thegreenhowards

Thanks for coming back to me. They certainly will fit in front of the cast bit as in my second photo above but this means that the buffers don’t compress with the screws in place. I could glue them in place in front of the cast bit and then remove the screws which would allow the buffers to compress. I haven’t tried directly behind the buffer beam but again they would need to be glued in place. Did you attach yours with glue? directly behind the buffer beams.

Good afternoon Tony, I also make most of those substitutions with Isinglass kits. But I’m surprised you feel the need to replace the torpedo vents. I think the Isinglass ones are nicely produced. If you have a pair of Hornby bogies with the original clips on top they clip directly into the ‘polo mint’ bit supplied by Isinglass which saves some time. I also use the Isinglass battery boxes as I think they’re well printed but I can see why you’d want the weight down there. Decals are in the post. Andy

Good afternoon Tony, I also make most of those substitutions with Isinglass kits. But I’m surprised you feel the need to replace the torpedo vents. I think the Isinglass ones are nicely produced. If you have a pair of Hornby bogies with the original clips on top they clip directly into the ‘polo mint’ bit supplied by Isinglass which saves some time. I also use the Isinglass battery boxes as I think they’re well printed but I can see why you’d want the weight down there. Decals are in the post. Andy

Pm sent.

Hello, I’m reawakening this thread as I bought a van at the Kettering O gauge show yesterday which I believe might be a Highfield Models NER Milk Van. Can anyone confirm that this is the case? And does anyone know the NER diagram number? Thanks Andy

Modelmaster do a good set of Royal Mail decals as below. I always find their transfers good quality and better value than some others on the market. These are water slide but should go over beading if you use a setting solution. I bought these several years ago for my 247 D.164 TPO sides. However when I soldered the sides together one side was 2mm longer than the other and they went in the too difficult box! Must dig them out sometime soon. Andy

Yesterday I spect a very enjoyable day at the Gauge O Guild Spring show. It was mainly a day of ‘retail therapy’ and I spent far too much as so often happens. Two particular curios were a couple of vans I picked up off the bring and buy stand. One is a D335 bread van. There were two of these built in 1946 to replace a couple of ex HR vans used for delivering bread during bread rationing. It’s not the finest kit being built of vac formed sides but is an example of something a bit different. It lasted until 1967. Does anyone know what these were used for after bread rationing finished? The other is a NBR D89B covered motor van and carriage truck built in 1912 and lasting until the mid ‘50s. Again a vac formed kit and something a bit different. Both ends are the same so I’m struggling to work out how the cars would have been loaded. Any ideas? Does anyone know the manufacturer of these kits? Andy

I mainly use rattle cans for four colours; BR Maroon, BR Crimson, BR Brunswick Green and BR Black. I have used countless cans of Ford Burgundy Red over the years for maroon coaches. My Elizabethan rake is probably the best example as all bar the last coach are Southern Pride Thompson conversions painted using Ford Burgundy Red. I like the gloss finish and for coaches, I usually use the Halfords clear lacquer to protect the decalks and enhance the gloss finish. I use Ford Rosso Red for BR Crimson as seen here on a Comet BZ. In this case I used matt lacquer (preferably Testors Dullcote but I have run out and now use Halfords Matt Lacquer) after the decals to give a less loved look. For BR black, I use Gloss Black to give a good base for the decals to stick to and hide the carrier film which it does very effectively. Then gloss or matt lacquer depending on the desired finish. One coat of matt still gives a satin finish if desired. This O gauge J69 was treated to one coat of Halfords Matt Lacquer before weathering with a (cheap chinese) airbrush. Finally BR Green for which I use Rover Brooklands green. 'Sir' tells me that this is too blue and I'm sure he's right. But I can't tell the difference unless it's next to another loco. And I think it's a lot closer than some of Hornby's efforts! This is my W1 based on Graeme King's resin conversion kit. I have also tried spraying green with an airbrush but I don't get as good a finish. So it's a trade off between quality of finish and colour. I will probably use both in the future depending on the time of year - I only use the airbrush outside on a warm day whereas rattle cans I use in the loft. I don't use rattle cans for crimson and cream. Partly because I've never found a decent cream (the recommended ones are discontinued and I can't be bothered to order them specially) but mainly because I don't get on with masking. So I tend to paint crimson and cream by hand and cover the join between the two with a decal. I hope that's helpful. Andy

Hello, I’m really stuck with fitting the snowploughs on my Heljan 37/0. I have drilled out the two holes to 1.8mm and driven the screws through to get a good tight fit. So far so good… But when I try to fit the ploughs, I get problems. I have tried fitting them behind the chassis block like this. And also in front of the chassis block like this. The bogies fit in this case but the screw head stops the buffers compressing. Is there a third way which I haven’t thought of? And if not, which is the right way and how does one get around the problems that I describe? Thanks in advance for any help. Andy

I stand corrected! But they would surely have had more modern livery like this https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/br-vea-van-br-railfreight-red-and-grey/38-881 or at least the boxed in three letter code like this https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/br-vea-van-br-bauxite-(tops)/38-880

I’ve just finished reading through this thread - superb stuff. I love the scenic treatment of the flow country and the back scene - very convincing. And the locos and mk1s look nicely weathered and very convincing. if I may offer one price of constructive criticism, it’s that your goods stock looks a little steam era. I think all fish traffic had finished by the 1960s although I may be wrong for the far north. And the other four wheel vans and oil tankers are more 50s/ 60s rather than early 80s which I assume is the look you’re going for. I’m no expert on exactly what ran on the FNL but I’d have thought TTAs for oil and RfD liveried VAAs or cargowaggons for goods would be more in keeping with the era. I look forward to following your progress. Andy

I have two of the Thompson match board full brakes. One Mailcoach and the other a brass kit -Comet I think. I built them several years ago before I knew much about kit building and I just followed the instructions but I think both still look ok. They both run on Bachmann bogies because in those days I valued the good running of the RTR bogies over prototypical fidelity. I ought to replace them, but it’s not high on the list of priorities! Can you tell which is which?

I do that all the time. As a lifelong railwayman the 24 hour clock is ingrained in my psyche! I read 5pm and write 1700.

Hi Brian, I think Steve is spot on. The diagrams (available on Robert Carroll’s BR Coaching Stock group) show the train as a standard quad art set (I.e. 8 coaches). It’s diagram 21 on MFSX. As Steve says they never ran as half sets in normal service. Can anyone tell me what the buffing gear was like in the middle of the sets? I’m finishing off my O gauge 8 car set and I don’t know how to join the two halves. Andy

iI didn’t come to an end. While it was sad to see the Pacifics go they were replaced by the greatest locomotives ever to grace this planet. The end was 2nd Jan 1982.

Good news. Meg merillies lives again. It did prove possible to solder onto the Bachmann crank after I filed off the blackening covering which Is applied in the factory. However, having fixed the crank it pinged across the room while I tried to fit it and I can’t find it! So I ended up creating a second crank from scrap brass as can be seen below. This is soldered onto the boss on the centre driver and does the job very well. It doesn’t look too good in the photo above, but I’ve since ,filed it smoother and blackened the brass. It now blends in and bears inspection from normal viewing distances.

Good evening Tony, Here are my 5 Nucast V2s lined up at Gresley Jn. You sold me two of them - the lime green one and my namesake, 60835, The Green Howard. The other three were eBay purchases, all for between £50 and £87 - I also have an unstarted kit bought off eBay. All rather eBay ones needed some work to get them running smoothly and 869 recently chewed up its valve gear, but I enjoy that fettling part of the hobby. 835 (DJH GB1) and 814 (quiet Portescap) are both superb locos. The others all run OK, but with older motors and in the case of 869, on the original Nucast white metal chassis. I do like a Nucast V2! Andy

I’d be prepared to live with the faults - I’m sure there are less than on the rest of my fleet of V2s which are mainly Nucast! But I can’t live with £200+ for a 00 RTR loco so I won’t be buying one (unless they hit Mick’s bargain boxes). I agree it’s cheaper than buying a new kit and it’s not that I can’t afford it - more a one man inflation resistance movement! And if I’m buying a new loco I’d rather pick a Nucast one up on ebay for under £100 and do some work on it or spend a bit more and get an O gauge Heljan diesel where I really feel I’m getting some bang for my buck.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon with the Mousa lists which John highlighted. I’ve identified 8 pairs of sides I want - six for the royal train and a Thompson SLF and Gresley D.275 buffet. I have spoken to Bill about all of these before so I’m rather sceptical about whether they’ll happen but he will be getting an email shortly! And I wasn’t completely idle! I made some progress on my Gresley D.227 SLF. The chassis is now largely complete. It’s a mix of MJT bits and scratch built with Kirk bogies for now (as I’ve run out of MJT heavy duty). I’m sure I’ve missed some bits as I’m working off photos where the underframe is rather dark so if anyone wants to suggest some additions, I’ll listen. I’ll be moving onto the roof furniture next. Harris shows these vehicles as PV but they seem to have torpedo ventilators rather than the square boxes at either end which the Elizabethan PV stock has. Can anyone shed any light on this? Andy

I don’t think so. I had that etch for building my A2/3 but in using it I snapped the eccentric crank (?) as above. I think a small length of brass with a coupling of holes in it might do the job although it wouldn’t bear close inspection.

That’s a good spot John. I’m now going to retire from modelling to a comfy armchair with my diagram books to dream! I imagine the D.157 twin is a typo as he also lists the single D.157 SLF. Probably the twin SLF which I built earlier in this thread from a Mousa etch.

Those of you who follow Gresley Jn will remember that I ‘found’ a Bachmann Meg Merillies awaiting commissioning a month or so ago. Well I’ve done some further investigation and I now remember more about it. I cannibalised it when I broke some of the valve gear on my Graeme King A2/3 conversion. This has left it with a hanging rod (the radius rod?) as below. i have looked on the Bachmann spares website but they only seem to sell the complete valve gear assembly at £20 which seems a little excessive. I’m wondering about soldering a small washer onto the crank but I’m not sure one can solder onto the metal (Mazak?) used for the crank. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Andy

I had a winter walking trip to Scotland the weekend before last. But storm force winds and blizzards stopped us getting up many mountains. The on we did summit, Cruach Ardrain near Crianlarich, was c.-25C wind chill on the summit so we didn’t linger long! Even when the sun came out briefly on the way down it was pretty arctic - I’m on the right. Why are you boring me with this I hear you say! Well the upshot was that I didn’t venture out at all on day 2 and got back early having given up at 700M on day 3, so I had plenty of time to tackle the two Parkside kits which I took…just in case. These were two O gauge LNER D.94 vans both bought off ebay as ‘complete unstarted’ kits. I should have noticed the word ‘solebars’ written on the side of one when I bought them. But luckily I did notice it while packing for Scotland and on checking found that the solebars were missing. So I put in some plasticard off cuts to see what I could knock up. Anyway, I completed the first kit on the Saturday and started the one without solebars. I managed to finish that on the Sunday, just leaving paint and transfers for when I got home. They are now complete (until one of you tells me I’ve got something wrong!). The darker one is the one which had no solebars. I ended up using some left over bits of plasticard from Kirk coach kits to make them and adding rivet detail with PVA on a pin. It’s not as good as the other one, but I can’t believe anyone will notice when running in a layout. I tried two different painting techniques. The darker one is Humbrol 133 over Halfords red oxide primer. The other is unpainted and I just weathered the Parkside plastic. I think they both look OK and add some variety in shades but I’d be interested in any comments. O gauge Parkside kits have much more complex brake detail than in OO and I struggle to work out what goes where, so I hope I’ve got it right. This part takes more than half the total build time. Andy

Tony, I guess that my C4’s paint job is based on the photo on p87 of Yeadon (I didn’t paint this myself so can’t be sure). Yeadon states on that same page that 192 was painted in LNER livery on 23/6/23 with an ‘&’ in the LNER. The cab side lining on mine is not right, but I’m pretty sure that the apple green is correct for 23/6/23 until 1925 when the ‘&’ was dropped - unless it got its ‘5’ first. Andy

Always nice to see some Gresleys.