mike morley

I think the entire subject of Welsh brake vans is a minefield. For instance, I'd love a Mid Wales Railway van, but as far as I know there is nothing to go on other than a couple of pictures of the one (or was it two?) that went to the Elan Valley. The Oakwood press says they only had one, but photographic evidence suggests that either they had two that were rather different or they altered the one they'd got during the comparatively brief time they had it. And neither bears much more than superficial resemblance to the 16mm version that's on sale. Something I am particularly mindf

Ah! The joy of the Kerry Ridgeway in the snow. And, of course, the joy of winter motorcycling . . .

I did a couple of field trips to Llangurig in 2003/4 when the embankment across the back of the Blue Bell's car park was still there. The bridge had already gone but recently enough for the height restriction signs on the approaches to it to still be in place. I felt that where the railway had crossed the road that runs between the Blue Bell and the village hall was too high for a level crossing but nowhere near high enough for it to have ever been a bridge. My conclusion, therefore, was that the road had been severed when the railway was built and the detour road across the front of the sc

I went on one of those trips (can't remember the year) with my boss of the time who was a member of the Bletchey - Bedford rail users group, and I understood it was them, not Network SouthEast who were the organisers. My lasting memory of the journey was the number of pheasants the train sent up as soon as it got beyond Aylesbury. Every few seconds there was a russet whir as one took frantically to the air. Edited to add a missing 'h'. Thanks John!

RTR couplings might not be too happy if the transition too and from level track at the foot and head of the incline is not fairly gentle. Tension-locks should be okay at the foot of the gradient but if the transition is too sharp they could struggle at the top. Not sure how well Kaydees would cope top or bottom.

Good question. Don't know. The never did have an internet presence and I dont recall seeing their stand at any shows for a couple of years before lockdown.

If I remember rightly, Peco Wonderful Wagons were pre-printed and embossed card overlays to go on die-cast metal bodies. They were discontinued many years ago but, like conventional kits, the kind of thing people might well have squirrelled away in their "To Do" stash.

Looking at the side-on picture, might it be lubricant for those pipes feeding the axleboxes?

This was round the back of Swanbourne station building. I always thought it would make a fabulous model - especially that bargeboard.

Whoops! Now I've dug the set I've got out I discover only the worm is brass, the gearwheel being plastc -hopefully of a more durable type than Tenshodo use. 14:1 ratio, same as original Tenshodo.

Branchlines do brass replacement gears for Tenshodos.

I recall several times seeing Maxi's lying dead at the roadside with one of the front wheels aiming in an odd direction, its hub having snapped off.

Is it your arteries I can hear hissing?

Do DS10's run hot? Last year I had a loco that suddenly began running badly after several years exemplary service. Cleaning the commutator (surprisingly difficult) made no difference and when I discovered it was running very hot I decided it had simply come to the end of its life and replaced it with a (surprisingly noisy) Mashima. Only after it had been consigned to the bin did it occur to me that running hot might simply be a trait of all DS10's. Edited to add a PS. I think I'd want to investigate why the motor in the OP is full of metal filings, as well as cleaning them

Without adding liquid you risk burning out the heating element I only recently realised they had.