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Really excited to see this progress. I used to watch one of them- latterly 30096 or 30102 - trundle around the yard at Winchester. On a related topic does anyone know where the crew was based- Winchester or Eastleigh? The loco used to swap over on Friday evening. Did the crew deliver the current shunter to Eastleigh and immediately drive the other loco back to Winchester? Memory is hazy but I remember many times seeing the move to Eastleigh running light engine down the main line on a Friday evening. I'm guessing it got overtaken at Shawford by any number of faster trains! Norm

Thanks SRman. Interesting that you actually got it to fit. I don't think the weights would be an issue. They are further back and wouldn't come close to the TCS DP2X-UK. The issue is the height of the socket and decoder interfering with the downward sloping surface of the underside of the coal space. I'll have to check the decoder is pushed down as far as possible but I do remember someone (I think much earlier in this thread) mentioning doing some carving!! OldSuit. Yes I can confirm the six wheel tender being the same between the T9 and 700 tenders and I remember from several years ago ripping out the entire socket and hardwiring a T9. I just wanted to avoid that process this time Regards Norm

Was there ever a consensus on which decoder is the best bet for the 700? I just got around to trying and found a TCS dp2x uk is too tall. I then read through this thread and found that some people had resorted to carving a hole in the top and adding coal to disguise it. If anyone has found something that fits without going to these extremes could you please advise what you used? Thanks Norm

Has there been any update on when this motor will be released? I purchased the peco turntable for my new build layout hoping it would be available fairly shortly

With the release of both Oxford and Hornby radials I was browsing to see if I could find any historical footage. I just happened to find this link to a Railway Roundabout film showing the Adams Radials at work in the first clip. It's followed by a section on the T9's Wonderful nostalgic stuff! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti7W90RgP9g Hope you'll enjoy it Norm

Excellent point John I must be going senile not to realize that ;_ So it must be the case that the prototype tenders were indeed identical except for the wheelbase Norm

I have a question that Graham can probably answer. I said back in post 490 that Hornby had produced both 13 foot and 14 foot wheelbase tenders. On closer examination however there does not seem to be any difference in the actual lengths of the 2 different types. Just the wheelbase. Was this the cae on the prototypes? I thought the whole idea of the T9's and 700 's exchanging tenders was to enable the T9,s to fit on the small turntables Norm

I remembered reading that Hornby would be providing both 13 and 14 foot wheelbase tenders for the 700. When I compared 30316 and 30693 sure enough they have! My 6 wheel tender T9 also has the 13 foot variant Top marks to Hornby for attention to detail Norm

At one time they all did And a note. For those wanting an excuse to run one. My source is "The story of tHe Southern USA tanks" by Kevin Robertson. Several locos were temporarily loaned in 1955 to the LMR for shunting duties. 30061 to Kentish Town and 30066 to Rugby and Bank Hall Liverpool. 30061 was later lent again and ventured to Cricklewood Thanks to Model Rail and Dapol. This has been on my wish list for a very long time having made a mess with the Q Kits kit Norm

But if you were - how many people know about the 2-6-4T Locomotive Exchanges of 1950? These were held to ascertain which 2-6-4T's of all the - then modern - designs around would be most suitable for replacing ancient 0-4-4T's and the like on branch line and suburban services. Gives one a great excuse to run L1's as well as Stanier and Fairburn tanks well outside their usual stomping grounds L1's were deemed especially useful for empty stock work from Waterloo as I understand It is said that this intelligent use of available motive power even saved BR from building another couple of hundred Standard 4 tanks and not even posted on April 1st Norm

Chris Brian and Miss Prism Many thanks!! A great excuse for me to buy a couple then Norm

Can anyone tell me whether Hawksworth coaches would have been used on the Didcot Newbury and Southampton? I've mislaid my books on the line but I am fairly sure I've seen pictures of 2251's , City of Truro and T9's hauling them - in 3 car sets as I recall - on Southampton to Didcot trains I'm sure someone here has the definitive answer! I'd also like to know what other coaches - Collets perhaps - would have been seen on this line in the mid 1950's Norm

A big thank you for this post. Followed the instructions and was able to get cab and body off without any damage. Mine is now chipped and the cab roof is flush with the short bonnet. The tip on the raised edge at the rear of the cab roof was also very useful Norm

Does this class 15 have working lights? I've read somewhere the chassis would be suitable for conversion to prototype diesel 10800. Would anyone care to comment on what is possible Thanks Norm

Yes I agree, excellent choice Simon. Being one of this years releases all the problems should have been ironed out. The injector pipes are on the right way round and being the 8 wheel tender there are no reversed tender frames to deal with! When you get it out of the box and before you attach the tender, put the loco on a piece of glass and push down very lightly on the chimney. If the REAR driving wheel will raise about 1 mm you should not have any of the problems with haulage caused by the front bogie pushing the traction tyres slightly off the track. If it will not pass this test do as others have documented and VERY VERY lightly file the little collar securing the bogie to the chassis (OR drill a hole right above it in the footplate - your aim is is stop the bogie securing pivot rubbing against the footplate) If you adopt the filing solution its best to lightly grip the collar itself - a millimeter below the top - with a small pair of modelling pliers or tweezers as some have reported breaking it by the filing motion. Then file down onto the pliers. I do not mean to alarm you here. Being this years model it is unlikely you will experience this problem at all, but if you do, 15 minutes careful work will solve any issues The only other thing I've had to lightly adjust on mine are some of the phosphor bronze pickups. They are present on all wheels except the front drivers, so if properly adjusted you will not get any stalling over difficult pointwork. A small pair of tweezers is the tool of choice here Enjoy They are superbly detailed models Norm

Simon my advice is to buy whichever you prefer regardless of traction power. Some of the T9 models have suffered from a balance problem where the little sleeve that hold on the front bogie is set too high and rubs against the floor of the body of the locomotive. This has the effect of slightly raising the front set of driving wheels which are the ones with the traction tires. You'll find a host of information on the forum on two ways to easily fix this problem IF the model you buy is one of the relatively few affected. I have 3 T9's and only one needed any fettling in this department. Now all three will easily haul 6+ maunsell coaches. The Schools is also a super model, bigger and weightier than the T9 and also fitted with traction tires on the front drivers. Hence my advice - buy your preference, either will easily haul a good length train when properly "fettled" HTH Norm

Knowing that Gareth of Trains4U in Peterborough is well known on RMWeb, recently prompted me to place an order with him which was perhaps asking a little more than a normal first purchase . What I wanted was a hybrid of 2 recently produced Bachmann 'Peak' models The sound fitted chassis of D55 'Royal Signals' with the body of the split headcode green model of D95 with no yellow warning panel. Add in the fact that I am exiled in the USA and this was not perhaps your average first order. I let Gareth know that I was prepared to pay for the additional labour involved in making the change. To keep this short let me just say that Gareth, in the midst of the the excitement of the birth of his daughter took this as just normal business, fulfilled my request at no extra charge, and mailed me a well packaged model which arrived in the almost record time of 4 days from the UK to the USA. The resulting model was just what I wanted, the price was more than fair and I for one am a very happy customer. Trains4U gets high marks from me and it won't be my last order