Masterclass Models LNER Quad Art - Part II

As promised (albeit late owing to the camera going to a fifth birthday party yesterday!) here are some photos of the updates to the Quad Art.  The captions explain best I think:



The brake on the set - the last of the four done and therefore the best of the lot.  Handily since either the loco or the last vehicle get looked at the most at shows.  I put the plating over the doors as it was on the etch (and I didn't look carefully at the photos on-line nor read the blurb with them when building - turns out they are probably a BR addition so I will take them off since I am wanting more 1924 than 1954).

\

Shorty third - second from the end (well, depending on which end but it is the one next to the brake).  Another pleasing result - the roof needs a little bit more work to get it to fit neatly.  The gaps between the coach bodies are very small - I am not even convinced about 36 inch curves for these coaches but will have to see.  I am planning on a second set which I was going to put N gauge wheels into but I am doubtful it would run on my layout.

The first of the two longer coaches - no work done on the roof of this one at all.  It is just sitting on for the photo but needs a tiny bit of flash removed from the end which is sticking up - which is why it is sticking up!

The far end (from the brake).  This roof is a little bit banana shaped but doesn't require much to hold it flat so I am hopeful when it comes to gluing it will be sorted out.  You can just make out the thread holding the body on inside the coach here - and clearly can see the 10BA one providing the pivot for the two coach bodies resting on the common bogie to the left.  The gap is barely enough for the brass thread to get in there and the two center coaches are prone to listing like a ship in a heavy sea.



I am planning on finishing the set in all over teak similar to that on set 74 at the North Norfolk Railway - the black ends are a later change apparently.  Then there is the small (!) matter of a 3 on every door...  All this by November hopefully for the BRMA(Q) AMMC.

Friday Night Update - 17 August

It seems an age since I did one of these - but then it has been an age since I have done anything to make posting an entry worthwhile.

Much has happened in the past week modelling wise.  A parcel turned up from the Central Shop with bits to sort out my Class 24 (I had mucked up the order previously and gotten axles of two different sizes!) and to do some more work on the Quad Art - handily the roofs for same turned up on the same day.  There was also a pile of cattle wagon etches for a mate who has since decided that they are safer with me (he is moving back to SE Qld at the end of the year) and I have offered to make a start on them - an article in the offing for the 2mm Ed perhaps as I have thought about writing one early enough to take the appropriate photos along the way.  There was also some work done on my diorama along with a test of static grass which went sufficiently well to make me consider refreshing the entire grass area of St Alban's Priory.

No photos - flat battery for the DSLR got in the way but hopefully a fine day tomorrow (and no chores for a change!!!) will remedy that.

Bachmann WD8 on test (videos)

My Father's Day present this year is one of the new Bachmann WD8s.  It arrived from Hatton's via my parents Post Office box today - a bit early for Father's Day which is the 2nd of September but I wanted to make sure it was a) here and b) worked prior to the day.  Now that I have tested it, I have handed it over to the Shop 1 Groupie to wrap for the kids (who haven't seen it!) to give me on the day.

As there has been quite a bit of discussion on the N Gauge Yahoo Group about the haulage capabilities of these models, I thought I would do similar to the A3 I received recently and load test it.  The videos (I took two this time) are below.  Suffice to say I either have a great one or some people need to check their track and rolling stock a bit more carefully as this is the second one I have seen - the first having been present at the August LAG meeting where it hauled 14 Gresleys (but no more owing to fiddle yard congestion.) 

There is a mix of Peco and Farish wagons in the train and it is my complete tray of BR coal wagons minus one which currently has no wheels (nor paint as it happens!) but this was subbed with the brake van.  None of the wagons have been recently serviced so the free running and clean wheels are a bit of a mixed bag. 

The train is running in the opposite direction to the A3 - which means it comes off an S bend straight onto the grade up towards the camera in the long shot.  Given that the loco was purchased primarily to haul the collection of PoWs that the kids have given me (currently numbering 36) I am well pleased.  Incidentally, the length of the train is longer than the 24 Gresleys the A3 was hauling the other day. 

Dapol A3 on test (video)

Thought I would post a short (36 second) video of my Dapol A3 running past with 24 coaches in tow.  The point on the layout where the camera is has the train heading down a slight incline - the up being at the opposite end of the layout on a curve in a tunnel.  Quite impressed with the haulage of the loco and, for a Dapol steam engine, the control over the speed of it.  It looks quite fast in the video but it wasn't really going that fast to the naked eye and was over half way round the dial on the controller.



Stock trays

Storage of stock can become a problem as your collection develops - especially if you purchase from eBay or second hand stalls where there is no box.  The other problem is that a lot of the rolling stock these days, comes in a substantial box in itself, which takes up room.  Then there is the unpacking and repacking in said boxes - very time consuming.

As I am not a collector of model railways, I am not worried about keeping things in their original boxes to maximise the resell value.  When (if) I get rid of something, it is usually because there is something better which has come along and I am happy to get what I can for what I am getting rid of (ideally enough to make inroads into the new items bill!).

So what to do with your stock?  Well, if you are like me, and have quite a bit, then a stock box or tray system makes sense.  I have made mine to fit the drawers which they live in so their dimensions are specific to that.  I can get 8 rows of stock in each tray and the lenght allows for 10 Peco 10' wagons (or the Farish/Dapol equivalent) in each.  After that, as far as fitting coaching stock or longer wagons it, it becomes a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to get maximum stock in minimum space.  I have also colour coded each tray as it has been built - merely to help me keep track of what is where.

The photo shows one of the trays for the BR Blue era - painted grey.  (The blue painted stock trays have BR(E) coaches in them.)  Pretty self explanatory.  The sides are made out of 11mm pine (cause I had some spare offcuts from another project), backing from 4mm bracing ply (again, spare) and dividers from 3mm MDF (not spare but cheap from the local Bunnings and my saw blade is 3.2mm so the slates fitted in the slots I had cut on the sides to aid location).  The gap in the tray is for the Dapol Mk3 Buffet when it finally gets here.  Middle column is the Blue Ribband Mk1s from Bachmann, the RH column some previous China production Bacfar Mk1s with GUVs and BGs making up the lot at the bottom (with a couple of Dapol SR CCTs, a Blue Spot Fishvan, the NGS Stove R and an NGS Gresley D113 BG).