Adrian Wintle

The bogies on the outside-framed Siphons are reasonable representations of GWR 9' bogies, but are actually not appropriate for MOST o/f Siphon Gs (they mostly seem to have had 9' American bogies). You could move the bogies from an o/f Siphon onto an inside-framed one, and get some 9' American bogies (the CooperCraft ones from their Monster kit are a cheap option, MJT and others do more expensive options) for the o/f Siphon. Adrian

The only real issue with the LMS underframe is that the centre of the truss structure is too wide. The verticals line up with the edges of the doors when the should be at least a scale foot further towards the centre of the coach. Adrian

Some models of the Flex have a white roof - it gives it the look of a 'supersized' mini. Adrian

I would guess, and it is only a guess, that they would be used on an 'as required' basis, and so would have been attached to whatever train was appropriate to get them to their destination, with or without any supporting wagons depending on where the raw materials would be coming from. I doubt if they would have had a dedicated set of wagons as each job would have had different demands. Adrian

I recall cross-ply tires singing very well on concrete road surfaces over here. Adrian

This isn't a hindrance in Toronto. They will cut the concrete, do their work, and patch with asphalt... it sort of defeats the concept of a homogeneous poured concrete sidewalk. The latest trend is to 'beautify' sidewalks by re-laying them in brick/pavers, despite the very visible evidence that these are totally stupid sidewalk materials in an environment that gets frequent freeze-thaw cycles and encourages the use of salt or other ice melters on the sidewalks (and the utility companies still patch their holes with asphalt rather than replacing the pavers...) Adrian

Still available over here, at least. Not quite the same, but the local (well, in Toronto) cookie bakery has a shop where they sell seconds at a discount. Cadbury's 4-flavour chocolate bars disappeared a few years ago, as did Peak Freans Coffee Cream biscuits. Adrian

Re. Headlights Daytime running lights (DRLs) have been required on cars in Canada since 1990. These can be low-beam headlights, half-power high beam headlights, or separate marker lights. The various schemes tend not to turn on any other lighting (like tail lights). The idea is that you can see an oncoming car at a greater distance, particularly in misty, hazy, gloomy, or hot (heat distortion) conditions. While the DRLs do have that positive effect, there is a small proportion of the driving population that fail to turn on their headlights at night because their DRLs are on - this means that they have no tail lights. I run with headlights on at all times (dipped, of course) so that the tail lights are also on. The Subarus that I've owned are nice in that the headlight system is switched on the ignition, so when you turn off/leave the car, the headlights go out and there is no chance of having them drain the battery. The Toyota I had before that implemented the DRL requirements by turning on the lighting system (including tail lights), so it had the same effect - the only time I had to turn on the light switch is if I wanted high beams. Adrian

The Wintle family name appears to have developed in the Forest. My ancestors on that side were miners, both in the Forest and in South Wales. Adrian

Also Panther Hobbies. These are my three primary stores. Adrian

I mostly use my local (i.e. within 45 miles of home) hobby shops. I can get (or order) just about anything mainstream through them. I try to visit model shops in other areas when I'm visiting them (including two of the ones in Portland when I was there last - they are good). Adrian

Here is another http://trainsferriesbuses.co.uk/wrdh.htm Adrian

Note that the Fleischmann Class 42 is not 4mm, it is 3.5mm (HO). Adrian

It doesn't have destinations or a set number. According to my 1980 ABC it is set 805. Adrian

The running numbers are W50304/W59122/W50329. Adrian

That's about the best description of it. Adrian

It is difficult to model them effectively due to the tighter than prototypical curves that are used on model railways. This means that 1) the loco-tender gap is typically wider than prototypical, and 2) the relative motion between the loco and the tender is exaggerated. I have seen them modelled on some of my friend's A4s as a piece attached to the loco that will slide over the tender - on the A4 they can be almost horizontal. On some locos they were obviously a fixture - the NRM City of Truro includes the supports that were fitted to the tender for the rear edge of the cab sheet. Adrian

Are you going with two ventilators per compartment or one? If I remember correctly, the second ventilator was removed fairly early - around the time that the coaches were repainted into the first plain chocolate and cream scheme (they were originally in the pseudo-panelled scheme). Adrian

Gibson milled frames are just that - the frames. You also need (at a minimum) hornblocks and spacers. Adrian

A quick look at some of the detail maps shows that a lot of it is subtly different. Looking at map 17 as an example, the alignment is different by less than 200m, and it appears that the newer route requires more engineering works (viaducts across a floodplain rather than avoiding the problem). On map 11 the alignment is the same, but the track is at a different height, changing cuttings and embankments, and appearing to require more extensive changes to the affected roads (A41 and Blackgrove Road climb up and over the ground-leveltrack rather than being dug down slightly to under the track running on an embankment). Adrian

Aside from a changed alignment at Brackley and at Litchfield, the main line seems to be the same as the previous set of maps (based on a comparison of the master plans). The alignment into Birmingham seems to be the same too (except perhaps at the terminus end). Adrian

This would have included stops at Kingskerswell (maybe), Torre, Torquay, Paignton, Goodrington (probably), and Churston, as well as a slog up the bank south of Goodrington, so 45 minutes isn't unreasonable. Beyond Plymouth I believe most (all?) trains stopped at all stations (even the Riviera). Adrian

I forgot to mention the one major exception to newer stock being Code 55 ready - MicroTrains! Until very recently, MT stock (and replacement trucks) were supplied with 'pizza cutter' wheels, requiring replacement with MT low-profile (or other) wheelsets. For a while the rolling stock was supplied with a set of low profile wheelsets in the box, but they stopped doing that. This year they switched to a new standard wheelset that will run on Code 55, but has slightly larger flanges than their low profile wheelsets. If you are buying replacement trucks, ones in the older packaging (blister on a card backer) will have 'pizza cutters' unless identified as having low profile wheels, while ones in the new moulded plastic packaging will have the new wheelsets. All new MT rolling stock has the new wheelsets, but be prepared to replace the wheels on older stock. As well as the MT Delrin wheelsets, Fox Valley Models (FVM) and BLMA both make very nice replacement metal wheelsets that will fit into MT trucks (0.540" axles). Adrian

An option I've used is the MJT working corridor connectors. The retracted and boarded Stanier gangways are fine, but the extended replacements that came with the later runs of the coaches tend to be pre-warped and seem to have shrunk duing cooling - I find they need modification to fit the coaches. Adrian

Most modern wheelsets will handle Atlas Code 55 with no problems. Some slightly older stuff will have problems (eg. my LifeLike FA2/FB2s are getting NWSL wheels). Fitting decoders to most relatively current North American diesels is trivial - drop-in or minimum-work solutions are available, and the advent of the TCS CN and CN-GP decoders has made it relatively easy to add decoders to a lot of older split-frame locos. MicroTrains (formerly the Kadee N line) and others make knuckle couplers and conversions to get rid of the (now almost extinct) Rapido couplers, and there are various replacement trucks to facilitate coupler conversions for older rolling stock. For Code 55 you also have flex-track and points available from Micro Engineering (ME) - I particularly like their bridge rail. I'm laying ME Code 70 rail on my dual-track main line to allow me to run some of my older steam locos (where modifying wheel flanges/replacing wheels is more problematic), but otherwise I'm using a mix of Atlas and ME Code 55 for the layout. Adrian