"Thompson Trio: Renumbering & Weathering"

I've been working on a trio of Thompson designed locomotives for a few weeks, intending them for work both on the forthcoming layout Ganwick Curve, and another (much smaller) layout project that will overtake it by virtue of being cheaper to build.

Pictured above is Thompson O1 no.63789, which you may remember from an earlier blog post: it was being backdated to its 1949 condition and weathered on New Year's Eve in 2012.

The other two Thompson locomotive designs I've been working on, were a Thompson B1, and a Thompson L1. Both of these locomotives were, coincidentally, products of the North British Locomotive works at Polmadie, and as a result some minor cosmetic changes have had to be made to the tank engine in particular. All three models are, of course, ready to run models from the Hornby stable.

The only thing I will be waiting on are North British Locomotive works plates, which are on order from Fox Transfers. I should probably state at this time that there is no paid advertising on this blog: I just happen to buy from Fox Transfers as their service is always excellent and prompt!

The model started life as no.67772, in the exquisitely applied mixed traffic black livery, with cycling lion emblem on the tanksides.

I wanted mine to represent an earlier form, made by a different locomotive works to that portrayed (I believe the one depicted by Hornby was a Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn variant). The works plates on the front frames were removed using a little T-Cut and a cotton bud, followed by the emblems on the tank sides, which were removed in the same manner, along with the last two digits of the locomotive's number on the bunker sides.

Fox Transfers numerals and lettering were applied thereafter. They are waterslide transfers, which were carefully dried before sealing with a few coats of Johnson's Klear varnish. I use the bottom half of a numeral "5" to make the curly sixes on the bunker sides.

I repeated the procedure for the numberplate, again using Fox Transfer's numerals to change the last two digits. My intended prototype was no.67751, which can be found in Yeadon's Register, Volume 16 a few times in this form.

I do think the lettered branding changes the look of the locomotive quite a lot: it's surprising how squashed the lettering looks on the real thing in some of the photographs contained in that volume of Yeadon's Register, but equally surprising are the number of variations in livery, and variations within livery, of form (looking squarely at the front running plate and the types of works plates).

I was tempted to leave no.67751 in pristine livery. It was, after all, shown in such a form in Yeadon's Register (twice in fact) however my desire for a "working locomotive" look took over, and I went for the jugular, so to speak, with an afternoon of weathering.

I prepared the model as I normally do, by using mixes of Tamiya weathering powders on the chassis, smokebox and generally anything which would have got rusty, before mixing up a generic weathering shade using metal cote from the Humbrol range, and some trusty T-Cut and cotton buds to clean the excess off.

I very much wanted to recreate the "cleaned with a rag" look, and whilst this isn't perfect, I do think it's a step closer to the overall level of weathering I'm aiming for.

One thing I noted of the Thompson L1s in Yeadon's Register, was how clean some of the bufferbeams were in the late 40s and early 50s. It was truly bizarre as I tried to find a photograph of one with absolutely filthy buffers. In the end I gave up, and used some white spirit and a fine paintbrush to tone the weathering down, bringing out more of the red in the process.

There is one discrepancy I must mention: the North British built L1s had boilers which had a large plate just ahead of their safety valves. This is due to a different stay arrangement in the boiler, necessitating a strengthening plate. 

This prominent plate is absent on my model of no.67751 in lieu of drawings of the Thompson L1 class (on order). I intend to make this missing plate as a cast resin component from a mould, and will add it onto this model when all is ready. 

The only thing I am waiting for, as mentioned at the start of this blog entry, are the works plates which should arrive from Fox Transfers this week. They will be mounted onto the smokebox, as the North British Locomotive Works did with the Thompson L1s when built. It'll round off what is a model which I wanted to be "unique", and it will certainly be that when finished.

After finishing L1 no.67751 off, I turned my attention to B1 no.61203. This model started out in life as the standard Hornby release, 61138 for which I was stuck as to what form it should appear in for some time. Happily a friend came to my rescue with a few photographs of B1 no.61203 appearing both at King's Cross in 1949, and further afield, so no.61203 was duly written into the stocklist, and the model's number and branding changed in much the same way as that described for the L1 above.

One thing I had to change on no.61203 was the smokebox door: I required the same step as that on the L1. I created a small, destructible mould using plasticine, pushed carefully onto the smokebox step on another model, and then cast a resin copy, which was duly fitted and glued using super glue. It was carefully painted using Abaddon Black from the Gamesworkshop range, which I am warming to after discovering it works rather well as a wash.

I had a photograph of no.61203 which showed an absolutely filthy machine, complete with limescale cascading from the washout plugs and smokebox, or a vaguely clean locomotive, looking much happier.

Both showed the locomotive in this form, with "British Railways" on the tender. In the end, I went for the "mostly clean but has worked" look and I'm very happy with that!

The technique for weathering the B1 was identical, but for a touch of Gamesworkshops purity seal being applied gently to the smokebox.

So, I've now renumbered, rebranded and weathered all three of Hornby's excellent Thompson locomotive designs. Only one more Thompson O1, two Thompson B1s and three Thompson L1s to go! 

They will be the subject of another blog, as amongst the B1s there's a wonderfully unique livery variant (for which I take absolutely no credit, a chap on the LNER form discovered it), and amongst the L1s I'm doing two more and different 1948/1949 liveried variants.

Until then, onto the working week.

"Stocklist musings"

Or perhaps it should be better titled "why there's a Duchess in the midst".

I like Stanier's Duchess, or Princess Coronation class. I really do. It's always struck me as a magnificent locomotive class.

I don't, however, buy that the often repeated mantra that it was the highest echelon of British locomotive engineering. I also don't buy that it was the most powerful, or the best, express passenger steam locomotive that British Railways inherited.

The statistics for economy and reliability show without a shadow of a doubt, that Peppercorn's A1 Pacific was the best by a long way, and I say this based on years of study of the different time keepers, writers and engineers who have put pen to paper and given us the most balanced views.

Duchess of Hamilton, now streamlined, remains an 

exquisite exhibit in the National Railway Museum.

D.W. Winkworth, who remains one of the most balanced writers on the Bulleid Pacifics', was fair in his assessment of the relative worth of Britain's express passenger locomotives, giving good accounts of all the express locomotives on offer in his book, Bulleid's Pacifics.

Cecil J. Allen, who I consider to have a definite Eastern Region bias, is surprisingly circumspect and fair in his views when assessing the worth of the Duchesses, in his book British Pacific Locomotives. If only he was so circumspect and balanced when writing about Thompson's, but that's another story!

The point I am trying to make (and perhaps failing to do so) is that there is a lot written in the railway world on the magnificence of these specific locomotives. There is no doubt in my mind that they are magnificent. They are, however, like all steam locomotives, not perfect, and it was in their continued development, all the way up to a few roller bearing members of the class, that fascinates me so.

To claim that any locomotive is "perfect" is a big ask, and I do feel that the best Pacific locomotives on British Railways were the Peppercorn A1s. If you were going to ask "for all time" then I would say the Duchesses have a decent shout against the excellence of Gresley's A4 Pacifics.

It's on that basis that I find myself drawing up plans for a Duchess in my planned stocklist for Ganwick Curve. Given I am modelling a section of the East Coast Mainline, with a view to portraying trains running between 1948 and 1950, I have a reasonably good excuse for buying a Duchess.

That being, the 1948 Exchange Trials, chronicled in The Locomotive Exchanges by Cecil J. Allen. It's a terrific book, with some excellent descriptions of the runs, and the locomotives which took part, as well as some choice photographs.

I decided very early on that I wanted one of each of the Big Four's contenders to be present on the layout. This meant modelling A4 Pacifics Seagull, Mallard (previously done) for the Eastern region, Great Western "King" King Henry VI for the Western Region, Stanier Duchess City of Bradford and Stanier Royal Scot The Queen's Westminster Riflemen for the Midland Region, and finally the Bulleid Pacific, of the Merchant Navy class Belgian Marine for the Southern region, all locomotives which worked out of King's Cross, and into Leeds Central during the exchange.

So as you can see, I've started with City of Bradford. I do have a confession to make though...I only have the tender thus far! This was a cheap second hand purchase on eBay, which has made my life a little easier. When I do manage to get the correct combination of LMS black liveried Duchess, I'll be able to swap the tenders pretty easily. At which point, the LMS one will become spare. Make me an offer if you want it!

I'll cover the full build in more detail at a later date.

For now, I'll return to my reading, and thinking of the day when Ganwick Curve has track running round it, with a black, lined red and straw yellow Duchess stomping round as a garter blue A4 Pacific hurtles past. It'll be a colourful and fun sight, I am sure!

Until next time!

"THIS IS TUGS"

I thought I'd share a few of my photographs of the TUGS handover. It was a terrific day, sadly missing a few members of the planned Trust, but we more than made up for their absence later at the pub in the evening!

Ten Cents was one of the first TUGS I laid eyes on, and I was genuinely happy to see him. That warm, fuzzy glow of nostalgia truly is alive in the TUGS models, which have struck that chord and then some with the many people commenting favourably on their salvage.

I thought this might be a decent shot. As you can see, the whistle has a face! A detail which completely passed me by for many years until I joined the Sodor Island Forums in 2008. Amazing model making, and a superb bit of good humour too!

Sunshine doesn't look very happy! It turns out that the vast majority of the names are actually self adhesive stickers or transfers. They are extremely delicate, as it happens.

"Devious man...Devious".

"But I GOT to have garbage..."

"Beat it Zorran!"

"WARRIOR!"

Who is the mysterious tugboat?

Is it Bluenose?

Is it Sea Rogue?

Who knows...

A right Burke!

Boomer or Uncle? Both as it turns out!

Zip a dee doo dah!

"You're clear Vienna, god speed!"

"Yes, Mr Cuba sir...oh no..."

He has a moustache! How did I miss this for all these years?!

Our "Thomas" connection - OJ the paddle steamer, also capable of being turned into Lakesider III!

It was Sea Rogue after all!

The detail on Zug's cabin is amazing - just look at that patch!

Members of the Trust at the handover.

Allen and Sir Ralph also get in on the proceedings later. It's the least we could do for them: for without the efforts of The British Railway Stories Ltd, helping the overall bid from The Sodor Island Forums, none of this would have been possible.

It also highlights just how big some of the models actually are...!

Until next time, goodnight!

"Saved for the Nation: The TUGS are coming home!"

THIS IS TUGS!

Last November, we were contacted and asked if we’d be interested in taking over the custodianship of the original surviving TUGS models. The owner had taken good care of the 18 remaining vessels since acquiring them, and expressed a great desire that they be kept together and remain in the UK where TUGS was filmed.

Serious discussion amongst the staff and VIPs of the Sodor Island Forums resulted the creation of The Star Tugs Trust, a group of Brits (but including a few from the U.S.A. and Canada), committed to the preservation of these models, and who share the owner’s wishes. An acceptable offer was made and agreed to by both parties, with the TUGS fleet secured in whole by the Trust.

The TUGS fleet has arrived safely home to port, and today, the 26th January 2013, the TUGS were officially handed over to the main representatives of the trust.

We’d like to openly express our gratitude to the owner for naming us as the preferred bidders for the collection, and thank him for his support and kindness. We'd also like to thank our friends here and from other forums, for their support and patience in the negotiation stages.

As 19 large boxes of TUGS models and equipment takes up a lot of room, we have  found an interim solution by entrusting the TUGS between six named custodians, until we are able to provide a long term plan for a permanent, single location for the TUGS to be displayed for all their fans to enjoy.

A short term goal that we have, is to take detailed photographs of each and every boat from all angles and to share these with you, the fans. 

Future plans also include restoring the models to their former glory, the details of which will be worked out by Trust members after full surveys and discussions as to the best way to proceed.

At the same time, we'll be happy to recognize any financial contributions that will help bring us closer to that goal, and we are open to welcoming additional serious investors to be part of The Star Tugs Trust.

We’re also investigating the possibility of 3D scanning the models to better understand how they were constructed, in the hopes of using this information to build replicas of the missing TUGS for which only the faces remain. Notably absent from the fleet is Top Hat, for example.

In closing, we will always remain indebted to Mr. Thurston for looking after the TUGS models, and for entrusting them to us.

Simon A.C. Martin, Ryan Hagan & The Star Tugs Trust

"Baseboard Construction - thinking out loud..."

One of the things I've been thinking over for a good long time is the baseboard conundrum. I have experimented with a short baseboard made out of carbon fibre, with a ply centre to allow for scenic work and track to be fitted.

The biggest obstacle I found with carbon fibre was its cost. It was certainly lighter than wood and also stronger (in a compressive sense, not a tensile one), but was around three times the price dependent on its thickness (where it could even be as ten times the price).

It was, in my view, worth having a go and finding out what it was capable of. As a framework in which to hold, say, plywood or foam board bases, it was superior to wood most certainly in terms of weight saving. It was however, more difficult to work with. Drilling into carbon fibre not recommended except in well ventilated areas whilst wearing a mask, for example. It doesn't react well to glues, and nailing in any form is liable to damage the fibre structure which holds the material together.

So whilst mulling over my Ganwick Curve project, it occurred to me that I could have a go at building a smaller layout with further experimentation of materials for the baseboards. It's Styrofoam which is the subject of my next experiment. I have noted that many modellers use ply to veneer the styrofoam, with a timber or plywood casing. This saves a lot of weight in terms of the construction materials used, but I think we could go further than that by thinking outside the box more, and using some off the shelf plastic products.

While I was at school, a friend built a small display circuit for his collection of remote control cars. This circuit, though small in size and pretty simple in shape (a large rectangle of around 6ft by 2ft), used Styrofoam, veneered in plastic sheet, which was cut to size and glued to the sides of the Styrofoam, and also arranged underneath as a trestle of sorts for strength. The whole 6ft by 2ft circuit could be picked up and carried around almost with one hand, it was so light.

My thought is that this technique could be very easily adapted to a model railway, if also included in the overall construction was an easy means of clipping the separate baseboards together, along with simple plumbing for wiring between boards.

The savings in weight would be drastic, and make such a model railway easier to set up, and then store away. In addition, by careful choice of materials when creating buildings for said model railway, further weight savings can be gained.

There's a very useful thread here which I have pondered on for a few days now. The various techniques and ideas shown there prove there's no one set way to doing this. Several of the posters have thought outside the box, which I like in particular.

I'm away for a prolonged period from next Tuesday, but will have some very, very exciting news up on this blog on the 26th January. It's not related to the BRWS, for a change, and I am certain it will make a lot of people very happy. It has been a long time in the making, that much is certain!

Until next time.

"The Weathering Bench: Grubby Pacifics!"

King's Cross' lone Thompson A2/1, no.60508 Duke of Rothesay sits on shed with two of members of the class A1, pioneer no.60114 W.P. Allen, and no.60119. The latter is in an extremely grubby state, having recently been deployed to Haymarket to cover for a shopped Gresley Pacific.

I am really enjoying this weathering lark. I can consider 60508 officially "finished" with its weathering in place.

Unlike no.60119, where the aim of the game was to get it looking as utterly grubby as possible (more or less copying its form from Yeadon's Register!), I wanted 60508 to look as it did in a photograph found in an old Locomotives Illustrated. Grubby, but still mostly green and very much not decrepit!

Metalcote paint was wafted onto the locomotive with an airbrush after an initial covering with Johnson's Klear. This was removed with thinners until I had a look I was satisfied with, and T-Cut was used to bring out the shine.

 

The cab and tender were, however, left a little more grubby than the boiler. The photograph in Locomotives Illustrated shows an engine which has been slightly cleaned at the front end, but not very much at all the rear, remaining dusty but with a hint of green paint and lining out peering through.

Overall, I'm feeling happier about my modelling. It's not perfect, it's not going to win awards, but I'm happy.

And that's all that counts.

Until next time, when I hope to have fitted a few name boards...

"The Wolf nears completion"

This has been a long time coming: the home straight for my sole Thompson A2/2 Pacific, Wolf of Badenoch. It's been pushed from pillar to post, been overtaken by a good many other projects (in the same way The Morpeth has - but more on that locomotive later this month!) but now, with the application of transfers, we're finally approaching the finish line.

I actually started building Wolf of Badenoch in 2011, albeit originally intended to be no.60503, Lord President. However, when I started the P2 project in mid 2012, a quick change of identity ensured the best possible outcome for the two projects.

Sitting a little smugly alongside the Wolf is no.60508, Duke of Rothsey, which was built in a period of just two weeks last November, and overtook 60506 in quite a spectacular fashion. To put this into perspective, 60506 has taken nearly two years to build, using many of the same parts as 60508...!

There's still quite a lot to do, but most of the boiler bands are done on both sides, and one set each side of washout plugs has been painted. There's still the lowest washout plug to line out on firebox and cabside (the one on the firebox hasn't been fitted yet, which is why it's missing!), along with a lot more black and white lining.

I see now why many LNER modellers go for the BR Dark Green era - it's a lot easier on the eyes to line out these Pacific locomotives!

The tender has had the main bulk of the lining on both sides, and on the rear, applied, with the white/black lining out of the edging of the green to be completed still. The front bufferbeam needs lining out, and then the coupling and buffers to be glued in. These three items have remained loose for a year, and it's a wonder they haven't been lost yet (touch wood!)

For the record (as one reader has asked nicely) the transfers being used for this conversion, and for any conversion which needs LNER lining out in this vein, are transfers taken from the standard HMRS LNER locomotive sheet. The nameplates and numberplate come from Fox Transfers.

So overall, we're pretty much halfway to completion in terms of transfers, very near the finishing straight for the locomotive overhaul. Next time I hope to have applied all of the transfers, sealed it all with Johnson's Klear, added the glazing for 60506's cab, and got to weathering 60506 along with 60508 and 60500 too.

Once done, my Thompson 6ft 2in Pacific line up will finally be complete, and ready for action on the future Ganwick Curve layout.

Until next time, thanks for reading.