MG 7305

18100 did not have the front bogie steps. You should refer to sources such as "The Great Western Gas Turbines" by Kevin Robertson P.61 where there is a full page photograph of 18100 lifted off its bogies. It is quite clear that 18100 did not have them. I believe they were fitted to the locomotive later in its career as an electric. I think this information might be of interest here too.

My sound fitted 18100 arrived today and after understanding the sound file and adding the details, chrome numbers and vac and steam heat pipes at one end, I can only say it my model of the year.

I asked a certain supplier of Zimo sound chips and received a very swift and courteous reply: "you set CV#114=252 and then use CV#60 to adjust the brightness"

My BR(W) model has just arrived and I am about to buy a sound decoder. It set me wondering if such a machine would have been fitted with Western whistles or to have ones common with the LMS versions. I suspect that Swindon would have fitted their own whistles and not introduce a 'foreign' sound. Any suggestions?

Most of my career was in inventory management and I gained a MSC in the subject from Cranfield Institute of Management (CIT). CIT quoted that it cost 25% of the nominal value to hold inventory in a warehouse (obsolesence, rent, insurance, shrinkage, handling etc). The global company I worked for used an annual costing of 24%. I managed an inventory of USD 54 million and got the turns up to 6.4 per year which was very good for the industry but was seriously dragged down by the projects team. My targets were turns and service. perhaps not relevant to this thread but certainly to the accounts. We were really focussed on what we called excess stock, that is to say what was on hand after six months and what was not anticipated to sell in the next six months. Sales and Marketing were presented with the numbers every month and pressed to explain what their plan to shift the inventory was. It is interesting to observe what Accurascale are doing. They understand these things and work hard to sell "excess" stock. It would be illuminating to understand where Hornby stand in all of this and how their accounts value obsolete stock.

I have 2 Heljan turntables; one with 12 roads and the other with 36. they work a treat. You may wish to calibrate yours from time to time. Gaugemaster hold the spares, including both the PCB's the control box and bridge ones. I have found that a key requirement is to ensure that the electrical contacts between the bridge and the pit are clean and properly tensioned. I have also found Heljan in Denmark incredibly helpful. Every time I have asked them a question I have received a swift, clear and complete answer. Oh yes, it is 90' table in HO, in OO it is 78'. As far as aligning opposite roads is concerned, I recommend testing and turning the bridge time and time again. I use two straight tracksetas to ensure that both opposite roads are fully aligned with each other, keep turning the bridge and micro adjusting. It takes time and an awful lot of patience but once you suceed the result is excellent. Both my 36 and 12 road tables are, to coin a phrase, ambidextrous and this is key to their successful operation.

Here's one I prepared earlier:

It is the tender it has had since restoration in the mid seventies which was organised by Phil Mountford. I was the lad who carefully lined up all the set screws that hold the tank to the frames so the slots were in line and ran parallel to the frames.

Correct. The RCTS "The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway" series is the lodestone of basic information. In this case from Part 14 section "The Origins of Locomotive Names" page P122 "Garsington Manor Stands in a SE suburb of Oxford". See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garsington_Manor

Exactly. I have the Cambrian 18 Ton Sleeper Wagon kit and have had to put 60g of lead in it to keep it on the rails! If it is put at the front of the train the pull of the locomotive and the weight of the train behind allied to the long rigid wheel base tends to derail it.

This is fun. However the bunker on 4408 has not been extended. If there had been an extension piece which had been removed and an extended bunker then the bunker would overhang where the extension had been and it does not. Compare the Smugmug photographs of 4409 (with extension) and the 4408 one at Swindon. By eye, the bunker after the vertical line of rivets on 4408 is shorter than that of 4409.

It looks me as if there is no rear buffer beam at all. The buffers of the pannier behind the locomotive are pressed up against the rear of the 44xx and the 44xx has no rear buffers. The RCTS record that 4408 was withdrawn in 1/53. Perhaps the surmised clout resulted in some inspection of the damage, including the removal of the rear bufferbeam, followed by condemnation?

A quick search of the offical Bachmann website produced this, it may help. https://Bachmann-spares.co.uk/file/3MT-2-6-2-82000.pdf

I have just received notification from Kernow Model Centre that mine has been despatched.

I think you will need to be more specific in your question. In particular which railway you are modelling. I suspect there are differences in the way it was done. For example the Great Western Study Group have published an excellent book on what the GWR did; see here: https://gwsg.org.uk/GWSG_Publications.html

Well, thanks for the collective feed back. I can now save myself wasted time on RM Web for the future.

I am GBP 200 the poorer for buying this pack, so yes I have looked very carefully at the 4 wheelers in the pack in both artificial and natural light, they are green. Interestingly the photograph on page 42 of 'Steam at Swindon' in The RC Riley seems to show a white cab roof. I knew about the condensing pipes and westinghouse pump before I bought the pack, so no complaints there. Yes, I do know what a GWR lined number plate is and the difference between a thin red line and printed 'brass'. Lined number plates were, I am fairly sure, confined to lined locomotives. If you doubt me I suggest a visit to and inspection at your nearest stockist which should confirm or refute my comments.

I have had a close look at the 4 wheelers in the GWR train pack and apart from the impossible livery, I think they are a very dark shade of green a quick look at the KMC website seems to confirm this. The loco has lined number plates(!) and further research into the loco tells me it was only steam braked under GWR and BR(W) ownership so could not have hauled any passenger carrying stock at all. What a pity.

Does anyone else feel somewhat offended that Hornby should chose to boost their price of the No 5 Portishead model by creating a train pack with 3 weird 4 wheel coaches in a pre 1908 livery but with a 1934 - 42 roundel? The coaches should have the entwined monogram to be correct for the rest of the livery. Yes, I know the roundel is correct for the locomotive but it only worked around the Bristol Harbour lines, to Taunton for a couple of months and then Newton Abbot as shed pilot (RCTS) for a couple of months before going to Swindon Stock shed in 1950 and condemnation in 1954. I cannot believe it ever hauled a passenger train whilst owned by the GWR. Oh well, I suppose we must take the rough with the smooth.

Ahha. That is why I recommend that roads are aligned to the bridge. The bridge is a fixed element in the equation if you see what I mean, at least the centre is and therefore the ends. So my order of batting is: Choose site of turntable pit. Cut out, drill holes, and place pit in hole. Test and adjust. But keep in mind that it is best to adjust roads rather than the turntable. Any adjustment to the turntable will affect more than a single road. Align roads. As I previously stated, use tracksettas and align the roads to the bridge. The bridge and its rotation are the fixed elements, yes, really. Test each step and test again until perfect, it is a slow business. Do not ballast until a full cycle of temperature and humidity has passed, these things move. I have 2 of these turntables installed, one with 18 pairs of roads and the other with 6. Each pair being two roads 180 degrees opposed and every road works when the bridge is rotated 180 degrees and locomotives can run from one road, across the bridge and onto the opposite road whichever way the bridge is aligned between the two. It can be done.

I have 2 Heljan 89121 turntables and they both reliable and great assets to the layout. Here are a few pointers: 1. The well has a lot of screws to hold it down to the baseboard and you can play tunes with them to to level it up. It just requires accurate drilling of the holes. 2. Thin shims under the rails running onto the well are one solution as are shims between the well and the baseboard (the obverse of point 1 above). 3. Yes, the bridge can rock in certain locations but if the locomotive is centred or biased to be over the drive there will be no issue with locomotives getting on or off the bridge. Just run onto the bridge very slowly, exactly as per the prototype. 3. You should note that the the turntable is created around code 83 track. Although developed and made by Heljan (they have assured me this is so) it is clear that the Walthers labelled US version is a big market. So I have shimmed code 75 where appropriate and use code 83 on my hidden 'table in the middle of my fiddle yard, it makes setting everything up much easier. 4. Use 2 straight tracksettas, one at each end of the bridge, if you are intending to have tracks over half or more of the 'table and align both roads simultaneously. Indeed use one when installing every road, even if a single one, they give an accuracy in alignment which is a must. I align the roads to the bridge rather the other way round which may be counter intuitive. 36 roads around one table and 12 the other cannot be wrong. 5. When installing the roads do not push the track pins fully in to start with. You may need to make micro adjustments to achieve reliable working. I use a model with the dodgiest pony truck for trials as well as a more fixed wheel base vehicle. 6. The turntable in HO is 90', in OO it is 78' 7 1/2". Good luck.

https://www.gwra.co.uk/auctions/86690/2021mar-lot-715.html Small point, that is a loco lamp (side mount) and operating department rear lamps had a rear mount. However the point is made and I have emailed Dapol about it. I look forward to seeing their prototypes in due course to see if they have made the change. I do not have a need for Waterloo and City stock or a miners' workmen's train for Glyncorrwg, which is where the preserved examples at Didcot ended up. However I am extremely interested in the promised mainline toplights.

My understanding is that GWR rolling stock tail lamps handles went from side to side as did the loco lamps. Fore and aft handles are for lesser railways. Are Dapol aware of this?

Try these for size: Noch 60157 Track Cleaners You can fit them to most vehicles, almost invisible and clean every time you run the trains they are fitted to. They do not take up siding space, require shunting onto a train and are effectively fit and forget. Well they are my latest great hope for cleaner track.

Have you joined/spoken to MERG? They seem to have very effective answers to most problems of this sort, having very cost effective kits. I joined them to buy their IR detectors with which I am highly satisfied and nowadays work out at less than a fiver per detector. I thoroughly recommend you take a look: https://www.merg.org.uk/