Prometheus

Many thanks - I had suspected that you'd know! Best wishes Tony

‘morning all.... I’d appreciate some help please. Can anyone give a definitive date for the introduction of the Graham Farish OO Pannier Tank? I have seen 1970, but also ‘the mid-‘60s’. Also, the Rovex Pannier Tank. Am I correct in assuming that it arrived in 1971? Finally, if one excludes Gaiety, am I again correct in stating that no-one else produced an r-t-r Pannier between 1950ish and 1971? Many thanks all, appreciate your help and trust that you are all well. Tony

Correct, but as part of the fantasy I decided that the Trestrol would be too heavy to travel into the hills west of Oswestry, hence Caerphilly. i probably shouldn’t be taking this so seriously... Tony

Lord! Could you imagine a Q1 in GWR Green? They'd close the Severn Bridge for starters....! Tony

An even greater crime than that. A repainted Oxford Diecast Isle of Man 2-4-0 on a surgically altered Triang Trestrol with a number of parts added from a broken Oxford Rail rail gun. Just waiting for some fine chain to complete the mod. A never-was GWR heavy Crocodile returning to mid-Wales a narrow gauge engine after heavy repair at Caerphilly works. Yeah, really..... Tony

As a crime this will take some beating [so will I if I try to justify it at the club....]. You can work out the components for yourselves. Tony

I usually give my coaches a light dusting of Testors Dullcote after lettering / lining / etc and then, when it has dried, brush paint [carefully] a coat or two of Klear on them. It lifts the colour slightly and gives a sort of semi-matt finish which has a sort-of scale sheen. Tony

Actually, I agree Jason. they're not super-detail but I have a rake of six which run behind an old Triang EM2. They are light enough for it not to struggle and with metal wheels added, their roofs painted black, their interiors painted more prototypically and some light weathering done, they look fine. Tony

The knowledge on here never fails to amaze me! Tony

Thanks so much. I'm pretty sure that is where I saw the reference. Tony

The photo describes the engine as Chepstow Castle, near Exminster, and the date the 28th. July 1955. Tony

Some advice please gents. I remember reading somewhere [possibly on here, but I cannot find the source] that the prototype for this wagon came from a pair built by the LNER for the LMS, pre-war. The Triang bible states that it was built post-48 for BR however. Can anyone confirm either please? Many thanks Tony

Apologies, I missed your post on Wednesday. No, not that one, although I did see it. The ones which caught my eye were in unopened still-sealed boxed [as the Rex one, further above] for about a tenner each. They have all gone now though, either sold or back in their owners drawer. Had they been a fiver, I'd have bought one to put in the club's 'heritage' display cabinet [a huge affair full of all sorts of nonsense]. Tony

There are an extraordinary number of these for sale on eBay right now: unmade and in seemingly mint condition sealed boxes. Tony

Oh dear........ Tony

Thanks, that's it! I did like this quote from the old topic: I seem to recall a club member saying many years ago when describing one of their kits "Take a lump of white metal and file it into the shape you need" I'm rather hoping that it's just a little better than that! I'll have to explore an alternative to the motor-in-the-cab issue too. The paperwork [in the eBay picture] gives a date of 1980. Nobody seems to know anything else though. Tony

This obsession I have for building old white metal kits is bordering on the pathological. The disorder continued today through the eBay purchase of an unbuilt Magna Models ex-MR / LMS 3F loco [not the tank]. I looked online for information about this manufacturer but, apart from a load of resin-based aeroplane kits [some extremely obscure, eg the Miles Monitor and the Gloster F9/37], found nothing. I believe that Magna also produced an LNER loco however. Can anyone shed light on this outfit for me? It hasn't arrived yet and so I cannot comment on the quality of the castings. If it's only fit for fishing weights though, at least I'll have 6 20mm Romfords with axles and fittings, an Anchoridge 5 pole motor and an empty box. It cost £33, so I'll not be too distressed. It does have a one-piece cast chassis of course. I've made quite a few of those work well enough though, so that isn't a worry [yet....]. Thanks all. Tony

Advance notice...... Swansea Railway Modellers' Group will be presenting the Swansea Bay Model Railway Show at the Orangery, Margam Park, Port Talbot on the weekend of the 19th. and 20th. September. For information on traders and exhibitors attending, go to srmg.org.uk/2020-show from mid-March. Tony

That’s right: the end caps give it away. I binned the dowels in favour of some plastic tube. The end caps were a poor fit and required a lot of adjustment. It made up into a pleasing model but required a fair bit of additional detail. Tony

You have indeed. The reduction in length has worked really well. Tony

That's really kind of you - I appreciate that. I'm looking forward to seeing your's progress, too. But credit for the original idea must go to RosiesBoss, it was his model that I thought worth copying in the first place. This is just the sort of modelling that I enjoy! Tony

Is it a rather freelance attempt at part of a Clifton Down set? Tony

Which is exactly what I should have done..... Tony

I did wonder about a Merit origin Joseph. Two of their sets are now marketed by Peco, but the Lone Star pattern appears not to be. tony

Until today, I had no idea that Lone Star also provided sprues of almost-N gauge people. I do not know who manufactured them for them, but they bear a striking resemblance to the Modelmaster range now sold by Peco. The sprue on the incomplete set I have is clearly marked 'LONE * STAR'. Tony