Author: Kelvin Barnes

Update on the Station Layout in O

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized

I started this O Gauge Terminal Branch Line Station in 2017 ! It was slowly shelved due to the number of Exhibitions I was attending, work on other layouts, nowhere I could keep or work on the assembled layout and then Covid etc.

Anyway, after all this time I have decided to revive this layout with no name and make it my ‘winter project’ I am nearly 78 years old and find Exhibiting very tiring now, although I have some good helpers on the day(s) it is still me that has to spend the day before getting ready and the day after putting everything away. I have been doing between 15 and 20 Exhibitions a year for the last 30 years, all in East Anglia. I have no wish to stop Exhibiting but have now decided that 5 or 6 next year will be the most. After the layout is finished it is my intension to invite small groups of friends around for running sessions, this I hope will make up for less Exhibition attendances.

Back to the layout now – I have revised the fiddle yard that included reducing the length by four inches so that it will now fit in my garage. The back boards will now go on the other side so that operation can now take place from the front and not the back. All DC electrics were done on the original attempt and many buildings are made painted and weathered, so feel it is still a manageable project. I want as much flexibility as possible with both regions and eras and envision the scope will be 1950 to 1970 without any buildings or infrastructure swapping.

I have also decided not to permanently join the baseboards so that it would still be possible to exhibit locally if transport could be arranged, it would not go in my car!!!

Original Plan

3 six foot boards

The Fiddle Yard – Then and Now.

Original Boards

Small Coaling Tower

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized

This is a coaling tower produced by Walworth Models about 20 years ago. It is in O Gauge and is kit built in Nickel Silver. The kit was made by friend Mike and passed to me for painting and weathering.

We did struggle to get a colour photo of this item, so some things had to be presumed.

This was quite a long process, as airbrushing two coats of etching primer and two top coats of Matt Black into every crevice is not easy!

The key to getting a good finish is cleaning the finished item to ensure all residue of flux is removed before painting. Mike went over the model with a fibre brush and I gave it a good wash before undercoating started.

All wood effects and the engineers bricks were added before weathering.

I have included a photo of the undercoats, top coats and weathering so that the progression can be seen

The model will now be returned to Mike to have the narrow gauge track for the tubs of coal. He will also add some scattered coal in the necessary places.

Preperation

Finishing Off

O Gauge Coal Wagon

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

This is a very old kit made wagon in white-metal. It was made and painted by my Friend Mike, over thirty years ago and has been left to me to weather. It looks great and will be likely be on the tail end of a rake to keep the couplings tight, well it has the weight!

Both sides and both ends photographed.

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25046 Touch up weathering

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

This was one of the first Locos I purchased when I moved to O Gauge. It has performed very well over the years, but the weathering needed being touched up to refresh its appearance.

25046 was one of the last 25’s to retain its nose doors and head code wound back to zero’s. I believe it was like this up to 1979.

Two recent purchases

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

These are my first two purchases for several months, even although I had no intention of buying anything at the recent GOG ‘meet up’ at Bury St Edmunds.

LNER.BR(E) Y4

I have started the research on the five locos in this Class – and they all had differences to each other, too numerous to name, so this is going to be a medium term project. They were all allocated to Stratford (30A) in the fifties. I Think there are better ‘fits’ for the number it carries at the moment.

This is a model that I have been looking for for many years, in fact I never knew a kit even existed in O Gauge. The Loco has a few faults I need to investigate, but these are all bodywork related. It is a perfect runner and that is the main thing – I am no mechanical expert – just a painter!

LNER.BR(E) Y10

Again I have started some research on the two locos in this Class. They were East Anglia Based, mainly at Great Yarmouth – something a bit odd about these Sentinel locos was that one lasted until 1953, but was still in LNER livery. But I did find a photograph of the final loco with a painted or chalked front 6, so that it had a sort of BR number.

The model is not in very good condition and needs some hefty bodywork completed – but thankfully it is a great runner and other than a clean is perfect. The build quality of this brass kit is not good, but it was a cheap purchase.

GOG Meet up at Bury St Eds.

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Yesterday at the above meet-up, we took my Sons layout ‘Ashwell Moor’ and his stock to this great little event. If you are into O Gauge and live in East Anglia – this is the place to visit. See you next year!

All photos by my wife (Johns Mum)

Baseboard rebuild

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized

Again, about six months ago I was given two parts of a proposed layout. There was a very flimsy main board and a sector-plate fiddle yard board. Both were ready made and had been sparingly glued together, the main board was slightly warped. The main problem was, they were supplied by different Laser-cut baseboard suppliers and had different heights! The group member I was helping with this project wanted them joined together to form a one-piece layout.

As you can see by recent posts the layout was hoping to be used for a O 16.5 layout, and to be honest the boards I was given were meant for a 009 construction! I have just completed the layout after extending the sector plate, joining the boards together, reinforcing both sides and ends, making the whole layout level and finally making an optional entry to the fiddle yard. I also think the backboard height is to small for O 16.5, but the extra cost would have made the project too expensive.

I used nearly £35 worth of wood and glue and three days to complete. The morale of the story – buy all boards required from a proven source with set standards and consider all aspects of what will be needed. Buying cheaply is not always the best policy! The layout will need corking and this should cover up the bad sector-plate design and the horrible bold holes!

O16.5 Kit Built Loco

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

This was given to me about 6 months ago – and asked to do what I could! It was already kit built from a oldish Peco Kit. It was painted all over bright yellow, with light red buffer beams, it was hand painted and not very good at that. I had some quite old paint stripper and hoped it would do the job for me – thankfully it removed most of the offending paint!

After cleaning it down and filling a couple of holes in the white-metal cab, I did a complete repaint after undercoating, then weathering.

I hope its owner will appreciate the time and effort on what was a pretty average loco!