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John Tomlinson

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  • Location
    Rutland
  • Interests
    Modelling BR Eastern Region transition era. Photography of current and preserved scenes, both at home and abroad.

    Plans for the future include O Gauge Western Region in the Shropshire area, and N gauge Germany 1980's & 1990's.

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  1. I noticed this recent post on the Rails of Sheffield website, which sounds as if Oxford Rail isn't down and out just yet. https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/🚂-oxford-rail-announce-additional-lner-j2 John.
  2. I have done this using a Dremel, but with the Dremel clamped vertically in a vice that has been suitably padded. Wheel on axle, axle in the chuck of the Dremel. Apply the fine file to the wheel flange very gently, and like you finish with fine emery. For some years now I've been fairly religious about using safety glasses whenever any drilling/ turning is involved. Better safe than sorry! John.
  3. Yes, that's pretty close! I saw the exchange on "Wright Writes", a classic case of how one subject can bring forth useful knowledge on something else. I don't have a triplet either, other than an unmade Kirk/ Coopercraft kit in the "one day" cupboard. I really do want to make it sometime, and was interested to see the comments about white windows on both sides of the kitchen car, something I didn't know before. Every day is a school day in our hobby! John.
  4. That's very helpful, thanks! I shall have to buy a new underframe and have a go. At least it will tell me whether I've the determination to do the rest, or not. I'm not really sure how many I've got, seem to remember they were something like £35 - 40 a pop, so probably quite a few. John.
  5. I've just been reading through the last few pages of this thread, and wondered if you'd reached any further answers about the Class 25 underframes. Like you, I have several of the first edition of the Bachmann 25's, and whilst reading through the Jim S-W creation of a new scratchbuild, never actually faced up to doing one. I hadn't twigged that Bachmann's updated 25 had corrected this error, and that the new moulding might be an answer. Looking at the Bachmann Spares website there seem to be a range of these now available, but it isn't possible to tell if the old chassis block and mechanisms will transfer. Obviously you've found the one with the weight block doesn't work, but I wonder if you or indeed anyone else had tried any of the others. Many thanks in advance, John.
  6. Exactly what I did on receiving the email. Takes literally a few seconds, so not an issue at all. It isn't that I don't like Rails, quite the contrary in fact as I've spent a lot with them over many years. I just don't like endless emails from anyone. I also monitor the Rails website on a regular basis anyway. John.
  7. I'm not sure about the Triplet, nor it would seem is the poster, as it isn't his shot and presumably he's written down all he knows. From the general condition, clean underframe and especially the pristine roofs I'd say it's just come from works,and not yet gone into traffic. Possibly there was some problem with it, Heaton had to do some repair work, and this was a little test run out? Another explanation/ guess at what's going on! John.
  8. I was just going through the postings of the people I follow on Flickr, and came across this, which I thought might be of interest, A rather lovely Gresley Triplet Diner, clearly polished to its best! Click on photo for details. John.
  9. If you are doing this, a look at the photos above from Clive shows that one other improvement to the Lima offering that can be made is in respect of the bogies. For whatever reason the sideframes should be higher than they sit on the model so that the axleboxes are in line, in a horizontal plane, with the axles. Put another way, the axles and wheels should be lower. The bogies should then sit higher than Lima set them, so there's less of a gap between the top of the sideframes and the bottom of the bodyshell. If you were thinking of changing the wheels because of Lima's deep flanges, Peters Spares do finer replacements using Lima's shorter than standard axle length. John.
  10. I think that's probably correct, maybe even a tad high. One can still pick up original issue mint 4CEPs in green for around £100 if you look carefully, sometimes a bit less, and one of mine has become a 4BEP after sourcing the bits from Bachmann for the Buffet coach. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to respray one of the green ones into all over Railblue, provided you could get the glazing out intact, as these as manufactured seem to command quite a premium. John.
  11. Indeed, something we need more of in our hobby. On that subject, I came across a pair of Lima 47's over the weekend, bought new for around £20 each in a Beatties/ Modelzone sale ages ago. One is in the Porterbrook livery, the other the Royal Claret. Been in a stock box for years, but both ran perfectly when placed on the track. Good shape, nice livery application (except for the yellow bits which are unpainted plastic), and no need for this digital sound malarkey either. No sticky out handrails, and ripe for a bit of upgrading. TTFN, John.
  12. Thanks for this. I thought I saw one of your kit built examples with the long smokebox, as you say it makes for variety and interest. Let's hope their range carries on and expands. I was pretty impressed with the build quality, and the fitting of proper brass bushes to the axles that clip into the chassis sides is especially welcome in giving quality smooth running. John.
  13. Having followed your two threads for a while now, I came across one of the Oxford Rail J27's (BR versions) on Ebay, and for a modest sum made a successful bid, as much as anything to judge for myself the quality of the model. I have a couple of their wagons, but no locos, and it's always interesting to inspect a manufacturer's efforts for the first time. I was a bit put off at first running, as the loco stuttered and eventually stopped altogether! A quick skim through the Oxford Rail thread revealed issues of pickups often needing adjustment, and once on my bench in bits I realised as well that there was a decoder fitted, often as we've discussed before a negative on a DC setup. Anyhow, one blanking plate later, pickups adjusted, some weight in the tender and scale couplings in place, I have real belter of a loco! The exercise got me reading the relevant sections of the RCTS Green Series, so I now feel a bit wiser on the subject of North Eastern 0-6-0's. Presumably I'd be right in thinking that, as yet anyway, none of the offerings from Oxford Rail are of the long smokebox variety, as fitted originally to superheated locos, but kept by a few examples after the superheating was removed? Many thanks, John.
  14. It's ironic that the first two (?) batches of Bachmann 37's didn't have separate noses and so avoided this problem. IIRC the later ones also had noses that are a bit long to enable the light fittings to go in. I have the Thornaby pair 37501/502 from this later batch which look very pretty indeed, but the lights IMHO are quite silly and unrealistic. The problem with the early ones is that the noses are too deep/ tall. It is possible to correct this, and to raise the buffers by around 1.5mm, which greatly improves the look. I've done this on two of my four examples, but it is a bit of a faff. John.
  15. I watched the Hornby Magazine video, which I thought was excellent and very informative, but nonetheless came to the same conclusion as you. It's one thing to study a stationary model in detail, another to see it running around a layout at a normal viewing distance, and it's really the latter I'm interested in. No doubt in my mind that the new model is splendid. For example, although I wasn't a fan of NSE back in the day, the detailed livery application on that example looks magnificent and I doubt if even the most professional and skilled individual could match that quality. Each to their own. I've around eight (or maybe more?) of the originals, all detailed up on the buffer beams and with changed identities, and they'll be staying - for now at least! Obviously if I were starting out now it would be a different story. John.
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