M.I.B

Stunning - my fave ANTB photo so far. I have just bitten the bullet and purchased a relatively recent and unused Grange via Evilbay. T Cut, a scalpel and Fox's transfers will see it in wartime black. Thanks for the pictorial inspiration during the year. It was especially appreciated while I was in Afghanistan. More photos when it warms up next year I hope. Season's greetings Rob and the often unhinged viewers/abusers/etc of ANTB.

Nice stable John.

Thanks Jonathan, As I have 2 Manors and 2 Moguls which will get this ailment in the future I bought 4 sets of those replacement gears. Postage is a bit steep, but 4 sets bought together brought the delivered cost down to £5 each. Add a few pence for some Araldite..... £5 each is a small price to pay compared to the alternatives: 4 sets of Romfords 4 brass chassis 2 Bachmann Manors on Evilbay The discovery of these would probably not saved my Grange - In the cold light of day I can see that my weathering and detailing is way better now than when I did this, and it wasn't a "real" Grange anyway. I will save my pennies, take some lemonade bottles back to the off license and pray for a Hornby Grange cheap on Ebay in January when everyone else is skint.

No - it's where the MoD dumped all of their Land Rovers and 4 tonners when they exited Afghanistan.......

Thanks John. I will stick to the Bachmann Manors with the later style of packing. I've made a tough decision and the Mainline "Grange" is already broken up as described in an earlier post up there ^^^^^^ The plates came off easily with a scalpel and they will go onto the Hornby one when it is purchased. Tender top will live on as scenery on a different chassis, "dumped" somewhere in the shed area.

Brilliant post David - many thanks. My Grange was indeed a renamed Manor - I have just checked. It's now been broken. I've seen 2 versions of the Bachmann Manors - one has "New flywheel drive" on the box, and the later type packaging has no exciting news on it. Should I avoid the "new flywheel drive" versions?

It's still in there - easy to see because it's such low mileage. I've had another look this morning - the plastic axles have gone brittle - it's easy to turn each of the wheels on it's own axle, hence why it has gone out of quarter. I'm a little worried because I have 2 Manors and 2 43XXs by Mainline, of this era, all with less than an hour's running on them. I was looking at the price of used Bachmann Manors on Evilbay...........

Tender chassis will replace a Mogul tender chassis. Tender top and mogul tender chassis will become "scenery". Motor (still not fully run in!) to spares box. Name plates will await the arrival of the Hornby replacement. Body and engine chassis to Evil-bay I suppose. Shame because this has had less than an hour's running despite being 20 years old.

Thanks John.

My Mainline Grange decided to lock it's running gear and destroy its quartering (or vice versa). Nothing is bent or broken, but I can't seem to correct it. The motor and diving wheels ( the rear pair) are willing, but the centre (electrical pic up) wheels and the front pair are determined to go out of synch immediately. Is something too tight, (the lower plate that holds the axles in position)? Or too loose? How can I fix the wheels on the axles so that they remain in the correct position on each axle? I am quite attached to this loco, having done a colour change (wartime black) and my first ever detailing exercise, so I am loathed to see it relegated to becoming "scenery". Many thanks.

A 4-6-0, some milk and a toplight brake...............?

I'd love to be working. Stacking shelves in Tescos may be enforced soon. 2 Masters degrees and CIPS, being told what to do by a spotty Business Studies graduate in a shiny suit and pointy shoes........... it's a good job I have incredible patience when it comes to halfwits......... 24 years in the Army taught me that ......

The two 2251/RODs on Ebay this weekend sold for £15 more than the box-shifters flogged them off for last year! Ebay madness! Softly softly catchy monkey as they say. Luckily money doesn't burn a hole in my pockets. Thanks for the logo removal tip for recent Bachmanns - each maker and age of model is different. No-one has sussed how to gently remove paint on recent Hornby coaches..

Langley Station overbridge, with my Dad, pondering what on earth could make that noise coming out of Paddington - nothing like a King or a Castle..........and then be impressed to see the Duke for the first time. Then we could walk home, in our shorts and school caps, with a bottle of Tizer and maybe even share a small bag of chips, and discuss the day's cops. He still remembers this event very clearly to this day - without me being there of course

Thanks John. Informative and inspiring. I love that corner warehouse. How did you gently remove the Lion and Wheel from 2259 - glass fibre pen, or T Cut, or some other method........ I too have Hawksworths, but I am prepared make/bend the rules a little.

Whoever made up the kit decided that they wanted both sizes of tender and hence made them.

Mine came with both sizes - and the little one looks even smaller behind a 47XX. Let's hope it's a big one, unless you are of an Edwardian bent.

That's Captain Ashworth from the Royal Artillery Burma Concert Party - in a skirt.........

Leave them somewhere warm for a while before removing the glazing - airing cupboard or ontop of a radiator - the glazing pops out with less chance of brittleness/shattering.

If it wasn't a Night Owl the new GW RTR would have been a re-tooling of the Saint in time for some milestone in the other Didcot new-build. But that is a dangerous call so close to Hornby's Stars being issued. They both fill a similar "slot" in loco rosters and periods, and not everyone would be lucky to be able to afford both. My older Dean is a K's kit with a recently upgraded motor - so it runs beautifully (especially compared to it's younger plastic RTR brother).

I was "away" when the box-shifters cleared these out, so I missed them It's the only gap in my loco stable, and probably the last loco I will buy unless something very special comes out (re-tooled/new mould for the Dean Goods, or an Aberdare). I think that the next "new" RTR GW engine is most likely to be a Night Owl, but I am lucky to have a kit built one already.

Do I spy a black 2251 with a ROD tender? (still envious despite it needing some red GWR letters on it instead).