jwealleans

My pleasure, Phil. They will all have Mashima 1624 + flywheel and High Level Highflyer 54:1 boxes driving on the leading axle. That should give consistent performance across the four of them. I tested 4444 earlier in the year with that combination fitted and it strolled away with the 6 kitbuilt carriages I did for Grantham in time for Barrow Hill. They're unlikely to be asked to pull anything much heavier than that. To be precise, at least one will have a RoadRunner Plus 54:1 as that's what Chris Gibbon sent. I assume he just substituted it as it can be assembled to be the same height as the HighFlyer and the gears are identical. The only problem with it has been that with the slightly wider lower section it's a midge's proverbial too wide for the DJH chassis so I'm going to have to swap into one of the others, most likely the WSM one. The net effect should be nil. I did have to widen the slot under the boiler quite a bit to get the motor to fit in that position, but I can live with that. For anyone building the kit, as well as de Selby's thread on here which I've referenced above I can recommend Graeme King's article on building the kit from BRM, December 2006. Having seen the loco he built perform, it's a superb runner and very powerful. I put the tender chassis together last night. The DJH instructions assume you'll use American pickup (tender live to one side, loco to the other). I shall try for both side pickup on both, so I need to fit pickups to the tender and find a means of connecting the two together, hence the part builds of both loco and tender rather then going right through either. The tender chassis is a hollow box, so I ought to be able to run wires through the base plate and along the inside towards the loco. The question then will be where to place the plug connector so as to be accessible and not interfere with either the loco to tender connection or the trailing axle on the loco. The instructions aren't clear on how you secure the tender body to the chassis either but there's plenty of room to fit a couple of small captive nuts and bolt up from underneath. One further point, which Mr King's article had already alerted me to - the wheels are held in by a baseplate which unbolts. However the brake cross shafts will then make it impossible to remove the wheels on their axles, so having soldered up the brake rigging I cut away the shafts inside the shoes, leaving the whole area clear for pickups and wheel removal if required. One other small point - DJH nuts and bolts have a finer thread than the Eileen's/Hobby Holidays/Wizard/Mainly Trains/Nigel Burkin assortment I have in my box and can't be interchanged. So soldering on the DJH captive nuts and then thinking "I'll use a shorter bolt, save cutting this nice long one" isn't going to work for you.

and C1s.

ACE, eh? We await with interest.

He was 'R A', not 'R H' - hence the nickname, one assumes, rather than it being a reflection on his character. He's the short, chubby bloke with the moustache you see in lots of LNER photos with HNG and other LNER engineering staff. There's a book of photographs and notes on GC locomotives which belonged to him on Ebay at the moment for a fantastic sum.

Which is why this is such a great hobby. I can't tell one A4 tender from another or work out the interlocking on Grantham. But I can get excited about scruffy little black engines and the nondescript, largely anonymous wagons which made the money.

I wouldn't disagree with that either. I was very heartened to read in a recent magazine that B2s, B4s and C4s could be seen working across from Lincoln in to Grantham in the 1930s. I think that's a service which may become prominent in the future.

Oh dear, I do hope not. With the correct chassis and brakes they make a nice model.

That's the feller, Barry. Built for trip mineral workings, IIRC, but turned out to be a bit shy of stopping. I think they kicked around the LNER until after the war but BR got rid of them in relatively short order. Edit - also the first British 2-6-4. Demoted to L3 by Thompson.

If I see Tony going round the fiddle yard with a magnifying glass next time we're all up at yours, 4479, I shall blame you. Maybe Tom can bring his wagons next time. Anyway, that sounds like volunteering talk to me.....

Tony, The wagon is a LOWFIT, and just to the right of that it is branded 'Not To Be Used For Containers'. I gather the reason was that if the load was offcentre it could be out of gauge, LNER Conflats having low side plates to guide the container into the centre of the vehicle. Mike is quite right that the instruction was ignored (there's at least one picture, can't recall where) but it would need to be roped and/or chocked so it couldn't slide sideways. The equivalent LMS vehicle, the unfitted D 1986, was also used for containers before nationalisation but then acquired the same branding. What you say about the wagon being empty reminds me of something else - like you, I generally follow the 'full wagons Up, empties Down' rule. Reading up on containers and traffic while researching for Grantham, I find that most LNER containers in the early years loaded from the Southern Area (the former GNR) in a northerly direction. That information is in an excellent LNER Society publication on goods traffic. Not that it makes any visible difference to containers and by 1957 things may have changed but the point interested me. SAD, I'm delighted Malcolm has invited you to our show. I wasn't planning to come down next year but I feel I may have to change those plans, especially if there's a Zeppelin in the offing.

Lovely pictures of lovely locos. I've been sinfully covetous of that D9 ever since I first saw a picture of it and the D2 looks as if it will be just as good. One small thing, though, if I may? I know we all have our particular pet hates or things which jar - loco lamps for some, missing/incorrect/non-working signals for others, flat bottom instead of bullhead rail. One of mine is the first wagon in that goods consist. I'll leave you to read what it says on the side.

Back at the bench this afternoon after a week working away. No delivery from AGW as yet, so the first job was to look at loco/tender connections. My man at Peter's Spares came up with these handy things (RD005) Cut off as required and wire up. They make a rather neat connection, once soldered and protected with heatshrink. That was about all I could do to the current crop of locos, though, so attention turned to the fourth of the batch. I picked this up at an Ely show. Although I don't generally like starting too many things at once, I do intend to use this, a much more modern kit, to look at how some of the issues with the older ones have been tackled and maybe pinch some ideas. It ought to make a much better loco, but we'll see. I am aware of issues with the rear axle, but for the moment it's being built as per the instructions (although maybe not quite in that order). Anyway it was out with the Masterchassis after lunch and off we went. People ask whether these jigs are worth it. Well, we managed without them for years so they're clearly not a necessity. For me, though, they make getting a square, free chassis a much easier and quicker process and give more consistent results. An hour later I had this: The frames are quite thick which means the internal space is quite narrow. I have a RoadRunner Plus made up which I was going to use in this loco, but the extra width on the lowest section means that it won't quite fit. I'll swap that onto the WSM one and use a HighFlyer in here. The ratios are the same so performance should be identical With this kit the cab, boiler and firebox are single castings so once you start they just need fettling up and fitting together. Another hour and I had this: We slowed down a little after that. but by the time I brought it down for washing it looked like this: The cab/boiler/smokebox assembly is only attached at the front; I couldn't quite figure out what is supposed to happen under the cab? A self tapping screw? There isn't one in the box. Edit - spelling.

You are David Icke and I claim my £5.

That Ken Dodd 'happiness' joke was doing the rounds when I started secondary school in 1977.

Yep, been there, done that. The currently building club layout has been built using Code 75 and the onus placed on members to make their stock run on it if they want to make use of it on running nights.

Bit of a hiatus coming up, but I'm pleased to say that 3249 has had the chassis stripped, new wheels and drive train and has also now moved under her own power, even with no coupling rods. It's starting to look like Doncaster Works in there:

Awaiting bits from different places, so this afternoon 3249 went into the dismantling shop. This is what it reduced to: I had to break the tender sideframe off to remove the old wheelsets. Although just putting brass bearings into the frames left the wheels too tight to turn, by countersinking them with a 3mm drill I've managed to get them fairly free running and soldered the frame back on. If anyone would like the Ks motor, gear, axles and wheels they are free to a home, good or otherwise. The carpet fairy seems to have eaten one of the wheel securing screws, however. I've made up the other two gearboxes this evening so they're ready for use and the chassis from 3249 has gone into the paint stripper. Something else I've been tinkering with: Thurston goes out to Spalding next month and I like to take something new each time I go, so here are some Bachmann Private Owners, along with a Cambrian open I've been finishing off.

Those two Engineers' trains are beautiful. I think I recognise some elements of them, but I shall be interested to know the rest. In the first one the leading van is ex-ECJS (D & S) and the 4 wheel van is GN (D & S again). The trailing saloon I'm not familiar with. The second one has an ex-NER D 171 van at the rear (D & S or John Fozard). If the crane is D & S then he's done a great deal to it or not used very much of the kit. It's a lovely job.

You're not the first to spot that, Jol. I think the camera has exaggerated it - I didn't spot it when I was putting the pickups in, it runs ok (not fantastically, but it doesn't drag) and we haven't had any problem with it derailing. That leading wheel does look cockeyed on the axle though. As it happens I was on to AGW yesterday and an etched subframe will be on the way to me soon so there is a Plan B in hand. I expected at least one of these tenders to be beyond saving and this is the most likely candidate.

Every A4 ran in black and had the valances removed. There's a very well known picture of Mallard during the war, in black, no valances, half a buffer head broken off, so covered in filth that they'd have been embarrassed in 1968. I think it's in Top Shed by Peter Townend.

Wheels on the way from Alan Gibson Workshop and the WSM chassis moved under its own power last night. To get over those long ladders of pointwork at Grantham, I've put pickups on the tender as well. I was contemplating a subframe and more modern chassis, but this is a simple test of it as it is. The upperworks will need a bit of detailing while we're on. I've been alerted to these handy looking loco to tender plugs to hang it all together. JASd17 and I have been discussing the finer points of C1 detailing this week. Reading Yeadon, I found that 4412 was one of those which never had a smokebox saddle. I was all set to look at renumbering until I checked the model and found that it doesn't have one. think Phil must have removed it when he built it, unless anyone knows if the kit was supplied like that? The Ramsbottom casting has been removed to be replaced with Ross Pops and the anticarbonising device will be replaced with finer wire.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64603-lner-b15-ner-class-s2-4-6-0/?hl=+arthur%20+kimber%20+b15

Best of luck with it. When you've made your first million, maybe you could offer to buy the local paper a spell checker.

If I mount them sloping inwards, so they're the right gauge at the bottom?

Experimenting at Ormesby last night showed that the larger wheels still rubbed the chassis on curves. Some brutality has therefore been applied to the front end of the frames to allow the wheels to clear. I'm banking on the Hornby wheels having coarser flanges than the Gibsons so there should be more clearance when they are fitted. I've had to file about two thirds of the way through that front spacer. Some of the other components of the chassis detached themselves in protest, so it's gone into the paint stripper before they're soldered back on. While it was in bits, though, the chance to offer the drivetrain up to the WSM chassis and check it fitted. I had to cut a section of baseplate away to allow the gearbox to protrude slightly below the driven axle. I also removed the lug at the rear intended for an X04, as that makes refitting the body easier. There's plenty of room in there and I hope to get a flywheel into each of them as well.