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Thanks for your recollections . I was working in an office in Central London and we were hermitically sealed from the outside world . No radio allowed . It would have been unthinkable to have to have tv in a office at that time .

Congratulations the Johnster , a lot of progress and things achieved in a short time . Your mention of the risks involved, threw me back to the Aberfan disaster . The scale , the terror and the enormity of the tragedy and disaster are haunting. A small feature was how insulated we were in those days when at work . The disaster happened around mid day but I knew nothing of it until the 6o’ clock news that evening . What a contrast to today .

I agree the 14xx was another incremental improvement. My wife bought me one from K’s ( the mail order firm not Keysers). It must be 40 years old ( cracked record time on antiquity) . I carved the top feed off and converted her to EM gauge . She still runs today but is noisy in reverse despite my adding thrust washers to the gearbox shaft . I bought some replacement plungers a long time ago and that has helped . I think I got them from Dapol in its early days . Like The Johnster , I added crew to hide the magnet which I painted black . Much later I built an etched brass chassis for a second 14xx with a small can motor but that wasn’t a total success. But that’s what I call experience .Others might call it a mistake.

I bought an Airfix large prairie 45 years ago and applying the standards of the day was very pleased with it . My memory suggests that small can motors were in the future. It would be 5 to 10 years before they became available and I recall being astounded by the power of the early Portescaps . So I was satisfied with large open frame motor cos that was all I could afford and buy It is easy to forget how standards have come on in the last decades .

I’m still ecstatic!

Wow , wheels to Ultrascale/Gibson standards ! Now , if they may be arranged to fit on extended axles for EM …. bliss . Fran , you mention stay alive- will that work on analogue ? Pardon this stupid question from a dinosaur. Merry Christmas to all and especially Accurascale buddies .

This is an outstanding example of a manufacturer listening to ( constructive) criticism and responding well . It should be an inspiration to all . Your continuing output in terms of quality and quantity is prodigious. Keep it up , stay safe , stay well .

Wow ! Well worth waiting for . I have two on pre order and will wait longingly for delivery. My cup will run over if they are easy to convert to EM ; alternative brake gear perhaps ?

Was “M” day really “G” day , or did I misunderstand?

I never worked on the railway but I did spend time watching goods trains shunting at Mitcham . The C2X would draw its train into the headshunt which fed a fan of sidings . The shutter/Porter would select a cut of wagons or a singleton van . The C2X would push them and stop whereupon the cut would slowly trundle over the points and into the desired siding . Now this was all dependent upon the shutter running alongside and applying the brakes by leaning on his shunting pole . So it went at , say , 4 to 6 miles an hour. Shutters had to be athletic to repeatedly cover the ground including walking back to the engine for the next cut. So my memory of the railway is of things moving at a slow pace but obviously workers wanted to get the job done . They weren’t intentionally slowing down but as the Johnster says there safely concerns ( not today’s Elf and safety ). I concur with the Johnster about the value of today’s RTR and their slow running . Cromulent !

Great conceptualisation and execution, in very short timescales ! I’ll look forward to updates on this and the 3100 .

According to today’s Times , it was a “gathering “.

When I was a teenager I bought a model aero Diesel engine . I wrote to ask the manufacturer, What is the temperature and pressure in the cylinder ? They replied “Very hot and very high”.

This dilemma ( of conflicting data sources ) reminds me of advice given to me by a politically savvy boss . He said “Consult and hope for conflict amongst the views given and then pick the one closest to what you want to do”. Put another way , look at the sources and then Rule 1 applies !

Which is a shame as W. E. Jones was a feminist . Yes that’s right.” Worrals “, one of his creations , was a female pilot who , if I recall correctly , shot down a German fighter over England … probably while delivering a Spitfire as an ATA pilot .

Sorry , I beg to differ . Von Stalheim flew in WW1 and in WW2 and survived . Biggles rescued him from imprisonment by the Russians in the Cold War era . Obviously they knew the secret of eternal youth .

Erich von Stalheim is aloft in his Messerschmitt 109G . ”So, we meet again !”

Grandma and eggs time again . Might a possible use of ”the short siding “ be to store brake vans ? Or is that inappropriate as the minerals are already inside private sidings ? Or another use might be a siding for cripples . Enjoying the vicarious excitement of conceptualising and planning . Ken

Love “ cromulent”!

I endorse Barclay’s post . My LRM axles were aluminium and only needed light skimming as I described. I had also used a reamer on the horn blocks and the untreated axles jammed in them . After my bodge , they fitted .

I recently converted a kit built OO gauge loco to EM gauge by substituting Markits EM gauge axles and reusing the original wheels . It worked a treat .

Amanda take heart from the previous posters who are willing you on . Let’s remove some of the difficulties. First , the Wood Tech jigs are very good but you can get by without one .,The coupling rods , LRM axles and excellent design of the High Level kit mean you don’t need one . Secondly , you will need an EM gauge back to back gauge and a pack of spacing washers to take up the slack between the chassis and the extra width of the EM gauge axles . I have a spare of both , so send me a PM and I’ll post them on . Next some personal decisions . Do you want to build a simple or compensated chassis? Both work in EM gauge BUT imho they need weight to make them work . So as long as you add something like lead to the Jinty body , be assured both will work in EM gauge . Next Gibson or Markits wheels ? Both are good and work in EM gauge . Grandma and eggs time again but I guess it’s simplicity against cost ? In my experience, you will need the GW wheel press tool to make a success of Gibsons . You also need some care ; to countersink the crankpins; to countersink the rear of the wheels ; to radius the end of the axles and something like Loctite to secure the Gibsons to the axles . You said you have time and patience and will read the instructions… so you can do it . As against that , Markits with EM gauge axles set the the b to b and the quartering for you . But it’s extra costs. I infer that you want the satisfaction of building a compensated chassis ? If that’s so , I encourage you to go for it . Sometimes you need to jump in and then solve any issues as they arise . Again in my experience, compensated chassis need extra weight to make them work. But the impression of stability they give is worth any extra work . One further point . I haven’t seen the High Level chassis so don’t know if they come with cut outs for their horn blocks or not . If not , you will need to cut/fret the spaces for the horn blocks . Personally I use a piercing saw for this and don’t know whether you have one or not but it can be done in other ways . Think on and let us all know how it goes. All the best Ken

Amanda possibly Grandma and eggs time , if so I apologise . My axles with pointed ends were fractionally oversize and wouldn’t fit the horn blocks . I spun them in a drill with Emery paper held against, which did the trick . I found the springs supplied were too strong and used Woolworths aluminium hair clips instead. When setting up the coupling rods , you may need to take them off repeatedly . Instead of using the crank pin nuts , try off cuts of the insulation from small electrical cable . Finally , pick ups . I’ve only used wire pick ups and find this stage problematic . It may be useful in the first instance to bypass them temporarily with wires direct to the motor terminals . Then , when satisfied you know if there is a problem later , it’s the pick ups at fault . Good luck and please let us know how it goes . Ken

I endorse Jon’s suggestion of Roxey screw shackles for wagon loads . I used small offcuts of small brass tubes to represent the shock absorbers . Edit for typo .

Who dares , wins !