Workbench Witterings#15 Going bananas with a Great Eastern flavour

It is not often I post about a new Great Eastern ready to run model but this post is about the latest Oxford Rail Great Eastern Railway 10 ton banana van, confused? Read on... In fact, along with some information courtesy of friend and SR coach and wagon guru Mike King, 100 of these banana … Continue reading Workbench Witterings#15 Going bananas with a Great Eastern flavour

Workbench Witterings#14 A quick brake… in 3D a SECR Diagram 1558

One of those occasions when looking for an item you come across something else purchased a while back and think I should really finish it... The other weekend I found my 3D print, purchased from Simon Dawson's store on Shapeways (in those days when it was much cheaper than it is now...), of the 6 … Continue reading Workbench Witterings#14 A quick brake… in 3D a SECR Diagram 1558

Workbench Witterings#13 Backdating Hornby Bulleid Merchant Navy to 21c11 General Steam Navigation as she was in January 1947

Following on from my previous Workbench Wittering posts where I have been forward dating Hornby Series One Merchant Navys #10 21c7 and #11 21c3 to their 1947 condition, as Hornby have so far only produced the very early 'Widows peak' style, this post is about how I have, this time, backdated a Hornby Series Two to create … Continue reading Workbench Witterings#13 Backdating Hornby Bulleid Merchant Navy to 21c11 General Steam Navigation as she was in January 1947

Workbench Witterings#12 Building an LSWR Type 3B signal Box for Westhill Road

In my Westhill Road Ramblings#1 post here, I discussed my thought process for selecting the style and type of signal box for my new little modelling venture Westhill Road. This post looks at my scratch build of the chosen ground level signal box based upon the LSWR Type 3B design. As with many of my … Continue reading Workbench Witterings#12 Building an LSWR Type 3B signal Box for Westhill Road

From the archive #4 The quay to making puddles and something about gulls…

Although it could be said that I cheated with Canute Road Quay when I modelled the quayside wall as part of the front facia of the layout; this was not to avoid having to create the water but in fact to maximise the space available with a 12 inch deep baseboard. There are however a … Continue reading From the archive #4 The quay to making puddles and something about gulls…

Workbench Witterings #9 Refreshing the E2, no mention of Thomas…dam…

The first five members of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSC) E2 class 0-6-0 tanks were introduced by L Billinton in June 1913.  In service they were found to be powerful but slightly lacking in water and therefore a further batch of 5 were ordered, although delayed by the war, and built between … Continue reading Workbench Witterings #9 Refreshing the E2, no mention of Thomas…dam…

Workbench Witterings #8 Taking a ‘brake’ from wagons rolling of the workbench

As I advised in my recent Covid, exhibitions, mental health and life changes post, in an attempt to restore my modelling mojo whilst on furlough I started to build a number of the wagon kits that I had added to the to do later pile over the last few years. The kits were all from … Continue reading Workbench Witterings #8 Taking a ‘brake’ from wagons rolling of the workbench

Workbench Witterings #7 what were these B4?

Following on from my recent Talking Stock #38 The Adams B4 tanks post that included a brief history of the prototype and also a review of the recent range of Dapol ready to run models, I have added a few of these to my fleet for Canute Road Quay and therefore renamed and numbered to … Continue reading Workbench Witterings #7 what were these B4?

Workbench Witterings #6 The SR Departmental shunter – DS1169

Since the announcement by Hornby that the little, and I mean little, Ruston and Hornsby 48DS 0-4-0 diesel mechanical shunter was to be introduced as part of their 2019 range, I always had it in mind that a simple repaint could be on the cards to create the Southern Region departmental shunter DS1169. Originally built … Continue reading Workbench Witterings #6 The SR Departmental shunter – DS1169

A view from the line #18 Inset track on Canute Road Quay

This latest "A view from the line"  post takes for the first time a closer look at Canute Road Quay and more specifically the track work inset within concrete along the quayside. There are a number of methods of re-creating inset track and this post describes the method I have used on Canute Road Quay and hopefully … Continue reading A view from the line #18 Inset track on Canute Road Quay