LMS Stock

[Fixair]

Can members suggest sources for this kind of stock. There has been long time since I last modeled railways but I am a fairly good 1/72nd scale aircraft modeler. I do not mind doing alterations, scratch building parts of conversions from existing models so long as they are generally accurate to start with. Kits and RTR I don't mind.

 

Ron

[olivegreen]

Your question is rather far-reaching and a bit vague as written!  Are you looking for carriages or wagons - locos, even?

 

For easily built and pretty accurate plastic wagons, try Cambrian and Parkside-Dundas as a start (Google them to get the web site addresses). Carriages are rarer, but Ratio still produce pre-grouping (later LMS) kits.

 

If you move into the realms of brass kits the price and complexity increase markedly but they are generally worth the cost if you have the skill to build them.

 

For ready-to-run models, I hesitate to recommend, since there is so much polemic about their accuracy: I'll let an LMS expert on here reply on that matter!

 

All that said, welcome back to railway modelling … even if what interests you is the wrong colour… 

 

Mike

[Fat Controller]

Your question is rather far-reaching and a bit vague as written!  Are you looking for carriages or wagons - locos, even?

 

For easily built and pretty accurate plastic wagons, try Cambrian and Parkside-Dundas as a start (Google them to get the web site addresses). Carriages are rarer, but Ratio still produce pre-grouping (later LMS) kits.

 

If you move into the realms of brass kits the price and complexity increase markedly but they are generally worth the cost if you have the skill to build them.

 

For ready-to-run models, I hesitate to recommend, since there is so much polemic about their accuracy: I'll let an LMS expert on here reply on that matter!

 

All that said, welcome back to railway modelling … even if what interests you is the wrong colour… 

 

Mike

Dapol also do some ex-LMS carriages (corridor and non-corridor) as reasonably priced kits

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The LMS RTR model selection: if you can get along to a major retailer, or a show attended by such, then you can make up your own mind about what's good and what's not by your own standards.

 

There's a good slew of the LMS standard loco classes available RTR in OO, ranging from 'fair' to very good. Here's one about to arrive which ;ooks like iot will slot in at the top end of the scale.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/72039-Bachmann-stanier-mogul/page-6

Relatively few of the pre-group types which were good enough to escape the axe through the LMS' existence despite not being 'standards'. Bachmann offer the MR 1F and Johnson 3F,  L&Y class 5 2-4-2T and are also intending a Coal Tank, and offer a Super D which has its LNWR roots well on show; but for Scottish constituent locos and the many other survivors from elsewhere it's kits.

 

There's three groups of RTR LMS build coaches between Hornby and Bachmann, not sufficient to represent anything like the full selection; pre-group stock which lasted throughout the LMS' span, nada. Kits again.

 

Wagons: suffice it to say that you will turn to kits if wanting the very necessary LMS general merchandise opens and vans (some of the LNE, GW and SR equivalents are available RTR, which is useful thanks to their common user status). There is some suitable RTR, the ubiquitous wooden RCH pattern mineral wagons, a couple of guard's brake vans, and various other exotica in the way of tanks, salt wagons, etc. coming soon from Hornby the 20T coke hopper, and a commission from Hattons of the PO bogie hoppers used on Merseyside.

[ejstubbs]

Dapol also do some ex-LMS carriages (corridor and non-corridor) as reasonably priced kits

 

They do them in LMS and BR (ex-LMS) liveries.  I presume the OP would be more interested in the LMS liveried ones.  They also do the same coaches as RTR.  In fact the kits are pretty much what comes out of the component production lines prior to final assembly - they've even got running numbers, lining and so forth already applied.  If you are so inclined, it's easy to disassemble the RTR ones to get back to a kit of components!  You can do as little or as much to them as you like, really.

[Spitfire2865]

I highly recommend for LMS freight stock Cambrian, 51L, Mousa, Parkside, Slaters(if you can find some), and David Geen. One thing to remember about the grouping era, a lot of what was around was still pregrouping stuff.

[Fat Controller]

On the wagon front, apart from the former LNWR stuff, Ratio do one of the 12t van variations, along with the 3-plank open. Their banana van could also be backdated, by putting it on a 9' wb underframe, and adding the wooden conduits for the steam pipes on the ends.

[Mallard60022]

Coaches.

Something you can do for 'fun' is to get a Dapol Coach kit for about £10 and then some Comet LMS sides at about the same cost. Use the Comet LMS sides to replace the Dapol ones and do a conversion. This will introduce you to finding out about the additional parts you can get to enhance this converted kit (eg, decent bogies) and the research required to replicate the detail of the prototype Diagram you are creating. You end up paying about the same for parts as for a decent RTR Hornby Coach, but still have to paint and line the thing. However you will have a coach not available RTR if you are smart with the choice of Diagram and you will have done a lot of work yourself. I have some info on what Comet sides can go with what Dapol Kits if you are interested.

You could also get hold of some old Airfix or Mainline coaches instead of the Dapol Kits and do a brass sides conversion job on those

Next step is to get a full Comet LMS kit and build the whole thing yourself, if you have soldering confidence. You will get a decent layout coach for around £60 once you add the cost of decals and paint and that really is proper modelling/kit building.

Vans and Wagons.

I can recommend Parkside wagon and van kits as they are inexpensive and almost always simple to stick together, as well as being very theraputic to build in just a couple of hours. I reckon most kits these days are around half the cost of a RTR  product (however the latter are almost all to a very high standard of detail and finish). 

You will find there are lots of folk on here who will be happy to give you on-line support and tips about what to 'beware of' (e.g one or two wagon/van kits need tweaking to get the chassis square etc.)

Good luck and welcome (back?) to the best hobby in the world.

Phil

[DCB]

The LMS evolved through the years with pre group locos and stock predominant until around 1930 and then the new build Fowler and Stanier locos became the dominant types.    Likewise passenger stock.

 

Goods also evolved with a greater percentage of covered vans replacing sheeted opens and more express freights with more and more vacuum braked vehicles.  The real cull of old unfitted wagons many with brakes one side and wooden underframes came with the post war wagon building program.

 

There is a good selection of post WW2 LMS stock but a real shortage of RTR  for the pre Stanier era.  To perhaps state the obvious on the LMS you wouldn't usually get brand new corridor stock on a semi fast cross country service, or branch line, Unlike the GWR the LMS was very much mainline first. indeed midland clerestory coaches were still on mainline secondary services in the 1950s.

[rodger5591]

Depending on your requirement for prototype accuracy, I would recommend also checking carefully before you buy RTR goods stock, especially all Dapol wagons, many Hornby wagons and some Bachmann wagons. Many of these models are old, generic stock, and don't represent anything in particular - they are issued and re-issued with LMS, SR, LNER and GWR branding, with fictional running numbers, on a rotating basis. Even the relatively modern Dapol milk wagons don't represent anything that existed in the real world. Money spent now on these kinds of stock might be regretted later. Having said that, both Hornby and Bachmann have produced some excellent models of goods stock too. A search of RMWeb will generally find a discussion on the good, the bad and the 'moddable'. (Type rmweb: (search term) into Google and you will get only results from RMWeb)

 

As mentioned above, wagon kits are generally easy to build and mostly very accurate. However they do need extra weight added which can be a problem with open wagons, but using brass W-irons and whitemetal axelboxes (from MJT) helps, as does hiding weight under a tarpaulin (from Smiths or Wagonsheets http://www.wagonsheets.co.uk/Price%20List.htm)or in a load.

 

Another maker of excellent kits is Slimlines http://www.slimrails.co.uk/index00gauge.html

 

Buying second hand is an inexpensive way to build up stock in the early stages. You can sometimes get good bargains from Hattons and Rails, but their second hand locos tend to be very over priced (sometimes more expensive than the same item they are selling new). Second hand is also a good way to get a donor(s) for a rebuilding project.

 

If you can find them (only available second hand), the "Right Track" series of how-to videos will also be an excellent investment. They cover all aspects of the hobby, but are especially good on building, painting and weathering stock.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The LMS evolved through the years with pre group locos and stock predominant until around 1930 and then the new build Fowler and Stanier locos became the dominant types...

 I know many like to think that, but at handover to BR on 1/1/1948 there were under 3,000 new LMS design locos from Hughes, Fowler, Stanier, Ivatt, from a total of near 8,000 locomotives. Those other 5,000 were either of pre-group build, or perpetuated pre-group designs, most numerously the ex-MR 4P 4-4-0, 4F 0-6-0 and 3F 0-6-0T and ex-LNWR 6F 0-8-0 types. On most the principal mainlines, the new designs inevitably dominated. Off these routes, the 5,000 pre-group designs lurked...