Darwinian

Thanks for that Rob. Yes a picture would be good unfortunately pictures of the locos the GWR only kept for 1925-30 are a bit thin on the ground I suspect. Interesting that No.17 had parallel shanked buffers on the tender. None of the photo's I have seen show the tender buffers on the non westernised locos. The European buffers look a lot like a dean/churchward buffer but with ribs on the tapered part. I migh try that approach. Looks like leaving the parallel buffers on the tender migth be OK. I don't know what the tenders were built with. I am prepared to accept a "probable" appearance for a loco for which I don't have a photograph. None of the one's I do have photo's of are right for S.Wales sheds. Adrian

I have now found my copy of the RCTS bible and have reached the following conclusions. Buffers: The GWR self contained type with 6 flanges look pretty similar to the WD ones although slightly more parallel in the body. In the absence of anything better they will have to do. I've got a safety valve bonnet (cast). In the RCTS book ROD 1947 as GWR 3089 is shown in the as patched up and sent out condition. Again there appears to be painting over of the WD number and insignia, a GWR numberplate and power classification (Blue(?) D). I'll go for 3083 which lasted until 8/29 and hope no one finds a picture of it with a Taff vale chimney (although I wonder if they all got them as the A class would have been getting Swindon boilers at about the same time). No idea where I could find one of those, not even the SEF U1 has the right type. I have also checked J&A Brown No. 17 and it was indeed the first GWR 3063 on loan from July 1919 until 9/21 based at Neath according to the RCTS volume / GWRJ allocation list. The post 1925 3063 was ROD No. 1951 (NBL22009) on sales list of GWR on 6/29 and at Old Oak in 1928. Adrian

I think we have a confusion here. According to the article in GWRJ: The GWR 1928 locos (as per the shed allocations) were not exported to Australia. I think that the exported exGWR locos (including No17) came from the batch loaned to the GWR by the war department, given running numbers 3020 - 3099 and 6000 - 6003 and returned in 1921-22. The Loco 3063 in the 1928 shed allocation list (and 3085 that I have been looking at) was a different one to the one sent to Australia. The GWR purchased a batch of from the war department in 1925 "Swindonised" the best of the batch and gave them numbers 3020 to 3049. The rest of the purchased locos were numbered 3050 to 3099 and run until they were unusable and were scrapped. These appear to have kept mostly GCR/WD appearance and only gained ex Taff Vale Chimneys and GWR safety valve bonnets as commented above. Building a model of one of this later batch will require a suitable buffer. Any ideas anyone? Adrian

Thanks Mark, If the RCTS volume is the Absorbed locos one then I do have a copy, I didn't think to hunt it out while I was in the loft. If not I probably don't as I only have a couple of the other volumes. The picture in GWRJ is of No 3085 c 1928 (if caption date is correct) and it clearly has a straight edged, square cornered patch on the tender where the lettering should be. This appears to be a lighter shade than the rest of the loco/tender The whole loco is very grubby with light staining around the washout plugs running down the firebox sides. It has a GWR safety valve cover but no top feed. There are also leading piston rod sleeves on the cylinders as well as the aforementioned ex-westinghouse pump locating straps. Oh, and the buffers have the ex WD webbed housings. This was a apparently a Camarthen loco and I really need a Cardiff one to give a feeble excuse for it to appear in the ex Rhymney district. Adrian Adrian

Simple questions, not so easy answer I suspect. I'm thinking of modelling one of the non-swindonised ROD locos bought by the GWR in 1925 but not given the full Swindon treatment and run until clapped out (1929-31?) So what colour would these locos have been (still black?)? What insignia (if any) would the tenders have carried? There is a very tempting photo of 3085 in GWRJ 90 P107 of 3085 in the sort of condition I have in mind. There appears to be a block of paint blanking out an older insignia on the tender but no "Great Western" Anyone know if this might have been fairly common on this batch? The ex Taff Vale A class Chimney would be a problem unless someone can suggest something similar. Markits do the smokebox door wheel (Unless I can get an early LNER one) Straps on the smokebox where the Westinghouse pump used to be would be easy. Is anything else different to the Bachmann BR(E) version? No topfeed on these GWR ones. Adrian.

Thanks Castle, I didn't mean to imply that the restoration was faulty, I can imagine how difficult it can be to research all of these details. If anyone can get it right the Diodcot folks will. . I should have had a picture of the interior of that saloon too but my camera batteries chose when I was sitting in there to die enough for the flash gun to not work. It was too dark to get a meaningful photo handheld. . Maybe next time. Adrian

Assuming the guys (and girls) at Didcot got it right this is what the inside of a third class compartment looks like. Carriage 1941 C10 All third. Livery is the preWW1 chocolate and cream (I think) with monograms and numbers in eaves panels. No doubt Castle will be along shortly to verify. Adrian

Well this is a fascinating thread, especially as I am finally approaching the point of doing some grass areas on my own layout. I don't have any kit to do it with yet but I'll keep following this with interest. As a scientist (actually a biologist rather than a chemist or physicist so I may not quite have the whole picture) I might make the following observations. Scenic glues like PVA are (as I understand it) basically water based so any ionic compounds (such as salt) added to the water will improve electrical conductivity (assuming the other ingredients cannot form ions or are too large to move freely in the solution). The more viscous (sticky) the solution is the more the movement of larger ions is likely to be hindered. So simple watering down may be sufficient to improve the conductivity of the glue alone. Only a small amount of salt will contribute significantly to the conductivity of the water (you cannot pass a current through absolutely pure water but even tap water has enough ions in to pass a current. Maybe here the ionic status of your local water supply might even have an effect). I assume the puffer bottles are supposed to work on the same principal as the baloon clearly does. Shake the bottle of fibres vigorously and you can generate a static charge (just like rubbing the ballon) by knocking electrons off one of the two materials and onto the other. This may be enough to cause some alignment of the fibres as they will reply one another. The seive encourages them to start out in line and the charge helps to keep them there. However as commented above, moisture in the air will dissipate the charge so try on a nice cold, clear day. Cold air holds less moisture. Static applicators presumably just increase the charge applied to the fibres making them less susceptible to the effects of moisture in the air. Bring on the physicists to shoot me down in flames . Oh and something I've not noticed modelled yet. If you have livestock in a field surrounded by a wire / rail fence notice that the grass will be cropped short on the outside of the fence as far as the animals can stretch their heads through . No long grass along the bottom of the fence on the inside. Adrian

Jaz, that is some amazing modelling you've done/ are doing with those dogs. When I were a lad I was in to Dungeons and Dragons and used the same technique but with Fimo clay as the modelling material to sculpt Hobbits and the like. It really isn't as easy as you make it look and these are so small too. Brilliant stuff. Nice to see some canine appreciation from other mebers too. Mine's a Springer, (well someone had to). Adrian

I have just printed off my first Scalescenes kit and have found that printing on inexpensive Matt photo paper (Tesco) using my printer's default settings for this type of paper and the second best quality (I've got an HP Photosmart that cost about £80 IIRC) the results look very convincing and are completely Matt. I guess a coat of artists matt varnish will seal the surface and give a bit more UV protection but i'm probably not going to bother and see how this lasts. Adrian

I have only just come across this thread again. I am seriously impressed, having studied Botany and having a particular liking for microbes and unusual life forms the modelling you are achieving is truly superb. When I saw that red Daz I thought perhaps you were making a model of this fungus. I cannot remember what tree species this was on ( I really should keep records not so easy with a dog and two children dragging you along). Keep up the good work. Adrian Edited for typos.

Not sure if you've seen it Castle but in his latest instalment on styrene sheet coach building in MRJ 228 Geoff Kent describes making curtains by simply scribing styrene sheet, his are complete with representations of the tie backs! Adrian

Wow! How did I miss this topic until now. Brilliant, evocative modelling of the Welsh valleys. I'm looking forward to seeing some of those "unusual" locos. I think I've missed Cwmafon on the exhibition circuit so I'm really enjoying this. Gives me more inspiration for my early 30s layout although mine's on a much smaller scale than this. I should perhaps add that my only connection with Wales was going to Uni there and visiting friends homes in the valleys left a lasting impression. Adrian

That's looking really impressive mozzer . I have built an M&L version (later Gibson) but I imagine the dean Sidings one is a lot quicker to build. I do like the rangey look of the County tank, emphasised by those long shallow side tanks. They seem to stride along when in motion Adrian

Ah now I feel a lot happier. Number on the wrong side of the rear buffer beam, handrails on the over-boiler strap, thumping great gouge out of the bunker back, cab shutters, by the time I've sorted those out I'd have to do a repaint anyway so my BR black version will do me fine. Hopefuly getting the smokebox numberplate off with the moulded dart will be fairly painless anyway. Pre 1928 Green looks like a good call too. Adrian

Just another observation. From the close up it looks like the near side rails may dip down fractionally towards the join. That could cause the near side of the wagons to tip slghltly into the dip, the movement looks more of a dip than a bump. You would not feel any misalignment at the railhead because they are aligned. A steel rule placed across the join should show if there is a slight slope around the joint. Fantasitic layout none the less. I always enjoy reading about developments just wish I had the time, space and skill to attempt something similar. Adrian

While you are still researching train movements etc. you might like to read "Firing Days", "Footplate Days" and "Nostalgic days" by Harrold Gasson (OPC publishers). He was a fireman at Didcot and has quite a few stories of firing over the DNS as it was one of his favourite lines. They were published back in the late 70s to early 80s. I've just been re-reading them. Always make me smile . Especially the story about getting the guard and porter out of the van with the Billy goat in .

Wow, it never occured to me that they were built with open cabs

Doh, that was bound to happen just after I took delivery of mine , although not form the same establishment I might add. Happy with the running but the flanges clattered badly across my handbuilt, C&L pointwork . A quick check with a vernier calliper showed that the back to back measurement was typically 14.4mm (might vary on others). It was quite easy to take off the keeper plate from the bottom of the chassis. I then took out the wheelseets and carefully put each set into my small vice jaws with the back of the treads resting on the jaws. A a few gentle taps with a centre punch on the axle end, both ends, soon had the back to back eased out to 14.8mm. Now she runs through nice and smooth . I also changed the pony wheels for Gibson's but they won't hold the track very well. I suspect a spring arrangement as I did for my 28xx will solve that problem. Then all I've got to do is back date the body to 1930 condition. That will have to wait for other projects to be completed.

To give you some idea what the change to Gibson pony truck wheels does here is a picture of my 28xx which has been so fitted. If the colour looks a bit odd that is because I repainted it in pre 1928 green. The fallen out crosshead was due to not putting it back together carefully enough after repainting and is not a manufacturing problem. However beware the pony truck mount as it moves back and forth quite a lot so if you fill in the cutouts in the cylinders then the wheels hit the cylinder fronts when the loco is going forwards. This can cause derailment on points as the pony truck won't turn and the flanges are not enough to force the wheels into the correct alignment. If the cut-outs are left then I doubt there would be any problem. I'm waiting for my 5205 to arrive to find out. Adrian

I only ever built two Ks locomotives, both origninally when I was a teenager in the mid 70s. The GWR 1361 sadle tank is featured on Castle's Little Didcot thread so I won't post it again here. The 4574 ran for several years and eventually got rebuilt with a compensated, scratchbuilt chassis which never got finished. The battered body is lying around in a box somewhere amongst my railway bits. I am fairly sure however that this passenger brake van was also a Ks kit. It was the first railway vehicle that actually ran (as opposed to the old Airfix, now Dapol, loco kits) that I ever built and started me off on the model railway bug. It was rebuilt either in the late 70s or mid 80s with Mallard Models American bogies (for which I found a photograph of one so fitted) in place of the cast ones that had no bearings and had become very sloppy. At the same time the original peco type couplings were changed to Jacksons screw type. It became a guinea pig for my experiments with Dingham couplers in the last few years and is still in use. Adrian

I think this rainbow looks more effective. One thing that might help and isn't always appreciated is that the sky within the arc of the rainbow usually appears somewhat brighter than that outside. I also think the clouds should become a more continuous layer as they recede into the distance (Unless they have just passed overhed of course). You are looking at them more side-on then rather than up from below when they are closer to overhead. One thing I do see a lot of here in Norfolk, England, is Sky! The back scene really does look superb, I wish I could paint like that, but you did ask for comments. Adrian

Very interesting thread and very useful as I'm about to start on one of the high Level 57xx chassis and wanted to try CSB. Mine will be 00 so any idea what is and is not likely to fit in. I'm guessing the inside motion will probably not fit with csb as well. Adrian

If the footplate is a casting with the buffer beams integral to it then that will sort out splashers and buffer heights for a 54xx in one hit. The only significant difference in the chassis will be the mountings for brake gear. As far as I can see the rest is the same as the 64s and of course 54s have the curved cab-bunker join. Maybe the different bunker backs comment was about the presence of coal fenders or if the rear bufferbeam is part of the bunker moulding. Just a thought. Adrian

Thanks Mike, guess in my parallel universe I'll have to claim the management sent two .