HR 53 Lybster Complete.

HR53 served on the Wick to Lybster Light Railway from the line's opening in 1903 to withdrawal in 1929 running the 13 miles between the two towns several times a day. I have modelled the engine in the plain unlined green livery of the Highland Railway in which she ran throughout her service on the Wick to Lybster until repainting in LMS passenger red after the grouping of 1923.

 

Lybster had her first outing on the club layout at Carlisle at the weekend and performed very well indeed apart from some squeaking which I'm sure is coming from the wire pick-ups. I'll need to fix this before she turns out again I can't keep attributing it to wonky wheels on other members' stock.
Almost the first remark that greeted Lybster's appearance at the club was one that called attention to the fact that the name transfer on the left hand side of the engine (out of sight) might be a bit high, and indeed much to my chagrin it proved to be so.  How that happened I just don't know but it'll have to be fixed. I've detailed the cab interior which shows up well in these pictures but have still to model the crew. 

An Open Wagon and a Covered Van

HR d.29 Covered Van

This d.29 van was built from a Lochgorm kit with a few improvements and a number plate printed on the inkjet as detailed in my last posting. I dispensed with the rather complicated inner structure of the roof supplied in the kit and simply thickened the edges with 1mm square nickel silver section and soldered the roof in place. I added a bracing piece inside at mid point to stiffen the structure too.

HR d.15 Open Wagon and d.29 Covered Van

As promised in my last posting here's the d.15 wagon and a Highland van to complement it. They're part of the train of goods stock I've been constructing for Lybster to turn out with at the club in Carlisle tomorrow. The wagons were painted with enamels with transfers from HMRS. Weathering was largely done by hand and entailed a lot of dry brush work finished off with a light weathering mix applied with the air brush.

You'll see the wagons at CDOGG, in action with Lybster, which I finished painting just today, in my next posting.

Highland Railway d.15 wagon

Underside from the rocking axle end.

Yes, I know it looks the same as the d.16 wagon that was featured in my last posting but it's not, there are some subtle differences... the d.15 is 6" shorter than the previous open wagon I built and...well that's about it! It's not built from a kit, though it's not really scratch built either... it's built from bits and pieces from various sources helped along with some parts I made myself.

This wagon features correct scale thickness sides, a feature that is often a shortcoming with etched open wagon kits ; this was achieved simply by inserting some scrap etch between the inner and outer sides as I built the body of the wagon.

My starting point was a Dragon/Celtic Connections kit for a CR open wagon which I modified by changing the strapping and most of the fittings to create a d.15. The suspension, which relies on a rocking axle for its effectiveness I owe to parts from an etch by AMBIS. Buffers and axle boxes are from Lochgorm Kits though the springs are Slaters', they are held in place to some extent by the double supports for the brake gear on the solebar.

The rivets on the strapping are 3-D printed transfers from Archer Surface Details. I cut them from the strip supplied, positioned them individually and varnished them in place. I've undercoated the wagon now with acid-etch primer and so far they've withstood this and have not fallen off despite being handled. Using them was an experiment and I'm pleased with the result and they certainly look the part.

Coming Soon.

In my next post you'll see the wagon painted along with its companion HR d.29 covered van.



HR d.15 open wagon, note the builders plate behind the horsehook



Wagons and wagon plates

A pair of HR Jones d.12 fish wagons built from Lochgorm kits. 

Recently built and painted, the left hand wagon no. 2145 displays a wagon plate I made myself, the right hand one retains the etched plate from the kit which has been weathered to disguise its being barely legible. The two wagons are lettered differently so they are not identical twins. 

Jones 4 ton d.12 fish wagon number 2145 

HR d.4 8ton covered van from a Lochgorm kit with improvements and full HR insignia.

  

I built the d.4 van some time ago and left it without insignia, relying only on its number plate on the solebar, which I commissioned from Guilplates, for identification. However the problem with these etched wagon plates is that the numbers and lettering are not white as are the originals but shiny metal... nickel silver. I tried weathering over the plate which certainly took the shine off the metal numerals but left the plate almost illegible and not particularly prototypical. I tried dry brushing the plate with white paint but had no success there just didn't seem to be enough relief and it was all on too small a scale. So I decided to print my own plates and here's how I did it... 

Artwork for a HR wagon plate. 

First I scanned the illustration of a wagon plate (top left) from pg.64 of "Highland Railway Liveries" and printed it.
Then I traced the plate, without the number 4 on good tracing paper, tidied up the lettering and inked in the drawing with a black pen. I glued the inked tracing onto a sheet of white card to make in effect a blank wagon plate, at this stage without numerals.

"Liveries" does not include a helpful drawing of HR wagon plate numbers so I drew the missing numbers myself using the number 4 as a guide to style along with what I could glean from photos of wagons in the book and in Tatlow's "HR Carriages and Wagons".

They are quite dumpy letters, not much higher than they are wide. I drew them and refined them and when I was satisfied with the way they looked I drew them again onto the actual artwork and inked the whole lot in (bottom).

The separate number 8 will replace the 4 of "4 Tons" and 294 (centre) will be placed on top of 2145 to make a second wagon plate, others will follow.

I scanned the artwork and resampled it to size in Corel Photo-Paint. It was then printed on the inkjet on good quality paper and cut out with a scalpel leaving a fairly generous white border. I glued the printed plate to an 0.25 oval metal blank, sealed the paper with varnish and trimmed the plate to its final shape with a fine-cut file...and that's it!

Some Recent Wagons.

HR Fish Wagon with an interesting load.

The fish barrels are commercial resin castings though the baskets and the codfish, whose tail you can just see, and the flatfish on the deck are all cast in metal from my own moulds and now available from Invertrain. The wagon sheet is painted paper made from a drawing that I made then scanned, reduced to scale on the computer and printed.

HR D.16 Open Wagon from a Lochgorm Kit.

I built this wagon at odd moments in January from Lochgorm's recently released kit. I made improvements to the buffer beam and rebuilt the brake mechanism. The model was brush painted using enamels, the airbrush was used only at the last minute for some light weathering. The number plate on the solebar is printed paper glued to an oval metal plate and varnished to seal it. The artwork and printing was done on the computer for me by my daughter who knows about these things! And Yes...there is a number on the end of the wagon, third plank down...
Now it needs a load or something, possibly a folded HR wagon sheet, to add interest to the interior.

HR D16 open wagon and D 4 Covered van.

The open wagon is painted with Phoenix Precision Paints' Red Oxide which contrast with the covered van which is painted the earlier HR Claret... for which Floquil's Tuscan Red serves well. Transfers on the open are from HMRCS.

LNER Lowfit

I built this Lowfit recently from a Connoiseur kit which I intended to transport a tractor.  I improved the wagon by making the rings on the wagon bed actually work so they can be used to secure the tractor later, apart from this and changing the couplings to CPL ones the kit was more or less built as intended by the designer and a good design it is indeed.

The question is...which tractor should I use?  Below you can see my choices... an early Farmall tractor or a later rather classy Ferguson. Both models are 1:43 scale and available from Universal Hobbies; whichever one is used will have to be painted to match the wagon, at the moment they're still in toy mode.

Lowfit with Farmall tractor load

Lowfit with Ferguson tractor load.

HR53 Lybster construction complete

Lybster's "Drummond" backhead

Cab interior details are creatively reconstructed from what little information can be glimpsed in photos or derived from Peter Tatlow's drawing of the engine after rebuilding by Drummond in 1901. There may have been more to the backhead than I've modelled but viewed from outside the cab I think it looks the part as you'll see in the next picture...

Cab interior details.

The hinged cab doors can be open or closed, the curved topped rod behind the door holds it in position by locating in a hole in the footplate. The hinges are mounted slightly proud of the side sheet on a slim strip of n/s to enable the door to function. In the bunker is a removable block of Milliput to which the coal will be added later.






Lybster construction complete

Lybster will be painted in Drummond II plain livery in which she ran on the Wick and Lybster Light Railway from the opening of the line on 1 July 1903 to withdrawal and scrapping in 1929. A suitable driver and fireman, based on a photograph taken of the engine with its crew posing on the footplate sometime after 1917 are under construction.

Lybster ready for the paint shop

 

The circle of rivets behind the smokebox, along the edges of the tank top saddle and round the chimney are from Archers' Surface Details. They are relief transfers, easily applied and seem to stand up well, the success of this experiment remains to be seen after painting, however I'm sure they'll be better than no rivets at all which was the alternative.


Lybster performed well on the Carlisle club layout recently and hauled a respectable train, so I plan to take her through to the painting stage now. I don't want the engine to join the other neglected projects standing in the sidings of despair despondently wondering when their turn to be painted will come.

HR53 Lybster 1890-1929 (rebuilt1901)

HR d.16 Wagon and d.29 Van

Brake operating levers are on both sides, though the brake itself is only on one side.

The HR d.16 Drummond wagon is complete and ready for the paint shop. I made some improvements and adjustments to the kit and remade the brake gear as it was over-etched. I cut away the corners of both axle trays to allow space for the buffers to work properly and also cut a slot to accommodate the spring of the draw hook which improves matters. The end profile of the wagon was improved by making a new buffer beam and soldering a piece of square section behind it on the ends to give the beam its depth. I mounted the end part of the wagon on the new buffer beam and ensured that the end planking lined up with the side planks. I tweaked the position of the end stanchions to allow the four little bolts that flank the draw plate to sit comfortably between them.

The view above shows the rocking axle and its tray which has had material added beneath it to correct the wagon ride height. Adding a millimetre to the rocking axle end rather than subtracting at the other end also adds a little much needed space between the solebar and axle in which the springs and axlebox fit, clearance in this area is tight to say the least. The rocking axle tray is held in place by a rod which fits tight along the tray and is soldered to the upright prongs of the rocking pivot which protrude through the tray.





Lochgorm Kits HR d.16 Drummond open wagon

Buffers and couplings have been removed to chemically blacken separately. The wagon has been cleaned and degreased with cellulose thinners, a process which is done outside in the open air. The next stage is a coat of Halfords' aerosol acid etch primer.

Lochgorm Kits HR d.29 Covered Van

With care and a little modification the Lochgorm Kits' d.29 van builds into a good scale model of the prototype. The buffer beams were too wide so I made new ones, flush with the van sides and added safety chains, CPL screw couplings and a draw plate to match. One pair of the inverted "U" shaped plates which are fastened to the sole bar above the axleboxes was wrongly positioned. I found this out when I used the plates as a guide to the position of the axles, the van took on a decided asymmetrical aspect. I countered this by grinding off all four plates and replacing them with a new matching set from an AMBIS etch that I fortuitously found in my spares box.

Rather than use the rather complicated rib and stringer roof former supplied in the kit I added a cross wall to the van interior to brace the structure then thickened the roof with 1mm square section and soldered it in place. I can't see any need for it to come off anyway, there's nothing inside!