This is always an excellent show organised by the very friendly Stafford Railway Circle, and is the first in their now to become regular weekend date slot in September. This year the show is going to be bigger than ever before and located in the main Bingley Hall at the Stafford County showground which provides more space and much better facilities.
Saturday: 10.00 – 17.00
Sunday: 10.00 – 16.30
Admission Prices: Adult: £12, accompanied children under 16 free.
At Stafford County Showground in Bingley Hall, ST18 0BD.
The County Showground is situated 3 miles to the east of the town on the A518 in the direction of Uttoxeter. A free bus service will run from Stafford railway station to the venue on both days. Details (subject to confirmation) can be found here.
Hopefully some of you will be able to visit the show and if you do please come and say hello.
Note: Canute Road Quay will be back in colour for the exhibition.
The numerous LSWR 10 ton covered vans were built between 1885 and 1922 to a few different diagrams as the design was developed. Different body styles were combined with either timber or steal chassis with two axlebox types; Panter or Warner’s, and several different brake systems.
The low roof, sliding door Diagram 1410 covered vans were the most common LSWR covered van with well over 1000 built. Although many were scrapped or entered departmental use before Grouping many passed into SR ownership at grouping with a number, many in departmental use, surviving beyond nationalisation.
Brake gear varied from: single sided double block, ‘Morton Clutch’, the rarer for this diagram ‘Lifting Link’ and most commonly what the SR called ‘Freighter’ that had independent brake gear on each side.
Ten covered vans to the Diagram 1410 were built for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) they differed from the LSWR versions as they did not have the end vents and only single sided brakes. They later were absorbed into SR stock and had end vents fitted, become identical to D1410 vans.
The tooling suite for the models allows for bodies with either 8 1.2” or 6 1.2” end planking with and without the end vents on steel chassis, 8 open spoke or 10 closed spoke wheels, and single sided, Morton, freighter or lifting link brake styles. The specification of the model includes highly detailed body and chassis, prototypical brake gear and safety loops fitted, beam compensation, sprung buffers and a sprung coupling hook fitted with metal three link couplings.
The models have been produced and are currently being shipped, the initial price is £66.95 each, that is the special early-bird price and only applies payment is made in full at the time of ordering. For those not wishing to pay in full, it will not be possible to place an order until after the models have arrived. These subsequent orders will be at the prevailing price of £77.95 and not the early-bird offer price.
The models will have newly designed electronics, chassis and include Dapol’s loco mounted motor advised as giving “excellent slow speed running and haulage capability” The full features proposed are as follows:
Powerful new locomotive mounted motor
Electrical pick up from all locomotive and tender wheels
Diecast chassis and locomotive body, injection moulded tender body
Partial chassis compensation for smooth running and to aid electrical pickup
Stainless steel valve gear and coupling rods
Standard NEM couplings
Printed name plates
Accessory bag with etched nameplates and details buffer beam fittings
The Cads also show variations in smoke deflector type and both original flat fronted and later modified ‘wedge’ shape cabs, along with high rave and cut down tender types (we are yet to see details of the full suite of variations, including tender capacities, being tooled for).
Initially Dapol will be producing the original Light Pacifics with air smoothed casing, they advise that the rebuilt versions will follow in due course. The proposed versions are:
2S-034-001 21C164 ‘Fighter Command’ SR Malachite green
2S-034-002 34055 ‘Spitfire’ BR green, late crest
2S-034-003 34110 ’66 Squadron’ BR green, early crest
2S-034-004 21C113 ‘Okehampton’ SR Malachite green
2S-034-005 34030 ‘Watersmeet’ BR green, late crest
2S-004-006 34001 ‘Exeter’ BR green, early crest
The proposed RRP for DCC ready versions is £206.95, for DCC fitted £238.00 and for DCC sound fitted £341.55 and delivery is expected to be during 2024 at the earliest.
Heljan have today announced that are to produce the SR 4 wheel Passenger Luggage Vans and Utility Vans in 0 Gauge.
PMV S1874S (picture copyright and courtesy Heljan / Ben Jones)
The Passenger Luggage Vans, ‘PLV’ (Parcels / Miscellaneous Van, PMV) were initially developed by the SECR in 1919, the design formed the base for numerous luggage produced subsequently by the Southern. The original SECR built versions did not have the side vents and number of the ex SECR PLVs were through piped in the 1930s for Pull Push work. From the 1939 built batch the PLVs were built with mixed 6½” / 3½” planking on the body side.
Utility Vans, ‘Van U’ (Covered Carriage Truck, CCT) were first introduced in 1925 the Utility vans were similar to the PLV but with end loading doors also like the PLVs up until 1938 even thickness body side planking was employed and those from 1938 were built with mixed 6½” / 3½” planking. Those built by BR ins 1955 had plywood sides.
The Heljan models will depict a range of variations and liveries across the PLV/PMV – Van U/CCT as follows:
One area of Canute Road Quay that I needed to correct, as it had been both constructively and bluntly pointed out to me on a couple of occasions, is that a few of the road vehicles were slightly out of my usual self-imposed modelling period of 1946 to 1946.
The two new period vehicles on Canute Road Quay
Obviously, I want all aspects of the layout to be correct and consistent, it is all too easy to contrate on rolling stock and miss other, more obvious to others, areas of accuracy. I have therefore been looking to source some replacement suitable vehicles. For someone like me, without an in-depth knowledge of all things internal combustion, I found this to be a much harder and time-consuming job than it could be, as very few of the manufactures of ready to run vehicles actually provide simple information such as the relevant dates of manufacture as part of their listings, resulting in having to google each and any model that I thought might be of roughly the correct period.
The nicely moulded resin and white metal parts are assembled
However, at a recent model railway exhibition I happened to be across the aisle from Road Transport Images run by the very friendly Graeme and Lorraine McQuaker, they produce a range of modular resin kits for British commercial and military vehicles in 4mm scale ranging from a 1930s Fordson AA up to a 2014 Iveco Stralis. All were displayed very helpfully, with yes, the date of manufacture for the prototype (as does their website), just what I had been looking for, making choosing the correct vehicle for my time period accurate and simple!
The range currently includes over 200 cab, vans and pickups, and 16 chassis and a wide range of bodies, trailers and unsheeted loads all cast in resin, with detailing parts in white metal or etched and 35 different wheel profiles.
For Canute Road Quay I purchased a Bedford Spurlings KV 2 ton integral van (built between 1946 and 1952) and an Austin K2-4 with a dropside body (built between 1946-48).
A dusting of Halfords’ Plastic primer
The resin parts, that comprise of cab/body/dropside, chassis parts, cab interior, fuel tank etc. are very crisply moulded, well detailed with very little flash to require cleaning off. These particular kits also included white metal head and side lights either etched or white metal steering wheel, the relevant white metal wheels come with brass rod for axles and are designed such that the wheels rotate. I angled the front wheels slightly on the angles to enable a ‘steered’ position to be allowed rather than the usual ‘straight on’ seen on most RTR vehicles.
Having fixed the cab interiors to the chassis parts I used the trusty Halfords’ Plastic Primer followed by a top coat of other aerosol colours that I happen to have had to hand; you should be able to recognise at least one of the colours…
The Austin K2-4 with a dropside body passes Canute Road Quay
As the windows were relatively small, I used Delux Materials ‘Glue and Glaze’ pulled across the aperture for the glazing, although the front windscreens were possibly on the verge of being large and cutting individual clear plastic glazing would have been an alternative method (if you use this method run a black maker around the edges before gluing in place with a little Glue and Glaze, as this then represents the rubber windscreen seal).
The inside of the headlamps (white metals castings) were painted with a little silver paint and when dry the lens was created with a small drop of Glue and Glaze.
The Bedford Spurlings KV 2 ton integral van
All that is required now are some registration number plate transfers to be added, I have obtained a set of suitable transfers from Scale Model Scenery.
Overall, these Road Transport Images resin kits are excellent, simple and enjoyable to build, and I consider them good value for money. I will certainly be adding more of their kits to the fleet of vehicles available for use on Canute Road Quay to provide variety whilst being consistent with my time period.
Further to my post here announcing the LBSC E1 0-6-0T variations being produced by Rapido trains UK the Isle of Wight Steam Railway have today announced that they working with Rapido trains UK on an exclusive 00 gauge model of our E1 Class locomotive W2 Yarmouth.
E1 No. W2 Yarmouth (picture copyright IWSR)
The finished model will be depicted in Southern Railway green to match the real locomotive when her restoration is completed.
B4s ‘Caen’ and ‘Trouville’ shunt on Canute Road Quay
It is good to be at exhibitions again, especially as many Model Railway Clubs/Societies have lost such valuable income from the lack of exhibitions during the pandemic, so if you are able to visit the show, and support the Silverfox DCC MRC, please drop by Canute Road Quay and say hello.
p.s. the title is a nod to a favourite Aylesbury based band of mine…
Train Times have today revealed the identities for the two exclusive models they have commissioned both in LBSC lined black livery. They will be producing number 113 which spent some time at Eastbourne in the 1910s and “Loco Dept. New Cross”.
Number 113 originally built in May 1877 named “Granville” carried this lined black livery from 1906 until 1928 when she was repainted into Southern livery and numbered B113. She latter became 2113 then 32113 and was withdrawn September 1958 having worked 1,130,888 miles!
E1 Class “Loco Dept. New Cross”
Number 111 originally built in April 1877 named “Montpelier” and became “Loco Dept. New Cross” from June 1908 until June 1922 when she was renumbered 611 and withdrawn in May 1932.
