thegreenhowards

Thanks for the comments and photos Tony, I knew the silver Jubilee set had a good pedigree; I just couldn’t remember what it was! As for ballast, yours looks superb. I always use either N gauge or ‘fine’ ballast - normally the latter. In this case the majority was ‘fine’ granite chips from Cheltenham Model Centre with some woodland scenics grey and cinders, both ‘fine’ as opposed to medium or course. I think your artists eye has achieved more subtle colouring than mine. I have never got on with dry brushing and applied this in quite the opposite manner; it was sloshed all over in a very dilute mixture. Andy

Thanks. I was aware of the Hatfield roof, but hadn't seen that photo. Thanks for pointing it out.

Gilbert, Love the coach pictures. Can you tell us more about the buffet car? I think it’s an LNER conversion of a Gresley GNR vehicle, but what is it doing in that train - was that booked or just an excuse to run it? And what is the provenance of the model? A coach poll would be interesting, but how would you structure it? Favourite coach is a bit too wide. Could we have it divided into types by number of wheels and/ or purpose (catering, non corridor, corridor and open) and/or era? I suppose having found a favourite of each type, we could then have an FA Cup style knock out competition to find the best overall coach. Andy

Clive, That is a seriously impressive selection of motive power! I’m sorry I suggested combining type 1s and shunters, but Type 1 got dropped completely at the beginning, so at least I got it a reprieve! My Favourite would be a Class 20 - the sound is so melodic. But this is mainly about looks, so my vote goes to a CLass 15. Andy

Thanks for that encouragement. On the second point, I suspect you’re trying to say (Politely) that it’s too grand for a medium sized junction station...and you’re right! I’m straying from the realms of the probable here for two reasons: 1. Because the whole of Gresley Jn is a learning experience for me being my first layout since my teenage years and I want to try things which will have relevance or could be reused on my ultimate layout which will be King’s Cross; and 2. Because I like it! Having said that ‘Gresley’ could be quite a sizeable place and Peterborough had an overall roof, so it is not completely impossible. Andy

Those who follow Wright Writes will have seen that I have spent much time on my A5 kit, but have slightly lost my MoJo on that. Work will return to that shortly but, while the weather was cooler, I tackled ballasting a large chunk of the remainder of Gresley Jn. This included the approach to platforms 4 and 5 and the goods loop. ...the section through platforms 4,5 and loop. In this picture you will see another ongoing project in the background. This is the station building and overall roof for Gresley Jn. Sadly this has stalled because of my home printer’s poor colour rendition (the far section of roof/ wall) compared with my old work’s Laser printer (the nearer section). Eventually I intend to have a double span (think KX or York), but That might have to wait until I have worked out a way round the printing problems. The final section of ballasting is the most noticeable, which is the approach to the southern ‘canal’ tunnels. The areas between the tracks are painted for the moment, but will be treated to a covering of Woodlands Scenics ‘Cinders’ ballast when I restock. The ballasting has involved three different types of ballast as my stocks ran low and I have blended them together with paint. I started with Precision Paint track colour, but when that disappeared very quickly, I turned to Wickes Matt emulsion tester pots in dark greys and browns mixed together. I intended the overall effect to be more uniform than it is. I feel that the prototype ballast can vary in appearance quite considerably but I’m not sure whether this scales effectively. I’d be grateful for any comments. Finally a before and after photo of the canal tunnel end showing the impact of my new track work through the third tunnel mouth and the ballasting. You saw this photo way back on page 3. and here is how it looks now. I note that the passenger having a heart attack on platform 4 in November is still In the same position today. Superglue is coming out now! Andy

With regard to the jib, I assumed that it wouldn’t be required for a compensated chassis. It’s all tab and slot and fits together very well, so not much chance to get things out of square. If I give up open compensation, then obviously I’d need something to keep it square while soldering it up. I have a box full of motors and gears, but the grub screws in there didn’t seem to fit. There doesn’t seem to be a standard size to keep as spares. Obviously if you major on DJH GB1s, then it would make sense! I tried the taper reamer but because the top hat bearings float with the compensation, i had to do them before assembly and it wasn’t easy to get traction, so they only had a very light ream. I didn’t;’t do the gearbox, so will try that. Thanks for all the comments. I now feel duty bound to bury my head in that wet towel and give it another go. I will report back in due course. Regards Andy

I’ll be obvious and go for the production Deltic as well - my favourite locos bar none. On the freight side, I’ll go for a 56. Andy

Paul, There is movement up and down, but only if I push - it’s quite stiff, possibly because the motor unit is fitting inside an OO frame?The wheels run fairly freely without the grub and when I apply power it does run - just not very smoothly. As I say, I need more fettling time and I’m not blaming the kit. Quartering is by Romfords - I chose not to use the recommended Gibsons. I’m using the sprung plunger pick ups recommended by the kit, but half expecting to replace them with ‘sir’ style nickel silver wipers. I think the shorts are when the wheel rim touches the frames. Andy

Thanks for your encouragement Tony, I did (as taught!) start on the chassis and got it finished, but couldn’t find the motor main gear grub screw. Peter at 52F models kindly sent me a replacement FOC but I built the body while I was waiting for it. However, the chassis is problematic with or without the body. I think there are a number of issues including: 1. There is very little slop in the frames so shorting may be an issue 2. It is compensated but there’s no mention of springing in the instructions and I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to do (short of soldering it up solid). I want to try to get the compensation to work as an experiment having never tried it before. Even if I was to ‘de-compensate’ it, I presume I would need some sort of jig which I don’t possess (cue howls of anguish!). 3. I suspect the main problem may be that it is designed for finer scales (EM/P4) and more experienced modellers than 00/me! Too be honest I haven’t spent very long on it so far so it is not a reflection on the kit... more on me. I find I need to psyche myself up for this bit, find a few spare hours and bury my head in a wet towel! I’ve been too busy for that. I should also say that I don’t think I have ever got a kit built loco working satisfactorily without either plonking it on a RTR chassis (still a good solution in my book) or a visit to ‘Dr Wright‘ for you to tweak something that I’ve got wrong - last time If you remember it was opening out the holes in the coupling rods on my SE Finecast J6. So a trip to Little Bytham towers would be much appreciated in due course but I suspect I will have plenty of time to attempt to fix it myself before then! All the above sounds a little depressing but I don’t think I’m atypical of moderately experienced modellers in struggling with this, which, to I bring this thread back too a familiar topic, is why RTR is so ‘all conquering’. It’s also why I tend to stick to coaches - I know I can get them to work. And I can turn one out in a reasonable length of time. Have you finished one of the three kits you showed us yet?! Andy

Tony, I’m in awe! I thought I was doing reasonably well with my A5 kit, but it still doesn’t work well and needs more fettling, so is in the ‘too difficult’ pile for the moment. I find that bit of a kit build the most frustrating and worrying. I seem to be busier than ever now with the house full of kids and wife whereas I normally have it to myself. And the allotment needs watering and weeding regularly - I might need those spuds when the country runs out of food! However as well as the A5, I have managed to get some ballasting done on Gresley Jn which was well overdue, so progress is being made - just much slower than yours! Andy

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m not precious about saving the existing paint finish as the green is the wrong colour anyway so I’ll probably repaint them. So I think I just need a paint stripper which won’t cloud the plastic. I guess I’ll experiment with some ‘strip magic’ which I have and caustic soda. If they fail then I may try the Superstrip which I’d never heard of but looking it up it does say that it may cloud plastic, so not promising.

That sounds drastic but I’ll give it a go - I’ve got plenty to experiment on! thanks Andy

I recently showed my 7 car tourist stock rake over on Gresley Jn. Most of these rakes were in fact 12 cars with two more twin TOs and an extra buffet, and I acquired 10 very cheap (<£4 per coach) Mailcoach kits on eBay in shocking condition just before lockdown. They were misdescribed as Higland railway coaches which helped the price! As you can someone has got fed up with painting Mailcoach sides and just gone for an overall spray - Presumably with the idea of removing the paint from the windows afterwards. It’s a shame as the insides and basic bodywork have been done quite nicely. There is no underframe but I would use MJT parts for that anyway. My Question is, does anyone know a good way of stripping paint off the windows/ complete sides without leaving the windows opaque? If I can sort them out I intend to augment the 7 car set and use some of the remainder for a post war mixed excursion set with a few probably going back on eBay. Hopefully one of the experts out there can give me some advice. Andy

There’s also shunters (which should keep Clive happy) and type 1s. Perhaps they could be combined if you don’t think there are enough type 1s.

It has to be a class 40 for me. Mainly for their sound which is difficult to beat although I’m not sure whether one can have ‘graceful’ sound. Second place would be the Warships, but I never really knew them in service.

Type 3s are all lovely. Hymeks are right up there, I grew up with Cromptons and love them dearly, but I spent much of my youth chasing 37s all over the country so it has to be one of them. They're all lovely, but if I have to chose a sub class then a 37/0 with split headcode boxes in green. I think offering people sub classes is biasing the vote against 37s as 'we' have so many compared to Cromptons and Hymeks. I think you should choose the main class first and then award the sub class as a follow up. Andy

Class 26 for me. Beautifully proportioned and they sound great too,

I’m not an expert on Garratts, but I’ll go for the Welsh Highland ones as I really enjoyed my trip behind one.

I had a busy day yesterday, so missed the 2-6-2 poll which is a shame because V2’s are my second favourite steam engines, so if I’m allowed a late vote you can make it 17 for the V2. I didn’t have a strong opinion on the tank as long as it didn’t have copper on the chimney! I like the idea of a diesel vote - you could even make it five votes for Types 1,2,3,4 & 5 to keep the competition going. Andy

I think because there’s no competition for the tender loco and for the tank loco, an example from that other railway might win and that would never do!

I’ll go with the Q6.

I’m not generally a great fan of the BR standards from an aesthetic point of view but the 2-6-4 tank is an exception. Great performers too. So they get my vote. Andy

I think you’re right. I’m sure they were out of stock when I ordered the sides but seem to be back in stock now. Question is, should I use p38, p39 or p40? http://www.southernpridemodels.co.uk Andy

Catering cars are about the only Mark 1s that haven’t all been produced RTR - some interesting vehicles out there. Mine is a D.700, one of the original batch built in 1951 for the festival of Britain sets.