john dew

It is generally accepted that the 57xx class disc were changed from Blue to Yellow by BR in 1950. Sadly this view was not accepted by Bachmann who steadfastly supply all their panniers with Yellow discs regardless of livery Wikipedia is delightfully vague about the 2721 class disc colour - blue or yellow! It would seem you are in the clear Graham! Regarding disc position -I believe that pre war they were generally in the "high" position, during the war there was an instruction to re-site them just above the cab side loco# plate. This was apparently to limit the torch light exposure when crew took over a loco - not sure how diligently this was carried out!

Thanks James and my apologies. I am afraid I have a yen for alliteration in my titles! I am not totally GWR-centric - the lead van in the parcels train will be a rather splendid LNER Teak PBV ! Best Wishes

Thanks Tinker - glad you like them. They are not weathered as heavily as much of Granby's stock. I painted the undergubbins ( as per @gwrrob ) with my standard muddy black mix but the topsides just had mutiple washes of diluted grimy black wash - the model is so crisp and well detailed it almost seemed like sacrilege! Heaven help me when the Manors arrive! Best wishes

All the Accurascale Siphons have now all been weathered - including 2924 which you may recall was mysteriously damaged and had to be sent back to Liverpool for replacement. Here is a before and after - out of the box : and lightly weathered: Perhaps the most noticeable change, apart from the roof, is the blue paint on the Axle Box covers. Apologies for nit picking but its such an outstanding model its hard to believe that Accurascale intended it to use such a pale shade, its almost white, daubed on in that fashion. Mind you my paint looks a bit bright now - I think a bit more wash is required. 2780, the van in the foreground, was converted in 1938 to run as part of an Ambulance/Casualty Train. Ventilators were added to the roof, along with electric lighting, and the louvres were replaced to eliminate draughts and make it light proof. Towards the end of the war the van was returned to regular service and louvres returned to the upper body. I delight in learning about these pieces of trivia. Now they are ready for service the siphons will work on Granby's regular parcel train. Here are two of them at King St Parcels Depot: I have a long established routine where the Down train drops off one van and then , on the return from Chester, drops off one and picks up two. Lots of shunting involved particularly when assembling the two vans for the Up train. Cue for a Pannier: The Siphons are slightly longer than the LMS PBVs that I previously used so I have had to adjust a number of brake and stop markers. I also found that, on the Siphons, the Kadees hang a minute fraction too low and just catch the edge of the surface mounted uncoupling magnet. It would not be a problem, of course, if the uncouplers were mounted below the surface. Unfortunately with my butterfly mind I am constantly "improving" schedules and thus moving magnets! A quick tweak with the pliers and all is well (for now) : More to come - possibly with a Manor!

Hi Colin Not long before you are running some trains! I fear that my old shed looks far too grimy for sunny Devon - you will have quite the challenge there.

Hi Neal Sadly I missed Grange Week but it would be very remiss of me if I did not contribuite to Pannier Week! https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/2773-granby-junction-currently-focussing-on-panniers-you-can-never-have-too-many/page/80/ You have done a super job stimulating all this interest! Best wishes

While we eagerly await the arrival of the Accurascale Manors, @Neal Ball has been encouraging fellow GWR enthusiasts to share images of other classes. Last week was Grange week which, sadly, I missed. Better late than never, here is 6832 Brockton Grange: Regularly scheduled on the Milk and Parcel train routines along with its class mates Hardwick Grange (the original Hornby release) and Llanfait Grange, they are super reliable and I find them, in modek form, more powerful than either Bachmann or Hornby Halls . and now Drum roll : Granby's contribution to this weeks Pannier Parade: The first loco I ever possessed was a pannier so I have a real soft spot for them - as in real life they are such hardworkers. They have always been good runners but now they all have Zimo chips and Stay alive their performance is stunning. I confess that, with automatic operation, I can get a little twitchy about the loco stopping exactly over the uncoupling magnet (peering nervously over the buildings to check all is well) - but not with these guys! Like most of my locos they are weatherd and fitted with crew, irons, coal and head lamps. They have all been re numbered with etched plates, mostly for Birkenhead and Chester. I have a nasty feeling that not all should have top feeds. I am rather envious of @gwrrob 's war time black pannier and I should probably have at least one shirt button. Nearest to the camera is 6404 a Birkenhead loco that runs the branch Autotrain. Immediately behind, with the copper capuchon, is 9408 from Oxley - at first sight an unlikely loco for Granby but it spends most of its time shunting the storage yards! The 8750 and 57xx coupled together at the back are stabled at Granby Shed and carry out banking duties on trains from Bersham Colliery. The leading 57xx 5723 works the Cynwyd branch B Set and next to it with the Pilot Head Code is 5725 which is currently very busy shunting my siphons in and out of King St Parcels Depot. Not all the panniers are on parade - 3742 is trapped in Platform 3 behind the B Set and 5791 is permanently coupled to a shunters truck in Castlegate Goods yard and there another three non working in Granby Shed I guess its true - you can never have too many panniers! Regards from Vancouver

I had not realised they kept GW livery throughout their war service - that answers my question, many thanks for such a swift reply Best wishes

I am intrigued by the shirt button - this livery ceased circa 1942 for locos and carriages - I assumed brown stock as well. So this van either retained it during service as an ambulance car or it was re-applied when it re-entered service in 1946? Both scenarios seem a bit unlikely. Puzzled in Vancouver

Thanks Mike that is great - bearing in mind the dearth of RTR GWR PBVs its a big bonus and rather more relaxed than I imagined. Basically only one GWR PBV required in the centre of a 5-7 van parcels train - excellent Thanks for once again taking the time to help me out.

Thanks Mike thats very kind of you - no rush I am still weathering siphons and waiting for the replacement 1947 would be great! I had a feeling it was related to the number of Axles. off topic but as a retired sailor I have to ask - when they bolted the hull sections together how did they make the section joints water tight? Best wishes

Nice photo Neal. I wonder how many GWR modelles around the world have been dusting down their parcels trains with the arrival of the Accurascale Siphons. Certainly the case in Vancouver! Could you or @The Stationmaster jog my memory about the position of the PBV occupied by the guard in such a train? I cannot remember how many PBVs were permitted to trail the van occupied by the train guard. I assume that the guard had to be from the same company as the loco and that he had to occupy a company PBV.

I was puzzled how they got them in, full length, through the side doors of a PBV! Then I thought about vans like the Siphon H with end doors but I guess if they were Ikea flat pack style the problem goes away.

@The Stationmaster - I think there is a room marked "Porters" in the main part of the building. It does seem logical to have the toilets and utiliies (lamps,oil,coal etc) situated in the flat rooved annexe. separately from the passenger and staff rooms. I would agree with @melmoth, the arrangement in "Stores and Lamps" does suggest an enclosed stove rather than an open fireplace - which makes sense from a safety aspect. However, there are two chimney pots shown and only one stove - the other fireplaces shown in the plan match up with the number of pots on the other two stacks. I had assumed that lamp rooms/huts required some form of ventilation to avoid a hazardous build up of fumes - could this be connected to the spare pot? As Mike said, some interesting questions. Trivia research, one of the optional charms of our hobby Regards from Vancouver

Its Canada Day and as forecast my Siphons have just arrived - they definitely deserve all the accolades: . Got some work to do before they start running : Paint the rooves dark grey then weather - pristine white is a tad unrealistic for Merseyside/North Wales 1947. Change couplings to Kadee, they say #17 works but I will initially play safe with #18 Not sure about the pale blue paint on the axle box covers - may deepen it before weathering. Remove the B.R. W from 2780 There is some discussion about the paint colour of the van ends - black or brown? I have both, 2780 is black and 2789 brown. I suspect I will leave them as is. Unfortunately it is not all good news: , Not certain when or how it happened but the outer packaging was untouched, as is the stylish and very robust Accurascale box. The clamshell case was also untouched. Disappointing but I have nothing but praise for the reaction of both Accurascale @Accurascale Fran and Hattons @Hattons Dave . Within an hour of my email notification, a replacement 2924 was put on one side awaiting the return of the damaged item, which is now winging its way back across the Atlantic to Liverpool. All will no doubt end well. Best wishes from a gloriously sunny Vancouver - clear blue skies and no smoke.

If you wanted to experiment with curved plates Steve @railtec-models could I suggest starting with the upcoming Accurascale Manor?😇. I am sure there are a number of modellers like me who want to re-name their new loco to reflect the locale of their layout. In my case 7801 Anthony Manor is to be re-named 7817 Garsington Manor which spent the first half of its life at Croes Newyd - so there is one certain order for you! Hope you dont mind me borrowing your thread Neal to lobby for a shed that is a long way from Henley.😀 Best wishes

Super paint job. Many thanks for solving my dilemma regarding the correct way to paint the roof for the forties. Now I just have to wait for them to cross the Atlantic ( and the Prairies) ! Best wishes

Excellent Post - thank you I have been dithering about trying Steve's 3D cab plates. I ,too, dislike changing buffer beam numbers and with transatlantic mail rates it makes sense to use a single supplier. Now with your recommendation I should iffing and butting. Best wishes

Hi Neal My apologies for not answering - I got diverted into Show business and Ancient History! Yes the Siphons are on their way from Liverpool - racking up the Air Miles. When they do arrive they are destined to star in the regular Parcels routine that I have been tinkering with for almost a decade. Currently this train is scheduled with a Grange but that may well change to a Manor fairly soon 😃. Best wishes

No worries this thread has always drifted about!😃 Actually I am delighted you sent the link - it brought all manner of memories flooding back. My first posting with Littlewoods was to their store in Kilburn High Road, almost opposite the cinema - I spent over a year there and saw a lot of shows at the Empire State - Count Basie, Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong and MJQ - had to buy tickets for all those guys - Cliff's show was the only freebie.

Even I have heard of Adam Faith - and then there was Cliff Richard who I once saw live at the Kilburn Empire (?) - they were handing out free tickets

We are beginning to get some smoke from Alberta but we have seen a lot worse - nowhere near as bad as Toronto. We get smoke drifting down from the Interior to the coast most summers but it has started a lot earlier this year - not good news. Fortunately our record 32 days without rain ended on Thursday - amazing how swiftly we move from whining about the rain to complaining about the lack of it! Apologies for lack of updates - too much time spent on the garden! Best wishes

Hi Grahan Colin is correct, 14xx numbers did not appear until 1946. The shirt button livery was replace starting in 1942 so you can have GWR livery with 48xx plates between 1942-6 The 58xx class was a small (20 locos) sub set of the 48xx 0-4-2 class designed principally for light branch freight work - they were not fitted with autotrain equipment - and this absence is reflected in the DJM model 5801 that you have. If you do couple it with an autocoach I doubt if the average punter would notice the missing kit provided it is re-numbered - after all the entire model run was designed and released sans ash pans! Best wishes

Patience is a virtue Neal😃 Mine are coming from Hattons who advised me today they are expected in June (no day). Once they arrive in Liverpool they will then make the journey across the Atlantic and North America to sunny Vancouver. Canada day sounds a realistic date. I guess any unboxing review then will be kind of old news! Best wishes

Hi Graham Lovely weathering job on the Dean. I found adding weight made a significant difference : Its quite easy to do - it has to be if I managed it! Best wishes John