PJT

Wibdenshaw - makes you really feel like you're there. Well, does me, anyway. Pete T.

The roof vents were changed, too, for the EFE run, so all in all it was quite a hefty revamp of what had gone before. By that point I'd already modified my two Kernow branded sets to my satisfaction so didn't buy any of the EFE releases. Pete T.

Looks like a WD to me, with that brake cylinder set up. Rather lovely, too. Pete T.

I thought I'd done with posting in this thread, however as a result of something that's come up I'd just like to add a bit more, if I may. Robbie's partner, Jan, has very kindly taken the time to find a couple more photos of Robbie that I can use here. They're not the same ones as I referred to in my post on page 1 of this thread, the ones that were lost through the RMweb outage, but they're very similar scenes and the context is the same. Robbie had huge enthusiasm for classic British cars (particularly Jags and Minis) and motorcycles, as well as his loves of railways and photography. He was very practical (despite the obvious hinderances of paraplegia plus a right hand that was only partly useable) and pretty well practised at building and rebuilding car engines, particularly the big old Jaguar XK straight sixes! The third photo simply shows Robbie in pre-paraplegia days, in 1972, with one of his beloved bikes. When you pass by for a look at this thread, thanks for sorting out the photos below, Jan; that was a lovely thing to do.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember the earliest Triang-Hornby tender drives were either of Fleischmann design, or at least very heavily influenced by the Fleischmann design. Whichever, they seemed altogether of far, far better quality than anything tender drive that came along later from Hornby (I still have a very early Evening Star that still works very well, though really I only still have it for sentimental reasons and never run it except maybe once a year to see if it's still ok - which it always is), but still sometimes suffered from the problem Tony pointed out, that of the bizarre sight of the loco wheels not turning while the loco was being pushed around the track by its tender. Pete T.

From Robbie's partner, Jan, earlier this evening: 'Hi Pete, The funeral went off without a hitch, Robbie’s family did a good job. Attached is the funeral service card, I took that photo of him a few years ago on our deck on a lovely spring day.'

Well, Keith, all I can say is that you were lucky and I wasn't (and it wasn't the first time I'd asked them for a motor and been turned down, so I was half expecting it the second time, with the N7). Maybe I contacted them a while before you and the situation changed in the meantime. I did say I didn't know what the situation's like today. Obviously it's great news and peace of mind for owners if they are now available! Pete T.

Hello again John, Both times I've contacted Oxford to see if I could purchase a motor - once for the open frame motor in an Adams Radial, the other for the N7's coreless type - I was simply told they didn't have any, not even in returned locos that they might 'Christmas Tree' for spare parts, and that they had no idea when or even if they might have them in future. I was surprised, too. Still am. Oh, I repair kit built locos too, though nowhere near as many as RTR. I find the majority of non running kit builds need pretty much complete disassembly and rebuilding and, to be honest, I have enough already in the kit stash that I ought to be spending my time on instead. One I did do last year was a K's Bulldog 4-4-0 with the usual broken nylon outside cranks, but otherwise nicely finished. A new set of wheels and cranks, plus the addition of a boiler backhead and fall plate that K's never supplied in the kit, and it's beautiful; very, very satisfying. The grandson's following in my footsteps now, buying, repairing and selling locos to fund the ones he wants to buy for his own railway. Not that I encouraged him or anything... Exactly! I've never used a High Level coreless motor, though I ought to try them because you and many others speak very well of them. I've used loads of Portescaps, many bought cheaply in basket-case kit builds. They seem sometimes to be fitted in the vain hope they'll be a magic cure for a badly built chassis. Never used an N2/N20 - I'll look into that, thank you. I know; you wouldn't buy a new car and fill the engine with 1950s technology SAE 30 oil, would you? New controllers are, in the main, cheaper than new locos; why would you risk a new loco with a very old controller? Through a sentimental inability to throw it away, I've still got an old Rovex controller that came with my first train set. I'm sure it still works ok, but I wouldn't ever consider using it nowadays. Pete T.

Good evening John, Well, I have to confess I bought the loco reasonably cheaply knowing that the motor was hit and miss in its operation, so unless I made some kind of fraudulent claim there wasn't any warranty or pushing Oxford for a replacement motor under their service commitment for me on this occasion. By the way, having worked in the motor industry, both in car manufacture and original equipment car parts manufacture all my working life, I'm very aware of the 'service commitments' that motor manufacturers are bound by, similar in principle but longer in period than the sale of goods act commitments you're alluding to, including guaranteed supply of spares to keep a car functioning and roadworthy for 10 years after its production. On this occasion I thought I could persuade the motor to work properly, as I've done dozens of times with other non-working/intermittently working locos, but on this occasion I just couldn't get it to start and run reliably. Then it gave up altogether, so I went in search of a suitable replacement and discovered the Tramfabriek range. Actually, I enjoy this sort of repairing and problem solving and frequently buy cheaper non runners to entertain myself with, so the story of my failed N7 wasn't an unhappy experience at all, and I'm delighted with the finished repair! ...and thank you very much for taking the time to offer both of those recommendations. I've saved them for future reference and I'll probably order one or two anyway, just to have a look at them and see what they're like. Pete T.

When the motor in my N7 failed in 2019, Oxford couldn't supply a replacement or give me any idea when they might have N7 motors available; in fact they expressed doubt that they would ever stock them as spare parts. I don't know what the situation is today. Quite so, and most of those listed on eBay in your search result are Tramfabriek motors, which were (probably still are, I don't know) a little bit cheaper to buy direct from Tramfabriek, rather than from their eBay listings. Pete T.

Taken from my post on page 47 on the N7 thread: 'an alternative is a Tramfabriek 1020D (double shafted coreless 10 x 20mm) - I've used one on an Oxford N7 and it worked perfectly when I fitted it around 18 months ago and continues to do so today. It's 3mm shorter than the original Oxford Rail motor, but is gripped by the foam in the motor clamp very securely so this isn't a problem. You will need a 1mm dia. pin on a worm puller to swap the worm over from your old motor. See: https://tramfabriek.nl/motors.html The motor costs the Euros equivalent of about £16.50 incl. VAT and is posted from the UK, despite the 'nl' website address. Not the cheapest priced motor but very nice quality and since I couldn't get one from Oxford Rail last year I was more than happy to pay the price having come across this one. I have no link other than being a happy customer. The other motors they supply are worth a look, too.' I also made the observation in a later post that the N7 of mine with a Tramfabriek motor is a noticeably better performer than my other two N7s with standard Oxford Rail motors (though, to be honest, they're pretty good anyway), which still holds true today. Hope that helps! Pete T.

Oh, yes, well remembered. I'd forgotten all about that! Might just have to search that one out this evening. Pete T.

A bittersweet goodbye to the best, most entertaining children's story teller ever. His stints on BBC's Jackanory loom large in my childhood memories. Pete T.

Oh yes, Tony. For the couple of weeks that he was able to appreciate it before he went downhill and returned to hospital, he was itching to get well enough to photograph it. Pete T.

No, but he did see it and handle it - he and his partner Jan very carefully unpacked it , following the instructions to fold down the front of the box first - and he was mightily proud of it, but wasn't ever well enough to set it up and photograph it. He had been extremely excited at the prospect of having a go at it, as and when he improved; the anticipation of doing so gave him something to aim for that he really wanted to do. Pete T.

I've been in regular contact with Robbie for some years, often with helping to ship locos - or finding and shipping repair parts for locos - out to him in New Zealand, plus discussing locos, motorcycles, cars, photography and politics and exchanging anecdotes about our lives. Though I never met him, he's been a great pal through those years. His impetuous and enthusiastic nature always tended towards getting him into trouble, on here and elsewhere, but while he was too quick off the mark for his own good sometimes he was no fool and was very well read, especially on the subjects of New Zealand and UK steam locos (his undoubted favourites being the Britannias) and mathematics. He was very proud of and interested in his UK ancestry - his mother came originally from Guildford. I always regarded his manipulated images as two dimensional model making; making models 'virtually' on screen. Because of his paraplegia caused by a motorcycle accident in the mid-70s and the almost complete loss of use of one hand after surgery in the mid-80s (and latterly a cataract, on top of everything else), he would obviously have struggled too much with the fiddly bits of three dimensional modelling. That said, he was very skilled as a photographer and, despite his shortcomings, still very accomplished as a car engine rebuilder and car mechanic, especially with Jaguars and Minis. I wish I could post some photos here of Robbie with his Series 1 XJ6, his Jaguar MkI or his Mini - or a photo of him working on a Jaguar engine on an engine stand - but they all got lost in the RMweb outage - regrettably I didn't take copies of them. His regular transport was a V8 Holden that he'd adapted with hand controls. He was fiercely independently-minded and was wonderfully supported in his determination - and frequently argued with! - by his lovely partner and companion in life, Jan. She's been a real brick. I don't do Facebook, so @MikeParkin65's post here (thank you, Mike) after he found out from Robbie's niece via Facebook is the first I've heard, though I've been waiting for the inevitable news since the start of July, when he came home from hospital after having less than successful treatment for an issue that just wouldn't sort itself out. As I said in an email to Robbie after he came home from hospital, "Often I've found myself replying to your emails right at the end of my day, because of the time difference between us, yet it's never once felt like a drag or a waste of time to do so. Thanks, Robbie. It's been great fun." Pete T.

It often came up in conversation that it had gone through a more thorough rebuild than any of the others - in fact, I seem to remember it was referred to as the 'Super Deltic' around that time. Wasn't The Black Watch, plus maybe one or two others, supposed to be subject to the same programme, but in the end only got some of the attention that 55016 got? Pete T.

Certainly agree with that. Having bought a copy years ago when it was first published, it's a hell of a lot of useful information, in a very useable format, for only £9 secondhand. Pete T.

Likewise! I've also still got one or two other printed card wagon body sheets of his. Made a change from the Peco Wonderful Wagon printed card designs - and Tony did a number of sheets in the liveries of local Portsmouth/Fareham/Havant traders, too. Pete T.

By 'the other model shop', do you mean Robin Thwaites, in Arundel Street, near Landports department store? We used to go there as youngsters because he had the full range of the new and fascinating Grafar N Gauge in there - exotic stuff. But I suppose we thought all the Fleischmann stuff in Fratton Bargain Shop was exotic, too, for lads brought up on Margate Triang and Hornby. Both Fratton Bargain Shop and Robin Thwaites were regular haunts after school and the most common excuse for me missing my train home. They were also model shops, rather than model railway shops, stocking plastic kits and radio control models etc. alongside their considerable model railway ranges. A little further to walk was the 'serious' model railway shop, Tony Collett's in Winter Road, Southsea. He had all the loco kits, motors, wheels and scratchbuilding components (as a kid, I'd never seen boxes full of domes and chimneys before). All my early loco kits came either from him or by mail order from Holts in Swansea. Tony was a lovely chap to deal with, too. He'd also sold records in his shop, but that was before my time. Or, at least, I can't remember them in there. I found out some years ago that, in the late 1960s, Robin Thwaites also bought the then very down at heel model village at Godshill on the Isle of Wight, owning it for many years and painstakingly restoring it to be the wonderful tourist attraction it's still kept as today. Edit: Ah no, sorry, I've just realised the 'other shop' you're talking about is in an era well after mine - as are one or two other Portsmouth model shops, some of which have come and gone again since I was in the city every day. Never mind; gave me a rather pleasant few minutes thinking about the model shops that got me going all those years ago. Pete T.

Yes, the peel-off shrink wrap. I thought that was a pretty nice idea, too. Pete T.

I always loved it as a kid, too. Still have my first purchase from J. Morris's (as it used to be), one of the Mainline Standard 4MT 4-6-0s bought in 1976 when it was a brand new model from an exciting new manufacturer (of course it's no longer working, unlike the shop). In those days you had to head for the back of the shop to find all the model railway stuff - not that I paid much attention to the rest of the shop as I walked through, but I seem to remember it sold furniture and lighting. It was a long time ago... The non-modelling stock left the shop over the years as the modelling range grew. I guess about 30 years later Morris's merged with the excellent Models & Hobbies of Steyning, with the latter's stock and owner moving to the Lancing shop. It's still a 'must visit' when we occasionally pass Lancing on our travels - a good little shop that grew into a much larger, really good one. I dearly hope it finds new ownership and survives and that Brian enjoys his retirement. Pete T.

Thinking about the first Southdown Nationals, what about BCD820L? Since it's the Leyland National owned by the Science Museum and kept at the SMG Wroughton site, perhaps there's a tie up there for the Science Museum and Locomotion Models? Pete T.

Ah, now that one, BCD806L, started life as part of the first batch of Southdown Nationals. Great choice! Pete T.

You're welcome. When you get around to doing the job, if you have any further queries then I'd be happy for you to ask me here or PM me. Pete T.