Devo63

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.

 

 

What next? Think it must be GWR's turn next. I fancy an articulated commuter coach set.

 

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.

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. 

...From a different angle.

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 4^th Earl or 5^th 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 4^th 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

Sorry can't help you with  the Cardiff Railway question. For the N&B, the experts rely on anecdotal evidence from old railwaymen which has been passed down by word of mouth so there is no definitive answer. The evidence says the engines were a rich red / brown lined in black with a fine yellow line. Buffer beams were vermillion lined yellow. The main engine colour is quoted as being similar to the Barry and the B&M so if you have already built locos for these companies, I suggest you use the same paint.

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   

Are these what you want?

 

http://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/category/63/4mm-scale-etched-accessories-by-roxey-mouldings/

 

Tim T

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.   

The scammers now seem to be listing UK addresses as their location instead of China. Two different new sellers are listing the same identical Triang BoB loco (items 152570416937 &  322541201776) both with an starting price of about £1.50. They give their locations as Kent and Dorset. One of these fake sellers also has a medal listed which has received a couple of bids.

Dave R.

More Mataro Mayhem. One I have included before. The Mataro passenger vehicle is a quick starting point for Dan's Coach in the Titfield Thunderbolt set up.

 

Dans coach titfield.jpg

 

Mike Wiltshire

Very nice Mike.

Is the Loriot a kit, scratch build or modified RTR? I'm building one of my Lion models as the TT (just got the nameplates from Narrow Planet) and have been a bit stumped on what to use for this wagon. If I had a suitable drawing I could probably knock one up. I had thought about cutting down a Mainline Crocodile but can't find one cheap enough to butcher. I have about six unbuilt Mataro coaches in my stash - I did build one pair and fitted a SPUD bogie in the 2nd class coach to push along my Northumbrian and Planet type dummy locos. 

Dave R. 

I never had very much success with the few ERG models I attempted. They have long gone into the great scrapyard of history. I usually did a better job with the MERCO range from Hamblings. I still have a few of these I built before my teen years. I made basic wagon and coach bodies from card and balsa wood and glued the printed sides onto them. The freight stock was put on to whatever spare chassis I could find from H/D and Tri-ang or Kenline bits & pieces and the coaches usually ended up with Kitmaster or Tri-ang bogies. When I sold my house recently (settlement was yesterday - I miss it already ) I found about twenty sheets of the MERCO models I put aside for the future so I may have another crack at building a few again - hopefully with better running gear.

It will take me a fair while to sort out the great stockpile of locomotive, rolling stock and lineside/structure kits I found stashed away in various corners. There are at least 25 whitemetal loco kits plus a pile from Kitmaster and Airfix; dozens of brass, aluminium and plastic coach models and a couple of hundred goods wagons of various types. One box I opened has about 30 Cooper Craft kits I stashed away when they were first released.    

Dave R

Chris, other photos show those light wood containers with straw in them, which was probably used for packing around something - so I think you are right. Perhaps a way of making irregularly shaped/sized goods more manegeable for handling. There seems to have been many different sizes.

 

 

G'day Mikkel,

The method of packing items in straw was a common method of shipping furniture and larger glass and porcelain products from at least the mid 1700's until quite recent times (sometime post WW2). I have read references to warships being fitted out in the Napoleonic era where the dockside is covered in straw from the packaging around items being delivered. Some items like table and chairs had bundles of straw tied around the legs and wrapped in canvas before more straw was used as packing around the items in the open framework of the crate. These lightweight open crates had different names in different parts of the country - some were called 'skeleton frames/crates' and others 'flimsies'. In the days before nice smooth roads poorly packed merchandise could take quite a battering during delivery on a horse drawn cart.

Dave R. 

In issue 18 (Spring 1996) of Great Western Railway Journal there is an article on the 72XX. There are no photos of them hauling passenger stock but a reference is made that during the war they could be "seen from time to time with passenger vehicles, especially empty stock." The same article stated that they were used on banking duties in 1937/38 at Aberbeeg and 7231 was tried out at Brimscombe in 1940/41.

Dave R. 

One of the original proposals for grouping saw the GCR being linked in with the GWR. I've always wondered what a 'Director' fitted with a Swindon designed boiler would have looked like and would they have survived the culling of large wheeled 4-4-0's in the late 20's and early 30's? Better yet a Robinson 8D 4-4-2 getting the full Swindon treatment! (Living way down on the other side of the planet I may not need to go into hiding to avoid the wrath of the Great Central enforcers)

Dave R.

I have built a number of these over the years and, considering the era in which they originated, they do build up to be very attractive models. In my current build of a South Wales 70 foot set most of the kits are the later aluminium roof versions but I do have one wooden roof Van 3rd. The sides stampings are about 1mm less in height the the later production kits which means that it will not easy to replace the roof. Luckily for me the wooden roof has no apparent warping (last time I checked) so should be quite usable when properly filled and sanded. I have seen quite a few of the early kits built up and it is hard to tell if they were fitted with a wooden roof or not. For scribing the doors I use a cheap splinter removal probe bought from the chemist with a small strip of brass which I have curved to the tumblehome profile as a guide. These days I use etched brass grab rails and door handles from Roxey Mouldings for detailing after spending years bending them up myself with no two actually being the same size. I also use Brassmasters window grills for the vans. 

Once the South Wales set are finished my next project will be seven 1938 prototypes (D127, E159, C77, E160, A22 and two H.55 Buffets - don't know how I ended up with 2 of them) followed by two K.38 'Ocean Mails' vans (1 BSL & 1 Westward). 

Dave R.

Edited to add another coach.    Just going through the box of coach kits and found a BSL Super Saloon to add to the list.

Yes, we can do better than manufacturers with the chocolate fireguard that is the Epoch system.  A date or date range etc would be welcome.

I've also always believed that the description 'Pre-Grouping' is a bit misleading for some people getting started in modelling. A late friend used his own system of dating to help narrow down the age range. I can't remember the exact details but it was something like this for steam era:

1825 - 1855   Pioneer Age

1855 - 1890   Consolidation

1890 - 1914   Golden Age

1914 - 1922   Pre-Group

1922 - 1948   Big Four

1948 - 1968   Steam Twilight

1968 -            Preservation

He also had other categories for dieselisation and electrification but, for the life of me, I can't recall how they were broken down.

Dave R. 

The articles in the Railway Modeller, about 40 years ago, on Mike Sharman's models of early locomotives and rolling stock inspired me to try and model the same era. Unfortunately my efforts have not been to quite the same standard but I keep trying. I have not heard anything about him for a few years now and wondered if he was still with us? If so, he would probably be in his 90's by now.

Dave R.  

Guilty as charged. Prosecution recommends life without parole modelling LNER.

I thought that forms of "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" had been superceded. That is almost a black cap sentence for a GWR modeller! (I do admit to once owning a 3 rail Sir Nigel Gresley) 

Dave R.

2 more than were built !

And I thought I was being greedy.

Milord, I wish to throw myself on the mercy of the court and plead mitigating circumstances. At the time of the offence I had in my possession four of the above mentioned items of rolling stock in the large 'G W' livery and a like number in the later scheme described in some circles as 'shirtbutton' logo. Further to this they were fitted with differing styles of bogies to create variety. Since the time of this offending I have needed to sell all the items due to unexpected financial circumstances. I do still possess one (1) uncompleted model kit of this subject and hope to add a few extra in the future - finances permitting. I therefore place myself at the mercy of the jury of my peers.

Dave R.