Il Grifone

The previously assessed message is to the side. I also get the "try again in a few minutes." Doing so always produces the same result as before.

Me! It comes up with some "Temporably unavailable" nonsense and invariabily there is a note stating accessed a few minutes previously.

It's obviously written by or lifted from someone/somewhere that knows little of what they are discussing. A little learning.... The lining on the model would need redoing for a start (strictly a Farish G.P.5 should have no lining at all!) A Dublo 8F tender body should be OK, but a bit of filing may be necessary.

There's this one in dire need of TLC. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204743337409? The tender body was acetate plastic and almost invariably warped so not a great loss, but you'd be on your own for the valve gear. Possibly Dublo or Tri-ang parts could be used. The 2 pole motor is a dead loss. The shorter (14xx 0-4-2T) Airfix 3 pole one will fit. Watch out for the dreaded zinc pest! Or this one is still available https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256478572468?

I store the guilty party for a while with a slightly overlength bar ( high-tech - a screw and nut allow adjustment) between the sides. Sometimes it even works!

Apart from Grease' em and the pencil trick I've scraped pencil graphite as a lubricant, It will even make plastic to plastic (avoid if possible) slippery. Don't use oil on plastic!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256478572468? Spot the errors:- This Graham Farish steam locomotive, model number 45156, is a beautiful addition to your model train collection. It is a replica of the iconic Coronation Class and features a 4-6-2 wheel configuration, accurately representing the original British Rail locomotive. The corporate livery of British Rail is also faithfully reproduced, making it a great choice for enthusiasts and collectors alike. The scale is 1:148 and the gauge is OO. The locomotive has been tested and is in good working condition, ready to be added to your layout. The black colour gives it a classic and elegant look that will complement any railway scene. There's also this lot! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145120551750?

They are Nucro Bogies. The wheels are the standard K's/Jackson type of the fifties. The brass wheels* are to BRMSB standards with an insulating bush for two rail. Earlier ones have a 1.8mm/15 S.W.G/ axle, later ones 2mm. Nicely sprung (how necessary this is on a wagon bogie is debatable), they run very well. The wagon looks similar to the TTR model, which was a passable version of the GWR CROCODILE H (WELTROL WH under BR)** apart from being stretched upwards to accommodate the standard Trix freight bogies as also fitted to their U.S. range. * They can be found in a 3 rail version (less bushes) and a Dublo version perfect for 2 Railing Dublo rolling stock though very hard to find these days. (There was also a cost problem - 1/4d for two wheelsets IIRC - a not inconsiderable sum for a wagon that cost around 5/-.) ** As it should, of course, supposedly being the same wagon. Pedantically, as a heavy duty bogie it shouldn't have the two lightening holes. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrcrocodilehttps://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrcrocodile Google found me this TTR one from Italy. Personally I would not bother especially at that price!* To be fare to the seller he does point out "The wagon shows evident signs of oxidation". It appears to have German Trix couplings https://www.ebay.it/itm/301576677907 * Also I already have at least two of them. One I had detailed up and then the Mainline version appeared. A discussion here (it should be CROCODILE of course!). https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=57638

Perhaps the left hand picture explains why the 'SMOKING' sign is hard to read - it certainly fits. UK British Rail Vintage First Class Rail Compartment with "SMOKING' sign sponsored by Wills Gold Flake and happy well dressed passengers in a comfortable railway train carriage sponsored smoking compartment, Archive Retro Britain UK 1936 Stock Photo - Alamy My attempts to post the link appear to have failed (It is Alamy!), but the picture shows a 'Wills's (sic) Gold Flake' sponsorship posted on the inside of the compartment and hence reversed on the outside. The blurb states that it's a first class compartment. From the smartly dressed passengers one would think so, but four-a-side and no arm rests clearly states third.

I've never had great success straightening plastic, but the above is the way to go. As a result of Lima warping (Italian sunlight - Not guilty! - I got her cheaply as a result!) I have a Märklin DSB Class MY powered by a Lima Class MZ bogies.

The Dublo 2 rail version was something of a failure as the bogie tended to tip and lose contact with the rails. I fitted all wheel pickup to my two rail conversion including the wheels with traction tyres. She has since been reconverted to 3 rail * (ages ago), so I can't give the actual details unfortunately. I now have a D8000 and a 3 rail D8017. The D8017 has a reversed magnet to allow nose to nose double haulage as per prototype.

I'm not keen on running 00 stock on H0 track and prefer Formoway* or Hornby Dublo. However, since all three are nominally to the same standard, and thus designed for a check gauge** of 15mm, I set all my wheels to this. * Getting hard to find these days. Luckily I have stocks though they are getting thin. ** Back to back plus flange thickness. The B2B is easy to set, but only applies to flanges of equal thickness. This varied through the Tri-ang era, but on adopting the Hornby name they adopted their track standards as well. Streamline was designed as a compromise to accept all the then current wheels which turned out to be more or less what Hornby Dublo had always been using. (B2B 14.2mm, Flange thickness 0.8mm). I have always found that Tri-ang stock would run on Dublo track (even back in the fifties), though it would bump on crossings. Dublo (and others) filled these in so the stock runs on the flanges. Fine as long as the flanges are all the same depth!

IMHO they are just crud collectors - they are not as bad as plastic, but, like those horrors, still go straight to bin (maybe saving the axles). Most of my coaches run on Romford/Jackson wheels, which run well and provide weight where in matters - on the rail.

Maybe! I ordered some bits from China on on eBay (despite putting 'UK only' in the search! - I only realised after placing the order), but they arrived without problem . So that's what the innards of a Farish Hudson look like! I thought they used the same DC motor as the Formo 0-6-0. There's no shortage of space inside the boiler/firebox of these beasts!

It was was a foible of Mr. Greenly. He insisted that the body should be to a larger scale than the works/underframe, Why he should have suffered from this aberration I am unaware, though it does allow more space for the works of course. Across the pond they have the opposite problem (hence U.S. 00 gauge being 19mm). The larger loading gauge and lack of splashers etc. means there is plenty of room. In addition, their rolling stock generally is built with a central longitudinal member, rather than the external solebars preferred over here, This again favours a wider gauge.

Rereading a few months on, I realise I forgot another reason for Meccano Limited's demise - Meccano itself. The advent of Lego with its push together plastic bricks was a lot less hassle than bolting metal strips together, despite the high price of said bricks. My brother and I had a lot of fun making buildings (to 00 scale) with Airfix's much more reasonble 2/- a packet version. This must have hurt the sales of Bayko, which was added to the Meccano empire about then. The growing safety concerns about toys wouldn't have helped with either Bayko or the junior Dinky Builder - pushing rods through holes was a definite must to avoid! My Lotto chemistry set (100% no-no today) already had a blank in the instructions, where once there had been an experiment involving the mixing of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal.... Across the pond, the Gilbert chemistry sets included one involving a radioactive substance. I can remember playing around with this at school - my luminous wristwatch upset the Geiger counter more than the radioactive source. How did we survive? It must have been survival of the fittest!

I was wondering how she managed tp shift 3 Farish Pullmans*, but then realised they are the later product from the sixties. I should have realised at once - they are nice and straight! * As well as being invariably curvy - the one I had as a boy showed signs of this after a very short period - they are exceedingly heavy and suffer from high friction bearings. I must finish remotoring my King and Black 5. My Prairie has a later chassis and I'm still looking for a Merchant Navy. I have a Rivarossi NYC Hudson, so don't need a Farish one.... (Plastic Kitmaster and Revell kits don't count!)

I thought that was what glue or nuts and bolts were for! 🙂 Remember too that Mk 1 coaches are only 2 feet apart when coupled - more or less with the gangways touching. Of course they won't go corners* with rigid gangways and require flexible ones. * The drawing states these are 3 chains radius , but fails to mention if this is coupled or not. Sorry off topic... This is my first RMweb post on my new laptop. It runs Windows 11 which drove me mad asking for paswords and other nonsense, but seems OK now. Next Ii've got to tame its habit of shutting everything down and hiding it. Surely Everyone wants theiir previous pages and settings restored at switch-on?

He proved Brunel was right after all!

Beware you are warned not to eat them! 🤔 Also watch out for customs charges. Or rather the exorbitant charge for collecting these! There used to be allowance for small orders, but this has been abolished. I must do my two GF locomotives (Black 5 and King), but there are other calls on my time.... I'm trying to sort out my Meccano collection. I didn't realise I had quite so much!

Fascinating! I was unaware of any Tinplate 0 gauge produced by Rivarossi, so I looked it up and found this:- http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/Scala_0/Scala_0_1950.htm (Google translate may be of assistence here!) It would appear to have been 'bought-in' by Rivarossi and adorned with automatic couplings of obvious Hornby inspiration. I have the H0 Rivarossi version or rather their model of the earlier compound* Gr.680 class. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FS_Class_680 *It seemed like a good idea at the time!

It looks Airfix to me, as fitted to the GWR 0-4-2T.

Any buffers seem to be expensive these days! I can remember buying K's turned brass ones for 10d a set back in the fifties.

Ours seem to like knocking rolling stock onto the floor...

Both models were stretched upwards to make space for the spring. However, unlike the N2, they are reversible.