Straits Settlements

Taken me best part of two years to get round to finishing my AJModels L&Y 27; but here it is - finally! Overall I'm very pleased with the way it went. The smokebox door came without dogs, but little bits of Plasticard strip soon cured that. The most frustrating bit has been getting rid of the print lines on the boiler etc; which I haven't fully succeeded in doing; but I'm hoping a bit of careful weathering will help to disguise that. The prototype loco, 52285 was based at Moor Row in West Cumberland; but withdrawn in 1952. So I guess it would never have received the early emblem, but I prefer that to BRITISH RAILWAYS - so Rule One was invoked.

So, do I take it that Peco have started supplying Parkside kits with plastic wheels, as opposed to the metal ones plus bearings we used to get from original Parkside? A step backwards, IMHO. John D.

Gosh; I think that's worse than mine. I think perhaps I might have been able to save mine, with T-cut, IPA and cotton buds, if push had come to shove. But, I shouldn't have to; and, thanks to very swift and pleasant service from Hattons, I don't have to. A replacement, pristine D7662 arrived today and all seems well.

Yep; don’t know what happened there. The pics are right way up in my photo library.

Just received my weathered two tone green version from Hattons (not their fault, I guess) and am quite disappointed. Yes, I should weather it myself; or I should have waited until I could see one before ordering. However, I ordered ‘off plan’, so to speak, based on my previous completely satisfactory experience with a weathered Metrovick from Heljan. I’ve attached some photos. The bits that have been presumably airbrushed are OK, but the job seems to have been spoiled by some very clumsy work with a dirty wash. Horizontal brush or cotton bud marks on the body sides, for example; and what’s that gouge through the yellow warning panel on one end - over vigorous use of a worn out cotton bud? I was inclined to try to make the best of a bad job, but seeing all the correspondence on here, I think I’ll be seeking a refund. In addition, though Heljan say the loco is good for radius 2, I think their instruction sheet should be much more explicit about how you actually fix the couplings so the loco can pull a train without detailing the wagons and just which pipes etc need to be removed and how best to do that. Yes we can adapt and bodge, but that shouldn’t be necessary with a £160 loco.

Early this year, as it looks like there won’t be an ex L&Y class 27 RTR for the foreseeable future, I acquired a reasonably priced Bachmann C class and an AJModels (via Shapeways) print of the body. On arrival the print looked pretty good, but I more or less parked, as I was busy with other things. When I finally got back to the project, I realised the print lacks the smokebox retaining clips ( or clamps - instead of a dart), which are quite characteristic of almost anything that emerged from Horwich (or Derby and several more for that matter. Andrew at AJM has corrected the CAD at Shapeways; but they’re not going to accept a return at this stage, especially as it’s had a coat of grey primer. So, before I embark on the DIY route, does anyone know of a supplier of these small items? I’ve looked at the websites of most of the usual suspects and found nothing, but may have missed something. If there’s nothing out there, the DIY route could involve small pieces of Plastikard micro strips. Alternatively, I have a Bachmann L&Y radial tank that could act as a template for moulding the clamps. I thought of putting a blob of Maskol on each clamp, or maybe over the whole smokebox door, then using the peeled off Maskol as a mould for tiny amounts of Milliput or Plastic Putty. Has anyone ever tried such a thing; would it work? many thanks John D

Funny, I thought the proper engines lived at Upperby, not Canal.

Carlisle Someone just remarked, ‘...must make a model of it...‘ Try this for

Coniston

Inappropriate on here, perhaps; but, line side somewhere near Scout Green, Westmoreland; with the sounds of Peewit, Curlew, Skylark and Spring lambs regularly broken by a seemingly endless procession of ex LMS motive power storming towards Shap Summit. John D, aka ‘Straits Settlements’

LNW Webb Coal Tank, or Furness ‘Cleator Tank’

Does anyone know if AjModels are still producing their Ex L&Y class 27 and 28 3D prints. I can’t see any recent reports from customers or entries on their blog. I don’t want to fall into the trap of ordering something online from someone who is no longer trading - once bitten, twice shy. Thanks John D

Any sign of these 13t hoppers from Parkside yet? Got it into my head they were scheduled for release in June. John D

Great stuff! Looking forward to catching up on the latest developments ‘in the flesh’, so to speak. 43008

Attached, a couple of photos from the fateful day, fifty years ago. Aged sixteen, my dad drove me, my mother and a family friend to Aisgill. Frustration with the number of people milling around soon gave way to a decision to make the pictures about the crowd as much as the train.