Nearlymen

Wow such quick replies, wonderful ! I must confess I've never seen a pic of a real example, but its a neat feature to incorporate. I kind of thought there might be a bit of imagineering involved but hey, if it looks right !! Thank you astropsidings for the great link ! An absolute mine of info, much appreciated on that one !! As for the gents.... green it will be !

Hi, Not the strangest question I've ever asked, but.....hmmmm !! SR cast iron gents urinals, what colour ? I've seen pics of GWR examples, some heritage lines paint them black, did the southern have a particular colour ? Likewise was the scheme used into BR days ? I I'd like to incorporate one into a model, it's an interesting feature !, but if I'm going to do it then do it right ! Any ideas on my dilemma ? !

The bemo HOe loco does look a bit large but the pics of the lilliput coaches in pullman colours !! Now they look nice and somewhat inspiring ! Thank you all for your prompt replies. Cheers Clive

Strange little question ! Has anyone used the bemo swiss Pullman coaches repainted as british outline 009 narrow gauge Pullmans ? Looking at pics of them they look like really nice models albeit at 1/87 but if in the real world they were bigger than uk prototypes they may pass at 1/76 ? They are unfortunately pricey but I'm wondering if anyone has experiences with them ? I did look for pics online hoping someone had placed them behind a Bachmann baldwin or similar but alas no luck. Cheers Clive

All well that ends well ! Replacement loco arrived from hattons, this time with 2 cowcatchers and I got them to pre test run it for me for good measure ( didn't want another mishap), once again I have to say lovely little loco !

Sigh ! Hattons wont send me the missing cowcatcher, I have to return the whole loco for a replacement ! Well I had a Lyn in my hands for 24 hours ! By this time next week might have a replacement in my hands !

Lovely little model, alas my accessory bag contained one cowcatcher not a pair which was a bit annoying. Hopefully Hattons will be able to send me the missing part !

I knew if I asked I'd get some really interesting replies ! Which leads me on to the obvious, what did a Pullman replenishment/gas facility look like and what did one of the 39 gassing places look like ? It sounds like a neat feature to put in a layout ! Thanks for the replies much appreciated. Cheers Clive

With Hornby expanding its maunsell dining and restaurant coaches in 2021 it got me wondering how did they replenish the coaches ? Was it just done at the destination staion platform ? I.e. foodstuffs were just wheeled along the platform and loaded on ? What about the gas needed for cooking in the kitchen coaches was this likewise or was there refuelling in carriage sidings ? Was the foodstuffs sourced from local suppliers or did railway companies have their own market gardens ? I know these are not really rolling stock queries but its interesting to know how these operations actually worked, plus someone out there is bound to know ! Cheers Clive

Hi, Just out of curiosity what did SR fixed distant signals look like ? That is if such a beast existed ? I've seen pics of GWR fixed distants but after a quick trawl through the net I couldn't see any SR examples ? Would they be rail built posts with the arm just bolted direct to the post or something else. I've no real reason for asking except its one of those things that crossed my mind and I had no answer for ! I'm sure out there is someone in the know ! Cheers Clive

The latest issue of narrow gauge news magazine, has some new cad pics in which it appears the front end has now been modified to look more like the prototype, looks much better. Looks like they slightly widened the front running plate above the front truck where it meets the cylinders. This allows the full depth side skirts without the damn awful side cut outs ! It's slightly over scale but looks so much better ! I like it !

Hmmmm those cads look great I must say but.......and as a draffy I hate to say this but the cut out to allow the front bogie to swing looks awful ! I will be getting one but that really needs some looking at and some attention. The old backwoods lyn kit didnt suffer that, and the langley kit although it had its flaws also looked better at the front end. I hope the front end buffer beam is detachable as a bit of creative thinking, a bit of modelling on the pc and the help of shapeways should yield a better result. I guess the manning wardle experience with 12" rad turnouts has yielded this compromise but personally I'd go for a little dimensional licence to give a better looking front end. But apart from that it looks very promising. Looking forward to seeing pre prod examples. Clive

Just had a quick look again at this thread that I started a while ago, and would like to say thanks for all the comments and suggestions its much appreciated. Cheers Clive

Once again thank you all for such detailed answers, I thought somebody here would have the information, it's much appreciated. One small thing though and thats both coaches in the clip are green. I took a snap shot of the screen and colour corrected the picture slightly to approximate the true colour balance which then enhances highlights the detail as well. By the way, if you look at the written details on the clip you'll see it's a teaser to buy DVD's and they look very interesting too ! Many thanks Clive (Not sure why the screen shot won't show ? Oh well ?)

Thank you both for the replies ! You actually have said what I thought(but didn't write !), i.e. they look a lot like BR Southern Green to me but I did'nt want to preload my original question and steer anyone down that route. All the info I've found so far suggests they went from Malachite to Crimson, or just stayed malachite but revarnished, but the video kind of suggests that some may have got a full green repaint, interesting eh ! Now onto the diag 407 question ! Any takers out there / Cheerio Clive

Hi, A couple of ex LSWR rebuilt coach questions for those in the know ! When Hornby was originally going to release these coaches the BR livery was going to be in BR Green but was changed to be Crimson. Now a little bit of research pulls up that these coaches were actually in re-varnished Malachite with BR lettering after nationalisation (some staying in this livery, some being repainted in Crimson). My query is how dark did revarnishing actually make Malachite go ? I found a short bit of film on youtube showing an Ex LSWR set down in the Seaton/Sidmouth area and allowing for colour change in the film they look pretty dark to me ? Does anyone have any first hand memories of said colours or maybe a better colour pic ? https://youtu.be/bHjCxSN7vEk the clip is about 44 seconds in. Secondly when Originally announced Hornby had a pic of a green set in BR days (set 51 at Evercreech Junction in 1958) on their website in which one of the coaches was a diag 407 1st/3rd lav brake which Hornby don’t manufacture. Does anyone have a side elev pic of a Diag 407 ? Can this variant be cut and shut from the models Hornby currently make ? I did a bit of digging and know this particular coach ended up in the national collection but I’m interested in what the side elevation differences were from other diagrams https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/news/the-engine-shed/stop-press-ex-lswr-48-maunsell-rebuilt-58-coaches Cheers Clive (slightly edited to for clarification)

OK I get it, people prefer to moan than try to get answers. Don't worry I won't make that mistake again on this Forum. Cheerio

Blimey ! Anyone would think it's difficult to log onto a manufacturers facebook forum and ask a question !! LOL ! There you go ! Clive Roper to Heljan A/S‎So July has been and gone now, what is the latest delivery date and information regarding the first outstanding batch of the Lynton and Barnstaple OO9 Locos. An update would be appreciated. Heljan A/S to Clive Roper We have just received the second batch (shipment) amd are testing as we speak Clive Roper to Heljan A/S Have these models been changed/improved from the initial batch released ? I.e. have the pony truck riding problems over Peco points and the valve gear breakages that have been reported on model forums been rectified ?

I posted a message to Heljan on their facebook page (community section) which was replied to today. This says that the outstanding locos in the first delivery have now arrived with them and are undergoing testing. Whether or not this means they have been or are undergoing modification I know not but thats the latest news ! I also emailed Hattons who were not sure what the current situation was ! You'll have to log into Facebook and then navigate to the Heljan page to read the community comments. Cheers Clive

A little tale about the B4 ! Back in 1968 I saw '96 Corral Queen down at Dibles Wharf in Southampton when she was out of use alongside RSH Bonnie Prince Charlie. My Dad was looking to purchase a steam loco and we crawled all over both locos (I was 5 at the time !). Due to lack of funds Dad could only make one purchase and bought Bonnie Prince Charlie for 400 pounds (and moved the loco to didcot)!! What was the asking price for the pair that we couldn't afford ? 700 quid !! Happy to say though both BPC and Coral Queen made it into preservation, I got a lifetime of fun driving Charlie and all ended up well !I'm looking forward to this release as I'll get a B4 and modify it to represent Coral Queen as I remember her ! Cheerio Clive

No Sooner do I post and it's sorted ! Cheers Clive

I Knew that someone would have a better grip on it than me on this and maybe my idea was a bit simplistic but interesting though nevertheless I think if one ignored the bar frame issue but hey ho !. About 10 years ago I was down Merehead quarry in Somerset watching an S160 and a 9F double head a 1000 ton stone train, which they to be honest romped away with, damn good to watch though ! Very impressive and something I'd like to see again either at 1:1 or 1:76 !! Cheerio Clive

Interesting thoughts on the S160, I don't think a commercial model would be made but here's a thought. The Roco loco looks ok with OO British outline stock but the biggest headache for me is height. Now if you were to ignore the difference in length between HO and OO but rescaled the width and height in the form of a replacement 1 piece resin body and a new resin tender body to drop on the existing chassis a very passable loco would result. Ok the length of the loco would be out a little but you could make the tender the correct length to compensate for this. Possibly this would be the most easy route to a 00 'ish S160 but in the long run always expensive. I'm thinking of something like the 'Golden Arrow Production' Resin body kits, mind you getting a firm like Golden arrow to take this on would still be a problem but much easier than getting Roco/Bachmann/Hornby etc to do a loco from scratch ! Thinking about it a bit more, could you cut down a Hornby Railroad 9F chassis to a passable S160 2-8-0 chassis, would be much cheaper if a resin body was available ? Oh well just an idea. Cheerio Clive

Blimey ! By reading the above I can only come to the conclusion that WC 34002 Salisbury must be the most popular loco ever as to my knowledge it's never featured in a commercial release ! Who'd have known eh ! LOL ! Cheerio Clive

That made I laugh ! Yesterday I was going to take my bear ('Panda' imaginative name I know !) down to Swanage for a fifty years later pic but in the end thought I'd look a twonker, although my Dad now 79 who took the original pic was more than keen to do it again ! Great day out down Swanage though ! Cheerio Clive