Earlswood Nob

G'day all I am pleased that LNER prototypes are being modelled. However, I have a small criticism of the LNER post 1946 variant. 3965 (ex-3835) had a tender with a stepped out coping. 63983 was fitted with a flush sided tender. Earlswood nob

Afternoon all I fix the crankpins into the wheels using Loctite 243. One drop of the blue liquid in the threaded hole and there is plenty of time to screw the crankpin home. On other DJH kits that I have built, I have used Gibson bearings in the frame. The holes still have to be reamed out, but as the bearing flanges are thinner, they allow more sideplay. I'm wondering about coupling rods. Are they one piece items which would restrict sideplay or are they hinged? I like this thread as I've decided to build one in the near future. Earlswood nob

I had a disagreement with the manager of a local charity shop, when asking the price of some cricket books. He quoted £10 each, but I said that was too expensive. He remarked that they were on Ebay for £15. I replied that the only reason they were on Ebay for that price was because all those at a competitive price were sold and didn't remain on Ebay, and I could buy them new for £8 at a local bookshop. He did not like my reply, and I walked out. Earlswood nob

Another even more expensive, and second hand, that's available at £22.49 from Booklaw. However, this includes "best offer". http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yeadons-Register-of-LNER-Locomotives-vol-50-/281781689315?hash=item419b7f5be3:g:~jUAAOSwbdpWZ1lo Earlswood nob

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yeadon-Register-LNER-No-49b-N8-N9-N10-N11-N12-N-Willie-B-Yeado-NEW-Ha-/391368526029?hash=item5b1f61c8cd:i:391368526029 A discount offering at £42.32, when you buy new from Booklaw at £22.49. Earlswood nob

Evenin' all I agree N15class, and have a spreadsheet including the most power speed of the motors and gear ratio, wheel size etc to give me the ideal parameters for each particular loco. It works fine for me, but as I mentioned above, I like watching a Dock Shunter crawling along. I have seen layouts on Youtube which show a LNER Garratt (U1) hauling freight trains. I wouldn't have wanted to be the fireman if that happened in real life. Earlswood nob

G'day all Well 46256, its your railway, so you run what you like. If you plan to run freight trains with your Big Bertha, a Hiflier 54:1 would be suitable. It's what I use in my heavy freight locos (LNER O4's etc). I use the following as a guideline for gearboxes. Express 30:1 or 40:1 Passenger & mixed traffic 40:1 Freight 54:1 Trip freight & shunting 60:1 Pure shunting & banking 80:1 Dock & hump shunting 108:1 These ratios are not cast in stone and are varied on occasion. I get a buzz out of my LNER T1 humpshunter creeping along, and my dockshunters (Y7 & Y8) going even slower. When I had my first spell of model building 45 years ago, Alex Bowie (former editor of MRC) said to me; "Anyone can build a loco to go fast, but skill is needed to make it run slowly and smoothly". Now we have the choice of many different ratios with the High Level boxes, it is relatively easy to build a smooth slow running loco. A thought has just occurred to me is that; if a banker is not coupled to the train then it is liable to fall behind the train if it is geared to be slower, unless DCC is fitted. I don't have DCC, so it's a problem that I will have to cope with when I build a proper layout. I find this thread interesting as I intend to build a model of the Big Bertha in the future. Earlswood nob

Good morning all I find that the Mainly Trains grill etch is fine, but the lamp irons seem rather large. I have geared my LNER Worsboro' banker to 80:1 with High level gearboxes. It will push anything and everything. I think the largest possible Mashima driving through 80:1 would give a powerful loco. I would probably use a drive extender to make the the middle axle the driven one. The boiler would have plenty of room for added lead. Earlswood nob

G'day all I seem to remember that Big Bertha was trialled hauling a freight train, but must have been a failure as nothing more was heard. The LNER Garratt banker was also tried on freight haulage over Woodhead, but wasn't a success. I guess the fireman was pleased with not having to fire the 56sq ft grate for too long. Earlswood nob

G'day all I'd love to reproduce the incident on the Lickey Incline, when a freight hauled by a LMS Garratt and banked by the LNER Garratt stalled and had to be helped out by Big Bertha. If my maths is correct that totaled 38 driving wheels. Earlswood nob

Good morning all Thanks for the tip, ArthurK. I'll remember that the next time I build a NER tender. Earlswood Nob

G'day all I have had great fun bashing Triang GWR short clerestorys into other stock. They are readily available cheaply, so it doesn't matter if you make a mistake. Six of the so called composite can be remodelled into five 8-compartment ex-NER clerestorys. I am currently bashing several into ex-GNR articulated stock, which was constructed from old six wheelers. The only difficult bit is the flat Howlden roofs as they have to be scratchbuilt from plasticard. Earlswood nob

G'day all I am reading with interest as I still have the Mailcoach/Kirk Silver Jubilee set to construct. Earlswood nob

Evenin' all I have built the following Little Engines kits: LNER T1 LNER O4/7 LNER A7 LNER A6 LNER N1 LNER D10 Also produced: LNER O4/3 LNER O1 LNER D16/3 LNER D11 LNER A8 LNER J11 LNER J11/3 There may be other including O4/8 but I'm not sure. Earlswood nob

Good morning all The U.S. became independent 100 years before there was (nearly) universal literacy in Britain. Spelling varied depending who was writing it. The Americans developed their own spelling, as did the British, for here was no universal spelling. My family history research has only shown ONE ancestor who could read and write at the time of American Independence. He was a Ships Chandler, so probably needed to. Earlswood nob

Afternoon all The only time that I've placed an order with Dart Castings, I posted it and it was received inside of a week. I echo JW's praise of MJT bogies/articulation. I have fitted them to my LNER Restaurant Triplet and it rolls so much better. Earlswood nob

Prometheus (what a great forum name) People forget about GEM models. I do have a D21 4-4-0, which originally had the Triang/Hornby chassis and now has a Comet chassis. I hope the 56xx model is powerful as those Kays coaches are heavy. Comet (now Wizard) do a 56xx chassis. They are more expensive than RTR chassis, but are so much better. However, I have made my two Bachmann J39 split chassis run well after cleaning, and an old Mainline J72 split chassis now runs beautifully after I managed to get it apart and clean it. Wheels/axles are always a problem with Kays kits. I usually replace them with Gibson (or Markits) wheels. I admire you for using two-part epoxy, it would be too slow for me. Earlswood nob

Good morning all I have long been a supporter of white metals kits and get pleasure from building them. I am currently trying to convert a Kays O4/1 into a O4/6 rebuild from an O5, and have run into problems. The Kays footplate is too wide. The widened footplate over the cylinders is approx 3mm overscale. I have built a cab to the dimensions of the Isinglass drawing and it's too narrow. I shall have to rebuild the cab with a new spectacle plate to match the oversize footplate. The roof will have to be widened and made higher if matching the original curvature. Earlswood nob

G'day all I believe that the Silver Jubilee ran with 8'6 bogies at one time. I don't know if the Coronation did the same. I don't know of any white metal cosmetic bogie sides to fit the MJT CCU. If the kit contains the bogie sides you can easily make them fit the MJT inner bogies. Earlswood nob

Good day all I consider myself inept at painting, but the DMU looks as if the masking tape wasn't applied properly. I have produced better than that, and I'm inept at painting. If one ignores the paint finish, I don't think it is starting at a ridiculous price. I won't be bidding as it's far too modern for me. However, the description makes me want to vomit. Earlswood nob

Good morning all Interesting pic of the N5 with extended tanks, 9311 (ex-5771). I think it was stabled at Lincoln post war. Earlswood nob

Good morning all Whilst I do try and fit wheels with the correct number of spokes, for my own satisfaction. I think it would be nit-picking to criticise a model constructed by a fellow modeller for having the wrong number of spokes. I couldn't be bothered to count the spokes anyway. Now, I must count the wood block simulation on my Mansell wheels to make sure they have the correct number. Earlswood nob P.S. I don't know how many blocks were in the originals, so I'll give it a miss.

G'day all I had a problem with my Kay's Atlantic. It wouldn't reverse through points without derailing. I solved it by mounting the trailing axle on a pivot to allow moving in a vertical direction only, so it became a sort of mixed size 4-6-0. This also improved adhesion as it allowed the chassis to rock back on the rear driver, rather than the trailing axle. I really must put the Atlantic through the paint shop for a pic. Earlswood nob

Good morning all There are many dealers around who don't know much about model railways. The proper auction house experts aren't much better. I think they go by the running number on the model. I have seen models misdescribed in Auction House catalogues, appear on Ebay with the same incorrect description. The number was correct for the description, but the loco wasn't correct for the number. I have seen locos on Ebay with a Portescap motor and a low BIN price. They don't last long. A few years ago I won a NuCast J6 for around £60, and on stripping it down, found a Portescap. The motor went for a good price, so I got the loco for zero. I recently bought a model that looked awful, but had a Comet Chassis/Valve gear and Markits wheels. the Comet chassis/valve gear would cost more than I paid for the complete package so I got the loco and wheels for zero. Everyone loves a bargain, but I only buy things i want, not like an ex-GF who bought a pair of leather boots in a sale, she didn't like them when she got home, so donated them to a charity shop. Earlswood nob

G'day all I think it depends on whether the items are in stock. I posted an order in August and I received it in less than a week. Earlswood nob