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Copyright © 2005-2012
James Makin
Wells Green TMD

On My Workbench Archive, January - February 2006

 

Tuesday 21st February 2006

Genetically modified GMs...

Well I said I was going to keep the project 'under wraps' until after Model Rail Scotland this weekend, but the temptation to show off was too much to resist!

This is a Bachmann 'Shed' which has been 'kitbashed' into the Freightliner's low emission class 66 - featuring, amongst other things, a 5th bodyside door, and smaller fuel tanks.

Since no more standard '66's are going to be built and the fact that GBRf's batch of low emission locos are coming ashore soon, sod's law dictates Bachmann will announce a 66/9 next year, but oh well...!

Whats the odds that these low emission '66's will be withdrawn many years before their 'dirty' cousins ever will be I wonder?

The side grilles are scratchbuilt from over 70 separate pieces of styrene strip!

Anyway, thats all for now, but Wells Green TMD will be appearing at Model Rail Scotland, Glasgow, so do say hello if you're coming along.

Bye for now!

 

Thursday 16th February 2006

Packing & Modelling

Things are going well at the moment, various modelling projects gradually being completed and packed away, whilst the layout is given a good 'going over' to make sure everything is perfect, ready for the journey North to Model Rail Scotland, Glasgow.

In addition to this, the Loftus Road page has been updated with Pete Hollman's prototype photographs of Kensington Olympia. This we hope will enable you to understand what we are aiming for with Loftus Road, and help you get a real 'feel' of the location if you are unfamiliar with Kensington.

If I ever get round to building a '313', it will probably be this one!

Pete and I are fascinated with the way the old platforms (left) have been simply fenced off and replaced with concrete sectional platforms (right), and this is a feature which will certainly be replicated on Loftus Road!

 

 

Sunday 5th February 2006

Some more prototype pics

On the workbench at the moment is low emission GM 66951, progressing very nicely indeed. The fuel tank has been successfully shortened, and body modifications are underway. This includes removal of the existing side grilles and replacing them with taller, narrower ones, while the roof grille is being moved about 2mm further towards the centre of the body and extended in width on one side only.

66951 is due to be totally finished in time for the impending Model Rail Scotland show over the weekend of 24th - 26th February, and I'm planning to keep the project 'under wraps' until then, with the Scottish visitors and fellow exhibitors being the first to take a glimpse of it!

Anyway for now I thought I'd share some more of my prototype pictures, taken back in 2003. At the time they were taken, nothing in the images seemed particularly remarkable but looking through my collection the other day I noticed all the things that had changed.

In some cases there are small details such as differing platform furniture in the case of the West Worthing photo, where changes in signage have been made and new ticket machines installed. One wouldn't normally see a '37' at Didcot or an '86' at Stafford anymore for example. Examining other photos however, reveals that the entire train has been reduced to scrap metal!

Long-scrapped Southern liveried 4-CIG 1735 heads a service through Durrington-on-Sea station on 28th July 2003.

Below is South West Trains' 4-VEP 3580 passing non-stop through Durrington, heading West towards Barnham, also on July 28th 2003. That was a very nice hot day with plenty of slam-door action still to be seen!

In terms of travelling to work early in the morning, you can't get much better than this! 377124 is part of the oldest batch of 4-car Electrostars, with comfier seating and more ambient lighting compared to the sterile interior design of the later 3771XX and 400 series units. Very worthy successors to the much-missed slam door fleet.

 

Sunday 29th January 2006

New pictures!

Everyone loves looking at photographs, so I've added an extra two pages showing Wells Green TMD as it is today. Since the last pictures were taken ('Pictures 1'), a whole new five inch scenic extension has been added to the front of the layout, and the catenary completely rebuilt. Many locos have since been reweathered and new locos appearing, so it seems appropriate to show these changes more fully than the descriptions on the OMWB page. Enjoy the images!

 

Tuesday 24th January 2006

Tugs

It seems to be all the rage these days to show plenty of pictures of pristine out-of-the-box class 60s in EW&S livery, the model railway mags are full of them, so by now I'd imagine you would all be pretty sick of seeing them. Well here's some more!

To break the monotony of seeing no. 60026 everywhere, mine's been renumbered to 60017 Shotton Works Centenary Year 1996. But it hasn't been weathered. Yet!

I don't generally like showing my models unfinished - I normally prefer to unveil them in some kind of 'public ceremony' down at my local railway club with people going "ooh I like the weathering" or "ooh that's too modern for me!"

But I thought I would show some pictures on here first, seeing as this is a kind of OMWB-style website and it is only fair to show what's really on my workbench. The loco was renumbered using Fox Transfers' pack F4973, having had the Hornby numbers and lettering removed by gently using a curved bladed scalpel and scraping away until the printing had vanished.

All in all, very successful and far easier to renumber than a corrugated-sided Bachmann '66'. The finished surface is very smooth, once a coat of varnish is in place, one would never know it has been renumbered.

It seems incredible to think that a certain chain of high street model shops would charge around £40 - 50 for this service (when one discounts whatever the trade value of a '60' is and then resells it for £99.99). Just have a go at renumbering it yourself- its really easy, even I made a good job of it!

I had to include this photo - it shows my cat, Pru staring at the camera, quite what she thought I was doing I'll never know!

Finally, here is a pic taken on Sunday at West Worthing station having heard that the West Coastway line was closed for engineering work, I decided to go down and see what was happening. (which was not a lot!) I also took quite a few detail shots, which will help me if I ever get round to building a layout based on West Worthing.

 

Thursday 19th January 2006

First with the latest?

My project to model one of FM Rail's 'Blue Pullman' class 47s, no 47712 'ARTEMIS' is nearly complete. The photos show the loco painted and detailed, and just awaiting varnishing before the interior cab details and engine room pipework are added, along with the glazing.

One last detail will be to source some Brush cabside plaques, which, like the nameplates, are now painted light blue. This came as a slight surprise - on photos taken prior to unveiling the livery, the nameplates were still in Fragonset maroon, and the builders plates in red.

Enjoy the photos!

Saturday 14th January 2006

Playing trains

Wells Green TMD has just attended its third exhibition, this time over at Bognor Regis. The photo shows trusty operator Pete Hollman at work on the layout, taken early on the Saturday morning.

On shed and visible in these two photographs are: 92028 Saint Saens, 47851 Traction Magazine, 90030 Crewe Locomotive Works, 67029, 66008, 86901 and 86902.

Thanks goes to all those who have said 'hello' and had a nice chat, it was very welcoming to hear such kind comments and makes all the hard work detailing the layout worth it.

Here is John Holmes' Bachmann D6826 English Electric Type 3, making a cameo appearance on the layout, although the loco is all a bit 1960s for Wells Green TMD - there's no harm in having some fun every now and then!

Anyway, there's still Sunday to go, so I may perhaps have some more photographs to show from the show tomorrow, and possible some more 'unusual' stock appearing on Wells Green TMD.

Bye for now!

 

Wednesday 11th January 2006

All masked up and ready to go

Here's my latest project 47712 ARTEMIS , still being worked on. The photo shows the roof awaiting the final coat of grey to be airbrushed (since completed this afternoon), after that the white window surrounds will also be touched in, but essentially the project is finished. As for transfers, the closest matching ones are standard 'Virgin style' numbers, along with nameplates from Shawplan.

Quite a while ago I'd read that two of FM Rail's class 47s were to be painted in a version of the Blue Pullman livery, to work with a set of Mk2 coaches, so I had earmarked a '47' from the collection to be painted, when the livery was unveiled.

However, from prototype pictures taken just before Christmas, I have to say I was most disappointed with what the livery actually looked like!

47709 and 47712 have basically just been painted plain blue, with hardly any embellishments - maybe I'm just too picky, but I would have expected some form of continuation of the white stripe at least halfway along the body. The livery would look so much better if 'Pullman' wording was present.

Perhaps the livery is not yet complete, and FM Rail will add this at a later date, as I'm just working from photos taken last December. That sort of thing normally happens to me - as soon as I complete a model, the prototype receives a different livery!

90022 was an example of that, just weeks after my 4mm model was finished, EWS stuck their big yellow stickers all over it!

'Whats that?' I hear you ask!

Well, I've been messing around with my class 86/9s (again) through powering and permanently coupling the two locos together, and decided that they needed more weight in the powered loco. Therefore I built a 'box' on top of 86902 and filled it with Liquid Lead, creating the monstrosity you see above.

Finally I decided to re-weather my refuse collection vehicle, to make it look even more grubby around the back end of the lorry. You don't see many pics of road vehicles on web sites, so this will make a nice change!

If anyone happens to be aimlessly roaming around Sussex this weekend, there's a railway exhibition on in Bognor Regis (see adverts in the model magazines for all the essential addresses etc) where you can see my layout in action, along with Pete Hollman's celebrity guest locomotive 66204 making a brief appearance on the layout for Saturday. Do say 'hello' if you're coming along!

 

Sunday 1st January 2006

Look what Santa brought!

I couldn't resist lining up some of my latest additions to the collection (put under the Christmas tree with 'To James, From James' tags on!), although the picture shows the locos straight out of the box, they won't stay like that for long!

From the left, the planned collection will be; 57311 Parker, 60017 Shotton Works Centenary Year 1996, 57603 Tintagel Castle, 45112 (see below) and 43027 Glorious Devon.

This Bachmann class 46 has been chosen as a suitable donor model for my recreation of Fragonset's 45112 Royal Army Ordnance Corps, wearing BR Blue livery.

 

Bachmann's class 57 is extremely fine, and fits in perfectly with my Cornish layout's time span as does the revised 'Barbie' HST. Hopefully my plans for an exhibition version of my permanent home-based Cornish layout will come to fruition, so I can justify all the money I've spent on Western Region stock!

And finally for me, the highlight of Christmas day was unwrapping the new Hornby class 60.

The bogies are ridiculously flimsy and the buffers twist to obscene angles, but its got to be the best ready-to-run model on the market at the moment. Now I'm just waiting for the model railway shops to open again, then I can purchase some transfers and nameplates and start modelling!

 

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October - December 2005 Archived OMWB

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