bordercollie

Hi I have some old Betta bitz sides. The instructions are that they are designed to be used Hornby R122 or R123 clerestory coaches. I am wondering if latter versions/releases from Hornby can also be used if they are of the "long" type. Regards

Thanks for both of your inputs. I have the Coach working of through trains for my period (summer 1929) so I know what types of coaches I need. Now I know which specific coaches I will need. London Road Models do the eliptical roof coaches. I will have to see who does early LMS coaches. The photographs are very informative. If the coaches where to be seen in mid-30's they will also be suitable for c1929. Best wishes

Thanks for input. If I go with ex-LNWR coaches, would the later type with eliptical roof be most likely or could the cove roof type be possible/probable? Or was it a mishmash of whatever was available when required? Best wishes

Hi I am trying to research what type of wagons I need for my 1920s East Cornwall layout. I am after figures for meat and livestock movements from Cornwall to establish a rough idea of a suitable proportion of meat vans and cattle wagons required. Was there a sizable amount of meat sent to London or elsewhere? Also what was the pattern of livestock transport within Cornwall? Best wishes

Hi I think I posted a query similar to this on one of the Forums. However, I can't find it again. I have found some information whilst doing a search. That is, during my period 1929 that most coaches on cross country trains to and from Cornwall would ex-LNWR or Period 1 LMS. I see that there are 3 types of non-clerestory roofs for LNWR coaches and see that most of the last built coaches had eliptical roofs. I therefore surmise that the eliptical roofed toplights or eliptical roofed non-toplights would have most likely been used on this type of train. Is this assumption correct? I have seen on at least two topics that ex-LNWR would be used. Why wouldn't ex-Midland Railway coaches have been suitable? Regards

Thanks to everyone. I think I understand now. In relation to the kits I have as follows and to be built as unfitted. a) Brake blocks on 1 side only with the Morton clutch on this side with a lever on the other side which does have a clutch but communicates with the other side by a cross shaft. The Morton arrangement was only needed to do allow brakes to be operated from both sides of a wagon. b) Independent brakes with a lever on each side working two blocks on the same side but not needing the Morton clutch arrangement as they were not connected and didn't need to be worked from either side I think I have got it right. Regards

Hi Can anybody tell me if C & L sleepers and timbers are laser cut? What is the advantage of laser cut? Is it just appearance? Thanks

Hi again Just noticed that MT 230 would also be very useful.

Hi I have just got around to re-reading the posts and about to place some orders. Doesn't look like I can get the Bill Bedford itema as Eilleen's Emporium is no longer taking Intl. orders. Are the masokits 9' for the Morton brakes worth considering? It is almost impossible to communicate with him from Australia. I would have to send a cheque and hope he is well and can respond. In the end I have the impression that clasp brakes are not appropriate for 9'wb LMS wagons or unfitted LNER wagon, as I propose to build kits as unfitted where possible, and thus were part of they were part of "common user" arrangement. Therefore, if my understanding is correct I would need MT223/224. It looks to me that from this fret I could make morton 2 levers with 2 brakes on cam side and the independent two sided brakes use the two non-cam levers off the fret. It means that there is going a little bit of wastage were I can not use all the Cam sided levers. Have I got the right end of the stick?

I understand that the GWR J6 sleeper was considered to be closely associated with Dreadnought coaches although it was not designated as a Dreadnought. I therefore would like to know if it had the Dreadnought lower panelling and whether this was removed pre-WW1 as was done with the actual Dreadnought coaches. Regards

Thanks for replies Since my first post I have re-read the relevant parts of the David Smith book. I think I now understand how GWR operated and now have confirmation that there was always rail joint at or within two timbers from heel. I think if I try to explain myself further I will confuse everyone but I now have the information that I need. I think I will be able to confirm my understanding from looking a photos. Regards

Hi I am using Templot and need to place rail joints in stock rails. Are there any rules as to where joints may not be placed. I am assuming that Railways would only use convenient lengths of rail so not to have a small length left over that could not be used elsewhere. Regards

Hello I have been searching books and internet but have not been able to establish some details of the Pullman Gangways as use by GWR. In my early edition of Harris' Great Western coaches he says "Nor were the Pullman gangways of the LNER type .....". What were the differences and more importantly would any such differences be noticable in 4mm? Harris also says that Pullman gangways where first fitted to the 1922-1925 "South Wales" coaches. Was this the case for all of the Bow-ends, whether they had Bow-ends at both or one end only or just some of them?

Hi Thanks for the photos and explanation of detailing parts used. Do I understand correctly that the Morton brakes for D1663/64/76 refered to by Mark are the 1 lever per side with brake shoes on one side only variety? In regard to the D1666 and D1667, does "Double brakes" mean Morton brakes on both sides with each side worked by an independent lever or was it the type that have levers on both sides that could act on all wheels using cross shaft? From the picture of the underneath it appears to be "independent". I have the same query for MR D644 explained by watfordtmc. Best wishes

Thanks for all your replies. I have been off air during the week. Here is the list of my Cambrian kits as Mark suggested: C57 LMS 5 Plank wagon D1667 C58 " " " " D1666 C80 " 12 t van D1664 C81 LNER 6 Plank wagon C84 Midland 10 ton Van D644 C92 LMS 12 ton van D1676 C102 " " " " D1663 As the LNER wagon was wooden underframe and 9' wb does this automatically make it unfitted? Best wishes

Hi I have recently purchased some cambrian LMS and a LNER kits for my GWR P4 layout. I want to spring them but don't have any books that will tell what braking and underframe details that I will need. Is there a ready source of information available online that will give me the information that I need? I can't justify buying the books that would help for my 9 (maybe a few more later on) kits. I see that Masokits and Rumney models have some types. Are there any others worthy of consideration? Regards

Thanks to those who replied. However, I won't be proceeding with this project as I am unable to buy the 8'6" bogies that I would need. Regards

I would be interested to know to find out what design of trussing/queen posts was used on the GWR articulated coaches particularly the 3 Car dining kitchen sets. regards

Hello Reading MRJ 64, I see that the Masokits GWR Corridor connections are of high quality. However, it will be a real pain to order anything from this trader from Australia. Are there any other offerings from the trade that are of similar standard? Regards

I am new to this. Do you mean that when using DCC you can set the maximum revs to what you want e.g. if a motor is rated at a max. of 15000rpm you can set it up so it will only rev out to say 13500 rpm max.? I have been using the calculator and find that I will need 30:1 to 40:1 even with my goods locos if I want max speeds of 45-50 mph. Would I be better off having lower maximum speeds for my freight engines and using 54:1 gearboxes for better smoothness for shunting and other slow speed manoeuvres? I will initially be building a West Country branch so would probably be looking at even slower speeds.

Hi I have been using the high level planner to select gearboxes. Somethings have occured to me and I would appreciate peoples thoughts. My modelling area i.e. East Cornwall which had speed restrictions between 45-50 mph. Thus even my Castle would be restricted to those speeds. Therefore in my calculations would it be better to use ratios of 40 or 54:1 rather than 30:1even for my express locos. I understand using higher ratios allows for better slow speed running. I also understand that motors should usually be run at a maximum of 75-80% of maximum revs. Therefore should the maximum speed for a loco be based on this 75-80% of maximum revs i.e. If I decide that my maximum speed for my layout would be 50 mph would this be calculated on this less than maximum motor speed?

Hi Thanks for your advice. I had thought of contacting Chris at high level but his website states that he can not enter into discussions on Motor/gearbox combinations for any particular kits. I find his suggestions on the webite very helpful but is obviously exhaustive. I am in Australia so a simple telephone conversation isn't practical. I get the impression from e-mails that he is under a fair bit of pressure due to Covid and getting supplies etc. One suggestion on his website for GWR 43xx was to mount the motor vertically. However, someone I know with a fair bit of experience did not like this configuration. What are peoples thoughts on this? I have a document that suggests different gearboxes for different wheel combinations which gives useful tables

I have recently acquired some Mashima motors but I was only able to get 14xx series motors. I have some brass loco kits which suggest using mashima 1224 motors. Has anyone fitted a 1424 with a suitable high level gearbox to Malcolm Mitchell small praire kits. The dimensions of the 1224 and 1424 seem to vary by 1.8 mm in height. It doesn't seem to be a great amount but I am wondering if it is, and will cause a problem when the kits are built. I realise it would be better to build the kits first but it will be a while before I have the confidence to build them. I would like to sure that I can fit the 1424 motors and purchase suitable gearboxes whilst they are still available. Regards

Thanks everyone. I have ordered some of the above suggestions. I will need to do some further research as to an appropriate ratio of LNER/LMS to GWR wagons for the far west location of my layout. Regards

I looking to purchase some LMS and LNER wagons kits for my GWR layout in Cornwall c1929. There doesn't seem to much available. I was wondering if any of the pre-grouping wagons available from various sources would be appropriate. I know that the GWR got rid of most wagons they inherited at the grouping quite quickly but I don't know what happened with the other companies. Regards