Thane of Fife

Thanks for all the replies. Thane of fife

Good morning all from a damp Surrey, I suspect, like many other modellers, that there are many building rakes of ex-NER P7 20T hoppers being built. I have a rake under construction in instalments, as it’s soul destroying bending and fitting the handrails. I am looking for a little variety in the models. Tatlow shows several with end brake levers, and mentions that these were for the Central Division (ex-S&D). I am wondering if these end brake examples found their way into trains of side brake hoppers, or were they kept to trains of wholly end braked hoppers? Thane of Fife

I travel from Reigate to Alton to visit the model shop. It has a fantastic stock and friendly service. Alton also has the Mid-Hants preserved line, and several good pubs, so it's worth the train and bus journey. Thane of Fife

My first metal kits were purchased from Passmore models in Coulsdon (1969/70). I remember going there looking for a Wills K3, which he didn't have in stock. However, he showed me a new GEM kit of a D21. It suited me, and was designed for the Triang L1 chassis. He didn't have a chassis in stock, but broke a RTR L1 to sell me the chassis, saying that someone would buy the body. Sadly, such service is long gone, like the model shop, which is now a hairdressers. Thane of Fife PS; I found a K3, a couple of weeks later at Alex Bowie's modelmania.

Evenin' all I remember Alex Bowie's Modelmaina well. I used to catch a stopping train home on friday, so I could visit the shop. Alex could chat for England, but he was an interesting guy. Hobbytime in West Wickham was another interesting shop. The owner smoked a pipe, but was full of free advice. It wasn't an easy journey from where I lived, so I didn't visit very often. Alton Models is a shop in the old school. It is a train and a bus from where I live, but there are a couple of good pubs in Alton, so I enjoy making a day of it. Thane of Fife

Good??? morning all I bought the Little Engines T1 over 30 years ago. It was the first kit I encountered with an etched chassis. I only built it when I retired 10 years ago. As it was designed as a slow moving hump shunter, I fitted it with a Mashima 1428 driving through a High Level 108:1 gearbox. It is slow, but can it push (haul)! I built the Little Engines A7 just before the T1, and fitted it with a Portescap, as I hadn't discovered High Level gearboxes at the time. I had to cut away the back of the cylinders to get the bogies through 3ft radius points. I quite like Little Engines kits; I have the A6, N1, and O4/7. Thane of Fife

How inaccurate is the old Hornby B12. I have a spare Kays O4 boiler, which with a little shortening would match a B12/1 boiler. I was wondering if it were possible to to fit this boiler to a Hornby B12/3 footplate make a B12/1 loco? Any ideas? Malcolm

Also a good morning here in Surrey I use Plastic Weld, which is stronger than other solvents that I've used. It will stick most/all plastics that I've tried. If Plastic Weld doesn't work, I resort to Superglue. Malcolm

P.S. One small point: Looking at 145 Squadron's brilliant interiors, I notice that one (3rd class?) has 2+1 seating with two coupes, each with six seats . I have never seen a Pullman seating plan with six-seater coupes. Was this a post-war modification? I have always assumed that the coupes were only fitted to 1+1 interiors, and had four seats. Malcolm

Good morning all I have very limited knowledge of R-T-R items, as the vast majority of my models are kit built. I did buy a job lot of eight Railroad Pullmans for £5 each, and set about converting them following Penguin of Doom's methods posted on this site. I wrongly assumed that all Hornby Pullmans had the same bogies. I shall retreat to my railway room (spare bedroom), and continue working on my Queen of Scots set. Malcolm

Evenin' all I am currently building an eight coach Queen of Scots set based on Hornby Pullmans. I am using Keen systems bogies, as the Hornby bogies are not Pullman bogies. A more expensive solution would be to use MJT bogies. Malcolm

Evenin' all I bought a job at auction a couple of years ago. It included a Midland 3F tender loco which I intend fitting with a home made extended smokebox to produce a J41. I think London Road models do a Midland 3F tender loco. Malcolm

Good morning all I like the MJT articulation units. If used with MJT bogies, one gets tri-angulation on all carriages in the set, with resultant good running over bumps etc. I have no connection with MJT, other than a satisfied customer. Malcolm

Thanks for the info. Hornby should re-introduce the 12 wheel pullmans as they seem to be wanted and fetch good prices. Malcolm

Good? morning all Do Hornby produce a Pullman Brake with the sliding door as fitted to many of the wooden bodies brake cars? Malcolm

Good morning all The range of Coffman clamps are available from Branchlines. It's one of the most useful tools in my toolbox. It's great for building carriages, wagons, and tenders etc. Malcolm

Good morning all from deepest Surrey, I recently found a thread by Penguin of Doom on fitting Comet sides to Hornby Railroad Pullmans. I have wondered about this for a while, and Penguin’s thread encouraged me to try. I picked up a number of Railroad Pullman from a certain auction site, and a set of eight sides from Wizard models. Then it was the cutting disc in the Dremel and away we go. The only hic-cup was fitting the first pair of sides the wrong way around. I had to prise them off and soak the sides in nail varnish remover to remove the Evostick. I have finished the first stage of the "Queen of "Scots" rake: Top is a Brake 3rd Parlour, then 3rd Kitchen, 3rd Parlour, 1st Kitchen, and 1st Parlour. There are three more 3rd class cars, the same as the top three. The eagle eyed will notice that the 3rd Kitchen space is larger than the 1st kitchen space. This was not because 3rd class passenger had bigger appetites, but a 3rd class Kitchen catered for 102 passengers, and a 1st class Kitchen only catered for 44 passengers. I wish to construct my own interiors from Southern Pride products, and Penguin’s use of Keen Systems upgrades is impressive, so both these have been ordered. While waiting for these to arrive, I decided to build a loco to haul the rake. I found that the “Hush-Hush” loco worked the “Queen of Scots” in 1930, so have started the SEF kit, which has sat in my roundtuit cupboard for a while Malcolm

Thanks for the info. 34E; I had wrongly assumed that 1st class had curtains. Tony; I found Coupe News very interesting, I will read more when I get time Malcolm

I am building a rake of pre-war Queen of Scots pullman. I am wondering whether 3rd class pullmans had curtains? Every picture I have of post-war pullmans show the 3rd class cars had curtains, but I haven't found a pre-war pic of a 3rd class car with curtains. Has anyone any ideas or info? Malcolm

Branchlines supply screws and brushes for Mashima motors. Malcolm

Evenin' all Gordon Highlander (D40) had 8'9" coupled wheelbase with 5'6" bogie wheelbase Malcolm

Good morning all Alan Gibson Workshop does milled chassis frames for the J50. Comet (from Wizard) do a N2 chassis kit, which would only require cutting the pony truck end. Also you get some good coupling rods. Malcolm

Good morning all from cloudy Surrey Dorking Deepdene has wooden platforms. It is situated on a high embankment and is constructed of wood to reduce weight. Malcolm

Thanks for the replies Malcolm

I am currently building a rake of coaches to go with the L&Y Baltic that I'm constructing. What colour should the upholstery be? Is it blue for 1st class, and red for 3rd class, like the LNER? Any ideas? Malcolm