Devo63

Hi Knuckles, Your posting above has answered one of the questions in the PM that I sent to you. Now I have another one to add - do either of the tenders have the guards 'coffin seat' for earlier periods? Dave R.

I've just been looking at your broad gauge range and I'm sorely tempted to grab one or two when funds are next available. Have you any plans to release suitable tender prints for these kits? The only BG tenders that I have are the old Mike's Models 4 & 6 wheel white metal versions that came with my Fire Fly kits many years ago. Both are currently dismantled as I want to try and make some resin copies for future projects. Do you have an estimate on the costs for say the Dido and Victoria types, with chassis, if bought direct from you? I'm hoping postage to Oz would be around the £15 - £20 mark but the way things are going lately it may be higher. Dave R.

That would fit in with when my GGF bought the one for me as he died mid 1970. Dave R.

That was the only actual train set that I owned. It was bought for me as a Christmas present by my Great Grandfather shortly before he passed away. I had it for many years but hardly ever used it as I was mainly interested in running steam outline (especially GWR & WR) and could never often bring myself to run a "modern" blue diesel on my various layouts. I eventually sold it in the late 80's to raise funds for more up to date models. Through the late 60's and early 70's I was given various locos and rolling stock at the appropriate birthdays and holidays. The first locomotive I actually bought with my own money was a K's 14xx kit and the matching autocoach. I had an after school / Saturday morning job at the local Woolworths store which provided the nessessary funds to go and order the kits from a model shop in Adelaide and then had to wait for about three months (or more) for them to arrive from the UK. Dave R.

My (stalled) 'Glamorgan Railway' project was planned to use various modified RTR models and kits for locomotives and rolling stock. The most ambitious class (for South Wales at least) was the express passenger 'Castell' class 2-2-2 locomotive No.3 'Castell Coch'. This partly completed conversion is based on the Bachmann TTTE 'Emily' suitably shortened at the front end with a modified cab profile and various spares box boiler fittings such as a Dean chimney, misc. dome and safety valve. The GR passenger loco scheme is very similar to the LNER garter blue A4's including the red wheels and black & white lining. Passenger rolling stock is based on the old Furness Railway blue and white. GR freight and mixed traffic locos (2-4-0T, 0-6-0 tender, 0-6-0T & 0-6-2T types) are an unlined, slightly darker. blue finish with rolling stock a mid grey with black ironwork and large GR initials. The paint schemes were developed by experimentation on various scrap loco bodies and old Triang goods wagons until I found something I liked that was different from the other Welsh railways variations of red, green and black. One of the first things I did was to work out a back story for the line from its foundation until eventual closure. This gave me the basic details I needed to plan the various acquisitions of equipment and rebuildings by the company throughout the history of the line. Dave R. PS - After typing all this I might dig all the bits and pieces out and make an attempt at getting some of it up and running.

The process has been around for quite a while. I was just reading an article in Railway Modeller Vol. 1 No. 3 from Feb/Mar 1950 on the construction of an O-gauge LNWR 'Bloomer' where the author states "Photo-etched name and number plates are of course included. These were made, to my own drawings, by students at a local Technical College as a laboratory execise."

Have you had a look at Modelu's range? They are a bit expensive in G scale but have extremely good detail being scans of real people. e.g. City Gent https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product/1658/ Another option for detailed figures would be Hardy's Hobbies: https://hardyshobbies.co.uk/

Most of my old Triang locos and rolling stock run quite well on Peco code 100. Some of the very oldest such as a late 50's Princess do make a bit of noise and occasionally derail the front bogie going through modern points but on the whole are fairly reliable. Dave R.

This would explain why one I placed a bid for on ebay a couple of years ago went for over £100. It was a very nicely painted with the GWR roundel, safety valve with top feed and the original SR/Essar mech which did not appear to have much running. I always wondered why a non prototypical loco sold for so much money. Dave R.

I have always loved to live dangerously. I'm also a bit of a masochist. Growing up in a household with my Grandmother, my Mother and two sisters, whenever I was asked to help out with something I would reply "I can't do that - it's women's work". My distance record was five feet of movement before being beaten to a pulp. Dave R.

One of my favourite meals growing up was steak and kidney pie made by my grandmother. They used to be a staple of most bakeries as well but these days it is nearly impossible to find s&k pies in any modern establishment. I have found a bakery in the town of Mount Barker (about 20 miles away) that makes an acceptable version with nice, big chunks of kidney and usually buy a small supply for my freezer when I visit the town. For a long time it was difficult to get a nice pork pie in Adelaide but that situation has changed over the last few years with a company called 'UK Foods' producing very nice pies. I just need to find a black pudding that meets my taste and I'll be quite happy. Another favourite treat was the thick, dark juices found at the bottom of the dripping bowl. It was great spread onto a nice slab of freshly baked bread - or bread that was a little stale fried in that same dripping. Most bread that was past it's best usually ended up in a nice bread and butter pudding which was the Sunday night desert special. As my late grandmother and myself were the only members of the family to like rabbit (stews, pies etc.) I have only had it a few times since she passed away over twenty five years ago. In my younger years I called rabbits 'sitting ducks'. This goes back to some of my earliest memories when my father was the first police officer in the town of Coonalpyn which was about 90 miles from Adelaide. He was required to practice shooting his service pistol about once a month and this entailed a family outing to one of the farms in the district to shoot rabbits. Although he was a crack shot with his rifle, his pistol aim left a lot to be desired. I would hear a couple of bangs from his gun and my mother would say 'you can't hit a sitting duck with that thing!' while I watched the rabbit running away. Dave

At times I have been favourably compared to the Famous Eccles. Unfortunately when people get to know me better that opinion seems to be deflated somewhat. My ex-partner could have been a twin for Miss Minnie Bannister when seen in the correct light (very dull illumination with a bit of strobing). Dave

By any chance are you related to the well known military shirker Major Dennis Bloodnock late of the 3rd Disgusting Fusiliers? Dave

My senior school sports were rowing in summer and rugby in winter. The winter sport was unusual as South Oz is mainly a Australian Rules Football state but having a Welsh father and growing up hearing how well Wales were going in the 1970's heavily influenced my choice. PE at school mainly consisted of either gymnastics or track & field sports for most of my education. This changed in my final senior years when a new Sports Master was employed. He introduced a number of elective activities such as golf, ice skating, fencing, small bore rifle shooting and kayaking. Not surprisingly he was poached by another more affluent college after only a couple of years. The only Aussie Rules match I ever played had me pulled from the field within the first ten minutes. It was my Cub group against another from the other side of Adelaide. The only time I handled the ball was to handpass it to an opposing player who promptly kicked a goal. All these years later I am still reminded of it by my family. Dave R.

From the Adelaide 'Sunday Mail'

One and the same. I gather it wasn't one actual company as such but a group of state run plastics factories making products to obtain hard currency ($&£) for the USSR with the NOVO brand name used as an umbrella identity for the different products. The tooling was shared around between a number of different factories and the quality depended on each one having a sufficient level of training and the right machinery for the job. The early NOVO production was shipped as bagged items to the UK and packed in British printed boxes. The electric motors in the NOVO version of the Big Big Train also varied in quality. Some were made in the Soviet Union while other were brought in from other Eastern Bloc countries. I built a NOVO (or clone) version of the FROG 1/25 scale Morris 1100 which had one of these motors. The original 1965 model was in a soft form of plastic while the Russian made version was in a harder polystyrene.

FROG stopped production in 1976 with most of the tooling being sold to the Soviet Union and marketed under the NOVO brand name in the West. The USSR didn't want any of the Axis Powers tooling which ended up with Revell Germany. Since the collapse of the USSR the kits have been made by a large number of concerns in Russia and the Ukraine. Some of the tooling has not been looked after and the plastic quality is sometimes fairly poor but you do still find good ones at times. Part of the sale deal was that FROG would tool up a number of Soviet aircraft for NOVO. Four dies were cut but ended up not being supplied to NOVO. A good book on the subject is Richard Lines 'FROG Model Aircraft 1932-1976' which includes the full development story and gives production figures for most of the kits.

In this scan (5600 class Diag A30) you can see a dotted line inside the outer cladding.

I really enjoy reading the postings from the Cardiff contingent on the forum. Even though I was born and bred in Australia I have spent a bit of time in Cardiff during my lifetime. I lived there with an uncle and aunt for a year back in the 1970's as my parents thought I should have a different perspective from my usual Aussie upbringing and I have visited the area a few times since then. My last trip was back in 2007 when I went with my father on what was his last trip home. He is now 84 and unlikely to travel overseas again. We visited all his old haunts and had a look at most of the houses he lived in while growing up. My grandparents were always moving. My father was born in Canada Road and lived in various places in Whitchurch, Birchgrove and Rhiwbina before he emigrated to Australia in the 1950's. Some of the memories I have are buying model railways items from Bud Morgans in Castle Arcade (I still have the GF 9400 class bought there) and the piles of laverbread on marble slabs in the markets. On my last visit I could not get over how much the city had changed. The re-development down the docks area was surprising. My father always said you did not want to go down there at night and my Uncle Harry, who was in the old Cardiff City Police, said they never patrolled with less than three man teams in Tiger Bay. Now there seems to be upmarket flats all over the place and flash modern buildings everywhere although I was not impressed with The Senedd building. My grandmother was born in Splott and couldn't get out of there fast enough when she met and married my grandfather. I think even that area has improved over the years. Dave R.

This is more tragic news associated with this terrible virus. I had just been listening to TBT as Lady Constance in 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again' only 10 minutes before reading about his passing. A very funny man who will be greatly missed. Dave R.

I would be interested in how you get on with the Buffet Car labeling. I am building two 1938 H55 cars, one with the red seating and chequered floor and the other with green and wood floor. These have been on the back burner of late mainly due to the lack of suitable lettering. This is someones model. I think they have a thread on the forum relating to it but I can't remember who posted it and when.

I think anyone who considers themselves to be a modeller would be interested. It's the same reason we have always bought the magazines and attended the shows. We like to see a bit of ingenuity and craft which inspires us to try something similar and to pick up the saw or scalpel and start our own hacking. I have been watching this conversion with interest and can only say keep up the good work! Dave R.

I recently serviced and repaired a Märklin train set for a chap who does home help cleaning for the elderly. He has had it since he was a boy in the Netherlands in the 1960's and brought it out to Australia when he emigrated but had not used it in about 30 years. I was able to buy the various parts online and had it up and running in no time. When I advised him that it was ready to collect I had it all set up in the lounge room. When I heard him arrive I set it running then opened the door and invited him in. Seeing the look on his face you could easily visualise the 6 year old he was when he received it for Christmas all those years ago.