Stalwart

Thanks Johnster.

Very interesting reading this! I now realise I have a couple of semi-fitted freight trains with only a single central lamp on the Guards Van. Does anyone have a recommendation as to where to obtain realistic 'side lamps' from in OO suitable for a mid sixties based WR layout please?

I can't vouch for the exact accuracy of the wheelbase, but I used VI trains 37's chassis fitted with Gibson spoked wheels on my 3 class 41's and they run superbly.

Mine is in my garage which is also home to a classic Morris Oxford so it is at a height that clears it's roof, so about shoulder height, with a lift out section behind the garage door. The perspective you get when viewing the trains go by at that height reminds me very much of halcyon days watching Hydraulics go by in the sixties at Twyford Station and sitting on the embankments at Ruscombe and Waltham!

Still looks supurb regardless! As a matter of interest, D1013 had one of her nameplates fitted 'off centre' which she still carries to this day! I love the look of the wagons on the spoil train, I've put together a similar rake myself which trundles round my layout behind a D63xx or a D6xx, great minds and all that!

Captured the way D1000 looked when she became grubby perfectly! Really was a very impractical colour for a locomotve was'nt it. Is the nameplate a tad off centre?

Splendid! Nice to see another Hydraulic on Wencombe Do you have Wencombe set in a precise date or reasonably flexible? I set my BR/WR in 1967 and then got tempted by all sorts of locos and stock that was earlier or later and it now ranges from 1963 to 1968!

Just a tiny drop of superglue. I took the offending couplings out, re-inserted them a bit further out, ran them round a few times to check they did'nt de-rail again and then applied a drop of superglue to the inner end of the coupling.

I also use the Hornby close-couplers on my rakes of Bachmann Mk1's (the Roco style ones?) and found a few of them use to de-rail occasionally. I found that if I pulled them out very slightly,(which involved cutting off the little lugs that hold them into the NEM socket and then gluing them into place) that the extra 1mm or so of clearance between corridor connections was enough to do the trick. The corridor connections still touch on the straight so you don't compromise the lovely close connection but they don't 'snag' each other when coming off the curves and onto a straight section of track. Lovely weathering BTW!

For me, like so many people, it's the usual nostalgia thing. I grew up in Twyford on the WR main line and starting spotting in 1968. A trip to the station or the bridges at Ruscombe saw a procession of green, maroon and blue hydraulics and the sight of an ex-works blue 'Thousand' was the most beautiful thing to see running on rails! As I model 1967 Western Region, BR Blue is the 'new' livery just beginning to appear, and with so many livery variations in blue on the Warships alone it does'nt have to be dull.

Hi, Just came across this thread and wanted to say how much I've enjoyed looking at all the photos and watching the progress. As a fellow 'Western Region in the sixties' modeller it's great to come across a quality layout such as yours. I couldn't hope to acheive the level of scenic detail of 'Wencombe' but I do enjoy detailing and weathering my fleet of hydraulics and remaining WR steam locos. Inspirational stuff indeed, look forward to keeping up with progress in the future. Keith.

My mid-sixties era milk train is formed with both Dapol and Hornby tanks allthough I have quite severely weathered them. I find the Hornby wagons better runners straight from the box, the Dapol offerings needing extra weight and a change of wheels to avoid de-railments on PECO code 100. Appearance wise the Dapol tank is probably better as the Hornby version is I believe the ex Lima one with a visible seam line along the lower edge (hence the heavy weathering!) but the Dapol one has a visible weight under the tank! I don't think either one is particularly brilliant to be honest but with a bit of extra work they certainly look OK behind one of my Hydraulics!

D821 does indeed have one NBL and one Swindon bogie. She also has a roof panel with D820 stamped on it!!

Many thanks for your replies gentlemen. Excellent photo, just my era! Is that a Stanier full brake in the picture?

I was wondering what would have been a typical vehicle used in a 1960's WR milk train to accomodate the Guard. I suppose a Hawksworth BG might have been an option or a Mk1 equivalent perhaps? Or was it a case of any available suitable vehicle being marshalled in the train? The photos I have looked at show some sort of van but they are usually far enough from the camera to identify what they are.