cctransuk

Now available - transfers to suit the new TMC / Bachmann models of steel-bodied DOUBLE BOLSTER, PLATE & WINKLE wagons. I have added four new sheets to my web-site; see https://www.cctrans.org.uk/latest.htm (and refresh your browser if necessary) :- Sheet BL173a : BR S&T departmental PLATE / WINKLE wagons - LMR allocations. All 28 numbers / allocations, together with all other markings including builders / numberplates. Sheet BL173b : BR S&T departmental PLATE / WINKLE wagons - ScR allocations. All 15 numbers / allocations, together with all other markings including builders / numberplates. Sheet BL174 : BR, ex-LNER & ex-LMS steel-bodied 4-wheeled DOUBLE BOLSTER wagons. 36 sets of lettering / numbering covering all diagrams. Sheet BL175 : BR, ex-LNER & ex-LMS steel-bodied 4-wheeled PLATE wagons. 36 sets of lettering / numbering covering all diagrams. Now you can purchase as many of these new wagons as you wish, and ensure that no two carry the same number. Full details, including pricing, ordering and payment can be found via the above link. Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

The designs for the transfers to suit the new TMC / Bachmann models of steel-bodied DOUBLE BOLSTER, PLATE & WINKLE wagons are now complete, and I have added four new sheets to my web-site; see https://www.cctrans.org.uk/latest.htm (and refresh your browser if necessary) :- Sheet BL173a : BR S&T departmental PLATE / WINKLE wagons - LMR allocations. All 28 numbers / allocations, together with all other markings including builders / numberplates. Sheet BL173b : BR S&T departmental PLATE / WINKLE wagons - ScR allocations. All 15 numbers / allocations, together with all other markings including builders / numberplates. Sheet BL174 : BR, ex-LNER & ex-LMS steel-bodied 4-wheeled DOUBLE BOLSTER wagons. 36 sets of lettering / numbering covering all diagrams. Sheet BL175 : BR, ex-LNER & ex-LMS steel-bodied 4-wheeled PLATE wagons. 36 sets of lettering / numbering covering all diagrams. Now you can purchase as many of these new wagons as you wish, and ensure that no two carry the same number. Full details, including pricing, ordering and payment can be found via the above link. Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

The Cambrian crane is not really a breakdown crane - it's more a mobile yard crane used to load and unload bulky / long items in yards not equipped with their own ground-mounted crane. As such, it would move around in local freight trains, with little or nothing in the way of support; at best, perhaps a superannuated van for lifting tackle. Regards, John Isherwood.

Just a note to say that I have already completed the design of a transfer sheet for relettering / renumbering the S&T PLATE / WINKLE version, which includes all of the wagons allocated to the LMR; I am about to start work on a second sheet for the ScR allocated wagons. Once that is completed, I will design relettering / renumbering sheets for all of the BR steam / early diesel era versions of the PLATE and twin BOLSTER wagons that have been produced by TMC / Bachmann. I will post again here when these new sheets appear on my web-site. Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers. https://www.cctrans.org.uk/

My WINKLE arrived today - (who's a lucky boy then)! Very nice indeed - though it's a Scottish Region example. I will be relettering and renumbering mine as the final one of the series which, along with one other, actually carried the designation WINKLE. I am wondering whether to produce a sheet of transfers for all of the departmental versions of the PLATE - David Larkin recorded all of the original markings / allocations. The departmental wagons were only originally allocated to the LMR and ScR - though some did migrate further afield later. If you would be interested in buying a sheet of transfers for the departmental wagons, please PM me. Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers. https://www.cctrans.org.uk/

If members insist on posting references to postings on another group, by a person banned from this group, and hint (extremely unsubtly) at his identity, I reserve the right to refer to circumstances which might explain his attitude. I am pleased to hear that your experience of this vile disease has been of optimism - let us hope that the rest of us could summon up the same positive view of life if so afflicted. I am by no means convinced that I would be able to rise above things in the same way. There but for the grace of God go I. Regards, John Isherwood.

That's as maybe - but I doubt that there'd be a long queue to take on Adrian's health issues !! A little compassion and cutting some tolerant slack wouldn't go amiss . Can any of us be certain that such circumstances wouldn't have the same effect on us ? Regards, John Isherwood.

Your standards of acceptability are, rightly, your own. However, (running issues apart), if the two highlighted 'defects' are rejection material as far as you are concerned, I'm afraid that you are going to have an awful lot of rejects in the future. Regards, John Isherwood.

I'm not sure that's universally the case - or even desirable. Detail - when it's got to the point where it is proving difficult for manufacturers to deliver their products unbroken in transit, one might argue that the search for ever more detail has already gone a little too far. Technology - well, that depends on whether you want realistic locos that pull realistic trains, or you like tweaking decoders, speakers and other electonic gadgetry in a vain hope of making a 1:76 scale model sound like the sheer mass and power of the 1:1 prototype. It is possible to scale performance, but not presence. Regards, John Isherwood.

Chris, My apologies if I misinterpreted some of your comments - not my usual practice. Regards, John Isherwood.

Any of the 1960s restored British Transport Museum locos, produced in the condition that they ran on special workings, would sell in good numbers. We've had 3440, 1000, No.1, (and perhaps others that I've forgotten); let's have the rest !! Regards, John Isherwood.

Exactly the method that I used to produce the circular section rods for an FR England 'PRINCE' for OO9 - though I have to confess that I used copper wire and disguised the fact by tinning them. Regards, John Isherwood.

Well - I can just make out what I take to be the brakevan at the end of the train. On that basis, I'd say that twenty CEMFLOs in that rake is as close as we'll get. Regards, John Isherwood.

That is, of course, your decision. But when it comes down to actually sourcing an acceptable 14XX, I would submit that a cast whitemetal kit is not a good starting point - especially if we are referring to the K's kit which must have been amongst the first of its breed, back in the 1950s / 60s. What is unacceptable as regards running quality must surely have an equivalent in what is unacceptable in fidelity to prototype appearance? Regards, John Isherwood.

.... and, more significantly, the Blue Circle PALVANS from which the chassis originated. Regards, John Isherwood.

Then why not build an etched chassis kit for the body that you clearly find acceptable? Regards, John Isherwood.

Not at all !!! You asked Mike what to use for crankpin rod retainers; he told you; you ignored his advice and asked for a source of washers; I provided a source but advised against washers and gave reasons; you made an incorrect statement re lathes; Adam gave advice re cutting tube; you referred to TW using washers - at which point I gained the impression that responders to your enquiry were wasting their time, as you seemed quite determined to ignore us and persist with washers. I conceded that some modellers - myself included - have to do it the hard way to learn anything. Nonetheless, I and other members have attempted to assist you - but all you seem interested in is your own original idea and in finding another reason to call me rude and insulting. You just can't help some people !! Regards, John Isherwood.

They must be very tight-fitting washers, then. However, if you are one of those modellers who has to learn by personal experience of the wrong way to do something, by all means go ahead. Just make sure that there are no sensitive ears in the vicinity. I WAS a modeller who had to learn by personal experience of the wrong way to do something, but I now know that slivers of tube cut with a Stanley knife are the stressless way to do it. Bear in mind that the slice of tube doesn't have to be too short - it can be filed back with the crankpin after soldering. Regards, John Isherwood.

Despite that - please don't try to solder washers as rod retainers; you'll end up using rude words !! Adam's right - use a Stanley knife to cut the tube; just roll the tube under the blade until you've cut through it. Put a length of 1.0mm. rod into the tube whilst doing so; it will stop the tube collapsing and ensure that the cut sliver doesn't disappear into the carpet. Regards, John Isherwood.

A Google / Ebay search produced :- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M0-6-M0-8-M1-0-M1-2-M1-4-M1-6-Miniature-Brass-Washers-x20-Pocher-Upgrade/141476696041?var=440627081547&hash=item20f0ab0fe9%3Ag%3ANCcAAOxymiVQ-I1h&_sacat=0&_nkw=M1+brass+washer&_from=R40&rt=nc In my experience though, washers tend to be too loose a fit to serve as retaining washers on crankpins, if they have to be soldered. The suggestion of a slice of 1.0mm. ID tube is by far the best idea; the fit is just right and the risk of errant solder is much diminished. Regards, John isherwood.

I suspect that it was only the 'sheltered' elite of Rugby, and other private-sector schools, who would NOT have understood the dubious connotations of the offending verb - it was certainly in the widest juvenile circulation when I was a lad. Regards, John Isherwood.

It'd be a great seller, though ! If you look at how many BLUE CIRCLE model hoppers will be / have been available in recent years, the PALVAN must be about the last of the British Railways era BC stock not covered already. They were added to rakes of PRESFLOs, PRESTWINs and CEMFLOs, as well as running in rakes themselves. I hope that common sense will prevail !! Regards, John Isherwood.

If these etches are to be available for sale - may I express an interest in purchasing? A couple of suggestions :- a] any thoughts of producing a scale length jib for the HD Cowans Sheldon steam breakdown crane; b] any thoughts of producing a scale length jib for the Airfix / Dapol Booth Rodley diesel PW crane? Both of these models have carriages and / or crane bodies (crabs) that are / can easily be adapted to scale; it's the under-scale length jibs that spoil the proportions of the models. I would have thought that, in the hands of a proficient digital designer, the jibs would be a natural for 3D printing. Regards, John Isherwood.

I thought that the Ratio MACAW is a ex-TVR design - though the bogies may well be the wrong ones. Does any GWR guru have the definitive answer? Regards, John Isherwood.

More than likely - but I use CorelDRAW 7, because that was what we used at work when I retired. Say no more! Regards, John Isherwood.