Army Shunter

I popped into my local branch of Model Zone today and having a look at their limited editions I noticed a bright blue & red 08 diesel shunter.
Realising they had modeled one of the Longmoor Military Railways shunters I thought it was worth a second look.
the main draw back is the model is an 08 where as the LMR had Class 11's. Whats the difference I hear you say, well from a modelling point of view the main difference is the cabinets on the running plates are different apart from that its minor stuff like lights etc.
So after weighing up the pros and cons I thought there isn't any class 11's on the market and it would be a big job to convert an 08 so I thought what the heck and parted with my cash

This will go well with an old Dapol Austerity I have which is in Army Green, a few years back Hornby released an Austerity in LMR blue but the shade was well off so I never bothered getting one.
I wish the industry would think more about producing non main line locomotives as there is so many interesting prototypes out there.
This came at the right time a I have been thinking of modelling some army stuff for a while.
I have noticed at many preserved railways there are always a few ex army wagons most commonly warflats and warwells which are normally in use carrying track or boilers and stuff like that.

You also see many box vans on railways like these the top is at the East Anglian Railway Museum and the bottom is a pair at Didcot. All these vans are Ex LMS so repainting ready to run stock should be ok.

Tangmere at Basingstoke

As this blog is called "Railways, real and model" I thought it was time I added something about the real thing.
I got this shot of Tangmere at Basingstoke, it was dark and guess who forgot a tripod.
The shot was taken hand held on the highest ISO my camera had and I used a fixed focus 50mm lens, the reason I used it is because fixed focus lenses have a bigger aperture than zooms enabling more light to enter mine drops to f1.8 but there are some out there what goes lower.
Earlier in the day I visited Didcot, there was nothing running but the loco shed was being turned into a film set, all the locos were moved and there was a lot of good photo opportunities with the locos which rarely see the light of day


To see more of my photos of the day have a look at my Flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris_adams/

Brush / Beyer Peacock 0-4-0 DE D2999

While my last project is still being completed, the Stanier 8F I decided to restart another project a Brush 0-4-0 DE

I built this a number of years back but as I lived in a flat I didn't really have anywhere to paint locos so I ended up in a box.

The body is built from plastic card with fittings I found in the spares box, the steps are from a Dapol 04 kit and the springs are from a wagon with the axle boxes cut off

The chassis is scratchbuilt, this is the first time I have built one and it didnt seem too hard.

The main frames are from copper clad board, I used this as its easier to drill than brass and its as strong. There is also the added bonus that it has the insulating properties so its a lot easier to mount pickups

My next dilemma is what colour to paint it, will it be green and carry the number D2999 like the sole BR version or will it be red and yellow the same as the batch used by the Steel Company of Wales

The first project

The first project I am starting is something I started 10 years ago which is a Stanier 8f.

When I started this project Hornby's 8F was still tender drive and still had the steam roller wheels and  I wanted something a bit better.
When Comet introduced the replacement chassis for the 8F they also introduced a detailing kit which included a new etched cab, tender and other bits n pieces.
As I had a spare Mainline tender from an old Jubilee I opted for the fowler version which is intended to go with a 4F, unfortunately the body of which I cannot find :-(
So what work do i have to do, well the first thing is the cab decided to detach during its time in storage but thats a small thing the biggest headache is going to be the chassis.
There is a slight twist in the main frames which i dont know if it has been dropped or built in to it when I bodged it together and the valve gear is appalling so that will have to be stripped down cleaned up and reassembled .
So all I can say is watch this space and hopefully I will end up with a reasonable model

OMWB (On my work bench)

As all modelmaking blogs have an OMWB section I thought I should have one too.
So I thought what should be the first entry into this section so I thought as i was starting afresh the first subject should be my workbench itself.
it looks a bit basic at the moment but its going to grow also the area between the bench and the wall is destined to become the fiddleyard of my railway so all I can say is watch this space.

The start of a new railway

Finally I have been able to make a start on my model railway. It is housed in the attic room of my house and has already posed a few problems.

So far I have put the basbords down one side which leaves me with a shel 12' x 2' but this will eventually spread around the room.

I must apologise for the state of my woodwork but as its going to be a permeant layout the carpentry could be a little more basic.

The bit of track I got is temporary and I wont be doing any decent track work until all the bords are down. 

As most of my stock has been in long term storage I thought I needed a bit of track as I need to do a lot of servicing.

I thought the first train to run should be a a test train from the RTC

This should be the first of many blogs and will also document the progress of my railway

First Blog

Hi All

Welcome to my new Blog.
At the moment there is not much to see but hopefully in the future the will be a fair bit.
The main reason I set up this blog is to cover my return to model railways, after 15 years of living in small flats Finally purchased a house with a nice sized room just for a railway.
Also I will be adding some pics of my travels around the country where I am trying to visit as many preserved lines as possible.

Hope you enjoy the future blogs

Amy