Fancy a dirty weekend?

To finish off the HBA/HEA hopper production line there needed to be some dirty versions and they have now been created.

Mirroring all of the other versions you have seen already you'll be able to form dirty trains with an odd clean wagon or go for any mixture that you want.

Clean HEA Hoppers

These have been sitting quietly for a couple of days so it seemed a good idea to finally share them.

In a bid to increase the maximum speed of the HBA hoppers and following a number of trials the last 200 were built with Bruninghaus springs rather than the 13 leaf friction link suspension originally fitted which allowed the maximum speed to be raised to 75mph so the hoppers could work in the fastest Speedlink trains. The modification was successful and the majority of the friction link fitted HBAs were subsequently rebuilt in line with the last 200 hoppers.

The decision to recode the modified wagons with the HEA TOPS code was made in late 1981 which means that from 1979 - 1981 the last 200 hoppers and any of the early conversions ran with Bruninghaus springs and the TOPS code HBA.

The HBA set

The main models in 'clean' textures for the HBA hoppers are now finished. There are two different shapes, each in two contrasting liveries.

First HBA Hopper

After a good while spent dealing with a hectic life that has all but precluded any development time it's great to have found chance to make a bit of progress with the air braked hoppers this week.

The very earliest version of an HBA hopper, with long link suspension and a central ladder (a feature of about the first 230 wagons) is now basically complete with the exception of LODs and carries a slightly weary all over maroon livery without any Railfreight logos as these were the exception with the maroon liveried wagons.

A while ago one of the testers commented about the lack of a label clip on the underframe of the wagons and these were duly added! While working on the models this week it struck me that an empty label clip is pretty pointless on a wagon in traffic so there are now different labels for empty and loaded version. The detail picture below shows this to effect along with some of the other detail carried by the hoppers.

Bullion Carriers: Body and Underframe Complete

The major push this week has seen the last of the rebuilding of elements and adding of detail to both the underframe area and body of the bullion van for Train Simulator 2013.

All that's left now is to construct the friction damped B5 bogies that will go under these vehicles. The bogies have been mocked up and the frames are in the process of being fabricated.

Bullion Carriers: Underfloor bits and pieces

 

Much of the effort in the past week has been in completing and upgrading where required the under frame equipment on the Bullion Van for use in this project and others. The under frame is now dual braked as accurately as is practical from our reference photographs and has had the brake rigging modified for use with the B5 bogies that will be fitted.

The air cylinder, distributor and air cylinders have been extensively reworked as has the vacuum cylinder. A new dynamo has been built for good measure.

Next up is a fair bit of fine detailing on the coach body and adding the interior along with making those B5 bogies!

The Devil is in the Detail

The last modelling session was one of those strange ones where there seemed a lot of effort and no major impact.

It was detail time with the vents and periscopes going on the roof. The underframe has gained most of the required equipment and the ends have have had their last bits added.

The interior is still a quandary at the moment with most reports mentioning bullet proof double glazing, heavy tint and even mirror effect glass. Photographs do support this so it may be a case of making the vestibule visible and something creative with the the saloon windows.

Brake Van Variety

Been hanging on to this little shot of the completed brake van shapes for a bit and didn't get round to posting them!

These are both from lot 3129 and built to dia 1/506 with the right hand one being as constructed with a through vacuum pipe. The van on the left has had it's vacuum pipe removed as gained (like some other vans but by no means all) a grey end when this happened to signify that it is now effectively unfitted.

Once the HBA and HEA hoppers have finished being kicked around to make them look dirty and used it will be the turn of the brake vans which are looking way too clean!

HBA/HEA Hoppers: Brake Van first spin.

A first peak of a much too clean and sparkly dia 1/506 brake van from lot 3129 for use in the scenarios bundled with the HBA/HEA hoppers and other future packs as required. The default LMS van was looking a bit weird bring up the rear of partially fitted and unfitted trains in the late 1970s so we felt something a little different was required.

The model, originally produced as a CAR (through air and vacuum pipes) for inclusion in the VDA pack, has had a bit of an upgrade in a couple of areas along with the removal of the air pipes and visible controls inside the van.

It's safe to say that this has possibly been one of the biggest minefields yet and there is almost a picture to prove everything. Lot 3129 should (according to the diagram book) have been built with plain bearings and spindle buffers but every picture shows them with roller bearings and hydraulic buffers, just like dia 1/507 which covered the final two lots produced by British Railways and the subject of the CAR model.

Many of the vans had their through pipes removed towards the end of their careers with a subsequent change of TOPS code from CAP to CAO and these will be produced too, once the last little issues are sorted with this model.

HBA/HEA Hoppers: Scenario TSR

This little gem came from the scenario builder showing a class 37 8N98 1032 Healey Mills - Tyne Yard as it enters a 20mph temporary speed restriction during its journey north.

This service forms one of the two scenarios to be included in the HBA/HEA Hoppers add-on under development for Train Simulator 2013.

PEC-04: Railfreight Hoppers in Game

After quite a lot of tinkering to get just the right effect the (almost complete) master versions of the Railfright liveried HBA/HEA hoppers have made it into Train Simulator 2013. There's still a bit of texture work to complete, most notably on the wheels!

Each model sports five different variations of Railfreight logo and lettering which select randomly when placed in the game but can be further modified if required.

NSM: Fencing - The Second Batch

Another outbreak of fencing today.

The top picture shows three variations of timber railed fencing for field boundaries. The choice of 3, 4 or 5 rails depends on the kind of livestock likely to be kept in the field. While the four rail fence is suitable for larger livestock the five rail is required to keep sheep and especially lambs where they should be.

The second fence type is a fairly typical railway paled wooden fence with concrete posts. An all wood version to a slightly different design will follow in the next few days.

NSM: Fencing - The First Batch

Just popping my head out of the bunker to show these fencing creations for North Staffs Minerals that have staggered into existence in the last few days.

The top picture is of some 5 rail timber fencing in a style used for railway boundaries.

Second down is some more familiar 5 wire fencing with timber posts complete with straining posts at each end of the run and some double sided straining posts that can be used along the length of the fence.

The final picture is three variants of fencing created from sleepers with pointed open and closed spaced versions and a flat top, close spaced version.