Collett

Very very very nice indeed.  1899 is listed in Russel as built in 1895, Lot 98.  J.W.P. Rowledge's GWR Locomotive Allocations 1922-67 is a little more specific dating her as built in August '95 - so she's most likely a Leo, or possibly a Virgo.  Rowledge lists her as allocated to Bristol in 1922 with final shed Taunton, so Farthing in 1919 seems entirely reasonable.  She never made it into BR ownership being withdrawn in January 1945.

Regarding the 'Great Western' insignia, I see on the Brassmaster's site that Lee Marsh's 7mm model of 1854 Class number 1888 (built Jan 1891, Lot 83, Aberdare shed in 1922) is not only sporting a 'Great Western' insignia but a garter crest along with a polished Dome and copper capped chimney.  And very smart she looks too.  Similarly, and back in the 304.8mm/ft scale, 850 Class 2012 is shown with 'Great Western and garter crest when posing with her shiny new pannier tanks in August 1910.  Can't tell whether the dome is au naturale.

I also mourn the loss of Eileen's Emporium having spent a few bob (but obviously not enough) with them over the years.... I can only recommend we all do what we can to support the suppliers such as Brassmasters, Alan Gibson Workshop and Wizard Models (to name but three) who stock and sell the numerous bits and bobs that make our hobby what it is.

And a Happy New Year to all.

18 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Thanks for posting this, I hadn't seen close-ups of these before. 

They do look nice, much finer than the plastic injections which are heavier by necessity.  RCH dimensions for W irons was 3/4" Grade B Iron, that's 0.25mm and injected plastic would not last long at that thickness.

I wouldn't claim that my measuring (or my brass folding) was perfect by any means, but to fit inside a 25mm gap a spare 0.15mm either side isn't going to be a problem while too tight a fit could be.  If you go for the MJT W Irons or a similar 'rocking' type compensation the distance across the ends is slightly shorter to allow the axle to rock without fouling the solebars either side. 

Mr Bedford's W Irons are 24.7mm across when folded, which fits nicely between the solebars that are 6' 3" (25mm) apart.  All the existing W Irons have to be filed away first, leaving just the axle box, springs and spring stops on the solebars.  In this case on a Ratio kit for a GWR Iron Mink.  

The extension of the arms front and back, to hold the spring wire, means that you are best putting the wagon floor in upside down, otherwise they are likely to foul on any cross beams moulded in the underframe detail.

This is a test fit using the Ratio axle box to hold the bearing cups before fitting the sprung carriers to the W Iron.