AJCT

Ah... thanks, anyway ! Alasdair

Nice background music there, Captain - adds a touch of class to your shunting cameo. What is it - Ludovico Einaudi?

Wonderful pics, Robert - thanks for posting. Don't suppose you have the running number for the BG in the Thornton Jn pic? Alasdair

Yes, thanks for the link - I have hard-copy of that issue in my "attic archive", and can recall the turn of phrase used - that's what I was thinking of when I wrote yesterday's post.

I've just had a skim through "Elizabethan Express" and although most (if not all) the train formation footage is of Thompson stock in crimson/cream, some of the non-brake LNER coaches have a narrow top band of crimson (with gold/black lining) and others don't - eg. at 2m38s one coach with square-cornered windows has no top band/lining, but the next one with round-cornered windows does ! There are also "continuity" issues, in that it's not exactly the same train in every shot - most have the leading coach as a Thompson BCK (TC for Aberdeen, I think) but at least one later shot shows the leading coach as a Thompson BG with the deeper top crimson band. It's probably my all-time favourite railway film - it's a wonderful period piece with all sorts of detail to be savoured, including Fireman Mungo's polished shoes... apart that is from the excruciating McGonagall-esque poetry-commentary, but I suppose it was "of its time". Alasdair

I've always understood the problem with applying the top lining on BR maroon for ex-LNER coaches (and that goes for Gresleys as well as Thompsons) is the height of the windows, and in particular the brake-compartment top-lights just below the cantrail, which don't leave room for the lining - see https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/28/487/index.html. That I would say is why ex-LNER stock also never seemed to get the upper crimson band when in crimson/cream livery, although I think I've seen a pic somewhere (can't recall where) of a Thompson BG with a noticeably wide top crimson band. That of course wouldn't match up when coupled to other stock like LMS or BR Mk.1, so I reckon the upper crimson band (and the top lining with maroon) was just left off for that reason. Still, makes it simpler for those painting and lining ex-LNER stock in the the BR era.... Alasdair

I'm intending to rewheel mine for P4, and it looks a bit more complicated than is appropriate for my usual "prise-out-the-00-wheelsets" technique. How did you rewheel yours for EM?

Like another contributor I'm late to this party, but I might mention that I inherited several of these CCW coach kits from my late father's collection. He in turn had acquired them way back circa 1960 as part of a job lot of model railway stuff he got second-hand, to get him started on a 16' x 6' layout in a spare room in the large house we lived in back then. Some were part-built - IIRC there were 3 Gresley-type "teak" vehicles (a corridor 3rd, a buffet car and a gangwayed full brake), but only the last of which was actually runnable! They may have been the later-issue models as they had cast metal rather than wooden ends. In my inexperienced youth I had a go at applying beading to the full brake using narrow strips of card - not very successfully as you can imagine. There were also 2 or 3 of the Pullman cars (part-built) and a few built-up LMS-type suburbans with wheels/bogies but no couplings. I'd have to admit my teenage attempts to fit couplings to these were not a success either ! Ever since they've languishing in a box under my layout and it's highly unlikely I'll ever complete them, so if anyone is interested I'd be prepared to donate them for the price of the postage.... Alasdair

I'm assuming your layout is set after 60534 was transferred to St.Margarets in 1961, as I doubt Haymarket would have let it get into that state.... I usually avoid limescale weathering on my locos, as I've always understood soft Scottish water doesn't give rise to this sort of staining. Wasn't it 60535 "Hornets Beauty" which was snowed in at Whitrope ? (Pic in Peter Brock's "Border Steam", Bradford Barton 1978). Enjoyed the "diddly-dum" clip - definitely worth the effort to file notches in the rail-heads at 60' intervals.... Cheers - Alasdair

My late mum grew up in North Shields in the 1920s/30s and used to tell of a shop there which had the same issue, which suggests that this style of layout was not uncommon back then: it was "M.Robertson - Fancy Goods" but laid out as on your model, so they were known as "Fancy M.Robertson..." Great modelling. Alasdair

Is there any progress to report on recovery of images, or should I set to and try the edit/re-insert option ? Thanks in anticipation.... Alasdair

Some pics of the Burghead Maltings on RailScot here - https://www.railscot.co.uk/search/index.html?textfield=Burghead HTH. Alasdair

Modelu ? https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/detailing-components/loco-rolling-stock-lamps/side-lamps/ HTH - usual disclaimer - Alasdair

So did my Dad.... Alasdair

Yes, that's the tablet-catcher recess fitted to the initial Scottish batch of 27s (D5347-69), although unlike the 26s (D5320-46) I've never seen any of the 27s actually fitted with the catchers. You may also need to alter the cabside windows to the "droplight" type - the sliding ones on your model were originally only fitted to locos with T/C recesses. HTH... Alasdair

Many thanks for that, Paul: I think you've identified as MD1s a couple of motor/gearbox units I bought several years ago from another fellow-modeller's collection - long before the recent acquisition of the J39 etches. I'm assuming one way of using the MD1 is to mount it in the tender and drive the loco via a cardan shaft and UJs - possibly a bit beyond my skill set at the moment...! Anyway, if the opportunity arises for another look though my recently-departed friend's collection I'll have a better idea of what I'm looking for in terms of drive-train components. Cheers - Alasdair

Following this with interest: here's my take on reworking the Triang-Hornby EE Type 3 - see post dated 10 Aug 2020. Cheers - Alasdair

Thanks for that... any chance you could post a pic of the J39 motor / drive train in case one turns up among my late friend's effects ? Does anyone have an assembled example of the J39 kit, of which they could post a pic? Alasdair

I'm hoping the collective expertise around here can help me identify the origin of an etched brass kit in 4mm scale, for an LNER J39 0-6-0, which I've acquired from the estate of a fellow modeller. I say "4mm scale" as that's what these etches are, but they have 2 sets of Register Marks which I understand would enable the artwork to be etched to either 0 Gauge 1:43.5 or 00 Gauge 1:76.2. Apart from these, there are no markings at all to identify the origin of the etches. The "Loco" etch is 7.8" x 6.5" and the "Tender" etch (which is for the 4200 gallon version) is 9.8" x 6.6". They're both flat etches which I'd have thought would rule them out as being from either the Pro-Scale or Anchoridge boxed kits. As you can see there's a part missing from the "Loco" etch: there's no boiler (though I'd have said the gap was too small for an unrolled one) or other castings like chimney, dome or smokebox door. Any help appreciated ! Alasdair

Found a pic I took of the demolition in Jan 1985 - not brilliant but I've brightened it up a bit - as you can see a lot of it had gone by the time I got out with the camera. Interestingly, you can still see one of the gateposts of the "occupation crossing" which presumably predated the footbridge. Alasdair

I've always suspected that the MU jumper-cable sockets at the sides of the bogies on Bachmann's 40s were a bit overscale - rather visible from the end-on view. Published pics also suggest that several of the original ScR allocation lost their MU jumpers at some stage, but I don't know if that included 40159 as at your time-period. Alasdair

IIRC the farm we holidayed at near Skelbo, all those years ago, had one of these - if it's of interest, I'll have another rummage through the family photos and see if I can spot the registration number.... Alasdair

I do like the idea of the motor angled as in your pic - I have a couple of 4-4-0s to build some day, and this looks like a good way to sort the perennial problem with 4-4-0s and get adequate weight above the driving wheels, at the back of the firebox. What motor/gearbox combination are you using ? Alasdair

You're welcome... this is the 3rd loco I've built (admittedly all 0-6-0-tender) with these KM units and they all run beautifully over my track, which I wouldn't describe as any better than "reasonable". Thanks for the tip about the M1 S/T screws - may follow that up. Cheers - Alasdair

Just super-glue - I'm no expert on this, so for a long time I've just used ordinary "Loctite" for everything, and so far it's all stayed stuck. I usually go for those little "Mini Trio" 3-packs of 1gm tubes, as I've found the hard way that any bigger size of tube goes hard long before I finish it...! I probably used a glass-fibre brush to clean up the mating surfaces of the black plastic hornblocks and the related part of the frame before applying the glue. On the loco, I also drilled through the corners of the frame cutouts and inserted wee set-screws (14BA I think) which self-tapped into holes drilled into the plastic hornblocks as belt-and-braces after super-gluing - Another trick I learned some time back with the KM units is to ease the side-slots a little and polish up the sides of the brass axle-boxes with a fine file, to ensure that they slide freely up and down (should move by gravity) before fitting the tiny springs and the retaining links. Usual disclaimers for any products mentioned here and earlier. HTH - Alasdair