Edley

If you are quick, there's one of those Gargoyle tankers on ebay right now, Only about GBP 425 from memory. I'd hurry though,it was only about half that at auction a few weeks ago.

"Person who whips them" , They'd be Whippets then??

These seem to be what were " Fleet " brand couplings in Australia many decades ago. Exley were almost the same but the drop link was wire bent. Both are a nightmare to couple a train of carriages with corridor connections. i'd often wondered how Dublo couplings would go in O gauge. { the early steel ones not later plastic.

Someone said we live in difficult times. As a musician I said "yes 5/8 and 7/8 although Dave Brubeck got us used to 5/4 and 9/8. And a Chinese drug addict came up to me and said" have you seen my cocaine?" I said " not since he starred in Zulu"

Some are very fine threads although without some way of knowing the diameters it's hard to be sure, But some look like brass thread to me, The tap should have tampe dint the shank the dia, the thread type BSF, BSPP, BSPT , Brass, BA etc and a number being the turns per inch. To preserve taps and dies it is worth buying a tin of tapping lubricants say Trefolex, make sit easy to tap and cuts down wear. Frankly I've been buying tools like end millsm slot drills and taps and dies [ where the size is available] from China. Excellent quality and I think on might find that the ones you buy locally made in China anyway and you are just paying a middleman mark up. Recently I needed a long series 5/16" BSF tap. Not something you use a lot but locally would be about AU$ 35, Bought from China on ebay under $3 [ so bought a spare while I was paying postage which was also negligible

The S Class has been done , previously in OO but now [ more seriously] in O gauge m 3 rail by Fitzroy Loco Works. I have my name down for one. Of course for the ugliest loco there is no going past the GW Castle[ think they were with added on hemisphere eon the boiler front and fairings from other bits I'm surprised that Ace didn't include this version when they did them,Just the thing for an ex wife to give her ex hubby for a birthday pressie.

AS you say everyone has a different taste. But it seems accepted that Mallard is attractive, and Cock of the North [ as original] is one of the most attractive locos Although i agree with you on the streamlined Duchess's which seem inspired by the head of whale. And much as I like most things French , their steam locos appear to have been designed by a committee, a committee that never met each other and pieces have been added ad hoc. TGV , now that's another thing altogether.

Probably not lithos these days , but cylinders can be screen printed.one of our club members has a factory that screen prints on bottles [f say, shampoo etc He has dome the Bassett Lowke boilers and we are pretty happy with the result.Limitations are getting tubeof the size you want . The BL boiler being O gauge, there was aluminium tubing available extremely close to the original . And we were thinking of Carrette boilers which are larger and this is available in stainless steel thin wall. Likewise we are running off some boiler sin OO and once again alloy tubing is available. If I took a guess perhaps the OO boiler tubing size would be about right for O gauge gas cylinders. The boilers just have flush ends but there may be core plugs available in a size that would work as over lapping ends as shown in the pics of the silver wagon Otherwise the rivet detail would need a casting and someone to make a master.

Sorry , I'm a bit late to this topic What seems obvious is that many people form their ideas of what is beautiful based on what they grow up with. In melbourne , th e Spirit of progress [searching under that name is how i came here] was just the thing in Victoria. Not as fast as UK locos because of the distances out here and the cost of trackwork that would cope. A situation that still applies. But , horses for courses, it suite dour conditions being airconditioned pre war. The upshot is a friend at Fitzroy Locomotives is doing a run of tinplate O gauge 3 rail Spirits. What I like is that apart from the mech it is all tinplate pressings, The mech being based on late BL but with modern magnet material. And it pulls like atrain, so to speak.

Attached is a pic of a similar O gauge short van It does show the wooden floor was held from upwards movement by the lugs in the end and the couplings through the slots at the ens.Sounds crude but it's worked well on this one. Your seems a biit earlier, I also have a late 6 wheel OO Midland coach , but that has a separete chassis underneath that all weels, W irons etc are in one moulded piece

Sadly Rob Horton died. However I have the last of the Korton United Dairy Hornby transfers. Which I bought for restoring a BL Milk Tanker [ Close, not exact but not too bad I can sell one set. However in addition I have also had the graphics done for the extra lettering on the BL version on the chassis and under the tank. I am just waiting on the artwork to restore a Carette Flatrol as it will e cheaper to get a batch done including a few others i have artwork done for. Contact me if of any use

Is there a chance of a few pictures as different eras had different methods of construction.

Yes the alloy wrapper, pressed in roof vents and other items of construction indicate its Exley, if the floor didn’t come with it, its just plywood, 1/4” for O gauge and sits upagainst lugs cast into theends.