wainwright1

The underframes on the 6 wheeled coaches with oil pot lighting definitely look a bit spartan when they have not got the running boards fitted. It is curious on these Hornby models that the turned metal buffers have been left bright and shiny, whereas on all other models I can think of for quite a while have had them chemically blackened. Not a problem to me as I usually paint mine anyway to get a model realistic finish. Ray

Got mine before Christmas. Try Oxfords own site. Ray

Most interesting announcement. Bellerophon is well out of my area of scope in southern England, but I saw and photographed it when it visited the Bluebell a few years. Quite an attractive locomotive and something out of the usual, so I may place an order if it is not too expensive. Ray

I cannot say that I recall any of the SE&CR bogie coaches on the Bluebell having Mansell wheels. The 6 wheeled guards break requires a substantial rebuild as its timber chassis is warped. I believe at least one model manufacturer has measured and photographed it though. Ray

Hi All. Without wading through reams of posts, has anybody been able to identify the lengths of all the coaches in both the Hattons and Hornby ranges so that we can work out which ones might be nearest to accurate of the generic offerings ? From my limited knowledge I know that the L.C. & D.R. had 28ft and 30ft 6 wheeled coaches (with I think one exception), but of course they converted a lot of them to 4 wheelers later in life. Did any other companies do the same thing ? They also had square panelling which I do not think is covered by any of these offerings so far. Which other companies used square panelling ? One thing perhaps not already covered, is that there is still plenty of scope for both manufacturers to expand their ranges and produce more variants, including differences in panelling and perhaps roof styles if they can be accommodated presumably using alternative end mouldings. I am sure that some of the suspect roof arrangements with incorrect positions of lamps etc can be corrected, and Hornby might even upgrade their brake gear a bit to improve the appearance. At the end of the day, you can pay your money and make your choice, but there is going to be plenty of mileage in these models. Ray

Well done Gibbo, that looks very nice. Ray

Hi LBSC 123. Are you contemplating any of the new Hornby 4 wheeled coaches which are said to resemble the LBSCR ones quite well, apart from the grab handles ? I have not seen any good detail images of them yet, but have provisionally ordered a set of the LBSCR and LSWR liveried ones from my local supplier. Will go nicely with Terriers, E4s, Adam Radials and M7s, with a bit of modellers license. They are only doing their 6 wheeled ones in Southern livery at the moment, but no doubt 4 wheelers later. All the best Ray

I believe that the Princess class loco pre WW2 which was the pinnacle of the Hornby 0 gauge range, suffered badly from this fatigue with a lot of the wheels disintegrating. Probably difficult to find a good one these days. Ray

Need to get rid of the steps. They should have tooled a new body or provided for alternative details in the chassis tools. Ray

Rail Blue was 'orrible, from the boring blue and grey period. Thank god there is a better selection of brighter colours these days. Ray

They certainly look good. Ray

Yes a couple of quid at Poundland.

Just checking. Is the preserved car at the Bluebell Railway dismantled pending restoration. I believe that there was a lot of rot that required attention and also a great deal of money needing to be raised to be able to rebuild it as a fully functional catering vehicle to modern standards. Ray

That's serving the entrance for first class passengers only from the back. Ray

A shot taken a couple of years ago. We have progressed further, but been held up by the Covid over the past year. Ray

We built the whole thing in 00 scale and are always looking for rolling stock to run on it. Our period is from 1925 after electrification to 1954, so the appearance of R or R1 class locos would have greatly reduced, although they may have appeared on excursion trains in the earlier days. Unfortunately there are not a lot of photos taken in the 1920 and 30's. There are two pictures of a half day excursion from Cambridge in 1934, if I recall, taken at Honor Oak, with an LNER N1 on the front and two quad-arts forming the train ! However, the R and R1 tanks were also used on the Hawkhurst branch, so I would like a couple for my Hawkhurst Station layout. Ray Blanchard Southwark and District Model Railway Club

Did any of the Stroudley 4 wheelers end up on the KE & SR and so could operate with their terriers ? Or perhaps any of these standard designs from other railways with a suitable re-paint. Possible scope for Hornby. Ray

Should the chassis of the mail coach be yellow. It does not look right ? Perhaps an early rendition. I am sure that the flatbed wagons should not have the footsteps. Obviously an economy by using the coach chassis. Ray

That would be the former Airfix ex GWR bolster wagon. The shock van should have a shock chassis, not a standard one. Ray

Hi Dave. I have just had another look at the livery rendition for the S.E. & C.R. coaches and this still looks too light. I think that the preserved coaches on the K. & E.S.R. were painted a lighter shade, whereas those on the Bluebell Railway were painted darker nearer to the colour used by Bachmann on their coaches. I am a member of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Society and a number of our members are also involved in the coach restoration on the Bluebell and were responsible for the painting of their coaches. A good point of contact would be John Arkell (I can provide contact details if you PM me), who would be able to give a precise specification. After all, if modellers are willing to use generic coaches on their layouts, there is no reason why these should be painted the wrong colour. They may look prettier, but won't give an accurate appearance. Hopefully not too late to change the specification. All the best for a happy and productive new year in 2021. RAy Blanchard

Hi Rob. With regard to the wagon grey colour, they used a lead grey colour in Wainwright days and a darker grey in the Maunsell period. The darker grey is available from Precision, but neither they (or anybody else) does the lead grey. I sampled various shades and opted to use Precision's roof grey for Mk1 coaches, crimson ones only, not the standard one. I have been looking at your prints with interest and would be interested in ordering a few if you make them available. Any chance you might do the converted ex LBS&CR cattle wagon modified to vans as used on the Isle of Wight. I think that there were four of them and one is preserved in Train Story at Haven Street. All the best

Hi Woko. I haver built a couple of the SECR cattle wagons from the D & S kits. These were built in batches and various details changed from one batch to the next, such as the brake gear and the plank gapping at the bottom and in the drop doors, horizontal/vertical etc. I also back dated one of the kits to have the earlier wooden stanchions on the ends of the wagons as opposed to the angle iron ones as cast on. The one on the right hand end is the Maunsell/Lynes one. All the best Ray

Have you seen the latest issue of Model Rail. Layout plan 4 page 93 - Brading Station. Might be of interest. All the best Keep well. Happy New Year and good modelling. Ray

Hi TeakDB. Just had another look at the beginning of your blog. You said that you are on three months leave. Does that mean you will be off again at the end of the month leaving Brading in abeyance ? All the best Ray

That horse box looks like fun. I have one of those put by to build. Not sure what the best way is to solder on the fine bits. I have tried solder paste, but cannot seem to get that to work. I have built two Chatham Kits , the CCT and the Guards Break. The CCT is probably one of the easiest etched brass kits you could build including compensation. The Guards Break was a right b*gger with double overlays that had to be sweated on. There were also some short comings in the etching including horizontal mouldings on the ends which were missing, no etched separation of the goods compartment doors on each side and running boards, but no brackets for them. I made mine out of Bambi staples ! There was however a full set of brake gear fittings and it is possible to build up the full rigging, soldering and adjusting until you get everything in the right place, and it looks nice with the wooden break shoes.