Triplets

We can’t manage a line up of four Pullman observation cars like the FR did recently at Harbour Station, but watch this space....

Himself decided a little photo call was in order after the final assembly of 152, posed in the fiddle yard with 150 (not named Gwynedd in Bron Hebog-land, and Glaslyn.

The design change to 152 with the two pillars at the front was on account of customer feedback from 150 with its single post in the middle.

It’s a convenient way of quickly telling which is which but I still can’t decide which I prefer.

Review Of The Year - Part 2

April

At the start of the year Himself had begun painting our Britomart, a few months later it was finally lined out and had its name and works plates fitted.

The finished effect was terrific!

He was also making the finishing touches to another model which featured in our January review, the service car 125, which had received a coat of varnish and was ready to join the fleet.

I had made rapid progress with the latest house for the estate scene which was looking pretty much finished.

Or so I thought.....

May

Yes, I spoke too soon.

I had to pull it to bits in places because I'd come across an aerial picture of the estate which showed me aspects of this house which I had never noticed before, including an entire extension on the back.

Fortunately with styrene it's easy enough to splice in new bits.

Yet another long-term project came to fruition this month when our model of observation car 150 had its (very complex) lining finished and the glazing added.

It was so impressive I had to take some portrait shots on Bron Hebog.

June

Our attention in the early months of the summer was all about the estate scene.

The house which you saw me building earlier in the review was ready to be tried out in place on Bron Hebog.

Around the same time I was already well on the way to filling the gap site at the top of the picture with one of the more interesting houses on the development - which is saying something given the unconventional shape of many of them.

We'll begin looking at the second half of the year next time.

Little Train Meets Big Train

Himself was down in Wales a week or so ago volunteering on what was once known as 'Kids Week', the FR's pioneering, and long-running, event to enthuse the next generation of volunteers.

He took with him our model of the new observation carr 150 so that it could be inspected by some of the team who built the real one.

While poking around the carriage works to gather information on what they're building at the moment he posed it for a photo on the front window ledge of the follow-up 152.

Tombstoning

I like it when you get to the stage of adding those little details which really complete the scene.

One of them is the cemetery from which Cemetery Crossing gets its name which is shortly beyond the exit from Goat Tunnel, or shortly before, depending on which direction you're traveling in.

Himself has made a nice job of a batch of grave stones which he has set out in the enclosed area above the line.

I did offer to make some masters and cast them in resin, thinking it might speed up the process, but it turns out he's made them all from scratch.

Here's a shot he posed featuring our newest carriage, 150, and a Triple Fairlie combo.

The Big Reveal

At last our model of 150 is ready to show you.

I don't think any of our models has taken so long to paint, line and varnish as this one.

Himself began painting it in the final weeks of last year and I had hoped to be able to post some pictures of it finished in January, and now it's almost June!

One of the delays was because we didn't want to risk spraying the varnish until the ambient temperature improved (it is not done in a heated part of the house, you see) and then when it did get sprayed some of the lining, in particular the really fiddly bits on the window pillars, blew off and had to be replaced.

We'll be the first to admit that some of the lining is a little over scale because we're using transfers designed for 4mm standard gauge rolling stock but I think trying to get some bespoke crests produced for 009 is going just a little too far.

I'm particularly pleased with how the curtain effect turned out

In the end Himself decided just to go for it with a brush painting onto the back of the glazing and given how difficult it was to make up and fit the glazing with both the bend and the curved roof line at the front it was a real one-shot, hero or zero, moment.

Along with the WHR Obs 'Glaslyn' it is one of the trickiest scratch building projects we've ever taken on and it's a true team effort between us.

The question is how we're going to summon up the will to do it all over again with 152?

Never The Same Twice

Himself spent the weekend in Wales enjoying the Quirks and Curiosities II weekend on the FR.

(Some of us still have to work for a living on Bank Holidays.)

Naturally I armed him with a list of things I needed pictures of during his visit to Boston Lodge Works.

The first thing reported back to me - which will come as no great surprise to readers of this blog - is that the second of the Super Barn observation cars, to be numbered 152, will not be an identical twin of the first.

152, or at least the steel skeleton, was transferred from Dinas a few weeks ago and the carriage works team are already working their magic with wood.

The breaking news, for me at least, is that 152 will be different at the front to 150.

Instead of one single pillar at the front of the observation saloon it will have two either side of the centre, making it look a bit more like the WHR Pullman 'Glaslyn' perhaps.

More frustratingly there is another very subtle change at the front.

Unlike 150 which was flat across the centre above the drawbar, 152 is being built with a very slight curve, as you can see in the picture below.

This means that I will certainly have to create a new master for casting the front section of 152 when I come to build it - and this piece was one of the most challenging aspects of doing 150, so as you can imagine I am delighted about that!

I now have my fingers crossed that the sides will be a match for the first carriage so I can at least re-use those parts.

It is probably a forlorn hope.

Soft As Satin

Himself has been saying for months that he would wait until the weather turned warmer to catch up on his backlog of painted models which require a final coat of satin varnish.

Now the clocks have gone forward he's decided it's time.

The models you can see here - split into their constituent parts - are the new Britomart, the service car 125 and the observation car 150.

The latter is an interesting case.

I have restrained myself from posting any pictures of it while it was being lined out because I intended to do a big reveal when it was finally finished.

That was around Christmas time, though, and my resolve appears to have weakened.

The one thing preventing us from considering it properly finished is that Himself needs to think of a way too represent the curtains in the window of the rear saloon.

All suggestions appreciated, I'm sure.

Now For The Tricky Bit

The painting of Observation Car 150 is finished.

Now comes the challenge of lining it out!

Just like with the Welsh Highland carriages Bodysgallen and Glaslyn, Himself will be using the waterslide sheets produced by Fox Transfers for 4mm scale standard gauge Pullman carriages which are about the closest we can get.

There have to be some compromises but they do the job well enough. Or at least we think so.

The hardest bit will be trying to replicate the very fine vertical lines on the window pillars.

Expect some more pictures in the coming days.

First Wash

A couple of days ago I showed you a picture of the new Observation Car 150 being primed, now Himself has made rapid progress on painting it.

I'm particularly pleased by how well the interior has come up with wood frames and the blue fabric well represented on those very distinctive armchairs in the main saloon.

The body has also had a first coat of its main colour - is it called Royal Purple?

The inside is more complicated than the average carriage with two-tone colour on the ceiling.

I think it's going to look pretty special when it's done.

The only downside is that they're already building the framework of a second one so well have to go through this all again.

Operation Observation Undercoat

If building 150 from scratch was a daunting prospect then so must painting it - more accurately lining it out afterwards.

So I'm impressed that Himself has grasped the nettle and started the process by giving it a coat of primer.

Before this there were a few little jobs to finish off like fitting the gutter down pipes at the back and the train vacuum pipe along the length of the underframe.

The vac pipe on the very front won't be fixed into position until the painting and lining is complete.

That Will Do

I think I'm ready to hand 150 over to Himself to add the finishing touches and then get on with painting and lining it. (Which I'm sure he's going to love me for!)

The last bits I've added are various pipes which poke in and out and round about around the vacuum cylinders.

I've done the best I can with these from the photographs I've taken, which has meant almost lying down on the station platforms to see what's under there, so tucked away out of sight is it all.

The things that remain outstanding are the brake pipe and bags - always his speciality - and the handrails either side of the doorways which have to be soldered up from brass wire.

I shall turn my attention back to the service car 125 meanwhile.

Boxes & Cylinders

The slow process of finishing off 150 - at least the constructional part of it - continues with adding some representations of the various bits that lurk beneath it.

I've never been one for rivet counting nor for mimicking every bit of the brake gear because unless someone picks it up and turns it upside down, or you have a catastrophic derailment, no one is really going to see very much off what is going on under there, especially with carriages which sit as low as the FR's.

So what I'm aiming for is to create an impression of the main bits which are lurking there, and in the case of 150 the most obvious things, apart from the fuel tank and battery compartment, are the vacuum cylinders which are rather unusually set at an angle.

Even so, when it is running on the layout all you will see is the merest hint of their presence, and only them if you crouch down to rail level.

Made It Round

We've been tinkering with the chassis of 150 and it seems that it finally makes it all the way around Dduallt unscathed.

In fact tinkering is a bit of a misnomer, it was more a case of precision surgery with a mini drill and cutting disc to the rear bogie to ensure it had enough swing to get around Dragon curve.

It's got a bit of a wobble which will have to be addressed further down the road, but at least now we know it can operate successfully on the layout.

Himself also extended the shaft on the coupling and added a loop so we could test it in a train with another of our superbarns.

A Chink Of Light

I finally got around to taking 150 over to Himself's place yesterday to check if the alterations I made to the bogie pivot bolts did the trick - in other words that I runs through Rhoslyn Cutting without scraping the sides.

The good news is that there is now clear daylight along the right hand side. Phew!

We took it for a test run all around the layout.

The only issue we identified is that there's still a slight issue with the bogies having enough clearance around the tightest curve - Dragon - where the spiral exits into the fiddle yard.

Himself will take a look and make some final alterations to fix that before it goes to be painted.

That won't be far away - it's really just the underframe which needs to be finished now.

Interior Done

It's all come together in a rush.

In a couple of sessions work I've got all the seats and tables in position.

In fact the most awkward bit was completing the cupboards in the vestibule.

Once again I was very pleased with the performance of the 60 second Loctite glue which gave me enough time to adjust the pieces into the right spot but not so long that they would move before they were properly set.

Himself found the same when using it to assemble the latest B wagon.

The major outstanding items now are the tanks and various brake bits hanging underneath and the bad pipes.

I know that Himself simply can't wait to paint it and tackle all that ornate lining....

Seats In

I've been rather putting off fixing the interior into place in carriage 150.

Quite why I was being hesitant I don't really know, it was just one of those things I felt uneasy about.

I decided the other day, however, that I couldn't put it off any longer so I have made a start with the vestibule at the corridor end of the carriage.

It is unusual because the interior partition has a curved profile at the top to match the underside of the roof - normally they are flat because of the false ceiling we fit.

I've also taken it to extremes and included the step up in the middle.

So the first two saloon seats are fixed in position helping to keep it nice and vertical.

There's a long way to go yet, though.

Fully Furnished

After two weeks making masters, moulds and then castings I've finally assembled all the seats and tables to make up the interior of new Observation Car 150.

I'm pleased with the way the tables have come out which is going to be a lot more elegant than the previous way of doing it with a big supporting pillar in the centre.

Before I can fit in the carriage I'll have to make up the rear bulkhead and the shaped screens which divide the observation saloon from the armchair section behind.

And to do that I'll need to very carefully remove Himself's curved glazing without scratching it. Eek.

Table For Two

Such is my dedication to accuracy that I drove more than 350 miles at the weekend to the 'top left hand corner' to confirm some details about the interior of 150.

Don't feel too sorry for me, though, because some of this 'research' was conducted while quizzing (they may say interrorgating!) the carriage builders over a pint or two in the pub.

My main query was about how many tables are in the observation section of 150.

(It was a good job I checked too, because my initial information was wrong!)

With that all confirmed I've been able to have a go at making a master for the main saloon tables.

I'm doing these a little differently and will attempt to cast them in one piece.

The usual superbarn tables I make have a vertical pillar to support the table top along its centre.

For 150, though, I thought I would try to be a little more prototypical.

Although the real ones are fixed to the side of the carriage - not self-supporting like mine - at least there will not be a bloody great pillar to see.

In fact, this is how the smaller free standing tables in the front saloon are made, although I can't promise mine will be as fancy.

There are only two of these - which is part of what I needed to check - but the question is whether I cast them or just make both from scratch?

Best Seats In The House

Half a dozen lucky passengers get to sit in comfort at the business end of 150.

I've made these like I did the armchairs in the main saloon as a mix of castings and bits of styrene glued on to complete them.

The main 'bucket' section of the seat is one casting and the other is the square base and four legs.

The base has proved to be a very awkward piece to cast reliably. It is the devil's own job to make sure that there are no air bubbles trapped in the legs which are just short sections of 1mm square strip.

Even the smallest bubble fatally weakens them and on half of the seats I've had to graft on styrene replacements.

Anyway, that's good progress on the interior with all the seats made.

Now just the tables to go before I begin gluing these bits into position.

Clearance Test - Failed!

This is a problem that I suspect only narrow gauge modellers encounter, when your new rolling stock doesn't fit your layout!

Having mounted 150 on its bogies I took it over to Himself's place to give it a wee test run on Dduallt.

We had an unwelcome surprise when we came to run it through Rhoslyn Cutting - it hits the bridge pillars on the engine side.

This caused some consternation, as you can imagine.

Closer examination, however, revealed there had been a fundamental (and rather foolish) error during the making of the chassis - the bogie pivots are off centre!

For this I must hold my hands up.

I have been sloppy and careless - and I've given Himself a damned good laugh into the bargain.

So the holes will have to be filled, re-drilled and the bolts re-inserted.

In future I shall remind myself to measure twice and drill once. Doh!