Bernard Lamb

There is a set of books North Eastern Record published by the HMRS, volume 3 includes comprehensive coverage of the various NER painting schemes for locomotives. I suggest you try and get hold of a copy as it will explain many of the complex and confusing differences. Bernard

Thanks Tony, I suppose it does depend on how the item, chimney or any other part, is located. You obviously know these kits far better than I do. I would make a hole from inside the smoke box to allow a good route for the solder to flow.I have always worked on the principle of doing as much work on each item as possible before joining the individual items into a larger assembly. Model railway stock or buildings to Ikea units I find it a good maxim. it might well require more time spent at the thinking stage to get the best out of I. Bernard

Why? I would have drilled out the holes before fixing the chimney to the locomotive. Hold chimney in vice using rubber inserts in the jaws to prevent damage and work as per your excellent method. But then I am just a pragmatic engineer. Doing it my way does mean that if you mess it up it is easier to have another go and any danger of collateral damage to the body is avoided. Bernard

I would suggest sliding the fish plates on to one end of a prepared length of track while holding it at chest height and in good light. Then as mentioned by Chamby ease out the gap. I do this just for the first mm or so to give a lead in. Any further then they can be too loose and fail electrically. I know you should use dropper wires and connect all joins in rails but I persist in being lazy. Then put the length of track into position, ensure that the four rail ends are in perfect alignment and slide the joiners across onto the fixed rails. Repeat as required. You will soon get the hang of it. I am working with SMP track and it works fine for me. Nor had a problem with other makes of track either including home made from rail and chairs. Bernard

I bought an Hornby J15 when they were first available.. By the time I thought about buying another one the second batch had arrived and the price was now over the 100 notes mark. Last week they were on sale at under £70. One has just arrived. Well I did need some rail joiners and I needed something to make up a worthwhile parcel. Bernard

You must have seen the Sentinel lorries that they produced under license. Bernard

I can't accept your comment on cost Coach. When I was involved in painting using a base cost of 1p for the cheapest unit cost, a mid grey as it happens, most common colours would have been around 3p with some going up to 7p. Granted the area and thus the volume is quite small in the case of models but it still has to be costed into the job and as Dibber pointed out working to a limited colour range is an added complication. Add in minimum amount that can be ordered and the smaller production runs it is not as easy as it might at first appear. Bernard

Because he was a genius. A brilliant innovative engineer who was also able to get one over on the politicians of his day. At times my imagination runs riot and I have a strange idea of what he would have achieved if he had been put in charge of Skoda in 1945. Bernard

That master set would also be a rather expensive bit of kit. I used to have a set for various reasons, funnily enough containing certain Ford colours. Several sets were made up and kept for checking. They were used to check other samples that were in every day use and these open samples had to replaced on a regular basis. People tend to forget that a commercial paint supplier will have a tolerance range. This can be quite wide in some cases. Take RAL3002, there is a British Standard that is very close and the two can actually come out the other way round to the impression given from the master colour sample. Now as carmine is one of the coaching stock colours that would explain part of the problem. If you want a consistent paint colour you will have to pay a lot extra for it and I have no idea if the big makers will do it this these days. Bernard

ROTFL I remember a remark when my daughter qualified and we attended a presentation at The Law Society. "Your children will now be able to keep you in a style to which you have not been accustomed". Still holds true from what I see of most of them from that time. Although a few of them, including my daughter took the money for a few years and got out as soon as they could. The money in a city firm is still ridiculously good but they do have to work for it and some would rather not have a 24/7 involvement. However I do take your point, as the woman that did the catering has had to take a job on Bake Off, so times must be hard. Bernard

Very relevant if you see the news item today about a window cleaner who was left about £300k. The relatives contested the will and won. He got sent to prison for not telling them where the money went. Bernard

First and last pages of Beeching from the original draft. I do wonder at times just what should be attributed to the Doctor and what was added by others in the published report. He identified problems in accordance with the brief he had been given. He did not work for the railway and did not actually close any lines or stations. Sorry for repeating this, as I have posted on the topic on a previous occasion, but on a less viewed part of the forum Bernard.

The same wagons would behave in that way if there was another layout on which they could run, but most people do not make sprung or compensated wagons, so no it probably wouldn't be the case.. Bernard

So would it be better spending a few bob on giving out review samples to the model press? Bernard

To be serious for a moment. As a person who has had some involvement with pensions and the legislation governing them in both the UK and the EU. (Those not in the know look up the history of PPF and FAS). I suggest you look long and hard at the remark by Mr Davis that pensions are debatable. That remark can have serious consequences for many people in general terms and not just in respect of the current situation.. Bernard

From an east end almanac 1925. I wonder how it would be viewed by some groups these days. Bernard

It is not the track gauge that causes the problems. It is the closer adherence to scale adopted in the individual dimensions. I don't think Ian was saying it could not be made to work as well in P4 as in 00 but that the area required and the time needed are so much greater. A factor in the order of 2-3 in respect of area and who can guess at the amount of time needed to build it. Not to mention the extra time needed to keep things running almost perfectly. P4 has been demonstrated to work but it does impose certain disciplines that most individuals will find very difficult to adhere to. Bernard

Very much the case. A few years ago I came up behind a J15 on the A41 just NW of Aylesbury. Before Chinnor was reconnected all stock arrived and departed by road. Several preserved lines are not connected to the national network so road transport is the only option. Bernard Bernard

Sounds like a rather inaccurate rehash of an old story to me. Defence spending has always been a juggling act and a very dodgy one at that. As far back as Banockburn to my knowledge and I don't know much about what happened before then. But I only signed off 640 forms so what can I say against the words of a jounalist and a pressure group with an axe to grind. Bernard

During the infamous 3 day week we had an 08 engine still mounted on the frames and including the buffers as a standby generator. It was delivered by road though I do not remember exactly on what type of vehicle. As a stationary power source it made a heck of a lot of noise and vibration. Bernard

A pity they did not recall all firearms in the USA after 8 kids had been killed. Bernard

Is the thread on Ships more likely to drift than other threads? Bernard