Thane of Fife

Good morning all I like the Triang clerestorys as basis for cut and shut projects. Six composites make five 8 compartment coaches. Then modified ends and roofs give a NER rake. Seating strips, flushglazing, new roof ventilators, cast metal bogies, and attention to underframe, give a reasonable result. Now I need to combine brake ends into a NER brake. I also have some rough and ready GNR artics from Howlden originals. These need new roof construction. Malcolm

Hiya Manna I do have a model of a Dreadnought 4-6-0, which I bought to be rebuilt & repainted. It is stored in the roundtuit cupboard. I have decided to rework the valve gear of the 4-6-4T, using some Comet parts. Malcolm

I have a soft spot for L&Y locos and picked up an old Millholme kit at the Epsom Exhibition. I soldered the screw up chassis and fitted a Mashima 1428 coupled a High Level Road Runner Plus 40:1 gearbox. As a trial I fitted Gibson plunger pickups connected by very fine wire. The chassis runs very smoothly, so I'm pleased so far. I've only balanced the cab roof on for the pic, as I need to construct cab internals.

Good morning all I'm very interested in the P1 build, as I have plans building one myself. I bought a chassis from RSB models about 30 years ago. The chassis is built and runs fine. I first tried converting a Hornby A3, but discovered that the curves in the footplate are different. I then bought an incomplete Wills A3 kit, and "cut and shut" the footplate to give the correct curves. Next problem was that the smokebox saddle was taller than the A3 and the steampipes were steeper. This is where the project lies at the moment. The tender was different to the rest of Gresley's classes. I got a Dave Alexander A3 tender top as part of a cheap lot I bought at auction. The coal rail tender merely needs an equally spaced underframe and a few cosmetic mods to the top. Your attack of the footplate problems gives me fresh ideas on solving my difficulties. Keep up the interesting projects. Malcolm

G'day all An excellent thread. I've often fancied building a M1, and you've given a few tips that will assist me. Malcolm

I have several old Cotswold kits with the solid brass chassis. I replace the lump chassis with sideframe chassis (Q1 with cut down S&D 2-8-0, L&Y 2-4-2 with Gibson chassis, L&Y 0-8-0 with cut down WD2-8-0). I still have the L&Y 0-6-2T in my roundtuit cupboard and will probably find an equivalent Gibson chassis. The sideframe chassis allow the use of HighLevel gearboxes. Malcolm

Evenin' all Excellent Michnich! I model the thirties, by which time the Q10s had been reboilered. Also it's easier to build a round topped firebox. I have cut and shut two SEF J39 boilers to give the basic structure. Malcolm

Evenin' all THe axle spacing of H&B will be shown in the RCTS books. I have the Q10 under construction in late 1920's 1930's configuration with round topped firebox. Malcolm

Watchmakers etc use Renata essence. It dissolves plastic, so only used on metals. Malcolm

I'm building a DJH A8 at the moment and like all the DJH ex-NER kits, shorting out the bogies wheels is a problem. I normally move the cylinder covers out by approx 1mm, and cut away the inside of the cylinders. I am gradually replacing all my DJH slab sided chassis with scratch built brass chassis. It become so much easier to add brake gear etc to thinner frames. The castings are excellent and it's possible to me a good model from them. Malcolm

That's very interesting, asmay2002, I've never looked at post-war rolling stock, wrongly assuming that all clerestorys gone long before. Malcolm

I was banned from bidding by one seller, because I asked if a J70 model was from a Kays kit or of a Hornby model. I suspect that he wasn't being truthful in his description. Malcolm

Good morning all There are so many "what ifs" around: I like clerestory carriages, but they all disappeared well before WW2. I also like articulated carriages and locos and even wagons (there were several virtually articulated bolster wagons). There was a GCR "What if" 0-10-2T Worsboro' banker H&B 0-6-6-0T banker L&Y 0-6-6-0 Mallet spring to mind. This thread has inspired me to build some of my Kirk kits in my roundtuit cupboard. I am also rebuilding one of my early Kirks, to make the corridor somewhere near the correct width. Thanks for your inspiration, Darius Malcolm

Evenin'all The hairdressing/cocktail coach is one I'd like, but they seem to go for high prices. They wouldn't be that old after WWII, so I imagine they will have survived, but were probably converted into something else. Malcolm

Good morning all I have replaced all my XO4s and MW005s with Mashima motors. Sadly, they are becoming scarcer now as the factory has closed. I use High Level gearboxes, and have found that a Mashima coupled to a High Level gearbox gives smoother performance than the few locos that I have left powered by Portescap RG4s. My Nu Cast J27 had the cast chassis replaced by a Comet 4F chassis and is fitted with a Mashima 1420 and High Level Roadrunner plus 54:1 gearbox driving the rear axle. Malcolm

Twenty D1s survived nationalisation. The last one was withdrawn in 1950 (32359) from Dover Thane of Fife

Hiya Manna You're right!! I've found that six with large boilers and tall cabs were sent south in 1920-1 for ECS working. They spent the rest of their careers in the London area. They were also painted lined green. Well done Malcolm

I think the R1 is an interesting design. I like the high cab as fitted to the rebuilds with a larger boiler, when they moved away from London. Most of the rebuilds were fitted with cage tops to the bunkers, but I've seen pics at Colwick without the cage. I started a R1 a long time ago. It was built around an old Cotswold Q1, with plasticard tank, cab, and bunker. However, I then decided to convert the Q1 to a Q3, which left the boiler free. I now need to scratchbuild a footplate to take the spare boiler and plasticard add ons. One small point is that I'm not sure that the R1s worked in London with the high cab. I'll research that and let you know, but Edgware is your railway, and you can run what you like. Keep up the good work, for I get inspiration for my own conversions from efforts like yours. Malcolm

I think that locos are often over-lubricated. I have bought four Bachmann split chassis locos, which were not good runners, cheaply from an auction site. After stripping down, cleaning the muffs, and lightly oiling with thin oil, they run very well with good haulage properties. Malcolm

Good morning all I would like to say a big "Thank You" to Ian Kirk for producing his range of coaches. They have given me much pleasure over many years. It's somehow apt to add it to this thread, as the first kit I bought was for the restaurant triplet. I bought it in Horsham, probably close to 1980. It's been upgraded with MJT bogies and articulation pivots, but it's still basically as supplied. Also, thanks to Darius, as his threads have encouraged me build some of my roundtuit stock. Malcolm

Hooray for you Darius I have used your line; "I just enjoy.........." many times when people ask why I build kits rather than buy today's excellent RTR models. There is something very satisfying about looking at model and saying to yourself; "I built that myself". Moving on; I will miss Kirk kits, when my stock is exhausted. They are easy to build, and with a little effort can produce a very detailed model. Malcolm

Evening all It's a superb build of the Kirk triplet. However for the purist there are problems. The 1924 set had recessed doors. The 1928 set was as the build, but with turnbuckle underframe. The 1938 set had angle iron underframe, but with a longer kitchen car. Thane of Fife

Good morning all You certainly are jumping into the deep end, Chris, with building valve gear on your first kit. I built a few inside cylinder locos before attempting a K3 (J39, J72, J52, and D21) followed by an O4 with outside cylinders only. Take your time and don't hurry the valve gear. These days I use 14BA screws to preliminary assemble the gear, after constructing two LHS valve gears for a V2. The choice of a High Level gearbox is ideal, I use them all the time. The Comet chassis are very good, I have used them to replace the cast chassis that was supplied with many old kits. e.g. the 4F and Jinty chassis fit NER locos. Thane of Fife

Good morning all Mallard was not fitted with a corridor tender in LNER days. I'm not sure of the exact date of the change. One point about the SEF tender, is the fire iron tunnel on the LHS. This did not exist on the corridor tenders. Firemen normally storing the fire irons in the corridor. Thane of Fife

I bought my first kits from Passmore models in Coulsdon (Bob Wills old shop). He actually gave me a Triang L1 chassis from a broken body to go with the "NEW" release GEM D21 kit. I later bought kits from Modelmania in Norbury, and Hobbytime at West Wickham, before discovering Model Railways at Kings Cross. I have remembered and appreciated all the advice that the shop keepers gave me fifty years ago. Since returning to railway modelling on my retirement ten years ago, the only model that I visit is Alton Models, which requires two buses or a train and a bus. However, there is a pub worth visiting at Alton, so I enjoy my trips, and the Mid-Hants railway will soon be reopening the Alton section soon. Thane of Fife