South Wales Valleys in the 50s

[The Johnster]

PA09 it is then, 31, thank you again for the time you've put in on my behalf!  I can't get the Peco website to behave at the moment but the way to go will be order half a dozen of these and see how we get on.  Oleos are not impossible on some of my mothballs, but can always be replaced; what was bothering me was the structural integrity of the completed chassis before the body get glued on, which I think would be compromised without buffer beams, of which the mothballs are devoid, being RTR bodies.  I am looking for a stand alone chassis, ideally one that I can put NEM dovetail mounts on to, which I think you can with Parksides, if the Mica I've just built is anything to go by.

 

You have pointed me in the right direction and saved me a good bit towards my new Hornby suburbans over the cost of Baccy donors!

[tomparryharry]

PA09 it is then, 31, thank you again for the time you've put in on my behalf!  I can't get the Peco website to behave at the moment but the way to go will be order half a dozen of these and see how we get on.  Oleos are not impossible on some of my mothballs, but can always be replaced; what was bothering me was the structural integrity of the completed chassis before the body get glued on, which I think would be compromised without buffer beams, of which the mothballs are devoid, being RTR bodies.  I am looking for a stand alone chassis, ideally one that I can put NEM dovetail mounts on to, which I think you can with Parksides, if the Mica I've just built is anything to go by.

 

You have pointed me in the right direction and saved me a good bit towards my new Hornby suburbans over the cost of Baccy donors!

Ratio do a double kit for 9' wagon underframes. About a fiver for the pair.

 

I'm quietly stashing my stock, ready to ditch the older Mainline standard stuff.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[The Johnster]

Trouble is I'm looking for 10' underframes, and have been impressed with how well the Parkside Mica went together, having found all my recent Ratio purchases to be a bit fragile and awkward.  I do not have a backlog of mineral bodies to find chassis for; what I do have is 2x GW 'Fruit' vans in BR bauxite, an LMS sliding door van repainted by me into BR bauxite livery and another in LMS grey, a further LMS grey liveried Ashford van, and a BR standard 'Hybarshocfit' open (branded 'Return to East Usk WR which identifies it as being involved in the steel coil business).  The LMS Ashford carries an identical number to one already in services, so will be another candidate for BR bauxite, or perhaps late GW grey.  All are Bachmann or Mainline, but none are the old LMS sliding door Mainline with opening doors about a scale foot thick.  One of the GW fruits is a very old Mainline which may be my oldest wagon body, although a Mainline bogie bolster D runs it close.

 

Some of these will need spoked and some will need 3 hole disc wheels, of course, but the minimum spec for the chassis has to be separate brake levers and NEM couplers.

[The Johnster]

More work on the Mica today, but I still haven't finished it; the breakneck pace of yesterday has slowed somewhat.  The main task has been to put the end steps and handrails on, and the steps are very small.  I used self closing tweezers as a handling aid and superglued the steps, but it was a fiddly and slow process.  I've only done one end, handrails included, and given up for the evening.  I have fitted couplings and buffers from the scrap box, though, and the van is fit for service once the other end is done and painting complete.  I'm gonna cheat and have it as a BR vehicle one side and a shirtbutton GW the other.

[The Johnster]

Finished the Mica which is now in service, BR liveried both sides.  Some more girlfriends, sorry, I mean sheep, have been acquired, Peco Scalescenes ones, along with a pack of RTP resin Bachmann drystone wall. 

'I am a drystone waller and I drystone drystone walls/Of all appalling callings drystone walling's worst of all'....  the immortal Pam Ayres.

Not quite sure where these are going to go yet; boundary walls and fences are a work in progress and there won't be too many of these pack at the this price, but I'm hoping to be able to plaster cast replica sections (now there's a recipe for making a mess!).  They come with gates and gateposts, and are very convincing as limestone, but Cwmdimbath's geology is Pennant Sandstone; a splash or two of my brownish weathering mix should do the trick

 

[Pacific231G]

Hi Johnster

Now that most of the images have reappeared I've been enjoying skimming through this topic  following discussion of Minories elsewhere, and really like the complete story you've created. I was though wondering if you'd ever drawn a trackplan for your layout as you mentioned that you'd pinched elements of CJF's classic plan for this very different context.

 

Back in about 1964-66 we had a school railway society shedbashing trip from Oxford to one of the MPDs in the valleys. I can't remember which one but  ISTR the shed being full of prairies- I preferred panniers- and nothing with a tender so as I wasn't a number collector I was less than impressed. I don't think it even had a turntable, which seemed unusual but it was raining which didn't (my family were from the Brecon area and one of them was a sheep farmer)   

 

 

[The Johnster]

Glad you're enjoying the topic, 231.

 

A school shedbashing trip from Oxford in those days would have come down the A40; your shed might have been Aberbeeg, but lots of prairies (I suspect some were 56xx 0-6-2s) sounds like Radyr, to the north of Cardiff.  Radyr had an entire allocation of tank locos and no turntable; there were several South Wales sheds like this.  Tondu. 'my' shed, did have a turntable despite a fully tank engine allocation, as it was a roundhouse shed.

 

Traditional valleys working was to have the locos facing uphill to ensure that the fusible plug between the boiler and firebox was covered with water in the boiler.  The idea that 0-6-2T locos were favoured in the area because they could run faster downhill is a myth; the arrangement is the product of putting a decent size bunker on an 0-6-0 to extend it's range.  Most downhill work was very slow indeed, with brakes pinned down to prevent runaways, not always successfully...  so there was no need to turn the locos!

 

I have always drawn detailed track plans for my layouts, but as I've never been able to build one to the plan (!), I did this one differently; drew a sketch to establish the moves I wanted to be able to do and built it more or less freestyle according to that.  The basic principle was to keep matters as simple (and hence reliable) as possible; there is one feed, a couple of bridging wires, points are insulfrog and hand operated as are signals, and setting the road directs where the current goes.  DC of course.  The track flows naturally and there is very little straight track anywhere, or sharp curvature either; the real railway had one ever been built in this very steep and narrow valley would have been hemmed in between the mountain and the river.  The inspiration is Abergwynfi 2 valleys over.

 

I've built and weathered the drystone wall, but it needs a bit of bedding in at the bottom so I'll need to get the plaster out; photos when I've finished as it looks a bit rough for now!

[tomparryharry]

Just a slight aside, mostly geographic. If you travelled down the old Heads of the Valleys road, you would (as Johnster notes) reach  Aberbeeg. Then, there is Rhymney, Merthyr, Ferndale, Treherbert. Another to consider is Aberdare, but it's a roundhouse. Depending on the allocation, any of these would have prairies to cover the passenger or mail jobs.

 

Back on topic now!

 

Ian.

Edited February 4, 2019 by tomparryharry
Keyboard misdemeanours

[The Johnster]

A pair of PA 09 chassis kits are on the way from Shef of Railfields or somewhere to see if they are suitable for some of my older van bodies, but a correspondence elsewhere on this site has edumacated me to the fact that my LMS grey liveried Ashford van is incorrect (bad Bachmann, go and sit on the naughty step).  I have therefore pinched it's chassis to go under an old GW fruit van in BR bauxite, sticking on a spare vacuum cylinder from the Mica kit.  Another one bites the dust...

 

I now have 2 LMS grey liveried Ashford bodies with the same number, and will at some future point restore them to service with PA 09s in either BR or late LMS bauxite, with probably an S prefix running number if I go the BR route.  Another GW design Fruit, an Silurian era Mainline with a B prefix number and some nice chalked markings, an LMS BR bauxite liveried sliding door van (my own paint job), a pre-1938 grey liveried ditto with roof ventilators, and a BR standard open shoc with a tarp bar branded to be returned to East Usk, Newport, WR, are in the queue ahead of them and are ready to go, no repainting or numbering needed.

 

General merchandise chassis apart, the next big news should be about coaches, with the arrival next month of the new Hornby BR Carmine suburban bowend Colletts and the entering to service probably around the same time of a Comet Collett flat end all 3rd which is well advanced.  This project, when finished, will be replaced by a rebuild of the K's A31 trailer picked up at the small Cardiff show, likely featuring MJT bogies, and possible re-use of the 7' bogies from the old Airfix B set which will be withdrawn from service when the Hornbys arrive, under a cut and shut composite made from them and an equally cut and shut A27 auto trailer from an old Airfix in the scrap box.  

 

Not sure any of this is improving the standard of my modelling, but it will do wonders for carriage stock biodiversity in my half real, part imagined, Mid Glamorgan valley!

[The Johnster]

The PA 09s turned up this morning, and I've half built one already.  There are no instructions and indeed this is probably too simple and obvious to need explaining, but one or two points to note for anyone considering re-chassis-ing wagons in this way; the kits do not include wheels or NEM couplings, though a tension lock is included, and do not include bearings.  The bearings have some bearing on a delay, as I do not have any top hats at the moment and rather thought the kit would include them as my recent Parkside Mica did!  

 

So, job's on stop until top hats arrive; ordered today from Wizard who are pretty quick as a rule.  I have Parkside NEM mounts and will be using these on these kits.  I also reckon that the order of building is easier if you attach the brake gear mouldings to the floor first, as it's a little fiddly to get in place when the solebar-and-W-iron-with springs mouldings are put on.  It's position is fixed by ribs on the floor, so you can't get it wrong and foul the wheels but you do need to ensure that it is squarely in place.

 

I ordered 2 kits and will build both for now without solebar-etc ready for the bearings, which will be easier to put into their holes with the moulding separate; I squished them in place with pliers and a dab of superglue on the Mica, which runs very well.  They'll be easier to keep without losing bits and pieces this weay.  First in the body queue are a Bachmann LMS sliding door vanfit repainted by myself into BR bauxite and a very old Mainline GW fruit, also in BR bauxite with a B prefix number.  I have a current Bachmann version of this with a W prefix number, but the old one has some rather nice chalk markings!

 

Wrote this last Tuesday and forget to press the submit button!

[The Johnster]

Top hats have now arrived and been fitted to the Parkside chassis, which run very well with them but I think ballast is a good idea; various lumps of mazak or whitemetal from the scrap box stuck in with superglue, likes a good bodge I does.  The LMS sliding door is in service with Bachmann NEM couplers and Parkside mounts, but I need to get more couplers to complete the Fruit, which already has the the Parkside NEM mounts fitted and only needs the couplers.  I think these are an improvement on the plastic Ratio type  t/ls supplied with the kits.  Brakes are rubbing a little on the Fruit chassis, but given the free running with the top hats this is not necessarily a disaster; the wheels turn under the van's own weight.

 

Sliding door vans, which at my period are mostly ex LMS or LNER types, are frequent visitors to Cwmdimbath, being preferred for mileage traffic because of the very narrow space for lorries, and necessary for one of the trading estate loading docks which is the 'hole in the wall' sliding door type, not actually modelled and part of the imagined area of the layout but necessitating sliding door vehicles just the same!  There is a narrow wooden extension to the trading estate siding platform which is only suitable for working from sliding door vans as well; this is real and not imagined.

[31A]

For vans, six penny coins inside seem to help with stable running!

[The Johnster]

2 hours ago, 31A said:

For vans, six penny coins inside seem to help with stable running!

Six!!!  Do you think I'm made of money?

 

I'm told that 25g is a good weight to aim for, but never actually weigh anything; if the 'heft' feels right, it usually isn't wrong!  This is probably less of an issue on a small BLT where the maximum train length is 11 and a van than it would be on a main line operation where 60 wagon trains are the norm, though...

[tomparryharry]

On ‎20‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 01:55, The Johnster said:

Six!!!  Do you think I'm made of money?

 

I'm told that 25g is a good weight to aim for, but never actually weigh anything; if the 'heft' feels right, it usually isn't wrong!  This is probably less of an issue on a small BLT where the maximum train length is 11 and a van than it would be on a main line operation where 60 wagon trains are the norm, though...

 

And I bet you're using old money as well!

 

Ha ha! only joking! Try using sand, with a layer of cardboard glued over the top to keep it in place....

Yours faithfully,

 

Timothy Tightwad.

Edited February 21, 2019 by tomparryharry
Grammar misdemeanour.

[The Johnster]

Good tip, Ian, thanks.  I've actually abandoned the attempt to use the second Parky chassis on the old Mainline Fruit body as it simply doesn't sit on the chassis as well as the LMS van.  Fruit has gone back in the queue and the chassis is sitting happily enough beneath a Bachmann shoc open, for which I will have to make up springs to sit beneath the doors.

 

That will be the last of the wagon upgrades for a while, and we now have 3 bodies left, 2 identical LMS Ashford vans and the Fruit.  One of the Ashfords will be repainted in BR bauxite with an S prefix number, and it's friend may be repainted in BR grey with a W prefix number or in GW livery, but I do not feel in any sort of hurry to do this at the moment.  Wagon priorities are a few more opens, especially GW ones; the layout is rather 'van heavy'. for the early 50s and the last thing we need is 2 more Ashfords.

 

The replacement of opens with vans for general merchandise traffic progressed steadily throughout the first three quarters of the 20th century, and during my period things were about 50/50.  This is not represented on the layout well at all; I currently have in service 18 10ton vans of various types and 8 opens, of which 2 are conflats, one a lowfit, and the remaining one a medfit.  What my general merchandise fleet desperately needs is 8 or 9 more 5 plank open 'High/Hyfits' or steel equivalents, a good portion of which should be GW and about half of them unfitted, and impulse buying of freight stock should bear this in mind no matter how much I like Ashford vans...

 

Breaking the general merchandise stock into fitted and unfitted gives 14 fitted and 12 unfitted, which is probably more representative of my time frame, although unfitted vehicles other than mineral and departmental were starting to become rare by 1958 as the Ideal Wagon Committee's cull and refurbishment programme bore fruit at the same time as a fall in traffic allowed many older vehicles to be scrapped.

 

In more news, some Ratio 'trackside wooden fencing' now closes the unfenced gap between the end of the stone wall section and the Remploy trading estate's land.  Looks very new, black, and shiny at the moment but that will not last long; it will be savagely assaulted next time I've got the weathering mix out!  The other end of the stone wall disappears into heavy foliage.  The backscene side of the layout is now fully fenced or walled from the railway; of course, this is South Wales and the sheep are not taking any notice at all...

Edited February 24, 2019 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

New coaching stock in the form of a Hornby Collett non-gangwayed composite and brake third, in BR 1949-56 crimson.  These will replace the old Airfix B set on the ROF workman’s; this will enable a possible cut’n’shut all third as a stregthener.  

 

They are are a bit of a rule 1 push in South Wales, but are refugees from a split set, this being emphasised by them being ‘opposite handed’ coaches that would not have been adjacently coupled in the original 4 car set.  They are at least less incorrect than the Airfix B (not to mention superior in every respect), as no bowender B sets ran in the Tondu valleys in my period. 

 

Unfortunately the brake 2nd is going to have to be returned to the shop and replaced, as one of the curved handrails on the brake end is missing. 

[The Johnster]

Brake 2nd duly replaced and the set is now in service; B set withdrawn.

 

I've been attempting to upgrade 9681, which is a bit of a hybrid involving a Mainline 57xx, albeit equipped with a current Bachmann chassis, and the cab of an even older Ks 8750.  This is something of a weak link although it's had some improvements over the years, including cast whitemetal buffers, rear cab window etched brass coal rails, and, more recently, a Modelu whistle and shield.  But the cab is still a bit crude by modern standards, with no fire iron holders and oversized front windows.  The loco has no backhead detail, so I've attempted to cover this shortcoming with a crew and the sliding shutters modelled in the closed position (these were inside the cab cutout on these engines and are simply pieces of plasticard glued to the inside of the cab side, pulled back level with the door).

 

But the worst feature is the front windows, and I sourced an eBay Bachmann 8750 cab to replace the K's one.  Can't be difficult, I thought, the body moulding's largely the same, isn't it?

 

I should know better because this sort of assumption has caught me out before.  No, Johnster, there are significant differences, the main one being that the 57xx moulding has integral cab sides whereas the 8750 has a completely separate cab that 'plugs' in to the rear face of the tanks and firebox top.  So things are not as straightforward as they looked!  And they have not gone well; I've just spent an hour or so trying to get a neat fit between the new cab and old body.  It's difficult to even get the new cab to sit forward enough to avoid the bunker overhanging at the rear without carving so much into the old Mainline moulding as to compromise the pipework at the rear of the tanks.

 

I've given up on the project for now; I'm on a hiding to nothing already and will probably make things worse if I persist.  9681 is withdrawn from service for the time being, and may be resurrected with a new 8750 body at some future time.  I now have a surplus pannier chassis for this putative future loco.  

 

The Comet C65/75 is near completion, though I'll confess I haven't made as neat and tidy a job of this as I would have liked, but it passes the 2 foot rule and runs well on the Bachmann bogies.  It is awaiting door handles and grab rails and final touching up.  Next project will be refurbishing a K's A31 auto trailer and giving it an interior; real modelling!

[The Johnster]

Update; I've returned to the 9681 project, and after a lot of filing and fiddling have got the new cab to sit square on the footplate in the right position.  There will need to be a lot of filling with Milliput, but I've managed to preserve the pipework at the rear of the tanks.  The number plates and Modelu whistle and shield will be transferred to it, and a full repaint in unicycling lion black with yellow route availability dot and black backed number plates undertaken.  It needs a new crew, the old was horribly mutilated when I took the old cab off.

 

I've ordered a crimson liveried Lima Siphon G from 'Bay which should arrive tomoz or Tuesday; first thing to do will be to take the B1 bogies off and replace them with Collett 9 footers, which I have.  I had one of these years ago, and IIRC drilled out the holes in the doors in an attempt to work it up a bit, but there's not much wrong with the body and underframe of this vehicle and it's really only the bogies that let it down.  I have far to much NPCCS for a Valleys BLT, but I like them and Rule 1 is invoked.

[timbowilts]

You can never have too much NPCS stock 

You can keep ringing the changes on what actually arrives at your BLT

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

[The Johnster]

This raises a very good point, Tim, one pertinent to those of us who like buying and owning more models that common sense dictates that we need, and especially as applied to panniers and NPCCS which cannot be had too much of.

 

On a BLT such as mine, there is a limit to the number of locos that would have been seen.  Geography and operation limits me to the about 50 that Tondu had, perhaps less the 31xx and 44xx, so I have justification for another 40 locos,  and to the passenger stock, again perhaps another 40 vehicles; auto trailers, E147 B sets, and suburbans from Collett and Hawkworth, maybe even a mk1 strengthener and some older stuff for the workmen's.

 

And the mineral wagons would have been in a sort of informal circuit, so there is a sensible limit to the number of those I have, at about twice what I've got.  Ideally 2 rakes of identical wagons, one loaded and one empty.

 

But NPCCS and general merchandise goods wagons are under no such limitations.  In theory, I am justified in owning every such vehicle that existed on BR during my period, and perhaps duplicates of some in different liveries and with different weathering so long as they are not on the scenic part of the layout at the same time.  The scenic break is the entrance to the rest of the entire railway, and pool vehicles can access Cwmdimbath through it at any time.

 

So you are correct, you really cannot have too much NPCCS, or general merchandise stock.  Rule '+1' applies!

 

 

[The Johnster]

The Siphon has arrived, and has already had the replacement 9' bogies fitted, not without a bit of bodgery.  They are old Mainline ones and the fixing spigots were thicker than the Lima holes, so a bit of reaming was indulged in.  This allowed them to be fitted, but the wheels fouled on the underside of the chassis, so I consulted the Bodgeriegar that I keep for such occasions, and have fitted foam spacing washers around the base of the spigots.  These keep the tops of the wheels clear of the chassis floor, and provide a measure of springing.  It's 'passed' it's running test being hauled and propelled everywhere on the layout without problems.  It rides about a ¼ mm too high for my liking, but I'll live with that!

 

It was originally in rail blue livery by the look of things, and it's previous owner has made a handsome job of weathered, dirty, and faded crimson planking as well as the roof, but there's more work to be done before I'm happy with it.  The corridor connections, and the underframe, need weathering or at any rate toning down, and some attention needs to be paid to the buffer beams; the buffers themselves are an attempt at Churchward square shanked types which are correct for siphons, but look very undernourished to me  compared to the same thing on an old Mainline siphon H, and the buffers heads are the typical 1970s mushrooms, complete with moulding rib.  These can and will be replaced; I believe MJT do them as whitemetal castings.  

[The Johnster]

Revisited 9681 today, and have filled the gaping hole between the cab and tanks/firebox with Milliput.  There will now follow a period of sanding down and refilling until I'm happy with the join, then I need a new crew for the loco (Modelu).  Then the bunker can go on and the loco can be repainted, numbered, transfers applied, weathered, and go back into service.  The new cab is a worthwhile improvement, especially the windows, but the loco will still be a bit of a weak link and will be the 'spare' in the pannier link.  I had some trouble getting the cab to sit level on the footplate, but persevered and am happy with it now.  

 

I've been offered a Wills 1854 half cab pannier; 1730 was at Tondu during my period, albeit a bit briefly, from November 1947 to August 1948.  I imagine it's work at this time would have been mostly yard pilot duties, but my interpretation of Rule 1 allows an odd trip to Cwmdimbath.  She and 2761 will work turn and about with the miner's workman's; I reckon she was probably still in shirtbutton pre 1942 livery under the dirt, unlined green of course.  She'll need a bit of fettling but nothing out of my league.  Should arrive next week some time.

 

You can't have too many panniers, which is why Swindon was still turning out new ones in the mid 50s.

[The Johnster]

On 19/03/2019 at 01:24, The Johnster said:

The Siphon has arrived, and has already had the replacement 9' bogies fitted, not without a bit of bodgery.  They are old Mainline ones and the fixing spigots were thicker than the Lima holes, so a bit of reaming was indulged in.  This allowed them to be fitted, but the wheels fouled on the underside of the chassis, so I consulted the Bodgeriegar that I keep for such occasions, and have fitted foam spacing washers around the base of the spigots.  These keep the tops of the wheels clear of the chassis floor, and provide a measure of springing.  It's 'passed' it's running test being hauled and propelled everywhere on the layout without problems.  It rides about a ¼ mm too high for my liking, but I'll live with that!

 

It was originally in rail blue livery by the look of things, and it's previous owner has made a handsome job of weathered, dirty, and faded crimson planking as well as the roof, but there's more work to be done before I'm happy with it.  The corridor connections, and the underframe, need weathering or at any rate toning down, and some attention needs to be paid to the buffer beams; the buffers themselves are an attempt at Churchward square shanked types which are correct for siphons, but look very undernourished to me  compared to the same thing on an old Mainline siphon H, and the buffers heads are the typical 1970s mushrooms, complete with moulding rib.  These can and will be replaced; I believe MJT do them as whitemetal castings.  

Not MJT, but Wizard/Comet as part of a coach end fittings pack for GW non gangwayed.  This is fortuitous as I've lose one of the lighting cable connectors from my C66/75.  This is definitely worth doing as the difference in appearance between these buffers and the rather sad Lima mushrooms is massive, and will transform the look of the coach, already considerably improved with 9' pressed steel bogies

[The Johnster]

The Wizard/Comet buffers have arrived for the siphon improvements, and I am using my Sunday to try to wrap up some outstanding projects.  I don't like having too many projects on the go at once as this is in my experience a dead certain way of ending up with a load of unfinished projects.  Bit of discipline, Johnster!

 

I have so far wrapped up the Comet C66, not 100% happy with the outcome but it'll 'do', and painted the new cab and bunker for 9681, which will be re-assembled and put back into service later this evening though I'll have to take it apart soon again for a crew.  The number plates need transferring from the old cab, but having the loco in one piece will lessen the chances of bits going missing.  My standard staple lamp irons will need to be fitted to the bunker.

 

I'll attack the siphon as well; already put a coat of matt over the gangway connections to take the shine off.  The new buffers will be fitted and painted, and a coat of weathering applied to the underframe.  The existing plastic lamp irons on the gangways will suffice for this model.  All should be finished before going up the pub time tonight..

 

This will clear the decks for the next 2 projects, 1730 and the A31 auto trailer.  1730 is due any day now, and will need a repaint, new t/l couplers, a crew and my lamp irons.  I think I am going to have to commission number plates for her.  And I want to repeat a stunt I pulled to some acclaim many moons since with an Airfix Dean Goods, a deployed weather sheet.  Sports car drop head coupe pannier!

 

This will need a crew; they are very visible in these half cabs, and all this fairly straightforward working up and fettling will be the next project; shouldn't take too long before the loco's in service.

 

The A31 is next.  This is an old K's whitemetal kit and probably weighs as much as a full express train of modern RTR coaches.  I'm going to be making it a bit heavier, with a floor and interior, new glazing, and a Dart Castings detailing pack for the cab, plus my lamp irons of course.  It has 'American' type bogies which I assume came with the kit, and is currently in late GW chocolate and cream numbered 211.  211 was a Newport Division allocation but had Collett 7' bogies in a photograph in the Lewis Autocoach book; the only one apparently with American type bogies was 204.  This coach was condemned in 1949; 211 lasted another decade, though 204 was also a Newport vehicle.

 

The plot thickens, though.  204 is also photographed in Lewis, in Godfrey Road sidings at Newport High Street, confirming it's American bogies and in late GW livery.  But there were 2 orders of these A31s, one from Swindon and one outsourced to Gloucester RCW, and the Gloucester ones had double doors to the passenger compartment.  So,  I can model either of these vehicles, but neither are Gloucesters and I will have to cut the door droplights out and replace them with a single light, and file away the hinges on one side.  I have Collett 7' bogies surplus from the recently withdrawn Airfix B set that the Hornby Colletts replaced.  204 had the smaller railmotor type end windows in the guards compartment, though, probably withdrawn with them, and these would be quite a task to provide in the K's body,

 

There is a third option, another Newport coach, no.209, which lasted until August 1957.  This is photographed in 1948 chocolate and cream as W 209 in Lewis, again at Godfrey Road.  It is a Gloucester trailer with double doors and, so far as I can see, no end windows in the guard's compartment.  It has Collett 7' bogies and is probably the best option for me at the moment.  It's a livery box ticked as well as I don't have anything in this transition livery.  I will try the MJT stud method of bogie mounting!  

 

This will leave a pair of K's American bogies looking for something to go under; any ideas?

 

[The Johnster]

The 1854 has arrived today.  Initial exam shows most of it is there, and a useful little loco should result from a bit of fitting and fettling.  Main problem is iffy gear meshing, but there is little sign of wear on the worm  or cog (Romford 40:1), so it is probably a matter of motor positioning and a bit of packing under the back of the motor. 

 

Repaint, new buffers, crew, NEM tension locks, my standard lamp irons,   fire iron hooks, real coal, and glazing for the spectacle plate windows, and she’ll look the part, but a Heavy General for the mechanism to get things running smoothly is the first priority. 

 

By coincidence, the other half cab, 2761, started playing up as regards meshing in the weekend; the motor securing bolt had worked loose. I initially overtightened it and she seized, but a half turn slack off had her running sweet again!