"Flux Capacitor"

A photograph of a very unusual load in 1955...there's something wrong with this photograph...wait a minute...

Great Scott! That's an N2 in the background without a smokebox numberplate! In 1955! Impossible!

Until next time!

"On Shed"

The year is 1964, and it is the last few months of operation at Copley Hill...

"Not Impress-flo"

I used to love Airfix kits. I used to build them all the time when I was younger. Stopped at around the age of twelve, because I was into my sport and training most of the time. Athletics is as athletics does. I'm not very athletic now!

The last time I made an Airfix kit, I built a model of a Lancaster Bomber, specifically a 617 Squadron aircraft (though not with the bouncing bomb attachment). It was pretty good, neat in its paintwork, but crucially had been aided with a decent set of instructions, and what was a very well designed plastic kit. Patience normally helps too!

On this occasion, my patience has just about run out. I've been building a rake of Dapol Presflos to run on the Copley Hill set. In theory, this would be cheaper than the Bachmann model by half, and run "almost as well".

Cue canned laughter. I was wrong - hands in the air - it would have been more expensive to buy Bachmann, but it would have saved me some angst!

First off, the instruction diagrams are terrible (not to mention wrong, for one thing, but we'll come onto that later). The diagrams are simply photocopies of an original drawing, and very coarse (see above picture - very rough pictures!)

The instructions themselves aren't bad, everything is numbered on the sprue, but this presents a problem in that half the kit will be damaged when you go to open it.

I'm not joking - I've built nine of these presflos this week. Every single kit has had a dozen or so bits broken off, badly bent, or in need of careful bending under temperature (the instructions recommend warm water). Here's an example:


Which brings me onto my next point - the chassis construction. Two flimsy buffer beams and very warped side panels, expected to be glued together with the wheels fitted between the axleboxes. I tried this for the first Presflo, and it was infuriating. Even sticking one side down with blue tack, or using my traditional holding implement, clothes pegs, couldn't keep the whole chassis together while it was gluing. In the end, I changed tack - built the whole model, minus the wheels, and carefully popped the wheels in at the end. Eight out of nine models done this way, and unlike the first, no breakages, bending or similar to speak of when I did this.


So my advice is to ignore the "add wheels" instruction - numbered 3 in the list of instructions - and fit the wheels at the end.

Overall, the kit (whose origins are, I believe, in the Airfix range from eons ago) fits badly, requires great amounts of filing and preparation to put together, and once or twice nearly put me off continuing with the builds altogether. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is the price and look of the model - people will buy this, thinking its a suitable "starter" or "simple" kit for the kids - think again.

If you've the patience, then it scrubs up well, but running is wholly dependent on whether or not the chassis - like at least five of mine are - is modified with better bearings in the axleboxes than the moulded plastic. For a few quid, and some vast amounts of patience, you can make the kit work, but overall I'm left wondering if we're missing something in the railway world, that the world of model aircraft clearly has managed - kits with durable, easy to fit together pieces, and decent instructions that won't put a younger generation off kit building.

Strange thing is - I built a Dapol Battle of Britain plastic kit a few years back and it didn't seem to have the problems this had. Strange, very strange.


So, two Presflos down from the paintshop, and due to be finished with all their decals, followed by weathering - and another seven to go into the paintshop, etcetera, etcetera...

I started building another this evening - and was met with an uunusal, but amusing scenario.

No wheels, but I have fives sides to a four sided tank:


Until next time!

"Trying new things"

One thing you must know about me. I absolutely, 100%, hate shopping. I hate browsing, I hate having to read signs, and hate queuing. I do all of this in a dignified silence, except when my beloved takes me clothes shopping, to which a howl of protests at every new shop we enter, arises!

But, I make exceptions for model shops. I found a place recently in Bexleyheath with an eccentric old chap behind the counter - nice enough fellow, and to my delight, stocked a whole load of paints, glues and fillers I thought were only available online. Rooting through the shop, it really is more for aircraft model kits, but he recommended I speak to his son about ordering some railway kits if I so chose to. I intend to go back and make an order in due course.

Which leads me onto my next dilemma. The kits I wanted (in bulk, mind), I have bought a couple of. They are the Dapol Presflo wagons, and I've found myself with absolutely no inclination to build them, now I've discovered the new Bachmann model RTR model.

Yet the price differences make the kit building enticing, to some extent. Yes, it's a load of man hours - but I reckon I could bulk-build batches of three wagons in a day, every day, for a week and I'd have enough to make a sizable few rakes for filming purposes (clue: Episode 18 and 19 of a certain Youtube series). The Bachmann model retails in and around £9. The Dapol kit retails for about £5. That £4 difference suddenly looks quite inviting when you've 20+ to build!

So in conclusion - this will be my first wagon kit, actually. Something new to try. As will my "shopping" stint next week in Watford. I can already hear the Missus calling me to check out another item of clothing...! ;)

Until next time!

"20,000 on Test"

It's been two weeks since I finished modifying the chassis of this fictional locomotive, and it's now clocked up well over 48 hours worth of running in. The Hornby model A4 it's derived from has a very impressive "ready to run" chassis in the first place. It's now running so well that I'm finding myself putting it on trains for the sheer whim. The rear bogie is now sprung on its sliding connection to the chassis - this has helped it enormously, going through points and over the single diamond crossing on the Copley Hill set.


The second tender is a bit of a whim for me, and won't be actually used for the competition. I just wanted to see if it was possible to make a convincing second tender - you can, certainly, but I reckon the roofline needs more work as it should be flatter. Overall it's not a bad start - just add buffers and a coupling to the standard railroad tender chassis, and make up a body from two tenders, and you're practically there. Next job is rivets on the roof, along with the drainage channels.


Only thing left now is to line it out, number it, varnish it, then one final sealing of purity spray (gamesworkshop range), and it'll be ready for the real competition - the exchange trials - in the spring.

Until next time!

"Staff Competition Entry...Update 2"

The W2 has had its tender modified and painted, with a second tender being made up from two old railroad tender bodyshells, stuck together, and modified accordingly. I thought I'd put a second tender on it to be really wacky (^_^)


The colour of green doesn't show up well in the photographs, but I like it enough that I am planning on keeping it as it is. Overall, the big green machine has clocked up about thirty hours of trials since I finished the chassis modifications, doing a turn of five hours running today with a short six coach train. It's running so smoothly that I am hoping when the contest kicks off good and proper with the "exchange trials" that my luck doesn't run out!

Until next time.

The next trailer is up...one more to go, before the "The Ghosts of Engines Past" airs...

"The Ghosts of Engines Past"

Coming Soon to a Platform Near You!