CKPR

Work, both mine and that of Mrs CKPR to be, together with social engagements, gardening and work on the house, not to mention the heatwave, have all conspired to bring modelling to a halt so no progress on the '517'. in recompense, here's something I did earlier in the year - a couple of NOS Prototype Models buildings made up rather more skilfully I hope than I when I last attempted them back in 1976. Here's Chalford station building and goods office (with apologies for the usual wonky Macbook picture).

If it's any consolation, I purchased your Clayton kit after selling my Heljan one !

I use Barkeepers Friend or Astonish powder , which seems to be much the same thing only cheaper, then a good clean up with Cillit Bang or Shiny Sinks.

Hmmm, Mr Rice's breezy instruction to amend the clearance in the spectacle plate to clear the new round top firebox involved rather a lot of work in practice but we're getting there. In the meantime, a visit to the aged P's in Keswick and a quick scout around their attic has produced a lovely Geo.Norton turned brass dome, ostensibly for a Dean Goods but seemingly spot on for a Swindon 517 rebuild (that's GWR standardisation for you), together with a LWB GWR round top firebox safety valve bonnet - those hours spent rummaging through the trays of fittings at Norman Wisedens old shop in Greenfields have finally paid off. Mind you, the fitting of these might have to wait until next weekend as having mown both front and back lawns, your writer has necessarily partaken of four bottles of rather good French beer...

I wouldn't say I was a collector of HO brass but since my North American interests run to logging lines and interurbans, I've ended up buying a handful of S/H brass engines (Sudyam, Westside & NWSL) as the motive power for my projects.

The 'booking hall' looks like it is based on a GWR 'Standard' station building, which were quite small buildings but it's certainly under-scale, much like the contemporary Tri-ang railway buildings.

Worryingly practical I know, but having built two BTPs in 4mm (OK, M&CR No. 26, which was a very close copy), I reckon this would be non-starter as space is very limited in the boiler and firebox. I ended up putting a 1220 motor in the well tank under the cab and bunker and running a drive shaft to a Branchlines enclosed gearbox on the front driving axle. It took an awful lot of work to build, needs a bit of adjustment now and again but runs like a sewing machine.

I'm really just summarising the above posts and Kidner's excellent monograph on the topic, but the main pre-grouping companies that seemed to have been involved in selling on old 4w and 6W coaching stock were the Met. (due to electrification ?), the GER, NLR and the LSWR with the NER selling to minor lines within their own area. The only other one-off large transfer of 4w coaching stock that I recall off the top of my head was ex-M&CR stock to the Nidd Nalley and this might have been after the grouping.

I'm looking for the set of W/M castings for the GWR Dean Goods backhead and cab fittings as produced by Mallard / Blacksmith Cheers Dougal [CKPR]

I've got an actual BR1D numberplate going spare if Hornby are interested in purchasing it from me for reference purposes...

Expect an update this weekend - Friday evening is earmarked for fitting the now assembled firebox/boiler/smokebox to the rest of the body whilst Mrs CKPR-to-be is out on her third WI jolly of the week.

Started actively modelling again (Mrs CKPR-to-be is in Prague this weekend visiting daughter, hence I've got the kitchen table to myself) and returned to where I started back in the mid-1970s. Long before I knew anything about the M&CR /C&WJR/FR , my first layout, which was much influenced by Dave Howsham's "Porthleven", was a Cotswolds GWR branch line with Prototype Models buildings, a Hornby pannier tank, a Tri-ang clerestory coach and whatever wagons Wrenn decked out with 'G' and 'W' on the sides . Then I saw Bill Hudson's 'Tideswell' at the York show and went all Midland, after which I became more interested in punk rock and hi-fi and gave up active railway modelling until the mid-1980s. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the M&CR and 'Mealsgate' but the latter is still up in Cumbria and so I thought I'd build a small 'out of the box' (i.e. no scratch building of entire engines, coaches, wagons, etc ) pre-grouping GWR layout just for fun. For motive power, I am building the Mallard / Blacksmith Models kit for the '517' class 0-4-2T and immediately decided to do it as a Swindon rebuild as described by the inestimable Iain Rice in the November 1980 copy of MR. The main alterations required are a parallel boiler and firebox and a new bunker - you can see the parts for the boiler / firebox/ smokebox awaiting assembly and if I can't get my 60W iron to do the job, Mrs CKPR-to-be might be getting that miniature kitchen blowtorch she has been coveting for her cake making activities rather sooner than she thinks !

At last, a use for that DC Models Derby Lightweight kit I've been trying to sell !

There was a separate transfer sheet with the relevant 'North Eastern' lettering x 10 , which I think was produced for the bulk pack of ten kits but which occasionally turned up on its own.

I have vague recollections of an injection moulded kit for an 0-6-0T at least being advertised in the early 1980s - R&R models ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALBION-MODELS-KIT-BUILT-BRASS-GW-GWR-0-4-4-TANK-LOCOMOTIVE-KIT-nn/362317660399?hash=item545bd0c0ef:g:qCUAAOSwCmRa9ssD So, basically nearly 3x the price of the same kit as currently available brand new from Roxey Mouldings...

Much as I love Carry On and seaside postcard humour, I've always liked the gentle humour of the names of the places and stations in Trollope's Barchester Chronicles - Winter Overcotes is spot on for a GWR station, with Winter Underclose just down the line and not forgetting Shearing Junction for the line to Worsted.

I've checked my RMs for 1963 - 1967 and can only find Lakeside (May 1965 p126-127). I recall that the others were in the 1961 & 1962 volumes, which, needless to say, I gave away a few months ago.

"British Railways layout plans of the 1950s Volume 6: West Coast Main line and branches" published by the Signalling Record Society in 1993 has sketch plans for all of the stations on the old Furness Rly and the rest of the Cumbrian coast lines.

Iain Rice Peter Denny Roye England P.D.Hancock Edward Beale C.J.Freezer 'Pop' Keyser John Aherne Mike Sharman Barry Norman

If you want green and red engines side by side, then Linefoot Junction is just the ticket as it's where the Cleator & Workington Junction Rly (mostly worked by nice red Furness Rly engines) met the Maryport & Carlisle and their idiosyncratic stock of nice green engines. Moreover, that's green as in 'Mid Quaker Green', which appears to have been pretty much the same as Mid Brunswick Green...

Like inside valve gear on the GWR, the near absence of PO wagons on the North Eastern Railway is a very good reason for modelling the NER. Or was until Coopercraft bought the moulds for the Slaters kit of the NER 20t hopper wagon. I'll get my coat...