31A

What a fascinating collection of coaches in those trains! Several views of Tourist Stock twins (in one case with bulging plywood panelling), and various pre-Grouping types. Looks as though in the post war period it was a case of making up trains with anything that could turn a wheel!

I like the 9F shot (J165) in particular; for some reason it reminds me of a George Heiron painting such as were on the covers of 'Model Railway News' around that time!

What a variety of wagons in C5897 - the whole span of coal hoppers, almost - from wooden to air braked!

Yes quite right Horsetan - a bit O/T but hopefully will get away with a brief explanation - pending arrival of proper signals I made some non working (hopefully LNER-esque) colour lights using Ratio posts and Knightwing signal heads, and added discs and roller blind route indicators as appropriate.

I remember my K's kit built large Atlantic used to yaw about all over the place, not helped by the fact that one of the Romford drivers was distinctly out of true! I eventually cured it by rearranging the bogie pivot arrangement - originally this was attached by a simple 'swing link' as per elderly Triang locos. I made a central slot in the bogie through which a retaining bolt passed, but also made a vertical pin above the centreline of the rear bogie axle locating into a corresponding hole underneath the loco (drilled into the rear part of the cylinder block casting), and the bogie was then able to pivot around this - in other words, the leading bogie axle could swing from side to side, but the rear one could only pivot about its axis. This cured the yawing almost completely, despite the wonky driving wheel! This was actually a side effect of my intention, which was to make roadholding more reliable by preventing the bogie wheels coming into conflict with the frames & cylinders; I achieved this as well. The rear carrying axle ran in a slotted bearing with minimal sideplay and wires bearing on it to provide some downward springing. This sounds like the kind of thing Miss Prism is suggesting. Not sure about 'toy train' curves but there will have been some Peco small radius Streamline points on the layout it ran on which probably qualify as such and caused it no bother. I've just dug it out to have a look, and can report that there is a (very slight) joggle in the con. rods but this is to get them over the leading crank pins, there being minimal clearance between the slide bars and crossheads and the leading drivers, and there is a straight piece of lining on the rear splasher where it meets the firebox!

With that cab, you might be better off waiting for the Brighton version and repainting it (only joking-there were lots of other differences!)! Some of the 'variants' would make very attractive models though, such as the 'outside Walschaerts' 3279, or 4419 with side window cab and booster engine.

Hi 2750, I do apologise! I got the impression that there might be a misconception developing that there were 'early' and 'late' tenders and wanted to make the point (although probably didn't need to quote your post in order to do so) that it was rather that there were different types of tender that were used contemporaneously (how's that for a word!). I wrote the post quickly and without much forethought, prior to going out for the day.

I don't think it's fair to categorise the different types of tender as 'early' or 'late' particularly depending on hand hold cut outs (or other features) - I think it's more that some locos had one type while others had the other, both of which were used throughout the 'Atlantic's' careers (and no doubt they got swapped around between locos during their lives). I used to know more about this than I do now, having several GN locos in my '1930s' collection, but I'm afraid I've forgotten most of what I knew! I was having a quick look at 'Locomotives Illustrated' no. 14 last night (appreciate not a lot of people may have that!), and for example 1401 pictured at Nottingham Victoria, said to be 'about 1923' but with the loco in GN livery, has a tender with hand hold cutouts, while 1422 photographed at the same place, undated but also in GN livery (but with a GC tank lettered 'L&NER' in the background so presumably around 1923), has a tender with no hand holds. It's as ever, a question of finding a picture (or other record) of the loco at the time you want the model to represent, and using that.

All the very best to Locomotion, the NRM and Bachmann with this project! I've already got an Atlantic, built many years ago from a K's kit, but I'm sure it'll look pretty crude alongside one of these. One part of me hopes however that they don't all sell out too quickly, then I might be able to save up and buy one of each because at the moment I can't choose which one to order! None of them strictly fit into the time frame of my layout but I can justify any, all or none of them somehow or other.....

I think you're quite right there, Hroth! They've had R3114 (B1 61270 in BR black with late crest) as available 'on or after Friday 9th May 2014' for several months now, and there's no sign of it! Well I suppose they're not wrong.

Hi Dave, thanks for posting these pictures, which are fascinating - please keep 'em coming! I just wondered whether the DMU's destination blind in C3486 actually read 'Yarmouth'? I say that as it looks like a Norwich Division unit, with a set number on a yellow label inside the windscreen. Not what you'd expect to see at Masboro', but they could get to Sheffield (or Doncaster) on the services from various points in East Anglia via the GN&GE Joint line. Also it appears to be the last entry on the blind alphabetically as it is followed by a blank - possibly the driver intended to display the blank as he couldn't find a suitable destination for his train on the 'foreign' unit's blind?

Hi Brian, Yes, you are quite right, they were rebuilt. I'm not able to check my books at the moment, but the Southern Pride range includes 'before' and 'after' sides so I imagine the difference could be fairly fundamental visually (e.g. altered window layout). There's a drawing in the Isinglass range (no. 180); the catalogue doesn't say whether this shows as built or rebuilt (or it could well show both). Quite agree, this could be a deterrent to an RTR manufacturer, hence I've always thought I'd have to make my own, although so far it remains a pipe dream! On the other hand, the possibilty of a blue / grey version might be attractive to a manufacturer. Steve

I was hoping someone would mention those! Last pre BR Mk1 design passenger carrying hauled stock, I believe, and although built for the 'Scotsman', later used singly in more 'layout friendly' secondary expresses (e.g. Cambridge Buffet Express). I've been pondering making one from a Southern Pride / Bachmann combination for a long time - perhaps if I ponder long enough, an RTR one will beat me to it.

Hi Bob, this seems to be a divisive subject among modellers, but hopefully we can agree to disagree! I always prefer as many points of contact as possible on my locos for reliable running, including the tender wheels (but usually draw the line at bogie wheels). Having dismantled the Hornby Black 5 loco mechanism and then struggled to get it back together again, I was even more determined to keep tender current collection on this one, as the loco pick ups rely on surface contact between the copper strips and contacts on the loco chassis making current collection by loco alone particularly 'fragile' on this model.. This is exacerbated by the fact that the strips don't seem to be particularly securely retained in position by the keeper plate. So while in theory (especially with the sprung rear axle) loco pick up should be sufficient, I wanted the tender to collect as well as a 'belt and braces' solution. I'm sure it would be possible to 'hard wire' the loco pick ups, but I didn't fancy wielding a soldering iron in that area of the loco, and wondered how I could solder wires to the pick ups without affecting the fit of the keeper plate. Having said all that, I do appreciate that tender pick ups add drag (and my home made ones possibly more so than factory fitted), but I only need my locos to haul a maximum of six coaches on a terminus to fiddle yard layout, so perhaps my requirements aren't as demanding as other people's. As you can see from my thread on detailing the Black 5, I did have to add some weight in the smokebox to counter the lifting effects of the spring I added to keep the bogie on the road, otherwise she struggled even with five! Instinctively, this would be expected to unbalance the loco and I considered adding weight at the rear as well to counteract this and improve traction, but there doesn't seem to be much room within the boiler for it. Under the cab floor and cab roof would be possibilities, but anyway for now she does what I ask of her!

Hi Iain, all I can say is, give it a go, you'll probably find it isn't as hard as you think. I've found the square end of a small steel rule (used as a scraper) is quite a good tool for taking the bulk of the plastic off quite quickly and if you were happy to leave visible traces of the weld seams on the roof, you could probably leave it at that. If anything, I've found the Bachmann gangwayed vehicles easier as they can be completely dismantled so that you can work on the roof independently of the rest of the vehicle and then re-spray it easily before reassembly. I can understand if you've got a lot to do it seems a daunting prospect, becoming a boring repetitive task after you've done a few, and I must admit I've only done a proportion of my fleet so far! Talking of repetitive tasks, I've fitted Laserglaze to one of my non gangwayed coaches so far and have several more to do! I'm interested to hear that you had to dress the panes as I had to do more of this than I expected, but put it down to the fact that I'd painted the coach in question (having used several coats to get anything like a decent finish, due to ineptitude and impatience!) so I thought that in the process I'd made the apertures quite a bit smaller than they originally were. Did you find you had to do this on coaches which are still in the 'factory finish', or have you repainted yours as well?

Nice work on these coaches, Iain! Good luck with the bow pen. As you say, the Replica underframe fittings and laserglaze bring a big improvement to the Bachmann BR non gangwayed coaches (I've got several to do), but I wondered whether you'd considered removing or reducing the moulded ridges on the roofs? In reality these are barely visible - it's quite easy to do but results in a big improvement IMHO.

Fascinating pictures as always Dave; C3009 in particular takes me back to my misspent youth!

My late father referred to them as 'boards', which came from his father who was a signalman on the GN / LNE / BR(E) initially in the Doncaster area but for most of his career in North London.

Brilliant!!

So there are - thank you! I must have seen those before and forgotten. Looks lovely, doesn't it!

I have ordered R3234 which is described as 'Early BR' (which I believe means the pre-1956 'cycling lion' emblem), as I found out that the other BR version (R3235), described as 'Early BR (1948)' has the tender lettered 'BRITISH RAILWAYS'. I can't remember where I found that out from, one of the mags I think, but hope this helps. Presumably R3233, described as 'Pre 1948' is the LNER liveried version. Interesting to read in Model Rail that the D16 is expected to be one of the earliest of the newly announced locos to be available (October, together with the LSW 700), although as far as I know no pictures have been shown yet of any prototypes etc.

Thanks again, Ronnie. Point taken about the tender vents and spring links, so I think it's safe to say the tender for my loco will be an all welded type, rightly or wrongly. I was thinking about the fire iron tunnel and my build one from Plastikard so your picture is useful in showing the shape - or I may just 'bury' it in coal! Next challenge however is to arrange current pick up from the Bachmann tender underframe, as it seems a pity to lose it.

Many thanks for the replies so far, both, and oh dear, I should have known this would be a minefield! The model I have is numbered 44668, which I understand makes it from one of the last built batches, long wheelbase, top feed on first boiler ring and 28 element superheater (from the info in MRJ 25). In model form, this is the one which was supplied with smooth tank sides but rivets on the back. I've already removed the rivets from the back, so I believe the tender now correctly represents a fully-welded one, and on the bright side, doesn't need to have sieve boxes. I didn't intend renumbering it, but from the Comet list (thanks for pointing this out!), it looks as though this loco should have a part welded tender. However I suppose one could always assume an unrecorded tender swap.... I guess the tender brake gear could come from Mainly Trains MT185; again, I hadn't spotted this product in my searches.

I'm just starting doing a 'Brassmasters' on a Hornby Black 5, and not being too well versed on LMS matters, have a couple of queries about the tender. Mindful of the spurious 'valence' on the Hornby tender, I've managed to marry the Hornby top with the underframe from a Bachmann Jubilee tender. However I believe 'sieve boxes' were sometimes fitted to the frames between the first and second axle boxes. I wondered when these were fitted (my model will be c. 1960 condition), whether all the tenders were eventually fitted with them, and whether there were two per tender, i.e. one on each side, or was there just one per tender? I see Comet list them as parts in their range, although they look like the sort of thing I could make from Plastikard; however so far I haven't found any drawings which show them. Secondly, although the Bachmann tender underframe is better detailed (and I don't think I'll need to use the Brassmasters axle boxes and springs), I don't like the way the brake hangers are moulded solidly with the frames. I may well just cut these off as I think it'd look better with no brakes at all, but wondered whether anybody produces a suitable set of brake gear for one of these tenders? I've had a look through the web sites for Comet, Brassmasters and Alan Gibson but so far not found anything suitable. Thanks in advance for any guidance on the above!

Thank you for those encouraging words; I'll look forward to reading your article, and consider my options. I must admit, I've never got on very well with using transfers to line locos; I have used a bow pen in the past, but not for several years now!