davelester

Anything particular on the go at the moment?

Andy, If the chance arises, please pass on my regards/commiserations/best wishes to Dave. He went well above the call of duty in tracking me down to complete an order. So, a big "thanks" from the guy at Manchester University who failed to supply an address with his order of a K4 kit. If that raises a smile with him, it may be just what he needs to hear.

Could you perhaps clarify how you are using the term "corridor"? Do you mean the Coach gangways between coaches, such as MJT's LNER/Pullman gangway (link here)? Or the actual divider between the corridor and the compartments -- which will vary according to company and coach -- (example from RDEB here)?

Jonathon, That is just superb! The roof panelling is absolutely as subtle as the real thing.

Measuring this morning, I make that just three inches. Or 1mm in OO. A coarse OO flange might easily be 1mm.

John, I have this kit in my "to do pile". One thought I've had is that there is very little clearance between the wheel flanges and the splashers. The General Arrangement (P-61 available for £7.50 from the NRM as it's in the Oxford Microfilm collection), shows that a scale flange is already slightly above top of footplate level. And the splasher is only about five inches deep. So is it going to be P4 or EM/OO? I think this makes a difference to how you select the wheels.

Jonathon, Great stuff... ... but now you have the tricky stuff still to do: the bodyside beading goes around the ends -- and would have been easier with a longer etched strip. But what about the roof detail? Lots and lots of steel plates riveted together.

Chris, It's about the right time of year for me to make up an order for collection at EM-North -- including motors -- but ideally I'd need access to the website. If not, could you email me a copy of your current price list? Thanks,

Another source for the Coles crane is the Airfix Recovery Set.

Thanks, Mike. I think I now have no more excuses left!

I certainly do! And I can only hope that my efforts are as good. However, before the topic dies, I have a few details questions for all of you, since I have both a Comet and an RDEB (1938) triplet set in the to-do pile. First up the angle irons. I had thought that these were 3"x3" L sections, but Mike's photos seem to show that we are looking at 3"x3" solid sections -- at least for the verticals, the horizontals and the outside slope-y bits. This would be at variance (I think) with the white metal sections now sold by Dart Castings under their MJT range. Obviously this is with regard to the 1938 set, because as Mike points out, the earlier sets were on truss rod under frames. Mike's drawing of the truss rod under frame is also available from Dart Castings (Code 2980, £5.00). I'm assuming that there is very little difference between that drawing and the under frames under a 1928 triplet set? Mike has also posted drawings of the kitchen roof ventilators on these vehicles -- either here or on the LNER forum. But the 1938 set will have "monsoon" ventilators for the Stone's PV system in the dining cars. I'm assuming that these might still be on top of the 1938 buffet vehicle, if not, does anyone have any detailed photos/drawings of such things? The T8 dynamo under all Gresley restaurant cars can probably be fudged, but it'd be nice to know the principal dimensions, if anyone knows? Finally, to complete the 1938 set, I am going to need 10'0" bogies. I've found one photo in John Crawley's "LNER in Focus", page 53 attributed to Leslie Hanson (of the Coronation in Waverley), which shows the steel casting reinforcement over the top of the horn block cut out. But neither this photo, not the drawing posted by Bill Bedford on LNER forum show the rivet layout clearly. Of course its possible Rupert has solved this problem for me by providing the bogie side castings with his kit, but this is not the way he's done the Silver Jubilee set, which requires the constructor to buy in a number of cast bits-n-bobs. Thanks in advance for any assistance, and apologies to Darius for piggy-backing on his wonderful thread.

Jonathon, After writing that scread, I realised that the difference is: soldering the bearings in to the frame vs soldering compensation guides to the frame and ensuring that the moving bearings were suitably sized. So, of course you are right. If you are going to solder 1/8" bearings to the frame, then you need to open the holes out enough to place the bearings accurately. And a tapered reamer becomes a useful addition to your armoury. Dave

Chris, I've never understood the tapered reamer thing. The idea is to precisely bore out the axle bearings to be parallel (surely?). To this end I recommend a parallel hand reamer. The lads and lasses at Drill Services have a very fast turn-around time, since they primarily supply professional machinists. The page for hand reamers is here, and you will want the 1/8 inch size. Probably; it depends on the axle dimensions you have. There are cheaper reamers out there if you search for them, but since you seem keen to crack on, Drill Services are probably the best bet. To others reading this thread, this company is also a good source of fine sized drills, taps and dies. They've never let me down yet.

Hi Rupert, Can I ask what other kits I need to complete a 1938 Flying Scotsman? I can order your triplet, the buffet, and probably the full brake. If Kemilway were reliable, they'd do the third, first, composite and brake third. Did anyone ever do the 65'6" luggage composite?

Dear Brassey, I've just discovered this thread, and what a pleasant surprise! One problem I've been having with old-style GWR locomotives is finding the information. I have a set of RCTS books. I have some of the Russell books. But as far as I know none of them have details about splasher widths (your first post on the Dean Goods). So what source material are you using? Thanks in advance.

Having made that confident assertion on the basis of Malcolm's list of tender attachments, I then came across a photo of a J6 with a Stirling tender last night in Yeadon! The explanation is that Malcolm Crawley's lists start around 1930, and the photo is of a J6 in the early twenties. It is tricky indeed, isn't it?

If Mr Dibateg is putting a Stirling tender behind a J6, he's wrong! (I've just checked on his behalf.) The issues to look for with the Stirling tenders are: they're all different sizes! Different widths, different heights (though mostly the same length of side panels and, on the C's and D's at least, with the same frames), different coal bunker arrangements, and of course whether they were built for goods engines and have 3' 6" wheels, or for passenger engines with 4'0" wheels. Phew! The best place to find them is behind LNER J3/J4s, which were as individually distinctive as their tenders. I have a pair of LRM 4mm version in the "to-build" pile, along with some very nice Narrow Planet works plates from Dubs and Kitsons. The contractor-built engines had brass splasher beading, which was often scraped clean by the crews, whereas Doncaster-built versions did not. Apparently, my plates are individually numbered, but I think I'll need a scanning electron microscope to tell!

Rob, Beautiful photographs! My comment about the mushroom vent was to Dave Hill, and was intended to imply that I doubt his particular tender (which ever one he is modelling) was fitted with scoops. Of course this being the GNR, anything is possible! Including that old tenders for goods engines might have been retrofitted with scoops. So, as usual, look out for correct period photographs. It looks to me as though the tenders you are both interested in were coupled to the locos for long periods, so any photos of the locos should show the correct tender.

I'm a bit hesitant, but I think I might have caught Malcolm out on the Class C Stirling tenders. These look pretty much like the "D" tenders, but had 3' 6" wheels as befits their status as GNR Goods tenders. The spotter tip for Class C is that the springs and axle boxes are 3" lower, and this shows near the tender footplate. And for this reason I don't think they went extinct as early as Malcolm suggests. A minor quibble, and I really ought to double and triple check before claiming anything definitive.

Dave, LNER 3550 was attached to tender 1122 between 14/3/31 and 10/5/33, and tender 1145 to 21/4/58. Both are type A. They are both 3170 gallons, 6 tons of coal, to drawing R22 (extant in the NRM, I think). These are the "horse-shoe" tenders Rob photographed at Shildon. If they were ever fitted with scoops, they'd have been reduced to 3140 gallons. My suspicion is that they probably weren't fitted for water pick-up, but the tell-tale detail to look for is the "mushroom" vents at each side near the front. Further details on these two tenders. 1124 was built by Dubs & co in 1898/9, and 1145 was built by Kitson in 1900. Both were originally coupled to GNR Class J5, the Stirling "Standard (hah!)" Goods. The Tender Order system only applied internally at Doncaster, so these tenders don't have a TO number. Glad to be of assistance. D.

J6 motion plate.pdf Dave, Sorry about this but I'm working from home today, and the books are on the ground floor and I'm in the attic up three flights of stairs engaging in a heated debate with the GNU C compiler about the way it choses to "graciously accept" my "suggested ARM assembler" (or not). I thought the Intercal-72 spoof programming language was just a West-Coast joke, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, remind me to reply either after 18:00 when I'll be downstairs again, or first thing tomorrow. ... oh, and don't get me started on the Stirling type D tenders that come with the London Road J3/J4 kits (do you sell these in O-gauge?). The variations on the basic design are so legion that I wouldn't know where to begin! Still, for you and Rob, I include a part section including the J6 motion plate, though I think Rob ,might have preferred me to have posted sometime ago.

Rob, Here are Malcolm Crawley's notes about the tender concerned. 64206 (originally 3557) was attached to tender 614 from 29/08/35 through to 27/09/60. This was a type A tender built to Tender Order TO 17 in 1903. The categorisation of tenders as A, and B (and so on) was on the basis of water capacity. An A tender carried 3,000 gallons, a B tender was externally very similar, but had an additional 500 gallons in a well tank below the main tank and between the front pair of wheels. Very occasionally you can see this well-tank in photos. TO 17 were the first batch of Ivatt's self-trimming tenders; 3,000 gallons, and carrying 6.5 tons of coal, and to drawing R37. This drawing is presumably no longer extant, since Paul Craig has not included it in his "cleaned up" drawings in Malcolm's GNRS tender book. This batch of tenders is unusual in that it ran on 6'6"+6'6" wheelbase frames (as used on the previous "horse-shoe" tenders). All of the later batches had a 6'1.5"+6'10.5" or 6'+7' wheelbase. As to what tender 614 was like internally, I suggest that it would be very different to the two preserved Atlantic tenders. Both are TO 13 type B 3670 gallon horse-shoe tenders running on 6'6"+6'6" wheelbase frames. The kit you have is the correct one for the tank shape, as it is self-trimming. There will be lifting rings front (just behind the tank vents) and back. The earlier Ivatt tenders often had a rectangular combined filler/access hatch, but in many cases these were later replaced by the combination you see in your photos. If you have a photo of 64206's tender that would be useful, since many lost their scoops (and hence tank vents) after WW2. Does this help?

Ivan, My suggestion for low volume production would be resin casting. This is good for about 25 copies per negative, and is do-able using home tools. So, not good for PO wagons (needed in the 100s?), but might be ideal for pre-grouping specials such as GNR 6 plank opens, or GWR O4/5s or whatever. The technique is to fabricate positives in brass. Then cast a negative in silicon (using a pump to get the bubbles out), and then casting the final results in resin, again using an air pump to eliminate air bubbles. Millicast do this for armoured vehicles.

Mike, Given it's an eight coach set, I'm a bit surprised you haven't chosen to make the jumper cables joined together. I'd planned to use thin phosphor bronze wire soldered to 1mm brass rod going into the coach ends.

Talking to John at EM North a week ago, the target plan is "The rest of GWR by Warley" followed by LNER sometime next year.