Scorpio7uk

I would also add that quite a lot of pressure is involved in vulcanising as well so do not make your masters out of anything brittle and you would be best to arrange the part in the mould so that it can take the pressure - 'flat' rather than 'end on'. Jeff

If you are still looking for it, there's a fairly decent GA of the elevation and plan of the Britannia in 'A pictorial record of British Railways Standard Steam Locomotives' - Edward Talbot 1982/2000. Worth getting for any BR standard in my opinion, there's a few other GA drawings in there too. NRM is the place to get the full size versions. Jeff

This may help Nick - https://docbrown.info/docspics/ArchiveSteam/loco31178.htm The backhead shot halfway down seems to show that the gap is filled - whether it was like that before preservation - I don't know. http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pic2/wn-2012b/323_johns_29may12h.jpg Hard to tell from this shot but it may be useful to you anyway..... Good luck! Jeff

Good News! Had a chat with Richard Webster on the Dapol stand at Kettering yesterday - they realise the error of their ways and will be retooling the underframe so that it has the correct W-irons! Makes life a lot easier for us who want something to be right - I didn't ask about the axleboxes though - presumably these are separate items and easy for them use ones from their 'stock' that they've already tooled? Jeff

Very useful - thanks, I should be able to work with that...... Jeff

....I have a cunning plan...... or at least I think I may have..... If the chassis unscrews from the body (as it seems to) then I can replace the underframe fairly easily with correct bits and make some BR standard wagons that are suitable for the underframe - have to have a close look at them before I buy. Do they have an unpainted option I wonder? Jeff

They look really nice. I know about about the Freightman kits but I haven't been able to get one on ebay (yet) - I need 4 ideally. If only I wanted them when they were available! Jeff

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I don't get this - for the GWR vans at least - why produce something that is less accurate than the easy to make kits that are readily available? If you're going to have to hack about with the underframe to make it right, you may as well just make the kit - it'll be easier! I was looking forward to the LMS vans as these aren't available as kits - I think I'm going to have remove the chassis entirely and replace with some etched bits - or see if I can just get the raw bodies from Dapol (unlikely I know). Jeff

I've managed to get the figures below from 'GWR Goods wagons' Atkins, Beard, Tourrett - I think I've added them up right! Those possible from the Peco kit (last 22 of V4, V12,V13, V14,V16,V18) - 10,881 - all 9' wheelbase - 16' length. I believe Peco sell packs of buffers, sliding vents etc to do the variations. (V21,V33) - 1,886 - all 9' wheelbase - 17' 6" length. V33 - Parkside/Peco (V23,V24,V26,V34,V36,V37,V38,V39) - 8,267 - all 10' wheelbase - 17' 6" length. V23/24/26/36/37 - Parkside/Peco These were all the 'standard' vans - there were early diagrams of various heights (V4, V5) - and of course the 'iron mink' (V6) of which there were 4,901. There were also shock absorbing vans (V27,V28) and V35 which was the standard SR design. The 10' wheelbase vans were built from the end of 1933 and the last diagrams were built by BR - BR withdrew the remaining 9' wheelbase vans from about 1956. Hope this is useful. Jeff

Well spotted! I wasn't sure of the differences - I thought it was lining that was different..... If the GWR used its best and newest stock on the 'Cornish Riviera' then it's more likely this is 1911 then with all Brown coaches. I don't think there's much chance of figuring out the liveries on the other coaches. Jeff

Yes - which means it's either Brown or Lake - depending on which batch the coach was! I believe there's small differences in lining etc between the two liveries but impossible to tell on photos such as this. Jeff

The first coach looks closest to a D51 www.gwrcoaches.org.uk - look under Churchward coaches - Toplight Bars II - built 1911 & 12. The dreadnaught diner was built a lot earlier - circa 1904 - but still the best the GWR had at the time. Jeff

it appears that North Star has a long cone boiler - according to RCTS, this was fitted January 1911 (presumably with the top feed) and as previously stated, it was renumbered 4000 December 1912. So the picture can be any time between 01/11 and 12/12 - as to whether the coaches are Crimson Lake or Brown - the livery changed to Lake in 1912 - not sure when in 1912 though - anybody know? I don't think there would be a mixture of liveries - the 'Cornish Riviera' was the GWR flagship express - this is a commercial company - image is everything, so it would use only the best, most modern image stock it had available - so I don't think it would be a mixture - either Brown or Lake - though I'm happy to be proved wrong! Jeff

Not a 655 or 1501 - definitely an 850 or 2021 - you can tell as the top edge of the buffer beam is above the footplate - only the 850 or 2021 is like that. Jeff