Leaderboard

The book in question is : Private Owner Wagons from the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd, K Montague, OPC, 1981, ISBN 86093 124 2 It contains predominantly images of PO wagons manufactured by the company, and about 6 engineering drawings of various wagon types. I also have in my collection the Hudson series of books on PO wagons - all excellent reference works! Ian

Ah! I've just noticed a discount listing on black etch primer from the above shop - this week only £4.99. Looks like I'll be getting a few in!

Hi Andrew, This seems to be progressing very well. With respect to your crank throw problem would a bit of work with an escapement file at each inside end of the slidebar solve the problem? By the looks of it only an extra 0.5mm or so would be needed at both ends. You might also be able to cheat a bit off the front and back of the crosshead with a file. Cheers....Morgan

What I do next to the wheels is a slight variation on your approach - but that's in the next entry If I needed to go back and blacken the treads on locos and stock that had already been built I'd apply the solution with a cotton bud and rinse off using clean, wet buds, and finally burnish a the brass mop in the mini drill. My only caution is that the active ingredient is selenium dioxide which is a poison and suspected carcinogen, so I always wear medical gloves when using the stuff. A useful secondary benefit of the process means that the blackening chemical acts as a rust inhibitor on the steel wheels. I've mentioned elsewhere on this site before, but it's the best way to get a common passivation so that the steel wheels all corrode at the same rate in a deliberate and controllable manner rather than letting nature have its random and chaotic corrosive way with them. There is also a tertiary benefit, but I'll also leave that to the next entry too! There's a very useful thread by Ozzy on the use and types of blackening/blueing solutions in the forums here. My preferred poison is Birchwood Casey Super Blue.

I am very impressedwith the locos and stock. Seeing the layout makes me want one even more.

Wonderfully charismatic Andrew!

Beautiful stock and track. Look forward to seeing the scenic work develop. This layout will clearly be something special!