The Bigbee Line

John There are pictures of them on Boat Trains between Newhaven and Victoria, plus they worked freight between Chichester and Norwood. I have a Southern Way magazine on them, need to did it out.

Graham, I agree the bogies are a long wheelbase, which is catered for by sideplay on the centre wheelset. Sideplay on the outer wheelsets as well allow that loco to swing out of line. I will let you know how I get on with some restrictions of the sideplay.

Good afternoon, Not posted on here for a while. I've succumbed to a 4mm model, the first for a long time. As a Brighton Boy it was a classic. Vague memories of them in the 'middle road' at Brighton and a very few sights of them passing on the line between Brighton and Lewes. So 20002 in green has arrived today. It looks quite smart. The buffers are slightly odd as the plunger behind the buffer face is a bit skinny, not the classic 'Heavy Duty' look. I was thinking of swapping for a set of Hornby spares from stock, or simpler, wrap that part in a strip of black electrical tape, until the desired diameter is obtained. I looked underneath and noted that all the wheelsets have a vast amount of side play. Not sure why this is... I understand the need to get around the toytown curves, but is this much side play necessary. I think some 'guides' from black styrene could be knocked up to give some restraint, keeping the outer wheelsets in each bogie with minimal side play, and a touch more on the middle wheelset. I would be interested in what other users think? By the way I will use a Kadee as the coupler. Just need to look through my OO remnants to scratch together a couple of trains for it to pull..... All in all though, a fine looking loco.

Reading this thread and looking at the images of the 'swinging arms' was a bit of a eureka moment for me. It completely eliminates the hornblocks. The biggest shock is that I have been looking at such arrangements for years, at work, As they say I couldn't see the wood for the trees.......

Not posted for a while…. Here’s something I did earlier. Took two Darstead coaches and swapped a side from each to give one side of the train maroon and the other blood & custard…

One of each.....

A bit late to reply, but the white is actually contrasting paint for non destructive testing of the cast steel instanter link.

Good morning I spend many hours 'wagon spotting'. Looking in the area that I model. Here is a 1963 image. Big thanks to John Law. It shows: B726119 branded as a 12T SHOCK with 'Empty to xxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx' (more research needed on that one needed. Fitted with Screw Couplings and low vacuum pipes. B486874 just shown as 13T, with Instanter Couplings and low vacuum pipes. It would be nice to have a facility to share, maybe a Facebook page. Care needs to be taken to avoid copyright issues. Most image posters are OK with re-posting with credits etc. If anyone is interested in the Facebook page, let me know.

I'll hopefully ping some stuff over later.

Good morning I work with the 12" to the foot stuff. Can you be a bit more specific regarding the particular wagon. Some pictures would be useful. Thanks Ernie

Nick Thanks for this list. It was on my to do list..

Good evening The workspace in the summer house is moving on, so hopefully production of wagons can restart. During the last week I spent a couple of days in the mendips and was able to drop into the East Somerset. I was able to check out the brake work on this beauty..

Well now were in 2022...... Plus we now reside in the west of Wales.. I've a smaller garage, 19' x 8'. Plus an 8' x 8' summer house that will be the modelling room and home office. Planning retirement from full time in February 2023, so on the wind down. My company have changed my role to become support and to transfer all the knowledge in my head. The IT guy did offer to fit a USB port for that purpose... Anyway, the baseboards of Hayling Island were disassembled, so now need to work out how to go forward. As part of the house move I'd disposed through ebay etc most of my 2mm, 3.5mm and 4mm stuff, just planning to keep the green BILs and HAL for a small SR station. However when packing I kept discovery stuff that I had stashed away and forgotten. Usually things with a more sentimental value or things with little retail value. To cut a long story short I have been diverted by an HO US outline shelf layout. However I have been spurred on by the purchase of some brass coach sides to allow some bulleid coaches that ran on the branch. However I will re-start with the major structures; the Station Building and Goods Shed. I can then think about the format during the summer...

Good evening Sorry about the delay in liking the post. It is a road I have an interest in.. Although now mainly in 7mm, I found I still had quite a bit of US HO stuff when we moved house... So resurrected some other track already on a board, into an HO south eastern, location to be decided line... I have a Bachmann NC&StL combine so wondered what diesels were about.. Thanks Ernie

The actual fuelling point, with the tanks visible behind...

Saltley Depot 1997, probably there for a few years before that...

Good afternoon, After building a K's Terrier in 4mm in the 1970's, I have made that leap and purchased another whitemetal loco kit. A Roxey Mouldings P class with etched chassis and motor mount, with 40-1 gears. Any constructive hints and or tips would be appreciated. Soldering will be my desired medium for construction. Thanks and regards Ernie Puddick

Good morning. The size V cost thing controls itself. With 2mm, 3.5mm and 4mm you can squirrel away a fortunes worth of loco's quite easily... Not quite so easy with 7mm, but I'm sure some of us will rise to that challenge. My view is that the move to O was the best thing I ever did and wished I'd done it earlier. It was originally spurred on by the announcement of the Dapol 08. Then the Terrier tipped the scales completely. So now I have a few Terriers, a couple of 08's and just got an all green 03. All suitable for use on South Coast locations. I had a LLC 15, superb loco, but did not fit my area, so that went before the house move. A luxury for Christmas is a P class kit. That makes my roster pretty well complete. I could get a class 33 or 73, but would rather have a larger passenger tank loco, maybe a Radial Tank, suitable for passenger of freight... In summary, it's a larger scale, but you buy less....

Good morning I have 4 similar trestles from Screwfix. I find them very useful. Some of the nuts and bolts need replacing as they were not of the best quality and I will use locking nuts. Plus a little additional bracing / reinforcement. But very very handy.... I had a couple of second hand flush doors that could be used to create a temporary sub base. Allows 'playing' at short notice :-)

I've moved to card where possible. Quite retro, but theraputic. Any plastic packing is given a second like where possible. Drink lids are a source of thin styrene sheet, in black and white. We need to use our imagination.

I remember watching the operation at an exhibition when I lived in Grendon Underwood. It was quite inspirational as the operation was slick.

For my '2 penneth', I'm not bothering next time as I don't model a main line. If I did I would use laminate floor underlay. My 'go to' material for structures, track base, scenery etc. It's easy to cut and a few 'thin' screws will hold it down. The shoulders can be shaped with a knife and then sanded with 80 grit paper...

John, Just caught up with this thread. Nice buildings, I think structures can be addictive. I keep avoiding the temptation of a sentinel.... I'm waiting for a cheap 03 for a version of Kingston Wharf.. Thanks for the inspiration Ernie

A pit is very handy when doing an A exam, especially if blocking or rodding..

If anyones interested I can post cover pictures Thanks