wainwright1

Seriously though, not seen a good punch up at an exhibition since Bachmann stopped selling off their returned stock on their stand.

Normally blood spilt in the first half hour, not to mention cases of concussion from idiots with ruck sacks spinning round.

Surprised nobody's mentioned it before.

Ah the good old days !

Mind you, if someone mentioned Dakota D, that would probably start a riot !

Aforementioned stock seen here.

RB

By the eck, sounds like a cracking night out. 'Bout time you got some beers in from't local micro breweries.

Trouble at mill, na punch up at local exhibition, probably Bexleyheath show.

Millwall were going to send their supporters on an away special, but the regular users complained about the mess they left behind in their rolling stock !

Hi All.

Bought some of the new scenic items from Tasma Products. These include been poles, tomatoes on poles, buddleia and hops, some in 4mm and others in 2mm. These look very good, certainly the part, although the 2mm size ones are a little pricey. However, the latter also suit 4mm gardens and allotments.

My question is, does any one know what the main material is that these are made from ? It looks like a natural material, which is probably dried and dyed, but it certainly looks good. I note that these items are manufactured in Vietnam, so it could be a plant native to there. On the other hand, it could be something that grows everywhere and it would be useful if it could be obtained in bulk at a reasonable cost for doing general plants, bushes, weeds etc. Does anyone know ?

RB

Hi Sandmodeler.

Most definitely still trading. Was in there during the week to pick up some stuff.

Andy normally tries to get orders out by the next day. He is usually in the shop himself on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, (Subject to exhibitions), and has his helpers in on Mondays and Fridays. Normal opening time 09.00 to 17.00.

He is normally quite fast to answer the phone, although he might occasionally be in the store room next door or popped up the road to the post office to dispatch the orders. So just give him ten minutes and try again.

He should be at the Bertha James exhibition in Bromley next Saturday if you are nearby.

Hope that this helps.

RB

Another problem with the smoke oil is that it cools fairly quickly so will not naturally rise and find its way up an extended tube.

I have prepared a smoke unit to fit into the tunnel of a new baseboard I have built for my Hawkhurst layout. To help the smoke rise through a hole in the baseboard inside the tunnel, I have got a small computer fan from Maplins which is mounted onto a piece of PVC pipe fixed to a mounting plate that can be easily detached for re-fuelling. The smoke unit is glued inside the pipe with Araldite which is not detrimentally affected by heat. The fan is rated at 12v, but I intend running it on 9v, so that it will turn over gently just enough to push the smoke through without forcing it out too violently.

RB

Hi Matt.

There is a second problem, in that a certain amount of the smoke oil tends to condense in and around the area it comes out of. So after a period of time, the card around the chimney would become saturated and probably go soggy.  We had a bonfire on a layout with a smoke unit inside it and the whole area around it got soaked.

You could probably seal the card with something, although I am not sure what would be the best thing to stop the oil from penetrating the card. Polyurethane varnish might do it, although that would also be susceptible to damage from the heat given out by the unit and they can get quite hot if they are on for any period of time.

Hope that this helps.

RB

The background does not look like the Hawkhurst Branch and I do think that those tanks were ever used on there.

RB

Want something obscure.

How about the Morris Commercial Imperials with Park Royal body work bought by East Kent. I think that there were around 20 of them and they mostly operated around Folkestone.

I seem to recall that Wythall have the remains of another Imperial, but only the lower deck, but that had different body work. Even more obscure !

R B

Hi Brightspark.

Nice to see this layout re-emerge after so many years. I saw it several times in its heyday and it always looked very good.

I started my Hawkhurst 00 layout over thirty years ago and have also revived it over the last couple of years, but I think that Hope Mill might be slightly earlier than that ?

I remembered that Martin had adapted the single line passing station into a double track electrified line, although Goudhurst always looked like a double track station, but did not remember that he had used various buildings from different locations. One thing that I seem to recall, was that there was a short branch coming off the main layout which I do not see in your photos, or perhaps my memory is playing tricks. Might it have been an extra add-on board ?

The buildings still look good, shame about the station masters house. I have always fancied modelling one of those, each one at Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Horsmonden being slightly different.

Good luck and may we hope to see the layout on the exhibition again some time in the future.

Ray

Lets hope that they apply the right shade of green for the S.E. & C.R. version. The shade used on the Terrier was much too bright. Pity they did not check their test samples against the Bachmann C class which is spot on..

I also had a look at the Coppercraft stall at Railex. Not sure what the position was regard to the plastic kits, but he did have the etchings for a lot of the Blacksmith coach kits and other items such as fencing. I think that he was trying to get the castings done for these, but as has been mentioned previously, not sure how easy it is to identify which parts match which kits. With the loss of other manufacturers such as D. & S. who provided a very good selection of parts from their kits, most of which have fallen into the black hole of Weymouth, it is not always easy to find suitable components from alternative sources.

I did hear from another source that perhaps Coopercraft did not actually own the tools for the Slaters wagon and coach kits and that there might be moves to get them back. Anybody know anymore ?

With regard to Cambrian, I had heard that he was thinking of retiring and asked him at the Chatham show. He said that he was thinking of retiring next year, but was hoping to sell on the business on. He did have a pre-production model for the L.S.W.R. van on show and said that he hoped to have that available in the near future and also produce the brake van before he retired.

RB

Hi All.

I believe that Ewer Street's official title was the 'Grand Vitesse Depot' where fruit, veg and flowers were delivered for the Borough Market in particular and the S.E. & C.R. and its constituents had special express rated Grand Vitesse vans for delivering these types of perishable commodities

RB

I wonder if Oxford have allowed in the tooling for all the possible variants to enable the maximum potential to be obtained from this model ?

i.e. Twin framed; oil burning with oil tank tender and the pannier tanked type used by the military, as well as the inside framed type already shown 

Perhaps some pre-grouping G.W.R. wagons might also follow to match up with the earlier versions.

RB

Hi All.

I have been using Humbrol enamels for around fifty years and would say that they are my favourite paints although the old formulae ones seemed to work better than the new ones. However, you could always get a dodgy tin in the old range where the matt paint would not dry matt however well you stirred it.

I use a lot of paints but have not experienced the stodgy or rubbing off problems, although I have had a problem, particularly with the matt black, which does not dry overall matt, but with shiny streaks.

I agree that you should stir the paint thoroughly, I use a wooden tea stirrer which seems to work well, but I also apply a test patch to a piece of plastic card or similar to ensure that it dries properly and continue to stir and test  it until it does.

There was a blog on RMweb earlier this year related to Humbrol problems and I raised one related to matt varnish. I tested about eight different types of matt varnish some years ago and found the the ordinary matt varnish in the Humbrol enamel range seemed to give the best matt finish, even better than their Matt Cote. I use a lot of,this varnish including adding paint to some to use as a weathering finish. I have had at least four tins where the varnish would not dry clear, but with a cloudy bloom however well you stirred it. I registered a complaint for this on the Hornby web site and they requested that I return the tin to them. They supplied a replacement, but did not answer the details of the complaint. I also returned the other tines to my local supplier so he could send them back with a complaint to Hornby. It would seem that some batches are badly formulated but most are o.k.

If you have this problem or the ones already raised in this blog, I would raise a complaint on the Hornby website detailing precisely what the problem is and make a note of the batch number from the label on the bottom of the tin(s). (The label normally has the paint number, a bar code and the batch number). You can then look for tins of the same paint number from a different batch which may dry o.k.

Hopefully if enough people raise these queries with Hornby they may take notice and do something to rectify these quality control problems.

All the best

RB

Hi Stu.

Note your comments on the Wills flexible brick sheeting. I assume that this is the thinner stuff they sell to provide the roof parts for the inside of arches or the tunnel.

I have only used this once to try to line a tunnel on my new board on Hawkhurst. I could not get it to take the shape and tried to soften it with hot water, but it just distorted out of shape. I did not have any trouble cutting it though. I decided to use Slaters brick sheet in the end which seems to be a little bit more flexible and did the job without any hassle.

I have however found problems with the thicker moulded brick sheets. It seems that over a period of time the plasticiser in the mouldings evaporates out and makes the plastic quite brittle, so when you try to cut it, unless you are very careful  it shatters. I therefore tend to buy new stock when I am going to make something which is going to require a degree of cutting and the newer stuff seems to be softer and cuts o.k. I do not know if the thinner sheet is affected in the same way.

Hope this helps.

Ray

Just picked up this thread.

Coming from sarf of the river, Thames that is, I can recall the following:

W & S Stamps in the Old Kent Road. Penny in the slot train set in the window, good stock of Tri-ang 00 and TT, not sure if he kept Dublo, but he did have some glass cases on the inside of the window display which I think may have contained Exley coaches, but I do not think I ever saw any sold.

There was also the new Co-op in Walworth Road (mid 60's) which had lots of Tri-ang that was sold off cheap a few years later and provided me with a layout equipped with the old grey and series three black track.

Moving to Deptford on the Broadway there was Nobles Toy Shop which was well with stocked Hornby Dublo, Tri-ang, Meccano and much more. In the High Street close to the entrance to the station there was a kiosk which only opened on Saturdays and only sold model railway stuff. I got lots of bits from there when it closed down.

Back to the Broadway in the 90's the was Alpek Models. Alan Bower who was made redundant and decided to open a model railway shop. He was there for a couple of years, but had to move as the premises needed to be demolished to make way for the Lewisham extension of the Docklands Light Railway. We helped him to move to to Evelyn Street. He was there for another couple of years, then the developer next door managed to cut away the foundations of his shop causing it to subside. He then gave up and shut the shop and got trained as a signalman !.

At Lewisham on Lee High Road we had Lewisham Models, a well stocked model shop I think, owned by a woman and employing a young Dave Brewer, later chair of Greenwich and Dist. Narrow Gauge Railway Soc. Much later on almost the opposite side of the road there was Lewisham Toys and Models, mostly diecast and books, but also selling railways for a few years. Porprietor Colin Haynes, who is still with us and still selling by mail order and at bus rallies, but not model railway stuff.

Up the road at Catford almost opposite Lewisham Hospital, there was the Model Hobby Consortium. Not sure who owned this, but it later became a Beatties. After a little while this burnt down, I think that another one up in Liverpool burnt down around the same time ! Anyway, after a short while a new one opened in the Lewisham Riverdale Centre, employing guess who, Dave Brewer. From memory after Beatties collapsed, I think that Dave went on to work at Modelzone Bluewater and later the Signalbox at Rochester, before passing away prematurely a couple of years ago.

I do not think anyone has mentioned ABC (Allan, Brett Cannon) on London Bridge Station Approach. It was there for many years. I started working just north of the river in 1970 while they were re-building London Bridge Station and London Bridge itself at the same time. While they were doing the station. ABC also moved just north of the river for a couple of years until it was finsihed and then moved back to a different arch before its demise a couple of years later. The Allan in the name was if fact Ian Allan the publisher, one of the partners and I believe that they had a second shop in Shepherds Bush.

About 1973 we moved offices to Finsbury Circus which backed on to Liverpool Street and Broad Street Stations. there had been a model shop an an arcade opposite Liverpool Street which had shut just before we moved there, but there was also a shop in an arch on the side of Broad Street which I think was called Ross Shields. A few years later a new shop opened in Middlesex Street (Petticoat Lane), and the shop in Broad Street closed with the chap who worked there now at the new shop.

I also used to visit Son of Chuffs in Bucklersbury, (and once Chuffs in Lission Grove). Son of was most difficult to negotiate as the floor was covered with boxes of second hand stock, but we got some good bargains when they closed down after a couple of years.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Hamblings of Cecil Court, off Charing Cross Road. One of the old establised businesses that were very early providers of kits and small batch built ready to run models, plus litho printed coach and wagon sides and wooden components to make complete models. I believe that the litho sides and a large range of buidlings and backscenes are still available from the Engine Shed at Leystonstone and Freestones.

On a very local level to where I live now, there used to be Charles Covey the O Gauge specialist of Queens Road, Peckham, who started in one room in a house and then moved across the road to a shop in Kings Grove. He sold out to Home of O Gauge. By the way, when Hamblings closed their shop down they moved to the same room in the house in Queens Road to sell off their remaining stock.

I did of course visit all the other well established shops: W and H at New Cavendish Street, Kings Cross Models alongside the station and Victors just up the hill, although he only sold continetal and american models. there were many other shops which also sold model railways as part of their stock, but most of these have now disappeared.

Happy days

RB

Just picked up on this thread and pleased to see another good Southern prototype in the pipeline. A very handsome and attractive locomotive to model which will fit in well with the other pre-grouping models that have already been released or are on their way. I travelled behind the preserved one on the Bluebell quite a few times and it will be nice to feature this on a layout with other locos which were operating on the line in the 1960's/70's/80's, such as the Terriers, C class, E4 and the visiting J52, Caley Single and T9.

I do not know if anyone has picked up earlier on the potential liveries for these models, but off the top of my head, without consulting any reference sources I think the following are possible: 

1. LSWR - Adams

2. LSWR - Drummond

3. Southern - Lined Maunsell green

4. Southern - Lined Mausell black

5. EKR - Was it green or possibly blue ?

6. Southern - Bullied malachite with sunshine lettering

7. Southern - Bullied unlined black with sunshine lettering

8. British Railways - Malachite with sunshine lettering

9 British Railways - Unlined black with sunshine lettering

10. British Railways - Lined black with early logo

11  British Railways - Lined black with late logo

Some may have been on models I have might seen, so may not be authentic. No doubt some of the experts will be able to comment further.

With the external body and mechanical differences between the different examples, including chimneys, as well as the livery options, there must be considerable potential for the model producers to make a good number of models hopefully at a competitive price, Plus as there will soon be a very varied range of LSWR locos available, perhaps we can also look forward to seeing some appropriate coaches to match ?

Mind you, the bank balance is likely to implode by then.

RB

Hi All.

Having returned my Class 31 to Hornby, I received a reply last week confirming the fault and advising that they are currently unable to source spare parts. They have therefore issued me with a code for £100 to use on their web shop. They did not indicate if there was a possibility of a new run of the 'skinhead' in original green livery, but in view of the number which appear to have been defective, lets hope that they might do another one in the not too distant future.

RB

Oops, jumped the gun there.

I have logged a complaint on Hornby's website today.

Will see what their response is.

All the best

RB

Hi All,

I saw this yesterday and checked my two 31s today. The green headcode box one looks o.k., but the skinhead one has the same problems.

Have Bachmann given any suggestion of the price for the Baldwin ?

I wonder how it will compare with the Heljan L & B Manning Wardle which looks rather expensive at £190 when compared with their standard gauge 4mm locos.

They might also have the ROD 2-8-0 in ROD livery up their sleave for later this year, perhaps as a Collectors Club model ?

RB

Graham's comments are quite correct and there is in fact a fourth variation of SE&CR livery which Bachmann could apply to the model. This is unlined green with SE 271 CR on the tender side and the rectangular SE&CR plate on the cabside and tender rear as per the grey version. Please bear in mind that the simplified green and unlined green liveries would have only been carried for a fairly short time during the WW1 period before the grey livery was adopted. Also only a limited number of locos would have been painted so if they required a re-paint. 

I also have one of the Dapol wagons in SE&CR livery which was commissioned by Ballards of Tunbridge Wells. This carries a authentic livery for an open wagon with a large poster advertising the hop factor and which is illustrated in the wagon book. The prototype vehicle in question was however a much older type.

I noticed that a few people were asking about suitable stock to run with the C classes.

I have attached a few pictures of some of the wagons which operate on my Hawkhurst layout for interest. All have been weathered using diluted acrylic paints and matt varnish tinted with various shades of brown paint.

There are four of the Cambrian ones and I have more of these and some five planks and single bolsters to do, plus some chassis parts to make up a carriage truck. They build up well, but the end stanchions  on the brake van are quite weak and fiddly until attached to the roof.

Also a few Chatham Kits (now Roxey) which are still available and an old K's van, a bit crude. The LC&DR Brake Van is in etched brass with double overlays and was a to build. Definitely not a beginners kit. The Carriage van in contrast, also in brass, was very easy to build. The three plank drop-side is also very nice.

I bought two sets of the Bachmann limited edition wagons, one of which went wrong at the weathering stage due to a dodgy can of Humbrol matt varnish. Fortunately I was able to pull this back with some careful re-touching with dilute acrylics etc.

One that you may not have thought of, the Parkside Dundas SE&CR Luggage Van based on the one on the Bluebell Railway. A nice kit, but I built this before I had access to full lettering details so some of it is wrong or missing and I am not sure about the body colour. I am waiting to see if Bachmann do a limited edition version of this to see what colour they paint theirs and match that colour for some of my future kit-built coaching stock.

Finally there are three D & S Cattle Wagons which I have just finished. these are modelled loaded with cattle, two with Herefords and one with Highland Cattle. They have also been fully weathered including the obligatory lime was as used prior to 1930. Unfortunately these excellent kits are no longer available.

I hope that this is of interest and that the pictures come out o.k. as it is the first time I have tried posting pictures on the blog.

Hi All.

Picked up the SE&CR and Southern C classes last week. Both are very good runners. Found the the wire sand pipes were not very well aligned with the wheels again. They are only glued on so can be removed if necessary and glued back with superglue.

Had a funny with the Southern one, wondered why the tender would not couple up to the loco. Found that this was due to the draw bar having been fitted in the wrong place - at the bottom of the loco chassis instead in the slot between the bottom of the footplate and top of the chassis. I unclipped DCC lead to the tender, and took the two screws out to release the loco body, it was then straight forward to reposition the draw bar and put back together.

One disappointment, Bachmann have not fitted extra pick-ups to the tender on this second batch as I think they have done to other recent 0-6-0 tender locos. We have found when running the C's on our exhibition layouts that the pick-ups on the locos are not brilliant, particularly the ones on the last axle and that locos can stop short when running onto a dead section. Anyone else noticed this problem ?