London Road Models

[Jol Wilkinson]

During the last three years London Road Models prices have remained the same.  Over that time cost of raw materials, manufactured items, etc. have increased significantly and John Redrup is no longer able to keep prices at the present level.

 

 

From 31 January 2019, London Road Models prices will therefore be subject to an overall price increase of approximately 10%, which is happily still lower than the RPI increase for the same period. Outstanding orders and orders received before 31 January will be supplied at existing prices.

 

Some smaller items are still under review (gears, hornblocks, etc.) and may be subject to an increase later this year.

 

[Bucoops]

I never get annoyed at small businesses putting prices up a bit when they have remained the same for several years. Inflation is a fact of life and I'm impressed they can hold them down for as long as they do.

 

Having said that, what do I need before the 31st?  Probably lots but bank balance says no.

[sharris]

If only it wasn't the same deadline as HMRC!

 

There's a disagreement with who I should give my money to and who I'd prefer to give it to.

[chris p bacon]

Thanks Jol. But does this mean with the new charge I now have an extra 10% of time to make the kits, or has it reduced to 90%?....either way I'll struggle..

[Jol Wilkinson]

Thanks Jol. But does this mean with the new charge I now have an extra 10% of time to make the kits, or has it reduced to 90%?....either way I'll struggle..

Dave,

 

time management is down to you, but I can help with a consultancy service at a extortionate fee. However, your enjoyment from building LRM kits will increase by 10% or even more.

 

Jol

[muddys-blues]

We run our own fuel retail business "petrol station", we have no choice if the price goes up or down, so it's never a difficult decision it is what it is, and it's what happens in life, so John shouldn't feel any guilt or shame in having to put his prices up, everyone has to live.

 

Best regards

Craig.

[Grosvenor]

Do London Road models reply to messages sent from their contact us page. I sent a message trying to place an order some time in November/December and didn't receive a reply sent another message a week or so ago and still no reply. And it now appears that the item I was trying to order is no longer available or the web page link for Metropolitan carriages is broken. Since the contact us page is the only way of making contact this is a bit of a failure in customer relations.

 

George Ray 

[chris p bacon]

Do London Road models reply to messages sent from their contact us page. I sent a message trying to place an order some time in November/December and didn't receive a reply sent another message a week or so ago and still no reply. And it now appears that the item I was trying to order is no longer available or the web page link for Metropolitan carriages is broken. Since the contact us page is the only way of making contact this is a bit of a failure in customer relations.

 

George Ray 

 

 

I can only say that I've never had a problem with a reply (apart from when John was in hospital) the usual timeframe is 24-48 hours max and always with an answer to the question/order.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Do London Road models reply to messages sent from their contact us page. I sent a message trying to place an order some time in November/December and didn't receive a reply sent another message a week or so ago and still no reply. And it now appears that the item I was trying to order is no longer available or the web page link for Metropolitan carriages is broken. Since the contact us page is the only way of making contact this is a bit of a failure in customer relations.

 

George Ray 

Hi George,

 

John Redrup normally replies within 48 hours of receiving an email. I've passed on a message to him.

 

The website Wordpress software version was recently updated by the S4Society who provide a hosting service for several members. The Met Carriages page ended up as draft page rather than being automatically re-published, but should now have been reinstated.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/carriages/metropolitan-rlwy-carriage/

 

The website isn't the only way to contact LRM. The email address is shown on the price list handed out f.o.c. at shows and letters can be sent to the PO Box address shown on the website. LRM also attends a numbers of shows throughout the year, from York to Portsmouth, although those may not be geographically convenient for you.

 

londonroadmodels@btinternet.com

 

PO Box 643, Watford, Herts. WD18 6ZU.

 

Jol

[Grosvenor]

Thanks for the reassuring reply. I’ll ping John R an email to see whether I can discover what happened.

George

[Jol Wilkinson]

George,

 

John emailed my to say he had replied to your enquiries on 9th December and 18th January.

 

Could the replies have gone into your spam box?

 

He'll try replying from a different (older and not normally used) email address/provider in the hope that gets through.

 

Jol

[Grosvenor]

Jol

 

Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. John made contact before I could try and we are now in communication.:-)

 

Regards

 

George

[Jol Wilkinson]

The London Road Models website has now been updated to reflect the new prices:

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/

 

Having carried out this relatively simple update for John Redrup, I have great sympathy for Andy Y's recent trials and tribulations. One page "lost" most of it's content and as I am no expert in html code, took ages to rebuild.  The photos and most of the informative text disappeared and will take some time to rebuild as I need the assistance of the S4 Society's ever helpful webmaster, so apologies for the delay.

[Jol Wilkinson]

This thread has been rather quiet for some time, although John Redrup at London Road Models has been busy with a number of new projects.

 

Two new GNR/LNER loco kits now available are the  GNR K1/LNER Q2  and LNER Q1 0-8-0s
These kit were developed by Frank Davies for the Shipley MRS “Clayton” project. Beautifully designed, the kits etched in brass and nickel silver with optional parts to build inside valve gear, which can be made to work if required. Castings are mainly in brass.

 

 

 

 

 

Pricing and ordering details at;

https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/locos-tenders-chassis/great-northern/

 

Coming up over the next few weeks are several new kits, including the NER S3 /LNER B16/1 (the test build by Mike Meggison has featured in his thread);

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101015-mikemegs-workbench-building-locos-of-the-north-eastern-lner/page/52/

 

 

Formerly in the Steve Barnfield range, the kit has been updated with additional etches to build the later version of the loco, with the 49A boiler, plain splashers, new castings, etc.

 

Also available will be the diminutive  LNWR 0-4-0 Saddle Tank. This kit will feature nickel silver etches with a cast resin boiler/saddle tank. These small shunting locos were first introduced in 1862, lasting until 1933.  Also for LNWR modellers will be the clerestory roof 45ft Family saloon. Fifty two of these clerestory roof family saloons were built, of which twenty were the only family saloons to carry a WCJS Diagram number. Two of these were used in the Royal Train on occasion.

 

Midland Railway enthusiast can also look forward to a kit for the Steam Rail Motor, etched in brass and nickel silver.

 

More details, pricing, etc.  of these kits and several other new kits will follow as they become available.

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

On 20/08/2019 at 17:58, Jol Wilkinson said:

Midland Railway enthusiast can also look forward to a kit for the Steam Rail Motor, etched in brass and nickel silver.

 

 

There's more than one, you know!

 

But only two steam motor carriages, one of which was rebuilt with a horizontal rather than vertical boiler. So which version will the kit represent?

[Jol Wilkinson]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

There's more than one, you know!

 

But only two steam motor carriages, one of which was rebuilt with a horizontal rather than vertical boiler. So which version will the kit represent?

I don't know, I haven't been involved in the design. As soon as I can get some further details I'll post them on here. 

[Nick Holliday]

14 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

There's more than one, you know!

 

But only two steam motor carriages, one of which was rebuilt with a horizontal rather than vertical boiler. So which version will the kit represent?

Both steam railmotors were rebuilt with locomotive boilers, replacing the vertical original ones. One was retained for passenger use, and required the passenger accommodation to be altered to accommodate the longer boiler, resulting in considerable changes to the side view, with one large window removed, to create a luggage compartment. The other was converted for use as a self-propelled inspection car, and its side elevation was left unaltered, as the loss of internal space didn't impact upon its functionality. I suspect that LRM will have chosen the original design, perhaps with the option of different boiler fittings/locations to represent the inspection saloon version, as the rebuilt passenger version would have a much more limited range of service. I have the Falcon Brass etchings somewhere, which include the original, I think, trailer, but I don't know which option they represent.

[Compound2632]

@Nick Holliday I was going on R. Lacy and G. Dow, Midland Railway Carriages (Wild Swan, 1986) Ch. XI. They describe the reboilering of No. 2233 in 1907, but not that of No. 2234 - only its conversion into an inspection carriage for J.H. Follows in 1917, which saw the engine compartment converted to an additional saloon, with the end rebuilt as a driving compartment, with inset sides like but not identical to the trailing end driving compartment. So this is a third change in appearance! In this form it was still a motor carriage, 4-2-2 No. 600 being fitted up with the standard vacuum control gear for motor train operation - and a Deeelyesque cab.

 

S. Summerson, Midland Railway Locomotives Vol. 1 (Irwell Press, 2000) Ch. 7 gives the full story as one would expect. He says No. 2234 was first used as a self-propelled inspection saloon by Cecil Paget - which strikes me as entirely of a piece with what other glimpses one has of his character.

 

It's odd that Dow does not mention the 1907 rebuilding of No. 2234 as he owned and lived in it for a while! Dow passed it to the NRM but it was deaccessioned in 2015 so its future seems somewhat parlous.

 

Which version would make the best model? In their original condition they worked on the Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham section only from July 1904 to June 1905, then on the Hemel Hempsted branch (possibly only No. 2233), August 1905 to some time between October 1905, when one/it failed on the 1:39 gradient, and March 1906 when it/one was tried on the Wirksworth, Melbourne, and Ripley services from Derby, on which it lasted about two weeks. On all these services and on the Hemel Hempsted branch, the Pullman car/Lynn & Fakenham 4-4-0T combos, introduced in March 1906, proved much more effective. The rebuilt No. 2233 was working on the Ilkeston branch in 1911 and in March 1922 it was loaned to the M&GN, where it was briefly tried working in the Cromer area [Summerson, Op. cit]. So I suppose one could justify having No. 2233 in rebuilt form on a fictional Midland branch in the 1907-1914 period.

 

On the other hand, the rebuilt self-propelled No. 2234 could presumably be justified turning up anywhere on the Midland system during 1907-1914, with Cecil Paget on board. Paget joined up (with the ROD, rising to Lt. Col. RE) J.H. Follows becoming acting General Superintendent in 1917 - so the final rebuild was presumably at his insistence. I rather fancy the final version with motor-fitted No. 600. Unfortunately the Spinner LRM do is the wrong class - No. 600 was one of the early slide-valve engines, whereas LRM do the piston-valved 115 Class - the (joint) fastest 19th century British locomotive type.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Compound2632

[Jol Wilkinson]

I am advised that the MR Railmotor kit will be, as Nick suggested,  for the original version with the vertical boiler.

[Jol Wilkinson]

The price for the NER/LNER B16 is now on the London Road Models website, £155:00.

 

Similarly the LNWR 45 ft Family Saloon is listed at £50:00. I believe John Redrup is awaiting a delivery of etches for the Family Saloon and also a further batch of B16's.

[Jol Wilkinson]

The MR Railcar has been added to the LRM website, priced at £125:00.

 

It is for the two 1904 Bain/Deeley 60ft versions in original condition, nos. 2233 and 2234. The body is designed to be built up as series of units, for ease of assembly. Two sets of etched valve gear are included, a "fine scale" version and a more robust, over scale, option.

[cctransuk]

8 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

The MR Railcar has been added to the LRM website, priced at £125:00.

 

.... and receives an announcement in the latest MRJ.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.