No Decorum

I did spot the GNR 2-8-0 in a video. It looked much the same; still very light in colour.

That’s very useful. Could I possibly repeat my request for such documents to be available as PDFs? With the best will in the world, things on t’web can go missing and it helps to have such things secure on one’s own system.

I hope that’s not the “very soon” which preceds “image” on some retailer’s sites as soon as something is announced! Let it be steam and let it be something not produced RTR before. Let it be green but not too dark. Ah! A K4! (A K2 would also be most acceptable.)

I’ve never seen a launch to beat the Manors’. The object of curiosity emerging from the morning mist. Much better than a series of shots of tempting locos preceding an announcement of something which had been done before; more or less. The flash of LNER green had me dribbling at the prospect of a K4 until I realised it wasn’t a K4. Cruelty to a dumb animal, that was!

That would be France, I assume. (I’ve been reading a reprint of Chapelon: Genius of French Steam – an eye opener.) 😄

Like many reviewers, he tends to drag things out rather too much for my taste. However, his postings are neatly arranged into chapters, which makes it easy to skip a lot of it and watch the interesting bits.

I believe the round-top boiler was a try-out for a possible Pacific, which was never produced. The original LN design was hampered by a firegrate which was flat at the back and steeply sloped at the front. Those were difficult to fire because it was difficult to get coal to cover the sloped part and all too easy to put too much on the flat part, where it wouldn’t jiggle forward as it would on a grate with a consistent slope. The early Jubilees on the LMS had a similar arrangement which contributed to their troubles. All in good time, I hope to find out if Bulleid tackled the grate.

A Freudian slip if ever there was one. It sums up model railway purchasing for so many of us these days!

I think that Richard Maunsell is an under-rated CME. It was hard luck that his magnum opus was a bit of a dud, or at least didn’t live up to expectation. Bulleid apparently transformed them. I recall that when Lord Nelson itself was restored to mainline running order, its poor reputation had persisted. The first run, I believe, was a failure due to scale in an injector but the crew was full of admiration for the loco on the next run. One thing on my long to-do list is to get hold of a publication to find out what the problem was and exactly what Bulleid did, over and above tweak the steam passages and fit a Lemaître exhaust. That Hornby model looks good. I have an LN in BR green and I think it’s about the worst looking object I have from when Hornby was making a mess of BR and GWR greens.

Many thanks for that alert. I only managed to get the LNER variant and have now ordered the LMS and GWR variants. Being a Johnny Latecomer, I’ve done better than I deserved!

Which is why the term was (ahem!) coined. For the same reason “denationalisation” was re-named “privatisation”. If you”re for HS2, it’s* a prestige project. If you’re against, it’s* a vanity project. *Usefully, “it’s” can be an abbreviation of “it is” or “it was”. 🤣

An e-mail from Rails announced a “Heljan Takeover Day” at Rails HQ on Saturday, 13th. Amongst the latest samples the O2 figures. That’s good news and I hope to see pictures posted. I also hope to see a darker grey on the GNR version but no matter; whatever the shade, my pre-order stands.

The Thompson and Peppercorn A2s were designed as mixed traffic locos, with driving wheels the same diameter (6' 2") as the V2s. Thus they weren’t, as you say, painted express passenger blue even though they were used as express locomotives due to post war shortages. It won’t spoil my fun; after all, I have a Tornado.

I certainly wouldn’t replace mine. However, I haven’t an A2 in express blue and I’d be very happy to buy one. With Blue Peter emerging in blue, it would be a good time for Bachmann to produce one.

“Check back after midday.”

I can’t say whether it would be possible or not but I’d hazard a guess that the electroplating would not be durable. I have some locomotives where the manufacturer has used electroplated wheels and the electroplating has worn off rather quickly.

I have a Heljan Western. It’s a nice model even if not a match for the newer Dapol version. I replaced the original brass wheels with nickel ones. The new ones lack the plastic inserts. I got a set of plastic inserts but discovered that, whilst the diameter is perfect, they protrude due to the new wheels being shallower. You’d think it would be a simple matter to sand off some plastic from the back of the inserts but I’ve found that it isn’t. I’ve no spares, so I need to be cautious and even after sanding for ages, I haven’t reduced even one enough. In the way of such things, other jobs which are easier to accomplish have taken over.

A more robust drop-in pick-up arrangement would be an excellent thing. Meantime, perhaps devise one for future projects.

Just some observations, if I may. My Model Rail J70 works all right in one direction but is a little jerky at slow speed in the other. It’s not enough to return it but bad enough to stop me getting a skirted version as well, which was my original intention. My Hunslet was hopeless until I discovered that it was choked in grease. After cleaning it up, It runs fine but it is a sound version. I am nervous of coreless motors but I have adopted the idea of fitting decoders or buying decoder-fitted models. Decoders seem to help them even when running on DC. I don’t know why coreless motors have started to be used. The much-maligned Hornby manages to produce beautifully running tiny locos with a conventional motor so it can’t be size. I have also compared models with both types of motor with their tops off. The coreless is just as big as the conventional motor, although I concede that it is a little slimmer. My conclusion is that they are a cost-cutting exercise, which seems strange when we are led to understand that motors contribute very little to the cost of a model. There is no doubt that coreless motors bring problems with their use. There are workarounds if the model you happen to want has a coreless motor but I wish manufacturers wouldn’t use them. Coreless on the right.

I must agree that there is no need for another WD 2-8-0; the Bachmann models are excellent. I know you’re a die-hard DC man and there is nothing whatever wrong with that but I will say that Bachmann’s latest offering with sound is superb. An excellent sound and control project in an excellent model. From another grumpy old man who is sometimes charmed out of grumpiness by the manufacturers.

As for the Cartazzi, Bachmann did it properly with the V2. Hornby has released far too many wide-firebox models where the flanged wheels (not always provided) are not functional but suitable only for display. The A1 might not be too hard a job. I haven’t looked at the innards but I have an A1 factory fitted with sound. Lovely models.

An excellent idea and an extra level of protection for the contents. Re-use is always better than recycling.

It is said that if you snooze, you loose. I don’t think I ever got around to requesting an e-mail but nevertheless I got one. I went to the site and secured one of the three I wanted, so I think I did better than I deserved.

Looking again, I think you’re right. On reflection, I don’t know how I came to my initial conclusion. My humble apologies to Watto1990 and Hornby. Gresley’s three-cylinder locos often seemed to have an odd beat, caused by having to raise the middle cylinder so that the con rod cleared the leading driving axle.

Marsden and Fenn contains three photographs of 18100. One shows it under construction without steps. The second, undated but described as being of a test train, is not very clear but seems to show a step. The third, dated 5th. April, 1952, shows the steps clearly. The loco was delivered to Western Region in December, 1951. I conclude from these three photographs that steps were fitted to 18100 either from new or very soon afterwards. For my part, I’m not particularly bothered by the lack of steps; to my eyes, the model looks wonderful. One shortcoming does rather bother me, which is the oil cooling fan. Fenn’s drawing, rightly or wrongly, shows it covered with a grill. The fan is just moulded on and looks it and it is a bit of a shame when compared to the trouble taken over the lifting eyes on the roof. The headcode lights are beautifully done, being tungsten-yellowish and dim. However, the second and third photographs mentioned above show 18100 in action with a pair of oil lamps, which was normal practice at the time. When 18100 was converted to an electric, two traction motors were removed as were the steam heat pipes. The thought occurs to me that it was never intended to haul either passenger or goods revenue-earning trains. With the Class 89 being abandoned in favour of eight-wheeled electrics, it seems that BR had condemned itself to the double heading of goods trains in order to have enough tractive weight.