wilks

Looks to me if Hornby have done a great job in developing these coaches, with great attention to detail. The appear to have a wow factor. Now Hornby have worked this hard in developing the Coronation set will they rework their Gresley 61'6'' coaches to have the correct profile?

Suggest 7.3m between kerbs. This is the standard width used for modern single carriageway roads. If it was an old access road it could be less e.g 6.0m or 6.5m - any less and trucks have trouble passing, especially if it is not straight. Design Manual for Roads and Bridges specifies the widths for new roads.

Congratulations to the MRJ team for publishing the 300th edition of MRJ. I have managed and kept a copy of the 301 editions as an inspiration. I was 19 when 0 was first published and certainly inspired me to improve my modelling. It introduced a whole new world of suppliers (small) whose products could greatly enhance a model. It took many years before the main rtr manufacturers realised there was a market for something better. In the letters of MRJ300 there is correspondence on who now supplies materials sold by Eileens Emporium - back in the early days of MRJ the go to supplier of fine metal sections was "Flack" . All the best to Cambrian models for taking on the Eileens stock and all the best to MRJ and its team - looking forward to being inspired further in the future.

A J6 would be good. Heljan already have GN tender behind the O2.

Fantastic news - I have placed an order for 1247 and look forward to receiving the model in due course to recreate the specials of the 1960. Hope that Rapido learn from the J52 and go onto to produce a J6.

I support RHF9019 nomination for a J6. Most of the pre-grouping railways have an 0-6-0 modelled. The J6 were used all over GNR network from London to Manchester, Halifax, Leeds across to Lincolnshire and into East Anglia via the M&GN. They worked a variety of services freight and passenger trains and had a long life span. They were a classic British 0-6-0 with a very clean balanced appearance. There were a few variations and liveries.

I would prefer the axle size to be a whole number 2mm or 3mm as you can easily buy steel rod of this size of the shelf. Also the axle needs to be full length for ease of conversion.

I think this a really great choice of loco to model. I will be looking to purchase one but not sure which livery. I quite like the NCB version with the stove pipe chimney and the wooden weather protection on the back of the cab. My question to Rapido is whether it will be easy to convert to EM? e.g drop in wheelsets for instance. I have built a Connoiseur kit Y7 - it makes up a lovely model.

Tim Good shout but a LNER Gresley J6 would be fill a gap. Most of the other pre grouping railway have a rtr 0-6-0 tender loco but the GNR does not. They were used over a wide area of the GNR, LNER, BR(e) system.

A Gresley J6 would be great addition to the rtr steam fleet. Does it have to be in the NRM collection.

Thanks for posting the photos. The wheels don't appear to pushed home on their axles. Does that mean it could be an easy conversion to EM?

An LNER J6 0-6-0 - long lasting and wide ranging from London to Yorkshire and across to Manchester. A classic Edwardian design - used on the mainline, secondary routes and branches hauling freight trains and passenger trains and a favourite on engineers trains.

This is an excellent choice by Dapol. Hopefully it will easy to convert to EM with sufficient space behind the slidebars and crosshead and wheels and axles that can be swapped easily.

I look forward to purchasing Finetrax turnouts and double slip in EM. Has anyone tried to interlace two turnouts?

Following the A5 turnout I think a single slip of the same geometry as the double slip would be a very useful addition. Continue the great work.

Brilliant - now that the double slip is available I will get on and order a double slip and a number of turnouts.

Wasn't it on Chris Pendlenton's excellent North Shields layout in P4. I was lucky enough to see it at the Central Hall MRJ show and spent ages absorbing the layout, its operation and details - brilliant.

The signal box looks fantastic. There was a series of articles by Peter Kay in London Railway Record on the signalling of the southern end of Great Northern Mainline - the last article I saw was upto Wood Green/Bowes Park where the Hertford Loop diverged. There are some really useful detail photos in the articles. I managed to obtain from ebay the D&S GNR signal box kit, unfortunately it did have any instructions. I can work out where most of the items go but do you have a set of instructions that you could copy and send me?

The proposal to for the builder to solder the blades to improve accuracy is sound. I used a similar arrangement on OO turnouts I built for a club layout, using N gauge copper clad sleeper strip for tie bars and 0.55mm lace pins. To avoid soldering the blade to the stock rail I would cut a thin strip of rizla paper, feed it under the stock rail over the top of the tie bar and trap the end up between the stock rail and the blade. Seem to work fine and closure was not an issue. Looking forward to the EM Gauge double slip.

A GNR/LNER J6 would be good. Most of the other pre-grouping companies now have a model of 0-6-0 tender freight loco.

Through the LNER Modellers Group I have been alerted to the D&S signal box kit on ebay, which I have purchased. Thank you for your help.

Thanks for the response. I couldn't see it in the Wizard, MSE or the Precision Paints range of kits. Happy modelling.

Great piece of modelling, Can you still get the D&S kit?

This looks fantastic.

A brilliant set of books. Have got to the Isle of Wight which is towards the end of volume 7. Will have to start again until the next set.