checkrail

Yeah, I rather like the 'storm clouds over Dartmoor' look too. But I must confess it was totally unintended, being caused by, 1) shadow caused by sharp curvature (in the vertical plane) of the thin ply backscene, which is sprung in behind the purlins, and 2) my failure to avoid bubbles in the lining paper I applied to said ply sheets before painting (especially tricky where paper crossed imperfect joints between sheets of ply). One might say that every cloud has a silver lining. John C.

Can't put my finger on it, but there's something that just looks so wrong about the 'G W R' insignia. Reminds me of the lettering on some ancient Triang-Hornby so-called 57xx pannier tank. John C.

It's been suggested over on ANTB that a small prairie seldom offends, so here are a few pics of one of mine after having been the first recipient of the 'tarting up the trains' stage of my layout - vac & steam heat pipes, etched number plates, dummy screw couplings, real coal, crew, lamps etc. This Bachmann 4575 class is now 5557, which was at Newton Abbott in the 30s and I think was the Moretonhampstead branch engine in 1938. The following sequence shows it pulling into Stoke Courtenay with a train from Earlsbridge. In the final pic she's just come to a halt and uncoupled from the B set. One prod of the button to speed step one is sufficient to nudge the loco back so that the buffers just touch, slackening the tension and allowing the hook of the modified tension lock coupling to rise in response to the magnet hidden under the track. You may just be able to make out the raised hook in the photo. Have found all this detailing work harder than I expected, and some bits got lost or broken along the way and had to be re-done. Removing the plastic 'coal' and getting crews into closed roof tank engines (and getting them to stick there) were particular challenges! But I persevered and am reasonably happy with the results. John C.

Great train pics. Love it! John C.

"Would you call me a cab?" "Well, I wouldn't call you 'ansom".

Lovely stuff! The ground level shots on this part of the layout with the backscene trees behind are particularly effective. And the Hall looks handsome in the 1940s livery. John C.

Interesting stuff and good detective work. If I've read it rightly it seems to suggest that yellow might have replaced gold around 1930-ish. If that was so many locos would never have carried it, as the 'shirtbutton' would have been in force by their next repaint. But it doesn't quite fit with what Mr Slinn says. I note too that Fox not only do the pre-1934 lettering in both colours, but also the post-war GWR and G 'crest' W insignias. I've never seen a picture of a post-war loco (real or model) with gold lettering. But Fox must have had some rationale for offering the two colours, so I've emailed them to ask. I'll share their reply here. As to buffer beam lettering, I've never heard before of the possibility of it being gold. It looks bright on many b & w pics, and on all the photos in 'Big Four in Colour' where it can be seen, both pre- and post-war, it's unequivocally yellow. A visibility thing I'd guess. The plot thickens. John C.

Before 1934 (and afterwards, until repainted) GW locos carried the words 'Great Western' on tank or tender sides (separated by the company coat of arms on the more important tender classes). But what colour was this lettering - gold or yellow? This question was posed on this forum back in 2011, but the subsequent correspondence doesn't seem to have addressed the specific issue. I've also read through the relevant parts of Slinn, 'Great Western Way' and the info on the gwr.org site including Ian Rathbone's comprehensive guide to loco painting, but have found few clues. The nearest is in Slinn (p32, 1978 ed.) which says, "In 1922 the words 'Great Western' appeared on tank and tender sides in yellow ..... but without any crest. In 1923 the Garter Crest was interposed between the two words and the lettering was gold" [except no crest for tank engines]. It then goes on to discuss the replacement of the Garter Crest with the Coat of Arms in 1927, and the subsequent introduction of the monogram in 1934. There is no further mention of the lettering colour. From this one might take it that yellow was only used in 1922 and 1923 but is that right? I note that Hornby, Bachmann et al mainly use gold for pre-1934 liveries (though I have a Bachmann pannier where it's more of a straw yellow). Looking at photos in 'The Big Four in Colour' isn't conclusive either. I think the lettering shown might be gold, but given the limitations of 1930s colour film, and the effects of steam age dirt, one can't be sure. (On the post-war pics the GWR lettering definitely looks yellow, but that's not relevant for my purposes.) Finally, I've just discovered that the HMRS methfix transfers are all uniformly a bright yellow, regardless of type of crest or lack of it, while Fox Transfers offer both gold and yellow versions. I ask because I'm just re-branding a Bachmann small prairie using HMRS transfers and immediately noticed a glaring colour contrast with its Bachmann- lettered sister loco. I'm inclined to 'go for gold' as it were, but not looking forward to grappling with Fox waterslide transfers for such a long set of letters. What's the truth? Anybody know? John C.

Thanks for kind comment Geoff. I had no idea I was on this list, or that there was a layout category in the RMweb poll, until gwrrob alerted me. It was a nice surprise, but I'm very aware that some of the other layouts* on the list would knock my trainset into a cocked hat in terms of scratchbuilding skills, prototype fidelity and above all the wonderful finescale detailing of locos and stock. I note that you've been involved in both 'Black Country Blues' and 'Diesels in the Duchy' - two of my favourite layouts. I think that BCB in particular is absolutely in the fullest sense of the term a work of art. They've both been an inspiration to me, and while I can't emulate their craftsmanship or fine detailing what I did take from them is the concept of the layout as an integrated three dimensional picture that carries the flavour and character of an area, rather than just some track and infrastructure on which to run model trains. I hope to post more pics of Stoke Courtenay soon, when I've made a bit more progress 'tarting up the trains'. Got lots of things in bits at the moment as I wrestle with transfers, numberplates, vac pipes, couplings etc., and try to resurrect long forgotten skills which were not that developed to start with. Finding it quite hard, and live in permanent fear of making things worse rather than improving them! * I say 'some of the layouts', but I can't remember what they all were, because having now submitted my own responses to the poll I can't access it again. But I guess it's somewhere else on the site? Regards, John C.

Nice buildings and footbridge Simon. (But I would say that, wouldn't I?) I like the platform surface too. John C.

Thanks for kind comments sdh. Best wishes for layout build. Look forward to your sharing progress with us when you feel ready. Took me ages to dip a toe into the water, but I found our fellow modellers on this forum to be a very supportive bunch. (Not to mention humorous - I guess you'll have seen 'A Nod to Brent'? If not it'll lighten up your modelling life.) Cheers. John C.

Good gracious! News to me - but very pleasing news. Have now found survey, which had escaped my notice so far. Cheers Robin. John C.

I have to say that I'm really pleased with DCC control of points on Stoke Courtenay, especially with the potential for route setting. My points are all operated by Cobalt digital point motors with integral accessory decoder and built in crossing polarity change, via my Prodigy Advance 2 handheld unit (now wireless as from 4 days ago). For instance, selecting route '3' and pressing one button will switch 6 points from the down main (Plymouth end) to the yard loop, including the single slip, enabling, say, a trip goods to be set back into the yard. All this is done on the handset with one hand, as is driving the train of course. I love the simplicity and reliability of it all. I know it wouldn't suit everyone. Understandably lots of people like a real control panel with banks of switches, or better still, levers. But like many little boys I always wanted to be an engine driver - don't ever recall wanting to be a signalman! This is what I have stuck to the fascia of my layout instead of a control panel (though I remember most of them without looking by now): DCC routes.doc John C.

Thanks Jon. Actually my rodding isn't Ratio - it's fabricated from MSE whitemetal stools, with rods and rollers fashioned from handrail wire. As I'd omitted to plan it at the outset it kinda disappears under the track and supposedly goes round the back of the platforms. That's my story! I took one look at the little brass frets for cranks, compensators etc.. and decided that I had neither the patience nor the dexterity required for full authentic detailing, so fell back on the old saw that "a coat of (grimy) paint covers a multitude of sins". But it's nice to see someone do it properly. John C.

Very nicely done indeed, and puts my own much more perfunctory 'suggestion' of point rodding to shame! Look forward to more photos of M and B. John C.

Very nice wagons Rob. Wagon weathering (plus assembly of my little stash of POW Sides S. Devon area wagon kits) is on the lengthening 'to do' list for 2017. (And I thought building the layout was the bit that took the time!) Best wishes to you and your followers for Christmas and the New Year. John C.

Yes, Andy York hoping to do a photo shoot for BRM sometime next year, at which prospect I am honoured and delighted, as you might guess! John C.

You're right - 'gauge wars' haven't spilled over onto this thread, thank goodness. But my message to 00-SF's detractors would simply be - Hey, it works for me, and it looks good too. And it's not compulsory. ​John C.

... and a couple more.

Here are a couple of pics of a 4575 at Stoke Courtenay awaiting the rightaway with the Earlsbridge branch train. Unfortunately it'll wait a long time, as these starting signals are non-working models cobbled up from Ratio kits, and shortened for platform mounting. But .... ... at Warley this weekend on the Dapol stand I saw a pre-production sample of the long awaited GWR bracket signal and had a chat with one half of Dapol's two man design team. What I saw looks very promising, and it's obvious that lessons have been learned from the earlier single post signals. The three strange ledges round all four sides of the post have gone, the painting looks better, inc. the width of the white band on the arm, and I'm told that the footprint of the two mechanisms is no greater than that of the single motor of the originals. Furthermore the fervent criticism, on this forum and elsewhere, of the push-button operating arrangement has gone home, and these will be capable of operation by switches showing the way the signal is set. Not an aspect (no pun intended) that bothers me but essential for large layouts where signals might be out of sight. I look forward to doing some enjoyable butchery on these along the lines of my earlier thread 'Improving Dapol GWR signals'). I understand they're going to retail at about 50 quid. Glad I'll only need two. John C.

Nice pics. Great for the late 1940s gang, but I was disappointed that the Maunsell version has only been released so far in BR livery. At the Hornby stand yesterday I expressed hopes that this omission would be rectified in 2017; unfortunately the guy I spoke to didn't seem to know, so I completed a suggestion form as well. John C. My layout: STOKE COURTENAY, 4mm scale 1930s GWR junction station. See layout thread.

... and I'm just back from Warley with Jan 2017 BRM. Great piece Robin (and great photos by Andy Y.). John C. My layout: STOKE COURTENAY, 4mm scale 1930s GWR junction station

Thanks Westerner. Just wanted to say that I'm an admirer of Wencombe. ​ ​ ​I also drew idea and inspiration from your recent RM article (and notes on this forum) on the H33 upgrade. John C.

Thanks M.I.B. for kind comments. Siphons are so quintessentially Great Western, and came in so many variants - they're fascinating items of rolling stock, adaptable to all sorts of model railway layouts and operations as you suggest. Mine are still at 'job lots / out-of-the-box / bought via eBay' stage , but will eventually get some sort of treatment. Look forward to pics of your siphons. John C.

Amazing what a couple of beers can do. Remembered while walking home that platform lamps were from Scale Link. Just checked site - product code SLC149. BTW, flower tubs were from Harburn Hamlets. Hope they grow as well as your palms. John C.