Dana Ashdown

What about using sandpaper for a gravel finish? It can always be painted to a more suitable colour.

Personally, I'd take the extra track (for 'future consideration' as it were), and do the building as a low-profile flat. It will give you a little more flexibility should you ever need it. Besides, you're not building the entire building, just the section overlooking the platforms.

I didn't know that the Newtown had an 'After Eight' box as a shed!😉

I was expecting the box to burst into flames when it hit the bottom... that's what happens in Hollywood movies, doesn't it?

Well that's impressive!

I would buy some if Hornby released them in Lake, but alas, I don't think they have the good sense to do it. Perhaps you could try a mock-up in Lake using an old body or part thereof. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't lost anything.

I found the link! http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/our-research/research-groups/inverse-problems/x-raying-stephensons-planet-locomotive/ But, it doesn't seem too anymore, so here is the X-ray view of Planet.

I agree, but I was basing my comment on Harry Jack, Locomotives of the LNWR Southern Division (The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, Sawtry, England, 2001) and R.H.G. Thomas' history of the Liverpool & Manchester. Unfortunately, I don't have them to hand at the moment.😔

I believe Bury had to build Liver with outside frames, otherwise the railway wouldn't accept it. This was due in large part to George Stephenson's influence at that time.

I can't remember the website, but in its raw state, your Planet print looks like the X-ray that was done on the Planet replica at the Museum of Industry in Manchester.

How about Prime Pork, Weetabix and something else that I can't remember at the moment. If all goes well, there'll two for the London, Chatham & Dover/Souther Eastern & Chatham, and two for the Great Western. I have my original Prime Pork van, but I'm not sure whether to save it as is (for old times sake), or make it into something else — maybe even an NER refrigerator van!

Just wait and see my outside-framed vans, made from old Hornby NER refrigerator vans — now that's irrational!

A perfect end to 2022. But I hope you don't expect I'll ever manage something like that.😁

Have you tried putting the roof in hot water to make it more pliable before straightening? This might allow you to flex it back into shape without breaking. Then, clamp it between some wood until it cools down. One of the big American suppliers/manufacturers used to sell clerestory roofs in both wood and plastic, but apparently they ceased making them years ago. The wooden ones could be shortened, and there were trim pieces for this.

I knew you'd know!

This is one for our resident Pullman expert. This is a page from The Locomotive Magazine (Volume 3, July 1898, page 106), listing the South Eastern’s two car trains, plus “The Tunbridge Wells Pullman,” as well as the photograph of Second Class Car No.203 from the Folkestone Car train from page 66 of the April issue that prompted the letter. The Locomotive Magazine, 1898, Volume 3, 1898.pdf Question (well, two actually): Was First Class Car No.171 on "The Tunbridge Wells Pullman” an actual Pullman, and if so, is this the earliest appearance of a Pullman car on the South Eastern Railway? Dana

Since writing "Thomas Powell, Llantwit, and the Taff Vale Railway" in 2021, new information has come to light regarding Llantwit and the other two engines. First, although the three engines were advertised for sale in March and April 1842, they were not actually sold at that time. Apparently there were no takers, and the Rennie’s were forced to put them up for auction on Friday 20 May 1842, as three separate lots. This must have been when Thomas Powell acquired Llantwit. What happened to the other two is unclear. However, about a year later R.K. Davis, the original auctioneer, offered two “nearly new” engines “after the pattern of those in use on the London and Birmingham Railway,” to be sold at auction (“unless previously disposed of by private contract”) on Friday 9 June 1843 at No.55 Arch of the London & Greenwich Railway, Crucifix Lane, Bermondsey — in other words, just east of London Bridge Station. The wording in the advertisement is very similar to Davis’ previous notices, only the Rennies are not mentioned by name and the driving wheels are 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, not 5 feet. As the pair were being peremptorily sold “to close an account with a Public Company,” it looks like they might have belonged to one of the railways running into London Bridge Station. R.H.G. Thomas briefly notes the sale in his book on the London & Greenwich, but says that they did not belong to the Greenwich. This leaves either the London & Croydon Railway, the London & Brighton Railway, or the South Eastern Railway, as possible owner; or their Joint Locomotive Committee (established in March 1842; the Brighton joined it in 1844). Unfortunately, I don’t have any way of checking this, and if they were ever mentioned by Bradley in his locomotive histories of those lines, I’ve never seen any mention of it made elsewhere. The question is: Are these last two engines from the same group put up for sale by the Rennies in 1842, but with enlarged driving wheels; or are they completely different? As I note below, there was insufficient clearance between the drivers to allow any increase in the diameter of the drivers, unless Davis was mistaken when he listed the drivers at 5 feet 6 inches. Second, I now believe that Llantwit was an 0-4-2 from the start, and that the drawings that appeared in S.C. Brees’ Railway Practice, Second Series (John Williams, London, 1840) purportedly depicting the London & Croydon’s Croydon and Archimedes do in fact represent the engines put up for auction in 1842. (Only the description and specifications that accompanied the drawings match Croydon and Archimedes.) As this elevation from Brees shows, these engines were quite chunky, and the reference to the London & Birmingham Railway is on account of the inside frames for the driving wheels, and perhaps also to the circular firebox. One point worth mentioning is that the rear driver is flangeless, like Stephenson’s Patentees. Moreover, there is very little clearance between the front and rear driving wheels, so increasing the diameter of each wheel by six inches would be impossible. Chris Cox of 5&9 Models (http://www.5and9models.co.uk) made a model of the Rennie 0-4-2 several years ago, shown below. It featured in The L.B.&S.C.R. Digest, Issue 7, Summer 2018, pages 39-45 (http://www.lbscr.org/Models/Digest/LBSCR-Modellers-Digest-7.pdf). This may well be as close to Llantwit’s actual appearance as we will ever find.

What about coat hanger wire, or would it be too thick?

One way of correcting this is to remove the bogie, and file or grind down the boss moulded to the underside of the body until the correct height is obtained. I used a bench mounted hand-powered grinder to do this and it did work. However, if the bogies are riveted on, rather that the later clip-in type, you have the job of removing the rivet without damaging the body or the bogie. I did do it to one coach -- otherwise, I've leave my clerestories alone and ignore the added height.

Aren't these the same diagram as the detailed Collett pair Hornby released several years ago? I'm not complaining, just wondering.

Not only cheaper, but perhaps more sensible if you plan to sheet them over.

Well spotted Mikkel! No.82 also has the small crests, but not under the GWR's. Adding them to the Kernow model should be a fairly simple modification using HMRS transfers, although perhaps this is an oversight on Kernow's part. I was very tempted to order the lined chocolate and cream and the all-brown version, but sanity prevailed and I've settled for chocolate and cream (fattening, but tasty).😄

That's something I noticed with Kernow's No.63. Knowing that the 1908 brown livery should have two GWRs in the waist panel, I wondered if Kernow had missed something. By the way, does anyone think that the Crimson Lake is a little too bright, or is it just me?

This book might be useful:GetContent.pdf

James, I checked for the book. It is Railways and War before 1918, published by Blandford Press in 1972, but -- as you've discovered -- the authors are Denis Bishop and W.J.K. Davies (not O.S. Nock - the format is identical with Nock's series). As I suspected, there is nothing about head codes. However, I think generally any lamp codes used would have been unique to the particular army or branch. There must have been a few books published on the ROD, but whether anyone ever thought to note the codes is another thing entirely. This lamp, by the way, is essentially a British-pattern hand lamp that has been redesigned for use as a marker or signal lamp (hence the sockets on either side, and lack of a rear handle). There are red and blue glass filters inside, so white, red or blue/green aspects can be shown. If you're not familiar with this, when the catch on the back is released, the top handle can be turned until the filter comes to the front. It has the Canadian Broad Arrow mark inside the door, and though I believe it is of Great War vintage, it could also date to WWII. Sadly, the interior reflector is missing, and the burner has ben replaced with an Adlake 250 model -- the same kind used in Adams-Westlake railway hand lanterns.