What Have I Been Up To, Not A lot!

[Serjt-Dave]

Happy New Year to everyone.

Looking back over 2023 I feel I've not really achieved anything. Only adding one new loco to the roster but this is cancelled out due to me scrapping a Bachmann Jinty {due to poor running}. I have started two Johnson 3f's but they have a long way to go yet. No new coaching stock, just seven wagons which I started at the beginning of December. It wouldn't be so bad if I had progressed more on my layout but no {see my Edington Junction thread}. What makes it worst I've had more modelling time available to me due to me having a minor accident at work. For 2024? this will be a slow year for me, certainly for the first part of the year as I've got to catch up on my decorating around the house and in June my eldest daughter is getting married. Oh well, you can only do what you do.

Johnson 3F 0-6-0.
These are London Road Model Kits. I'm finding these very basic due to their age more than anything. I got the chassis to a rolling chassis, added CBS and removable brake rigging but I didn't like them. First of all I brought off of Ebay a replacement chassis but these turned out to be just as basic as the LRM ones. So I ended up getting the Brassmasters 3f easy chassis. The quality was better but had to modify them somewhat. I've assembled most of the bodies, and that as far as I got with them.

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Wagons.
At the beginning of December. I was meant to start on commission build for a guy. But he kept changing his mind on what gauge to do. So I decided to pull out of the build. Having a clear workbench I decided to build the pile of wagons which were in my to do pile. They are basically built but now awaiting the paintshop.

D13 China Clay Wagons.
These I shouldn't have built due to being of a western persuasion but i don't like throwing stuff away. I got Morgan Designs chassis and tarted the bodies up a bit. I found the MD chassis interesting! Why in the name of the living god do you need three nuts and bolts for a 9' WB wagon?

LSWR 5 Plank Open D1310 and D1380.
The D1310 I brought in a job lot of wagons off of Ebay. It was badly painted and put together. I stripped it down and cleaned it up, added a Masokit sub chassis. I found out that it was meant to have curved ends. The previous owner had cut them off. I made new curved extensions from Plastic.
The D1380. One was a David Geen kit and the other is a Cambrian kit. Again I used Masokits sub chassis and added extra details etc.

LMS 20Ton Brake Van.
I did have one of these already but due to the plastic warping and the paint turning glossy and sticky I decided to scrap it. It had already been in the paint stripper once before and a lot of the details had somewhat blurred. I reused the wheels, brake rigging, couplings etc.

L&Y D73 Van.
Again a wagon which I didn't think I had time to build. I started it the Sunday before crimbo. It was a David Geen kit. All I did was add springing units, replaced to V's {as the cast ones were quite manky} and replaced the roof.

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All Best

Dave

[zebedeesknees]

Happy New Year to everyone.

Looking back over 2023 I feel I've not really achieved anything. Only adding one new loco to the roster but this is cancelled out due to me scrapping a Bachmann Jinty {due to poor running}.

Hi Dave, as it happens, I got to test a Bachmann Jinty 'out of the box' last year, and that ran poorly. Didn't seem worth converting, but the controller indicated the occasional short circuit, so looked under the splashers and there were witness marks where the flanges had been touching. 10 thou spacers between the chassis and body made all the difference!

Ted.

[Serjt-Dave]

Hi Ted. My one was one that were converted by the Society with Ultrascale wheels. I also used the Brassmasters detailing kit for the rods etc. It had always had a bit of a waddle, but over the years it seems to have got a lot worst. I decided to scrap it rather than send it for a flying lesion. LOL. I kept the body, wheels and motor but binned the rest.

Dave