Mike 84C

Steve, this is all good stuff! I enjoy Irish railways so all the locos are different from the mainland and you put fresh perspective on problems that I have. Mike

I have enjoyed following the building of an unusual loco, Steve. I shall look forward to seeing it finished. And on to the next challenge! Mike

I shall also follow this build with interest, for 30+yrs I lived just across the other side of the football field. I remember the quarry being worked and rode on Amos several times, the driver was Ted Clarke I cannot rememberthe names of the other two men employed at Bloxham. I think your weigh office is about right Amos lived in a corrugated tin shed, I thought the track was bullhead maybe it was a mixture? Is it 60yrs since the quarry closed? that means I was 8. There were lots of gate posts and fence straining posts made of those old rails. Were they bridge rails? As kids we used to roam all over the quarry and the station also the fields you were taking photos from! Regards Mick Whittle

Jen dobre Horse,never seen Polish papers in WHS maybe I should try the Polish grocers. Mind you we had a great time when a group of us went to Waldstein but that must be near 20yrs ago!

I look in all my local news vendors, aint seen one of the series yet, The joys of living in rural Lincolnshire.

Your high quality work and pace of production is staggering! I shall continue to follow this thread. :locomotive:Keep it going Simon.

Hi Kieran, you really are in production mode! and very impressive stuff as well. A thought on that DMU end. Would it be possible to solder a piece of thin brass on the rear side of the fingers then use the fingers to get the profile of the front by filling with solder or epoxy filler and fileing/ sanding back? Must admit it was the first thing that came to mind!

Come on bgman warm that saw up, you know it makes sense. I had to go on holiday so that mine could cool off ! I"ll send some piccys of a certain N class soon.

That looks rather good and could almost be Irish!

What a lot of potential for operating, this is going to be a thread worth watching. I remember the dock area well from my days as a lorry driver and trips on the Overhead Railway as a small child. Just one concern: are you going to insulate the shed before too much work of a permanent nature is done? The difference insulation made in my garage is staggering and worth the cost. Regards Mike

I am impressed! and now I have the confidence to use the Micro mark decals that have been sat in my boxes for a very long time. Mike

Mmm,you were not wrong; that is not an easy conversion but she looks very good and thanks for putting up the photographs. Just a thought, would a Worsley Works W class fit on the Hornby 4P chassis? Mike

Sorry, I do rather like the wagon but your posts are always very readable! Mike

Just a thought to save those stuck fingers. I use a darning needle, first I cut the eye in half then stick the pointy end in a wine bottle cork. Put a blob of super glue on something like a bottle top and pick up a small amount in the vee of the cut needle. Hope this does"nt sound as if my modelling is surrounded by alcohol but the little tool works for me,hic! Mike

Brilliant Tony, very much as I remember it in the late sixties. Went there quite a few times as a young fireman from Banbury usually with Drivers Harold Radford or George Wilson who had been transferred to Banbury after the closure of Woodford. Keep up the good work and the GC alive and kicking! Mick

Thanks for that tip Colm, I hope to get to Lincoln show on Sunday so I"ll look for Phoenix paints. I tend to build things as one offs and getting the paint match on a home mix I find tricky!. Sorry Kirley I see to have hijacked your thread so will stop now! Mike

Thank you for the colour codes, what I did not say was I tried the Tamiya with blue/black ink. It gave the paint rather strange running properties! but dried with no brush marks. So I have rubbed the coach body down again and re-primed it. Mike

Thanks for posting the photos of your work in one place makes it easy to follow your progress which is staggering!! when do you sleep?! its taken me an age to do one 6whl coach this winter! question; whose paint and what shade do you use for the CIE dark green? I tried mixing some Tamiya acrylic and it just didn't wok for me. Regards Mike.

Can I be contentious Dave? how about an Irish loco? a B2 4-6-0 or a J15 0-6-0 even a good quality A class diesel, CIE AEC railcar set. There is so much potential on the Emerald Isle. Regards Mike

I see you would like to use open top baseboards? I did that found I wasted to much plywood and wished I had used a spline type track bed. Worth a look especially if you want the track to flow.

Well done for posting your Grandads diaries . I wish I had kept a diary when I was a fireman at Banbury in the sixties. We were on a rest day three weeks out of four and you could bet that the full week was when it was a night shift, played havoc with an sort of social life. He certainly knew the road to Toton and down The Brent!! Thanks again. Mike

Am enjoying your build and to such a high standard. I fired one or two 47"s as a young fireman in the 60"s and I seem to remember the cab was painted green inside same as the livery. mike

Hi Mark, only found your layout today. I am old enough to have seen the Oxfordshire & Northants quarries at work, came close to working for the O.I.C at Banbury. And you have the atmosphere bang on. Keep on posting; there are relics of the Vale of Belvoir lines still to be seen. Mike

Excellent, depicts Banbury brilliantly I worked at the mpd in the 60"s and its amazing how little details have not changed but the landscape beyond the boundary fence is unrecognisable. Keep up the good work. Regards Mike