Paul Cram

I have several coaches running on these bogies. I adjust the ride height by packing out the bolster seating. Never had a problem in over 30 years.

My mistake, they are J5 etches. Confusingly the J5 and J6 were both J22 in GNR days.

I have just taken delivery of some J6 test etches to build over the summer holidays.

Hi Arthur I haven't annealed it as I was worried about denting it. I'll see if I can get the bottom to shape without as the rest has rolled quite nicely. Paul

Can I ask how you managed to get the bottom of the boiler round? I have rolled my T1 boiler but I can't seem to get curve all the way around the bottom.

This is a Beyer Peacock built engine and they were delivered with Red lining in 1936 so apart from the colour the lining is correct. I picked one up from Asda this evening. There was only one on the shelf.

Looking very good. I am currently building one of Arthurs Q5s although as it will be NER period really a T1. I built the tender first and I am now at the boiler rolling stage with the loco although I haven't started on the loco frames yet. Tender still needs brakes fitted as well.

I am in the process of building the tender for the NER t/T1 loco I recently purchased. I have got to the point of fitting the curved top and on looking for the parts realised that they are supplied already curved. This is a nice touch as it was a job I wasn't looking forward to doing.

There were 2 in Asda in Chelmsford this evening and there were still 2 when I left primarily because I don't model diesels and the western is one of the uglier ones to boot.

I replaced the Bachmann J39 chassis with a Dave Bradwell version and plan to purchase another to fit under the GBL version. The Bachmann one is now sitting unused on the bench. Perhaps I'll get around to putting it on Ebay.

To get it to the correct gauge?

There were 4 in Asda Chelmsford when I was in there. They were still there when I left.

Hi Gilbert, it is not your mistake but Hornby''s. That loco was vacuum fitted 2/33 but they have omitted the vacuum ejector pipe.I was withdrawn in 4/57 but probably didn't run after 1956 when it was sent to Stratford works for repairs that weren't carried out.

Maybe it is just me but that already looks 10 times better than the Hornby version

I have just finished building a Barnfield D17. Just needs some tender wheels and painting. A very enjoyable kit to build and so much more satisfying than just opening a box.

Cooper craft do them

There is another error along the same lines further on but I can't remember what it is now. You will know it when you get to it though. Apart from that the build was straight forward and very enjoyable.

Yes they are.

We were discussing photography at the recent Colchester group meeting and the consensus was that the better pictures had the subject in focus but allowed either the background or foreground to be slightly out of focus. The problem with a lot of pictures in the railway magazines is that having the who;le picture in sharp focus detracts from the realism. A lot photos of the real thing do not have the whole picture in sharp focus and therefore the most realistic model photos replicate this.

In the mean time your best option would be a Dave Alexander kit. I haven't built one myself but have seen them on a layout and they do look the part. The alternative of a Dave Bradwell may be a step too far as a beginner. It will be at least a couple of years before there is a RTR one even if Bachmann announce one in March. If not it could be even longer.

That doesn't explain how changing the same CV to 2 different values fixes the problem.

How does this help?

As someone who builds his own stock I don't find modelling in P4 any more difficult than OO except perhaps in the area of loco chassis. It would undoubtedly be quicker and easier to build rigid chassis than compensated/sprung. For me it is the overall look that persuaded me to model in P4 way back in 1976. I agree that SMP/hanbuilt points in OO do look much better and apart from the flangeways it is difficult to tell whether it is P4/EM or OO. It is only the wheels and the end on look of locos and rolling stock that give it away. Fortunately the NER period and area that I model only has one RTR model and therefore I do not have the anything to modify. As a consequence my locos for this period are kit built with the exception of the E1 which has a high level chassis under a cheaply acquired body. I do get more satisfaction from building things and seeing them run to just opening a box and putting it on the layout. I don't have the number of locos that you have or indeed the amount of rolling stock but what I do have is almost all my own work. I do have a loco bought off ebay that I didn't build but just finished.

Old pressfix transfers can be made into methfix by coating them with shellac.

I usually use a piece of masking tape to provide a datum. Transfers are easy to see through backing and can be aligned to the datum.