Antony Farrell

Looks like some new ends then. Thankyou, I thought the V5's alterations would be bit too late.

Can anyone advise me as to when the earliest V5s received the double bonnet vents. I have a number of Coopercraft kits for this version but I think they will be a bit late for my planned layout which is pre WW1. If they were done after 1913 I will have to make some new ends unless someone knows of some other types that can be used (and which are available!)

We actually have a horse called Eric, but he is a black and white stallion.

I'm running Corel Draw 9 under Windows 10 64bit without any problems, though I mostly use Corel Paint 9.

Phoenix Paints which I would like to use do not appear to be importable into Australia so I am reliant on brands which have distributors here like Vallejo. Brands I have seen here are some Humbrol, Vallejo, Tamiya and a lot of craft acrylics. So finding matches can be a problem (I model pre-group GWR and GCR)

In discussing this with a friend here he argued that the 10% GST is actually a tariff imposed on all imports. It's only because it has been lumped here with domestic GST that it isn't. If it was successfully argued then it would breach a whole bunch of trade agreements of which Australia is a signatory.

What may happen in Australia is that Customs will make use of the declarations, where the overseas companies have not indicated that GST has been collected will result in the goods being held by customs and the customer being billed for this plus costs. This used to happen to things like wargames figures. I remember importing a small quantity in the late 70's and customs not handing them over until some duty or other was paid.

Well at least you will be able to get stuff. In Australia we are being cut off from Amazon's International sites and will only be able to access their Australian site which has a much smaller list of items.

I too was after a 4mm Armstrong class and had one on order when the business I ordered it through (in Australia) suddenly closed up. Luckily I had not paid for it. Still I still want one of them for my GC/GWR Joint line now that I have somewhere to build it. Are there any 4mm models of the Armstrong 4-4-0 out there?

The LB&EGR scheme was proposed in 1864 and backed by the Midland. It was to connect to the Midland mainline at Hendon so I assume the London terminus would have been that of the Midland Railway presumably St Pancras by the time this line would have opened if built. The line itself looks like it would be about 60 miles in length. Now for my purposes I would like the line to have at least some stock of its own suitable for a 1912/13 period so what would I be looking at? As for the GC using this line instead of the Metropolitan's I don't know, the GW was close with the GCR so possible would not have had a problem with this but what was the relationship like between the GC and Midland Railways?

Now that I have somewhere to put a model railway I am looking at something based upon the proposed London, Buckinghamishire and East Glocestershire Railway (L B & E G R). The scheme never eventuated but it is not difficult to see where it would have fitted in. Now assuming that the Great Central/Great Western Joint still went ahead it gives a great deal of versatility to a layout set around 1912/13.

You could try the various suppliers of wargame figures. These come in all sorts of sizes, periods, poses etc. Some will supply single figures or small packs.

On the topic of turntables does anyone know if there is a kit or model for a GWR pattern type suitable for a pre WW1 layout.

The warning on the front page also implies that the Blacksmith products are now available and can be ordered since they are now on the website.Actually they have been listed for some time. "Our full current and up to date catalogue is here online and can be browsed. Should you wish to do so, it is also possible to buy online over our secure server all items from our catalogue" If none of the items are available this way then that is false and misleading advertising. Is this an offence in the UK? It certainly is here.(Australia) Interestingly I found I still have an account showing an outstanding order from 2013 sitting on the site. In my case I had ordered via a different page so did not see the warning. In the end since I paid by credit card my bank eventually refunded on the basis of a failure to deliver goods and no response from the vendor to my enquiries.

I'm looking at a re-imagined Princes Risborough using the assumption that the Midland had actually managed to get the London, Buckinghamshire and East Gloucestershire railway built which could have turned the Princes Risborough to Thame into a joint route, Thame becoming a junction. The southern end where the line from Amersham would enter Princes Risborough would probably need to be amended but I'm not sure northen end heading for Thame would need any alteration of the track plan. (I'm looking at 1913 for the setting) As far as I can tell this would allow me to run GWR, GCR, Midland and L,B & E.G. stock into the re-imagined Princes Risborough.

The mentions of how Princes Risborough was run under GWR/GCR auspices did make me wonder what the stations would have been like had the Midland scheme for the London, Buckinghamshire & East Gloucestershire Railway gone ahead in 1864 as this would also have linked at Princes Risborough. I was also wondering what effect this would have had on the architecture of the station and its infrastructure.

Thanks for that, will make for some interesting groups of coaches.

I have a number of coaches, a mixture of clerestory and early toplights on my to build list. My layout will be set in 1913 so I am wondering the following; In 1913 would toplights built in 1909 and 1910 still be in the all brown livery in 1913? Since presumably brown would have been the colour they were out shopped in and would still have been in reasonable shape 4 years later. I am also assuming that an H22 since it was built in 1913 would be in Crimson Lake. Then there are the clerestories, in 1913 is it possible that the original chocolate and cream, brown, and crimson lake liveries would all be present? If so it would make for some interesting train formations.

If you really want the card and paper buildings to last for years you would also need to use acid free papers and card. This sort of paper is easy enough to get but I don't know whether you can get acid free card.