wainwright1

On second thoughts, I think that the Blue Circle wagons may have been 20 four planks and four five planks. I have 2 or three different four planks and one five plank from Wessex Wagons. Will be making my annual inspection of the works to see how the Oldbury's are coming on and anything else of interest. See you Sunday. Ray

I have a few of those Blue Circle wagons as well. I think that they had about twenty five planks and four six planks. They did not have very far to travel, up from the quarry south of Newport to the cement mills on the side of the Medina. Must have looked interesting running through Newport Station, bearing in mind that they were probably the only P O wagons on the island. In theory they should be end tippers, so we will have to employ rule 1. I shall be over on the island this weekend with a visit to the steam railway on Sunday. All the best Ray

That is before being lettered up as a dedicated brake van for the weed killing train, I think. What are the origins of the left hand one ? It does not look familiar. All the best Ray

Last mention I saw was January 2021. Ray

Is that Sandown ? Ray

Did the one on the LMR carry Longmoor livery ? Ray

Keep up the good work. Ray

Very pleased to get this update. I hope that Rails do a second run of the the two vans in the original Wainwright lead grey livery (one with the experimental iron doors), as I was not quick enough to get my order in for those. Thanks Ray

Looks like the original Model Railway Club test track.

I believe that the Hornby-Dublo coupling was based on the PECO one, as too was the British TRIX one. All the best Ray

I ordered some steel rod and brass tube from Squires yesterday afternoon. Delivered by the postman this morning. Excellent service. All the best Ray

Hi Tom. I have Branchlines 0 and 01 kits put by, but could contemplate another 0 especially if it were a quick build on a proprietary chassis. It could also be painted in either simplified green or battleship grey which would eliminate the stress of trying to do it in full Wainwright, although I would probably do that later with a kit and using South East Finecast Wainwright transfers. Again, I have two SEF kits put by for R class locos, but would consider another one if it would be a quick build. Which chassis have you designed it for ? I was going to use two Branchlines accurate chassis for the kit ones and the generic chassis that they come with for two re-worked plastic bodied R1s which I have been working on. (Must get them finished). I also have a Wills Finecast body / SEF chassis H class 90% built which i need to finish. That can go into simplified green or grey as well. All the best Ray

Hi Tom. What's the availability situation on the F/F1/B1 and O classes, have they progressed ? An O class was used on the pre-inspection of the line before the Hawkhurst Branch was opened with Col. Stephens and friends sitting on the front buffer beam with their feet on a board tied to the buffers with a rope ! There are also a few other pictures of them on the line. I am still tinkering with the working bus ideas and waiting for some more bits to arrive. I found another supplier in this country who deals with Faller, SOL Expert and KKPMO parts, so I can order items at perhaps slightly cheaper prices and do not have to worry about foreign exchange and excess postage charges. Hopefully, should have some steering units which will suit 8ft wide buses. All the best Ray

There are pictures of two ex-LC&DR six wheeled camping coaches at Amberley I recall seeing.

I see the next Terrier has arrived at Rails - black BR early logo ex Isle of Wight. Looks good apart from the top section of the chimney which appears to be a smaller diameter than the base section. All the best Ray

Hi Les. For weathering the brass work, try using Humbrol enamel matt varnish with some matt black added to it with a perhaps a little of their weathering Oily Stains. These are all compatible. You can do it once and see how it looks and if still too shiny go over it again but apply it patchily. This will allow some of the brass to still show through with a bit of sheen whilst making it look mucky. All the best Ray

I hope that they are not bi-degradable !!!!

I still think that this livery is much too light. Ray

Some London Chatham and Dover 6 wheelers had the centre wheel set removed in Southern days. The alterations included the fitting of two diagonal braces on the sole bar and the foot board would have been continuous. All the ones that ran on the Isle of Wight were converted to 4 wheelers, as per the ones preserved on the steam railway, although those are I think grounded bodies which have been remounted onto shortened utility van chassis. All the best Ray..

I have shown my commitment by ordering two. The SE&CR ones, full Wainwright, not the museum one I did not want it too shiny, and the battleship grey one. Fingers crossed that they get the assembly right without anything being twisted. They will take pride of place on my Hawkhurst layout. All the best Ray

Any sign of these coming yet ? All the best Ray

I have two ex homeless cats, both Toms. I was looking after four outside, but one died and the other disappeared, I presume also passed away as he had been losing muscle, possibly thyroid or kidney problems. The two remaining ones are now nice house cats. All the best Ray

Have you seen a new Isle of Wight book which I picked up at the Ian Allan shop last week. Isle of Wight Railway Art by Roger Simmonds, published by the Transport Treasury. Softback £14.50. Despite the title, this is a book of railway photos virtually all previously unpublished. A lot of them are early post WW2, so there are pictures of all the lines including the ones that closed early on. It is laid out line by line with a useful selection of views, generally of good quality. There are quite a few shots of terrier 13 Carisbrooke working trains on the Ventnor West Branch, so you can pose your recently issued Hornby model. I hope that this is of interest. All the best Ray

I think that the 1959 and 1962 stock had similar bogies and under frames so they would not have to do too much work to motorise them as well. The Isle of Wight liveries have all been done before as static models and they may still have the printing tools for them. Then just need to change the numbers All the best Ray

Tested my two new ones that afternoon. Both appear to run very well. Just one observation, there seems to be a lot of side play on all three axles allowing the body to swing out at each end. I do not have access to a layout at the moment so cannot run them through points with a train to see how they perform and what configuration the loco takes up when it runs through the curves and reverse curves. Any comments All the best Ray