30368

Hi Mike, Many thanks, much appreciated. As a big fan of the Dr (since the first episode, daughters and grandchildren have all had to suffer my obsession with trains and Dr Who and lots of other stuff...) I think the Timelord explaination is fine. Our universe is much, much weirder than we could ever imagine. See, for example, Quantum Physics. Anyway, to return to little trains. Well done re Arther we all rely on tiny one person set ups for our hobby. When I were a lad, I recall all sorts of stuff turning up at 70D - B1's, Black Fives, lots of ex GW types and an A3 in the shape of 4472. In the 1950's D11 Prince Albert spent time on the shed too. I totally agree with your sentiments. Its all a bit of fun to keep us busy.... Kind regards, Richard B

Sounds very feasable... Many thanks Mike. Kind regards, Richard B

I didn't notice that you had "diminishing intelligence" when I met you last month, quite the opposite. Keep up the good work! Kind regards, 30368

As a Southerner DubD's were not something we saw very often but not totally unknown. I do though recall a vist to Wakefield shed around 1963/4 and of the 20 engines on shed at the time, 17 were WD 2-8-0s. It seemed as if they occupied every space on the shed and all looking very busy.. The other three were B1 61161 and 8Fs 48399 and 48274(?). Given that an ex Turkish Railway 8F carries the number 48274 I must have seen the original... Until I checked the number I had no idea about this connection. Kind regards, 30368

Nice to hear from you David and to see some of your wonderful images from Haymarket. Let us hope you return to the hobby some time in the future. Kind regards, 30368

The footplate has now been separated from the cradle. This was easier than I thought it would be, the valances cleaned up very easily. The results are fine but using the cradle is debatable in my view. As I suspected, the top of the cylinder wrapper fits nicely inside the valance so no need to chop it off. Kind regards, Richard B

A quartet of pictures from our 1961-63 trips to London Sheds. These are from Willesden and Cricklewood. It was at the Willesden Roundhouse that my brother insists we saw an original Patriot 4-6-0 but I have no recollection of it. Pictures inside a shed were well beyond my, and my Brownies, capability. Cricklewood was always interesting. As I'm sure many of you know, the steam shed was on one side of the main line and the Diesel Depot on the other. We never bothered with the latter.. Crab 2-6-0 42814 at Willesden shed. As many trainspotters did, we bunked Old Oak Common first and then walked along the canal to Willesden shed. We never seemed to take pictures at OOC given that we saw most of our WR stuff at Reading. I will check the various boxes the pictures are stored in to see if I have a snap of the lines of withdrawn Kings that I recall vividly - they were impressive looking locos were they not? . 44893 at Cricklewood moving in the shed yard. I think 45264 (and 76088) are on Cricklewood too. Not a bad snap this one. I'm not sure if this rough old Jinty, 47435, is at Willesden or Cricklewood. Having searched the web, this loco was withdrawn in October 1966 and was scrapped at Cohen's Yard, Kettering in April 1967. The search revealed that she was a Cricklewood loco. She seems to have an unusual (Cross?) item on the smokebox door. Found this Flickr picture of her on the scrap heap near Kettering- from what I could see the picture was for public use. KInd regards, Richard B

Hello Simon, Yes there is a reason. As I hinted at above. The short section of valance that needs to be soldered to the long centre section seen above and also needs to curve inward as well as fitting snugly to the curved rising running plate and it also has to be the correct legnth to match up with the next section of valance. I thought it was better to have good access for my soldering iron to get all those requirements just right. The next section of running plate is fairly straitforward so off it came. I could be wrong though.... Kind regards, Richard B

A friend of mine, one that knows what they are doing with a camera, took a few images of my hobby room. My 70D layout takes up most of the space so I thought these images might be of interest. Kind regards, Richard B

Onto the running plate. I have never used one of these etched jigs before, some of the PDK kits have them and so does this kit. Cab end to the left. The running plate valance curves inward at the raised section of the plate where it clears the cylinders. More on this later. Kind regards, Richard B

Good afternoon. Last day of the Olympics which I have really enjoyed, the French have done a good job and so have Team GB! More LM stuff this evening. My late younger brother, Terry, and I often visited the London LM sheds since to us Southerners they seemed exotic.... Yet another snap of 46245, this time at Camden probably in 1962. My recollection was that she always seemed to be clean as in this image. 46254 at Willesden 1962 again Another shot of 46254 on the same day with my younger brother in the cab - seems like yesterday in some ways... Lastly a snap of an 8F near Tysley (?) in 1964 (??) - myself and a workmate were on our way to Bescot to see some of those ex LNWR G2A 0-8-0s - we saw a couple still in steam. Kind regards, 30368

I have now found the track supply fault that was preventing me from running in the chassis on my layout - I had used a seperate supply directly to the motor to test the assembly. I had forgotten to fit balance weights on the driving wheels - I could not find any on the kit etches so made some from black plasticard - as supplied by Fox Transfers to back (some) transfers and nameplates etc. Still have to fit those tiny grab handles though.. Running very well forward - motor casing is cool so not much resistance. And running well in reverse too. I will soon be moving onto the body. Kind regards, Richard B

A further update. The chassis is almost complete. It runs very sweetly. The bogie is not fixed to the chassis, I suspect I will need to file the chassis frame above the rear of the leading wheel. Clearance elswhere looks fine. The top of the cylinder wrappers will need to be trimmed back but I shall leave that until I am able to offer the running plate to the chassis. In the background is the ex GWR 3XXX class ROD (04) 2-8-0 that I purchased from one of Tony Wright's recent sales. I shall probably tackle this refurb job next. Detail around the cylinders and motion plate looks good. I still need to fit the footsteps and the handrail that fits onto the guidebar brace. I discovered the hard way that it is important to remove, what appears to be a backing layer, on the reverse of the printed sandboxes and cylinder end covers. I could not find any detail on my drawing or in the various images of the loco brake operating linkage so I have kept is simple. I am not sure I have assembled the cylinder valve mounting shroud correctly. I have used the excellent image in Locomotives of the Great Central Railway Volume Two - page 105 as a guide. This is a really high quality kit and for the GCR fan I recommend it. It is tricky in places but really worth the effort. I have no idea how 61711 ended up at 70D in early 1950 but the B7s were designed for, amoungst other tasks, for hauling excursion trains. That is my story and I am sticking to it.... Kind regards, Richard B

Which is displaying first class weathering (and photography!) that wipe over with an oily wrag look by a couple of trainee cleaners. Really good. Kind regards, 30368

Dave, Hi-jack all you like, that's how we all learn something. In the event I soldered the motion bracket and cylinders in place without disturbing the alignment. I have not done much in recent weeks, we held our Summer Party last Friday, about 50-60 or so. Good weather and the five piece band (keyboards, drums, base and lead guitar and a rather good youngish lady fronted it all) were really good resulting in much dad/mum, granddad/granny dancing. Lot of work though... The connecting rods have been fitted and it all runs fine. I have dismantled and chnged the way the connecting rod is secured to the centre crankpin as seen below. Brake gear (mostly) fitted. KInd regards, Richard B

Will do Frank! Kind regards, 30368

And that is a bad thing?

Sorry chaps, what is barrel distortion? Something to do with the ruts made by rolling many barrels of beer? I'm embarrassed now.... Kind regards, 30368

Thanks Dave. A good suggestion it makes a lot of sense, however the motion bracket is set back a long way from the cylinders on the B7. Kind regards, Richard B

I am making slow progress with the B7 kit, due in part, to the warmer dryer weather. Always lost to do in the garden. I have checked the cylinder alignment again to make sure it lines up with the axle of the centre driving wheel. I am now working on the detail around the cylinders before I finish the cylinders and finaly solder the motion plate to the mainframes and assemble the connecting rods and crossheads. I don't intend to have working inside motion. The wire soldered to the frames is the pivot for the cylinder drain cock operating levers. I will fit the lower section after the cylinder wrappers have been soldered in position . The 1.5mm tube soldered to the mainframes is the mounting point for the inside actuated cylinder valves. Motion plate not soldered into position yet. Kind regards, Richard B

A few more of my early 1960s snapshots. These are all ex LMS types photographed at Bath, Doncaster and in London at Camden and Crickelwood. This would have been taken at Bath in 1961/2 when my brother and I were on Holiday with Mum and Dad. This is either 53806 or 53808, I can't quite make the final number out. If it is the latter, it is still with us. Another 2-8-0 is on the left. I am fairly certain this is Jubilee 45605 Cyprus at Cricklewood around 1963. Those that know such things will be able to identify the train it has just come off or is ready to haul. Yet another image of 46245 City of London at Doncaster during the Home Counties trip of 9th June 1963, my brother and my Dad accompanied me on this trip. She looked resplendent in the maroon livery. And lastly, not so resplendent, 46246 City of Manchester in store at Camden, probably early 1963 since she was cut up at Crewe in May of that year. Not too bad an image with some useful modelling detail. Kind regards, 30368

That is very helpful Tony, I have one to build at some stage. I have had the complete kit for around 5 years. I wonder what the average "shelf life" of a loco kit is before it finally gets built? Perhaps it never does... Kind regards, 30368

If I may chaps. Firstly I am very pleased that Ian (Morgan) seems to have a succesful outcome. I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer back in 2011. My PSA was within "acceptable limits", the test was carried out as a result of my younger brother being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and his Consultant felt that there maybe a genetic link so suggested that he contact me and advise that I took a test. In the event I had a biopsy that revealed that I did have prostate cancer but fortunately at an early stage. To cut a long story short, I had keyhole surgery to remove the prostate. Post operative PSA results were 0.01 or "0". However three months later the rsult was 0.1, or 10 times higher than post operative results and well below the then acceptable limit of <4. My consultant was a bit concerned and we discussed next steps since, whilst the result was very very low "something was happening". It transpired that whilst the surgeon had removed the prostate there was a tiny area that may have still been "positive" i.e. still having cancer cells. I then had 5 days a week, for five weeks, Radiological Treatment which thankfully seemed to be successful so I was declared "free from cancer" back in 2012. I continue to have PSA tests every 6 months. When we moved up to Buxton in 2020, after my first PSA test, my surgery reported to me that the PSA results were "normal". I had to insist that I was able to handle numbers ok so they told me that the result was 0.1. Oh no! I thought here we go again. My new Consultant explained that the test facility at Stockport NHS Trust only had a resolution of 0.1 rather than the 0.01 of Salisbury. My PSA has remained at 0.1 ever since. My experience of PSA readings is: 1. There does not seem to be a reliable "acceptable limit". 2. What is more important is the relative reading. By this I mean if your results are increasing, say from 2, to 2.5 and so on over a period, then alarm bells should ring. 3. It is a good idea to have a first PSA reading at around 40-45 as a personal bench mark figure. 4. Insist that you have the numeric result of a PSA test. 5. Look out for variations in test methodolgy. If you have had your prostate removed you should never record a PSA result again. I hope I have not alarmed anyone, I just thought it was important to share my experience. New PSA tests are under development so lets hope they do away with, what is, a somewhat unreliable test methodology. Kind regards, Richard B

Hi Peter, Many thanks. Given the comment on GW signals you may well be right. Kind regards, 30368

Many thanks, when the pictures were good I think I was just lucky! Most of them were poor, as you will see.... Thanks for the comment re Lynton, as I suggest, I never kept a log so I was just guessing really - it looked a bit like a wood yard in the background and there was one near Eastleigh station! Kind regards, 30368