Norton961

I will dig out some photos mostly taken at Wellington. If you PM me your email address I will send some that way. What period are you aiming for? David

From October 1961 Shrewsbury acquired a number of Jubilees from Bristol Barrow Rd shed : Eire, Bengal, Shovel, Rooke, Galatea and Kempenfelt and they were used on all sorts of trains from the Paddington to Birkenhead expresses, Central Wales to Swansea down to the stopping trains between Shrewsbury and Stafford as well as the services to Wolverhampton. I was pulled by Kempenfelt on the semi fast to Wolverhampton. There were also stoppers from Wellington to Wolverhampton using Wellingtons locos (Pannier tanks, ex GW 2-6-2s ). David

Very nice, but I am not sure how a Swansea Victoria train would terminate at Wolverhampton. The Swansea Vic trains usually terminated at Shrewsbury if they went onto Wolverhampton they would be reversing at Shrewsbury. I would suggest a more likely service would be a Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton (via Wellington) stopper or semi fast. In the mid 1960s there was a regular Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton semi fast which I travelled on ( living near Wellington) this could have anything on the front ( all usually Shrewsbury allocated locos) including County 4-6-0 and Jubilee 4-6-0s. I spent my teenage years train spotting at Wellington, Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton so am familiar with the train services of the area. David

Second go at weathering after renumbering using spare numbers from the Lilleshall transfers from Coast Line models. David

Have now renumbered and applied more weathering to the Limestone wagons. The numbers came from the recent Lilleshall Wagon transfers fron Coast Line. David

David, yes they will all be renumbered. David

I had a go at some weathering on my Lllleshall Co Limestone wagons, this is the first pass with more to follow once I have sorted out some transfers to renumber them. The Humbrol paint mix I used was No 34 White, with a dash of No 40 Pale Grey which just killed of the harshness of the white. Comments please.

My friend David Boorman bought a MOK kit and I was staggered by the quality and crispness of the lost wax castings ( no whitemetal parts at all). The instruction book is also a work of art. I wish 4mm kits were of this quality. The wheels are fabulous. in the past these MOK kits have been produced in small batches and some of the previous kits are no longer avaliable, so if you want to buy one do it now! David

Stephen, thanks for posting that film clip, fascinating. Not just the Lilleshall wagon but the whole freight train, I was intrigued by the D1 single plank wagons with what looks like ballast. David

Lots of Industrials had removable cab backs so in the summer the crews would not be boiled. I have lots of photos of Lilleshall No 10 both with a cab back and without. I have noticed this on other Industrials. David

Brian, thanks for the clarification of the different types of Limestone. The Lilleshall Co sourced it’s Limestone from a number of sources, mainly from a quarry called Nantmawr near Oswestry and Presthope near Much Wenlock. The Lilleshall blast furnaces did not produce steel. i will do some experiments and start with white and add a tiny bit of slate grey. Thanks David

I am happy weathering locos, carriages and wagons and have a number of mixes that I use. However I now have a number of wagons to weather which carried Limestone and am unsure what colours to use. I have plenty of photos showing the weathering patterns but assume that white would be to harsh, so what colours should I use? The wagons I want to start on are the Bachmann Lilleshall Co Limestone wagons. David

At least they have made a good job of the radiator grill, this is the one area where the SLW one is sadly deficient. The rest of the model is excellent but the grill is awaful. Why it’s awfull is the 3 vertical bars, on the outside of the grill, not visible on the prototype! I have written a book on the Class 24s and 25s and have hundreds of photos and non show 3 vertical bars on the grill. Otherwise an excellent model.

Also try The Railway Observer they make interesting reading.

At least they have made a good job of the radiator grill, this is the one area where the SLW one is sadly deficient. The rest of the model is excellent but the grill is awaful.

Chris, I used a HB pencil. It also shows where you have rubbed. David

Gentlemen, thank you for your input. I have now decided that the ironwork for my Lilleshall Co wagons will have black ironwork and have now spent some time painting all the ironwork black. I have posted some photos of the wagons in the Industrial Railways section on the Lilleshall Co thread. David

I have been making progress on some Lilleshall Co wagons using the transfers I commisioned from Coast Line Models (these are available to all) on some Cambrian and Slaters wagons. I used Humbrol 174 for the body colour and after some discussions about what colour the ironwork should be I painted them black. Now there is a way to madness as its a very tedious jobe and easy to make a mistake. I found out the hard way that the transfers need to be taped down on the model at both ends and in the middle (top) to stop the sheet moving whilst rubbing them down. To be safe I have applied a thin coat of satin varnish over the transfers before I weather them. The brass underframes are from Brassmasters (drawn up by Martin Finney) and are Gloucester underframes 1907. I have also finished a Hanwood Colliery wagon (Cambrian with Coast Line transfers) as its relativly local and there are very few PO wagon transfers for East Shropshire. David

I have made some progress with the *F, some details added (smokebox door handle, whistle etc) and have now painted and numbered it. Still a little work to do (glaze cab, fit rear steps etc). I have also been workingh on some Pre group wagons, all Cambrian Models. The transfers for the Hanwood wagon are from Coast Line Models and the Cam Rys are from the Welsh Research Group. I commissioned the Lilleshall ones from Alan Jones at Coast Line models and they are now generally avaliable. The etched underframes are from Brassmasters and are suitable for Gloucester and RCH all prior to 1923. David

Stephen, The Lilleshall Co hired in lots of its wagons but I think some were bought, but it also had its own wagon repair facility. However they had over 350 internal wagons so I suspect the wagon repairs were mainly for the internal use wagons. They still had dumb buffered wagons in the internal fleet in the early 1950s. I don’t know if the company who hired out the wagons to the Lilleshall Co would let them do repairs without authorisation, but perhaps the hire fees were adjusted if the Lilleshall Co did the repairs. A very confusing situation! David

The general view is that most PO wagons had the ironwork painted black when first built and the wooden parts painted (usually red oxide, but not always) in the livery required. However was it common for the wagons to be be overhauled and repainted with the ironwork painted in the body colour? I am told that the GSWR did this with there grey wagons, built with black ironwork, but when overhauled the ironwork painted the body colour. So the question is does this apply to PO wagons? David

I have now tried out a set of the transfers and they work well but it raises a question. I have painted the wagons and then applied the transfers, but should the ironwork be painted black? The Bachmann Lilleshall Lime wagon has the ironwork black, but the photos I have looked at ( there are only a few to look at) don’t seem to make it clear. It’s a bit embarrassing having started this thread that I don’t know the answer.

Dave, the fact that the original body did not have a bottom to the boiler was not on, so it’s the 2nd generation Hornby body but the front fixing needs removing. I have re used the rear body fixing you added to the chassis. David

This loco, allocated to Stafford shed and will be numbered 48755 had a Fowler tender so it will be a little different from my other 8F. This model is well travelled and must be the ultimate in collaborative modelling. My friend David Borman built the chassis (Comet) and tender (Brassmasters) . Dave Holt detailed under the cab and modified the front pony truck. I then fitted balance weights to the drivers and the cylinder drain cocks (both Brassmasters) before painting the chassis. The body is a Hornby one with lots of additional details (mainly from the Brassmasters 8F detaing kit) plus some Comet etches and has been modified to fit the chassis. Still needs some work on the body before painting particularly around the steam pipes into the smokebox. The eagle eyed will notice the grey body is different from the black one as it has the boiler bottom.

The Coast Line models transfers have now arrived and I have made a start on the Hanwood Cooiery first ( I am doing 2 Hanwood). The big issue now is to get the colour for the Lilleshall wagon colour sorted out. A number of wagon bodies have been completed, just need spraying. Alan Jones at Coast Line tells me the Hanwood transfers have been selling really well, ( he has had to order a second batch) presumably anyone modelling the Cambrian area can justify at least one of these.