Marshall5

You are quite right, I should have said completed under the LMS in 1923. Of the other 3 purchased by Manchester Collieries King George VI (NSR 69) was built in 1913, Sir Robert (NSR 72) was built in 1920 and Kenneth (NSR 22) was built in 1921. I suspect that Stoke was quite a small works and the locos were some time 'in-build'. These were not the only ex 'mainline' locos owned by Manchester Collieries as William was an attractive ex Barry Railway 0-6-2T No.46 purchased in July 1939 and scrapped by the NCB at Walkden in June 1952. Ray.

Princess was fitted with a new boiler, cylinders, valves, tanks and bunker in Nov.1946. In 1960 Princess was selected to appear at Stoke on Trent so, after a further overhaul at Walkden, it was sent to Crewe for repainting into NSR livery (despite it being built by the LMS in 1923!). It returned to work at Walkden in May 1960. At its next overhaul in 1964 the loco received the frames, cylinders and wheels from Sir Robert but retained the identity of No2/Princess. It was taken out of service in August 1965 and went into preservation, initially at Shugborough. I don't believe that King George was ever earmarked for preservation as it was dismantled by Aug. 1965 donating its tanks bunker and fittings to Sir Robert (the remains being scrapped by May 1966.) Sir Robert was re-assembled by Oct.1965 (with parts from Princess and KGVI) and remained in service until late '67/early '68. This loco was the subject of a preservation attempt .. by Lakeside IIRC but its poor condition caused it to be finally scrapped at Walkden yard in Sept.1969. Ray.

One of the best references for the modifications made to the 8F's used overseas is JWP Rowledges "Heavy Goods Engines of the War Department Vol .2" Re the 8F's sent to Turkey. Of the 22 built to TCDD standards (RHD, airbraked, cowcatchers etc,) originally sent in 1941 7 were lost at sea. The 5 replacements sent out were built to WD standards and had to be converted in Turkey. The last of these WD 554 (NBL24755) became TCDD 45170, the one now preserved at Bowness, still has its vacuum brake ejector pipe along the LHS of its boiler reflecting its earlier origins. Ray.

The pipe fitting on your tank is likely to be the water feed to the injector or crosshead driven feed pump with which, IIRC, some MW's were fitted. Thoroughly enjoying following your build. Ray.

To be honest, by 1996, Steamport was on its last legs and it was a pity that you didn't see it a few years earlier. Faced with having to spend a huge amount on the life expired shed roof combined with falling gate receipts we had little choice but to accept a most generous offer from a property developer and relocate to Preston Docklands. It was a shame to lose the last L&Y steam shed but, looking back, it was probably the best thing we ever did. Re-establishing ourselves as Ribble Steam Railway https://ribblesteam.org.uk/ with modern facilities and a regular income from operating both passenger trains and commercial freight it has been a resounding success. Looking forward to seeing your finished LOR train. Cheers, Ray.

There is - but it is a motor car in original condition whilst Down Under's model is one of the modernized units of which the ex Steamport centre car is the only survivor. Whilst there the vehicle contained a museum dedicated to the LOR and was manned by Charles Box author of the LOR book mentioned above and son of the LOR's last general manager. What Charlie didn't know about the LOR wasn't worth knowing. FWIW I worked in the "grime and decay" of the erstwhile Steamport from 1973 to 1988 (including 7 yrs. as a director) an am pretty sure that it was an ex L&Y shed. Ray.

.... also ventilators in the coal space (original position) or behind the rear coal plate (later). Ray.

My recollection is that the 999 was the expected RRP for the original handbuilt brass version. Ray,

Might I suggest phosphor bronze wire as it doesn't rust or lose its springiness as brass does. It also solders nicely. Ray.

My recollection was that the 82xxx, when first announced, was going to be etched brass as was the 43xx and original 45xx hence the high price. Richard later decided to do the 45xx in die-cast to put it in a more affordable price range and I suspect that the 82xxx (if it is eventually released) would be similar. Congratulations on getting the kit and I look forward to following its construction as I think that these locos are the most attractive of the standard designs. Cheers, Ray.

Have you looked at Invertrain https://invertrain.com/product-category/buildings/station-buildings/ Ray.

Richard knows his business and must be confident that there is a strong market for the L&B models. However, if I was putting my toe into the O16.5 water for the first time I might have gone for something more generic, say, a Quarry Hunslet or even a WW1 Baldwin. I do hope Lionheart's venture is a success and leads to a greater interest in O16.5 as it has all the advantages of 7mm without taking up as much space as s.g. would. Ray.

.....and Slaters do kits for 2 types of carriage and open/closed wagons. Ray.

Won't the vacuum pipe be on the driver's side? Ray.

It is. In the late 60's B.R. actively discouraged the use of B.R. livery once a loco had been sold so most preserved railways painted their locos and rolling stock in pre-B.R. livery or their own 'house' colours. In addition some enthusiasts were quite hostile to B.R. at the end of steam so were keen to rid their locos of any B.R. identity. 41241 was a bit of a compromise in crimson lake with KWVR on the tanks but a B.R. number. After many years in B.R. lined black the KWVR restored the 1968 livery as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations IIRC. Ray.

The first 7mm kits from ABS that I bought came in cardboard tubes with bungs in the ends - like very short poster tubes. That would be c.1974 IIRC. Ray.

Sorry chaps I must have just assumed that the 16mm range went elsewhere. Hopefully the range can be resurrected by a new owner as the n.g. wagons were excellent representations and good value for money. I suppose a lot depends on the condition of the tooling and the availability of a compatible injection machine. Ray.

I have the privilege of knowing the originator of Coopercraft. He is a meticulous engineer who made all the tooling himself and is still in the model manufacturing business. Moving from Washford to the IoM in the late 80's the range of plastic kits included the 4mm now with Mr Dunn, the 7mm now with Slaters and 16mm which went to somebody else. I have a feeling that the range was owned by someone else before Mr Dunn - can anyone confirm? Ray.

If you are going to scratchbuild one Laurie Griffin has a range of suitable boiler fittings including 3 different types of chimney for the class. IIRC there was a thread on here, maybe 4 yrs ago, discussing the different types of Ivatt 2 chimneys with quite a few references. One reference was to Model Railways for 1/73 & 3/73. MR used to have in depth photo features on particular classes. Hope this helps. Ray. This is the thread: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/140254-ivatt-class-2mt-darlington-chimney-drawings-dimensions/&tab=comments#comment-3394591

Hi Amanda, good to see you back. I have a note that there was a drawing of the Ivatt class 2 tender version in April 1982 Railway Modeller. Unfortunately I no longer have that issue to check but I'm sure someone else on here will have one. For some reason I only kept the one for the tank version. Cheers, Ray.

Some works were using up 'old' Cycling Lion crests for many months after the 'new' crests came in. For example Horwich were still turning out new 76xxx with the 'old' crest at least until mid-1957. Ray.

I've been following your thread with interest Ade. Would I be correct in thinking that your layout is set in the early 30's? If so, as Malachite green wasn't introduced until 1939, might I suggest that S.R. Olive green might be more suitable for your GUV? I've built a couple of these kits - one as a CCT and the other as an early PMV. As I model the late 50's mine are in B.R.(S) passenger stock green (Railmatch 314) which replaced Crimson from 1957. Looking forward to seeing the finished van. Cheers, Ray.

The B.R. standard cattle wagon was a Swindon development of the G.W.R. W12 van. As mentioned above the main differences were in wheelbase, axleboxes/W irons, and roof profile. A couple of years back I was attempting to interest a couple of our 7mm scale manufacturers in producing a model and put together a document describing these vans. I'll attempt to attach the Word document rather than repeat it all. Ray. GWR & B.R. Cattle Wagon information..docx

I remember seeing that incredible layout at the MMRS exhibition in the Corn Exchange in either December 1964 or 65. I'm sure that model first sparked my interest in the IMR which, eventually, led to me moving here. Ray.

Of course, if you fit the brake cylinder and vacuum pipes it should be painted bauxite. Ray.