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pete as per my pm sincere thank you for the drawings, they do indeed confirm the need to reduce the tender sides and still allow them to marry up, and indeed " flow" into the tender cowl..really appreciated, may I ask you post them here for general info...best wishes brian

Sorry rat piece indeed...rear piece of the tender cowl..

ok have removed various pieces of tender construct from plastic packaging. I want to examine the instruction to reduce the tender sides by 5 mm for the BR version. I have read the advice many times get as many photographs as possible of your intended model. I can only sgree whole heartedly. A number of things are becoming apparent and are not intended as criticism of this product, merely my observation. Firstly if you remove 5mm straight across as shown then you will not marry the side of the tender cowl. I have instead allowed a flare which will continue the line of the tender side into the cowl...as shown by the pencil line. The photo of Bertha is from on midland lines by huntriss and she is at Derby works 1951. It is in this condition I want my model to represent .it also shows the BR adapted tender did indeed have shallower tender sides.it will also mean that the top f the tender beading will need adding after removal. Lastly for now the rat pice of the tender cowl, that which face the coal space another phot clearly shows the small round Windows had protective bars not modelled by DJH...more soon, for now collecting more photos...luckily a week photographed loco

My good friend John (RowanJ) sent me a pm yesterday stating he had initially been unable to find this thread.....he had been looking for " Brian does big Bertha"....I did suggest his search on that title, might broaden his modelling interests!....enough of that will be commencing the tender alterations this weekend...even if it is freezing up in my loft......my wife may yet have to agree to the Derby assembly line relocating temporarily to the kitchen

Steve yes I've seen versions of this model constructed from various donors.....like yourself I derive a great deal of satisfaction in ....hopefully transforming humble plastic bits and pieces into recognisable models of rarer types. I have commented on your thread , my admiration how you have taken some unexpected items and created things like domes . I hope I will not have to be as creative with this...DJH having done that for me...we will see. Apologies to any one browsing for not having made a start.....work the curse of the modelling class.

The western ...almost unbelievable ...was this an unintended product of the automated washing facilities...

John easy mistake to make...becomes serious when you snap the piece on bending it back the correct way.........glad I've just reread this prescriptive text had it " bedding it back....."....I know this hobby is supposed to be fun but.....

thanks Pete, yes I've noticed from the instructions the need to reduce the tender sides for LMS/ BR, and then affix the tender cab....looking forward to it. I may commence with tende construction, have found in the past have forged ahead with the sexy bit the loco body and chassis then found the tender construction to be ....tedious...thereby not always ensuring the care necessary...

the contents of the djh kit placed on kitchen work surface....no it won't be built there much to my wifes relief. I have constructed a number of DJH products and this is certainly a quality item. The cost so far however has been in excess of £220, and still motor and gearbox to source. I realised yesterday on receipt of this,that it has been a while, since I've constructed....more precisely soldered a whitemetal kit. I have soldered umpteen brass and nickel silver items mainly chassis in recent times. I know from painful ecpxperience that whitemetal has different qualities near the tip of a hot soldering iron. I will be using my preferred iron an antex 25 w...carrs flux and low melt solder. Small details and where appropriate other items will be affixed with various adhesives. Higher temp solder will be used on the brass chassis on such as bearings etc. One concern that should not materialise is that of weight. Have made many chassis and married them to light weight plastic / NS/ brass bodies only to have to resort to liquid lead superglued in place to add the necessary weight to assist traction. This is a fine art especially with 460 s ,too much in certain areas can cause unsteadiness / derailments. Too little and your beautiful creation is a mere ornament. One last disclaimer for now my methods have been gleaned from the numerous articles / books and assorted writings not least from the gent who penned the forward in the kit a certain Mr Wright. If this model succeeds it will in no small measure be because of them, If it does not, the fault will be mine alone.......and my tools ..........and that soldering iron ....and....

Thanks I thought it was one of those "legends" bit like the strategic reserve...

A recent example was a modeller I believe called Bob Bang who replicated Bromsgrove, part indoors and part outside layout. It appeared in BRM, cant recall if bertha was modelled. The prompt for me was an idle look at DJH website and saw it is to be discontinued. I had planned to purchase at some stage but this has moved it up the agenda. I could of course have been panicked into purchase... Ive read in another thread that cylinders were preserved....is this true?

Not intentionally in respect of the 1 in 37 Ivan......just spent Xmas relaying the tightest curve into my fiddle yard.....shades of network rail....the test will be if and when this beast negotiates it !....Bachmann 9f does so with ease, so there is hope. I will if I may go through the stages as if to assist someone who has never built one of these kits. Apologies to those with more experience if it becomes a case of teaching granny to suck eggs...

DJH Big Bertha kit delivered together with wheelset. Will post photos of its construction hopefully to assist any others wishing to construct this or other whitemetal kits

dear all a sight I'm sure many are familiar with...the contents of a djh kit box. This particular prototype may be one not encountered however. Big Bertha in all her unmade glory, will endeavour to put her together . I will if I may share some of the construction phases with you, and hopefully recreate this monster travelling to and from its birthplace in miniature.

Would have travelled down if ever they had produced the Stirling single.....now anticipating ...and indeed saving for ...the rapido one....not my favoured modelling railway or era....more in memory of my late fathers building me the kitmaster one back in the early sixties. He was never an enthusiast but his modelling skills put mine to shame. He built me HMS Hood...from the Airfix kit...using the awfull poly cement out of a tube...I've never seen its equal..nostalgia not what it used to be..

The social history of railways.... My love for the village of my childhood was reinforced as a result of a project in my last year in Water Orton primary school.The history of the village from its Anglo Saxon roots...to its development around a bridge built in the Middle Ages....then the railway. The arrival of the railway created two parts to the village, that built around the old river bridge, and the other on the opposite side of the tracks. This school project allowed me and a couple of other foolhardy youngsters to venture ( trespass)on railway areas hitherto forbidden, namely the large marshalling yards. In our minds the explanation we were doing this schoolwork would be enough if challenged by railway staff. In the event we were not challenged ,mainly and unknown to us then , I suspect because the yards were being closed. One gem found in the yards was an ex LNWR tender, being used as a sludge tank. I duly sketched this and it adorned the classroom walls. The ex LMSR mess room became the village Catholic Church. The effect the railway had on one small community...I think we can't appreciate its influence now. In conclusion..sorry to ramble thanks to my teacher Mr Latham for his inspiration back then, the icing on the cake, an organised trip around the station and Water Orton East signal box. The station porter date stamped my abc of locomotives....11th August 1968.....

For my own part having raised this particular strand of discussion, my own model is of an actual station and surrounding area..Water Orton , north east of Birmingham. In respect of compromise I have had to omit two major junctions..east to Derby and Leicester , and west Walsall and Birmingham....oh and a complete marshalling yard. The part I have actually modelled though does as Tony describes take me back to the 1960s early 70 s line side....watching both the commonplace and those locos and stock ,in my collection that wouldn't have travelled anywhere near my old village....but if they had.. In fact as observed about other more notable models, it is in effect a decorated test circuit for my latest creation to show their mettle, or not! I have just noted that djh are discontinuing their model of Big Bertha. I have therefore taken the plunge and ordered one. This monster would have lumbered through my station to and from Derby....a banker in Water Orton indeed! On completing the order for he kit, I noted the cost of wheel set and motor to complete. i must now ponder how to inform my wife of the good news that I've managed to buy one of these endangered species...without becoming one myself As ever thanks Tony for this interesting and Inspiring thread. Best wishes Brian

John nice model well done...would love to see it as per the photo behind it....being a LMR man, engines without some grime dont seem "right" Cheers brian

Thanks st enodoc....that was the layout I had in mind....the latter if I'm not mistaken had to be built on different levels to accomadate the various stations.....at that time David Jenkinson was creating his settle and Carlisle empire in EM....again a multi station layout but with locations modelled as they might have developed rather than real prototypes if I recall. I believe he became disenchanted and as recorded switched to 7 mm. I only know seeing his Garsdale Road layout transposed into the bigger layout was a high spot in my early teenage years....other distractions were yet to follow...

One type of layout which I have not seen modelled for many years is one that seeks to represent a whole system. I recall one in the late 60s...I think it was Tony East? ...in any event it sought to model the GWR from Paddington to Bristol. The stations were not perfect replicas but rather impressions of them. I think the emphasis was on operation rather than realism, however from the pages of the modeller the reader knew what area was being modelled. The closest to this in recent times, I have seen in the model press was Bill Richmonds west cost epic......based in NZ....I think the intention had been to include on it a model Euston...or at least a recognisable form of it. In any event I know the models and layouts that have and do inspire me...all have that certain undefinable element that lifts them above the sum of their parts..RTR....rtp ...scratch or kit built...

Just to add to this theme of having a temporary lull in modelling activity.....over the festive period and in line with the prototype network rail.....I decided to suspend running and relay some poor trackwork on my loft layouts fiddle yard. I lowered the loft ladder and affixed it before climbing up into the dark opening, some lengths of peco code 75 track under my arm. One of them fell to the landing floor. I deposited the rest in the loft and descended the ladder. The loft was cold dark and unappealing, and on this occasion I decided not to commence the work. I am a lazy fellow by nature so rather than climb up with the last piece of track....and relying on the robustness of the peco product I threw it upwards aiming for it to land just inside the loft......it came hurtling back thru the darkness like a two prong spear and inflicted two puncture wounds 16.5 mm apart on the bridge of my nose...looking for all the world like a snake bite. You know when too call it a day when your creation fights back.... I will however return to the fray in due course ...

30 degrees...c.....if this unseasonal weather continues it might be Brum on Christmas Day....seasons greetings to all the modellers on this excellent forum especially you Tony, ...thank you for the inspiration and my ongoing love of this hobby

John you know how highly I rate the high level gearboxes, not just the products but the service you get from the proprietor Best wishes brian

I blame the movement of shap north of Carlisle on global warming.......or two much libation by yours truly....now where's the corkscrew...

The book by E S Cox another of staniers team highlighted the work done by Mr Coleman, and others, Robin Riddles for example , on designs that will be forever associated with the great man. I am intrigued by the internal politics of our former nationalised railway....one half f the country has an embarrassment of riches in its Pacific fleet....the other side sadly in need of such power. I know only too well having worked for similiar organisations how such internal strife can hamper achieving its goals.. I was aware obviously of the allocation of the A2/3s to Polmadie...I think without checking, this was towards the mid sixties. I now have a faint recollection courtesy of Tony that A1s were transferred there earlier. I can't recall the circumstances..to cover short term ? Or with a view to more permanent reallocation of assets.....subsequently resisted by the donor regions ( understandably but perhaps to the detriment of the organisation as a whole? ) or nor perhaps the recipients were too entrenched with familiar designs and we're glad to be rid of them...? The politics. of large organisations....often down to the " personalities" of those making the decisions One last point the a1s can't have been on the service to Crewe for longer where they ? I cannot recall having seen photos of them at Crewe...a very well photographed location....as ever the variety and interest the steam age delivered...dear Santa a time machine please...