wainwright1

Hi LBSC. Saw your appeal for a Kernow 02 in Southern livery. I would have liked one of those to, but they seemed to sell out very quickly and they have never re-run them. I did ask the question a while back as to whether Kernow might produce some more 02s, especially the Isle of Wight ones in malachite and olive liveries. I would imagine that these would be quite good sellers and of interest to you as well. They do need to sort out some weighting issues with them first to get the best performance out of them. Your Shalfleet Quay looks like the making of a nice little layout. I always like to to see Isle of Wight based models and have seen quite a few over the years. The range of 3D printed rolling stock currently being developed should help produce a realistic scene, though I don't think that a set of Oldbury coaches would have got down there. I note that you are based in London, not sure if that is North or 'Sarf' of the river. Don't know if you are a club member, but we have a club based in Walworth and are working slowly towards reopening, hopefully in the not too distant future and always welcome new members. Anyway, hope to see Shalfleet on the exhibition circuit once it is ready. Exhibition, what is that ? Haven't been to one for ages. All the best Ray

Glad to see that you are persevering with the F class and hope that you can strengthen the tender to prevent the deformation. Once you have it sorted, I may be able to order one. I think that loco drive would be preferable over tender drive. The latter can cause a number of problems. All the best Ray

On the BR ones this is the strengthening bracket behind the buffer and not the buffer recessed into the buffer beam., On the other types there is nothing at the back of them. Ray

Hi All. I have acquired five of the Hornby terriers and am very pleased with them. There are a couple of Rails ones which I would like to get, but I have been put off by the reports of the assembly problems, in particular the twisted footplates. Without wading through all the previous posts on this blog, can anyone advise if these problems are particularly prevalent on certain locos or if they afflict all the types ? I think that the problems with the running on the Hornby model are due to the rather flimsy pickups they are using which are not very positive in maintaining contact as the wheels move from side to side. This problem is not exclusive to Hornby, as I have found that those on Hattons P class and Andrew Barclay and some other recent locos are very similar. Have other members found the same problems ? I have made careful adjustments with a fine pair of tweezers, but avoided applying too much pressure as they will snap off. All the best Ray

Hi Ian. On the previous two issues and on these new ones the tops of the tanks have been re-tooled and now show a slight step where the cladding is attached to the tanks. The guard irons at each end have also been altered so that they now have a smoother shape. The originals were quite severely kinked , excessively, which I think was done to allow the sand pipes on the original condition types to fit in the right position at the front end. The thing that was not done, although may have been done for the latest models, is to have the buffers recessed slightly into the buffer beams. Something which I would have thought to be the most obvious and important correction required. All the best Ray

That should have read running round. Ray

Hi All. Unfortunately I can't get to my exhibition layout at the moment, locked up in our clubroom. Can anyone advise if the chimney on Rocket will clear the Wills tunnel mouth ? Also, has anyone fitted alternative couplings. Obviously if running on a layout you cannot do this using the couplings provided. All the best Ray

The farmers come for his pigs, Where are they ? Roxey mouldings does a kit for Gladstone. It was one of a pair used on the Kent and East Sussex Light Railway. But you probably already know that and I expect that yours costs a considerably lot less. Keep up the good work. You're definitely not wastin' your time. All the best Ray

I thought that they had made powder paint illegal as the little kiddies could inhale the dust. I always found it quite useful for modelling jobs. Not seen it on sale for quite some time. All the best Ray

I don't think anyone has commented on this further. I got my latest edition of the Hornby Collector Magazine today. Inside their is an article on Rocket which includes a picture of the replica loco and coach taken at York and low and behold, the yellow of the loco and coach are different ! So Hornby have got this 100% correct. For those who may not subscribe, there is also an article in the current (July) issue of Backtrack magazine on 'The First Train on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.' This includes a good selection of drawings of the early rolling stock, including four different types of roofed coach, including a mail coach, one open 2nd class coach, a road/rail coach, a private carriage on a carriage wagon, a double deck sheep wagon and a pig wagon ! I wonder why wagons for pigs were not perpetuated ? All the best Ray

Hi Johnster. I think that your SR large lettered van has the correct wheelbase. Ratio also do the three versions as kits, but I cannot remember if they do a 9ft wheelbase chassis for their even plank version. If you wanted an ex-SE&CR van with the 9ft 6in wheelbase chassis, there is a very nice kit available from Cambrian Models as per the one on the left. The wagon on the right is the seven plank on the same chassis. All the best. Ray

Hi Johnster. Don't forget that Bachmann have produced models of the three types of Southern vans: even plank, 2 + 2 plank and the plywood version. These are all on the 10ft wheelbase chassis. They have not produced the even planks on the 9ft wheelbase chassis which the earliest ones were mounted on. The Southern vans were evolved from the last type of SECR van, the Maunsell/Lynes design which had hinged doors and a drop flap door and these were mounted on the then standard 9ft 6in wheelbase chassis. The 2 + 2 planked and plywood ones were built post 1936 so never carried the large letter style livery only the small lettered type. I think that Bachmann have only used the large lettering correctly on the even plank one. They would all have been painted Southern chocolate brown livery in SR days, and again I think that Bachmann have done this on all their models. They would have been painted bauxite or grey in BR days as appropriate if they were fitted or unfitted. I was aware that vans were also built for the GWR and LMS during the war and these would also have carried their small lettered livery. I think that Bachmann have also done these correctly. (Though Dapol have not). I do not think that I have seen any reference to the building this type of van for the LNER, though I could be wrong.. Although I think a few may have been built later for the Longmoor Military Railway. All the best Ray

Go on, you know you want one. Were the cylinders that good ? Someone will have to produce a fireman figure in his vest hanging out of the window. Ray P.S. I like the moggy, I've got one of that type.

Bring on the Southern prototype electric locos. All the best Ray

I was getting worried as well, phoned during the week and luckily got the manager. He confirmed that the Ian Allan shop is due to re-open on Tuesday 7th July with reduced opening hours, 10.00 -17.00. All the best Ray

The wires on mine were very still, so perhaps single core ? Not ideal as they will break very easily, I would not think that they would use anything so inflexible. Ray

And me. Ray

I seem to recall that this model took several years to get into production after it was first announced by Tri-ang-Hornby. Ray

Slaters used to do several PO wagon kits and I think that you could buy the chassis separately. I don't know if they did one with this specific configuration, or if they have recovered the tools for these kits from Coopercraft. An enquiry to Slaters might help, or can anyone advise ? All the best Ray

Hi All. Just to add that the presentation box is quite a complex construction in itself and mine seems to be trying to pull itself apart. Not sure what they stuck it together with, but it is not holding very well. The outside brown protective box is a tight fit and also made of a very soft cardboard. I had opened it very carefully with a flat edge so not to damage it but still had trouble getting the presentation box back inside. In fact the main flap at one end just squashed up. So be careful. All the best Ray

Hi All. Tested mine and it runs well, although with my old Tri-ang Hornby controller it does run like a rocket ! I did attempt running up several gradients as well and the loco seemed to be able to haul itself up successfully without slipping. Everything is very fine and fragile and needs handling with kid gloves. In fact one of the bottom coach foot steps fell off. On inspection, very little glue, so a minimum scrape to remove the original adhesive and a spot of superglue and it was back on again. I found that the coupling bar between the loco and tender was quite floppy and did not think that the tender would stay coupled up, although it seemed o.k. when I tested it. The wires however are quite stiff and were lifting the front set of wheels on the tender off the track. A slight adjustment and that was o.k., but I think that a further tweak to ease the tension will be in order, being very careful not to strain them and break the soldered connections. Observations: I only had a quick look, but I suspect that the models are moulded in yellow plastic rather than painted ? The loco seems to err towards egg and the coaches to lemon, not quite the same shade, but I do not think that anyone will want to repaint them. The luggage rails on the roof and those coming down from the roof onto the long steps on the ends of the coaches are etched and very fine. The other steps and brackets are I think moulded onto the ends. These have been picked out with black paint. However the edges of the steps and some of the fittings have either not been painted or painted badly. Looking at pictures of the replica coach used in 1980, the steps and brackets below the big steps should be black all over. The edges of running gear items, springs etc., have also only been painted on their front face and not the top and bottom edges, but these are not so noticeable. For the purists, these items could be picked over using a very fine brush carrying a minimum of paint so as not to get it where it is not wanted on the yellow areas. Now the only issue there is the finish on the black which is neither matt nor satin, maybe about half way between the two. Perhaps the Tamiya flat black black might do it as it has a slight sheen to it ? All in all this is a superb model and I would not expect our manufacturers to produce anything more detailed which could be used as a regular running model. Perhaps one of our enterprising figure makers could produce a replacement crew (slightly different pose to avoid copyright issues) in whitemetal with the same spigots on the feet and a plug weight to go down the chimney which would add some extra weight and aid the traction for the model ? Well done Hornby. Looking forward to the open coach and maybe other additions. Ray P.S. I believe that the long couplings go between the coaches and the short ones between the loco and coaches. I am glad that they have not fitted NEM boxes. They would have ruined the models. Has anyone made up their own couplings yet using fine chain and hooks ?

These were not Airfix wagons, they were new tooled by Hornby and mounted on a Gloucester style chassis, albeit not up to current standard having the V hanger stepped. This chassis has recently been replaced by a new more realistic one, though not to a Gloucester style. This is unfortunate as when Hornby produced their first Huntley and Palmer's Peckett they also produced a H & P wagon which was relatively accurate. This sold well, so they decided to produce another H & P Peckett in a limited edition set with three H & P wagons. Of course they had now changed the chassis, so the wagons were no longer accurate. Hornby have produced multiple issues of the Maunsell 2+2 planked van supposedly in Southern large lettered livery. These vans were not built until 1936 onward, so never carried this livery and Hornby also painted them a bauxite colour instead of Southern chocolate brown, doubly incorrect. Hornby also produced a three plank drop side wagon a couple of years ago painted in S.E. & C.R. livery. The wagon number used (illustrated in the S.E. & C.R. wagons book) was for a drop door not a drop side wagon, but there is drop side wagon illustrated in the book which would have been a dead ringer ! On the good side, not long ago, Hornby and Oxford both produced a North British open wagon. Guess who got the livery right, Yep it was Hornby, the Oxford was much too light grey. All the best Ray

Martin. If I recall correctly, Evostik also do a waterproof version of their Resin W PVA glue. I think that it comes in a dark blue bottle. Ray

Will have to test mine tomorrow. Ray

I wonder if Hornby might also do a Second class version with bench seating inside ? It would make a simple addition with minimum additional tooling investment. Ray