SP Steve

Brass bearings fitted without too much hassle - the profile of the Oxford wheel sets look a little chunky so EM split spoke sets fitted. In the course of doing this I found that the saddles and end support bolsters are a plug fit and can be teased out by pushing on the pegs from underneath the chassis. For anyone so inclined then re-working as a cradle mounted tank would be quite a simple task (I did wonder if Oxford are thinking along the same lines for future releases). The chassis is quite a nice item with brakes shoes lining up quite nicely with the EM wheels (for once the break levers will be left in situ) and it gives a good rendition of the openness of this type of chassis. For anyone wishing to re-livery then the transfers are easy to remove with the use of methalated spirits as is the red paint on the headstocks etc.

For those of a nervous disposition then look away now! Having ordered two of the Mobil variant I've decided to rework one of them into a Charles Roberts 14T variant (RCH Drawing 97 of 1911) ordered by BP and numbered 971-1020. The 10' 6" wheelbase chassis as provided would save half the job and modelling in EM should mean it would be a simple case of dropping in replacement wheel sets - as is common with most projects that 'should' be easy, it isn't! The axle length as provided by Oxford comes in at 26.3mm and in situ there is a little slop but replace with Alan Gibson EM sets with their axle length of 25.8mm and it precludes any sense of free running as the side play is just to great. The axle diameters thankfully are the same (2.0mm) so a swap of wheels is one option or fitting brass bearings is another - either way it isn't a plug n play situation. Dismantling of the model revealed the following: a) the filling hatch / manhole cover was not glued and simply pulls out (it may have had glue applied but if so it wasn't successful). b) the two retaining 'ropes' are made of blackened wire attached to plastic retainers which simply pulled out from their sockets on the rear of the solebar. c) the tank is retained with two screws under the chassis (remove couplings to access) and the end stanchions between the tank retaining baulk and headstock can be levered out from the headstock. d) the tank retaining bands are metal and are a clip fit into sockets at the rear of the solebars. e) after completing step C the diagonal stays will prevent the tank removal. These are made of plastic and were loose at the baulk end but the ends behind the solebar appeared to have been glued so breaking the stays was the only option in order to get the tank off. f) the buffer heads are metal but on mine were very loose. The buffer housing uses a square peg to locate in the headstock and were easy to lever off. g) after removing the tank it would appear that the tank ends are a plug fit to allow fitting of metals weights but are then glued into position h) the bottom tank discharge valve is a plug fir into the chassis assembly and was easily removed. So there you have it - how to devalue your model wagon in one fell swoop!

Suspect this is the Marylebone parcels depot open day 11-14 May 1961, details at : http://www.bropendays.co.uk/marylebone1961.html At least the 'Duke' was still in service at the time unlike the two Bulleid 'West Country' Pacifics that were en-route for scrapping in South Wales but were diverted to star in the open day at Bristol Bath Road depot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93122458@N08/8469264292/in/pool-hampshire-railways

Judging by the position of the open wagon adjacent to the door of the building and with its own door obviously open then it looks like it is performing as a 'dustbin'. First thoughts I had were for scrapped brake blocks and other scrap from minor repairs.

Looking at the image again and with Clive's comments in mind re: discharging the tank contents then the shown wagons must be Class A as they are being siphoned rather than discharged via a bottom feed. The top manhole contains the siphon feed and tank vent so the pre 1927 date still holds good as after this the manhole was made smaller in diameter so not enough room to contain everything.

Found the following Flickr image taken by John Law c1961 which shows Kings Cross as viewed from over the re-fuelling point: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmightycat/5668737581/ There are clearly three Mobil tanks Nos 1657, 1624 and 1656 which are hooked up to the delivery system. All three are saddle mounted tanks which would appear to date from before 1927 as the outlet control valve is inside the manhole. The only difference to the Oxford one that I can make out is that there is a holed 'curb' rail running along the top of the sole bars, the diagonal stays would appear not to cross over at the sole bar fixing point and the Mobil logo is smaller as the retaining band does not cross over the logo as does the Oxford one. There is a very similar looking vehicle in the second edition of Tourret's "Tank Wagons of Britain" which depicts Asiatic Petroleum Co. Ltd. 14T Class A wagon 763 (Plate 503), built by the Midland Carriage & Wagon Co.

Received mine today from Hattons - measurement of the tank diameter is 22.5mm which equates to a barrel measurement of 5' 7 1/2"

I seem to recall that the body is only good for depicting some of the 2050 or so BR Diagram 1/204 Vans built at Wolverton (B751300 - 752349 and B753430 - 754429). The body side stanchions are an inverted "U" shape which I think was only found on the above vehicles - LMS D2108 vans also featured this but unfortunately were constructed from plywood rather than planking. Some 1/204s were produced with three part corrugated ends instead of the two part version featured on the Dapol body, hence why it is only suitable for some of the fleet.

The "European" title was dropped just after this picture was taken as from the 11th May 1987, the Glasgow/Edinburgh - Harwich Parkeston Quay service was re-routed to run unnamed via the WCML as far as Watford then Shenfield and Colchester. The named train baton passed to a new Manchester Piccadilly - Harwich service which was given the "Rhinelander" title, reverting to past practices as the "European" had come about from the Manchester - Harwich service (formerly known as the North Country Continental) being extended to start back from Glasgow / Edinburgh in 1983. The service you refer to I think ran as the "Britannia" from Harwich to Nottingham / Manchester Piccadilly with another Harwich - Birmingham / Liverpool 156 operated splitting service being given the "Loreley" title (later a third portion was added serving Blackpool North). Finally in Regional Railways days the "Britannia" and "Loreley" titles were dropped and a new "Vincent van Gogh" title was bestowed upon workings between Liverpool Lime Street and Harwich.

Hi Eric, Volume 2 of the three volume set "The Illustrated History of LMS Standard Coaching Stock" has a detailed line drawing (taken from the trade press at the time the vehicles were introduced) of a D1746 BTO from which it would appear there were two "battery boxes", one either side. There was also a drawing done for the January 1966 edition of the MRC featuring D1745 TO and D1746 BTO carriages but in common with a lot of these drawings, under frame detailing is not done with any great resolution. However there is an 3/4 image of D1745 TO No. 5296 (7926) which supports that two under frame boxes were fitted (it's printed on a horrible brown card/paper but the two boxes can be made out).

There is a decent close up b&w image of the headboard in "Locomotive Headboards - The Complete Story" by Dave Peel (ISBN 0-7509-4462-5). It is listed as courtesy of Sheffield Railwayana auctions but as the book was published in 2006 then any on line catalogue (should one have existed) has disappeared. Although the image is black and white, the detailing is sufficient to give a good rendition in 4mm. The following description may be of use to determine the sizes: "Wooden 15" diameter circular board with Viking longboat at sea depicted on a 12" central disc. Title in 2 1/2" black lettering on a white background sited to top of outer upper circumference". The title was carried by the 09:05 Inverness - Wick/Thurso and 13:15 Wick - Inverness services and was in use between June 1962 - September 1964. Interestingly the name was later resurrected by BR in the early 1980s and although there was no headboard, carriages carried paper destination labels with the title and intermediate stops up until the days of Class 156 "ScotRail Super Sprinter" operated services. If of interest I can dig them out and photograph them.

In the course of searching through my saved magazine articles, I found a 4mm scale drawing from the December 1966 edition of the "Railway Modeller". This shows the original Palethorpes "Royal Cambridge" branding so shouldn't be too difficult to concoct something to allow you to have a set printed and then to use the sausage emblems that CCT do.

Try and search for "08/12/1955" - the drawing number is: Roll = 75 Box = 51 Prefix = X Drawing Number = 252 Title = Standard Coach. General Arrangement. Corridor Composite There was a 7mm pull out plan in the December 1986 edition of "Model Railways" which showed a GA drawing from Swindon Works C&W drawing office depicting a Mk1 FK - this was originally drawn by Mr K. E. Frankling dated November 1950, drawing reference SC/SW/225.

There are two pictures of these vehicles in Vol 1 of the Jenkinson & Essery "LMS Standard Coaching Stock", one (38773) in LMS livery and the second (M38732M) in BR days. The main differences are that the LMS livery had "Royal Cambridge" instead of "Pork Sausages" and the pack of sausages logo was slightly larger, filling the entire width of the end portion. Hornby's R6158A carries this same version of the LMS styled livery even though it's a GWR variant. If this was the same for the LMS vans then John's lettering would also be incorrect as it's yellow rather than blue. Precision Labels or Railtec are two transfer producers who may be able to help?

As Steve says no other vehicles of this type seem to exhibit the same sort of gap and it is definitely on a gradient. Dave's caption lists it as "recently out-shopped" but I think that it is seen on Stratford undergoing attention that required the body and underframe to be split. I made out the BYP bit and a magnifying glass did the rest! I've done my worst with a blade as can be seen:

I think it's the correct underframe as the the spring hanger nearest to the camera shows "70213 BYP" painted on. You also look to be right with the body separation as there seems to be a series of spacers along the length of the sole bars. There should also be two brackets on the ends which I presume where to try and prevent the body being propelled forwards in the event of a rough shunt and these appear to have been removed. It could be my imagination but the sole bar at the far end appears to be drooping downwards whilst the body appears level. As the "spacers" seem to vary in thickness I wonder if they were trying to work out by how much and how far along the sole bar had become deformed?

I've taken a lot of pictures of the BZ at the Great Central Railway which shows just what you've described with two fitted to each end, one either side. That's why I was a little confused as I expected any other vehicle so fitted / not fitted to follow the same pattern but the Chivers kit has one of each. The little box you describe isn't a switch but simply a bracket into which the cable connectors are inserted to stop them flapping around when not in use whilst the circular items are just junction boxes to connect the interior wiring to the flying leads.

Thanks for the replies, they seem to confirm my suspicions that both ends should either have them or not. My picture references are a little limited but I have seen only one showing them fitted (one end), that being E70213E at Stratford works in 1957 as seen in Dave Larkin's "BR Parcels & Passenger Rated Stock Vol 1". Only the bases are fitted and as they are a different colour then it wouldn't be too much to suggest that some vehicles had the cables fitted at a later date. I had wondered whether the equipment had been removed at some point but none of the unfitted examples show the small receptacles above the buffer in which cable & connectors were housed when not in use and I can't imagine them going to the trouble of removing them. The same volume shows a Diagram 170 (E70321E) and Diagram 177 (E70339E) with them fitted and another two on-line images of the same diagrams would seem to suggest that the later builds (Diagrams 170. 176 & 177) were all so fitted which may account for the confusion. Seems like the use of a scalpel will be needed.....

You don't need to be on Facebook to order - details can be found on line at: https://www.five79.co.uk/ Also there is a thread with details: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/156612-chivers-finelines-is-back-by-five79-new-items-page-2/

After inspecting the various available pictures of LNER Diagram 120 Pigeon Passenger Brake Vans I've found I'm non the wiser when it comes down to the electrical connecting leads found on the van ends. Some images show no such connectors when viewing either the ducket or non-ducket side whereas others show them fitted. It wouldn't make sense that they would be fitted to one end only so logically I'm guessing that if one end carries them / doesn't carry them then the other end would follow suit. I believe that such vans were done for both the GE and GN sections - was it only vans specific to one of the areas that carried them? (also what was the purpose of them?) The preserved 6843 (ex 70246) has images on line showing both ends without them but as it's a preserved example then it may simply be that it has been altered during restoration. The reason for the query is that I've invested in one of the newly re-released Chivers kits and it comes with one end with connectors and one end without as seen below:

If you search for "SW/DE" then it pulls up one for a general arrangement of a CK coach. https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-04/Derby Carriage %26 Wagon Drawings List.pdf

Dave Larkin's data sheet for them lists them as being in traffic until the mid 1960s and were always in crimson / yellow lettering livery. In his "BR Parcels & Passenger Rated Stock - Volume One" he states that one of the similar Dia 176 vehicles, E70336E, was still around in 1971 but that it was unlikely it had been given rail blue livery.

If you can source "British Railways Wagons - Their loads and loading" by Brian Grant & Bill Taylor (ISBN 1-85794-205-1) then there are a few decent shots of Girdwags in traffic. The pictures tend to show them at manufacturers sites before dispatch or after arrival on site so loco types would depend on the dispatching region - there is one image of a set with a class 24 or 25 lurking in the distance (many of the pictures were taken in the Middlesbrough area). When used for conveyance of girders then the load effectively acted as the wagon body, with it hung between the two sets so hence did not overhang the headstocks. However the sets could be used for other loads and there is one image of a Girdwag MB carrying a cylindrical vessel at the start of its journey with what appears to be a Conflat attached. Certainly a lot of the photos within the book show that Flatrols were a popular choice for runners. BR Dia 2/150 sets were unfitted so presume would warrant a similarly unfitted / piped brake van. When travelling the loads would have been treated as one offs with details listed in Special Traffic Notices but an Ian Allan "British Railways Headcodes" book of 1962 shows that universal headcodes had been instituted for such workings: 8Z02 - Out of gauge load train which can pass a similar out of gauge load train similarly signalled on adjoining line. 8Z03 - Out of gauge load train which cannot pass a similar out of gauge load train similarly signalled on adjoining line. 8Z04 - Out of gauge load train which requires the adjoining line to be blocked Eastern Region (Great Northern) also gave "F" for special trains to the East Coast main line that did not traverse LMR lines, "X" for special trains to or via LMR lines and "Z" for special trains local to the Eastern Region.

All this talk of the GCR brought this to mind: I wonder what the men of 16B Colwick thought when this turned up - Merchant Navy No. 35030 "Elder-Dempster Lines" brought onto shed after running north from London Waterloo to Nottingham Victoria with the Great Central Railtour 3rd September 1966.

The transistor marked TR6 and coded TIP120 will be the final output transistor which will provide the necessary variable voltage output. To test it you'll need first to remove it from the circuit board. When removed then with it facing you and with the writing visible you will need to meter between the three legs which are known as the emitter, base and collector. Their position varies depending on the type of transistor but in this case the base is the left leg, the emitter is the right leg with the collector being the centre one. Without going into too much technicality you need to set you meter to its resistance setting and place your meter leads on a pair of legs at a time, observe the reading and then reverse the meter leads to get another reading. The sequence should be base + emitter (reading one way, open circuit the other), base + collector (reading one way, open circuit the other) and emitter + collector (open circuit both ways). When doing this make sure not to inadvertently touch the probes or short them out and make sure the surface on which the device rests is non-conductive! In my experience the most normal mode of failure is that the emitter + collector will give a reading indicating it has short circuited. I forgot to add that if you do remove / replace this device then make sure that you re-insert the plastic bushings when refitting it. The metal plate area is the device's heat sink to dissipate the heat generated during use and is connected directly to the collector leg (a useful way of identifying a collector). If you replace without using the insulating bushes then the screw and nut will short out against the circuit board tracks leading to all sorts of interesting failure modes.