IanGe

Hi guys, As mentioned earlier, these wagon kits were sold by Frank and his wife at shows and by mail order. I think Frank designed and made the moulds for the plastic bodies and he had a deal with Adrian Swain ( ABS) to produce the white metal chassis/ running gear etc. At the time, before Parkside entered the 0 gauge kit market and long before Dapol RTR, these kits were quality products and the best way of creating a fleet of vans. A really good range produced, including varieties not covered by Parkside. As I understand it when Frank died his moulds were scrapped, and then ABS stopped trading when Adrian died, so the range ceased to be produced. Even after these years they are still very good models and hence they do still turn up occasionally on Ebay for eg £70 a pop. Ian

Hi Kevin, the decision has been made and a start made on removing the LNWR livery. It's going to be M 280740 in early BR freight grey. It's inevitable that I'll then meet up with an expert at an exhibition. There always is at least one. Some more helpful than others. We've had some hilarious "experts" commenting on various aspects of our exhibition layouts over the years, eg the GWR expert who insisted we were running our steam railmotor facing the wrong way round. He insisted they always ran boiler end first, and achieved this feat by turning them at the end of every journey! Happy days thanks for your comments Ian

Hi guys, I think that's what I'll be doing and then I can run it on the rear of my coal train. Too good a model for it to just become a shelf queen. Thanks for all your help with this one Ian

Hi guys, thanks for the updates. I remember seeing that photo of 280219 at the Crewe heritage centre some time ago . It was the fact that it appeared to be in faded grey livery and was numbered M280219 that made me hope that it could have been a BR era survivor. I guess it must be another case of don't believe everything you find in preservation. I'll have to re-think what to do with it as I love unusual brake vans and find this one really attractive and ugly at the same time. Characterful. regards Ian

Hi Mark, thanks for that info. I've got alot of reference books ( my wife says far too many!) but nothing on the LNWR so that's useful information. If a bit disappointing. The van is in LNWR livery at the moment and I was hoping to repaint it into early BR grey as I model BR 1950's / 60's steam era. It sounds as though I've got a choice of just one van number I could use for, could be worse I suppose! regards Ian

I've recently acquired a nicely built brass 0 gauge model of a LNWR 6 wheel brake van, which I think is built from a former D and S models kit of a D17, 20 ton brake van of which several hundred were built in the early 1900's. Does anyone know whether any of these vans survived in use into the BR steam era, and even better does anyone know the fleet number of any such survivors.? Thank you Ian

Hi guys, There was a 2 page article on Pentir Rhiw in the Dec 2008 edition of Railway Modeller. Includes track plan, signal box diagram and photos. Really atmospheric. With just a one coach length platform plus a signal box and lamp room I've often been tempted to build it as a 7mm diorama / photo plank. regards Ian

Hi guys, I ordered two 0 gauge wagon kits ( Coil J's ) from the new website last Friday and they arrived this morning. Great service. Looking forward to the re-release of the Classic Commercials Scammel Scarabs as that will fill a big gap in the availability of road vehicles for 0 gauge layouts. Also hopefully the packs of wagon parts, eg w irons, brake gear. Adrian had a superb range of these packs available on his exhibition stand. My enjoyable "wagon bashing" to produce a variety of wagons has been severely curtained since these became unavailable. best wishes to the new venture. Ian.

Hi guys, So what's the visual difference please between the cabs of a rebuilt Patriot and a rebuilt Jubilee ? regards Ian

Hi guys, I really like this conversion. I makes something very different looking from the usual GWR auto trailer. Here's my version of the same driving trailer in 0 gauge. I had spotted a Westdale kit for 1 B set coach on Ebay which was on for a very low price, understandable as who would be daft enough to buy half a B set ? I got it very cheaply and converted it into the driving trailer the same way that the GWR did their conversion ie cut a window in the end, scratch built and add the various extra's and moved the bogies further towards the centre of the coach. I chickened out of doing the lining for the paint job! Well done with yours , it looks great. Ian

Hi guys, During my teens in Warrington in the 1960's I (mis) spent much of my time around Arpley yard. According to the elderly shunters there the GWR goods trains ran into the yard there from Chester via the GWR/ LNWR joint line from Chester /Birkenhead. During WW1 Arpley was the point where the " Jellicoe special" coal trains from south Wales were handed over from the GWR to the LNWR for movement on to Scotland. The GWR guards were not popular, always asking for their Toad vans to be turned round for their return journey, which the Arpley LNWR shunters made a point of ignoring. I remember being told the GWR guards had their own special barrel of lamp oil which they insisted on using much to the disgust of the LNWR guys. I didn't realise that the GWR ran passenger trains through Warrington and on to Manchester Exchange in the pre WW2 period until I saw a blurred photo of a GWR mogul on a passenger train running through Warrington. Later, I found the excellent series of books on steam in Manchester and Salford by Paul Shackcloth in which he gives details and photos of GWR Saints, Halls, etc at Manchester Exchange and on Patricroft shed in the 1930's. Great series of books for anyone interested in Manchester/ Salford steam era. regards Ian

Hi guys, I've built the Gladiator 7mm kit of this brake van. I had read that only 3 were built and they only had very limited places where they were used. Despite that I Just couldn't resist having one. Really quirky and gets a lot of comment when it appears. Great photo of it behind that diesel at Stanton Gate. Very pleasing kit to build. Bogies were a bit tricky for me but overall it went together really well. Very pleased with it. Recommended regards Ian

Hello, One of the steelworks missing from your list is the former John Summers works at Shotton, on Deeside in north Wales. The iron and steel making at Shotton was closed by British Steel at the end of 1997 but the finishing and coating plant was kept open as it was one of the most modern plants in Europe, producing treated and coated steel strip in coils for eg the car industry. So from 1980 onwards 15000 tons per week of steel strip in coils was moved by BR to Shotton. This was made up of 11000 tons per week from Ravencraig in Scotland and 4000 tons per week from south Wales ( Llanwern and Port Talbot). I've seen photos of class 37's on these trains, but I don't know about the wagons used. Too modern for me. The Shotton coating plant is still open as a very successful business. hope this helps. regards Ian

Two of my favourite locations:- How about Paddington -Birkenhead trains ( and return journeys ) reversing at Chester? And still today, trains between Liskeard and Looe reversing at Coombe junction? regards Ian

Hi Annie, We've used their arches along the front of our new exhibition layout. We found the guys there extremely helpful, and their products are very competitively priced and look the part. I would however emphasise that they are cut from more of a card type product rather than the usual laser cut plywood , and you definitely need to seal the surface. We didn't do that and as a result we are forever re-touching the paint where individual bricks get knocked off and expose the white card underneath. Our mistake not their fault We've learnt the lesson for next time. regards Ian