richard i

You’re welcome. like a welsh narrow gauge railway: one track, narrow and dirty.

Really. We had to say it that way.

I believe the 1000 was a reference to both painting and lining. In which case it is below what I would expect. 1200pds is closer to the mark all in I think. Not that I could afford such a price for a loco/ be able to justify such expenditure on a loco to the household management. richard

I agree on the brass unless it is all made as a solid model with the boiler load part of the wagon. That however would make a very long wheelbase. richard

No one made the gag about hump shunting in relation to those wagons. hat coat richard

Impressive. I am looking forward to all the dials being painted white, the hands fitted ( which move prototypically) and the numbers individually added around the dials which show how much steam is in the boiler. Richard

It was when I was 13-15 I went a couple of times with a friend of my grandmother and then my grandmother’s contact passed away. That would make it about 1990. I could not tell you where it is as the journey was done in the October dark. Though I was sworn to secrecy about where it was because they had recently had a break in which knocked off the engine shed from one of the huts. It had a Royal scot in it. I remember all those details, but alas names escape me. I do have photo somewhere of some of them taken on my 110 film camera. With that you were lucky to get anyone in the frame. richard

That is a shame. I was taken there as a teenager several times and had a wonderful time. It blew my mind as up until then I had only really seen my grandfathers 5 concentric ovals of track on a bare baseboard in oo. I did get an electric shock off off the cord to the electric heater though which surprised me. richard

Have also discovered number 8 went through on its way to the USA as well. There is colour footage on you tube. richard

The gcr 27 ft wagon and the gcr fish would be my choices in 4mm. Can we see a theme here? richard

Have had a go at my sonic models coronation tank. turned it into 450. The only one fitted with side window cab in GCR days. detailing parts fitted and coal. Just need to add some weathering. have also posted to the sonic models page to see who questions which one it is. I went from the LNER number 6 and changed the transfers but it could also be done from the GCR version if sonic would offer a cab swap. Do they offer spares? buffer stocks needed repainting, is that the case with the GCR livery version too? it all distracted from the D7 which itself is distracting from the 2 Atlantics. So unlike me to have this many things on the go. richard.

If we are sharing. my model of 450 which has had the detailing pack fitted, though I might swap out a better coupling hook and some coal added. now it needs a light weathering on the boiler top / cab roof and running plate richard

Had you thought of building the white metal one and casting a replacement, certainly lighter than the white metal version. richard

What does that look like in practice? thanks richard

Worked on the electrics today. Solved 5 simple track feeds. Am left with 2 at board joins. I guess it will be somewhere in the between board feed lines. Then there are three unexplained ones. One tiny section at the head end of a point. Can it connect to the point? then two which have no feed from one end and at the other join on to a section I know is isolated from all others. It is a double slip which being totally isolated was the only way to make it work in the first place. The double slip works. It needs more thought. richard

I believe the emu were red lower panels and cream uppers and then repainted blue lower panels and cream uppers. I think it was that way round. I have a colour photo of one in the cream blue livery somewhere. happy to be proved wrong. richard

Perhaps it lasted. I have photo of a coronation tank with carriage with side lamps. The loco design is from 1911 and the carriage looks in varnished wood. It is certainly not in brown and cream livery.

Showing what we have built. I am rather than some. I have just finished this GCR parcels van in varnished wood livery to fit the last decade before grouping. Converted LSWR bogies and scratchbuilt roof, from a incomplete perseverance kit. richard

Finally finished and ready to join a rake of carriages. I have not fitted crests as it seems from other diagrams that they might not be fitted in varnished wood livery. happy to be proved wrong. richard

I might be wrong on the volume number, it is the one with the gcr/ ger/ gnr wagons in. richard

Well if you are going to ask. the gcr glass wagon which had the cut out main floor for the glass to sit lower down in. there is a diagram in tatlow volume 4 if you are brave. richard

Nice. I like the variety. richard

People will be replacing their baywatch posters on their bedroom walls with this. Such is celebrity status. richard

Track cleaned. All tracks tested. It turns out all tracks have power somewhere, but not for all their length. Now the fun really begins. Let us hope I do not do a solder joint to the wrong place. If only I understood electrics. in other news. The carriage is up to testing phase. So that is club tomorrow. A piece fell off as I worked on it today. I can not find the piece nor see where it came off. how long before I notice? shame to cover the brass in a strange way. richard

Electrics rigged and tested. well the GC was built with an idea to join to the continent by Watkin. the loco is one of my Dad’s which I played with as a kid. Very useful as it has cab lights which flicker long before the wheels think of turning so a great indicator of whether the is an electrical life at all. turns out 4 years in store and bumping up and down on the Atlantic has taken its toll. Some points are reluctant to move/ throw completely over and some sections of track show no signs of life. Electrics is my Achilles heel so this should be interesting, no, very challenging. Wish me luck. richard