Michael Edge

We don't have product codes and it's not listed on our website, I need to do something about this. We originally produced the kit to special order from Portugal but there has been a lot of interest (and sales) from there recently - must have been some publicity somewhere.

We do quite a few kits in 1:87 scale now, latest was for Hunslet 0-6-0/0-4-0DH (kit builds either) but I don't think any of these were supplied to India or Sri Lanka. Might be worth noting that Hunslet built a batch of 0-8-0DH on 5'6" gauge for India and we do have this in 4mm scale at least.

Maybe originally but as trainspotters we called them all semis.

What sort of Sentinel do you have in mind? We do kits for the 4wh DH and CP 0-6-0DH in 1:87 scale.

We did try the NCE wireless on Carlisle but it didn't seem to have enough range for 30m x 6m, then someone poured coffee into the handset and it hasn't worked since....

We have had the Fell kit since last September, price £95. Nearly completed first test etch posed at Herculaneum Dock. Completed, running under Caryl Street bridge on its way to Manchester. Being turned on Brunswick's 60ft turntable. Michael Edge Judith Edge kits

I've had to repair two of the ones I've built so far, one was a damaged spur gear which I managed to replaced, the other, I can't remember what was wrong with it but I did get it fixed.

Hunslet 16in is nearly ready to go into production in 7mm......

I find the Backwoods gearboxes extremely fiddly to assemble (and I've built at least 18 of them) and almost impossible to repair when they go wrong.

Your problem with reverse curves may well be just that - all reverse curves, including crossovers, must have at least a short length of tangent (straight) track between the curves.

My comments about Q kits were mainly related to the original resin moulded ones, my only experience of the white metal ones was a USA 0-6-0T - which eventually produced a very nice model (after a lot of work). This is one of Mike's best models, Falcon, produced in the 1970s. Mine, seen here on Cwmafon, is a bit battered after just about surviving a leap on to the floor but still looks good. It also runs perfectly with one Mike Cole built power bogie. More to the point this RH 165DE is an MTK white metal kit, a bit crude by today's standards (I built it in 1981) but an acceptably accurate model, also on Cwmafon. Incidentally the layout is still here (in store) and we would like to get it out again as soon as an exhibition organiser invites it.

Why not? They don't have to turn round or move very far, just leave the wires underneath in a loop.

The same paint was supplied by the same manufacturer all through, to the Midland Railway, LMS and British Railways. What changed over time was the primer, the method of painting and the varnish on top but the paint colour never changed.

Alistair told me that he bought MTK mostly for the window press tools, the few kits he got round to involved so much work he might just as well have started from scrtach. However that doesn't take anything away from what Colin Massingham did to promote and assist non-steam modelling, I built a lot of DMU and EMU sets for customers and I still have a few for my own use now. I can't let the above comments about Q kits go unanswered either. Mike Cole was a real pioneer in diesel modelling, right back in the mid 60s if anyone remembers "Sundown and Sprawling" at the Leeds exhibition and in Railway Modeller. He went into production with resin moulded bodies from his own scratchbuilt locos and most of these were excellent (this was in the early 70s when almost nothing was available). The problems only arose when he became allergic to the materials he was using and changed to poor quality white metal.

I use No More Nails, it gives you a bit of wiggle time and then sticks well enough to remove the weights after an hour or so. All of Carlisle track is glued down with this and nothing much has moved in nine years. My much older layouts were done with Evostik but not used as a contact adhesive, laid wet and weighted down. Some of this dates back to 1976 now but it was all ballasted with stone and PVA as well.

It should have a coal pusher as well. Those division plates produce more mistakes than anything else on a BR tender, they were fitted in one of two positions to reduce the coal space, DJH provide two with their high sided tenders so very often you see the builder has put both in. There shouldn't be any coal behind the plate either but you often see them coaled up all along, no idea how the fireman would get the coal out.

Herculaneum now back up and running in the shed, WJ takes up a bit of room in the middle but we can work round it.

All parts now drawn for the test etch. . This is what it looks like on my screen now, all the parts are taken in line from the main drawing so that they can be easily identified with where they came from. It does spread a lot at this point but all will be gathered together at the next stage. All duplicated and mirrored parts are included here. The lower part of the drawing with just six layers (back, front, both and the three white layers to cancel them) showing. Only these layers will go into the file for the etching tool.

We put it back together last week but it's not working yet, needs a few track repairs and I haven't tried switching it on yet. Should be OK for running sessions in a week or so.

That tender would be easy to repair, the paint might be a bit more difficult and I would want to remove the division plate, not fitted to BR1D tenders which this is.

I should also add that it wasn't Peter's fault that the bridge didn't fit, he made it to the drawing he was given. One of the biggest snags with building this layout has been that it was designed at least three different times by different people with no correlation between them.

I'm a long way away from it at the moment but it was scaled off the OS 1:2500 plan. From memory it's at least 7" or so wide, I had to transport it to France and by great good fortune found that it fitted in the box we use to transport the Herculaneum Dock backscene (the 60ft high cliff behind Brunswick shed). Photo of the bridge in the box which measures 65" x 13". Getting it there turned out to be the easy bit though, when we got to the layout it was apparent that the bridge had been designed on a datum level two or three inches below track level (the level of the road alongside platform 8).

I've used hundreds of Slater's wheels with no problems for many years, I've also re-machined them to S7 profile (with a profile tool) with no difficulty. The axle problem was more of a fault in the machining of the square ends resulting in quartering difficulties but as I said earlier it's been fixed many years ago.

Worsbrough bankers (referred to in my earlier post) were not coupled on in steam days, later with electric locos and air brakes they were but there was no option but to stop at West Silkstone Junction and uncouple by hand.

How long ago was that? Current Slater's production is always concentric and it's hard to imagine the rigid plastic centre moving much. A long time ago there was a very bad batch of axles which caused all sorts of problems with Slater's wheels but long since dealt with. I do agree that cast iron wheels are better in many respects though, personally I insulate them by cutting and aralditing the spokes, in my experience insulating bushes at the wheel centre are far more likely to cause trouble. Cutting the rim to insulate is possible but far from an easy lathe operation.