IWCR

There are a number of 7mm coaches available as kits. Roxy do several Bogie LBSC some of which are correct for IOW. (Look for IOW shape mark for the relevant ones) Alan Gibson also produced most types (Currently not available) Others have produced the Bogie LBSC push pull set, this however is as mainland and needs the driving end of the trailer altering for IOW. Some other odd LBSC and LSWR relevant types have also been made. SECR bogie carriages were available from Bill Bedford, I cant vouch for these and internet pictures of the brake 3rd etches appear to show major errors. The saloon looked OK Roxy also do some LSWR parcel vans and a variety of correct wagons. Roxy for Stroudley LBSC 4 wheelers as previous post, also for an add-on set of IOW specific parts for a full rake of 4. D&S produced several relevant LCDR 4 wheelers including the Push Pull set 484, these have not been available for a long time though a push pull kit was on Ebay last year. Coverage of Island types is actually reasonably good but as always with kits availabilty can be very patchy. If you are looking to do an IOW prototype buy anything relevant when you can, you might never see it again. Pete

Looks Good One thing making the lining look over prominent is that it appears to be done around the edge of your printed panels. In reality it is on the curved edge of the mouldings resulting in a narrower plain mahogony gap between the lines. This could be achieved by printing the lining on decal paper and applying seperately. Printing finishes like this has great promise. I intend to try it at N gauge and apply over a clear carriage side. With the much smaller scale mouldings can be portrayed by shadowing/highlighting in the finish rather than an actual raised surface. Pete

Hello The pipework and injector provided in the kit above looks similar to that on the preserved O2. This appears on IOW O2s during there later life and presumably some mainland ones at this time. However earlier photos (pre war) show a different injector and pipework with the injector mounted horizontally tucked right up under the running plate, these match build drawings. The water valve was part of the injector, later fit had a seperate valve remaining in this location. The water valve is operated by a vertical rod connected to a short lever just inboard of the cab opening The photo of 30200 above shows a further variation with a vertically mounted injector with the water valve bolted direct to it top right. The steam pipe would be opposite this behind the steps (comes from under the cab floor) The pipe bottom right is the delivery pipe to the clack valves on the boiler. Opposite this behind the steps would be the overflow pipe. Pete

Yes lubricators. These feed the driving axleboxes. The alternative position for these was I believe just around the corner on the side of the tank facing the boiler. This location would not be visible in most photos (or models) .As always, for a specific loco and date, check photos. Pete

My statement re materials / finish is correct. I have worked with the real thing enough times. The cab opening beading is a cast steel ovoid Tee section rivetted to the sides. The door top is a circular steel tube approx 1" OD slotted over the door plate. The Westinghouse bands are sheet steel clamping the cladding sheet. Oily in the above photos as normal Note: many years ago in preservation Calbourne had wooden cladding to the pump with brass bands: (NOT authentic.) The Splasher trim is solid brass Pete

Splasher Trim: Yes Brass but at least one engine not fitted. In SR livery this was polished, during BR times this "should" be painted over however most drivers cleaned the paint off and polished again. Westinghouse bands normally black painted steel, sometimes burnished, often covered in oil/muck. All the beading round the cab opening including the door top is burnished steel. Appears slightly yellow in the Kernow pictures but this could be just the lighting rarther than Brass colour. Pete

Regarding tank repair plates. Some locos had part length plates or 2 different height pieces on a side. To confuse the issue further some tanks were swopped around with servicable tanks from scrapped engines being reused. The tanks on Calbourne had earlier been fitted to a loco with shorter nameplates. IOW namplates are 3 different lengths according to length of name, Calbourne is the medium length. When these tanks were fitted is unknown. Other detailed differences were common, for example: Coupling rods, normally fluted, some however not. One loco did not have the brass beading on the front splashers If you want a specific engine for a specific date you will need dated photos for reference. Pete

"Brighton" was indeed Westinghouse fitted from new. (1878) It attended the Paris Exhibition in 1878 being awarded a Gold Medal for its design and construction. Whilst in France it was used to demonstrate the Air Brake to the French by the Westinghouse Brake Company. My understanding is that the locomotive originally intended for this had failed and Stroudley was asked by Westinghouse for permission to use "Brighton" in its place, this was duly granted. A Terrier was chosen for the Paris Exhibition due to its low weight for shipping, the name "Brighton" was specifically allocated as the Exhibition engine otherwise this would have likely been used on a more prestigous class of loco. 136 years on "Brighton" is still running (now as W11 "Newport") and still Westinghouse fitted. Pete

I have the DJH ivatt 2 tank, now 3/4 built, no problems so far. Looks good. It came with sprung buffers. The kit was updated some years ago with some improvements eg : cylinders brought into correct position, earlier kits had them slightly wide, good for clearance between coupling rods and crosshead but visually wrong. Some of the details are lacking but can readily be added. The standard tank is 95% the same kit. Pete

The 02's daily hauled 150 ton trains up a prolonged 1 in 70 gradient on the IOW. 5 mk1s at 25 mph on the level yes, easily. Problems would be adhesion in the wet and water capacity if over any real distance. Pete

I can confirm that the preserved O2 retains the original cab, this has not been altered or rebuilt during preservation. Indeed LSWR paint has been found on parts of the exterior during work. Kernow also have a General Arrangement drawing copied from the original LSWR drawing. I suspect perceived mismatches with the model are due to the roof edge thickness which likely has to be overscale for manufacuring practicalities, (The vertical lip would only be around 0.5mm to include roof thickness and angle iron edge). On a painted model this area is black, both roof and cab side above any lining, this will reduce the visibility of any slight discrepancy. Pete

No problem A 60 foot high screen wall between the railway and their property would ensure nobody from the sea wall (or the trains) can see their house. I suspect they would complain about that however. Pete

Regarding clack valves (or not) on the side of the boiler. This depends on which type of boiler is fitted, several different versions were built to fit these engines over the years. The same boiler could also be used on some other classes. Some of these had clack valves on the boiler side, others had backhead mounted combined injector steam valves & clacks. Any specific loco could have had different arrangements at different times during its lifetime. Only real way to tell what is correct is datable photographs. Pete

The "Rivets" on the side tanks are nor rivets. The side tanks were originally heated by exhaust steam returned from the smokebox through the pipes visible on the model, the raised items at the front of the tanks are vents for this. In the days of feed pumps this was a good idea and the tank was also lagged. This was covered by an external cladding sheet attached by nuts onto captive studs. it is the nuts which are visible and they should be hexagonal. The Terriers retained this cladding sheet to the end, long after heating and lagging had been removed. Most rivetting as originally built was countersunk & flush. In later years prominent rivets do appear on smokeboxes and a mix of flush and raised was also common. As many people have said, in their later years all the Terriers were different in details. Model looks very good and I will order one. My unbuilt kit can rest awhile longer (along with all the other unbuilt kits) Pete

Hello I have been involved with the restoration of an earlier Pull - Push set than the Swanages, currently operational but only as hauled stock. Dummy driving equipment is currently fitted but in the long term it is intended to bring this in to use. Some years ago the question of operating this was raised with the then Railway Inspectorate, the given opinion then was that this would be permitted however the locomotive would still need to be crewed with both a driver and fireman when propelling along with with the driver in the carriage cab. Pete.

I have no problems with the phrase Modern Image I would use this to describe a layout portraying the current day. The passage of time will of course effect this. For example a layout built in the 1970's showing the BR blue era was at that time "Modern Image" The same layout today would not be, it is now a historical model and should be defined by its era. Pete

My E1 also has missing instructions however I also have an E1R (a modification of the same thing) this calls for a DS10 motor for which the chassis etch includes a mount. No gear set specified. Pete

The Isle of Wight has two ex SECR brake thirds and a composite, these are all the 54ft underframe version. The brakes were modified with larger brake / luggage spaces for IOW use and the birdcages (also roof ventilators) removed to suit the IOW loading gauge. They did last till the end of steam and latterly were in BR green, unfortunatly they are the wrong length for the Bachmann model, yet to see if a cut and shut is practical. Pete

Hello All mapping may have some errors/ommisions but the OS is one of the best there is. Everything shown however was surveyed by one person and drawn in by a different one. (2 possibities of error) Many updates do not use a resurvey at all but information only for specific areas. Details of a new housing development for example are sent to the OS by the local council, initial updates are drawn in from this, (is the suppplied information right?) later this may be covered by a resurvey perhaps years later only then perhaps finding an error. Most modern resurveys are taken from sterioscopic aerial photos. A site I have been looking at for a potential model is covered by a 25" to the mile OS map, I also have the railways own survey at 40' to the inch, the latter is a much larger scale, extremely detailed and show s everything very well. Comparing the two shows a slight distortion in the overall site shape hence slight variations in all building locations etc. The site is on a considerable slope and it is apparant that the railway survey has been taken from measurments along the ground (ie not horizontal) the OS survey would have used theodolites etc and is actually the more accurate. Pete

Brush painting carried on a lot longer than many would think. I would be surprised if any of the ex SR van designs were spray painted as a norm. They are a fiddly design with external steel angle framework, this is akward to spray with many nooks and crannies to reach. Cerrtainly all the ones obtained by the IOW had been brush painted. Some would have been painted late 70's The design also makes them unsuitable to be put through a carriage washing plant hence the very filthy condition many were in. Pete

Pretty sure the green one had black ends except for blue patch painted repaired areas, I think the others had been all-over blue. The vehicle was totally plastered in brake dust and grime, looked just the same as the others, ie dirty brown with blue painted patch repairs As noted in an earlier post windows looked no different to the rest of the sides, certainly very little light through them. The colour was only found when the body was being removed and it was realised that blue hadnt been carried. The others were clearly in blue under the dirt with the only traces of BR green, red and SR green paint apparant where the surface was damaged or around door edges etc. Pete

Regarding Colours. The Isle of Wight Steam Raliway bought 10 SR PMVs straight out of BR parcel service around 1980. 2 of these were fairly presentable in BR blue presumably not long having been repainted. The remainder were a very dirty brown with the odd recently repainted blue plank / door etc where repairs had been carried out. Some had had newer numbers / lettering stuck on over the dirt when the originals had become illegible Under the dirt one of these vans was later found to be actually still in green, the others were all blue. Pete

Looks Good I have built one of these carrages, Brake third 4168 (5 still in the stash) I also put in seats, pictures etc. I had some head scratching with the glazing, i eventually put individual pieces in like youself. Rather than gluing I secured them with strips of brown parcel tape, this can be cut to represent the internal timber work and is self coloured, it can also be readliy peeled off and moved if need be when fresh, no risk of glue on the glazing. Pete

If anyone is tempted doing an O gauge model / diorama; Agenoria models do a very nice kit for a "Kitchener" class Hawthorn Leslie which is correct for Invincible. Invincible herself is preserved at Havenstreet, Isle of Wight, currently out of traffic but on display. Painted in her original Woolwich Arsenal livery. Pete

Hello The local council Records Office is well worth checking. They will hold relevant maps and probably some photographs. Most railway structures did not concern the local councils to much hence their records may be scarce on these however all the surrounding non-railway buildings would have needed planning permissions etc. A project I am researching had a building of unknown purpose adjoining the station, this building was shown on maps and the railway facing side appeared in many photographs, other than that, nothing. The building itself, the station and the whole surrounding area is long gone and has been redeveloped. A visit to the local records office produced the planning application for this building along with the original drawings. Subesequently I have found some 75% of the buildings surrounding the staion site, some plans give snippets of railway information eg: applications from coal merchants showing sidings, huts etc. Pete