County of Yorkshire

Some new pre-war coaching stock from any of the GWR, LMS or LNER would be good to see. I still find astonishing that you cannot buy any of the following coaches to modern RTR standards: a GWR dining car and full brake, a pre-war LMS composite corridor or brake composite corridor, or a pre-war LNER corridor brake third or composite corridor. Surely a range of GWR sunshine coaches, LMS period I or II coaches, or some LNER Gresley coaches in a wider variety of diagrams then Hornby have thus far produced (and without tumblehome issues!) would sell like hot cakes? This stock is an essential part of the British railway scene 1924-1965. And that’s nothing to say of pre-grouping corridor stock also, some of which was quite long-lived! It will be extremely interesting to see how well the forthcoming Dapol GWR corridor toplights sell. CoY

Kings never carried the GWR wartime black livery. Kings, Castles and Stars got unlined GWR green during WW2, all other classes were turned out in unliked black however. On this topic, I’m very much in the camp of “it depends where you’re modelling”. I have a stack of Kings, Castles, Halls and Granges because ultimately I want to model a mainline or secondary main line location in the late 1940s. For the same reason I don’t have many 56xx’s for example, which were very geographically restricted. Loco fleet composition is as intrinsic to period accuracy as are buildings, the street scene and rolling stock! CoY

Looks to me that Bachmann have abandoned new tool steam locos in OO. The Thompson BG is an interesting development though.

Hi @Mallard60022, that is very kind of you, thank you. I will send you a PM. Apologies for the time taken to reply, however my grandfather passed away last month and I’ve spent some time abroad. Suffice to say my visits to RMWeb have been irregular and fleeting over recent months! P.S - keep up the good work @gwrrob!

“photographic session” probably means an enthusiasts photo charter. Participants will pay upwards of £200 or so to photograph select rolling stock in a variety of poses, usually with a loco. I don’t think Hornby would be that fussed whether the milk tanks were dirty or clean if it’s just for measuring purposes.

Strangely I’m undertaking this conversion now; however I need to procure a piercing saw. Can you recommend one, please? Cheers, CoY

Shall we play a bit of “play your cards right”? I’m 33, and the Mainline Hinton Manor in GWR green was my first ever purchase from a live auction (with a little help from Grandad!) at the age of 13. Fast forward to 2015, and the Severn Valley railway’s “Manor 50” gala, held under the atmospheric mid-November autumn colours, saw 7802, 7812 and 7820 come together to put on a superb show to mark 50 years since the end of Manors on BR. Highlight had to be the freshly overhauled Bradley Manor hauling a 10 coach train of exclusively GWR stock along the valley. Tremendous. I’ve ordered Accurascale’s Hinton Manor in post-war GWR green as befits my modelling period. My Mainline Hinton Manor will be sent off into retirement… but won’t be sold! Cheers, CoY

Has anyone heard anything about the return of the 4mm GWR toplight kits? I was told by Slaters themselves back in 2021 that they were on their way, but absolutely nothing since…

See my subsequent post to the one you’ve quoted from. I would be happy with Bachmann sunshine coaches, but you just know Accurascale/Rapido would do just as good a job at a more competitive price, and in this age of super inflation every little helps!

I do agree that the recent Baccy Thompsons & Bulleids are superb, but being selfish I wish for an alternate manufacturer of late-period Collett stock simply because it’s probable that they would be £10-£20 per coach cheaper. And given that I would need as many as two dozen Sunshine coaches, the price differential would certainly stack up! Let’s see. We don’t yet have Rapido & Accurascale coaching stock in our hands to judge, but I’m confident they’d do a sterling job. The development shots of the B-Set coaches of the former look very nice indeed, and the latter’s Siphons are tremendous. I’d be delighted to see either of them have a go at what is a very idiosyncratic GWR coach design. I wouldn’t be upset at Bachmann announcing these, but it wouldn’t be my first preference.

The Collett sunshine coaches are in dire need of a retool. That said, I’d actually rather see Accurascale or Rapido tackle these…

You can pick up any of the following: RTR: D95 brake third (left and right handed) - Hornby Please note that the Mainline/Bachmann Collett coaches were only ever released in corridor third (C77) and brake composite (E159) variants. Kits: D94 brake third (left and right handed) - Worsley Works D95 (left and right handed) - Comet (now sold by Wizard Models) D120 (Centenary Stock) - Comet D121 - Comet D124 - Comet D127 - Comet Personally I’m expecting one of Bachmann/Rapido/Accurascale to announce a range of Collett Sunshine coaches in the near future, which then might see a D121/124/127 released as part of the range. Late-period Collett coaches are a massive gap in RTR in my opinion.

Agree with this to an extent, but I do think the Dapol version getting to market a whole year before the Accurascale version might’ve sapped some of the demand for the latter. I’ll admit I’ve a Dapol one, and so will only pick up a single Accurascale one, whereas I’d have probably have had a couple otherwise.

GWR modellers of this thread might be interested in my recent blog post covering the three-year(!) build of a D130 excursion open brake third. My modelling mojo seems to have returned so I’ll likely be following this up with two C74 open thirds in due course. CoY

This project is a culmination of two fascinations. First, to model some of the GWR’s excursions stock of the 1930s. Second, to dip my toe in the water of brass side/RTR coach conversions. The GWR entered the world of dedicated excursions stock in 1935, identifying the need for dedicated coach sets to take fans to the football, and families to the beach. The first (non-dining) open coaches built by the GWR since the clerestory period, open thirds, open brake thirds, and buffet coaches were ordered to form the sets. Such was the success of these sets, the GWR ordered further sets, albeit to slightly different coach diagrams. The final sets ordered before the Second World War comprised 28 C76 open thirds, 2 D126 open brake thirds (4 seating bays) and 2 D130 open brake thirds (5 seating bays). However, most entered service in wartime and likely never ran as formed sets but rather as general service vehicles. When I saw Bill Bedford offered the C76 & D130 brass coach sides, I ordered two of the former and one of the latter. With a slight trimming of the ends, these would be a perfect fit for the Mainline/Bachmann GWR Sunshine coaches as coach side conversions. The D130 was the first to be tackled, with a prototype surviving on the Severn Valley (No.650) providing excellent reference opportunities. An old Mainline E159 brake compo acted as the donor coach. The willing donor… The brass sides are supplied flat, and the tumblehome needs to be formed, using the old “skirting board in a vice” method. Roof furniture is added and rearranged, and the solebar has steps added with styrene strip… The coach ends are altered to match the prototype. The sides are primed, and the interior starts to take shape. Don’t forget the guards compartment! Then, my modelling mojo disappears for the best part of three years, with some brass-to-plastic adhesive issues along the way. Come May 2023, an urge returned to get this coach finished. So, et voila! For my first go at brass sides onto RTR, I’m pretty happy with the result, even if it took 3 years to outshop! The two C76’s will now follow, using Mainline C77’s as donors. The only disappointment is that this coach etch has an erroneous window on the right-hand van doors at the rear, which appears on both sides and is not found on the prototype. Perhaps I could have blocked this window up, but by time I’d noticed this I’d already painted the sides and didn’t want to unpick the work done. I’m not sure if the GWR returned to using fixed excursion sets after the war, so I’ll probably run my excursion coaches mixed in with other diagrams. Does anyone know for sure - can anyone comment? Hope this blog is of use and interest! Jon

Lima and Accurascale O33’s side by side comparison. I actually agree that for its age, the Lima version holds up pretty well. Cheers, CoY

Can I ask a question please? Is anyone able to advise on late-GWR roof colouring on these? When the rooves were switched from white to grey, did the lower edge of the roof (below the rain strip) go grey or did they remain brown (i.e. bodyside colour). Any advice would be appreciated! CoY

What a strange thing to say. My three finally - finally - arrived today and I am smitten. Easily the best piece of non-loco rolling stock I own. Hornby’s Southern GUV released a couple of years ago was probably #1 for NPCCS, but these are something else. I would be very interested in a GWR liveried M34 and another O59 if released in the second wave. As for these, I’ll be getting the Halford Volvo Grey rattle can out tomorrow to paint the roofs a proper colour! CoY

Ordered the three GWR/WR brown versions from Derails last year and I’m still waiting for them to arrive. Would’ve been nice to have had them to play with for the Bank Holiday weekend…

Absolutely. And if these sell well, other GWR coaching stock may follow (COUGH…sunshine coaches, COUGH) CoY

Wouldn’t mind an outside framed variant too - so characterful!

If anyone wants any more Rapido GWR iron minks and 4-plankers, then check out the current sale on at Hattons. They’ve a load of them available with about 30% off. Some Dapol Moguls & Manors at decent prices too. My wallet can’t take any more punishment as we’ve just had a big birthday in the family! Oh dear.

The 28xx was released in a golden age for Hornby, when they were at the peak of their powers. I think it’s an excellent model, and aside from working inside valve gear, I’m not sure how it could be meaningfully improved. Firebox glow is a gimmick and hardly worth paying for. The heavy tanks were released during the ‘design clever’ period which means they have a raft of poor design compromises. Moulded smokebox door dart, moulded handrails (resembling shelves!), low weight, underpowered motors, insipid green paint jobs etc. The Hornby King is also not a top-drawer model. The announced but not released Hattons King appeared to have twice the spec of the Hornby offering but was obviously canned.

Totally bizarre choice really, when the current Hornby model was first released in what… 2008 or so? If you got all OO gauge GWR modellers in a room and asked them to list models in need of a retool, I don’t even think this would come in the top 10? I’d say the King, 57xx pannier, Collett Goods, Saint, County, 42/52/72xx heavy tanks need more of a retool more than the the 28xx. I’ve about half a dozen of the Hornby model and so this announcement doesn’t interest me at all. I agree with others, a Saint or County would certainly open my wallet!

So, definitively, “the next steam project” is the J69? Nothing new announced this weekend?