ian@stenochs

Baz, Superb modelling! If it wasn’t for the radiator and backscene corner appearing in your photos it would be impossible to tell whether it was full size or model. The first and last pictures especially depict the scene perfectly. Your interpretation of baled scrap is spot on and the way you have blended the cooling tower on the back scene is so believable. Ian

Some of the Caley 171 Class 0-4-4t’s had a toolbox behind the bunker but the driving wheels were only 5’0” so your splashers look to big. Ian.

Very, very impressed.

Despicable. Probably an opportunist who has no idea of the value of what he has lifted. Let’s hope he gets caught but he probably won’t! A long time ago I hade a locomotive stolen, off our layout, at the Glasgow show. I have not seen head nor hair since despite the fact it was a rather rare beast, a scratchbuilt Manson 8 class in G&SW livery. Keep your eyes peeled. Ian.

Good picture but it’s even better when seen in the flesh. The quality of the workmanship and the weathering is just superb. Ian

Hi Ruston, An excellent description of the profile milling process. However Nickel Silver is very much a material which can be used. I use it almost exclusively for my 7mm locos. The advantages NS have far outweigh the slightly longer machining time required over free cutting brass. It is not very clear from your photo what type of cutter you are using, is it a D bit? They work great on engraving brass but are not so hot on NS. For cutting NS I use three flute throw away milling cutters, almost always 3/32", for 2-1 patterns. Cutting speed needs to be kept down and a smear of cutting fluid on thicker metal helps. With a new cutter I can cut out a set of loco frames in 28thou metal in one pass leaving very little cleaning up to do. This is my latest, an Andrew Barclay 0-6-0t, DICo no 17. Ian.

Now, now, all the Scottish lines have their charm. I felt that the strongest argument against Scottish independence was the essential contribution to English (!) politics of generations of Scots - from James I & VI to Blair, Brown and Cameron... Likewise, they've given us their locomotive engineers. Indeed, the county of Ayrshire alone probably accounts for more than any other corner of Britain - giving us both the Stirling and Drummond families - at one time or another on the Great Northern, South Eastern, London & South Western, and Hull & Barnsley after their Scottish careers. Although English-born, S.W. Johnson and William Stroudley cut their teeth in Scotland too - indeed the period when Johnson was in charge of the Edinburgh & Glasgow's locomotives with Stroudley and Drummond as his assistants could be regarded as crucially formative. Nice rake of North British wagons!I agree re Ayrshire being the breeding ground for Locomotive engineers. Robert Urie, Hugh Smellie and Andrew Barclay can be added to the list.Nice NB Wagons but then the NB was never a threat to the Sou'West! In fact didn't the Sou West propose an amalgamation?Ian

They might be better doing a loco for the company which was not represented in the 1960s revival! The Drummond pug now preserved in Glasgow. They also served in Industrial service so attractive to another branch of the hobby.

The Auld Enemy!! Ian

Correct Jim. Isn't our language wonderful and a minefield for pronunciation Ian.

Not yet! Ian.

Yes a 'Wee Bogie' as designed by Hugh Smellie.like this one, Ian.

There are a couple of reviews of the JLTRT vans in Feb 2017 Gazette. Vol 20 no 2 which you can access from the website. Ian.

My 'Bogie' was wooden with 4 old pram wheels, the front pair could be steered with rope or feet and there was a box with the end taken out to sit in. Brake? Was a lever which pressed against the tyre on one back wheel. Happy days! Ian.

Old needle filles, even the cheap ones, with the teeth ground off either on a stone or on wheel make excellent scrapers to peel excess solder off. I have a selection with different shapes on the end and sides to access even quite difficult areas. However if you are going to paint the loco, and why not, you don't need to remove all the solder, just the lumps and fillets where you have been overgenerous. Ian.

I have in my possession three differently labelled tins of paint from a well known model paint manufacturer. The paint contained in each is to my eyes identical in shade! Coincidence or what? Ian.

Not sure if this is the correct Dunalistair version as built for the the Belgians! Model built by a Sou'West man who quite likes the style of some of the Auld Enemies engines! Ian.

I have this little punch to make washers. There are two hole sizes one for the centre and one for the outer. The hole is 0.5 and the punch is the end of a broken drill set into the mild steel spindle. I confine my use to 10thou plastkard. I have used the punched 'holes' for bolt heads but don't really make many wagons! Ian.

If the body weight is supported on stops, such that the only movement the axleboxes can have is down, then the loco is on a RIGID chassis. When any wheel hits a raised part of the track, a slight misalignment of a joint etc the loco will lurch. However if the loco rides on the springs such that each axlebox can rise or fall from the datum then it will glide over any irregularity and the body will hardly deviate from level. That is a SPRUNG chassis. Making a sprung chassis does require more work to get the ride height correct and can only be done once the loco is completed and the body its final weight but the effort is rewarded by superior running. Probably the simplest method is csb of which I have no experience as I work in 7mm scale. My experience is with individual coil springs on the top of each axlebox which do need shimming to get ride height. Ian.

Glasgow University Business Archive at Thurso Street holds the Barclay Archive. There are extensive drawing collections but beware it is not a simple job finding a GA drawing. The way Barclay worked was to have a basic drawing but to modify it for individual locomotives. By going through the drawing register you can identify individual locos and see what drawings are listed against each works number. Sometimes there might be a full set of details but no GA! and vice versa. Often there will be a reference to another similar loco with similar results. You need to book ahead and indicate what you would like to see, they are very good, and the store man will locate the bundle and bring it for your inspection. Bear in mind that some of the drawings are quite big and some fragile and have that 'drawing smell'. Copies can be had but expensive and take some time, some of the archivists let you take a digital photo but not all. Been there so speaking from experience! Ian.

Hi Pl. S7 is certainly viable for big locos and there is a difference between standard 0 and S7 wheels. I moved from P4 to 0 but quickly converted to S7 because of the too narrow frames and distortions required by the narrower gauge. There may only be 1 mm in the gauge but the much narrower back to back of 0 is the problem. I mostly scratch build but have converted kits and have a Royal Scot, black 5 and WD 2-8-0 among the bigger engines. All with no real clearance problems in the valvegear. It's just a case of working to prototype dimensions and cutting out slop in bearings. There are a number of commercial undertakings who will reprofile or supply wheels to S7 standards. The S7 group also sell form tools if you have acces to a lathe. They also do a growing range of dedicated wheels, mostly made by a Slaters, but far superior to the 0 gauge version, with proper 3D spoke shape on the newer ones too. Come on give it a go! Ian.

Great view of the Mini's and 1100! Ian.

There is a tale that at New Luce on the 'Port Road' there was a siding alongside the goods shed which had no buffer stops. Over the years o many wagons had been shunted off the end that they had made two firm grooves in the hard ground. The stationmaster could have two wagons standing there where there were no rails at all! That worked fine for years until one day the shutters were in a bit of a hurry and drew the wagons out too quickly the wheels and the rail ends didn't quite match and they pulled the the side out of the shed! From Tales of the Glasgow & SouthWestern Railway by David L Smith, sorry for the diversion! Ian

Ruston, I always thought that one of the late build Barclay 16" 0-4-0 st with the big tanks looked like a bruiser but your Janus takes the biscuit! Brutal or what? Ian.