jjnewitt

I'm not convinced by the Wiki on this at all. Sorry to quote Parkin again but he states that the first prototypes of what became the B4 appeared in 1956. There were a further 4 prototypes built and then a short production run which were fitted under the Red Dragon and Bristolian trainsets. When it was found that the bogies could do what was asked of them (ride acceptably for 150,000 miles) it was announced that they were to be fitted under new build coaches which was in 1963. That ties in with the introduction date on Wiki at least. I haven't seen anything to question what Parkin has written. Clearly B4 bogies were fitted to Mk1s prior to the intoduction of the Mk2s as there are dated photos showing them, including the one of the Red Dragon I linked earlier. These were rettrofits not new builds though. On another issue of pedantry there was no such thing as a B1 or BR1 bogie. There was simply the BR Coach Bogie which came in various guises, single bolster, double bolster, heavy duty, etc. There was a BR1 (light) and a BR 2 (heavy) axlebox but that wasn't related to the bogie deisgn. Then there was the Commonwealths and then the B4 bogies. Justin

How did this thread end up on Mk1s with B4 bogies? Parkin in his tome on Mk1s states that both the Birstolian and Red Dragon trainsets gained B4 bogies as part of that particular bogies development. There are certainly some under the Mk1s in this John Wiltshire image of the Red Dragon. Parkin doesn't give any dates for the fitting of them but a quick glace through some John Hodge images would sugest late 61 or early 62. Before then the Red Dragon Mk1s seemed to have been fitted with BR Coach Bogies and was uniform choolate and cream. I'd suggest the John Wilshire image linked is likely to be 62 rather than 61 going by the maroon Mk1s in the formation. I was under the impression that the GWR and BR(W) that followed (unlike other mebers of the big four/regions) did their untmost to avoid a uniform train until the Mk1s appeared with anything and everything going in the formation! Justin

Of course if everybody did that sort of thing then you might find there's no suppliers left out there or a lot less product to choose from... The wagon looks very nice Adam. Justin

Of course none of this stopped John Ahern building something very similar in OO for the Madder Valley. :-) Just to be pedantic. 1' 11 5/8" scales out at 7.875mm in 4mm scale.

No rush. Not open till Tuesday. That doesn't sound good. Hope you weren't in it at the time! Justin

I've got a reasonable number of screw coupling etches (definately more than 5). I'll put them aside for you Mr P. Justin

I've got more Instater Links than you can shake a shunter's pole at, less of other things though. We're ok thanks. Have sucessfully steered clear of the nastys so far. Hopefully that will remain the case! Justin

I am pleased to announce that Rumney Models will reopen to orders on the 1st September 2020. There will be a few minor changes to how things were done before. Please make note of the following points of information: Lead times from my etchers have increased since the beginning of the year and given this I will no longer be taking payment for any items that I do not have in stock. I am happy to take orders for items that are not in stock, but payment will not be asked for until I actually have them. This however excludes those items listed on the special etches catalogue and I may ask for a deposit for large orders. To this end… All orders by email first. Please email any order for confirmation even if you intend on paying by cheque. I don’t want to have to sort out postal orders which include payment for items I don’t have. Postage and packing rates. For the rest of the year (2020) I will not be charge postage and packing on orders over £20. For orders of £20 and under P&P will be £1.50. postage and packing rates will be reviewed in the new year. I am planning on placing orders with my etchers on the following dates over the next six months. 1st October, 1st December, 1st February. Please bear this in mind. Opening hours: Rumney Models is a part time busines, “office hours” are currently Tuesday (half day), Thursday (half day), Friday (all day) and Saturday (all day). Please do not expect a response to orders or enquiries outside of those times. I’ve really enjoyed actually having time in the evenings to myself rather than spending it answering emails/orders and I’m not going to start doing it again. Cheques. I find it amazing the number of cheques that are made out in a way that I cannot cash despite it being clear on my ordering page and order form who they should be made out to. It’s a pain to sort out and something I feel I shouldn’t have to do. All cheques should be made payable to “Justin Newitt”. Please allow 28 days for delivery. Turnaround should be much quicker but note that I will only be going to the post office once or twice a week (most likely Tuesday and/or Thursday) which will cause a lag depending on when an order is placed. Also anything arriving by post will be quarantined for 3 days before opening and I will wait for cheques to clear (typically 2 days) before sending an order out. I can use my smartphone app to bank cheques but if the app doesn’t like the cheque (it happens occasionally) and I have to take it into a branch then that will create further delays. If Covid rears its ugly head either locally, or heaven forbid in my daughter’s nursery or in the home this could cause delays of up to 2 weeks, not to mention any localised disruption to the postal system. In short please be patient, I am a one man band with a young family not Amazon prime! Happy modelling all. Justin

Rumney Models Trading Update Since mid-March we have as a family been ‘shielding’ from Coronavirus as one of us is on the NHS vulnerable list. This has meant that I have been unable to go to a post office and therefore trade normally. It was announced recently that shielding will end on the 1st August for England and 16th August for Wales. This means that in the eyes of the government we can return to a socially distanced ‘normal’. Personally, I think our current government is mostly blind when it comes to Coronavirus and hasn’t got a clue where it’s going but we have to take note of the official advice. Given our proximity to the Welsh border we will keep a close eye on what is happening in Monmouthshire and make firm decisions as a family nearer the time but, as things stand, I am planning to reopen to mail orders at the beginning of September. We have a much needed family holiday booked towards the end of August (usually taken in Cornwall but will probably be taken at home) and I have a stack of jobs to do around the house before Autumn which makes reopening earlier a little tricky; no Furlough layouts being built here it’s been wall to wall work and childcare. When I do reopen I want to be able to give a proper service rather than a piecemeal one. This could of course change if there is a significant deterioration in current situation with Coronavirus and a change in the advice given by the Welsh and English NHS. I’m sorry that I bring news of an immediate reopening but obviously the health of my family takes precedence over anything else. Justin

A quick google search brings up a previous topic on RMweb on this subject: The portion for Pwllheli was BSK, SK, FK with an additional SK on Saturdays. An RU was included in the train all the way to Aberystwyth (but not Pwllheli) until the early sixties. Not sure about being out of gauge but the main reason for not seeing Castles and Kings on the Cambrian was that they were far too heavy for the line. A Manor was as big as it got. Justin

United Dairies had plenty of Ro-Rail trailers including the SR ones. See: Great Western Wagons Appendix by J H Russell page 87 BR Parcels and Passenger Rated Stock Volume 2 page 67 Justin

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Jubilees were very late in the day on the Central Wales. They didn't arrive until the ended up at Shrewsbury in the 1960s, displaced from elsewhere. It was all 8Fs, Black and Std 5s, G2s and class 4 tanks before then. The line would have been upgraded for the significant freight traffic that travelled over it rather than passenger work. I'm not sure this is true. I've never seen a Std 2 2-6-0 on the Mid Wales (Moat lane to Three Cocks) while it was open. The standard 2s were heavier than their Ivatt sisters and according to their Wiki entries had a higher route availabilty (3 as opposed to 2). I think they were too heavy for the line. It was wall to wall Ivatts after the Dean Goods and Cambrian 0-6-0s went. I wonder if this was the reason why BR built Ivatts at Swindon for the area rather than the Std 2 which was on the drawing board at the time. Indeed the two types were being sent to the WR at the same time in 1952/3. The only standard 2 to operate regularly in that area was 78004 which was at Hereford for a long time. It's job was the daily Hereford to Three Cocks freight. I haven't seen any evidence of it getting past Three Cocks but it's possible, at least in the Brecon direction. The only instance I've seen of a Std 2 2-6-0 on the Mid Wales was 78004 (again but this time allocated to Llanelly) which was used to take up the line in 1964, 18 months after it had closed. According to the RCTS book on the class there were several Std 2 2-6-0s in lined green including 78005, 6, 8 & 9. 78005 was the only one painted at Caerphilly (twice, in 60 and again in 62). The book states 78004 was only unlined green which is incorrect as it got lined green in early 62. There are plenty of pictures around showing it in lined green. Justin

They are black and white photos though... Unless you can see the lettering under all the crud you can't tell what livery, if any, they wear. Anything with a company plate was most probably unpainted but my point was that milk tanks were still being painted in private owner liveries post 1942. M.M.B. blue also still counts as a private owner livery. Those tanks were owned by the Milk Marketting Board. Those photos in the geoff Gamble book were taken by David Larkin and they along with others taken by him have appeared elsewhere, most recently in his 2nd volume on BR Parcels and Passenger Rated Stock. There are photos in there, mostly taken in the 70s but none dated earlier than 1963, and all black and white, that show milk tanks still in M.M.B blue, I.M.S red and Express Dairy blue though of course when they were actually painted in those liveries is anyones guess. I still have yet to be convinced about the 'pooling' of milk tanks into the 60s. I don't see the random pattern of milk tanks that you'd expect in such situations. You see a lot of tanks belonging to a certain dairy working to their creameries. As I said earlier there's a difference between organising the distrubution of milk by rail to having responsibility for the milk tank fleet. Incidently St. Ivel was a Unigate brand. Thanks Kevin. I'll gte in touch with him. I'll also have a look at that thesis.

Hi Jim, Do you have any references for that statement? I ask because I'm not convinced that it's true. As I understand it in 1942 the Milk Marketing Board assumed reponsibility for the distrubution of milk around the country to ensure it got to where it was needed as part of the war effort. That isn't the same as assuming control of the rail tank wagons. All the tanks, except for those built by the MOT, still belonged to the dairies with the underframes belonging to the railway companies. There were milk tanks built post 1942 that appeared in private owner liveries, some of those during the war. A quick look through either Great Western Wagons Appendix or Great Western Coaches Appendix Volume 2, both by J H Russell shows several milk tanks built between 1944 and 1948 in the company colours of C.W.S., Express Dairy, Applin & Barrett, Cow & Gate, M.M.B and I.M.S (company colour was red). The lettering was much simplified from pre war but none had grey/silver tanks; or more probably unpainted alumnium as that was what they were clad in. The owner ship plates were only fitted to Express Dairy and United Dairies tanks, by the dairies themselves. Those for ED had lettering around 4" high but those for United Dairies were smaller at around 2 1/2". Again they were aluminium. Neither seemed to appear until after the war. The later Unigate plates contiuned in the same vein as UD. I did a lot of research on those plates when I did my 4mm and 7mm etched ones. Justin Justin

The fist article was entitled West Highland in N and appeared in The January 1990 edition. The author/builder was a Chris Thorp. Not sure on the Oban article. May have been October 1991 going by the cover but my copies are in store and I can’t find the contents for that month online. Justin

Temporary Suspension of Trading Yesterday I received an email from my etching company saying that they were following Scottish government advice and suspending manufacturing due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This obviously means that I now cannot get any more etches done until they restart production and get through any backlog they might have accrued whilst shut. My current stock of etches is ok, though not great after a busy month of mail order. In addition to this, earlier in the week we received a letter saying that one of my immediate family were considered high risk and should self isolate for the next 12 weeks. With absolutely zero chance of them self isolating we are ‘family isolating’ for the suggested length of time, maybe longer who knows? A very kind friend has offered to do our shopping once a week and I have had to use the village post box to get orders out for the past few days. The combination of the above has led me to come to the decision to temporarily suspend trading until such time as the situation improves. Whilst I could continue with what stock I have I feel uncomfortable about having to use the post box to get orders out as nothing is insured against going missing, and this seems an increasingly likely event as the postal system comes under strain due to illness. Such losses would come out of my own pocket and I also may also not be able to replace items lost due to lack of stock. This starts to get too complicated for my liking. I also have to consider when things start up again. If I continue with what I have I can envisage a situation where I’ll have to shut for a period anyway later in the year as I have little stock to sell and I’m waiting for more to arrive or having to cancel autumn exhibitions (should they go ahead) for the same reason. I have got in touch with those who have outstanding items and any orders that are currently in the post will be fulfilled, subject to the etches being available of course. I will continue with commission and development work whilst closed and perhaps get a bit more time to play with the new 3D printer. As soon as one or both of the above change I’ll review the situation and look at starting mail order again. I suspect that both will change around the same sort of time. Happy modelling all and stay away from any nasty viruses. Justin

You need to look for XPS insulation board (extruded polystyrene). Make sure it's XPS and not EPS board (expanded polystyrene) though. There's plenty about in a multitude of thicknesses. They glue the suff between two sheets of OSB and build houses out of it now, without framing a lot of the time (SIPS panels). Justin

The Monmouth branch was open on Wednesday when I went in for supplies. They don't have a post office in the shop. If you go to the W H Smith website you can search for your local branch and find out if it is still open. Does MRJ count as essential supplies? Probably :-) Justin

If it's unfitted then it has 2 shoe brakes (on the Morton clutch side) and no tiebars. Generally for 9' and 10' wheelbase wagons it will only have 4 shoe Morton brakes if it's fitted and then it will also have a tiebar. There are a couple of pictures of V33s in GWR Goods Wagons by Atkins, Beard, Tourret Justin

New items As of today the following new items are available to order: M&SWJR 2-4-0 Loco and Tender Chassis (X.13 - £35) This set of etches is intended for the Nucast Partners kit and can be built in OO, EM and P4. Both Loco and underframe can be built rigid or sprung using High Level hornblocks (not included). CSB plots are built in so if you wish to build it sprung you will not need to worry about setting them up. Removable keeper plates with cosmetic driving wheel spring detail are included as are full brakegear, balance weights and motion bracket/slidebars so there's something visible in between the loco frames. Springing wire is included. Stones Ventilators (X.14 - £2.50) A fret for the distinctive ventilators as fitted to late Midland and LMS Period 1 & 2 coaching stock. The fret consists of 42 x 9 pane ventilators, 12 x 6 pane and 10 x 5 pane. Ivatt Pony Truck Detailing (X.15 - £1.50) A small etch to enable the Brassmasters Ivatt spring controlled pony truck to be built as the swing link version. These were fitted at one end of the Ivatt and BR 2-6-2T locos, the other end being the spring controlled version. The Rumney Models website has been updated with these new items and the latest price list (March 2020) is available to download. Temporary Postage & Packing Rates In response to the Coronavirus pandemic and the cancelation of most of Rumney Models exhibitions for the year I am introducing new temporary postage rates for UK orders for the next few months. A lot of you would have had the opportunity to purchase from Rumney Models without having to pay for delivery and I still want people to have that opportunity. For UK orders received during the rest of March, April, May and June 2020 the following rates will apply. Overseas orders will still be at cost. Orders of no more than £20 - Add £1.50 Orders over £20 - No charge Overseas orders at cost. I will endeavour to maintain as efficient a service as possible during the outbreak but it's likely that trips to the post office will be restricted to one or two times a week. Also, with increased childcare duties due to loss of Grandparent help and no nursery time for my daughter there may be some delay in processing orders and answering emails. Please bear with me. Development News In other news Rumney Models has recently taken delivery of a whizzy resin 3D printer. This will lead to some new exciting new products and in some instances new ways of doing things. It will also mean that certain products that have been unavailable due to issues supplying parts will be able to be reintroduced. Development work is well in hand though with the current Coronavirus outbreak and the loss of work time due to increased childcare responsibilities that may take a little longer than anticipated. Over the next few months several items will be introduced so keep an eye out for updates and new price lists. To give you some idea of what’s coming the Rumney Models freight bogies are going to be reworked to use an etched subframe and printed sides. This may mean that certain types will become temporarily unavailable as I won’t be ordering any more castings for the etched version. When the freight bogies are sorted out then I will release complete Macaw B/Bogie Bolster C kits. These will cover numerous variations from early GWR through to the final vacuum braked examples built in the 1960s. Tooling already exists for the etches, they’ve been waiting, along with some other projects, for readily available parts printed to the required standard. The 7mm Anchor Mount tank wagon kits that I did as a batch last year will become available as a standard item, again the tooling for these already exists. A few of the last remaining axleboxes on the to do list will be released as 3D prints. These will include Hyboxes and LMS/LNER heavy duty axleboxes with appropriate springs. I will also look at making the range available in other scales. Some are already available in S Scale via the S Scale society and 7mm seems to be a distinct possibility as there doesn’t seem to be much around in the way of after market detailing parts like this. We are also going to look at ways of making kits a bit quicker to build where possible. This will not be at the expense of quality though nor simply because I have a 3D printer. Early results are encouraging. Take care everyone in these troubling times and happy modelling. Justin

The problem with not using the Churchward preface is that it implies that there was something very different about these tenders from what came before which is misleading, because there wasn’t. With hindsight perhaps ‘intermediate’ was a really poor choice of term for these tenders and ‘high sided’ would have been a much better and more accurate phrase to use. However as we are stuck with a term that’s at best imperfect adding something that might not make complete logical sense seems to be splitting hairs somewhat. If the accepted term for them is plain ‘intermediate’ then fine, that’s what convention has decided. I can’t imagine that everyone is suddenly going to start calling them Churchward 3500 gallon high sided tenders, though perhaps they should. Don’t be under any illusions though that they weren’t fundamentally a Churchward tender. There wasn’t really anything about them that was an ‘intermediate’ design stage between the standard Churchward and Collett 3500 gallon tenders. Justin

I'm not sure there was any intermediate design stage with these things. They were Churchward 3500 gallon tenders with higher plating on the sides and some reinforcement around the spring hangers on most, though not all, that's it. There was no tank flush with the bottom of the body or fenders that wrapped around the ends or anything else that characterised the later 'Collett' designs. If it was an intermediate deisgn stage I would expect some features that apeared later to have been incorporated and as far as I know they weren't. Justin

Why? They were standard Churchward 3500 gallon tenders simply with the plating on the sides increased in height, mostly, though not all, built to lot A.112 (a couple, including no.2222, were rebuilt from standard tenders). Somewhere, though I can't immediately find it, I've seen a GA of a lot A.112 tender which just shows a standard 3500 gallon tender without any increase in height. The scalloped frames were different (on those built under lot A.112 only) though not of the Collett pattern. I don't want to get too anal and bore everyone to pieces but, I'm sure you'll agree, terminology is important otherwise people just don't know what you're talking about... The fact that they were called' intermediate' was of course a reference to their height which was of an 'intermediate' height between the 3500 gallon tenders and the 4000 gallon tenders. You could easily argue that the Collett 3500 gallon tenders could be refered to as 'intermediate' tenders as well because they were of a similar height to these Churchward ones. If you simply say 'intermediate' people might not know which ones you're talking about. Also the fact that they were built in 1925 has nothing to do with anything. A design isn't attributed to a new CME if it hasn't fundamentally changed, whhhc is the case with these tenders. End of bee in bonnet time. Justin

Collet 3500g intermediate? Should that not be Churchward 3500g intermediate? They were basically a high sided Churchward tender after all. Justin