van).

Truth be told, what with this damn' plague following hot on the heels of a house move and then everything that goes with trying to redecorate, I've had neither time nor energy nor willingness to do much in the way of model making since late February.

My hope is though that in a month or so I'll have finished redecorating the second part of the house- at which point I've said I'm going to stop for a while- and then in the Autumn I'll make a bit of a start on the layout.

[James Harrison]

The 'Immingham' class loco has had a bit of an awkward gestation. After I started repainting it in May it has only been looked at on an as and when basis, with the result that it was only yesterday that I finally got around to doing the boiler bands and the insignia/ monograms/ coat of arms....







Number plates were fitted this morning, so now I can add another completed loco to my roster. That makes three black 4-6-0s I've finished in the new house.

My next planned locos are a pair of 2-4-2 tanks converted to be converted from the Bachmann Lanky model.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Very nice, something to aim for.

manna

[James Harrison]

Thanks. I still have.... more locos than I care to admit to look at (though don't we all?)

The next planned loco project is converting a pair of Bachmann LYR 2-4-2 tanks into their GC counterparts, but at the moment I'm building a goods yard stable block.

[James Harrison]

And here is that converted LYR tank.... choosing an short-bunkered example that kept a round topped boiler until late minimised the amount of actual butchery required, mostly it was a case of extending the bunker back a little and a new cab.

[charlie_c67]

You may remember last year when I had a few attempts at building some original 1898 GCR carriages. The conclusion I reached, after building a pair of them, was that they can't be hackbashed convincingly from ready-to-run models. But then I found that some slightly later carriages (from around 1905/ 06) are strikingly similar to old Triang Caledonian coaches.



Composite brake carriage, builder's photograph.





All first and all-third, scale drawings in George Dow's Great Central Railway. vol.3 (this work forms the backbone of my little reference library).

So comparing the carriage bodies to the photograph and drawings, suggested that I could build a model of each from the three Caley coaches I had in my project stash.
Each body only required one cut to each side to arrive at a close approximation of the GCR carriages- and even better, the beading matches up! No need to sand the bodies smooth and rebuild the beading afterward.



The brake carriage was first under the saw. A big plus with these old Triang coaches is that once a pair of fixing screws are removed, the roof drops out and then the sides all loose. Being reduced to a set of flat parts makes it so much easier to cut them up and change them.



The all-third followed. The windows on the corridor side make a pleasing match with the drawing- and even better the number of compartments matches.



Finally the all-first. My comments on the all-third about the match of the windows and compartments stand true here too.

Right, that's the easy bit!

Now to cut up the underframes..... which are much chunkier pieces of kit. I cut two up and then called it a night.



So one of the underframes cut down to length, then the carriage sides glued into it and left to set. The all-first has been likewise treated, leaving only the all-third still flatpacked.

Realise this is a bit of Threadomancy, but whereabouts did you make the cut(s) for these coaches? Thanks in advance.

[James Harrison]

From what I recall, the chassis cuts were in the middle (after the truss rodding and battery boxes etc had been removed). The carriage sides I think were cut short at one end.

[kimballthurlow]

And here is that converted LYR tank.... choosing an short-bunkered example that kept a round topped boiler until late minimised the amount of actual butchery required, mostly it was a case of extending the bunker back a little and a new cab.

Hi James,
That is a great conversion, and having it done simply is a bonus.

regards
Kimball

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all,

I have considered producing a F1/2 from the SEF N5 tank.

Little work would be needed. The removal of the front driving wheel splashers and a new chassis.

Cotswold/Nucast did produce a white metal kit for a F1, but you don't often see one for sale.

Earlswood Nob

[James Harrison]

And here is that converted LYR tank.... choosing an short-bunkered example that kept a round topped boiler until late minimised the amount of actual butchery required, mostly it was a case of extending the bunker back a little and a new cab.

Hi James,
That is a great conversion, and having it done simply is a bonus.

regards
Kimball

Thank you. It has definitely set the bar for future projects (and re-working of older ones).

Good morning all,

I have considered producing a F1/2 from the SEF N5 tank.

Little work would be needed. The removal of the front driving wheel splashers and a new chassis.

Cotswold/Nucast did produce a white metal kit for a F1, but you don't often see one for sale.

Earlswood Nob

That's something I had not noticed, but now that you mention it... I'm wondering if it would be possible to do the reverse, and turn a Lanky 2-4-2 into an N5. I've got 2 or 3 of them already, so it's not something I feel a burning urge to have a crack at, but I'd be curious to see if anybody does have a go at one.