Right Away

Many modellers are in a similar situation. Personally, I find I always have more locomotives on storage cassettes than in service, otherwise it might seem I was trying to re-create the 1955 strike! For example ......

“Quick, he’s not looking. We can nip over and see if there’s anything else.”

Thank you everyone; Patchway it most certainly is. I have to admit I am not at all familiar with that area and would probably never have “sussed it” without all of your help.

Can any ‘Webber identify the location of this Ivo Peter’s photo. The caption states the date as 18th March 1962, train is the 12.50 Cardiff - Brighton, hauled by 4080 “Powderham Castle”. Popular haunts of the late Ivo might suggest somewhere around Bath/Bathampton - but that’s guessing! A few pointers: 6-car stop board, “Beware” sign, telegraph poles, ATC ramp, trailing crossover, goods line or sidings (with “Prarie” with open wagons), overbridge and “Down” distant beneath starter.

As you’ve cleaned the track, wheels and pick ups, it’s beginning to sound like a body-off job to locate the source of the lubricant and thoroughly clean the drive train. It’s also surprising how much oil can reside on the back of the keeper plate, so it’s a good idea to inspect this and the bearings. I’ve never had a problem with IPA; used it for years and the only thing I have noticed is a slight discolouration on unpainted plastic if it gets on brake blocks etc after cleaning wheels. Nowadays, the blocks on all my stock now have a modicum of weathering and so that problem no longer arises.

Not strictly railway orientated, but nevertheless.... Throughout my childhood, a feature of many large building sites, bridge erections (ouch - apologies if that’s a medical procedure) and some docksides was the derrick crane. I believe the type was known as a “Stiffleg Derrick” (honest moderators - I am trying to keep this clean). They could be seen everywhere .... and then about the time I reached my late ‘teens they seemed to vanish. The construction scene was changing rapidly, with immense tower cranes having the ability to slew and reach large areas, depending on load and winds; self-propelled “mobile” cranes became heavier and larger and able to move locations relatively easily. So, what happened to poor old Derrick? Has he been completely consigned to history or maybe he’s lurking on some defunct dockside somewhere; rusting away, unloved, unwanted and awaiting a new future perhaps as a Qashqai or other commodity that will proudly bear the legend “Made in Great Britain”. I well remember the two cranes at Kingston Wharf near Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex loading open wagons which were shunted by a “P” class 0-6-0T. Now the serious bit - a derrick crane in 4mm scale. Would any member know of dimensional drawings and exactly how they were powered (steam?) and operated. Many thanks.

For bespoke platforms, you could try .80” Plastikard (very tough) for the surface and cross bracing with Peco platform edging - please see pic.

Thank you everyone for your help. The mention of small Prairies being restricted from St Davids to Exmouth Jnc is especially interesting.

Q; With regard to BR days, would any of our learned members know of locations, if any, where ex-GWR 2-6-2T classes officially ventured onto Southern metals. I have photographs depicting 2-cylinder 2-6-0 and 4-6-0 tender engines on the SR but none showing a “Prairie”. As an aside, I well remember an occasion in the summer of 1961 when, (obviously unofficially) I accompanied the motorman, my Dad, in the cab of a 6 car HAL/BIL Portsmouth Harbour to Brighton working. We were pulled up at Portcreek Junction (Hilsea) to allow a light engine to cross in front from the Fareham direction. As it approached in the distance, I remarked that it was a Western engine, Dad saying “it looks like a “Hall”. Sure enough, No 4905 “Barton Hall” of St Phillips Marsh clanked past towards Portsmouth with a distinctive “fitt-fitt”, a sound i’d never heard from an engine before. “That’s it’s brake pump; they all sound like that”, was the answer to my ensuing query. Imagine the shock, as to my “Southern” mind, whose impression of GWR engines had been of glistening paintwork and shiny bits, as depicted in books was brought sharply into focus as this grimy apparition passed by us. But .... dirty or not, it happened to be the first time I’d seen a “foreigner“ from the Western and a most refreshing change it was.

Can confirm R3456 (30792) has tender fitted decoder.

.... and that “ second dome” creeping in behind the boiler. But hey, that‘s surely just a pedant thing; the picture is fantastic.

“Mind yer ‘ead!” An excursion from the South Coast runs off a pw restriction, passing a Banbury 2800 which has just been given the road with a parcels from the Reading line.

Bit late to this thread, however in 00 scale, 0.45mm brass rod (wire). Useful for sand pipes - engines and goods brakes, cylinder drain pipes, coach handrails, not to mention all those other things that at some time or another decide to fall off!

As a postscript, there’s some useful info on GWR tenders here: http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

Sorted! There’s another flippin’ screw under the water pickup scoop; scoop needs twisting aside to reveal (not shown on service sheet). The transverse tubular thingy has recesses each end for locating pips on each side piece. Photo attached for members’ reference. Thanks cctransuk for your assistance.

Thanks; these sheets are the same as supplied with the model with little assembly information other than body removal, lubrication etc. However, I’ve just dug deeper and found HSS 351B but unfortunately the diagram omits the transverse member in question. Still stuck! 🥴

Looking for some advice on the removal of the wheels on a Hornby Churchward 3500gal tender (attached to a 28xx class 2-8-0). There are two screws, one at the front and another smaller screw beneath the coupling. The problem is the transverse tubular member between the leading and middle axles, which looks as though it will prevent the keeper plate from passing beneath it - please see pic. Removal of the two screws does not free the plate to check. It could just be that it’s tight, but levering just causes it to flex. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for the compliments, Johnster. That leading van .... I knew it would be picked up. My bad!

Fumes (not necessarily detectable) exuded by superglue can affect finished paintwork, leaving it hazed and/or discoloured - apply with care.

Winning the Battle 225 on the clock against an injector and leaking profusely, a “Big Eight” clambers over the top of the 1 in 300 with a through freight from the Midland Region as a local farmer has his own struggle with some errant Friesians, doubtlessly startled by the engine’s raucous bark.

Just one glowing cinder and .... good-bye goods shed!

Grimy, but as ever game; another Eight” in repose awaits duty.

Couldn’t agree more. Brighton to Portsmouth “slows” could be a somewhat dull experience, seeming to call at every farm gate west of Chichester. My favourite routes for these units were the Mid-Sussex (now Arun Valley) line, Horsted Keynes to Seaford workings, and Brighton to Eastbourne (but not the onwards bit to Ore). As you mention, in summer with windows down, the outside sounds are, to many, sadly missed. Jangling of shoe links from the side with no conductor rail as the shoes were “hanging loose“. Running in, as the train rolled to a halt, station announcements could (just) be discerned as the compartment passed each lamp standard with its associated loudspeaker, followed by a final groan of brake blocks and a slight jerk - (didn’t they teach him to release ‘em just before they stop?”. Winter was a different matter. Windows dripping with condensation and stained with nicotine - “excuse me, did you know this is a No Smoker!” After dark in winter, frantic wiping of the glass in order to read the running-in board - “ is this my station?”. Drop the window, stick yer ‘ead out, stare down at the end of the platform ramp or even better, the cess. “Oh s***, I’m in the 5th coach, b****r!

“8.55 light for Eastern Docks - very nice. What I call a civilised time of day, Jim”

The mention of SR 2-car EMUs (HAL, BIL and NOL) working as single units brings to mind a certain issue which could, under certain conditions, result in disaster. I refer to the occasion whereby the Westinghouse air compressor would fail to operate due to a fuse blowing. The subsequent reduction in air pressure, after a couple of brake applications (station stops) might then be unnoticed by the motorman until the train was failing to slow/stop. (For units running in multiple, if one compressor stopped working, the other units’ compressor(s) would continue to provide the requisite 100psi to the main reservoirs and 70psi in the train pipe.) This potential problem was well known with running single 2-car units and provided motormen kept a watch on the air gauge needles, any fall in pressure which was not restored would alert them to a problem. However, the air gauge on the old SR units was located up in the left corner of the cab, not a convenient position for easy viewing. Another point is that if a unit was being driven from the driving trailer, the sound of the compressor which was located beneath the motor coach behind was not so clear and therefore its inaction could go unnoticed. In 1952, a single 2-car unit was running downhill and with insufficient air passed signals at danger, colliding violently with a light engine just outside Guildford, Surrey. Following this tragedy, union intervention finally decreed that 2-car units would not operate singly until a solution was found. The result was the incorporation of a control circuit governor, which if air pressure fell below 50psi would open and render the master controller unable to function. A single 2-car with a failed compressor circuit would be unable to draw traction current and therefore alert the motorman before air pressure dropped significantly to the point where the brake would not operate. The position of the air brake gauge was lowered to a level more in line with the motormens’ line of sight. The last HALs and BILs would continue to work for almost another 20 years following the aforementioned accident. For those of us running model Hornby SR units in single - watch that air gauge!