Kubes

As a Gauge 0 Guild member I have acccess to pdfs of all the Guild Gazettes via their website and it was a matter of minutes to find the ad Kubes

Tower Models were advertising these at £409 in 2003. Unpainted, unglazed and no interior. Kubes

The Guild recommended formula is 1g per millimetre of length or 1oz per inch with a minimum of about 4.4 ounces / 125g. I find it helps if all wagons in a train are about the same weight. I don't have any experience with six wheelers but obviously they bring with them additional factors to consider especially with our sharper than prototypical radii. Kubes

What about the Hunslet "Airedale" locos. And plenty of steam locos working on collie-ry lines! Kubes

What are the new drawings listed? Didn't think there was much left that he hasn't covered! Kubes

Possibly IP Engineering or early Brandbright? Not sure if Brandbright are still trading there have been changes in ownership.

No!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all for sharing your experiences and comments. Having turned the loco body upside down I noticed that there were two slots where the smokebox meets the footplate. I've managed to feed a few strips of lead into the cavity and that should give me a bit more weight where I need it. I'll try to get some more in tomorrow and then dribble some superglue in to discourage any unwanted movement. Given that there's adequate ventilation via the chimney hole I think any vapour issues will be minimal. Fingers crossed!

Thanks - it's a brass kit so that shouldn't be a problem.

I know lead and pva together are a serious no-no but how about lead and super glue? I want to add some weight to a 7mm scale kit built loco and the only way in without hacking it about is via the hole for chimney. So I propose adding the shot bit by bit and dribbling cheap cyano on top. Any thoughts?

Given that it was a conversion from a 60ft brake composite anyway, the obvious choice would be the interior from to the appropriate Bachmann birdcage vehicle - bit of an expensive option however. I don't think the interiors were altered in the conversion and you really have to get close up and personal to see interior detail in 4mm especially with compartment stock so you should be able to knock up something acceptable with Plastikard or the like. Kubes

K type all steel Pullmans no less! Kubes

I recently purchased an unmade kit for an ex SECR H class from Steamline and had prompt excellent service. I just missed a lovely looking Maunsell mogul much to my chagrin. A reputable trader in my opinion. Kubes

Yes 171s you are right. I was convinced I'd seen them in Connex livery but memory plays tricks. Perhaps they arrived in plain white prior to getting the Southern livery after a period of in service. Kubes

Bachmann are doing some in their Scenecraft range. In stock at Tower Models and no doubt in other shops stocking 0 gauge products. I'm sure that some of the laser kit producers such as Poppy's Woodtech etc will have kits in their ranges. But they're not that difficult to construct from wood strip and thin ply. Peco do platform sides I think. Kubes

Nah! It's not what it used to be!

I've sent D-A-T a pdf of the MRC Annual article on Lewis Carroll's railway. If any other RMwebers would like a copy please pm me and I will oblige. Though it might be a day or two as I'm out all day tomorrow and back working on Monday.

I'll see what I can do!

Yes it was 1979. The article is credited to S W Stevens-Stratten who was the editor of MRC. It's mostly written in the third person but an occasional 'I' slips in which suggests that at least some of the text was provided by Mr Carroll. I have a full set of bound copies of MRC and I don't recall seeing the line there but I have seen it in MRN as you say.

Another layout I particularly bonded with was an 00 system which featured in the Model Railway Constructor annual. From a four platformed Victoria it wound its way round a garage sized room through an island platform representing Clapham Junction and then to a three platformed East Croydon before finishing with a reversing loop and a spur to the single platform of Reigate. All home territory to the young Kubes. Trains were a mix of home built 2Bil and 4Cors interspersed with loco hauled Maunsell carriages for the East Grinstead services and the Newhaven boat trains. All this in the days when the Triang EMU was the height of sophistication. And the line was operated using something that the builder, one L Carroll, dubbed "linked section control" whereby power was fed to each section by clearing the home signal and the train would be driven towards the operator. So a stopping train to Reigate would be under Clapham control from Victoria and once halted at Clapham the signal there would be cleared and it would then be driven to East Croydon by the Croydon operator and so on. Similarly a fast train from Victoria would have all signals cleared through the intermediate stations and would be driven by the destination operator all the way. It sounded like great fun to operate and the builder managed to fit it all in without it seeming over cramped. In many ways it would be my ideal layout even today!

Two seminal points in my sixties childhood. First a gift of a box of Model Railway Constructor magazines featuring Jack Ray's creation. I spent most of one summer sitting on our concrete coal bunker just turning from page to page but mostly fixated on the Crewchester articles. Also Geoff Holt's Derby to Cheadle Heath line - I could probably recite the article even now. Then one Sunday my parents took me to tea with them to another Polish family in Surbiton. The daughter of the family was charged with keeping me amused to her dismay. On learning I liked trains she took me around the corner and abandoned me in a nearby garden while she went to see her friends. The garden was home to what I later discovered was the Midland & South Counties Joint Railway. I was transfixed by this 0 gauge railway and insanely jealous of these bigger boys who were allowed to operate the system with its block bells and proper trains. Happy memories!

To be fair the GWR Toad is one of the obvious low hanging fruit in the market. I'm surprised that one hasn't been done yet.

Hi Michael The motor bogie looks good. Will it be able to fit under a carriage without needing any cutting of the floor? Andy

Hi Not quite as uncommon as it seems perhaps. There is a photo in British Railways Past & Present Volume 20 Kent & East Sussex which shows D6521 coupled to a different unidentified pre-grouping pair of coaches (though visibly not of LBSC origin and indeed the caption suggests ex LC&DR) at Cliffe on an Allhallows service. The date given is 1st April 1961. Kubes

And the wheels of Tri-Ang coaches which distinctly upset a ten year old Kubes!