Bulwell Hall

Fran The new Manor looks fabulous - well done! But what are the issues in converting it to EM gauge? Is it the clearance inside the splashers or is it the slide bars? Gerry

Looks like you will need to add some strategically placed fire irons! But I agree - it is rather disappointing and unnecessary because otherwise it looks very nice. But this one's not for me - it makes a change to be able to say that its too modern - now if it had been a 2021.................. Gerry

My 9402 arrived from Cornwall on Tuesday - I had it out of the box for about five minutes before I spotted that one of the rear footsteps below the bunker was broken off. The loose part was still in the packaging so I can only assume that the damage occurred in transit. The model was returned to Cornwall the same day and I understand that the replacement was despatched today. Lets hope that it arrives tomorrow and all is well this time! Gerry

I would have been more than delighted if the Dapol Mogul had been up to scratch but it isn't. I had great hopes for it but when it arrived I was instantly disappointed with it so it was returned. When compared with the Bachmann 94xx and the Hornby 4150 2-6-2T it just doesn't 'cut the mustard'. Gerry

In the same vein of not wanting to p... on anybody's parade I have heard that the clearances inside the splashers are tight for those - like me - wishing to convert the model to one of the wider gauges. Mine hasn't arrived yet but from the photos I have seen it looks to be a superb looking model and I hope to convert it to EM gauge in due course. I'll be interested to hear what you think Tim if you are contemplating conversion to P4 - can it be done? It is as you say Tim a superb looking model and after the disappointment of the Dapol GWR Mogul shows what can be done by manufacturers. Gerry

Hi Malcolm Good to hear that you are still actively modelling - I haven't seen you in person since we both lived in Headington, Oxford all those years ago. These days I live in Bristol and by the most remarkable coincidence I have just completed a model of a ROD - albeit in 4mm scale, EM gauge. In answer to your query RODs working over the Bristol & North Somerset branch to Radstock were usually from Bristol St Philips Marsh shed. They normally worked tender first over the branch from Bristol to Radstock with empties and returned to Bristol chimney first with loaded coal trains. Those RODs that were taken into stock by the GWR - rather than running on loan - were quite significantly altered to bring them more in line with Swindon practice. The injectors were between the frames underneath the cab which resulted in quite lengthy overflow pipes for the outlet to be beneath the cab steps - it can usually be easily spotted in photos. Most of them had 47xx chimneys, GWR type safety valve bonnets on the firebox. the tenders were modified and I found it quite a problem finding information when I was doing my model. I do have quite a few photos that I gathered together and in due course I will scan them and send them to you - I will also sort out the other information and references that I used. My model used a Bachmann ROD which they claimed had been altered from the original O4 but Bachmann didn't do the full job. But as you are building a 7mm scale kit this needn't bother you! Best wishes Gerry Beale

Aberystwyth - Carmarthen line - the 'Manchester and Milford?'

So far as I know that vehicle was used on the Ashburton Goods - it was marked Newton Abbott RU. There are a couple of photos showing it at Ashburton whist 4405 was shunting wagons.

It is green under the filth - with no GWR insignia on the side tanks. So far as I can tell she had no insignia in either late GW or BR days but this was not that unusual on smaller, older engines. In 1947 she was in a bit of a state - hence the grime - but sometime later she must have had a 'heavy general' at Swindon as she remained to be one of the last of the class in traffic. That she had no BR totem is shown in a photo of her 'piloting' at Bristol TM in the early 1950s and I have no idea how she came to be on that duty. Gerry

I think that the photo in GWRJ that you have in mind shows 4405 on the Ashburton Goods at Dainton in 1947. The train ran from Newton Abbott, over Dainton to Totnes where it reversed and then ran up the Ashburton Branch. It then did the journey in reverse back to Newton so would not have passed Brent or Ivybridge. I found the photo very useful when I refurbished a model of 4405 - shewn below - that I picked up at the EMGS Skills Day at Didcot back last March - the last railway event that I attended which seems like another age now! Sorry that I cannot give you the issue number of GWRJ containing the photo as it is in my railway room in the garden and I am currently in the house!

Couldn't agree more Jerry! A couple of years ago I was given a complete run of Model Railway News dating from around 1950 right through to the early 1970s when it changed to Model Railways - in fact there were quite a few of those as well. They took up rather a lot of room so I decided that I would 'fillet' them and remove articles of interest and relevance and dispose of the rest. After a couple of evenings I ended up with no more than a hand full of articles and drawings and the rest went to the recycle depot in Bath. MRN always had a reputation for being the modellers magazine but looking at them from a 21st century perspective they are just so dated and almost irrelevant. I suppose that they have a certain nostalgic appeal and they were undoubtedly inspirational at the time but otherwise the techniques and methods described have been so thoroughly improved that I would probably never refer back to them. Gerry

I was on that train - in the first coach behind the engine. It was as we passed through Sonning Cutting approaching Reading that it first became obvious to us passengers that she was running hot - all the windows were open to catch the sounds of the exhaust and an ominous smell became apparent. A massive disappointment at the time and I didn't bother to take the diesel hauled train back from DID to PDN.

Just beautiful, gorgeous and fabulous! Fantastic work Tim - and Ian! Gerry

Good to see this Frank and I shall follow it with interest. Gerry

Here is the photo showing a Q1 shunting at Dorchester. My memory is at fault as the notes on the back of the card do not record the number of the engine but it clearly is a 'Charlie' at Dorchester! The notes do advise that the photo was taken 1949/50. The very tall signal beyond the engine shed is rather fine. Whilst searching I also found the other view of a Charlie this time at Worgret Junction near Wareham and she clearly has the road for Dorchester rather than Swanage. This would have been taken a little later say 1951/52 and again the engine number is unrecorded. I hope these are of help/interest. Gerry

For what it is worth I have a photo showing a Q1 shunting at Dorchester - taken in 1950 so, correctly, it should be Dorchester South. When I next go up to my shed I will dig it out and let you know the number. Gerry

6320 was a Swindon engine around this time I believe and, whilst it could obviously turn up anywhere, Andover Junction would be particularly appropriate as it could have come down the ex MSWJ line from Swindon. 6320 was also the only mogul to have been oil fired and the photo shows how the cabside horizontal handrails were lowered to accommodate sliding shutters. Although the engine has reverted to coal firing and the shutters removed the handrails have not been restored to their original position. And whilst I am on, am I the only one to be underwhelmed by the Dapol Mogul? I'm especially disappointed with the lack of rivet and platework detail on the die cast footplate - especially the front footplate below the smokebox - and the rear of the footplate beneath the cab. Gerry

Now that is interesting - I'd like to know where Iain got that information from. Off the top of my head the GWR Channel Island steamers were oil fired from the mid 1920s when new vessels were provided for the service. St Julian and St Helier were the passenger (Mail?) steamers and the freight vessels were Roebuck and Sambur. I shall have to do some digging when I next go to my shed. Certainly earlier steamers were coal fired and were serviced by coal wagons worked over the Weymouth Harbour Tramway to the Marine Coal Siding on Commercial Rd. where the fuel was transferred to lighters which were then taken down to the Channel Islands berths by the GWRs own tug. I would surmise that by the 1940s the coal train was for domestic and commercial fuel and the train may have only run when required although it is not shown as such in the Service Timetable. But none of that matters as I shall still run my 25 wagon, 28xx powered coal train just because I like it! The 100 wagon coal trains as run at Pendon was the maximum that could run over the GWR mainline from South Wales to London and were even then only limited by the length of refuge sidings en route rather than any lack of motive power. The Pendon train is usually fewer - around 90 wagons - but is never the less a very impressive sight. 25 wagons is the maximum that my long storage siding will take. Gerry

With all the interest in West Bay station I thought it worthwhile posting these images. Built to 7mm scale the model of West Bay station building was made by my late father for his version of West Bay which sadly was never completed. It has been on display for some of the summer at an exhibition on the railway at West Bay which was held in the West Bay Discovery Centre. The exhibition was due to run for much of 2020 but no sooner had I delivered the model to West Bay than the lockdown started. The exhibition was ready to go and in fact eventually opened in August and ran until a couple of weeks ago - and now we are going into lockdown again! The model represents the building as it was before the Great War and shows the canopy in its original form before the overhang was reduced. It is constructed of Plasticard with scribed Das modelling clay to represent the stonework. I hope this is of interest. Gerry

Lovely work as usual! I share your appreciation of a 28xx powered train of coal wagons and like you was inspired by the Pendon long coal train. I currently have a string of around 30 coal wagons already done with a 28xx in the cupboard awaiting conversion to EM. Like you I thought that such a train would be unlikely on my Maiden Newton project until I recently obtained a GWR Summer 1947 Service Timetable which showed a Rogerstone - Weymouth coal train on Tuesdays only - well that's good enough for me and an empties train ran on Thursdays! You my also like to know that the long coal train at Pendon now runs on the Vale scene as was always intended. Pendon Museum must be the only model railway that can loose a near 100 wagon train and it looks superb in the landscape! Gerry

The South Devon banks may not have been the problem - GWR railcars (both Swindon/AEC built and the earlier streamliners) worked very regularly on Bristol - Weymouth trains and Weymouth area local services where they regularly had to tackle the banks up to Bincombe tunnel heading north and Evershot coming south both of which which were steep. But I have never heard of them working down into Devon and Cornwall although they were intended to work on the proposed new line to Looe that was cancelled due to the outbreak of WW2. Agree that the Heljan railcars do look promising - there have been glimpses of them recently and I am surprised that we haven't seen any decent photos of them yet. I would love to think that if they are a success - and there doesn't seem to be any reason why they shouldn't be - that they will then produce the two-car AEC railcars which are perfect for my Bristol - Weymouth workings. Gerry

Well that tells you everything that you need to know - Ultrascales every time! Gerry

Fabulous Tim - modelling the L& B as it should be done! More of this please! The view inside the shed just breaths atmosphere. Gerry

I just love that Bulleid! Very well done indeed. Gerry

Well said Tim - that rule should be applied to 4mm scale models as well. Gerry