Woodcock29

I'm sure I got in first😀

Tony - its interesting to see this LNER Refrigerator Van. I've recently commissioned a 3D printed LNER Refrigerator Van from a person in Tasmania. I have seen some of her work on GWR vehicles and I thought I'd see what she can do. I have six in the post on the way to me at the moment. I originally scratchbuilt one over 40 years ago - as seen here. Please ignore the couplings , they've been replaced! However, as I'm now putting together a train comprising meat and perishables vans I thought 3D was the way to go. They will be in a kit form rather than one piece prints. I'm intending on fitting w/m buffers, vac and steam pipes, brass ladders and brake levers. The model you have appears to have wooden solebars so is a bit of a hybrid according to the info in Tatlow Vol 4A. An initial batch were built in 1923 with timber underframes to Dia 20 (these had two ice hatches at each end), followed by Dia 21 (single hatch at each end) with steel underframes from 1924 to 1931. I might actually build one of mine with a timber underframe as a Dia 20. Regards Andrew

Tony a few of my hand held 'snaps' from our visit back in May 2017. It was a wonderful few days staying with you and Mo back in 2017 - many thanks. Andrew This appears to be one of your SE Finecast based A4s This O4/3 seems to be of Ks origin Your old WSM J6 - I took this because I built one of these back in the mid 80s This shows others present that day, including my 2 travelling companions - Gavin Thrum inside the M&GN and Peter Pickering operating on the right. Now here's your photo of all present that day including me on the left at the back inside the M&GN.

Second for me. Andrew

TG Hepburn and Keith Pirt for a later period for me.

I think these wide views are really good. Of course the new houses on the road and the left bridge extension finish it off nicely. Andrew

Trouble is our predicted 39 yesterday became 40.6 in reality! But then you might have got that?

Makes me feel cool when it's 39C here today. Keep up the great work Gilbert. Thanks Andrew

That would be most appreciated thanks Tony. You're correct it won't cost much to send them from Sydney to Adelaide. Andrew

And a couple more - almost Pendon like?

Bath Green Park - I saw this in 2008 so here are a few photos - certainly nowhere near the quality of what Tony would have taken.

Here's another P1 Tony - I built mine about 30 years ago from the Crownline kit using the Hornby A1 boiler. I should really replace the expansion links as they are rather puny - but I can't just buy replacement expansion links without a whole set of valvegear! I suppose I could buy a set of Comet V2 valvegear - is it worth £12 ? Andrew

As one in the same boat - if I can move in that direction so can you eventually!

2022 - where has it gone? I started to think back at what modelling I've done and realised I hadn't actually achieved much at all. Well not in locos or rolling stock construction. I had a British Railway Modellers of Australia (BRMA) Convention to convene here in Adelaide at beginning of Oct, I took on the role of Secretary of BRMA back at the end of 2021 - so my first full year as Secretary and getting my feet under the desk so to speak. Organised our participation in the annual Adelaide Model Railway Exhibition. We were very fortunate that we had Simon Kohler come and speak at our Convention and it was great to finally meet Simon after many years of corresponding via email. Prior to the Convention I spent modelling time on various aspects of my layout - but there is still heaps to do. I've not really got any good photos of what's been achieved - so note to self to take some! I had to give our Spirsby layout a test before we used it at the Convention so had to set that up and needed to fiddle with the operation of some of the GN somersault signals I'd built a couple of years ago. Since just before the Convention I've been assisting an old chap (of 85) who contacted me out to the blue with disposing of all his model railway items and his layout based on Minehead. So mostly GW stock. Most of the locos didn't run very well - he had converted most to DCC operation and they wouldn't run well on DC so it was difficult to sell them to our mostly DC operators unless I converted them back to DC. This is an ongoing process but I have sold a lot for him so far and had quite a bit of enjoyment out of helping him. I have done a small amount of work with models - upgraded the new Bachmann V2, including fitting Comet valve gear - seen before but here it is again - still need to line the cylinders in red and weather the valve gear somewhat as well as the loco slightly! I have also added both the Hornby Hush Hush and streamlined version to my stock. On the Hush Hush I did a bit of work on the extra wide footplate steps to get it to go past my platforms. The strangest thing whilst fitting the flanged Cartazzi and Bissel truck wheels to the Hush Hush without any problems I couldn't get those I fitted to the Streamlined version to run properly on my layout - the tops of the flanges kept hitting the base of the cast chassis above but this didn't happen on the Hush Hush version which has essentially the same chassis casting??? I even tried other wheels with smaller flanges without success - will need to find some other wheels I can fit! I purchased a bulk lot of wagons - 50 from the auction of the deceased estate of one of our BRMA members in Sydney. Most were pre-group and built to EM gauge - I was after the the NE wagons and some of the LNWR wagons. Another member had purchased a lot of 75 wagons so we did some swapping between ourselves resulting in him getting more suitable pre- group wagons for his GW layout and me getting some hard to find D&S GN and NE models - all will need significant work but I started with the two D&S GN ballast wagons. Just prior to Christmas I started to finish off a few LMS wagons I started some time ago and have ended up with several new ones being built and renovation on some of those purchased in the auction lot. Plus I've carried on my normal repair work on models for other members of BRMA. With any luck I might even get to the UK during 2023! Well that's a plan anyway. Happy New Year to everyone. Andrew

Indeed it did - I was on that trip - in fact all the way from KX with the two A4s to Edinburgh and return. There's no doubt whatsoever who was master of the Highland mainline that day.

Happy Christmas and have a great 2023 Gilbert and all readers of PN. Thanks Gibert for bringing us daily all these wonderful images from the late 1950s. Andrew

Happy Christmas and have a great 2023 Tony and Mo and to all readers of WW. Andrew

I might still have one somewhere to!

About 1mm and a bit if I remember correctly. The boiler supplied was also about 4mm too short. Doesn't sound like much but it affects the loco visually. The last 20 of these locos that were built had longer frames than the previous version because they used frames originally intended for further Baltic tanks. This necessitated a longer bogie. Unfortunately the Millholme kit is a compromise between the two versions. The footplate is too long for the earlier version but too short for the later version. As I built 2, I built one of each version - cutting the two footplates and making one longer and the other shorter. You'll note the later version with longer frames in my photo above has distinctively more prominent front frames above the footplate. It also has the cab roof from the kit which is different to that on the previous version which had curved sides to it. I made a new roof for my other model. I had to source a new bogie for the longer version in my photo. Still from your photo as its your first its a commendable effort. I've been building kits for around 50 years since my teens. Andrew

No. I had to widen the firebox as the Millholme boiler is too small in diameter so I substituted a piece of PVC waterpipe for the boiler. Consequently I had to fill a gap in the top of the firebox as I had to set the two halves wider apart. Here's one of them before the low melt solder started to shrink slightly in the gap along the top of the firebox.

I've also noticed that low melt solder shrinks. Does anyone know why this is? It's most noticeable where I widened the firebox on two Millholme Dreadnoughts that I built. The only way I might be able to correct it is to now is add some body filler, smooth that off and patch paint it. Andrew

I'm surprised that Bachmann has never released the D11/1 in post 1928 LNER black livery lined in red. Surely this is a period lots of people model. They've done several of the D11/2 in LNER black livery but never a D11/1. I have suggested such a model to Bachmann a couple of times. However, I expect I'll end up lining the two repainted/renamed Prince Alberts I have and also a bargain one I got which will be turned into a D10 (which also necessitates a change of tender). But doing a good job of the red lining is not easy. Andrew

I remain to be convinced that anything other than a few J72s ever had red lining on the wheels. This seems to be a recent addition on models e.g. the Sonic Models LNER black A5 appears to have its wheels lined in red as well. Andrew

Tony They are definitely too big. Across the footplate they're about 2 mm too big in diameter. This is the one aspect on my 'hybrid' that is significantly out of scale. But the overall impression that it is a J3 is still ok as the most important aspects look right to me. Andrew