County of Yorkshire

I said that because, as it seems to me, GWR toplights in 4mm RTR have taken on an almost mythical standing on RMWeb. I think they’ve been wishlisted and/or discussed on here more than, say, LMS period 1 stock, Midland arc-roof stock, LNWR stock and NER stock combined. I think only possibly the GNR/LNER quad/quint arts run them close in the popularity stakes on RMWeb. CoY

What do we think the GWR wagon(s) could be? It’ll be either something that was numerous and perfunctionary like a O4 open or V4/V5 mink van, or something totally outrageous like a giant Crocodile well wagon or a set of four pollens! The Coopercraft range has evidently gone for good so a range of early opens and vans would be welcome; I’d take half dozen of each. Hmmm. CoY

I’m just recovering my socks which landed a fair distance away after today’s announcement from Dapol. The subs will be nice but it’s the corridor toplights that I’m really looking forward to. In separate but relevant other news, from the social media wires it looks like Accurascale’s indefatigable head researcher was at a certain steam shed in Oxfordshire today. I wonder what for? CoY

This is deeply exciting. GWR toplight coaches have always been the Cinderella of steam era RTR coaches… “they’ll never get done”. Wow, wow, wow! CoY

Yes, it’s a bit disappointing when there’s rafts and rafts of big 4 era (and earlier) wagons that aren’t available as RTR or kits that would perhaps sell more due to exclusivity of supply. CoY

Absolutely. The Collett sunshine coaches are desperate for a retool and also need a wider range of diagrams producing. A TK, CK, BTK, BCK, and BG as a minimum please! CoY

Hornby do seem to have picked an unwise fight here… As much as I adore the film, it’s nowhere near a headliner as are the likes of Rocket, Mallard, Flying Scotsman, Evening Star etc, nor a “must have” staple in the catalogue like a Black 5, a Mk1 coach or a 5-plank wagon. The emphasis on the film train packs also seem unusually niche, and I’m not sure of their wider appeal. As others have said, there’s a raft of prototypes that would have received widespread attention & excitement today, that are virgin territory: a GWR Saint, a S160, a WD 2-10-0, Planet, Sans Pareil, Novelty… even launching a GWR broad gauge range! Hobbyists crave novelty & innovation. The whole affair screams of a lack of strategy - it’s reactive rather than proactive, and on the face of it appears deeply churlish. The market for a Titfield Thunderbolt train pack can’t be that large, and it certainly cannot support two competing versions. And when all is said and done, which are you going to pick: the one with brand new toolings that have been specifically made for the set, or the one with the wrong diagram toad brake van and no W&U coach? All said it’s a strange hill to die on. CoY

Nope, latest NYMR newsletter reported that the SNG society have voted to retain the early BR blue livery when it returns to service - i.e. what it’s worn for the last 35+ years. Cheers, CoY

Paul Isles, formerly of Hornby, told me at the 2019 Donny show to expect coaching stock releases to “fill in the gaps” of existing steam era coach ranges over coming years. So we’ve had the Southern dining coaches and GBLs and er… that’s it? A Collett diner, full brake or BCK would have been obvious, and even the likes of a diner or CK for the Stanier range or more accurate Gresleys with more diverse diagrams (CKs, BTKs and TTOs are glaring omissions) would sell. Very disappointed by this morning’s announcements as others have said. I thought business was about spreading risk but none has been spread to the west? There’s a lot of eggs in the LNER and LMS baskets this year. Even a re-release of the Colletts in Hawksworth livery or a Castle in Hawksworth livery with Collett tender would’ve seen me make some pre-orders! Sweat your assets Hornby!! Hmmm. CoY

Read also: GWR 94XX Warflat Bulleid Coaches CoY

I built, painted and lettered a rake of three Parkside Mica B (Dia X7) vans last year and they now really need finishing. However I’m stumped when it comes to forming the end-roof handrails; they’re a total nightmare to fashion as there are so many kinks and curves to the rail that I’ve tried and given up numerous times rather than complete the vans! So please, are there any benevolent RMWebbers who are skilled in the ways of GWR van end-roof handrail fashioning? Otherwise the Micas will be permanently on ice (sorry). Cheers CoY

It’s saying something when new large RTR loco costs the same as a modest two-night weekend away for a couple. Prices rises to match inflation at about 5% is understandable, but 20% across 12 months? Hmm.

Don’t forget Bachmann have form here - newly retooled GWR Modified Hall first release had the huge howler of the “unmodified” front end under the smokebox (so bad that Brassmasters issued a kit to correct it). Fast-forward to recent/imminent release of new Modified Hall, it’s been rectified. But, making noise might help Barwell to take action…

The Siphon announcement is genuinely great news, and when you think about how widespread and long lasting the prototype was, it’s astonishing that it’s taken this long for someone to retool against the flawed Lima version. I hope Accurascale milk the tooling () and release more variants in the future, for example an M34 variant in GWR livery as I don’t think I’ve ever seen one? The outside framed Siphon G would be fantastic to see as well, though I doubt the tooling would be that transferable all told. As communicated in the product thread, I’m really not convinced that the later-build GWR version would have had a white roof but I’ve no evidence to present to Accurascale to the contrary. Halfords rattle cans it will have to be. All we need now is for Slaters to re-release their toplight coach kits and Hornby to announce a nice GWR full brake in January and it will be a Merry Little Christmas for all disciples of Swindon! Cheers, CoY

That’s understandable. Thank you for engaging with the subject in any case - it’s a big breath of fresh air to see from a manufacturer. My order for the GWR & early BR(ex GWR) versions is going in now! Cheers. CoY

Thanks for the quick response Fran. I don’t own a copy of the Clarke & Slinn book so I’ll take your word for it, however I really do think it’s worth another look as the GWR out-shopped all rolling stock - both passenger, NPCCS and freight - with darker (grey) roofs at the start of hostilities for obvious reasons? I will be astonished if white roofs were still being put out into stock by April 1940… @Miss Prism will undoubtedly be able to comment. Cheers. CoY

This is most excellent news; I will certainly be ordering a couple as GWR/WR modellers will always need some siphons at some stage! Regards to ACC2413-2924 in GWR brown, according to the Hugh Longworth book on GWR carriages this was outshopped in April 1940, therefore would it not have been finished with a grey rather than a white roof as the current artwork for this version shows? It would be much appreciated if this version could be produced with a grey roof as it would save me much time and effort getting the masking tape and Halfords grey bumper spray can out Thanks again. CoY

Kernow still have some of the R3840 in stock after processing all of their pre-orders. No connection with the retailer, just thought this might help someone. ED - All gone now! Cheers. CoY

I’ve no experience of that specific product, however I’ve recently moved house and purchased many pieces of IKEA furniture, all of which I can highly recommend. Good quality at reasonable prices - IKEA is certainly not the low-end retailer it was seen as 20 years ago. My one note of caution is that their shipping fees - if you want home delivery of furniture - is a £40 flat fee, regardless of your order size. I think this is on the steep side. Of course, this is not an issue if you are buying in store and have a vehicle that can accommodate the packages. You might also want to consider the LIDL display cabinets - they have them in stock once or twice a year at certain times. I have one and it’s excellent quality - cheaper then that IKEA item (they are around £60-80 iirc). Hope this helps. CoY

Kernow have the Hawksworths and some Collets for £29.99, and unbelievably, some of the Collett subs at £24.49! At that price i'm struggling to not order some more even though I have all I realistically need. CoY

Hi Brian and team. I'd argue that this is an even more important poll than the Toplight one, as the range of coaching stock in this poll span almost 50 years and most coach styles are needed to accurately model the GWR in its 1920's to 1930's heyday. As I model the GWR immediately post-war (1945 to 1947) in theory I could justify any of the above; even Clerestories hung on carrying passengers in penny numbers until about 1950. However, it would be unwise to vote for all types as I think it would provide too a diffuse selection for the manufacturers. In that case - and it's head over heart here - I would buy the following RTR and thus vote accordingly: 2 3 4 5 9 10 11 If absolutely pushed I would say that 11 - Sunshine coaches are vital to have in RTR to modern standards, closely followed by 9 - bow ended general service coaches of 1930-33 (as someone said, the C67 in this coaching range was the fourth most produced TK of the GWR). I just think that clerestories are too niche and will probably fall prey to a "generic" release a la the 4 & 6 wheel Genesis/Hornby coaches. In terms of the special service stock of Cornish Riviera, Super Saloons and Centenery stock, again they're too niche, and as they weren't many of them, if you really want them, buy kits and build them - or even pay someone to make them for you! The coach ranges I've voted for were general service vehicles and as such I would buy well into double figures of them if ever made RTR. Imagine an express of 70 footers behind a King or Castle! Cor! Cheers. CoY

Emphatically, I vote for 1. As others have said, this is the only way this particular train is going to leave the station! I would buy multiples of each, though especially the TK and BG. CoY

There has never been an RTR GWR Iron Mink prior to this one. There has been two kits of the V6 diagram; a white metal one by ABS kits (no longer available), and a plastic one by Ratio (now via Peco) and still available. I've never seen an ABS kit but I seem to understand that it was quite well regarded in terms of dimensions and detail, but happy to be proven wrong. The Ratio kit is too narrow in the body, and as the sides are too high the roof doesn't sit flush against the sides and ends, leaving a minor air gap, but is otherwise quite serviceable and can be tinkered with to suit the modeler's prerogative. This new Rails version has attracted much comment as to its quality and finesse. Straight away I would say the roof sheet looks too thick and therefore crude, the brake gear looks overscale, the coupling hook looks a bit flimsy and done in plastic which would make fitting 3-links a challenge (and it doesn't seem like 3-links are included, despite Oxford Rail now including them with their wagons at 1/2 the price of this), and the wheels are Dapol's standard crude type that are overscale in most dimensions (spokes, wheel rims etc). Others have mentioned that the holes on the solebar are too large, but I cannot comment on that. The livery on some versions is suspect too. It would have been very unlikely for the late GWR and BR versions to have a brilliant white roof such as that shown - certainly by the start of WW2 all van roofs went into a dark grey colour. Furthermore, the late-GWR livery is dodgy as the font style does not look right - the lettering is too narrow. Hope this helps. CoY

Brian, I would purchase any and all of 1 to 10 inclusive. In terms of 12) Other Wagons - we need a Lowmac, ideally an earlier diagram with rounded curves, not the later 'orrible angular ones. Also, some crocodiles; the Bachmann (nee Mainline) crocodile scrubs up quite well, but as they came in varying lengths, I would love to see a longer one, as there aren't even any kits for these iirc. Thanks CoY

Whilst admittedly it’s on its way to the knackers yard, there’s an iron mink in post-1936 livery in 1947 on Warwickshire Railways website here: https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrb1787.htm