wainwright1

Hi Neil. I would certainly like a Joyce, if that ever happened. With these new machines, do they offer a greater range of materials that can be printed ? I know that there are various types of plastic, nylon, resin and even metals that can be used, although I suspect that some of these are only suitable for top end machines. Then there is what is being used to produce the S.E. & C.R. vans for Rails, which I believe is a new type of material. It all gets beyond me. All the best Ray

Hi Colin. When you say 'The redundant parts go straight into the plastic recycle bin.' I hope that you mean the spare parts box ? Modellers never through spare mouldings away. Looking forward to the next part. All the best Ray

Hi Neil. No plans for Joyce then ? Have you got Brian Cox advising you on the planets ? All the best Ray

Hi Neil. There was another one of these called Joyce which was based at Waddon Gas works I think and is the one preserved at Shillingstone masquerading as an S & D one. It had some differences, with round spectacles and a little thing above the front buffer beam. RT Models may do a chassis which fits this. All the best Ray

Hi Kevin. Did I see another book of RC Riley pictures, something like Southern Steam Around South London due out from Transport Treasury soon ? All the best Ray

Hi Sem. I think that Cyril did around three books on track plans which all had several editions. I have always been a bit wary about the radius of the curves especially on the smaller layouts, as they can be ridiculously small and if you built a layout as per the plans the overhangs on coaches coming around the bend would look awful. All the best Ray

Hi Colin. Very interesting, but I think that you need your own blog for this, so we can follow all the details in a logical way, and look it up quickly when required. All the best Ray

Hi Lacathedrale. This is I think one of the ex-LSWR cut and shut sets still at work in the 1950's at Crystal Palace High Level. This is one of the ex-SEC&CR sets. Somewhat different. All the best Ray

Hi Lacathedrale. Pity you are doing 2mm. In 4mm Ajay models are doing a resin cast version of the Southern Section 3 car new build sets. I am kit bashing 2 x 3 car sets for the ex-SE&CR cut and shut sets using Ratio Midland all third sides and Kirk 2 BIL front ends. Also contemplating having the roofs 3D printed. Will also make a trailer set, which for these sets was apparently made up from an ex SE&CR coach and an ex LSWR one ! All the best Ray

Hi Lacathedrale. My last observation was obviously wrong as the Nutcrackers were LSWR built. However, I am not sure if they perpetuated the pointy fronts on the cut and shut sets which were re-built from LSWR coaches ? Awaiting comments. All the best Ray

Hi Lacathedrale So you want the 'Nutcrackers' ? I assume that these are the 1928 stock. I cannot find Mike King's address at the moment. Try this for email: mike.king12@btinternet.com All the best Ray

Hi Lacathedrale. Not sure precisely which sets you are looking for. I am not an expert but basically, there were new sets built early in SR days when they were extending the third rail network. It was then found too expensive to build all new sets, so a programme of building stock by cutting and shutting existing loco hauled coaches then took place. These three car SUBURBAN sets were run with two car trailer sets during the rush hour. I have an old Mike King list for his drawings, but I do not think that he has added many new sheets in the last few years so it probably has most of them on it. This list has the following: 1925 Eastern Section 3 SUB units 1496 - 1524. (New build steel sheeted). 1925 Western Section 3 SUB units 1285 - 1310. (New build steel sheeted). 1928 Ex-LSWR 3 SUB units 1658 - 1701 1934-40 Ex-LSWR 3 SUB units 1201 - 1284 1928 Ex-LBSCR 3 SUB units 1631 1657. 1925 Ex-SECR 3 SUB units 1401, 1525, 1601 etc. (Built from mostly ex-SER 6 wheeled coaches). Bulleid 4 SUB units 4101 - 4110. (Queen of Sheba with sloped front). Bulleid Post War All steel 4 SUB. (Flat fronted) I think that these details are correct, the list only provides limited details. N.B. The cut and shut sets were built from panelled coaches, so did not exhibit the smooth steel sheeted finish of the new build or later Bulleid sets, apart from the front sections, guards/luggage compartments et al. I hope I go this right and that this is of interest. No doubt someone will point out any errors. All the best Ray

Hi All. My regular postman told me that they will resume delivery of letters on a Saturday from next week. All the best Ray

Hi Tony. Any progress since your last post ? All the best and stay well. Ray

I have an exhibition layout of Hawkhurst and have been waiting for an 4-4-0 to complete the required stud of locomotives. I have pre-ordered two of these which will be used to haul the hop pickers specials into the station. Of course there was no turntable, so they will have to draw the trains out tender first as per the prototype. The pre-production pictures look very good, so the models should be well up to the standard of those already available and in service of Hawkhurst. I do have South Eastern Finecast kits for the D and E in my maturing cupboard, (and a C), which are very good kits with nice etched chassis. However, I could never paint and line them in full Wainwright livery to the standard of these models, so those can either be finished in unlined green or battleship grey, much more achievable, at a later date. Now looking forward to their arrival, hopefully not too far in the future. Ray

I have been contemplating investing in a couple of these new terriers and have noted the various faults found as compared with those on the Hornby version, several of which have now been corrected. Looking at this head on shot, I was wondering if, rather than the chimney leaning to one side, perhaps the footplate actually dips slightly on the right hand side and the smokebox/chimney is leaning with it ? The problem of the sagging/twisted footplate has been picked up earlier by several new owners, so perhaps a side on shot would confirm it one way or the other. It seems that the method of construction and assembly have produced a model which the manufacturer needs to assemble very carefully to ensure everything stays straight and square. So when I buy a couple of these the first thing I will do is check that everything is sitting straight. Pity I cannot buy them from my local shop, as I could then check them in the shop before taking them home. All the best Ray

Are the Bachmann suburbans the right length ? I have a feeling that it was the Replica ones which were the appropriate ones. Ray

Hi Stuart. You are lucky to have one of these kits, I think that only a handful of them were produced. I have one of those resin kits as well. Again I think only a limited number were made and each one had a certificate. The trouble with these is that they started out banana shaped, though from memory it is not from distortion, I think that the mouldings are much deeper at the ends and they droop in the middle. I think that if some car filler were put inside the cab ceilings there would be enough meat in the ends to perhaps rub the roofs down on a sheet of fine sandpaper or wet and dry laid on a sheet of plate glass or similar to gradually re-shape them to the correct profile. They did include internal detail, although a lot it was twisted or out of correct alignment with the sides. However, it would give the approximate details for a more accurate model. There was an article in the Railway Modeller many years ago where someone had scratch-built a 4DD which included scale drawings. He had commissioned whitemetal castings from ABS including the unique bogie sides and I was able to contact him a few years ago. Unfortunately, he no longer had the masters for the castings. I know someone else who has one of these MTK kits and someone else who I think has two of the resin ones. Happy modelling. I look forward to seeing the results. All the best and stay well. Ray

Hi Colin. Even more fun when researching our Crystal Palace High Level layout. I am not sure what all the original boroughs were, but the Southwark part was then Camberwell and forms the centre of the map in a tapering vee shape with Crystal Palace Parade on its East side and the high level station on the West side At the North-east end is now Lewisham, on the East side is Bromley, on the West side is Lambeth and at the South end is Croydon. Originally a slice of the western side of the palace grounds was in Southwark (Camberwell), which meant that the whole of the first class passengers subway which remains intact was in Southwark. The boundary was moved a few years ago, so that the boundary now runs down the middle of the parade and therefore places the eastern half of the subway in Bromley. This has caused problems with public access to the subway as the only access was from the Bromley side and they have not been very co-operative at times in allowing access for open days, London Open Weekend etc. Fortunately, I believe that Southwark have now restored a staircase and one of the previously bricked up doorways on the West side, so there is now an alternative means of gaining access. I do not know what other boundaries may have been moved in that area. All the best Ray

Hi Sem. One thing just crossed my mind which I should have picked up straight away. It concerns the location of your proposed tram depot and railway station. Up until 1963, when the Greater London Council was formed and the metropolitan boroughs merged into larger councils, the area you want to feature was in Camberwell, not Bermondsey ! Sorry. All the best Ray

Still waiting for mine. RB

Blimey Kevin, surprised you have any time to do any modelling with all that book writing and publishing. A few years back Tramalan used to sell such useful items as drawn grooved tramway rail and sprung working trolley booms. I think that the owner retired. I do not know what happened to all this stuff and whether somebody still has the tools. They also used to sell the Faller steering units for motorising model buses etc. All the best Ray

Aah, yet another local ! All the best Ray

Colin. I had a nice chat with Danny Pinnock last year and he still does some of the etched kits occasionally. I managed to get three of the London Chatham and Dover 6 wheeled coaches, so I can now complete the three sets of coaches that I need for my Hawkhurst layout. He also still does the 7mm kits in small quantities. He may still have some etchings for the Wisbech and Upwell tramway loco and coaches available in 4mm and 7mm.. I do not think that the MBF would take on the manufacture of the bus kits. Their shop(s) were run by a couple of old boys who are gradually retiring and the range of kits and parts they sell is shrinking. Although they would probably like to sell the kits and parts again if someone else takes them on. I will float the idea about the rail kits to see if there is any interest in them. All the best Ray

Thanks for that Colin. I saw the Mercury Tower Wagon on there and the STL open topped converted tree lopper. Fortunately, I already have one of each of those in stock, as they used to be available through the Model Bus Federation Shop until a few years ago. Is somebody taking over the whitemetal bus kits. They seem to be in a bit of a twilight zone these days with the large range of resin kits being produced. We must not forget Pirate Models who produced quite a range of bus kits and also some underground tube stock kits quite a few years ago. A range which I would particularly like to see again are the railway wagon kits that Danny Pinnock made (D & S range), they were very good. I think that this is giving Tony plenty of food for thought. All the best and stay well. Ray