Tallpaul69

These were what India were wishing for as England put them to the sword!

OK, gwrrob and Miss Prism, I was only looking at retailers pictures, where the "darker" O18s do not look a lot lighter than the black N19s! The same query applies, apart from those in a very worn/bare wood condition, did this "darker" grey livery remain in wide use until 1962/3 or were the vast majority that remained in the "light" grey? (or worn?) Thanks Paul

Hi All, These new Rapido wagons look very good , if a trifle expensive, even in todays prices! Bit a quick question? Can any one explain the use in BR(W) days the use of the black(?) O18s? I understand the N19s were black for loco coal, but were the O18s also used for Loco Coal. If the black O18s were used other than Loco Coal, did they retain this livery into the 1962/3 period? Many thanks Paul

Meanwhile, returning to my original question, there has been replies on most of the tanker liveries except the Hornby "United Oil Importers". One reply seemed to say generally that the silver with red lettering of this type came in before WW2, but I wonder how long after the war it was used? R. Tourret's book has an illustration of a similar 20 ton wagon built in 1927, but as the source was Procor, the builder that took over the Chas Roberts wagon builders, it is likely that this dates from the time the wagon was built, so gives no clue as to its post war history!

I am looking for some expertise that can tell me the periods (e.g.:- pre WW2, or 1950s or 1960s) in which the following rail tankers were used, in the livery the models carry, and their routes used:- 1) Hornby (ex Airfix) 20T in silver -United Oil Importers R6012 2) as above in black - Yorkshire Tar Distillers R6011 3) Bachmann 14T (type 5) in blue-green- Lee and Green (water) 37-670X 4) as above but type 4 in buff - BP Ethyl 33-676 5) as above but type 3 in brown- BOCM 33-509 I appreciate they would not have been seen together! Many thanks Paul

Good Evening All, Not a lot of modelling done in the 12 days since my lasty post, so just a quick update. I have done some planning towards the future scenic presentation of Bradenham, and a revue of some current/future rolling stock. The scenic planning has been a bit of a nightmare. I've been through a number of versions, none of which I am happy with, so I will keep the details to myself until I have something I am a bit happier with. On the rolling stock front, firstly, I have looked at the Accurascale 16 Ton Minerals, and decided that I will hold off on the first batch, and see if the second batch includes any weathered versions, or any versions useable on my layout which are not covered by my Bachmann versions. Secondly, I have reviewed my stock of iron ore hoppers as I will need some for my rule 1 chalk train (which in fact never ran south of Ardley). I knew most of my unboxed ones were Mainline ones whose chassis is not up to modern standards as the brake shoes are not in line with the wheels. Luckily I find I have sufficient Bachmann ones for my needs, so the Mainline ones will be heading for the Bay. Hopefully my next update will be in around a week's time, by which time the scenics plan will be looking better! Cheers for now, Paul

Hi Folks, A point of interest to me is when and where did the Distillers Company use the red and black lettering on a buff tank colour as depicted on Hornby 20 ton tanker R6122? Many thanks Paul

Well Folks, It's been a funny old week so far! Monday and Tuesday were down days with the sad announcement that Hattons, whom I have had dealings with for many years are closing down, admittedly offset by this being an orderly shutdown , not a business failure. Also, the annual Hornby announcements were not very uplifting, but at least will not put more pressure on my wallet! The upside for me has been the purchase of my first Rapido wagon, reference 906010, an example of their SECR r plank wagon in departmental black livery. I have also , a little reluctantly, decided not to purchase any of Hornby's 78xxx 2-6-0 locos. These were always a bit of a Rule 1 item for my GW&GC layout, but the realisation that there was going to be little change from 400 notes for one fitted with sound and weathered, put them on the back burner. I think the funds so released will be held back for the upcoming exGWR toplight corridor coaches due later in the year. I will finally make my mind up on these once I have the preordered toplight suburbans in my hands. I also have the Accurascale GUVs and 16Ton minerals to look into further. The ex GWR GUVs look supurb, but perhaps weathering to 1960s condition would be a waste of such fine models. Maybe I will weather my Limas, which I still think look good, and buy just one Accurascale to run in pristine condition. I have a lot of Bachmann 16Ton minerals, and I have yet to be convinced of the improvements the Accurascale version will give me on a running layout, again most would need to be weathered. Cheers for now, Paul

Welcome to 2024 dear readers, and here's wishing You and Yours an enjoyable, healthy and productive New Year. Our family have now all departed and this afternoon we have started to return the house to normal! Hopefully later in the week I can get to some modelling activities, if only to give the Railway Room a tidy and hang up this years calendar (A BRM one, of course)! Cheers for now, Paul

Hope it stays flat Mike, you don't want a tumblehome in the wrong place, or worse still, in the wrong direction!! Christmas Cheer to all, Paul

Well, Kevin, I expect we will all Muddle along in the coming year, as is our Want! Meanwhile, I wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas, Cheers, Paul

Good afternoon everyone, Apologies for the lack of input over the last two weeks but this time of year gets very busy for us and unfortunately, the railway is well down the order of priorities! Today is a "catch your breath" day, a pause between the getting of presents and sorting of what happens each day over the holiday phase of Preparations and the wrapping, distribution , and food preparation phase. I have managed to get a 57xx on order, but there is still the "inspection saloon", "toplight suburbans" and 78xxx orders to sort. In case I don't get to do another posting before Christmas, here's wishing you all a great time, and as someone said to me this morning "I'll see you on the other side"! Best wishes Paul

Good Afternoon, one and all, Doing some research after my posting here yesterday, I realised that I had got my LNER tank engines muddled! It wasn't the ex NER G5s, which were 0-4-4s that were at Aylesbury, it was the ex GCR C13s which were 4-4-2s. Never mind, that's one off my wish list, which makes room for the one I forgot yesterday, which is much more likely on the GW&GC, namely the BR 78xxx 2-6-0s as just introduced by Hornby. I think there were examples at Cricklewood and Neasden, so one could appear on trains like the 2.38pm parcels from Marylebone to Aylesbury which picked up the empty morning newspaper van from High Wycombe and returned it to Marylebone via Aylesbury and Amersham. I also omitted yesterday that the ex GWR inspection saloons are a Dapol product. I have made a start on revamping Bradenham's timetable. Luckily I have room to manoeuvre as I have the fictitious High Wycombe to Bradenham and Wycombe End to Bradenham and return freights that I can slot in where I like! I also intend to extend some of the workings from Oxford, Aylesbury and Banbury to Princes Risborough and their returns to and from High Wycombe. So, onward and upward! More musings anon, Cheers, Paul

Well folks, it looks like my efforts to find a way to partially automate my layout have come to nothing. It seems that iTrain cannot at present do what I need for my partial automation without me doing everything for complete automation except for buying some of the track current sensors! Not a good use of my funds I have decided.. Train controller can do what is needed but is older technology than iTrain, so long term is probably not a good idea. Never mind, at least I have only committed time to this endeavour, I haven't spent any money on it. my thanks to @5BarVT for his efforts on my behalf including spending some of his time at Warley discussing it with iTrain experts. Moving on, the next few weeks up to the New Year, are never very productive for me on the modelling front, there is too much Family and Seasonal activity to get through! My main job will be recasting the Bradenham timetable to take account of shunting activity needing to be broken up into smaller bits than I had been planning, because there will not be the longer periods free for me to shunt while trains circulate automatically. I will also be finalising which of several recent model announcements I will be purchasing. These include the Dapol "city toplight non corridor coaches. I am thinking of buying a set of 4 of these, (two brakes, a composite , and an all second), yes, i know they ran in 6s but I don't have room for more than 4. I will use them (under Rule 1) as a workman's train running between Banbury and Wycombe End , stabling during the day at Bradenham. This is a copy of the workman's train that ran between Banbury and Morris Cowley via Oxford, stabling in the day at Oxford, although this did not use a special set of coaches. I plan to order an Accurascale 57xx. It will be the 81A allocated BR early loco version. I consider Bradenham as a sub shed of 81A so this is reasonable! I am considering also a G5, as one or two of these did reside at Aylesbury for a while, but that was in the mid 50s rather than the early 60s. Other possibilities include the new Rapido GWR and LNWR wagons and the ex GWR Inspection Saloons, especially the BR chocolate and cream version. More thoughts soon, Cheers for now, Paul

Cheers, I had just found it before your posting! The software wasn't clever enough to sort out that a search with Accurascale before Pannier was the same as 57xx etc., by Accurascale! Us humans are still in control (just about!!) Regards Paul

I'll have to look again, didn't find one when i searches an hour ago!

Hi Fellow GWR/WR modellers in 00, Its great that Accurascale have decided to give us an up to date panier. Shame we have to wait until 2025, but hopefully it will be worth the wait? Cheers Paul

I have bad news but also good news! The bad news is family things prevent me getting to Warley, the good news is that I can put my ticket and travel money into a new savings pot called "my new 57xx"!! Let's hope there is more good news this weekend? Happy modelling everyone, Cheers Paul

Ray, The first thing I did was to look and see, but there is nothing that I can see that looks wrong, even looking at the underside with a powerful lamp! Cheers Paul

Yes Nick, I agree! I just remember someone suggesting it on another thread for binding valve gear. Cheers Paul

Good evening everyone, I finally got to my sound fitted 7810 which arrived 10 days ago! I delayed opening it until I had a decent period of time available to do it carefully and do some running. The loco looks great and the matt black smokebox is first class! The only glue spot I have found so far is hidden on the underside. I am happy with the sound, although I agree it is a little on the quiet side. Fiddling with the CVs may improve the volume. Initially the running seemed odd. I put it on my test track and it didn't move although chuffing heartily! I then realised that the driving wheels were whizzing round, it was slipping mightily. I put it on the test track in order to change the code. While doing so I realised it had a 4 digit code set in as well as the usual 003 code. So I decided to run it on the layout under the 4 digit code. On the 4 digit code it surprisingly , given the slipping on the test track, seemed very stiff, running best in reverse! It also stalled at places no other 4-6-0 has. After some running it has started to run better, although still has some way to go, but I am persevering with it. Should I lubricate it, I wonder? or maybe WD40 on the motion? I have been lucky with my new steamers over the years, this is the first one for a long time that has needed much coaxing! Others experience in this area would be appreciated? Cheers for now, Paul

And the cure is???

Afternoon All, My sound fitted 7810 arrived a few days ago but I delayed opening it until I had a decent period of time available to do it carefully and do some running. The loo looks great and the matt black smokebox is first class! The only glue spot i have found so far is hidden on the underside. I am happy with the sound, although I agree it is a little on the quiet side. Fiddling with the CVs may improve the volume. Initially the running seemed odd. I put it on my test track and it didn't move although chuffing heartily! I then realised that the driving wheels were whizzing round, it was slipping mightily. I put it on the test track in order to change the code. While doing so I realised it had a 4 digit code set in as well as the usual 003 code. So I decided to run it on the layout under the 4 digit code. On the 4 digit code it surprisingly , given the slipping on the test track, seemed very stiff, running best in reverse! It also stalled at places no other 4-6-0 has. After some running it has started to run better, although still has some way to go, so I am persevering with it. Should I lubricate it, I wonder? Others experience in this area would be appreciated? Cheers for now, Paul

Best of luck with your endeavours! My current thinking is in the direction of Roco and the black Z21 (not the white z21!). Be careful, you really need the Z21(coloured Black) for its features and your layout's future. Purchase of a z21 would IMHO be short sighted. Unless finance is tight, you could keep the Powercab for a separate testing/setting up track. Cheers Paul

As someone said in an earlier post, its your layout, so Rule 1 is the key! Also, unless a lot of very knowledgeable folk are going to see the layout (for instance if you exhibit it), you are the only one who has to accept and live with compromises. I started out with a room 12ft x 8ft and a plan for the two slow lines and the High Wycombe branch junction at Maidenhead, and a line down to a lower level with a big fiddle yard to enable me to run near length trains in the right configurations and quantities. Then Covid came along and the company building the layout for me said that they were only going to build simple layouts that could be built quickly as they did not want to get stuck mid way through a complex project. So they offered me a simple plan which I tweaked and looking around for a suitable prototype found Thame (I am a GWR/WR man). Then I realised the traffic pattern was not what I wanted, it was too simple, I needed a mainline. After a lot of fiddling around I came up with the notion of Bradenham, a village beside the GW&GC north of High Wycombe that never had a station. My model world turned this into a wartime relief station and yard for High Wycombe and gave it a small MPD which High Wycombe never had despite having a WR shunter out stationed there and ER light engines running there to power suburban trains to Marylebone! This location had a lot of trains that were Tank engine powered which suited my compresses layout. So, I am happy with the compromises, the layout is fun, and I have no knowledgeable visitors, so rule ! works fine! Hope this helps? Cheers Paul