HR d.9 Coach in 7mm scale.

 

HR 6-wheel 4-compartment Luggage First/Third composite coach.

My recently completed Jones d.9 33' 3" 6-wheel composite coach is built from a Lochgorm Kits etch with added refinements, the most noteworthy of which is the double-skin. This allows the glazing to slip into place between the inner and outer walls of the coach and adds to the realism of the model. The inner walls, along with the transverse partition walls are cut from 0.4mm brass sheet and add weight to the model so the coach tops 600g on the scales. The axles run in brass inside bearings, so there's more friction than would be the case with pin-point axles, obviously this is not a coach for a feeble engine.

 I intend to run a typical Highland Railway branch-line mixed train, consisting of two 6-wheel coaches (I only have two) along with a goods van and a 4-wheel passenger brake van, on my next visit to the club layout in Carlisle. Tests on my track in the studio suggest that my Passenger Tank is the engine for the job though all my branch-line engines proved up for it. 

The coach relies on a Cleminson system of suspension, which allows the leading and trailing axles to steer into or out of curves, which should ensure a smooth passage round tighter than prototype curves and wayward sections of trackwork. The Highland Railway in fact didn't employ this system on its 6-wheel coaches, relying instead on a small amount of side-play on the center axle, a system which would probably work well in model form if enough side play were employed.

The coach was painted using Revell SM 363 Dark Green with the addition of matt black to taste, transfers are from Fox, castings from LGM and Invertrain. 

Detail of the step end of the D.9. The coach is a First/Third class vehicle, Second Class having disappeared in Scotland the early 1890s.

The center axle employs a different type of spring suspension to the outer axles. Springs are brass castings from LGM. 

The double-skin of the coach can be seen in this view; only a modest amount of interior detail has been included. The figure is my own sculpture, available from Invertrain MR.

7mm scale Drummond 20-ton goods brake van in LMS livery.

Peter Drummond's 20-ton 6-wheel goods brake van entered Highland Railway service between 1909 and 1913, there were 16 of these 20 foot long vans, built with wooden under-frames. These original vans can be identified by the thickness of their wooden buffer beams, later 20-ton vans of this type were built with steel under-frames with characteristic "[" shaped buffer beams. Though the original design did not feature ramps to the roof lookout these were added to many of the vans quite early in their service by the HR so the guard did not bang his head when stepping up to the lookout. When the LMS took ownership they made few alterations other than fitting disc wheels and changing the livery. This involved moving the central lamp-iron upwards so the letter "M" would fit just under it, a subtlety that I noticed only after I'd painted the model and came to put the transfers on!  Photos of these vans in LMS days show that the continuous lower foot-board was cut away in front of the axle boxes, presumably to improve access, forming four separate foot boards each side, though my van has not as yet undergone this refinement.

The model is constructed from a nickle silver etch, one of my own "aids to wagon building". The ramped lookout seen here is a change I made following the drawing in Peter Tatlow's "HR Carriages and Wagons" and is quite different to the one the vans were originally provided with. 

Full construction details are to be found below in the March 2022 blog posting. I used Railmatch 611 freight grey as the base colour of this LMS version of the van, transfers are HMRS, couplings from CPL and  lamps from Slater's, with added brilliants.

I have a few etched sheets still in stock at £25.00 + postage if you'd like to add one of these vans to your collection, a great project for the modelling season ahead. 

 

7mm scale 20-ton 6-wheel goods brake van LMS d.12

Gauge 0 Drummond 20-ton 6-wheel goods brake van, LMS 294018

Portrait of a sheep van in 7mm scale.

8-ton double-deck planked sheep van in LMS days.

My recently completed portrait of 294528, was built from my own resin castings or "Aids to Wagon Building", it is based closely on the well known photo reproduced on page 169 of Peter Tatlow's "Highland Railway Carriages and Wagons". The van suits the early LMS grey livery, which accentuates the relief detail even though the ironwork is not picked out in black as it was in Highland days. Below you can see how much detail has been achieved using state of the art 3D printing for the masters and a high tech. resin casting process for production. 

I still have a few sets of 7mm sides and ends left  if you'd like to add a sheep van or two to your collection of HR stock. See my earlier post below for details of ordering.

The sheep van is also available as a 3D print in 4mm scale, see post below.

Detail of the brake lever and pin rack 

A high level of detail has been achieved in the resin casting process. 

HR 8-Ton Double Deck Sheep Van in 7mm scale... Painted.

 

Built from one of Pete's recently released cast resin aids to wagon building, this example portrays a double-deck sheep van in Highland Railway rich red-oxide livery with the iron-work picked out in black. I've not come across any photos of these vans in HR days so the insignia is based on that of a cattle wagon on pg.164 of Peter Tatlow's "Highland Railway Carriages and Wagons". The wagon number, 1478, is taken from the tables in the book and is the best I can come up with. The 7"sole-bars are too narrow for the standard Highland wagon plate, so this feature has been dispensed with, identification is by means of the number painted on the lower plank.

I painted the wagon with Phoenix P436 Caledonian Wagon Oxide and picked out the iron-work with matt black, though this was brushed with a soft brush when dry to enable a slight sheen. The small number transfers are from HMRS sheet 20. The Society's own range of 7mm water-slide decals provided the 9" Highland insignia which adorn the top boards, ref: HRGS1. The roof, which can be removed for access to the interior, is painted off-white with talc added to the mix. Working screw-couplings are from CPL and have been chemically blackened.     

Photos of planked sheep vans in LMS days show that the ironwork was no longer painted black, the company's grey livery is applied all-over, including the buffer housings, though the brake gear and all below the sole bar is black.

HR 8-ton double-decked sheep van body in 4mm scale.

HR 8-ton double decked sheep van with planked sides.

This is the 3D printed van body with the festoon of ingates and runners removed, it takes about a quarter of an hour to do this carefully with side cutters. You need to be careful with the delicate vertical rods that support the planks midway. Detail is remarkable as this is scaled down from my 7mm version. The floors and roof need to be added from Plastikard and the wheels and other components below the sole-bar sourced from the trade. Peter Tatlow's drawing on pg. 168 of his "Highland Railway Carriages and Wagons" should be used as a guide along with the photos on the following pages. Mark Tatlow tells me that he can supply an etched underframe for the wagon.

This is what you get...

The 3D print as it comes off the printer.

The sheep van is supplied as seen in the above photo with ingates and runners still attached. 

The van body is available now and if this format proves acceptable to 4mm modellers more HR wagon types will follow.

Price per wagon body is £10.95

Postage is £3.50 for 2nd Class or £4.20 for 1st Class, if you order more than one it's still the same. It won't go in an envelope so it'll have to go in a box by Small Parcel rate.

Contact Pete on...

armstrongps1@gmx.com

07342 637 813

017687 71302

  

HR 8-ton double-deck sheep van with planked sides in 7mm scale.

Pete's new addition to his range of aids to scratch-building provides resin sides and ends for a Highland Railway 8-ton double-deck sheep wagon d.17. Parts from the trade, such as the W-irons, buffers, springs, axle boxes and couplings are easily sourced (see below). Additional items such as brake gear, roof and internal floors can be cut from sheet metal or Plastikard, so in a round-about way a multi-media kit is assembled to each individual modeller's choice. 

Price is £22.50 plus postage at cost £1.60 1st Class or £1.15 2nd Class.

Buy 2 or more and postage is Free.

Contact Pete on...

armstrongps1@gmx.com

017687 71302

07342 617 813

This is what you get...

 

The openings are filled with a thin membrane. Hold to the light to identify the openings and push out the membrane with the back of a scalpel blade, it only takes a few minutes. The resin ingates (with holes in) are cut off with a fine coping saw and the bottom of the castings filed flat. 

In addition you'll need...

Slater's 3' 1" wagon wheels ref: 7120

Slater's 1mm Plastikard, 7mm planking and 1.5mm strip for battens.

W-irons from Slater's or The Highland Railway Society.

Springs, axle-boxes and buffers from Invertrain.

Couplings from CPL Products.

Horse hooks, brake lever guard and collarless hand rail knobs from 62C Models.

Close up showing the fine detail of the resin castings after the openings have been cleared of membrane. Horizontal bars are made from 0.6 nickle silver or brass wire glued into slots behind the openings.

The upper floor sits behind the horizontal midway strut and serves to brace the structure. The roof is made from 0.4mm nickle silver sheet, rolled to shape; Plastikard would provide an alternative solution.    

 Plastikard planking, with 1.5mm battens to provide a footing for livestock, overlays the 1mm thick lower floor. Note the interior detail and the horizontal wire glued in slots across the openings. The ends of the planks marked with an X have been trimmed slightly to seat the end.

View of the rocking-axle, coupling and buffer shanks, which run in slots behind the solebars. The floor under the axles has been built up 1.5mm with Plastikard sheet to provide the correct ride height.

The upper deck of the van is split in half along its length to allow it to seat in place; an overlay of battened Plastikard planking sits on top of this. The planked floors show up well in good light, even with the roof in place and are worth the effort of detailing them with battens.

 An additional, though optional detail, is the chain which holds the pin which locates in the holes in the rack to hold the brake lever down. 

Brake shoe and brake lever are fabricated from nickel silver sheet. Springs and axle-box are cast in white metal from my own master patterns in my workshop.

 

 

The sides and ends are glued together and 0.6 n/s wire is fastened behind the opening in slots provided; which may need enlarging a little. The ends of the horizontal planks need trimming slightly inside, to allow the sides to seat in place.

A short length of square section tube has been fashioned to make the brake lever hanger, this is glued into a shallow slot cut in the sole-bar.

The horizontal handrail is held in place by collarless handrail knobs which locate into holes in the uprights. The handrail is soldered to the knobs in situ then the assembly is removed, the wire bent to fit the outer holes and replaced.

The van is weighted up to 150g and runs superbly. Note the brake lever guard set just off-center on the sole-bar. There doesn't seem to be much room for a cast number plate on the narrow sole-bar, perhaps sheep vans made do with numbers painted on the lower horizontal boards.  

HR Wagon Plate Transfers in 7mm scale.

I think you'll agree that the number plates shown in these pictures set the wagons off a treat. Pete has produced a set of HR wagon plate transfers to complement his growing series of wagon sides and ends, these are available to modellers now. The transfer strips measure 180mm x 16mm and provide water slide-transfers for 10 different pairs of plates to suit the following wagons...

8-ton ballast wagon...2525, 2530

16-ton loco coal...2773

Jones 4-plank open...1462, 1470

Swivel cradle wagon... 908, 910

8-ton double-deck sheep wagon with planked sides...1477, 1490 (sides and ends to be released 4/23)

Drummond 8-ton 4-plank coal wagon...950  (sides and ends to be released soon)

I have mounted the transfers on the flat back of Lochgorm Kits' etched wagon plates. These were painted black, then I used Humbrol DecalFix to help fix them and added a coat of varnish. When dry I trimmed the edges with a scalpel and glued the plates to the wagon. I also tried fixing the transfers to 0.4 brass sheet and cutting the plate to shape with the transfer in place and this worked well too. Plastikard would also provide a suitable backing plate.

It is possible to change a digit by using a scalpel and substituting one of the small numbers from the HR Society's wagon transfer sheet HRGS1, which should widen the usefulness of this sheet.

Price per set of 10 pairs of transfers is... £6.00 plus postage at cost 0.75 for 2nd Class or £1.10 for 1st Class.

e-mail...armstrongps1@gmx.com

tel/text...07342 637 813

7 Ton Swivel Cradle Wagon, detail of number plate.

Swivel Cradle Wagon built by the author from one of his own aids to scratch building.

8Ton Jones 4-plank open wagon, close up of number plate.

General view of Jones open wagon with wagon plate. Built from one of Pete's sets of sides and ends, which provide modellers with a useful aid to scratch building.

Loco Coal Wagon 1657

 

Photo from Peter Tatlow's book on HR Carriages and Wagons.

I built a second 16Ton Loco Coal Wagon from my own resin cast sides and ends recently and the photo below shows the resulting model. I intend to run it with the first one I built, 2773, as they always look better as a pair. The photo above was used to make the model as accurate as possible. Both wagons appear on page 154 of Peter Tatlow's, HR Carriages and Wagons, an indispensable book for Highland wagon builders.

 Details of building these wagons are available in an earlier post on this blog for April 2022. 

If you fancy building one yourself there's only one left now, it's at sale price too ( See Below) and it's the last one.

Swivel Cradle Wagon complete

7 Ton Swivel Cradle Wagon photographed in LMS days.
Photo HRSoc Collection/Am Baile

Built from my own "Aids to Scratchbuilding", the resin castings for this wagon include the sides, ends and the swivel cradle. The upright stanchions are white metal castings from my own workshop. Buffers, axle boxes and springs are commercial castings from Invertrain, other parts are made from n/s strip. The turnbuckles and fastening chains are from CPL Products.

 

The load fastening chain and turnbuckle are anchored to an eye bolt on top of the metal corner reinforcement. On the deck can be seen the angle-irons that restrict the rotation of the swivel cradle. There's a sledge hammer that's been left on the deck too.

An metal eye serves to attach the upright stanchion to the corner plate by means of a short chain.

Running as a pair, No.908 which is a known number and 907, which is probable. 

 

Castings for the swivel cradle wagon are Sold Out now, however Pete has plans to produce more resin sides and ends for Highland Railway wagons. The first of these sets of castings will be for a...

Drummond 8-ton 4-plank mineral wagon to HR d. 10

If you yourself would like to suggest a subject for Pete to include in his range please let him know, I'm sure he'd be pleased to oblige.

 

Small Goods running at CDOGG

Resplendent in Drummond II unlined green livery HR27 runs through the station on the club layout today with a short train of Highland stock. It was quiet in the clubroom this morning which gave me the opportunity to test the engine for over an hour on the circuit. Later I added a few more wagons that were brought in, though it was never a test of strength. I think it would manage a dozen wagons. I was  pleased with the engine's performance, it ran smoothly and gave no trouble at all. 

You can see some of the detail inside the cab in this rear view, the crew are my own sculpture, specially designed for this type of open cab. The Loco Coal wagon is built from a set of resin sides and ends which I produced myself. The wagon is completed with a mix of commercially available underframe parts and scratch built brake gear. 

The club has some great model makers and their buildings and other detail in the scenic section of the club layout make for a realistic scene.

Highland Railway 6-wheel 20 ton goods brake van, built from an etched "aid to scratch building", which I had made; the nickle silver sheet included all the hard-to-make-yourself parts.

HR 27 Small Goods, Jones Rebuild of 1891...finished

Nothing was easy constructing my Small Goods engine and the same was true when I came to paint it; my choice of paint, Precision P727 Dark Green 1905-1912, which suits the unlined Drummond II livery is now permanently deleted, only P725 Light Green remains in stock. I had a small tin of this fortunately and I experimented by using it as the base colour. I added matt black and by a process of trial and error found that simply adding black and nothing else made a credible match for the lost 727. You can judge yourselves from the pictures displayed here the degree of my success. I have no infallible recipe for the colour, making it was a haphazard business and dependent on continued supplies of 725.

Despite keeping my precious mix in a tightly lidded jar, to my dismay it dried up to a jelly overnight before I'd painted the cab interior. So I embarked on a further experiment using Revell semi-matt Dark Green 363 as a base. I added a good deal of matt black and rather less yellow (15) which produced a credible colour for the cab. I think success depends on the base colour being as near as possible to the colour you're aiming to mix. 

The cab interior is based on the drawing in Peter Tatlow's "Highland Locomotives" (p.57), showing the interior of a Loch Class engine of 1896. I think the cab of the Jones rebuild of the Small Goods was probably much the same as that of a Jones designed Loch. The backhead owes much to a Lochgorm Kits etched sheet; brass castings are mainly sourced from Laurie Griffin and 62C Models, revised to fit this particular cab. The oil can and grating visible in the center are my own white metal castings. 

The dark green base colour, mixed from my own recipe (above), was applied with a Badger Anthem 155 airbrush. The contrasting areas of black were brush painted using Humbrol matt black to which a touch of talc was added; when dry these areas were buffed with a soft toothbrush to produce a sheen. Transfers on the buffer beam and rear of the tender are methfix type from a rather depleted Guilplates sheet of Highland Locomotive transfers which are sadly no longer available. The number and maker's plates were etched to order by Light Railway Stores. 

 

The driver and fireman are my own sculpture though now available from Chris Smith at Invertrain Models in his "Heroes of the Footplate" range. The figures are designed with contrasting poses which maximise the restricted space available in the cab and by avoiding standing shoulder-to-shoulder they allow a good view of the interior and of the backhead details. 

The 4 ton capacity tender is identified by 9" Highland numerals. Design of these early tenders owed a debt to those of the LNWR, the coal had to be shoveled from floor level, a back breaking task.

 The tablet catching apparatus has a handle which goes into the cab between the side sheet and the stanchion. The fall-plate is shaped to clear the sand-boxes and allow the engine to negotiate curves on a club layout and also masks the un-prototypical, though most effective way, the engine hooks to the tender.