The Burnbake and Woodyhyde Railway

[clayliner]

Thanks for the info, Brian - so far all looks well but I will bear what you say in mind. The top of the firebox / backhead will come off fairly easily to allow me to get to the bearing to lubricate it as required.

David.

[clayliner]

Limited progress, I'm afraid, as life (including a brief holiday) has a habit of getting in the way of modelling and my mojo has also got a bit stuck.

So I decided to take a decisive step and apply some paint to the loco. Ah - so many lovely colours to choose from! Unfortunately most of them wouldn't look appropriate for an industrial, non-passenger carrying line, I think, so goodbye to blues, yellows, ochre and more. For a long time I had been clear that my next loco would be a very faded, washed out red (I'd seen pictures somewhere of another industrial line) but recently I have seen a number of brown locos in the News and on the NGRM Forum, and they looked handsome but not too smart (that's not intended as a criticism!)

So I tried some experiments with brown mixed with other colours. Brown + blue: just looked like dirty blue. Brown + red: just a red-brown, and not what I was after. So I decided to try the brown on its own, at least to see what it looked like:

base coat by clayliner, on Flickr

Looks okay, I think (though maybe the background isn't too helpful!) - but hopelessly too shiny. Dulcote is mentioned often on the forums, or maybe a thin wash of matt black or grey would both take the shine off and weather it at the same time? Time for some more experiments...

David.

[MickT]

Humbrol matt varnish works wonders David!

Mick

[Scott Rixon]

Just finally read the June edition of 009 news.. Lovely layout! I really should frequent this forum a little more. Taking some ideas and thoughts from your shed area as I'm building something similar on my layout at the moment :)

Did you ever use any Greenwich couplings? I use them and love them, hands off uncoupling is just too much fun :)

[clayliner]

Thanks for your kind comments, Scott - pleased you enjoyed the article, and hopefully to have provided some inspiration, too.

All the best stuff is on this forum (quality, if not necessarily quantity)!

David.

[clayliner]

At long last, the time has come to put everything together

[MickT]

We can certainly agree that it has "character" David! It is an excellent model that oozes it and is a super example of the genre of what I like to think of as "proper modelling" where you use whatever materials that come to hand to produce something that is not only atmospheric but is unique and not just another kit that looks identical to the one on the layout next door etc.

Who is to say that Barclay or O&K didn't produce a small 0-6-0WT some time in the early years of the 20th century that found its way down to Purbeck.

Well done Sir!

Mick

PS - Major milestone (or is it millstone?) wedding anniv this weekend and we are having a break at Swanage so if you are in town for the jazz festival or anything, might bump into you on Saturday in the high street (or if I can find an acceptable excuse, somewhere in the station!)

[DeadHorse]

Funnily enough I have just finished a similar kit-bash from the same source to produce my own representation of a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT. I have mine in a rather uninspiring black finish, although I could have gone for this more distinctive red look.

I also kept the original oval front spectacles (rear is just a half backsheet) and belpaire shape firebox but if I was to do it again I would get rid of both. My ex-Douglas runs on a minitrix dock tank chassis that runs well.

[rod335]

For what it's worth, Douglas and the others were/are Barclay Class E well tanks, also referred to by Barclay as their 'Light' class. And Barclays did make some six-coupled examples, 25 for the War Department in WW1. They may have produced some more later. As Mick knows, the Gem kit goes well on an Ibertren Cuckoo chassis, better looking to my mind than on the recommended Arnold chassis. Never been a fan of those.

[clayliner]

The Company are pleased to announce the arrival of a new Engine to work upon the Line, which will supplement the current locomotive stock and provide useful new motive power. Originally built in Great Britain for work on the Greater Limpopo Flood Relief and Drainage Scheme in Portuguese Mozambique, upon completion of those works and her return to this country she has been employed at the factory of the Dudley and Smethwick United Custard and Blancmange Co. The photograph shows her on arrival at the Engine Shed on the Line in company with her sister engines:

'Corfe' by clayliner, on Flickr

It is intended to name the Engine 'Corfe' in the near future, in line with Company policy of naming engines after settlements in the vicinity of the Line.

The General Manager, Burnbake and Woodyhyde Rly. Co.

[clayliner]

Readers with very good memories will recall the mock-up of the mine building I posted way back in January. At long last I can report that it is substantially finished, and looks like this:

mine stage by clayliner, on Flickr

'Corfe' is fussing with some skips underneath, and it looks as though some pit props are waiting to be unloaded. The cylindrical tank is for compressed air to power the pneumatic spades and other equipment underground.

At long last I've been able to make use of some thin but very tough steel strips I've had in my materials drawer for a long time: they once formed the stiffening in discarded windscreen wiper blades and have found a new life as the rails for the track going down into the mine. Sad, I know, but strangely satisfying...

As I said back in January, I've just clad the cardboard mock-up in (plastic) corrugated iron. Another dilemma: a 'proper' modeller would probably cut it into 8'x4' sheets and then apply each of them individually, but sometimes compromises have to be made, so I've just scored the sheets.

David.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Nice work, David.

Jeff S.

[MickT]

Same as wot Jeff said! It all looks very good David, congratulations!

Mick

[gtmspyder]

Very nice David, I do like the rusting roof sheets, very realistic.

Regards, BrianT.

[clayliner]

Years ago now (I see it was almost two whole years!) I mentioned Greenwich couplings, so perhaps it's time to pick up the thread again.

With the aid of the approved height gauge it's not difficult to mount them at just the right height:

1a by clayliner, on Flickr

(pretty good, eh? although I say it myself). There's just one problem - the dreaded Loop Clash:

2a by clayliner, on Flickr

  and

3a by clayliner, on Flickr

Of course, when you stop to think about it, it's pretty inevitable, if you take care to mount them all at exactly the same height... You could bend all the loops down a bit, I suppose, or even bend them all up - but that's not going to solve the problem. Maybe bend some up and some down? At least you might have a 50% (overall) chance of successful engagement. Skew them in the horizontal plane?

Clearly others have found the solution, so I'm asking for the forum's combined wisdom for the best way to solve the problem. Any help appreciated.

David

P.S. We do have some lovely sunrises down here!