cctransuk

OK - so I'm ignorant of advanced photo manipulation - but what has been done to this image? Everything appears excessively 'sharp' - the running / ducking chap seems to be wearing a 'rug'; (perhaps he is). Regards, John Isherwood.

.... the point being made above is that, to most of us, it's very much a Brush Type 2. At the head of a train running on a layout, (as opposed to standing on a test track and viewed from a couple of feet or less with the eye at bufferbeam height), it is indubitably a Brush Type 2. Regards, John Isherwood.

Spot on - and I've a 82XXX kit, a West Country chassis, and two 76XXX chassis to build. If I can't make a decent job of these using my new resistance soldering kit I'll have to think about packing in railway modelling altogether!! Incidently, I recently ordered from Mainly Trains two LMS eight coupled loco brakegear etches, http://www.mainlytrains.co.uk/acatalog/by-kemilway.html, and was amazed to see that these are Kemilway products! Regards, John Isherwood.

Hear, hear !!! As some members may be aware, for some forty years and more I have been acquiring an extensive stud of locos, (not to mention rolling stock), for that fateful day when I venture into the loft to build Evercreech Junction in 4mm. scale. A recent review of the stud suggested that my early efforts, mostly detailed Hornby Dublo and Tri-ang Hornby products, were not up to the standard of the later acquisitions. In particular, X04 and tender-powered locos ran like scalded cats and / or drunken donkeys! Sale via Ebay beckoned. However, the locos in question are very much part of my modelling learning curve and therefore have more than a little sentimental value. The detailed bodies are not bad at all, so if the running can be sorted out the locos could be retained. I have invested in Ultrascale gear sets and, (via Ebay) Romford wheels, five-pole X04, Airfix 1001 and Romford Bulldog motors, plus Kemilway chassis kits where these are available. The tender drive Tri-ang Hornby Black Five and the kit-bashed Standard Five, (Tri-ang Hornby Black Five chassis and boiler, plus modified Airfix Standard Mogul kit parts), will have five pole Airfix 1001 motors fitted in the X04 chassis cut-out that Hornby designed into their original Black Five chassis, and didn't use! The original Tri-ang Hornby tender drive 9F will have the loco chassis block milled out to take a High Level Slimliner gearbox and a Mashima motor, plus Romford wheels. I have already rebuilt a Tri-ang L1 that, back in the mists of time, I had converted into a 2P, plus a Tri-ang Hornby 57XX pannier tank. Both of these locos were fitted when originally built with the early Tri-ang brass plate frames with cast mazak spacing blocks. This made it very easy to correct the wheelbase of the 57XX, by moving the front axle back 2mm. and fitting Rod Neep connecting rods, and fitting a Romford Bulldog motor with Ultrascale gears. It already had a five pole XT60 motor that I fitted years ago to remove most of the motor intrusion into the cab. Both locos now run as well as any of the latest Hornby / Bachmann / Heljan releases, if slightly more noisily. Now I know that all of this will seem to be a waste of effort for 'stone-age' models, and that quieter running could be achived by using High Level gearboxes and Mashima motors on all of the rebuilds. However, the aim is to retain the essential origins of the locos, whilst replacing or upgrading certain components with more sophisticated versions of the originals. Most significantly, I have to say that I have derived more pleasure and satisfaction from rebuilding these two locos that I have in years. Buying the latest exquisite RTR offerings and tweaking them cannot in any way compare with taking what is essentially a toy and converting it into a model that can, in most respects, come close to current standards. Anyway - way off-topic, but very relevant to the recent musings concerning the on-going change in the perception of what constitutes railway modelling. I will create a separate thread in due course, and post some photos of the models that I am rebuilding. Regards, John Isherwood.

Shock, horror !!! Surely that's Byker?!? (Not a denizen of the Northeast, obviously). Regards, John Isherwood.

I had exactly the same problem yesterday with a Hornby West Country. I tried everything, and ended up cutting the wires - and still the problem persisted! Eventually the problem was traced to a bent contact on the coupling bar - the simple act of placing a coupling pin in the coupling bar hole was providing a short circuit path between the positive and negative contacts. All is now well, and I'm tempted to leave the tender pick-up wires disconnected - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Regards, John Isherwood.

Close inspection of the yard area adjacent to the fish sheds, (immediately to the north of Philps' bakery), should reveal in-situ rails from this period. At least it did when I last visited a couple of years ago! Regards, John Isherwood.

Well - I can confirm that the tender drive Black 5 loco chassis will take an X04 as a direct fit in the chassis weight cut-out - it just needs a hole drilling and tapping for the motor fixing screw. Also, Ultrascale produce 40:1 direct replacement gears for the Tri-ang Hornby X04 powered chassis, with either 9/64" or 1/8" bore for Tr-ang Hornby or Romford axles. So - I will convert my 1st generation Triang Hornby Black 5, (and a Standard 5 that I built from a Hornby Black 5 boiler and / Airfix Mogul kit parts), from tender drive to X04 loco drive with Ultrascale 40:1 gearing. I will report back in due course. Sorry for highjacking Tony's thread! Regards, John Isherwood.

"....I'm quite a fan of the old X04, though usually regear them to be slower........" Stewart Now that's what I'm very interested in !! Can you suggest a source of gears of a higher ratio that have the same shaft separation as the standard X04 set? Regards, John Isherwood.

Indeed - Ringfield tender drive and 'miniskirts' under the boller. It represents one of my earliest renumbering / weathering projects and, as such, it deserves a place on my future Evercreech Junction layout. I don't know whether I'll go as far as removing the 'skirts', but some decent wheels, a loco-mounted motor, and a decent tender chassis should make a passable job of it. When one gets to my age, links with one's youth are not lightly cast aside!! Regards, John Isherwood.

I am embarking on exactly the same project - a tender drive Hornby Black 5 that I can't bring myself to get rid of. My loco drive strategy will be to fit Markits wheels, and a High Level gearbox / Mashima motor onto the rear driving axle. There is an access space onto this axle that will only need a little widening, as Highlevel do a SlimLiner gearbox intended for 3mm. scale chassis. Another option could utilise the fact that the free-running Hornby Black 5 chassis shows evidence of having been designed to take a backwards-facing X04 motor. The distinctive cut-out is there, filled with a ballast weight. If alternative arrangements for weighting could be made, fitting an X04 should be relatively easy. Regards, John Isherwood.

No diesels let alone DMUs, except the occasional DMU excursion. The WR, having inherited the S&DJR, didn't want it and transferred as much traffic as possible to its own lines. Regards, John Isherwood.

Very helpful - thank you. Regards, John Isherwood.

Many thanks - much appreciated. Regards, John Isherwood.

Alongside my up-to-date super-detailed S&DJR (BR) fleet, I still have my original 1970s / 80s locos with detailed bodies but basic chassis; (no brakegear, etc.). I have recently decided that, instead of disposing of them, I will bring them a little closer to modern standards. Amongst others, the Tri-ang / Airfix kit West Country, the Tri-ang / Airfix kit BR 4MT 2-6-0 and the Tri-ang BR 3MT 2-6-2T will all have new Kemilway chassis with Markits wheels, and the Airfix 4Fs and 2Ps will have Comet chassis with Mashima motors and Markits wheels. The original Ringfield tender-drive Tri-ang - Hornby 9F will have its loco chassis block milled in order to install a High Level slimline gearbox and a Mashima motor / Markits wheels. I would like to replace the coupling / connecting rods and valvegear od the 9F with current production items, but am unsure whether the chassis axle spacing on the original chassis matches the current production. I appreciate that neither is likely to be to prototypical dimensions, due to limited clearances between oversize model flanges but, if the axle spacing matches, fitting slimmer rods should not be too difficult. Can anyone advise if the axle spacing matches? Regards, John Isherwood.

Short-sighted, IMHO. However, there seem to be quite few Bachmann Mk.1s on Ebay. Regards, John Isherwood.

If I were going to renumber a model, I wouldn't buy the weathered version. It isn't very difficult to become proficient at weathering, any more than it is to renumber models - but you do have to be prepared to try. Regards, John Isherwood.

Huh - that's nothing! The GWR had a special wagon for their weathering pigment - they used cow manure. BR too had a special wagon for weathering material - but they used sludge. I can't speak for the LNER and SR - perhaps they just used withdrawn traffic wagons? Come to think of it, though - the SR weathering compound may have arrived on the Dover Train Ferry in continental ferry wagons; similarly the LNER's via Harwich. The opacity of the muck carried by these railways' stock suggests a continental source, perhaps containing rotten garlic and Gitanes ash? Just my theories, anyway. Regards, John Isherwood.

He did later manage to get one for a longer stint, though. It's not generally known that, contrary to most references, 47994 was not withdrawn on 14/03/1958. As the last of the ex-LMS Garratts was no longer required for coal traffic, it occurred to Harold Morris that it would be ideal for banking the summer holiday trains from Evercreech Junction. The lone survivor served in this role until the end of the 1961 summer timetable but, unfortunately, Ivo Peters singularly failed to record its exploits. Regards, John Isherwood. (Well - that's my story, anyway)!

Agreed - but we're in a minority! Given a choice between self-numbering or having identical items of rolling stock, I'm afraid that the majority of purchasers apparently prefer the latter. Regards, John Isherwood.

Hornby did try it many years ago - they maintain that they didn't sell well. Regards, John Isherwood.

Unlike the GUVs, no CCTs were green. The prototype GUV and CCT were crimson - but unfortunately they were both significantly different from the production vehicles. As to renumbering, my transfer Sheet BL64 (see http://www.cctrans.freeserve.co.uk/products.htm ) covers both the CCT and the GUV, including the prototypes. Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

..... burger, gammon or steak? Oh - you mean grilles! Regards, John Isherwood.

I can't say that I've ever seen a suggestion of a canvas coal space cover - and the limited number of BR-period photos that I have certainly don't show one. Regards, John Isherwood.

I am sure there is or was a Jidenco kit of these? Mark Saunders Forthcoming from Cambrian Models. Regards, John Isherwood.