JDaniels

Thanks for all your comments. Rosspop, you're quite right, I've seen a number of O gauge layouts in quite a restricted space. A small industrial complex for example although I'd prefer a quarry, something a little more natural looking than acres of brickwork. Incidentally the Terrier is available with DCC and sound, clearly quite a bit more expensive. I gather from the guys at Gaugemaster that the sound was matched to the real thing, presumably recorded on the Bluebell railway. Hymekboy, yes I can understand you weakening. I saw the model at Gaugemaster and I'm pretty sure the photos reperesent a production version. I should have realised but I could have sent the link to the gallery, here it is: https://get.google.com/albumarchive/106036127529689486079/album/AF1QipPefRnlkbgIetRxfLJQi0SMqhWLKRyravjJVofx There seems to be something of a renaissance when it comes to O gauge, I can understand it though, from my experience at exhibitions an O gauge layout on an 8ft by 3ft baseboard attracts more attention than a 4mm (whether it be OO, EM of P4) layout on the same size base. I will get there eventually!

I bought three of the Mainly Trains 4 wheel coach kits along with the Ratio composite kit and two sets of Shirescenes sides. The intention is to have a superdetailed three coach set. I've completed the three chassis and I have to say they went together reasonably well. If anyone does purchse them I'd make one recommendation. Do not glue the solebar overlays to the floor assembly. It was perhaps my fault in using Araldite past it's "best before" date but I found it best to solder them. It is somewhat annoying that once fitted the solebar has to be filed to size along it's length and this treatment will certainly show just how well it is fixed hence my soldering recommendation. It follows on from this that the white metal spring assembly should be left off till the solebars are soldered or one runs the risk of melting the white metal. A photo of one of the chassis is attached. The kit is very well detailed, in particular the solebar has all the necessary rivet detail and even the gas tank gauge, this was a white dial on the solebar and is prominent in many photos. The Ratio kit as it stands is certainly good above the solebar but underneath it is a little lacking. I haven't made any etched kits for a while but doing this has certainly rekindled my enthusiasm. There's something inherently satisfying in bonding metal securely together in seconds without resorting to smelly and unreliable adhesive. I might even get that kit of "Lady Margaret" some time. Or I might not. Mrs. D and I visited Gaugemaster at Ford last week to pick up the second lot of Code 75FB rail I ordered. It was a little frustrating as I ordered two packs, was told the rail was in several weeks ago, went down to find only one had been delivered. Two weeks ago I was told the second pack was in so we duly went back to Ford. I have to admit though any opportunity to visit Arundel and walk along the river to the "Black Rabbit" is one we are happy to take. We get to Ford and Mrs. D surprisingly says she'll come into the shop. I show her the display of Bachman locos pointing out they are better detailed than most kits you could buy and finished to a standard a professional painter would be proud of. Only problem is that the wheels are too close together. Mrs. D yawns. We wander around and my eyes are drawn to their O gauge exhibit, a Dapol LBSC Terrier in SR green. I have to say I was spellbound, the detailing was unbelievable and the finish superb. The staff kindly brought it out for inspection and even Mrs. D was very impressed, enthusiastic even. It was priced at £ 225 which considering Bachman OO gauge locos are well into three figures I thought was very good value. The wagons that go with it are similarly very well detailed but at £ 44 I thought they were a little expensive when compared with OO gauge offerings. When we got home I had a look at the Dapol website and their gallery shows the Terrier in a variety of liveries, I defy anyone not to look at the version in LBSC Improved Engine "Green" and not be impressed. Whenever I have been to a model railway exhibition I've always walked away thinking that O gauge looks far better than 4mm, the locos move in a manner more like the real thing, it must be the greater bulk. I also think that in 7mm every detail can be shown. To me it's a case of 4mm still being a toy, 7mm a model. I still don't think I'll move up yet, space is a problem, but if Dapol bring out a very small GWR loco (they do a 64xx / 74xx pannier) then I would be sorely tempted. Also, whilst I enjoy making kits it must be nice to be able to buy a superb ready to run model. I'd be interested to hear what others think but would recommend having a look at the Dapol gallery. I also believe Heljan are making some impressive O gauge models.

I too am doing a three coach rake. I had some problems with the solebar overlays but otherwise the kits went together well. Whilst I enjoy putting an etched kit together I always have a problem with overlays, in this case I soldered them on rather than gluing as suggested. To avoid the white metal springs dissolving into a blob of metal I removed them, I think this is a better than as suggested in the instructions. At the stage now of doing the ends. The plan of 1196 in the book shows a handrail on the left side of the bunker. This, I think. is as originally modified by the GWR. A note to the drawing states that a handrail was also fitted to the right side "later." In the late 1930's both handrails were raised to be nearer the top of the bunker, previously they were just above the concave curve of the modified bunker. By this time though the original GWR bunker had been further modified and was taller, from memory I think the old GEM kit represents the loco with the smaller, lower, bunker. There is a photo of one of the Tanat Valley duo in the book (back cover actually) which shows the enlarged bunker with two handrails but still in the lower position. I could try and scan a copy of the plan to you.

Al, it's a pity that the body is so poor. I too was seduced by the attractive prototype and brought the kit many years ago at a show for I think £ 20. Add in the Mainly Trains chassis (which I think is the one you have), a Mashima motor, Gibson wheels and a High Level gearbox and it was a comparatively cheap model. The Mainly Trains chassis is so good it makes the body look even worse. If I would change anything I would have compensated the chassis but there's not too much metal in the area where the hornblocks need to go. As for lettering, I think I read somewhere that the words "Great Western" were standard sized transfers, not painted to fit as with the wagon lettering. I managed to make my Pressfix transfers just fit by reducing the gap between the two words but even then it means the numberplate is partly underneath the cab handrails. There are some excellent photos and a detailed plan of these locomotives in the Wild Swan book "The Tanat Valley Light Railway" It appears that the Swindon painters have also closed the gap between the two words. It's a shame that Mainly Trains are ceasing operation but I managed to obtain my three GWR 4 wheel coach underframes from them very recently.

Hi Mikkel, Good to hear from you again. The brake gear fret was designed by Iain Rice. Whilst mainly intended for vacuum braked vehicles, some parts, such as the quadrant with the ratchet (the curved part just behind the brake lever) are useful for all vehicles. What the photo doesn't show so clearly is the operating rod which curves up in front of the wheel. It is surprising that plastic kits don't include these features which are quite prominent. Some news on the tarpaulin. I experimented with black dustbin liner and to my mind this looks better than paper, at least when compared with the prototype tarpaulin shown in GWW page 95. The problem was lettering, reasonably "sticky" (i.e. not old) Pressfix transfers worked reasonably well until I came to fold the tarpaulin over the wagon. Also there isn't a suitable size for the numbers (was there a standard?) but the large ones for the brown vehicles look right but need to be overrpainted white. Eventually I decided that this was taking far too long and the lettering peeled off if I folded the sheet to much so used the paper tarpaulins. I do think though that the dustbin liner looked better as the folds seemed more natural. Maybe someone with more patience than me might like to have a go. The Siphon C! Well some progress has been made and the axleboxes and spring assembly fixed in place. I'm now looking at the brake gear, there were handbrakes at each end and I'm using parts of that Mainly Trains etch for this. After that I still need to do the tie rods and queen posts (?) footboards, a few lamp brackets and the roof (with associated gas piping). There was an article about converting the Siphon F to a Siphon C in the January 1983 MRC. As you say, the Siphon F was too long and the centre panels were slightly wider than the others, I think I read somewhere this was done so they could use the roof from another K's kit (maybe the 40ft PBV). By cutting down the centre line of the two pairs of doors and discarding the centre section you remove this inaccuracy. Once this has been done as you say it's a good representation of the Siphon C, the only slight inaccuracy being the the "C" was slightly taller than the "F." You also need to make sure you select the "C" from diagram O8, the O9's were slightly wider. On to track, I have just collected a batch of Peco code 75 FB rail. I want to experiment with this and ply sleepers to see if I can get a better representation of light railway track secured directly to sleepers with spikes. To my mind the code 83FB track with copper clad sleepers looks a little too heavy. I have a few ideas in mind as to how I'm going to construct the overall track layout, one thing I'm keen to avoid is building the track and points separately, I want to see if they can all be built in situ. I'll keep everyone advised of progress.

Red wagons again! I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog but I think the colour postcard in the link below could be convincing evidence. http://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/GreatWestern/Narrowgauge/LBSWDR.html Badminton station was only opened at the turn of the century, I think it was 1904, so certainly red wagons appear to be commonplace then. What I don't know, maybe someone else does, how accurate the colouring was on these postcards. Everything else looks as it should so I assume they were fairly accurate. Also interesting to note that the underframe on the red wagons was black, not the body colour as with the dark grey. It goes to prove that even little more than a hundred years on some important aspects of railway history are still shrouded in mystery. Still it means some know it all at an exhibition can hardly tell you that you've got the colour wrong.

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog. Weather has been too good to sit at my workbench. I think I mentioned that I acquired a Coopercraft 04 open wagon kit at a railway fair at Horsted Keynes. I've now constructed this but comparison with photos of the prototype does underline the shortcomings of the brake gear. These wagons were fitted with Dean Churchward brake gear and whilst plastic kits include the actual brake gear assembly and the operating levers at the end, there are no parts to actually connect these components.This would certainly give your model shunter a shock! The book on the subject, A History of GWR Goods Wagons, gives a diagram of the brake gear, interestingly the rod between the brake gear assembly and the operating levers on the DC1 version actually passes between the wheel and the axleguard. Mainly Trains do an etch of GWR brake gear which includes the toothed quadrant amongst other items (this also omitted on all plastic kits). As I had broken the operating levers on the kit trying to cut them from the sprue, I also used the etched brass levers from the Mainly Trains kit. The operating rod, actually a bar, could have been a problem as this was elegantly curved but I found in my metal scrap box a very fine piece of etch sprue that I was able to bend. I've now completed, painted and lettered the kit, a photo is attached. My apologies for the very poor reproduction. I have put a piece of white card behind the wagon to show the brake gear more clearly. The film round the lettering also shows up far more than it does when viewed normally. This exercise has been a little dispiriting as it now brings into sharp focus the inaccuracies in these models. The brake gear was very prominent as the photo shows and whilst the bodywork is generally excellent on these kits, the compromises made with the brake gear mean that to produce an accurate model not a little further time and expense is required. I will though try and update my other wagons with the correct DC brake gear as time allows. I'm not sure that later versions had the rod between the wheel and axleguard, it may have passed along the centre line of the wagon. The wagon will have a tarpaulin but those commercially available to my mind don't capture the appearance of a sheet. Thinking on this I wondered whether a small piece of black dustbin liner would work as it would recreate the folds of a sheet. To my surprise PC Pressfix transfers work on this thin and very flexible plastic although only time will tell if they stay in place. The dustbin liner also has a slight sheen which the tarpaulins also seemed to have. I will report back with a photo of the Open with a tarpaulin. Finally, in my scrapbox I had a completed K's kit of the Siphon F (?) which someone had given to me. As many others have done I have started converting this to the more useful Siphon C. However the usual route of using the Ratio 4 wheel coach underframe didn't appeal as there are too many compromises involved, most notably the springs which are too long. Mainly Trains again (what a great range of products) do an etch of detailing parts for GWR brown vehicles including brake gear and W irons one pair of which is compensated. The axleguards with 4 ft 6in springs which look closer to the prototype came from Dart Castings. Progress is very slow as to get the ride height right correct I had to cut out the floor, only finding this out of course once I'd cemented the axle assemblies in place. The brake gear is also quite complex with operating levers at either end although the etch provides all of this. I have also found that a hopefuly readily available brass section matches the footboards exactly so I'll use this in place of the fragile plastic footboards from the Ratio underframe. I have some of this brass section but not enough. When finished I'll do another blog entry with a photo but it may be a while. The exercise has been more time consuming than I'd hoped and with the benefit of hindsight I'm not sure I'd have started this. It is no exaggeration to say that an etched kit, if one was available, would have been quicker and more accurate. Thewinter exercise, three etched chassis kits with two etched sides for the GWR four wheelers are still in a box. I haven't even looked at the instructions so I'm definitely not going to be bored this winter! Hope this is of interest to GWR fans.

Thanks for your response. I will have a go at using a fine brush. Lining out panelling is difficult, even Larry Goddard who painted most of my locomotives wouldn't do my steam railmotor. Khake coaches, even if accurate, would be somewhat dowdy and I've always liked the GWR lake. As I mentioned in my blog, I'll have a got at painting one of the spare sides and see how it goes.

As readers may know from my earlier blogs, I treat modelling as very much a winter or at least dark evening hobby. As the days are getting shorter, (yes really) I am thinking less of gardening, holidays and walking and more about modelling. I have completed a couple of the POW sides private owner wagons. I was conscious that on a prototype based in Somerset the wagons should be from collieries in that county and POW sides do have a number of examples.These are based on the excellent Slater's kits, to date I haven't had any with transfers that seem to have caused some problems. I also managed to purchase a second-hand Coopercraft GWR open wagon with tarpaulin rail at a fair at Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell line to replace the one I had damaged beyond repair. I think modellers of the more vintage railway scene underestimate just how common sheeted opens were. Over the summer I have accumulated the parts to build three super-detailed GWR four wheel coaches. These will be formed in the normal set (BrakeThird , Composite, Brake Third) but the brake thirds will use the Shire Scenes sides. Regrettably when Ratio produced their kit they elected to model the rare two compartment brake third rather than the three compartment that was far more common (and the ones used on the Wrington Vale). I have also purchased the Mikes Models kits which include everything but the sides. The composite will use the standard Ratio sides but I will need to replace grab rails and door handles to get a better match with the Shire Scenes article. I currently have two sets of the Ratio four wheeled coaches, one in fully lined chocolate and cream to represent the 1902 period, the other in the simple livery to represent the late 1920's. I do though find myself drawn to the immediate post WW1 era (say 1918 - 1922) and the coaches I will be building will represent that period. At that time the "official" livery would have been the magnificent lined lake but I'm afraid I balk at the idea of all that lining. On a chocolate and cream coach the lack of the gold lining is not so apparent, on a coach in crimson lake it would be more obvious. I think that if poorly applied lining spoils the appearance more than if not attempted at all. However, I have a get out clause. During the Great War the GWR painted many of their coaches unlined black or khaki. A khaki set, and four wheel coaches would certainly not rank important enough for special treatment, would make an interesting if uninspiring change. Similarly the less important locomotives were turned out in unlined green, my 517 0-4-2T being one example. With regard to the painting, I do have a number of the Ratio coach sides in a spares box and I might just experiment with lining to see if I can get to an acceptable standard. I have tried the Staedtler pens for other applications but for my purposes even the finest line is too thick. It does strike me though that this would be an easier solution than a bow pen where the consistency of the paint is critical. Have any other modellers any thoughts on this? Finally, I am very conscious that my trackwork is not of an acceptable standard. By this I mean the appearance, the stock runs reasonably well despite my cavalier interpretations of the various clearances and dimensions although the point tiebars keep coming loose and require continual re-soldering. Only this morning I was reading the EM Gauge Society's notes on the subject and found out for the first time that when using their three legged track gauge the single leg must always be on the inside of any curve! (To give an element of gauge widening). In future too I'll never use PVA glue to bind the ballast, you may as well cement it in and it completely negates any cushioning from foam underlay. I believe from an earleir blog that Copydex is better. Part of the problem is that when it comes to trackwork model manufacturers seem to assume that all track was to main line standards with chairs. Many light railways used flat bottom rail spiked directly to the sleepers, the sleepers themselves often split and worn. The copper clad sleepers used on Blagdon do not in any way convey the right appearance and the FB track is too heavy. The EM Gauge Society do market ply sleepers which with a lttle attention with a knife would convey a more careworn appearance and these also have holes for a rivet to which the rail is soldered. However the FB track they market is for main lines, I need to find something less heavy (Code 75?). This trackwork once under way will find it's way on to a diorama of Wrington station, a few stops down from Blagdon. I had thought of doing something completely different, a diorama based on the Porthywaen quarries or a station on the Hemyock branch for example, but having accumulated so much stock specific to the Wrington Vale Light Railway I can't face spending more years (and money) building up stock for a different location. I'll keep readers up to date on my efforts over the coming months.

Completely agree with BobM's comments. There has been a lot of speculation about the exact colours represented by light stone and dark stone but apparently these were mixed on site using a colour card that was in all probability dirty or discoloured. Often the card would have been lost and it was then a case of tipping in what was thought to be the right amount of burnt sienna pigment into the white lead base. Getting the correct share also assumed the foreman's eyesight was OK and does anyone really think they spent any amount of time trying to get the exact shade? Finally even when painted the effects of the weather would have an effect. I know my white car looks quite a different colour once the rain has coagulated the dust on it. Let's not worry too much about the exact colour because the exact colour doesn't excist.

For those of us modelling the early days of the GWR, I've just found out that Coast Line Models do an etch of GWR wagon plates along with the numbers for the Ratio Iron Mink (V6). Most importantly they also do the cast solebar plates that carried the carrying capacity and tare so I can take off all those sloping Pressfix transfers. The website is well worth a look. I've just ordered a couple of two plank Cambrian open wagons from Cambrian (who else?) and Coast Line also do the necessary transfers. I must say that for my next modelling project I'm leaning towards a Cambrian railways location in the early 1920's so I can have both GWR and Cambrian stock. Maybe a diorama of part ofa quarry on the Tanat valley as I am developing a pereference for goods traffic over passenger.

Yes I can understand your frustrations and some model railway suppliers do not perform as well as they should. I have had excellent service from Fox Transfers who kindly made up a GWR numberplate with a red background at no extra cost. High Level Gearboxes are another example of great service. With the demise of "proper" model shops we have to rely on the internet but some of the "one man bands" probably do not have the knowledge to set up a website, I know I certainly couldn't. Perhaps we're asking to much of older people who may be very good at making patterns for casting or etches but don't have the knowledge of the internet. Is it any coincidence that the companies with the best websites appear to be those with better marketing ideas and, I assume, younger staff more used to today's world. I am quite grateful though that for all the minor problems that we experience there are still people around who are prepared to go to the effort of supplying us with those parts we require, it must be a thankless task that is never going to make anyone a millionaire. Sometimes I think these small manufacturers take on too much and provide a wider range of products than they can cope with and the price we have to pay for a more comprehensive range is slower delivery times than we would like. The concern I have is that with the advent of incredibly accurate RTR models that the hobby is changing direction from scratch and kit building to buying items off the shelf. Any number of kits that were freely available maybe 10 or 15 years ago are now discontinued and I can see this trend continuing. We can still build from kits prototypes that no RTR manufacturer would take on due to the lack of demand. I often cite the example of the Peter K, superb etched kits of the most outlandish prototypes and still (just) available. How long will this continue though, can a manufacturer afford to produce a kit with sales of maybe 200 or less? Will we still be able to model in EM (as I do) or P4? Why bother to change from OO when the Bachman locos as an example have such superb chassis detail? I'm writing here as someone who has been modelling (on and off) since the early 1970's. It would be very interesting to hear from some of the small manufacturers and also maybe those younger modellers. Do those currently buying "off the shelf" see a time when they will be making kits with all the additional time that entails and would they consider changing to a more accurate track gauge? Grob1234, you have raised some important issues and I hope others will respond. John Daniels

I haven't spent much time modelling as I have set myself a number of jobs to do around the house, too many my wife says. I have though had another look at a David Geen kit I have that is rather wobbly on the track. The kit is for the outside framed van and whilst the detail is excellent I found having separate axleguards for each wheel did cause some problems. The problem arises as white metal has no "spring" and one of the wheel sets was very loose in the bearings. Try as I might I could not close up the axleguards. Most kits have the axleboxes on each side as one casting or moulding. Having another look at the instructions (I never throw these away) it was mentioned that both grease and oil axleboxes were provided and sure enough I found the unused grease ones in my wagon spares drawer. This meant I could sacrifice the oil axleboxes fitted, another bonus was that this was going to be a red wagon so the earlier grease axleboxes would now be correct. There are very few kits that could legitimately be painted GWR wagon red but this is one of them. I thought the best way to approach this would be to connect the axleboxes for each wheel set with a piece of scrap metal, I used a piece of etching waste turning up each end to locate against the axleguard. By holding the axleguard against a flat surface and using LMP solder I was able to fix them firmly to the etch scrap. I hope the photograph attached shows this. Although I used a wheel set to obtain the correct positioning, I had to take this out as I couldn't get the soldering iron in. However the etch scrap allows the axleguards to be sprung open slightly to pue the wheelset back in. My intention was to Araldite this assembly to the floor and solebars but another problem. For some reason the axleguard is fairly deep and intrudes beyond the floor. I didn't want to dismantle the whole assembly so hacked a hole in the floor to allow the springs to sit correctly on the solebar. Once I put the Araldite on I set the wagon on a piece of glass to ensure it sat level with all wheels in contact with the glass. I have to say this was quite simple and allowed me to use a wagon that might have been consigned to the bin. Shame about having to hack the floor though. The next job was painting. I only use paintstripper as a last resort but after about four coats I realised that GWR wagon grey was going to be difficult to hide. The Wiko paintstripper therefore came out and worked well although the roof also came off. A good clean up and a coat of primer followed by one coat of Humbrol 100 followed by a mix of Humbrol 60 and 100. I used my Iron Mink as a guide to getting the shade right although I may give it another coat. The roof was reattached although I have now noticed that it is slightly off centre, the overhang one side being slightly more than the other. As you can't see both sides at the same time I'm not concerned about this. The eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted in the attached photo that the solebars of both wagons and black notwithstanding my earlier thoughts. Trawling through Google I came across a number of illustrated articles by a gentleman in the USA who is clearly interested in railways. One extract included a colour postcard, probably from his collection, of Badminton station soon after opening with a line of wagons at one of the platforms. Most of the wagons are red (which does tend to confirm a late change in the colour as the photo must have been taken in 1905 at the earliest) and all the red wagons are black below the body (i.e. solebar, axleguards etc.). The few dark grey wagons do appear to be that colour below the solebar so whoever coloured the postcard was not necessarily following the general practice at the time.It would be difficult to draw any conclusions about the shade of red as the colours seem faded but the brick / red oxide which most people seem to have settled on seems a pretty good approximation. I haven't lettered it yet as I have run out of Pressfix transfers and they're not very generous with pre 1904 G.W.R (note only two full stops). Looking at the Iron Mink though and I think I need to dump the 15+ year old Pressfix transfers and try again. Using transfers is the bane of my life but struggling with very old Pressfix sheets which don't now stick is one reason why it must be difficult. I'm quite pleased with this wagon as considering the chopping it received it still looks good. Yet another pice of rolling stock for Blagdon 1902!

I agree that the standard of RTR is so good these days that at first glance there doesn't seem much point in buying a kit if the prototype is available from either Bachman (preferably) or Hornby. When I first saw photos of the Bachman 3MT 2-6-2T I thought it was one of the best RTR models I've ever seen, in particular they seemed to have done a better job with the chassis (the wheels especially which to my mind is where RTR often falls down). I have a soft spot for these locos as one of the first models I owned back in the 1960's was the Triang version. The problem for me though is that I model in EM and whilst you can use regauged wheels on the RTR chassis it just doesn't look quite right. Many manufacturers now do etched chassis kits for RTR and that is the route I would take so only the body would be needed. For anyone modelling the period prior to about 1930 though the range of RTR models is very limited and that is where the kits score. The kit manufacturers don't need to sell tens of thousands of their products so can produce models of the more obscure (and dare I say more interesting) prototypes. You only have to look at the oddities in the Peter K range for example to see what is available. I'm currently interested in a etched kit of "Lady Margaret," a single loco acquired by the GWR from the Liskeard and Looe railway. Would we ever see a RTR version of that? You are right when you say white metal kits are not as realistic as etched metal (a point I made only two days ago in connection with a blog on the Metro tank) but RTR shares the same shortcoming, moulded plastic cannot emulate sheet metal. One final point, you've made an excellent job of your Kemilway kit, I particularly like the "daylight" under the boiler. Every kit once constructed though is different in terms of the detail added and quality of construction. I like to think that each kit we construct is like an individual fingerprint. It's not a Kemilway or any other manufacturer's kit, it's the model I'VE constructed. That's why I like kits though I would certainly buy a Bachman body with an etched chassis if the prototype I was after was modelled by them, time is a precious commodity and there's no doubt an etched kit in particular can take a long time to construct. BTW, your Midland 1P 0-4-4T is superb. John

Sorry bit late on this but I just spotted this in the GWR section. I have the Wills kit with their etched chassis and like others I am very pleased with it. It captures the look very well which I think is more important than any minor dimensional inaccuracies. You do need to be careful though in which prototype you model as like the 517's they changed a lot over their lifetime. The smokebox door, the part that to me makes or breaks a model, did vary according, I suppose, to which boiler was fitted. I have done a couple of etched kits and there's no doubt that sheet metal can (should?) look more convincing than any cast or moulded material looks. However I find that an etched kit takes an inordinate time to build and can be more expensive. I think you'd be hard pressed though to differentiate between the etched Metro and the SEF kit which I rate as one of the best while metal kits made. Even in the early 1970's when I started more serious modelling Wills kits (as they were then) always had a cachet that their main competitor never had. Mine is fitted with a Portescap RG1219 motor (purchased when those motors were a vaguely reasonable price) with the MJT (?) gearbox modification and it runs superbly. Of course the chassis should be compensated as the layout does not lend itself to fixed axles. One thing I do if I can is to mount the collectors on the top of the chassis. With the SEF chassis this is quite simple, a piece of angled brass soldered to each of the frames between the wheels and a length of copper clad sleeper superglued to the brass makes a convenient base for either phosper bronze strip or wire to bear against the rims. The great advantage here is that the collectors are completely hidden. Writing this makes me want to go out and get another one! John

Found the attached that might be of interest. http://www.hamptonkemptonrailway.org.uk/history/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification The Wikipedia entry relates to the current position, I don't think there would have been anything so sophisticated in Edwardian times. The English Heritage entry for Blagdon waterworks refers to filter beds and I would guess that's the extent of any treatment carried out in those days. John

Mikkel, The attached might give you further information on Blagdon waterworks in particular but also generally about how they worked. http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1320936 I found out recently, but I suppose it was obvious really, that ash was a by-product and would have been taken away by rail. I don't think water was generally softened unless used for a particular purpose, one of which was steam locomotives! Some locomotives (the Bulleid pacifics?) had a water softener in the tender which I understand was like a cage in which a chemical was poured. I'll have a look on the internet to see if there's anything else of interest on this subject. John

Mikkel, Thank you for your kind words. The small locos the GWR inherited do have a lot of character and but because they were "one off's" in disparate locations it's difficult to justify a whole stud of them in one place. They certainly have more appeal than the standard classes so often seen. I've often thought the Oswestry area would be a good basis for a model as a number of non-standard locos were based there, most notably "Lady Margaret" for which a rather expensive etched kit is available. Regarding the 1925 survey, I should perhaps have mentioned that this also covered passenger traffic and really was a forerunner of the Beeching Report. Some of the figures are pitifully small but you can see a story in them. For example, general merchandise received in 1903 totalled 1,032 tons. The next highest figure was 620 tons in 1926 but otherwise all other years are less than 250 tons. The branch was opened in late 1902 to carry goods for the construction of the waterworks and reservoir which explains the high figure for 1903.

Red wagons. Well I've now painted my first red GWR wagon. Having looked at those in Mikkel's excellent blog and taking advice from MikeOxon I've mixed red oxide and vermillion (well actually the closest Humbrol equivalents) which has produced a colour that fits the "light red" description given in contemporary sources. The only currently available kit that could justify the red livery is Ratio's iron mink, other available kits all postdate the change to dark grey. Incidentally it seems to be well documented that brake vans were painted grey well before the livery spread to other wagons. Lettering was a right b****r, I lost count of how many times I had to scrape off the end numbers until I got them passably straight. Unlike a planked wooden van, there are no reference lines on an iron mink. You will see from the photos that I've painted the underframe red, a contentious point perhaps but it's well known that the GWR was unique in painting the underframe and body dark grey and I feel it more likely that this was a continuation of the practice adopted with the red. Also the photos I have seen of newly painted wagons appear to show the same shade for underframe and body. I accept this is a tenuous argument given the limitation of photography in those days. The fact is that we just don't know for sure. You will also see that the wagon is in "ex-works" condition but I will dirty it up and the underframe then will appear closer to black, or rather an oily grime colour. Goods train operation at Blagdon. The scenario depicted in the photos shows Blagdon soon after opening with 1384 drawing the wagons off the rear of the 12.03pm mixed from Congresbury (which arrived at 12.40pm). The loco would depart Blagdon at 1.00pm, engine and van only but with local traffic if required. This cavalcade went as far as Wrington, the first station on the branch, shunting at each point as required. The reason for this was to avoid delaying the mixed train with shunting movements, the only operation permitted was to simply drop the wagons off at each station. The engine and van returned at 1.40pm from Wrington, arriving Blagdon 2.08pm ready to work the 2.35pm passenger to Yatton. The two PO coal wagons would be taken on the 1.00pm and dropped off at the Bristol Waterworks siding where the boilers for the pumps required a couple of wagon loads a day. The siding was only a few hundred yards from the terminus and the service timetable allowed wagons to be propelled back into Blagdon providing the guard was on the leading wagon. Health and Safety would have kittens today! I've seen a few service timetables and it is quite unusual for a separate service to be run to deal with shunting along the branch. How much shunting, indeed how much traffic would there be though? Goods traffic on branch lines. There are very few photos of branch goods trains in their heyday. Given how expensive film, or glass plates were, photographers would rather go to Rattery or Dainton banks. There are however some very evocative photos that I have seen, there is one in the Wild Swan book of the Abbotsbury branch and another in the Tanat Valley Light Railway book by the same author. Those of us modelling the GWR do though have one good source of information, in 1925 the GWR reviewed goods traffic on all their branch lines with a view to effecting economies. This summarised how much traffic there was on every branch and in the case of Blagdon, and I am sure many other lines, it is surprising just how little goods traffic there was.The main reference book on the Wrington Vale Light Railway published by Oakwod Press gives these figures and in approximate terms, for the busiest year for each class, 1 wagon load of minerals was forwarded from Blagdon every six months. General merchandise forwarded from Blagdon was the equivalent of one wagon every week (although it doesn't work out that way). Going the other way, traffic received by Blagdon was 2 wagons per day of coal, (for the waterworks), other minerals (stone?) was 1.5 wagons per week whilst general merchandise was equivalent to two wagons per week. Livestock was separately counted and was one wagon every two weeks. Remember that all these figures relate to the busiest year for each class, other years would have seen much lower figures. The general merchandise would have been on the daily station truck, the van to and from Bristol Canon's Marsh depot that was attached to either the mixed or goods train and called at each station, often being unloaded at the platform. Therefore the typical Wrington Vale branch goods would be two PO coal wagons, the station truck and a goods brake. I would think that in general the amount of goods traffic on branches would be more limited that we might think, in the case of Blagdon the waterworks provided most of the inwards traffic. Larger settlements might have wagons of domestic coal whilst market day in a market town would generate a lot of cattle traffic. Indeed the service timetables often show cattle specials on market day and I understand that at Ashburton the passenger service terminated at Buckfastleigh as the station was so congested. Realistically therefore our branch goods would consist of PO coal wagons, vans and cattle wagons. A six wheel siphon might be seen but this would be attached to the passenger service. Bogie bolsters might be seen if there was a lot of timber traffic but I bet Blagdon never saw one. Tank wagons would be unknown unless there was an unloading facility. What I suppose I'm saying is that unless there was industry that required more esoteric rolling stock, the average branch goods was quite limited in its' variety. For more information on this subject I would recommend the three part Wild Swan series about GWR Goods Services. They contain a fabulous selection of early photographs of goods depots and they show that they were far from being neat and tidy. I think we've been conditioned to seeing offical photos taken at opening but the series of books show the depots as they were and it is a real eye opener. My own thought is that whilst the railway companies did make efforts to keep stations, the public area, clean and tidy the goods depot was very much a working environment. It is a wonder that goods found their way on to the right wagon but this was a time when the railway worker might be low paid but knew their job inside out.

Mark, PowSides that I mentioned in my earlier comment do the transfers for Bradbury. They were based in London, not altogther surprising i suppose. John

Mark, I use three link / screw couplings and nothing looks better even if they are slightly overscale. They can be infuriating until you get adept at uncoupling, I use a wire uncoupler attached to a cheap plastic torch that was given to me by a Taiwanese insurance company in the days when I was gainfully employed. I'm still experimenting at finding the ideal shape of wire for uncoupling and I'll report in my own blog once I find it, if indeed I do. As a suggestion why not get a couple of pairs of three link couplings, attach them to two wagons and see how you go with coupling and uncoupling them. You'll need to bend up some wire and I would certainly recommend attaching the wire to a small cheap torch. As regards private owner wagons, I would recommend that you have a look at the PowSides website. I have just ordered two from them, they have a range of over 700 and as far as I can see are based on the Slaters kits, these were outstanding. They haven't arrived yet so may be disappointed but there is a lack of decent wagon kits these days, it was so much easier ten years ago but we didn't know it then! John

I like your ideas. I've always liked something different even if my own efforts are relatively conventional. Whenever I go to an exhibition I find it's the layouts that are different that attract attention. I also like the period you have chosen, between the wars GWR branch termini are less common now but have been replaced by post nationalization layouts. It's important that the golden age of railways are not forgotten. I too model in EM, I hope you are a member of the EM Gauge Society. The finer scales I don't think add a great deal and are less tolerant of minor imperfections in track laying, wheel back to back measurements etc. I'll watch your blog with interest. John

I know the area well having discovered Litlington whilst walking the South Downs Way. There is a great pub there, better than anything in touristy Alfriston. Also a brewery nearby, their Old Man winter beer is fabulous. You're quite right about modelling Cuckmere Haven, you'd need a huge baseboard to do this spectacular coastline justice. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses. John D

Mikkel, Thanks your reply. Yes I've read about Coopercraft, a great shame that the kits are not available as they produced good models of a wide range of wagons. I have scoured the internet with no success and viewing other comments in RM Web don't feel happy about going the direct route. One particularly good manufacturer is Great Western Wagons who make some of the very old types but again I'm not sure whether these are still available. David Geen's website doesn't look as though it has been updated for a while. I picked up a white GWW metal kit of an old O/F mink at Expo EM which I'm now thinking about repainting red. They also did some curved end opens which look particularly attractive. Sadly it does seem that in the last few years the range of accurate kits for rolling stock is diminishing rather than increasing, I suppose the availability of excellent ready to run models from the likes of Bachman may be the reason for this but that's no help to those modelling earlier periods. We don't all have the time to scratch build and these kits were a quick and cheap way to build up a stock of period wagons. Thanks you for comments. I'm afraid it's back to the paint roller rather than the modelling paintbrush tomorrow! John

Mike, Yes it will be a change to see wagons painted in something other than that dull and boring dark grey. Thanks also for your tips on the colour. I can see though that one problem with early GW wagons is going to be the cast numberplates though I have two sets that had thoughtfully been provided in a Coopercraft kit. All I have to do now is find a few kits, it seems that some of the manufacturers I have used in the past have either disappeared or been subsumed into other concerns. At first glance only the Ratio Iron Mink is readily available. I particularly liked ABS, Coopercraft and Great Western Wagons but to find these needs a little digging on the internet, if they are still around. The internet is good but so was your friendly model shop, now very rare in our neck of the woods. Unfortunately work on the coaches and wagons is being delayed due to some painting but this time it's Dulux Desert Wind applied with a roller! John