wainwright1

Hi Teak. Just picked up a new Isle of Wight book today. 'Locomotives of the Isle of Wight Railways.' Authors: TP Cooper, JCH Faulkner, RJ Maycock & RA Silsbury. Publisher: Crecy.co.uk. Price: £25. An excellent book covering all the locomotives used on the island, including the Pier Tramway, departmental and industrial diesels and the underground stock. Good coverage of the early period, and lots of pictures including some colourised ones which look good and some which I have not seen before. Very useful and well worth the investment. All the best Ray

Took the loco down to the club last night, but did not get a chance to run it. Put it on the track to see what it looked like and found the tender binding. On closer inspection found that the brake gear had dropped down. Pushed it back and it stayed, does not appear to have been glued. Had another look this morning. Gave it a basic test and it ran very nicely with good slow gearing, unlike some of the other more recent offerings from the trade. The detached tender buffer is now glued back on, but I noted that the NEM coupling is missing its hook. This does not bother me too much as I normally take the hooks off the locos used on my exhibition layout as it makes it easier to uncouple trains. On more major problems I found was that the offside forward sandbox on the loco appears to be adrift. This is in an awkward place with the steps right in front of it and the pipes are attached to other places. I tried pressing it up, but it does not appear to locate into anything. It would be difficult to get glue under it without getting it onto other areas which might be visible. I do not want to have to break something else in order to repair it. There are also two silver marks on it. Not sure if it is made of metal and they scratches, more likely plastic and it is silver paint where it should not be ? I will leave it as it is to see if it causes any problems and can easily retouch the paintwork will a suitable colour. I checked the cab roof and it is attached reasonably well, but only to the spectacle plate, there does not appear to be any glue to the side sheets. In general I am very pleased with it, especially the rendering of the livery. I could not do a paint job like that ! All the best Ray

Hi Matt. That's starting to take shape. If you can, stick the sections together with polystyrene cement and solvent to hide the joins. (Ideally done before they are permanently stuck down if possible). A little variation in the shades of the sets works well and the Wills plastic moulding lends itself to having some rendering applied between the stones either with paint or dilute filler. Perhaps finish off with a light dressing of weathering powder. Keep up the good work. All the best Ray

My full Wainwright arrived this morning. Had a quick scan, looks very nice, but one tender buffer adrift in the box. That seems to be par for the course. I wonder if there is a tight spot in the packaging ? Have to go out now, but will take it down the club tonight and hopefully give a test run. I do not have a layout at home to test it on. Not sure when the SE & CR Battleship Grey one will come. All the best Ray

Yes please !!!!! Ray

I think that they have them all, but are only releasing one type at a time. Ray

Hi Graham. I am pleased to see that. As I said, I tried to find verification, but the only drawings I could locate, and there were several on the HMRS site, all showed the 'coat hangers pointing inwards towards the axle. That's good to know. Many thanks Ray

Had a call this afternoon. They are still dealing with the Wainwright liveried ones and dispatching that one to me, but not the SE & CR grey one yet. I think that they are releasing them in chronological order. All the best Ray

Hi All. First I would say that I have four of these on order and have been waiting a long time and am looking forward to them. Looking at the first image I am very impressed with the detail and finish. On the second image something is irking me. I will now stick my neck out and will probably get my head bitten off. Those elements which look like coat hangers are I think the wrong way round. The brake linkages should be attached to the them from the inside and when applied they pull the four brake shoes in simultaneously. I have tried to find some plans showing these type of fittings with great difficulty, but managed to find some drawings on the HMRS website: One example https://hmrs.org.uk/20-ton-goods-brake-vac-fitted-16ft-w-b-24ft-o-h-brake-gear.html which seem to verify this. They all show the coat hangers pointing inwards and I have not found any pointing outwards. Though even on this the brake linkage is fairly complicated. I have some of the ex-Mainly Trains etchings which include these fittings and I was planning to fit them to a Parkside SE&CR prototype utility van, so want to make sure I get this right. Not sure if these 'coat hangers' are a completely separate item and hopefully this is just an assembly error, although they are not very visible in normal viewing, so I would not worry about it too much. No doubt one of our knowledgeable members will be able to verify this. All the best Ray

Me too ! Ray

Thanks for that info. Thinking about pre-grouping locos in general, would the same go for the J26 and Hornby's Q6 ? I think that it has been confirmed that Hornby's 700 class could be done in LSWR livery, albeit probably unlined black. Now could Bachmann's 'Super D' be done in LNWR livery. That would probably be plain black as well, like their ROD ? Still waiting for the Coal Tank in lined LNWR livery. All the best Ray

Could this be accurately produced in NER livery ? Ray

Hopefully they will print the lettering straight this time, not at an angle. That was the reason I did not buy the first one. All the best Ray

Well loaded tender ? Ray

I was told some years ago that when they were restoring the loco to SE & CR condition for exhibition, they could not find a correct pattern chimney, so had one manufactured in wood ! Also that they restored the lubricators at the front of the loco, as original condition, but left the later ones inside the cab. So it has double lubricators ! Now a question. It has been confirmed that there are traction tyres on the front drivers. They don't last forever, will these be available as spares ? Just waiting for my two to come. All the best Ray

That's a nice selection. Do we know what the location of the ex-LC & DR camping coaches was ? I know that there was a couple at Amberley. All the best Ray

Hi Rob. I assume that the bigger machine will also allow you to produce some larger stuff in 00 ? Perhaps something exotic, like the LS &SCR 12 wheeled Directors Saloon as preserved on the Bluebell Railway though not in original condition. I think that it is covered by one of Mike Kings drawings. Equally unusual, the LB & SCR overhead AC electric stock. Several types and I do not think that I have seen a layout featuring this. Mike King drawings available. Something that would be really good for our Crystal Palace High Level layout would be the original 1925 Eastern Section 3-SUB Electric stock (units 1496-1524). Only two coaches bodies to design, Driving Car and Trailer, with underframe differences for the two driving coaches. Again there is a Mike King drawing. Ours would have to be in lined Southern livery and I do not fancy doing the yellow/black lining, very fine and wrapped around the end corners. We can but hope. All the best Ray

Its a great pity that Hornby did not follow through with an accurate version of the Stroudley 4 wheeled coaches using correct grab handles and without making any silly mistakes with buffers and footboards. Then once these had sold in probably three liveries, went on to modify the format to represent other companies stock. Obviously allowing for the established length of coach and style of panelling, the separately moulded end detailing for the brake coach was the main thing that was easy to vary with optional alternatives and underframe brake gear etc could also have been easily varied. They could also have produced the composite coach rather than the totally incorrect length luggage brake, although perhaps that might have come later if a shorter chassis was viable for several different vehicles ? All the best Ray

Hi Rob. Just had look at your buildings thread which I had not seen before. Got some very characterful models there. I like the look of them especially the saggy roofs. Gave me the impression that the technique would produce some very nice buildings for an 'Oh Mr Porter' type layout. The dilapidated station and signal box and maybe a haunted windmill would make some of yours look tidy in comparison. I like painting buildings, especially where you can work up the variations in brick colour and the rendering. The technicalities of 3D printing are well beyond my abilities and my rickerty computer would probably have a nervous breakdown trying to handle this type of stuff. With regard to wagons/coaches, my main interest is SE & CR, closely followed by LB & SCR plus Isle of Wight, but I also like to have a small representation of other pre-grouping companies, as their wagons got around. I particularly like some of the more obscure or unusual ones which have not been previously produced as kits. You have quite a few in your range, so a small selection would be nice to have when you have time to print them. In fact, looking at your list, you probably now have a range big enough to rival some of the established manufacturers. All the best Ray

More importantly, how many of these have been test printed ? Ray

Not sure what livery they will be in. Might be army green which would be ideal, just maybe change the numbers, or the nice blue which would be more specific. I would like a few of each to go with my small collection of other military stock. Ray

The track in the picture looks fairly new, not sure where it is. Could be at the west end of Haven Street near Train Story, or might be at Smallbrook Junction, as I believe that they put in a temporary connection for the works that have been goi8ng on for the 'Main Line.' I am sure Will will let us know. All the best Ray

Any more inspirations Matt ? All the best Ray

That's inspirational. What have they used for ballast in the last picture, looks almost like beach shingle ? I will be over on the island in October. All the best Ray

Anybody heard anything about them being distributed yet, seems very quiet. All the best Ray