MODEL RAILWAYS. On-Line. No: 2 May Free Magazine. In this edition Stafford Four Track West Coast Main Line Prototype layouts - Westerham

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1 MODEL RAILWAYS On-Line No: 2 May 2004 Free Magazine In this edition Stafford Four Track West Coast Main Line Prototype layouts - Westerham Download from:

2 2 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Software for Every Modeller CMS Stock Collection Management Software Could you give an insurance company an inventory of your collection and it's value? Do you know what work needs be done to your models to complete or repair them? Do you know how many sets of scale wheels you need to buy? Do you know how many replacement couplings you need to buy? Do you know how many models you own which are appropriate to any given date or company? If you have a collection and the answer to any of these questions is 'No', then you need the CMS Stock software. CMS Stock is the ideal solution for effective management of your model railway/railroad collection. CMS Stock at a Glance Quick and easy management of your entire model collection Safely documents an accurate and up-to-date record of a complete model collection Essential for insurance assessments and valuations Records a large number of data items about each model including model details, its prototype, digital pictures, free form notes and even a value Create your own model categories Built-in reporting with optional selection criteria Ideal solution for managing information about a model collection in a cost-effective manner 'Knowledge Base' to which you can add information Now Only $79.00 Lets you plan a maintenance schedule of work to be done on each model for that upcoming exhibition! Regular updates and automatically upgradeable from the GPP Software web site Multi-national - multiple currency and exchange rate support ideal for purchases made from different countries Highly customiseable: update every list in the system yourself or download the latest lists from the GPP Software website. All lists are multi-national Extensive model supplier database included Build your own magazine index of useful articles Uses industry standard database engine Stores more information than other products! Free support available CMS Stock costs AU$79.00 plus AU$5.00 postage. For more information, please contact GPP Software. A free, fully functional, 30 day evaluation version of CMS Stock can be found at GPP Software, 9 Philippa Court, Kellyville, NSW, 2155, AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 (0) , Mob: , Fax: +61 (0)

3 MAY MODEL RAILWAYS On-Line No: 2 May 2004 CONTENTS Stafford 4 A Large 00 Gauge Layout Constructed by Harry Howell Westerham - A Prototype Layout 9 By Paul Plowman Ashprington Road - Part 2 12 By Graham Plowman Editorial I would like to thank all those who sent their best wishes for the new magazine. I would also like to thank everyone who offered suggestions for improvements to the magazine and website. Especially I would like to thank those who have submitted articles for inclusion in future editions. They are most appreciated. Thank you. With the experience gained from the first issue we have made some changes to the magazine. The fonts are now embedded in the PDF files. We have found that this overcomes the problems, which some readers experienced when viewing and printing the magazine with Adobe Acrobat Reader 6. However, this causes the file size to increase by 20%. Mindful of the long download time experienced by readers using dial-up modems I have divided the magazine into three files. In addition I have provided a version with enhanced quality pictures which broadband users might find preferable. Building a Britannia 16 Class 7P By Graham Plowman Hints n Tips 18 By Graham Plowman Review of the Bachmann 20 Class 45xx Praire Tank By Graham Plowman Puzzle Picture 22 Letters to the Editor 22 Model Railways On-Line is published by Paul Plowman 11 Porters Road, Kenthurst, New South Wales 2156, AUSTRALIA Readers may copy and distribute this publication without limitation. The copyright of articles and photographs remains with the Editor and contributors to the magazine. Several readers asked if we could arrange for them to be advised when the next edition of the magazine is published. In response to this request we have provided an option for readers to register their address on our website. We will then send an to announce the publication of each edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine with information about the articles, which have been included. We undertake not to use addresses for any other purpose. In this edition we feature a large 00 gauge layout of Stafford built by Harry Howell. The layout is based on the West Coast Main Line in the transition period of the early 1960 s. Harry is the Chairman of the British Railway Modellers of Australia, an organization, which brings together followers of British practice from all over Australia and New Zealand. The Prototype Layout is Westerham, a sleepy S.E.&.C.R. branch line terminus close to London. A scale plan of Westerham has been included on page 11. By way of an alternative I have provided an option for the plan to be downloaded as an A3 size sheet. At this size the fine detail of my drawing is more clearly visible. Next Graham Plowman completes the description of his layout based on the South Devon Main Line. The selection of photographs in this edition shows the layout in its 1984 guise, a time when the resignalling of the South Devon Line was under way. For the moment Ashprington Road retains its mechanical interlocking and semaphore signals. We have introduced two new items, which will become regular features, a Hint n Tips article and a Puzzle Picture. This first puzzle picture was sent in by David Elliott of Victoria, British Columbia. Thanks David it s a good puzzle. Cover: Princess Coronation Class No.6220 Coronation speeds along the West Coast Main Line on Harry Howell s magnificent Stafford layout. The locomotive is the Hornby model and the coaches have been built from Comet kits and overlays on Hornby coaches. Photo: Paul Plowman We have many ideas for interesting articles and hope to be able to feature at least one high quality layout in each edition of the magazine. I would be pleased to receive articles and photographs on any subject, period, scale or gauge of interest to modellers of the British scene. If anyone would like to have their layout featured in Model Railways On-Line but does not feel confident in writing an article then I can assist with preparing the text. The next edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine will be published on 1st August Paul Plowman

4 4 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE STAFFORD A large 00 gauge layout based on the West Coast Main Line This magnificent layout resides in Sydney, New South Wales and is the result of many hours of meticulous work by it s owner, Harry Howell. It is housed in a purpose built building and the visible area measures 33 feet by 12 feet. The building is divided into two rooms, the main layout room and a smaller one, which is used as an office and for storage. The rooms are on different levels. One enters on the lower level and stairs give access to the layout room. The difference in level is sufficient to be able to pass comfortably under the tracks without the need for a lift out section. Nine storage tracks are positioned high up in an adjacent office. At the opposite end of the layout eight storage sidings extend outside of the building into a weatherproof area in which trains are observed by closed circuit television. Harry has undertaken extensive research with the aid of many books, magazines and site visits to recreate the buildings and settings of Stafford in the early 1960 s. Some compression has inevitably been necessary and trains normally have a maximum length of eight coaches. The layout includes the junction to the former Great Northern line to Uttoxeter and the junction for the cross-country line to Wellington and Shrewsbury. Norton Bridge Station has been included and there is an impressive representation of the four-track main line northwards. The line to Shrewsbury curves around the room to Hoyle Station. Insufficient information was available to construct an attractive country station and Hoyle is purely fictional. The name of the station is in memory of an old modelling friend and is based loosely on Yate and Charfield on the Midland line between Gloucester and Bristol. Above: Princess Coronation Class No City of London passes through Stafford with the up Caledonian. Left: A busy scene at Stafford with modern station buildings in the background.

5 MAY Above: Stafford Locomotive Depot, which includes a scratch built coaling tower. The Merseyside Express is standing in the Down Platform. Above: Princess Royal Class No Duchess of Kent stands alongside the coaling tower. The turnout on which the locomotive is standing appears to have been renewed recently with bright red rust on the rails.

6 8 STORAGE LOOPS UNDER WEATHER PROOF COVERS 6 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Above: English Electric Type 3 No. D6827 speeds south on the Up Main Line with a parcels train. Period The period of the layout is set in the early 1960 s during the transition period from steam and diesel to full electrification of the West Coast Main Line. Motive power to be seen on the layout includes red Duchesses and green English Electric Type 4 diesels. Also to be seen are some of the prototype diesels of the period including Kestral, DP2 and the prototype Deltic. Overhead line gantries and cantilevers have been erected along the main line but the catenary and conductor wires have not yet been installed. However, a little modeller s license is allowed with new electric stock already appearing. Similarly, the Hornby blue Coronation was irresistible. A fulllength train of nine coaches has been built using Comet kits and overlays on Hornby coaches. Trackwork Initially the layout was constructed using Peco Code 100 track in the hidden sidings and SMP Code 70 in the visible area. Ron Reilly and Peter Swanson assisted Harry with the construction of 45 hand built points. Jackson wheels were fitted to all of the rolling stock and the back-to-back wheel spacing was adjusted on some 50 locomotives. Within a year, wheel cleaning became a major task. It was found that the flanges of Lima and Hornby driving wheels were touching the sleepers, causing imperceptible arcing from momentary loss of contact between the wheel tread and the head of the rail. The task of re-wheeling all of the locomotives was formidable. Trains were running much better on the Peco code 100 track in the hidden sidings and loops. Eventually the decision was made to relay all of the track in the visible area with code 100. It took a frantic three months to complete the task. The result is a reliable layout with trains running smoothly. I would like to thank Harry Howell for his kind assistance with the preparation of this article and for allowing me the opportunity to photograph his magnificent layout. The next Sydney area meeting of the British Railway Modellers of Australia will be held on Saturday 15th May at Harry Howell s home where members will be able to see Stafford in operation. Prospective new members are welcome and should contact either the Membership Secretary through the BRMA website at or Graham Plowman who is the Sydney Area Organiser. Graham may be contacted via the Editor on the Model Railways On-Line website. Plan: Alex Mathieson Scale: Each square represents 1 foot

7 MAY Above: Prototype 4000HP Brush/Hawker Siddeley diesel locomotive Kestrel heads south with a train of container wagons. Above: A Sulzer Type 2 passes through Hoyle Station with a short freight train for Shrewsbury.

8 8 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Patriot Class No Lady Godiva departs from Hoyle Station with a stopping train to Stafford. On the main line Princess Coronation Class no City of Chester heads north with the Pines Express. A delightful scene on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Fortunately these scenes of a by-gone age have survived and it is still possible to navigate the canals of England. To give added depth, a mirror has been placed under the roving bridge.

9 MAY Westerham First in a series of prototype layouts by Paul Plowman History The branch line between Dunton Green on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway main line and the market town of Westerham opened in The line was single track throughout and just under five miles in length. There was an intermediate station at Brasted, which had a small goods yard and a halt at Chevening. There were no passing places on the line. It was intended to extend the line to Oxted but in the event the proposed level crossing across London Road was never built. Memories of the line My first acquaintance with the line was about 1954 on a cub scout outing. The pack travelled from Grove Park to Dunton Green by electric train. We crossed over to the branch platform where an H Class 0-4-4T was waiting with a two-coach, former L.B.&.S.C.R. push-pull set. The set was painted in crimson and I can remember a second set being stabled in the run round loop in freshly painted green. The train ran with the loco leading along the branch. From Westerham Station we had to walk all the way up to Hosey Common where our campsite for the day was located. Then in the evening we had to walk all the way back again. As we arrived at Westerham Station the train was waiting but this time the loco was at the Dunton Green end of the train. Again it was a former L.B.&.S.C.R. push-pull set in crimson and I can remember it being quite tatty. While we were waiting for the connection at Dunton Green the Arrow came racing through on its way to Victoria. Regrettably that was the only trip I had along the branch. In the late 1950 s we used to go fishing at Tonbridge. The main line was only electrified as far as Sevenoaks where one had to change to steam. After the morning service the Westerham Branch train worked empty stock to Sevenoaks and then formed a stopping service to Tonbridge. Oh, the joy of travelling through Sevenoaks Tunnel with dim lights and smoke swirling in through the windows! Those were the days! On one occasion the journey home was behind a Q Above: Westerham Station viewed from the buffer stops. The date is believed to be about The engine shed is just visible in the far distance. Photo: Source unknown The layout looking westwards on 1st September In the foreground can be seen the remains of the engine shed. The inspection pit had been filled in but was later dug out by volunteers. Photo: Paul Plowman

10 10 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Association was formed to fight the closure and leased the station during 1962 and 1963 but it was all doomed to failure. Unfortunately the Association comprised two factions. The local group who had formed the Association were primarily regular passengers interested in persuading BR to restore the service. Then there was a large wider membership of enthusiasts who saw it as a chance to create another Bluebell Railway (The Churchill Line). By the time the steam enthusiasts and preservationists gained control of the Association it was too late. Kent County Council wasted no time filling in the cutting at Chevening for the Sevenoaks By-Pass. The section of line between Chevening and Brasted is now under the M25 Motorway. The membership had raised sufficient money to purchase an H Class tank engine and this loco can now be seen on the Bluebell Railway. Two members purchased coaches for use on the line and these can now be seen at several locations around the country. Westerham Station viewed from the roof of the water tower on 1st September The white building on the right of the picture is the Crown Hotel. Photo: Paul Plowman The Layout Westerham was a simple terminus with a single platform 290 feet in length, just long enough for five coaches. The run-round was about 480 feet, long enough to clear eight coaches. However, if the loco was to shunt into the yard it was possible to run round an 800 foot train. The station had all the usual features we find in a small terminus; a small goods shed, an end loading dock, a yard crane, a signal box, a water tower, and an engine shed. A model could be built in 4mm scale on two feet wide baseboards. My grandparents retired to Polegate near Eastbourne and once a month during the late 1950 s my brother and I had to endure a trip by car from South London. The route took us via Westerham and over the Ashdown Forest. Occasionally we saw a train as we passed Hartfield Station on the Tunbridge Wells West to East Grinstead line. On the return journey we would stop at Westerham to use the facilities provided by the Crown Hotel. The Hotel is just across the road from the station. I can remember seeing the train waiting there on dark nights and being able to look right through the booking hall to see the dimly lit carriages. Looking at the plan accompanying this article, the doors of the booking hall are not in line with each other but when viewed from the toilets outside the Crown Hotel there is a sight line right through the building! Closure The line eventually closed on 30th October At the time there were 200 passengers a day using the line. The Westerham Railway Westerham Signal Box on 10th November The Association had repainted the structure and replaced the broken windows. Photo: Paul Plowman If space was available for three feet wide boards this would provide room to model the coal merchants area and a low relief frontage to the Crown Hotel. The overall length from the home signal to the buffer stops would be 16ft 6in without compression. The three turnouts in the passenger carrying line were all C9 s with straight switch planing and the turnout by the loco shed was a B8. The crossover in the yard appears to have been made up from a B7½ to a B6. By using Peco large radius points, which approximate to an A6½ turnout the length of the model could be compressed. by about 18 inches. By shortening the platform to four coaches, reducing the shunt neck and moving the home signal closer a further two feet could be saved, bringing the over all length of the model down to 13 feet. At the time of closure the track on the branch was still exclusively bullhead. The station building on 16th November 1963 seen partly repainted by the Association. It was finally demolished in Photo: Paul Plowman References The Westerham Valley Railway by D Gould. Published by Oakwood Press, ISBN Branch Line Video Classic Southern Region Volume 1 Westerham, Hawkhurst & Allhallows on Sea.

11 MAY This page will be used for the plan of Westerham

12 12 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE ASHPRINGTON ROAD Part 2 A 00 layout based on the Western Region Main Line between Exeter and Plymouth By Graham Plowman Time has been passing and it is now 1984 on the South Devon Railway A paper template of the layout The next step was to build a paper model of the layout. For this I used sheets of newspaper held together with sticky tape and cut them to the shapes of the boards. These were laid out on the floor of the railway room to give a full-size representation of the layout. This is also a good technique for refining the board shapes. I had worked out the board shapes mathematically, but it wasn't until I created the newspaper templates that I found that one of my calculations was incorrect and needed revising. This could have been a costly error if I had been constructing with timber! With the newspaper templates on the floor, I laid track loosely on them to get an idea of how the layout would appear. Fortunately, the track fitted on the boards without any problems. The paper templates were also used to determine the position of Above: An HST bound for Penzance passes Class 50 No Eagle with a train for Bristol. The Exeter Area Resignalling Scheme is under way and the semaphore signals at Ashprington Road will soon be replaced by colour lights. board bracing to avoid conflict with point motors. Building the baseboards The baseboards were built using 12mm plywood because this material stands up to changes in temperature and humidity much better than the traditional chipboard and 2-by-1 method. I had also obtained a large amount of Dexion (the giant Meccano used for shelving racks) to form the bracing beneath the boards. With 12 boards to build, construction took a couple of months. The boards are held together with bolts and each joint is supported by a pair of legs. When all of the boards were completed and erected, they needed to be levelled. I used a builder s spirit level and found that I needed to make a number of adjustments to ensure that all of the boards and particularly the joints, were level. After levelling, the track layout was drawn out on the surface of the boards. Large curves were marked out using a measuring tape. I positioned my folding workbench in the middle of the layout and held a piece of timber in a vice with a nail in the top. A tape measure was hooked on to the nail and the arc marked out on the boards. This was done for curves at both ends of the layout but proved more difficult on the London end because the board level is 20icm lower for the viaduct. Years ago, my father was lucky enough to obtain some railway drawing curves, which were being disposed of by a drawing office. These have been invaluable.

13 MAY Viaduct Construction I have always felt that having model trains going over a bridge or viaduct adds an extra dimension to the appearance of a layout. Before commencing construction, I undertook some research examining pictures of viaducts in Devon and Cornwall. The purpose of this was to identify the little details and techniques used in building the prototype that are so often missed in models: There is rarely much distance between the top of the arches and the underside of the track. From the underside of the sleepers to the top of the brickwork can be as little as six inches of ballast! The locating holes used to position the timber formwork used during construction are often missed. The stonework style often changes between the pillars and the viaduct arches. Many viaducts have refuges for track staff to stand in safety when a train passes. Some viaducts have fencing instead of parapet walls. Those with fencing have low parapet walls usually only just high enough to retain the track ballast from falling off. Most viaducts (in the UK) have some form of guardrail device to restrain a derailed train (see my article on Guard Rails in the first edition. Ed.). I chose to base my model on Clinnick Viaduct, which is a six-arch structure on the 6imile bank between Doublebois and Bodmin Road in Cornwall. The structure is straight, so some modeller s license has been applied by building the model to suit a curve on my layout. Clinnick Viaduct is a very good example of the standard design of viaduct used in the Devon and Cornwall area, representing a tidy, yet interesting structure. Building the model turned out to be a mammoth task. The basic structure was constructed using plywood, nailed and glued together. It is a complete self-contained unit, which can be removed from the layout. It has a novelty feature in that because there would be a point motor located between two of the arches, there is a cable pull string that can be used to pull cables up and down the inside of the pillar. The structure was covered with Polyfiller. This was left for two days to dry before starting the carving of the stonework. I used a modelling drill with a mini countersink and this worked very well. However, the carving process took an inordinate amount of time to complete to the point where I almost lost interest! The moral here is to build a smaller viaduct! Capping stones were made of balsa wood. These were attached first and then rubbed down to shape. Side fencing, made by Faller has been purchased but not yet fitted. Preparing the trackbed I decided from the outset that all of the main running tracks would be canted (tilted) on curves. To achieve this requires a A London bound HST emerges from the tunnel to the west of Ashprington Road different approach to construction from the conventional method of laying track directly onto the board surface. I used a layer of 6imm plywood to form a sub-base for the trackbed. At the outer edge of the sub-base, on curves, a 1icm wide strip of 3imm thick hardboard was tucked under the edge to provide a tilt. The assembly was held in place by screwing to the main baseboard. Where curves pass through a transition into a straight, the construction becomes more complicated requiring the hardboard to be progressively increased, or reduced in thickness. Suffice to say that prototype geometry has been adopted. This was achieved by using professional railway alignment design computer systems and plotting the plans to 1:76.2 scale for laying directly onto my baseboards. Because we have to make significant compromises for the radius of curves on our model layouts, all of the transitions on my layout correspond to the minimum length permissible on the prototype. This scales to about 26cm long, or about the length of a coach. The 3mm packing under the trackbed described above, creates an angle of super elevation, which is equivalent to 2 inches of cant on the prototype. I have chosen to have both tracks canted in the same plane as this significantly simplifies construction, and enables crossovers to be located on curves. There are several other possible configurations for canting pairs of tracks. The emerging standard appears to be for the two inside (sixfoot rails) to be at the same level and for the outer (cess) rail of the outer track to be raised through transitions while the inside (cess) rail of the inner track is lowered through transitions. A set of points and a pair of working ground signals are positioned on the viaduct. The cables to the point motor and the pull rods for the signals pass down through the pier of the viaduct

14 14 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE HST s pass at Ashprington Road Station The electrical system Once a trackbed has been prepared, there is a great temptation to start laying track. However, this can lead to all sorts of problems such as the track having to be pulled up to fit insulating joints or the use of rotary saws to cut rails to create isolating gaps. It becomes necessary for wires to be soldered to the sides of rails, resulting in unsightly solder globules and melted plastic sleepers, which destroy any possibility of realism. Planning beforehand prevents all of these problems. I designed the electrics in the form of a feed diagram. This included all isolating sections, overrun dead-sections, signal run-past sections and switching between controllers. Using this diagram, I would cut the rails appropriately and fit isolating fishplates where required. Although supplied as live frog turnouts which can be connected up and used as is, the Peco codei75 turnouts are designed so that they can be re-wired to meet the modellers requirements. Essentially, the switch rails can be connected electrically to the stock rails and isolated from the crossing vee. This enables the vee to be fed separately and not to rely on the contact of the switch rails. To prevent any possibility of shorting on the backs of the switches caused by out of gauge wheels, I have rewired all of the turnouts to provide separately switched feeds to the crossing vees. Point motors are mostly Peco and use the Peco switches. In certain situations, Seep motors were later used as these proved to have much more reliable switches. Signals are GW lower quadrant semaphore, using mechanical relays. Since the layout is also required to represent the BR blue period, the use of semaphore signals dates it to 1984 at the latest. After this date Exeter Control Centre came into use and all signalling in the area was replaced with colour lights. Track laying Track laying commenced once the electrical diagram had been completed. Track was glued down using either Evo-stik or PVA after the appropriate wires had been soldered to the undersides of the rails. Computer control system As previously mentioned, the layout is computer controlled. The system controls all movements of points and signals but it does not drive the trains. Trains are driven using conventional Gaugemaster WS handheld controllers. I have used the Remote Panel Control hardware system available from the Model Electronics Railway Group (MERG). The core of this system is a control board, which connects via a cable to the RS232 port of a PC computer. A number of other boards connect to the control board to form a stack. There are boards containing 8 relays, 32 logic level outputs, 32 logic level inputs and 8 track circuits. The relays are used to control track section switching between controllers and switching of isolating sections. The logic level outputs are used for controlling the point motor modules and signals. The signals are mechanically powered from relays connected to the logic level outputs. Using this system, there is no need for a control panel on this layout it is a computer screen. Computer software The software used is the Solid State Interlocker (SSI) software from GPP Software.

15 MAY The website address is This is the only software available, which represents British practice. SSI simulates modern IECC computer control systems used in UK signalling centres and looks and operates like the real thing, including graphics and the mouse operation of Entry/Exit route setting. The SSI software supports a fully signalled and interlocked layout and these capabilities have been fully utilised.. Signalling Signals are constructed from Ratio kits suitably modified. They are all fully working including ground signals and are operated from the mechanical action of relays controlled by the computer system. Scenery Once the signalling was completed, a start was made on the construction of the scenery. Wood-fibre insulation board was used for the formers, which was cut to suit the profiles of embankments and cuttings. The gradient of cutting and embankment slopes is 1 in 1½. This is about the maximum value for normal soils. Rock can be steeper and clay is shallower. I made up a 1 in 1½ triangle from card as a template for slopes. The scenery formers were covered with chicken wire. Layers of newspaper soaked in plaster have been laid over this to create a reasonably thick surface with some strength. When dry, this was all painted in a light green, which can be seen in the photographs. This is a base colour for the scenery and will later be covered with scenic materials. Buildings Ashprington Road East Signal Box is a Ratio Highley kit and the west signal box is from Hornby. The Hornby model is of Hagley Signal Box and their GWR footbridge kit is from the same location. I will be installing the footbridge at a later date but temporarily I am using an Airfix/Dapol kit footbridge. Other buildings to be constructed will include a stationmaster s house, which will be made from Linka. A goods shed and the abutments for the bridge over the railway at the western end of the station will be constructed using the same techniques as I have described for the viaduct. The steel plate girders of the bridge are MDF and will be detailed with plastic and metal strips. The tunnel mouths are from Merit. Rolling Stock My collection of rolling stock falls into two distinct periods, late BR steam with early diesels and the blue period of Steam locos are a mixture of Bachmann, Hornby and Mainline with early diesels from Bachmann, Mainline, Lima and Heljan. All have been weathered. The 9F and the Britannia are hand built. The construction of the Britannia is featured on page 16 of this edition of the magazine. Diesel locos in the blue period are Above: Class 50 No Eagle coasts over the viaduct as it approaches the station with a train for Plymouth. Above: A Class 31 A1A-A1A emerges from the West Tunnel and enters the Up Yard with a freight composed mostly of lwb open wagons. from Mainline and Lima. Coaching stock for the steam era is predominantly Bachmann MK1 s with a few Replica and Hornby coaches, while for the later period they are mostly Hornby and Lima. Wagons are a mixture of Bachmann, Replica, Hornby and Dapol. Operation The computer control software provides for timetables and schedules. I am currently in the process of testing a schedule prior to entering it into the software. Summary I would like to thank my wife for all of her support and for her tolerance of my hobby. Thanks also to my father for his professional expertise and assistance in designing the track layout.

16 16 Building a Britannia Class 7P By Graham Plowman Graham describes how he built a model of Morning Star MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Having successfully completed building a BR 9F locomotive, I decided that I wanted to model a Britannia Pacific as my next project. Research I purchased the Ian Allan book BR Standard Pacifics In Colour (ISBN x). This is one of a series of several dozen books published by Ian Allan, all of which contain 100% colour pictures of BR Steam from the 1950 s through to the 1960 s. These are all excellent books and invaluable material for the modeller of the early BR period. The Britannias were the first of the BR Standard designs, being built between 1952 and Their design was the responsibility of Robin Riddles CBE and his team who included Roland Bond and Stewart Cox. Many texts have been written as to the reasoning behind the building of the BR Standards, so I will not cover this here, suffice to say that there was a need for a class 7P express passenger locomotive. The first of the new locomotives was named Britannia by the then Minister of Transport, Alfred Barnes at Marylebone Station on 30th January When Robin Riddles renamed Britannia after its original restoration on the Severn Valley Railway in May 1978, he revealed the reason for the name as coming from the coat of arms of the London and North Western Railway, which had Britannia included within it. He also started his career with the LNWR. He believed that the name would be fitting for both his first locomotive and for his new (and last) employers. Technical details Class 7P Britannia Built: , 55 built Weight: loco 94 tons Wheels: 3 0, 6 2, 3 31/2 Boiler Pressure: 250 lb/sq. in Tender tons Tractive effort: lbf Cylinders: 2 (20 x 28 ) Valve Gear: Walshaert Route Availability: 7 Two of the class, No Britannia and No Oliver Cromwell are preserved. No has been fitted with dual air and vacuum brakes fitted while in preservation. The Britannias were allocated to the various regions as follows: Locos to were allocated to Stratford except (William Shakespeare) and (Iron Duke) which were seconded to the Southern Region for use on the Golden Arrow service. These were named after historical characters. The second batch, to were allocated to the Western Region. These were named after GWR broad gauge engines to went to the Midland Region and were named after poets and writers to were named after writers and historical figures and went to the Great Eastern and were allocated to the Eastern Region but went on loan to the Midland when new, together with the rest of the class up to This batch bore the names of military gentlemen with the exceptions of Anzac, the only Britannia which was never named and The Territorial Army had the only name in the class which ran to two lines on the nameplate to were named after Scottish waterways, these all being allocated to the Scottish Region. Like many new designs, the Britannias suffered a number of teething problems, including breakage of cast iron piston heads. The cause was identified in the dome where the level of steam intake was only 11¾ inches above boiler water level. This necessitated the fitting of a higher dome to prevent excess water overflowing from the boiler being carried down into the cylinders. A number of coupling rod and pin problems occurred in addition to a tender parting from its loco! Perhaps the most well known problem with Britannias was on the Western Region, which led to changing the design of smoke deflectors fitted to most of the class. No Polar Star derailed at Milton between Steventon and Didcot with the loss of 11 lives and 157 injuries. Permanent way relaying had necessitated slow line running but the driver failed to negotiate a crossover at the required 10mph and did so at 50mph, taking the entire train off the rails. The subsequent enquiry blamed a combination of left-hand drive, bad weather, poor visibility, a fireman unused to the road and the handrails on the smoke deflectors as the cause. The enquiry recommended changes to the smoke deflectors. The Western Region over reacted, removing the original handrails and covering the smoke deflectors in hand holes, whereas the Midland Region made a much tidier two-hole modification. Britannias were paired with a number of tenders. The first 24 locos of the class and to had BR1 tenders, to had BR1A tenders and to had BR1D tenders. The first Britannia withdrawn was No Coeur de Lion in June The last was Oliver Cromwell on 12th August Planning the project I model the early 1960 s period on the Western Region and chose to construct a Britannia allocated to that region. This determined the tender paired with the model and also the smoke deflectors. I think the Western Region spoilt the appearance of the Britannia smoke deflectors, so I chose to model the odd one out, No Morning Star, which did not have these modifications. I have a picture of Morning Star taken in September 1967 shortly before withdrawal and it still had the original smoke deflectors most likely because it moved to the Midland Region before it was modified. Other than this, my model would be a standard Britannia with all the normal fittings and nothing out of the ordinary. The following components were used in the construction of the locomotive: Hornby Britannia body. I had an unpainted body from the factory without fittings. Crownline detailing, smoke deflectors, handrails, sprung buffers, all fittings, pipework. Etc. Comet Brass chassis kit. Gibsons RP25 wheels. Portescap motor. Airfix kit 9F tender, to be extensively modified. Romford Screw link couplings. CGW nameplate and smoke box numberplate for No.70021, Morning Star. DJH Britannia trailing pony truck. Comet recommend the Hornby version, but it lacks so much detail when compared with the DJH version. Genuine coal for tender. PC Models transfers and lining. The model after fitting the Crownline components

17 MAY Preparation A number of construction issues needed to be resolved before I started building. Electrical pickup would be via Gibson s plunger pickups on all driving wheels. Tender pickup would also be provided using conventional wiper strips. The motor location was chosen in the firebox and it would drive the axle of the rear driving wheels. Attachment of the body to the frames would use the slot in the Hornby back head and the screw hole under the smoke box. Chassis frame spacers would be suitably positioned, taking into account the location of the plunger pickups. Construction Work commenced on the locomotive chassis. The Comet chassis needs to be soldered together and when complete, it provides a nice firm frame. I find the Comet chassis to be very accurately made and they fit together squarely very easily well done Comet! I decided not to compensate the chassis. I have mixed feelings about compensation. On the one hand I feel that if you need compensation in OO then your track can't be laid very well and it can cause clearance problems with coupling rods behind cross heads. On the other hand, not everyone builds 100% level track so my model could potentially be prone to derailing. I later found no problem at all. It was important to make sure that all wheels touched the rails and the whole assembly was dead square. Fitting the body to the chassis was quite straightforward as the Comet chassis is purposely made for the Hornby body. I should note at this point that over the years, Hornby have modified the Britannia body since its original Tri-ang days. Earlier versions have a higher buffer beam relative to the boiler-side running plate and I believe they were also a different length. The Comet chassis will only fit the later body style, i.e. the current version, which appears to be accurate in basic dimensions. The only problem I found is that there is no provision on either the Hornby body or the Comet chassis for a tender coupling. The chassis with Portescap motor fitted I therefore improvised with an Airfix kit 9F coupling. The boiler was filled with lead weighting. Bodywork The Hornby body requires relatively little preparation for use when purchased in its unfitted and unpainted form. I used all of the Crownline detailing pack components and fittings, in some places replacing Comet components, as the Crownline components were more detailed. One nice feature is that the Crownline pack comes with some large chunks of metal, which fit behind the firebox sides and under the footplate. Their purpose is to give the firebox some body. This really does bring the character out over the Hornby model. It makes the firebox look as though it is solid right through, giving a chunky impression and making it look very realistic. Previously on my 9F I had chosen not to use the Crownline firebox-top pipe work but on this model I decided that I would use it even though it is slightly over scale. Looking at pictures of Britannias, I noticed that the mass of pipe work all over the firebox is very prominent and it looks extremely untidy. I decided that this image could be achieved with slightly over scale Crownline components and proceeded to use this method with very realistic results. I also used some copper wire in places where Crownline omit components. The chimney and dome were replaced with brass and white metal components respectively. I used many other Crownline parts to detail the body such as handrails, knobs, smoke deflectors, boiler top feeds, smoke box door fittings, steps, buffers and brake pipes, etc.. The pipe work on the side of the firebox is such that it restricts the movement of the pony truck. I fitted the pipe work so that the locomotive would negotiate the tighter 2-6 radius of a Peco large radius curved turnout. To make the loco negotiate anything sharper would have meant omitting the pipe work altogether and resulted in a model lacking in detail! Fortunately I have no curves on my Ashprington Road layout, which are sharper than the 2-6 radius mentioned. Close up of the cab and pipe-work detail Valve Gear This is supplied by Comet as a nickel silver sheet with dozens of parts. I cut out the required parts and soldered most of them together. When using Gibson s wheels, one has to be careful with the heat from a soldering iron near the plastic spokes. Gibson s wheels are designed for their own system of crankpins which I also used. I find these components easy to work with and they look better than Romford equivalents. I can t get on with laminated coupling rods. I find them incredibly difficult to

18 18 solder together. I would prefer solid/ cast nickel silver components instead. Fortunately, only the coupling rods were laminated on this model. The Britannias were built with fluted coupling and connecting rods but in later years, many had their coupling rods replaced with flat nonfluted rods. The Tender This required the most work. The Britannia has a BR1 tender, which is very similar in appearance to the BR1G used by the 9F s, so I chose to use a tender from an Airfix 9F kit. I have since found that Comet make a suitable tender kit in brass and white metal! I prepared all the parts, cut off handrails, replacing them with brass handrails and cut off the plastic ladder on the back. I later soldered up a ladder from copper wire as a replacement. The tender was weighted with two lead sheets along the insides. Gibson s wheels were fitted on Lima axles, running in Peco bearings. I had previously used this combination on my 9F but unfortunately it did not work very well on this model. I could not get the wheels to run true on the axles. I think they probably came from a faulty batch. I obtained replacements, which ran better. They are still not perfect and I am not entirely happy with the tender chassis. It doesn t sit totally square on the rails in certain situations and the wheels still wobble slightly, although not noticeable to the untrained eye. At some point in the future I am planning to replace the tender chassis with the Comet kit, which has inside bearings. The tender was filled with coal, which was fixed using the standard method of watered down PVA with a drop of washing up liquid to break the surface tension. Painting I painted the whole locomotive in BR Standard Loco Green using Railmatch paint. This gives a nice finish. Later I added some Carrs Modelling powders for weathering. I used Woodhead transfers for the numbers and coat of arms on the tender - the Britannias had the same left-facing lion on both sides. Humbrol Matt Black was used extensively. Pipe work and coupling rods were painted using a mixture of Humbrol Scenic Track colour, with Railmatch oily steal and frame dirt. MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Lining was achieved using PC Models press-fix lining. I find this easy to work with and it gives very fine results. After fixing, I immediately varnished the loco and tender body to prevent the transfers coming off. I hand painted the lining on the sides of the footplate. Transfers would not have stuck to this. I am fortunate to have reasonably steady hands, so the lining came out quite well. Hornby also hand paint this part of their models. Weathering Next came the task I enjoy most, weathering. I think the Carrs modelling powders are excellent for this and provide an easy way to achieve a very realistic finish. I would always recommend obtaining colour photographs of the subject before attempting any weathering. If you make a mistake with Carrs powders, a damp sponge easily takes you back to the start. I apply the powders using an old toothbrush and find that I don't need to 'fix' them afterwards. However, an artist s matt spray varnish can be used if required. I decided that my Britannia would only have a light dusting, giving a finish that looks as though the loco has been in service but has been relatively well looked after. For this purpose, I used a combination of a few brown coloured powders in extreme moderation. Colour photos provided excellent examples for matching of colours. The principal effect required was to obtain an ash appearance all around the underside of the firebox and a general ash and brake dust appearance on the chassis. The finished model Hints n Tips: Repairing Heljan Hymek Buffers Running in Having built the locomotive, it needed to be lubricated and run in. Unfortunately, I had a few teething problems with the driving wheel quartering and wheel wobble, which required the wheels and coupling mechanism to be dismantled several times. Once fixed, the Portescap motor manages to power this model very smoothly. I became somewhat disappointed with my Bachmann Mere Hall when it did not match up to the smooth running of the Britannia! by Graham Plowman Unfortunately my Heljan Hymek arrived with a broken buffer. Repair was not a case of simply gluing the broken part back on because it was missing from the box. Firstly a small amount of Super Glue was placed on the broken edge of the buffer. It was then built up with Humbrol Model Filler, which mixed with the Super Glue to obtain a solid attachment. Humbrol Model Filler is a paste with a consistency rather like toothpaste and is very hard when set. It is intended for filling cracks and holes in models. When the filler is set, a file can be used to shape the buffer and after painting, the model looks as good as new.

19 MAY Westerham Station in 1962 shortly after closure viewed from the loading dock. The shed beside the station building is labelled on the plan as a Cycle Shed. However, the author recollects it being used as a lamp room. The building beside the goods shed is shown as a Cement Store but had been disused for a number of years. Photo: Terry Tracey H Class 0-4-4T No.263, which was purchased for use on the Westerham Branch eventually found a home on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. It is seen here in full S.E.&.C.R. livery at Horsted Keynes on 9th May Photo: Paul Plowman

20 20 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Review of the Churchward 45xx from Bachmann By Graham Plowman Bachmann s latest release comes in the form of an ex GWR 45xx Class prairie tank, a very notable omission from the Western market space, especially since the demise of the similar Lima version. Prototype History The 45xx was a development of the earlier Churchward 44xx Class 2-6-2T locomotives. It was almost identical to the 44xx, the only major difference being the larger 4-7½ driving wheels and the drop end curved arrangement of the running plate profile from No onwards. The increased driving wheel size made the 45xx a generally more useful loco because of the possible increase in speed. The 45xx was widely used on branch lines, both for passenger services and for goods trains. Built originally at Stafford Road Works, Wolverhampton between 1906 and 1908, the first batch of 45xx locomotives were numbered and later renumbered The second batch, Nos was constructed at Swindon from Renumbering to took place in Five batches of 45xx were built at Swindon until construction ceased in They were superseded by the 4575 Class three years later. Withdrawals commenced in 1950, primarily due to the age of some of the earlier examples. Fortunately, we can still see the 45xx as Nos. 4555, 4561, 4566 and 4588 have been preserved. The Model On opening the box, the first thing that is noticeable is the amount of detail on the model. Removal from the usual polystyrene tray is straightforward. The only extra part in the box is a small packet containing detailing pipe work for the rear buffer beam. Moulding and painting is very crisp all over and the model has certainly captures the overall image of the prototype very well, including rivets. The cab is fully detailed including back head and driving controls. This is possible because the motor is mounted in the firebox. The buffers are sprung and are of a consistent height above rail level at both ends of the locomotive. Couplings are fitted into NEM pockets, which are attached to the pony trucks. The axles on the pony trucks are completely unrestrained in sideways movement and can actually slide 3mm, although when running they appear to centralise themselves. Coupling tension causes centring although propelling might cause the axles not to be at right angles with the rails. The author suspects that the pony trucks have been designed this way to afford increased sideways movement of the coupling on curves but feels that it is quite unnecessary. Even on moderate curves it is noticeable that the guard irons are not always in line with the wheels and rails. The irons are set at 16.5mm gauge. This movement is far too much and could be remedied by the fitting of washers. The sample under review unfortunately, suffered from a number of quality control problems, which could easily be remedied by most modellers. The model is supplied with brake rigging already attached but on this model it was not fitted correctly and was

21 MAY hanging loose. The lamp irons above the front buffer beam are not straight. Probably the most noticeable problem is the number plates on the coal bunker sides, which are printed (even though the prototypes were castings) and they are not horizontal. They lean downwards towards the back of the locomotive. The careful observer will note that even allowing for perspective, it is possible to see this problem in the photographs published in the Bachmann 2004 catalogue. The slide bars have not been fitted correctly. On one side, they lift up towards the cab and on the other they drop down towards the track. They should be level. The crosshead and vacuum pump casting looks a bit crude. Coupling rods are realistically darkened and the overall finish of the model is very well done. There are no mould joins along the top of the boiler. Instead, they are very fine and cleverly aligned with the handrails along the side of the smoke box so as not to be noticeable. From No to 4554 the class was built with copper capped chimneys and from No onwards they were built with cast iron chimneys without a copper cap. All of the 4575 Class had cast iron chimneys. The model of No correctly portrays a cast iron chimney with no copper capping. A minor point, but the whistles are too far forward from the cab by about 2mm according to scale drawings. This model is NOT designed for the fitting of screw couplings. The body retaining screws are located directly behind the buffer beam, in exactly the location where the shank of a hook would pass through and where the coupling spring would be located. It is concerning that the author recently reviewed a new model from another manufacturer, which was also designed not to permit the fitting of screw couplings. There seems to be an incorrect assumption that the provision of NEM pockets means that nobody will want to use other coupling systems! The footplate and buffer beams are metal. Performance Straight out of the box, this loco ran extremely smoothly in both directions. Electrical pickup is via wipers on the backs of the driving wheels only. This is contrary to a review in one of the mainstream magazines. The author believes that the reviewer mistook the copper/bronze pony truck springs as pickups. There were certainly no pickups on the pony trucks of the model in this review and there were no problems with electrical pickup. After a short period of running it could be seen that the model had a distinctive limp when running in the reverse direction. This wobble needed close observation to be seen. Further inspection revealed that the rear driving wheel on the driver s side was not concentric on its axle and it could be seen that the flange varied in depth as the wheel revolved. A check of the wheel tread removed some excess black paint, but this did not resolve the problem. Closer inspection of the wheel treads leads the author to believe that the tyres on this loco may be cast and not machine turned as on other Blue Ribband models. This was evidenced by the treads on one side having pitted surfaces, blemishes and a couple of nodules reminiscent of the early cast wheels, which Bachmann used to fit. Or possibly the material used was not of a quality standard. All wheels have the correct number of spokes. Drivers are 18.48mm in diameter. The prototype drivers were 4-7½, which equates to 18.49mm so are spot on. Pony wheels are 12.6mm, equating exactly to the prototype 3-2. Back to back wheel measurement is 14.3mm. The haulage capability is extremely good due to the weight of the model. It is very easy to take apart by removing two screws located behind the buffer beams at each end. The chassis is very neat and tidy with a centrally mounted motor driving the centre axle through a worm and gear train. Of particular note is that when assembled, it is not possible to see the mechanism, because it is effectively sealed in due to the weights located in the side tanks aligning with the chassis block. This is a very good idea and keeps dust and dirt out of the mechanism. Once dismantled, the obvious omission inside is a plug and play DCC socket. This model has a small PCB, which requires two coils to be removed and wires to be soldered to fit a decoder. When one considers that Bachmann has now entered the DCC market in the UK with its own system and has been pushing the merits of DCC for some time, it is really surprising that this latest addition to their range doesn t have a DCC socket facility, especially when there is ample room inside for such a fitting. Verdict Although the model under review had a number of minor quality control problems, most of them could be fixed by the average modeller. The appearance of the model is excellent. It is very well finished and accurate in all the major dimensions and certainly portrays the image of the prototype in every way. It is a very useful addition to any GWR or BR(W) layout as these locomotives were widespread in their operation, especially on branch lines. As with any model purchased these days, the advice is to ask your dealer to test run the model for you before buying.

22 22 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Puzzle Picture Puzzle Picture: Can you identify this tunnel and tell us a little about its history? Photo: David Elliott Letters to the Editor Beginning with this edition of the magazine I am introducing a Puzzle Picture feature. Readers are invited to submit their curious and puzzling pictures to the Editor. The correct answer or explanation with revealing pictures will be published in the next edition. I would request that those who might know the answer do not tell everyone by posting it in an e-group. Please send your answer to the Editor via our website at This puzzle picture of a single line tunnel was sent in by David Elliott of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It certainly has architectural character, which would make an interesting model. Readers are invited to identify this tunnel and tell us a little about its history. To enable us to judge the size of the structure, David tells us that the lady in the picture is his wife who is 5ft 2in tall. Those Squares! Had a look at the magazine and I think it is really good. The only problem I have is that it has lots of little squares all over every page. Whether its conversion to PDF has caused this I don't know. Has anyone else reported any problems in this respect? I like Graham's article on the Heljan Hymek, which I know his wife bought him for Xmas. Unfortunately mine didn't buy me one, but she did buy me some railway books. So I'll let her off. The picture at Swanage is very interesting. Looking at the date, I could well have been there when that was taken, although I'd only be 8 at the time. My father took cine film there before it was closed. I've subscribed to the mag and look forward to further issues. COLIN TARRY The problem of squares was brought to my attention by several readers. Adobe Support advised as follows: We have checked your website and tried to open the PDF file you have mentioned using our Acrobat Reader 5 and 6 and there seemed to be no problem with the text in the document. Notwithstanding their advice I have now embedded the fonts in the PDF file and this appears to have solved the problems experienced with Version 6 of Acrobat Reader although it has made the file larger. Ed. Best Wishes Good luck with the Magazine. Hope it becomes successful PETER HEPWORTH I was able to download the magazine in less than a minute, using my cable broadband link, so I don't have any problems if you want to produce a 60-page bumper special! Certainly at these prices, I'll sign up for a lifetime subscription. MARTYN DE YOUNG I have received several s from readers giving the magazine their best wishes. Thank you to everyone who has written. Ed. A Register of Readers I think it would be a good idea to have a list that people can add themselves to get an when a new issue is produced. With it being quarterly I may forget to look at it. I don't however want to sign up to the group you have and possibly get loads more s. BTW, I enjoyed reading it, particularly the general articles (as I am not a OO modeller) and have publicised it on two other lists, on one (the Southern Group) it got a couple of s praising it. I hope you can find enough material to keep it going. NOEL LEAVER We have taken up Noel s suggestion and readers are invited to add themselves to our mailing list on the website. An will be sent to all those who register with a link to the next edition when it is published on 1 May. Richard Tuplin made the same suggestion. I certainly hope to find enough material to keep the magazine going but especially to make it interesting. Ed. Not So Deliberate Error With regard to the BRCW type 3s, you have at least two photos in the article which refer to them as being Co- Cos, they are infact Bo-Bo s... JESS LOMAS I must have become brain-dead after re-reading the magazine so many times to get it right before publication. Jess is quite correct. Simon Harding also spotted the error, which I corrected immediately. Thanks. Ed.