81A Oldoak

Thank you, Neil.

What is the provenance of this kit? Regards, Chris K

Well, the little Manning Wardle is hauling a much bigger load than the prototype. When I visited the Bluebell Railway to measure and photograph the derelict SHARPTHORN for the Minerva project I asked if there was a plan to restore the engine to service. The volunteer told me that it was not economically viable to put her back into service because she could only pull two bogie carriages and they four. ATB Chris K

Go for it, Steve.

Whence cometh the good looking bridge?

Not too far from Chandler's Ford. Look forward to meeting up when arrive. The suns is shining today.

I have weathered the GWR Match Truck converted from a Minerva RTR OPEN A. Here it is on Cwm Bach including a photo of the wagon with the over-hanging timber load that started all the fuss. I'm rather pleased with it, but may add some garnish in the form of a couple of timber baulks and some coiled rope. Regards, Chris K

Wear are you moving to?

Time for the daily fix from Seven Mill sidings. I am now fortified for the weekly trip to Sainsbury's.

Thank you both. The chalk marks are applied with a sharp chinagraph pencil. I use a Derwent Graphitint White 24 pencil, which be available from any artists' supplier worthy of the name. Here are some more examples including the real thing. Regards, Chris K

Here is a humble Minerva Iron Mink I recently finished for its owner. Regards, CK

Extraneous low-angle light from outside; I forgot to close the garage door. On the other hand, it could be one of those blue under-car lights so beloved of boy- racers.

A Minerva Peckett E 0-4-0ST awaits Narrow Planet nameplates and ModelU/Claudia Everett crew before dispatch to a new owner. Chris K

I tarted up one of my Ixion Hudswell Clarkes, but nowhere near as much as David has done. The main differences are screw couplings vacuum pipes and larger buffer heads from, er, drawing pins.

We have recently been informed that the first engineering prototype should be delivered by the end of March 2020. If it is satisfactory we will progress to the decorated samples and if they pass we would hope to have the locos by late July or early August 2020. However, the recent extension of the Chinese New Year holiday and the closure of the border between Hong Kong and mainland China in order to try to contain the coronavirus may impede progress. We will keep you posted. Regards, Chris K

Neil, I rather enjoy bashing our locos around as well. Here is what happened to an Ixion Fowler 0-4-0DM, a Minerva Kerr Stuart Victoryt now masquerading as an RSH loco and a Minerva Manning Wardle K. Regards, Chris

This is quite painful to watch.

Hal, We are not infrequently asked "when is the Toad arriving?" So here is the exam question, which diagram would you recommend and why? Chris K

It is a possibility some time in the future.

My latest Q&D RTR conversion transforms the new Minerva GWR OPEN A wagons into a match truck. It is diagram L22, which were converted from 5-plank open wagons. It is a simple job. Run some clean white spirit around the planked floor and leave for 40 to 60 seconds for the glue to soften, then carefully prize it out and place to one side. Turn over the wagon, unscrew the body and lift it off. Remove one of the ballast weights. Using white spirit again, remove the wagon ends and the door bumbers. Using a sharp knife I reduced the height of the sides and ends to one plank. Reassemble the sides and ends and reattach to the underframe. Replace the planked floor. Remove the redundant strapping on the sides and fill the door lines. Trim the tops of the strapping on the ends to a downward slope. Rub-down the tops of the planks. Add new strapping on the sides from plasticard and scribe new lines where the old strapping has been removed. Paint, apply decals and weather to taste. The waterslide decals are leftovers from a Slater's Coopercraft kit. I'll post a photo when it has been weathered.

A foot-board in front of the box will hide a multitude of point-rodding sins. I have still to get round to installing rodding on Cwm Bach. Here is what I have done on Cwm Bach and as you can see I haven't gone OTT on the weathering; just enough to tone it done. Chris

Very nice. Some modest weathering would look well. Chris

I recently finished weathering this Bachmann brass Drewry 0-6-0DM, later BR TOPS Class 04. It is shown on Tonfanau Camp, which on occasion masquerades as a station serving an RAF station in East Anglia. The crew and guard appear to have nipped off to the NAAFI. Sadly, the LNER TOAD in the earlier post rolled off my bench and suffered catastrophic injuries so a BR 20T has been substituted. Chris K

Rod, Perhaps you could cut back by, say, three wagon lengths the siding that is parallel to the bay platform line, place the the cattle dock in the vacated space and model the end of the bay platform line as a dock. Regards, Chris

I have fitted a load of planks to a Minerva GWR OPEN A wagon. A securing rope mid-way along the wagon is not required because the planks are resting below the top of the raves.