pom-pom

One solution for the B12 narrow bogie pin I have found is to get some of these: The problem is that the special bolt has been threaded part of the way down (it's not BA threaded) and then there is a reduced shank right up to the slotted cheesehead. I presumed when I mentioned this earlier that this had been reduced to fit a collar to act as a bearing but this is absent from both the bolt and the Service Sheet. As a result there is noticeable fore-aft movement of the bogie in motion and particularly pulling away from a standstill. I toyed with the idea of making a brass collar but unless split longitudinally it needs to pass over the greater diameter threaded section of the bolt... and then it would be impractically thin to its outside diameter to fit with ease in the bogie pivot bracket slot. So... one can take a cotton bud stick, of the hollow plastic variety and severe it, pushing the end over the threaded part of the bolt and right up to the cheesehead. Then all that needs to be done is sever it again above the threaded section. I found that this fitted snuggly in the bracket slot and once lubricated with a general light engine oil it moves very freely and the problem is solved with the added bonus of removing wear from the bolt itself. If the collar ever wears out... well there's 200 in that packet from Wilkos... Regards, Nick

I wouldn't trust Hatton's online stock system, I've seen them show items 'in stock' and even take payment only for the process to collapse at their end, resulting in a refund. It's probably best to pick up the phone and call them if you want a reliable indication of what they actually have in stock.

First observations - fantastic, very impressive... I have the LNER version. One notable good point is that the upper surfaces of the wheel splashers are painted apple-green which is a feature almost always omitted on other LNER liveried models by Hornby and others. Inexplicably the much smaller rearmost splashers adjoining the cab are not painted green but this can be sorted in minutes. Runs beautifully but there is a noticeable fore/aft movement of the bogie by about 1/8". I traced this to the bolt attaching the bogie to the bogie bracket which is too slender for the lateral slot in which it runs. I presumed that a simple plastic collar was missing but checking the Service Sheet (excerpt diagram attached) indicates that it doesn't exist. I shall probably make one. Otherwise, most impressed. Service sheet is here, by the way: http://www.Hornby.com/us-en/downloads/view/download/item/513 Regards, Nick

Dear Larry, what an evocative thought that us younger ones can only wistfully lament in not having seen. However, if one wishes to sample a B12 (and a B1) at speed on the GCR London Extension recently then this video on YouTube is highly recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6GuxUIGAfM You were right about those graceful connecting rods in motion. All the best, Nick

Five including HO... hohoho (seasonal outbreak, sorry!)

Thanks, I'll have a go at that. I tried the front lining on a 1928 corridor tender freehand with a brush and also using masking tape but the result was quite frankly unfit for human eyes to settle on... practice makes perfect.

She does scrub up well. Looks grand Mick - you have really tamed that ski-jump. I like your treatment of the front buffer beam... I'm just having a think about tackling that task on the front of the Hornby LNER liveried B17s where it is completely absent. How do you get your white lining so fine in that restricted space, if you don't mind me asking please?

There is a precedent, the Bachmann K3 in LNER livery - early versions of no. 2394 had no virtually no lining and now a few years down the line there is a fully lined out and correct version albeit with some issues around the tender corners. So yes, lining can come later. However, Bachmann loco shells generally seem to dismantle into nice sections - running plate, boiler, cab, etc. These can be a rewarding way to experiment with lining using transfers or even paint as the components are accessible.

Hi Rob, probably a very good idea not just due to the increased realism but also because Hornby appear to add the worksplate rendition over the top of previous colour layers. And it is easily and quickly abraded from potential fingers in that prominent cabside position on the Peckett, Dodo. I watched a worksplate detail on a different, recent Hornby loco almost vanish with a little repeated handling recently. The standard worksplate details bear up well under a magnifier in terms of legibility but they don't look like castings and they're certainly far more fragile! Nick

No problem, that's what I had thought you may have been referring to dimension wise. The fantastic Leicester South Junction layout uses a similar technique for the scenic break at it's northern end where the first half of Braunstone Gate girder bridge (the famous 'bowstring' bridge demolished in 2009) is modelled. I saw it at Alexander Palace a couple of years ago and naively asked when the Leicester Central section would be added which was met with a somewhat deserved scowl!

Hello Clive, fascinating - I had no idea there was a junction and a line from here to Liverpool St. Station. Coincidentally, I was poking about Liverpool St. Station earlier this week on my lunch break, admiring the architecture particularly down Sun Street Passage. I'm too young to know (50 next week) but it looks as though the northern approaches to the station would have been spectacular before they were all covered over and built over. Same goes for next-door Broad Street Station of which nothing remains. A veritable railway metropolis in this part of town. Nick

By the way, one of us is already 'on the ball' with the Leicester Central 'roundy-roundy' layout it seems: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101312-track-plan-for-leicester-central-gcr-oo/ But as you can see, the space requirement is phenomenal! The short cutting I mentioned is something that could be adapted to a small room, side-stepping the issue of hiding the entry/exit lines of the 'roundy-roundy' layout. I forgot to mention that it also contains most of Nottingham Victoria's south signal cabin for added interest. Anyway, I'm sure this topic is "Wright writes" and I can only extend my heartfelt apologies to Mr. Wright for waffling so in his space! Nick

The south end of the brick-built cutting on the map above where it enters Thurland Street tunnel is almost exactly 80ft wide so in 4mm scale that's 320mm or just over a foot in old money. As you can see the cutting has parallel sides so is this width all along its length. I think the big problem with my idea is that the northern end of the cutting was actually a girder bridge and therefore if a layout allowed a view under this then some of the southern end of the platforms would potentially have to be modelled... Leicester Central would be magnificent but being on a viaduct offers no potential for hiding the northern/southern approaches as they curved non-prototypically to join round the back in a fiddle yard on a 'roundy-roundy' layout which I believe was an initial idea, above.

By the way, by my rough calculations that gap between tunnels south of Nottingham Victoria is approximately 215ft x 80ft so that would be 860mm x 320mm in 4mm/ft scale. Easy to fit in a relatively small room!

These are good ideas for a realistic GC layout incorporated within a 'round-roundy' layout but I think the best, shortest one which also incorporates a complex turnout layout is that modelled on the gap between tunnels, also in Nottingham, bordered by Clinton Street West and Clinton Street East. See the attached map image. In fact, one of the Clinton Streets could be dispensed with to form a track-level view of the trains. Nick

Or for older football fans maybe if Hornby brought out the B17 in super-detail, LNER livery with the Group Standard 4200 gallon tender... i.e., the 'footballer' variants then maybe that would shift better...

Are those visitors wandering around in muddy, oily puddles of general engine shed grime or has it just tipped it down with rain? And the window cleaners of Leicester must be rubbing their hands together with glee! There's a lot of glass in all of these designs. I wonder how they'll look after a couple of years of exposure to steam, smoke and oil, if the 'up' side of Loughborough Central near the overbridge is anything to go by!

Architecturally speaking it does rather appear to be a revisitation of 1960s 'brutalism'. Perhaps when considered as a modern museum this feels somewhat more acceptable than if more emphasis was placed on it being the southern terminus station of the GCR. In the latter case the architecture could perhaps be more sympathetic to that of the GCR. Indeed, the benefits the development will bring are more important than the design aesthetics surely. I think that given the fairly extreme design, folk are entitled to their views and that no-one is doubting the future benefits which are a somewhat separate issue. It will be interesting to see how the success of the development will be catered for by large parking areas and transport infrastructure to and away from the site in general. I seem to recall some time ago that there was talk of a short extension southwards to Abbey Lane Coal Sidings where there was more space and greater proximity to the National Space Centre but this must surely be totally impractical by now. I'm all for the development but wavering somewhat on the design. Could look great for a museum of space rockets...

Well it's getting there Rob! It's interesting that you had the same problem with the tender body not clamping down on the chassis properly. That front plastic lug is about as mush use as an ashtray on a motorbike. I substituted two tiny self-tappers in suitable pilot holes in the corners. Right-hand side (fireman's side) you have locating lugs showing at the base of the rearmost splasher and this is a problem associated with the assembly of the running plate again. It's not affixed to the cab properly and I myself think this is a result ultimately of the boiler join not being correct at the second boiler band from the front - the whole running plate is pulled forward slightly. A very common problem on these models by the looks of it. I had a go at tackling it somewhere back in this thread. When you said the front steps had fallen off I was about to say don't bother reattaching them but I see you have. Not only do they restrict the track curvature that can be navigated due to bogie wheel clearance but also, as far as I recall, the new footstep types weren't fitted until 1935. Book Law as modelled has the original large cab cut-outs which were replaced about the same time with the restricted cut-outs designed to protect the new bucket seats so is pre-1935... but post-1932 as it has the cabside wind-deflectors fitted. I intend to take the footsteps off mine but Hornby have glued them on with the most almighty-sized blob of hard glue which I may need to drill through.

Talking of Gladiateur, here's something that may be of interest. The bottom plate is original Hornby, the middle one is Modelmasters and the top one is 247 Developments. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about quality. Modelmasters can also supply the correct circular NBL works plates for Gladiateur although they are the same quality as the nameplate.

Hi Rob, if you're ever looking for detail pieces for A1/A3s then you can obtain a detailing etch from http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/a3_details.htm and this includes items that drop off the Hornby models quite easily. I look forward to your A3 efforts if you will be so kind to post them here. As to 2569 Gladiateur, yes the cream of the crop from Hornby as far as I can see. I have two of them - much better assembled, much finer lining and a much better refined motion bracket. One of mine was so nice that all I did was replace the nameplates for 247-Developments brass etched versions. The other one I replaced the body with Hornby's Royal Lancer effort so that I had 4473 Solario built to the original GNR loading gauge and with the correct tender. As for Royal Lancer herself, well modification of the corridor tender and a Gladiateur body has given me 4472 running as an A1 in the 1930s. And bent, twisted running plate woes... well I personally think this is an area of weakness on the Hornby models. It's just too flimsy and its complexity combined with potentially bad tooling and assembly indifference leads to most models having problems in one area or another. However, the 'ski slope' effect on Book Law and Minoru seem to be the worse instances... Nick

There's some great information on the preserved Q6 here if anyone's not seen it - http://www.nelpg.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=6 Apparently the NYMR does have a freight train and the curves and gradients that Q6s worked over too... so this is afterall a sight we may see again. Of course, to get a realistic reproduction of the classic Q4 experience it would be best to be on the footplate as the thing stalled and restarted deep inside old Woodhead Tunnel with 60 odd loose coupled wagons behind... thankfully I'm more certain that this will never happen again...!

That would be great, I agree. I'd have loved to have seen any 0-8-0s hard at work with loose-coupled wagons in the Durham hills... sadly a sight we shall never see again, I doubt we'd get a dirty great big period loose-coupled train past Network Rail these days. And all the rails are continuous welded lengths now - no proper sound track. I think the thing was about Q6s was the North Eastern cab... it looks a bit dolls-house like. I keep thinking that an Edwardian lady will appear in the dainty side windows busy hanging up net curtains. Whereas of course on the Q4 you had no windows. In other words, GC cabs must be for real men. That was all I was thinking... ;-)

Sharks off Tynemouth?! Whatever next. Two days before Christmas and so far today I have seen daisies springing out of lawns and a Red Admiral in all its glory fluttering about my back door. We've had NO frosts down in Kent. Not even got the central heating on. Q6... wasn't that an ugly copy of the Robinson Q4..? ;-)

Looks great Mick. What's with the curious painted tender wheels, three rims in white? I take it that with your usual attention to detail this must be prototypical? The nameplates look very good, low relief clearly visible. I would hazard a guess that those can only be of 247 developments origin. Nick