Hornby dublo

[Il Grifone]

Hello Garry

I would have been very tempted, especially as, with the red and green Dublo  "Cities" nearly ready for the final spray coat of protective satin varnish (just the red buffer beams to repaint and Modelmaster nameplates somewhere in the air between the UK and NZ), I've started looking for another one to re-finish as "City of Glasgow" in blue which, according to Jenkinson in "Power of the Duchesses", (OPC 1979), was in blue from 1949 to 1953. Dennis Williams has the name and number set.

 

I can't make out the number of the engine in the painting.  I may be mistaken of course but it looks as if it's running through the Lune Gorge, perhaps starting the climb to Shap (if its a Northbound Down train of course). Not only the locomotive has gone but of course the gorge is changed out of all recognition with the M6 now slicing through.

 

How did your little one like the Illuminations?  Those are the sort of things which make for magical childhood memories.

 

Mike

 

 

'City of Glasgow' may have been blue until 1953, but the last year or so she was in Crewe works being rebuilt. While in blue she had a 'semi' smokebox. so strictly needs attention from a file.

 

My 'City of Glasgow' will be in green or rather she is already green, but awaiting nameplates and numbering. I must fit the name transfers I have (Wrenn) (She started life as 'Duchess of Montrose'). I have still to decide on the identity of my Blue Duchess.

 

The 'Coronation'. in the painting is 46256 'Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S.'.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Coronation_Class

Edited November 3, 2018 by Il Grifone

[MikeCW]

'City of Glasgow' may have been blue until 1953, but the last year or so she was in Crewe works being rebuilt. While in blue she had a 'semi' smokebox. so strictly needs attention from a file.

 

My 'City of Glasgow' will be in green or rather she is already green, but awaiting nameplates and numbering. I must fit the name transfers I have (Wrenn) (She started life as 'Duchess of Montrose'). I have still to decide on the identity of my Blue Duchess.

 

The 'Coronation'. in the painting is 46256 'Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S.'.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Coronation_Class

Thank you David.

The Coronation/Duchess class are is a minefield even if one keeps to the three principal BR variations of smokebox, front footplate and livery.  Trying to get the three in alignment is about as chancy as getting the triple on a fruit machine - not that I frequent casinos. And it doesn't help when I misread reliable printed sources. I've in fact corrected my Post 397 as I misread the table in my Jenkinson book. As the oft-used but still wise saying goes - find a good photograph of the engine one is modelling.

 

The same table confirms what you've posted above about 6242 (City of Glasgow).  During her rebuild at Crewe after the terrible Harrow accident she was given the cylindrical smokebox, was repainted in green and, uniquely for an ex-streamliner and what I had forgotten until reminded by your post, was given the "Duchess of Montrose" style of full front footplate.

 

The Wiki Table is sourced to Jenkinson's  1982 "Profile of the Duchesses" book.  My source has been his 1979 "The Power of the Duchesses".  The dates can differ by a month or two between the two sources but some of the dates in the table in the 1979 book are based on observations of the locomotives on return to service, rather than records of when they were in the Crewe paint shop.  But I suppose that all this is getting some way from the simple fun of Hornby Dublo!

 

Mike 

Edited November 4, 2018 by MikeCW

[Il Grifone]

The class is certainly a minefield. Especially the tenders which got swopped around. The Dublo 'Atholl' is only correct for wartime between the period she was fitted with a double chimney and being painted black. Before the release of the model, she had acquired black paint blinkers and a streamline tender! The 'City' tender is rather a mixture as it should have a ladder on the rear rather than steps. I supppose they were stuck with steps by using the 8F tender chassis.

 

At the time, I wondered why they went to all the trouble of a new model, when the old one could have simply been reissued in BR maroon with a new name.

[kevinlms]

Actually Kevin it is Duchess of Norfolk not York. There was never a Duchess or City of York in this class.

 

Garry

I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that, I looked it up ans still got it wrong! You are of course 100% right.

[Wolseley]

Very nice Mike,they certainly don`t look out of place.The only crticism i can make about the SD coaches is that Meccano never fitted pin point axles.

 

 

                             Ray.

 

 

I don't know if deterioration due to age plays a part here but my experience with SD coaches is that the wheelsets don't turn as effectively as the old metal ones.  My SD coaches are a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to rolling resistance.  I have four Pullmans, four Southern Region coaches, three maroon coaches and two Suburbans.  The Pullmans and the Southern Region coaches have those odd semi-compensated bogies but the others have plain ones.  The Pullmans are the worst of the bunch - a couple of them are so bad that, when you try to spin the wheels, some don't even turn one full revolution.

 

I tried my three railed Caley Single (I fitted a Dublo coupling to the tender yesterday, hence the test) with two Pullmans.  A bit of wheel spinning and a gentle push and it took off, although I had to have it going a bit faster than I normally would to prevent the wheels spinning again once it reached the next curve.  I tried with just one Pullman and, although it had a bit of trouble getting started, once under way it was going around the track nicely.  I was thinking the problem might be just the limited adhesion of a light single driver locomotive, but then I tried it with three old tinplate Gresley coaches.  It romped off down the track with no assistance in getting started and kept up a constant speed.

 

Maybe I should fit pinpoint axles to my SD coaches.....

I don't know if deterioration due to age plays a part here.....

 

 

That is a reference to the coaches, by the way, not me.

[Golden Fleece 30]

I don't know if deterioration due to age plays a part here but my experience with SD coaches is that the wheelsets don't turn as effectively as the old metal ones. My SD coaches are a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to rolling resistance. I have four Pullmans, four Southern Region coaches, three maroon coaches and two Suburbans. The Pullmans and the Southern Region coaches have those odd semi-compensated bogies but the others have plain ones. The Pullmans are the worst of the bunch - a couple of them are so bad that, when you try to spin the wheels, some don't even turn one full revolution.

 

I tried my three railed Caley Single (I fitted a Dublo coupling to the tender yesterday, hence the test) with two Pullmans. A bit of wheel spinning and a gentle push and it took off, although I had to have it going a bit faster than I normally would to prevent the wheels spinning again once it reached the next curve. I tried with just one Pullman and, although it had a bit of trouble getting started, once under way it was going around the track nicely. I was thinking the problem might be just the limited adhesion of a light single driver locomotive, but then I tried it with three old tinplate Gresley coaches. It romped off down the track with no assistance in getting started and kept up a constant speed.

 

Maybe I should fit pinpoint axles to my SD coaches.....

 

 

 

That is a reference to the coaches, by the way, not me.

A couple of things to look at, the nylon sets do tend to attract and collect dust and fluff more easily than the metal ones, even in the compensated bogies. Two, the nylon stub ends do get worn which can prevent them turning easily.

 

The single should pull free running coaches easily. My Lord of the Isles pulls nine Exleys fitted with Bachmann bogies without any difficulty.

 

Garry

[NCB]

A question. I have finally got around to digging out my Dublo. First off the block is the Bristol Castle which I converted to 2-rail, using Romford drivers and pony wheels, and Jackson tender wheels. Thought I'd see if it would run. It didn't, so removed body, managed to get just a hint of movement from it, so decided to test the motor on its own. Unscrewed it from the body, and wow it did in fact run, although with a bit of a rasping sound.

 

This is not surprising; don't think it's been used for 40 years, and I doubt if there's a trace of oil anywhere. So first thing is to oil the motor. Question is, am I right in thinking that all that's required is a drop of oil each end of the motor shaft where it disappears into the bearing?

 

Thanks

Nigel

[Colin_McLeod]

That's my understanding Nigel.

[sagaguy]

A question. I have finally got around to digging out my Dublo. First off the block is the Bristol Castle which I converted to 2-rail, using Romford drivers and pony wheels, and Jackson tender wheels. Thought I'd see if it would run. It didn't, so removed body, managed to get just a hint of movement from it, so decided to test the motor on its own. Unscrewed it from the body, and wow it did in fact run, although with a bit of a rasping sound.

 

This is not surprising; don't think it's been used for 40 years, and I doubt if there's a trace of oil anywhere. So first thing is to oil the motor. Question is, am I right in thinking that all that's required is a drop of oil each end of the motor shaft where it disappears into the bearing?

 

Thanks

Nigel

That`s right only don`t lubricate with 3 in one or similar,use a synthetic oil such as Daywat poly.

 

             http://www.knightwing.co.uk/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1541372964.764&product=DayWat&pid=63

 

Also,while the motor is out of the chassis,make sure that the axles are free to rotate on the chassis,lubricate with the same oil.

 

                          Ray.

[NCB]

That`s right only don`t lubricate with 3 in one or similar,use a synthetic oil such as Daywat poly.

 

             http://www.knightwing.co.uk/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1541372964.764&product=DayWat&pid=63

 

Also,while the motor is out of the chassis,make sure that the axles are free to rotate on the chassis,lubricate with the same oil.

 

                          Ray.

 

I have a clutch of Woodland Scenics oils; think one of those, probably the Lite Oil, should be OK. Thanks

 

Nigel

[MikeCW]

A question. I have finally got around to digging out my Dublo. First off the block is the Bristol Castle which I converted to 2-rail, using Romford drivers and pony wheels, and Jackson tender wheels. Thought I'd see if it would run. It didn't, so removed body, managed to get just a hint of movement from it, so decided to test the motor on its own. Unscrewed it from the body, and wow it did in fact run, although with a bit of a rasping sound.

 

This is not surprising; don't think it's been used for 40 years, and I doubt if there's a trace of oil anywhere. So first thing is to oil the motor. Question is, am I right in thinking that all that's required is a drop of oil each end of the motor shaft where it disappears into the bearing?

 

Thanks

Nigel

Hello Nigel

 

To endorse and add to what's been said by others, and based on my own experience of resurrecting a couple of non-running Bristol Castles: (1) lubricate the motor shafts at the bearing ends sparingly, and as Ray said, not with 3-in-1 or similar solvent-rich products; (2) clean the commutator with isopropyl alcohol or electrical switch cleaner using a cotton bud, and gently clean out the slots with a wooden toothpick.  It's remarkable how much grunge can build up there over the years and affect the electrical path to the windings; (3) also as Ray advised, push the motor-less chassis along.  It should run freely.  Clean out fluff and dirt and lightly oil the axles.

 

Edit.  It crossed my mind a week or so later that I had omitted one important check to do on the motor. The main armature shaft requires some slight fore and aft movement or, when the motor gets warm, expansion of the shaft will mean that it will be pushed too tightly into the end bearings and start to bind or drag. Adjustment of the end play of the armature is achieved by loosening the locknut at the worm end of the shaft and, with a screw driver, turning the threaded bearing back or inward. It's a matter of trial and error but I usually aim for about a half millimetre of movement, ensuring that the motor brushes always stay fully on the commutator, and checking that there is still some very slight play when the motor is warm.  Adjustment can also be made while the warmed up motor is running (out of the chassis of course) by adjusting the bearing until a sweet spot is reached with the motor running at its best. End of edit.

 

If the motor runs freely out of the chassis, and the chassis without motor can be pushed along easily with a finger, then all should be well, provided (4) when assembled, the motor worm and axle gear are properly meshed.  When motor and chassis are reunited, you should be able to rock the driving wheels on the driven axle very slightly back and forth. If there is no movement, the gear mesh is too tight and, when things get warm, will likely become even tighter. If I recall correctly, there are two machine screws through the bottom of the chassis which hold the half-inch motor in place. Do these up evenly.  Backing off the rear one and tightening the front one will pull the worm down onto the gear wheel, the reverse process will lift it slightly.  These are extremely small adjustments and Hornby Dublo is usually so well engineered that tightening both up evenly and gently (no need for a torque wrench!)  should give satisfactory mesh. (I had a problem with a Castle where one of the screws was missing and a previous owner had compensated by doing up the remaining (front) one so tightly that it pulled the worm too far down onto the gear.)

 

If there is still poor running, (5) clean the wheels and check the electrical pick-ups.   If the motor runs fine with no load, but struggles when required to pull a locomotive chassis, then, (6) the motor magnet may be weak.  But on the assumption that the magnet is fine, cleaning, lubing,and adjusting motor and chassis, and a 10 minute canter at moderate speed round the track, should sort it all out.

 

Good luck!

 

Mike

Edited November 9, 2018 by MikeCW

[NCB]

Thanks for all the advice. One Castle now up and working, once I'd cleaned the 6 foot of Peco test track which is my only 00 track at the moment. Goes smoothly. Seems strong enough. Here's a pic.

 

 

At the moment my camera/lighting combination doesn't show greens up very well; must sort it out. I believe I over-painted the Dublo green with Humbrol. The lining is PC (now HMRS) Pressfix; the cab side stuff isn't great. I didn't finish it largely due to pressure of other things then a shift in scales. Think I'll give it a go sometime.

 

Romford 26mm drivers and Romford pony truck wheels, Jackson tender wheels. Pickup is American; one side of loco, other side of tender. I filed down the slidebars to something more like the prototype. Screw couplings. Sprung buffers.

 

I think HD captured the look of the prototype very well, better than Airfix did later. There's something majestic as she sails down the track.

[MikeCW]

To wrap up the Tale of Two Cities in Post 366 and earlier, herewith are the all but completed City/Duchess locomotives.  Perhaps, given the names, this should have been a Tale of Two Yorkshire Lasses. Anyway, I'm quite pleased with them, and the Modelmaster name plates, recommended by Garry, nicely set them off.

 

As the short-lived red paint scheme with orange/black lining on City of Bradford was, reportedly, the same as the green paint scheme but for the base colour, I suspect that the cylinder covers should be black.  I painted them red when I initially planned on completing her in the later LMS-style BR red livery.  The yellow cab-side numbers are a bit of a bodge. I had run out of sufficient pale cream 4s and 6s by the time I came to letter her, but had plenty of the yellow ones on my sheet.  I may be making a virtue out of necessity but I think that the yellow numbers clash less with the unusual livery than pale cream ones would. I really must brush off the workshop dust before taking close-up photographs.

 

I haven't attached the smokebox numbers yet.

 

The handrails were something of a struggle to install.  The two very battered original bodies had none, so I used handrails recovered from a couple of Montrose bodies, polished and oiled, and installed re-using the original split pins. They aren't completely straight, but neither were the protoypes' at times. I made a couple of scratches on the boilers but, by the time the fourth handrail was going on, I had just about got the hang of it!  I think that I'll use new split pins next time - proper practice as any automotive engineer will tell you.

 

The tenders are bog standard Montrose items, the green one not even repainted, just cleaned and sprayed with satin varnish to match the locomotive.  Not quite accurate for former streamliners I know, but good enough for this purpose.

 

I'm waiting for the delivery of a City of London in rough condition.  The plan is to convert her to three rail and refinish her as City of Glasgow in pre-Harrow condition: BR blue with bevelled smokebox.  But that may be a post-Christmas completion at the speed I work.

 

Finally, my thanks to you all for your constructive comments and encouragement.

 

Mike

  

Edited November 9, 2018 by MikeCW

[sagaguy]

Yes,fitting handrails can be a pain to avoid scratching the paint.To avoid this,i apply a strip of Tamiya low tack masking tape along the row of holes,insert the pins,open them up & then remove the tape.

 

                    Ray.

[Golden Fleece 30]

To wrap up the Tale of Two Cities in Post 366 and earlier, herewith are the all but completed City/Duchess locomotives.  Perhaps, given the names, this should have been a Tale of Two Yorkshire Lasses. Anyway, I'm quite pleased with them, and the Modelmaster name plates, recommended by Garry, nicely set them off.

 

As the short-lived red paint scheme with orange/black lining on City of Bradford was, reportedly, the same as the green paint scheme but for the base colour, I suspect that the cylinder covers should be black.  I painted them red when I initially planned on completing her in the later LMS-style BR red livery.  The yellow cab-side numbers are a bit of a bodge. I had run out of sufficient pale cream 4s and 6s by the time I came to letter her, but had plenty of the yellow ones on my sheet.  I may be making a virtue out of necessity but I think that the yellow numbers clash less with the unusual livery than pale cream ones would. I really must brush off the workshop dust before taking close-up photographs.

 

I haven't attached the smokebox numbers yet.

 

The handrails were something of a struggle to install.  The two very battered original bodies had none, so I used handrails recovered from a couple of Montrose bodies, polished and oiled, and installed re-using the original split pins. They aren't completely straight, but neither were the protoypes' at times. I made a couple of scratches on the boilers but, by the time the fourth handrail was going on, I had just about got the hang of it!  I think that I'll use new split pins next time - proper practice as any automotive engineer will tell you.

 

The tenders are bog standard Montrose items, the green one not even repainted, just cleaned and sprayed with satin varnish to match the locomotive.  Not quite accurate for former streamliners I know, but good enough for this purpose.

 

I'm waiting for the delivery of a City of London in rough condition.  The plan is to convert her to three rail and refinish her as City of Glasgow in pre-Harrow condition: BR blue with bevelled smokebox.  But that may be a post-Christmas completion at the speed I work.

 

Finally, my thanks to you all for your constructive comments and encouragement.

 

Mike

P1020100 HD.jpgP1020106 HD.jpgP1020097 HD.jpg  

Very nice Mike.

 

Split pins are a nightmare at times.  I always use brass ones from Eileens Emporium and stianless steel wire for the handrails.  Stainless obviously wont rust but there is the mismatch appearance wise of brass and stainless.  The worst one for replacing are the Castle and 2-6-4 due to the curves involved and I admit I have scratched the odd one.

 

Garry

[NCB]

I used to use half-round wire instead of split pins, a standard trick in the "old days". These days it's usually possible to find decent handrail knobs.

[Golden Fleece 30]

I used to use half-round wire instead of split pins, a standard trick in the "old days". These days it's usually possible to find decent handrail knobs.

Problem there Nigel is you cannot solder them to a die-cast body (I wont glue handrail knobs in), and the holes were usually quite large so a scale handrail knob could fall through. I know some people used to fill the holes with Araldite or Plastic Padding (anyone else remember that?) then drill small holes but for me too time consuming.  At the end of the day I am not a true scale modeller as such but much prefer the easy option.

 

Garry

[MikeCW]

I used to use half-round wire instead of split pins, a standard trick in the "old days". These days it's usually possible to find decent handrail knobs.

If I were using a Hornby Dublo locomotive as the basis for a conversion to a more "scale" model, I would fill the split pin holes with a hard-setting autobody filler, and re-drill to a push-fit to accept turned handrail knobs.  I'd roughen the shafts with a fine file and epoxy them in place.  I'm pretty sure I followed this course with the Ivatt Duchess in Post 255.

 

But like Garry's impressive work, my Dublo renewals and repaints are not intended to be scale models, but Dublo variations in the Dublo style. So the retention of split pins and overscale wire is my preference.

 

You are in very good company with your comment about half-round wire and the decent handrail knobs available these days. The late Guy Williams, as you will know the builder of many of the first generation of Pendon locomotives, commented in his first (pub. 1979) book on 4mm locomotive construction (which was a revision and consolidation of a series of articles in the Model Railway Constructor during the decade) that he had no use for commercial handrail knobs: "overscale; holes too small for scale diameter wire; no variation in length to bridge boiler contours; etc etc". So he followed your path of half round wire; the results looked very good indeed. By the time his second, completely new, book was published by Wild Swan in 1988, he was using commercial handrail knobs, noting that they were now being produced in scale sizes and different lengths.

 

But fitting Binns Road's split pins, particularly if re-using distorted originals, is still for me the last, anxiety-generating, hurdle of any Dublo locomotive renewal - probably a bit like coming up to Bechers Brook for the second and last time in the Grand National! Next time I'll try Ray's method with low-tack masking tape to protect the still fresh paintwork.

 

Mike

Edited November 11, 2018 by MikeCW

[Wolseley]

I have just finished, about half an hour ago, re-fitting the handrails and smoke deflectors to a Duchess I finished repainting as the Duchess of Abercorn in the greyish blue colour that the LMS painted two locomotives in, as an experimental new livery (the other locomotive was a Jubilee).  I reused the Dublo split pins because that's all I have to hand at the moment.  I managed to do it with only one near invisible nick on the paintwork.  Probably my least favourite job when dealing with restoring Dublo locos - I'm not looking forward to the next one.

 

I am in the middle of refinishing a few Duchesses.  One is a straightforward restoration of a Duchess of Atholl (I managed to get hold of a spare body that was in better condition than my existing Duchess of Atholl, with only a few scratches and scuffs), one is the Duchess of Abercorn I mentioned above, one will be the City of Leicester in wartime unlined black without smoke deflectors and with a streamlined tender (I'm using a Tri-ang/Hornby tender body on a Dublo chassis), and the other one is yet to be determined, but will be in either LMS or BR lined black.

 

When I have a moment to spare (which will probably not be tomorrow, as that's one of the days we babysit our two grandsons) I'll take photos of the Duchess of Atholl and the Duchess of Abercorn and post them here.

[Wolseley]

Here they are.

 

The Duchess of Abercorn in 1946 LMS experimental Blue - not intended as a perfect scale model but rather something that Meccano could have produced in 1946 but didn't:

 

 

And the restored Dublo Duchess of Atholl:

 

[sagaguy]

Getting there,the first pic is the SD full brake withe the green overlay.The second pic is "got my turntable in at last".I`ve got to wire in an electric Home signal to protect the points leading to the turntable.I had some trouble with my Barnstaple,it would run slowly to start with then speed up but the next time it was used it would do the same thing.Despite replacing the armature,remagging & brush springs,the only thing left were carbon brushes.The originals were copper carbon.After replacing them with some Wrenn brushes that i bought in the 1970s when Wrenn were still trading,these seem to have cured the fault.

 

 

                      

 

 

 

                     

 

 

                                          Ray.

 

[Il Grifone]

Some of my boyhood Dublo locomotives would do just that. I put it down to 'needing to warm up'. New brushes would have been cheap and easy to procure back then....

[cypherman]

One of my Bristol Castles has never run at what could be considered full speed. It will pull 8 carriages with ease but only at what could be called a stately speed. My other castles seem to run quite well.

[brianusa]

Like old radios, 'these things take a long time to warm up'.  Somebody said that on an old radio show  (Kenneth Horne?).  My O gauge Hornby locos do the same, needing a circuit or two to get going and settle down to 17/18VAC with a load.

 

Brian

[MikeCW]

 

Here they are.

 

The Duchess of Abercorn in 1946 LMS experimental Blue - not intended as a perfect scale model but rather something that Meccano could have produced in 1946 but didn't:

 

 

 

I very much like your Duchess of Abercorn in the blue/grey colour scheme (which no doubt Meccano might have produced had the factory been up and running in 1946 and had the LMS persevered with the colour). If I may ask, what decals did you use and what was the shade of  blue/grey you settled on - not that I'm a perfectionist I hasten to add!?  I ask because your photos sent me off to my small library and start thumbing through Jenkinson and Essery's volumes on LMS Locomotives.  Surprisingly I couldn't find much about this experimental colour scheme in these otherwise exhaustive tomes, though the structure of the books means that one has to spend a lot of time scanning the text for key words and an occasional sentence can be easily missed.  So I went to their first, 1967, edition of Locomotive Liveries of the LMS which I bought as a young chap at Foyles on Charing Cross Road while on my first visit to the UK in 1973.  There was a slightly confusing reference to this blue/grey colour scheme in this book, which I'll try and paraphrase.

 

In effect, the author's say that in March/April 1946, Jubilee 5573 was painted in blue/grey in the fully lined out style of the 1930s.  The lining, instead of yellow and black, was "gold" and crimson - the "gold" probably a pale straw colour.

 

At about the same time, 6234 was painted blue/grey with crimson edging and "gold" (straw) lining in a style similar to the first examples of the 1946 black livery i.e without boiler lining and with close spaced tender lettering.  She had a red background to the nameplate. Although there were reports that the blue/grey was darker on the Jubilee, a "noted authority" (probably H C Casserly) saw them together and considered the background colour pretty much identical.

 

The slightly confusing bit.  Photographs show that 6234 was either painted on one side only, or lined out on one side only, presumably for assessment purposes, but the authors go on to say that she "ran in this livery until at least January 1948".  So my assumption is that the LMS management liked the scheme sufficiently for the paint job on 6234 to be completed before return to service, as she wouldn't have run in service in a half-and-half colour scheme.

 

The authors speculate that the blue/grey of 5573 and 6234 "was probably similar in colour to RAF blue/grey road vehicles".

 

I suspect that in the last 40 or 50 years more information has emerged and is more readily accessed.

 

The rather poor photo reproduced below was taken by Casserly in Willesden shed in March 1946.  Note the half and half paint job on the rear of the tender.  It seems to me unlikely that it would have been painted in Willesden, but also odd that the LMS would want it to run down from Crewe in this "semi-clad" state.  While all this is no doubt interesting for the inner anorak in some of us, none of it is particularly relevant for your very fine model, which has sent me off to scanning the auction sites for another Duchess in need of a paint job!

 

Mike