Devo63

It was sad to hear about Dave's passing but great news that you have taken on his range. As a couple of posts above have mentioned, he was often first choice for those of us in Oz for various bits and pieces. I look forward to seeing some of the etches becoming available again such as the loco window grills and the chassis for the GEM 2-4-0T although I think the demand for the last may fall since the current owner of the kit range has announced he has closed shop for health reasons. (Another possible addition to your range?) Dave R.

I've picked up a number of model railway items from "antique dealers" over the last few years. A couple of the best were a Trix 'ADLER' and one coach (unpowered) in a box labelled "Souvenir aus Nurnberg" for £15.00 and a built up K's model of a Bulldog for £25.00. This was described as "wheels don't revolve and missing key"! I gave it a light oiling and when I put it on the track it ran like clockwork (pun definitely intended). Neither of these were in the model railway listings section or even under toys. Dave R.

This is the premise for my 'Glamorgan Railway'. I have built a "history" for the line as a series of excerpts from a fictitious tome entitled "The Rise and Demise of the Glamorgan Railway - 1832 to 1913" by Dr. Ewan Husami. The part dealing with the purchase of the first locomotive is already elsewhere on the forum but I'll reprint it here. Chapter 3: The Lines Are Laid It was shortly after the series of unfortunate and highly unusual events (some have even said “suspicious”) outlined in the previous chapter that the new 4th Earl travelled to his estates near Manchester with his young bride. There he had his first personal experience of the new wonder, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. His predecessor in the title had voted against the construction of the line in the House of Lords much to his nephew’s chagrin. Earl Robert immediately saw the possibilities that steam locomotion could provide for his growing business concerns in the coal and iron industries. He immediately contacted George Stephenson in Liverpool in regard to purchasing a locomotive. Stephenson was not really interested until a substantial sum of money was mentioned. George wrote to his son Robert in Newcastle-upon-Tyne the very same day. Unfortunately this correspondence has been lost to history but what is known is that Robert quickly completed a Northumbrian type 0-2-2 engine he was building for the L&MR and dispatched it by sea to South Wales within a fortnight of receiving the letter. The 0-2-2 locomotive was replaced by the new 2-2-0 type “PLANET” which was allocated the number 9 in the L&MR roster. The 0-2-2 that the Earl had purchased was of course the famous “VULCAN” which was to do so much in the initial construction phase of the railway. It also introduced the basic colour scheme used for the bulk of the existence of the line, namely the blue painted locomotives with red wheels. The new engine was slightly different from ……………………… This history gives explanations for the various engine and rolling stock purchases during the company's existence and for the development of the line from an internal estate system to a minor coal and iron main line. I chose a blue paint scheme with red wheels for the locos to contrast the liveries of TVR, RR, BR etc. Freight stock is mid grey with black ironwork with passenger stock in a basic Furness style. The history of the line ends in 1913 with the collapse of the family fortunes. I chose this date as if the line had survived into the Great War it would have fallen under government control and possibly lasted until Grouping. Any viable parts of the line were snapped up by the rival companies and incorporated into their systems. Dave R.

The range was not overly large. This is a list of the ones I remember - LNWR 'Problem' class 2-2-2 Metropolitan 4-4-0T L&M 'Lion' 0-4-2 LSWR Beattie 'Falcon' class 2-4-0 GWR 'Achilles' class 4-2-2 GWR 'Armstrong' class 4-4-0 GWR BG 'Rover' class 4-2-2 I have built one of the Problems but never been able to get it to run very well. I made the mistake at the time of buying K's separate motorising kit for these models. I have two more of them to build when I find time and hopefully I can make a better job of them next time. The 'Lion' I built when they first came out was more successful but has now been reduced to components for a full rebuild and new motor. I have a second one of these started which will be finished as the 'Thunderbolt'. Also in my to do pile is the 'Falcon' class. This has not progressed beyond cleaning up the castings. One of the 7' driving wheels in that kit came with half of the spokes missing. It must have been visible to whoever placed the parts on the card before the vacuum sealed plastic cover was added. I did have two each of the three Great Western designs on order from a model shop here in Adelaide at the time they were released. Unfortunately the owner retired and closed up shop before they were delivered. I would still like to have an 'Armstrong' but the last time I saw one on ebay it went for well in excess of £200. Dave R.

Most of the time when I see items listed using the GSP I'll skip straight past and head on to another listing. The pricing used by the GSP seems quite arbitary. I've seen a £5.00 sets of nameplates costing over £25.00 to post to Australia and an £80.00 white metal loco kit from the same seller with an around £18.00 postage charge. A number of times I've seen multiple listings for "buy it now" items from sellers at what appear to be good prices only to be deterred by the inabilty to have a combined invoice issued. Dave R.

106 renumbered 266 by TVR then GWR 1343; 107 renumbered 267 then to GWR 1342. 267 was slightly larger in most dimensions & weights and had a higher tractive effort (by about 1500 lbs) than 266. Dave R.

I wonder if there was some packaging mistake with that one. Both of the models I built had 3' dia. (12mm) wheels included. I was always under the impression that no. 266 had 2'6'' drivers and no. 267 was fitted with slightly larger wheels but can't recall where I read that. Unfortunately I no longer have part 10 of the RCTS Locos of GWR so can't check on the sizes recorded there. Dave R. Edit to add: Locomotives at the Grouping No 4 lists no. 267 with 2'11" drivers. The copy of diag.M for 267/1342 in Russell lists a 5'6" wheelbase but the drawing as reproduced is 2mm short in this aspect. 266/1343 is slightly smaller in all dimensions from 267/1342 and appears to be printed correctly to 4mm scale. The chassis of the K's kit does seem to have the correct 22mm wheelbase for 267.

PM sent. Dave R.

For the benefit of those outside of the Land of Oz, the Ginger Meggs comic strips have been running in the papers here since 1921. Dave R.

If the model is a Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST it would be the ex TVR 'S' class no. 267 (GWR 1342). I built one of these many years ago and, for a K's kit, it went together very well. Due to the short wheelbase of the model I had it semi-permanently coupled to a small match truck with extra pickups fitted to avoid stalling on points. As built I used the K's wheels and motor which did last for a surprisingly long time but I have since reduced it to the basic components pending a complete rebuild using new parts. £40 seems quite a reasonable price for the kit if complete and unbuilt. Somewhere I should have a second one built up with no cab and painted light green as an industrial shunter. It did look rather nice but never ran as well as the first, always seeming to run a bit crablike, and spent most of the time sitting in the back of sidings. I may have to dig into the "Great Lost Loco Graveyard" and see if I still have it. Dave R.

I also have an unpowered Sharman 'Fire Fly' class that I built back in the 70's or 80's with a couple of 4 comp. 1st class coaches and a luggage van. The rolling stock was a combination of injection moulding and white metal parts and went together quite well. The wheels on the engine and tender were made with green plastic or nylon centres and saved a bit of painting at the time. I have only recently bought some nameplates for the loco (ACHERON) but I'll probably try to rebuild the model before fitting them. Originally when I built these kits I had intended to try and make some form of power bogie to fit in one of the coaches but I may now try to motorise the loco instead. I keep hoping that one of the 3D printing experts (which I am definitely not) will develop a taste for BG and start turning out loco and tender bodies for an 'Iron Duke' or 'Prince' classes or maybe one of the 0-6-0 goods types. Passenger and goods rolling stock would be nice but I feel that I am more than capable of scratch-building those items. Quite a few years ago I drew outline drawings for a couple of Churchward BG 4-6-0's on the assumption that the GWR had won the 'Battle of the Gauges' and continued well into the 20th Century. The express passenger design was an inside cylinder engine with 7' driving wheels and the mixed traffic version fitted with 5'8" drivers. I'm still tempted to try and build a model of the express loco one day in the future. Dave R.

The MRC article only has a photo in LSWR livery. The notes with the plan say that the GWR modified the last double sleeper comp. to a single and enlarged the attendants compartment. I don't know if this modification resulted in any external changes in appearance. I started building one of these about 30 years ago and gave up as I kept messing up the panelling. As I rarely throw anything away I may even have the sides stashed here somewhere. Dave R.

Hi Simon, You've just mentioned one of my pet projects for adding to my collection. I've been looking at scratch building a set of these for years (made an aborted start) and pestering the Wishlist Poll Team to add it to the survey. 247 Developments will soon have the 8'6" articulated bogies available again which would make the project more viable. If you are looking for more GWR subjects can I suggest the 70' Dreadnought and Concertina types. I tried building Concertina 3rd and Van 3rd brass and white metal kits about twenty years ago and made a proper pigs ear out of them. The 3D printing method looks to be very suitable for these with their recessed doors. No rush for any of these models for me at the moment. As I'm trying to get by with a disabilty pension I don't have the funds to buy anything much in the near future. It would be nice to know though, that when I have the spare cash, I could just turn around and order a print when needed. Dave R.

To quote Marvin the Martian: "Where's the Kaboom? There's supposed to be an Earth shattering Kaboom!"

I've been using the same pair of desert spoons to eat my breakfast cereal nearly every day since about 1971/2. I broke the plastic handle of one of them serving some very hard ice cream in the mid 1990's and carefully glued it all back together. I have decided to bequeath them to my youngest neice (now aged 13 going on 33) who always insists on using one when she comes to visit. Dave R.

Put it up for auction on that well known site. List it as an artwork called "The End Of Steam" - opening bid £49.99. Dave R.

Everybody sing! Travel all over the countryside, Ask the Leylands, Ask the Leylands. Bugga it up with a four wheel drive, Ask the Leyland Brothers. Dave R.

Professor Lars Torders of Flinders University has recently announced that the Drop Bear numbers in the Adelaide Hills have increased significantly over the last few years. This has been based on the number of attacks he has personally experienced while on his morning run. Dr. Luka Busy of Adelaide University disagrees. He says that it is the same animal each time and that it has a 'bit of a downer' against Torders and attacks him at every opportunity. The general decline of the Drop Bear population nationally is mainly due to illegal hunting. The thick, leathery hind quarters of the animal are highly sought after by classis car enthusiasts and there is a large black market for the hides. The tanned skin is perfect for polishing the paintwork on gold Falcon GT's, purple Valiant Chargers and baby-sick yellow Holden Monaros. Dave R.

My first attempt at soldering a brass kit was almost as good as that. I must try harder! Dave R.

I have long had my own private concern going by the name of the ‘Glamorgan Railway’. I wanted to find a use for some of the miscellany of locos and rolling stock I had collected which did not fit in with my general GWR and LNWR outline models. I decided to create a fictional Welsh line to compete with the likes of the Taff Vale and Barry concerns but with a back story that the company was entirely owned by a very wealthy family of old nobility – in the case an un-named Earldom. The head of the family is usually simply referred to as the 4th Earl or 5th Earl etc. or sometimes just by their first name e.g. Earl Robert. My timeline of the company goes from the early 1830’s to 1913. The exact location of the line is not clearly indicated in my ‘history’ but it would have ended up as a fairly long system before financial pressures caused the closure of the line just before the Great War. The subsequent disposal of the assets in a mad grab by other railway companies is still to be written. For each loco I have allocated to the Glamorgan Railway I have a short history of acquisition, rebuilding and disposal. This takes the form of excerpts from Ewan Husami’s seminal history “The Rise and Demise of the Glamorgan Railway”. An example is given below about the start of the line. Chapter 3: The Lines Are Laid It was shortly after the series of unfortunate and highly unusual events (some have even said “suspicious”) outlined in the previous chapter that the new 4th Earl travelled to his estates near Manchester with his young bride. There he had his first personal experience of the new wonder, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. His predecessor in the title had voted against the construction of the line in the House of Lords much to his nephew’s chagrin. Earl Robert immediately saw the possibilities that steam locomotion could provide for his growing business concerns in the coal and iron industries. He immediately contacted George Stephenson in Liverpool in regard to purchasing a locomotive. Stephenson was not really interested until a substantial sum of money was mentioned. George wrote to his son Robert in Newcastle-upon-Tyne the very same day. Unfortunately this correspondence has been lost to history but what is known is that Robert quickly completed a Northumbrian type 0-2-2 engine he was building for the L&MR and dispatched it by sea to South Wales within a fortnight of receiving the letter. The 0-2-2 locomotive was replaced by the new 2-2-0 type “PLANET” which was allocated the number 9 in the L&MR roster. The 0-2-2 that the Earl had purchased was of course the famous “VULCAN” which was to do so much in the initial construction phase of the railway. It also introduced the basic colour scheme used for the bulk of the existence of the line, namely the blue painted locomotives with red wheels. The new engine was slightly different from ……………………… Dave R. edit for bad spelling

Thanks for the info John. I'll try and mix the paint similar to a batch I previously did for the Barry. I haven't as yet decided on which Brecon & Merthyr loco I want to build but I may mix up enough paint for that as well as the Neath & Brecon model currently under build. Now I need to try and find some suitable transfers for the lining - I'm a bit to unsteady in the hands these days to hand line my models. Dave R.

Steam and Things still list an etchings only (no cast parts) kit in 4mm scale. Pair of railmotor bodies including airmail for A$145.00. Motorising could be fun though! http://www.steamandthings.com/page57.htm Dave R.

I couldn't decide if I should post this here or under the Railways of Wales section. I am currently attempting to built at least one locomotive from each of the absorded companies, that came into Great Western ownership at the Grouping, in their original liveries. I have a fair amount of information on some of the bigger concerns like the TVR and Barry etc. but for some of the smaller ones I have come up against a brick wall regarding details. My first query is regarding Cardiff Railway 2-4-2T no. 36 "The Earl of Dumfries". I am planning on having some custom etched plates made up by Narrow Planet for this loco and would like to finish it as it looked when first purchased from the LNWR in 1914. The only photo I have is the one in Russell in which you can see that it is lined. Does anyone know if it was painted with standard LNWR type lining or some other style and colours? The only reason I chose no. 36 was that I have a built up and unpainted white metal model of this type sitting in my "to do" pile. The second question relates to the Neath & Brecon Railway. I'm looking for information regarding the red livery and suitable colours or mixes from the larger commercial paint ranges. Being in Australia I can no longer buy Precision Paints. The only model paints I have generally available are Humbrol, Revell, Tamiya and Mr.Colour. Automotive paints are another option. My final question is also for the N&BR. Once again I am planning on having plates made by Narrow Planet. I know the number plates are oval in shape with quite large numerals. What I can't make out from the few pre 1922/23 photographs is the lettering around the edge. Can anyone tell me if this is the company name in full or just the initials? Dave. R

I've used the etched 'T' handles and the GWR grabs (amongst other items) from Roxey and have found them to be very fast with shipping Down Under to the 'Blackout State'. They were very helpful with advice in answer to a few rather dumb questions I put to them as well. Payment was easy as they raised a Paypal invoice for all the items I required. Dave R.

I scratch-built one of these in plasticard circa 1980 using the drawing in Russell's GWR coaches vol 2. It was one of the easiest builds for coaching stock I ever made. I originally tried to paint it in the crimson lake scheme as per the photo in the book but could never quite get the gold lining to look right so it was later finished in late 30's style. Unfortunately this was one of the models I had to sell off when I was unemployed back in the early 90's in what I always refer to as "The Great Culling" The roof with your model shows 8 ribs whereas most photos and drawings I've seen have 10 (I think the first pair built had 9 ribs).Each rib has a double row of rivets while the roof side edges and the arch of the roof at the ends have a single row. If I was to build one of these today I would probably use some of the rivet decals that are now available. According to Russell the ring type door handles actually had integral key holes for the locks. The handles of my model were 9ct gold from a broken necklace. Dave R.