John Tomlinson

I don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but in the top photo, where the misalignment is clear, were the cranks in line on the other side? Sometimes there is play in the motion so that the cranks seem out of alignment, but in fact it's just play showing on both sides. John

If you were aiming for something like the rolling hills of the North Downs, then that's exactly what's happened. Looks great! John.

I'm pleased to have found this layout, and enjoyed watching some of the videos. I wish I'd done more in Belgium back in the day. A few of the ADL "Along Different Lines" tours and shed trips, plus a bit of linesiding for photography. The latter focused mainly on Athus - Meuse, and seemed like jolly hard work for not much traffic. This was in the late '90's, and although full freight timetables were available (IIRC in Lok-Report, or maybe Today's Railways), they seemed mainly to be honoured in the breach! Happy days nonetheless, and I shall follow this thread with interest. John. John.

I'm not more knowledgeable, but would suggest the same. IIRC the S69xxx numbers are on other catering vehicles in emu's, the 4-CEP's for one. John.

These two really look the part, and you should be well pleased with the outcome. They prompted me to dig out the old David and Charles book on the Stanier 4-6-0's, written back in the 70's, which despite being a slim single volume tells us much of what we need to know about these and the Jubilees, the kind of super-detail we now get in the Wild Swan and Irwell loco books being far into the future. I've always found the numbering of these rather confusing, a bit like the sub classes of 37's, as they start to go backwards in batches after the first big tranche, and had forgotten that 44687 was in fact the last one built, at Horwich, and into traffic in May 1951. My grandad who I never met worked there until his death in 1950, and I've always liked to think that he might have made bits for some of the others built there in the late 40's and numbered in the 44xxx series. If 44744 reminds us how economical in beauty this batch was, 44687 is quite the other way, with its high running plate that was carried on into the BR Standards. Thanks for posting these pictures of a very interesting time in British railway loco history. John.

I think they're all acrylic now, BUT BEWARE. Acrylic doesn't mean water based, some of them if not all are solvent based. Which means that if applied on top of other paints they can cause damage. This happened to me some years ago when I sprayed on top of Humbrol traditional enamel, just blistered the whole thing and needed stripping back to the base. John.

Thanks for this, a good tip. I've used Lendons a few times, very reliable and as you say often extremely competitive on pricing. It seems to be a case with them of looking in on a regular basis to see what's become available - I never thought I'd say this, but where would we be without the internet! John.

I hope you are recovering from your fall. I'm afraid that, particularly as we get older, such events take a bigger toll and it takes longer to shake off the effects. I wasn't aware of the Peco carrying units, or if I was I'd forgotten (another ageing thing). Sounds just the ticket for my Rapido APT-E which I'm quite frightened to dismantle. Could well be useful with other units that are tricky to assemble without damage, such as some of the longer emu's, so many thanks for the post. John.

Thanks for that. The photo in the Docks is a stunner in its own right, so much of interest that is no longer with us. John.

Many thanks indeed for such a full and helpful answer. The loco body is certainly of the long bunker type, looking like the ones in your picture above. Mainline gave it the number 69001, which as we know isn't always correct for any particular model, but appears so in this case. The body moulding quite possibly is the one used by Bachmann, it looks identical to the bodies on your 68724 and 69003 in terms of the chimney, dome and trumpet shapes, and also the moulded on worksplate on the splasher. It has the original Mainline chassis and motor, the latter unfortunately filling the cab. What it doesn't have are the large rear sandboxes that you mention and which are clearly visible on your examples, but which should be simple enough to make out of Evergreen plastic of a suitable size. Thanks again for your reply. John.

Plummeting this thread a long way, I have an old Mainline J72, bought decades ago for not a lot, which surprisingly runs very nicely indeed on its split chassis mechanism. Would this be the same variant as your 69003/10, so a late one built by BR? Many thanks, John.

That may well be true in principle, but apparently the A3's were 7P6F, at least before they got Kylchap exhausts and double chimneys. Some of them were blue in the late 40's, early 50's. Sounds like yet another rule honoured in the breach!! John.

Happy to be corrected, but whilst the Peppercorn A1's carried early BR Blue, I'd thought that the timing of the A2 builds meant that none of them passed through Works at the time that livery was being applied, so going direct from LNER Apple Green to BR Brunswick. Obviously the owners can use whatever colour they wish (though hopefully not Porterbrook Purple!) and I'm sure it'll look absolutely stunning when the lining out is complete. John.

FWIW I have the same problem, a missing buffer, also two vertical handrails and a windscreen wiper, all on a secondhand purchase off Ebay where I should have studied the photos more carefully! At some stage, I assume Hornby will rerun the model, maybe in a different livery, say the darker green with or without a yellow panel. I'm hoping a few spares may become available then. John.

Well that video was quite fun! I wonder if I'm the only one who thought that Peter Kay (Bolton comedian) had grown a beard and taken up model railways? I'd agree with much of what he said. "Gatekeeping" is one of those modern phrases, belongs a bit to the under 40's, and I think I'd use the word "snobbery" from my era. It isn't anything new, and took place in spades at the end of steam/ early diesel era. I recall going to the RCTS in Preston in the early 70's as a teenager. Lots of chaps remembering the old days, slide shows of Duchesses on Shap (nothing wrong with either), and a total disdain for anything after August 1968 and "diseasels" (lots wrong with that). They might as well have said "sit down, keep quiet and learn from your betters". I was lucky. I found an older friend who was interested in diesels, and presented in the right way it was a pleaure to learn from him and listen to his experiences about growing up in Liverpool near Edge Hill in the 40's and 50's. I'm also a contrarian by nature, so the more people tell me that something is pointless, the more interested I get. I could otherwise have been lost to the hobby of railways, and modelling, and I'm sure many people of my (and Clive's age) were. So I've a lot of empathy with the message in the video, and I still keep thinking of Peter Kay! John.