RapidoLinny

Hi James, Sorry for the delayed reply, I've only just spotted your post! So the roof fitted to your preservation-era model of no. 7 is what we intended. As preserved, number 7 has a roof that doesn't match either of the two tramcars during their service life - it is missing the external cross-ribs, and is smooth along its length. We couldn't justify a whole new roof tooling for this one model, so we went with the roof which we thought best represented it today - that being the one with only one set of rainstrips, rather than the double rainstrips on number 7 as in service. It's a compromise, but hopefully one that makes sense when you hear our thought process. Thanks, Linny

That's the conclusion we came to - looking at the artwork we've sent off to the factory, we've definitely added a Hurst Nelson owner's plate: Hope this helps! Linny

Sounds like a modelling project... Just buy two of the Titfield sets in order to get another Dan's House to modify... 😝

Absolutely correct! When I designed the interior, I wanted to make it appropriate for ruining behind Thunderbolt. Besides, if modelled in its static form (or indeed being carried out of its field by the villagers!) we would have had to replicate the broken window through which he gets poked with a tree branch to wake him up, as well as a *lot* more clutter, the bed, a sink, a wardrobe, and a washing line inside!

I think he wants to hide ideas for functional parts and more details... There's always more details we can add though!

Funny you should mention that... https://rapidotrains.co.uk/product/griff/

"Square" in this case means "rectangular", as you correctly point out, but without the "Gloucester" raised text, as other builders used very similar designs (externally, at least!). Ditto the "rounded" ones - they're intended to be able to represent the round-bottomed-Attock axleboxes, but also other round-bottomed grease axleboxes (such as the early GWC ones mentioned by @Compound2632). One of those cases where to represent all the possible varieties would have been impossible, but at least the shape will be correct, and those that wish to detail further (for example by adding the "GLOUCESTER" text, or a little dry-brushing of the edges of the round-bottomed 'boxes to represent the ridges on the Attock Patent box) can do so. The Ellis axleboxes, with their distinctive shape, weren't quite either, so got their own representation as they were quite common.

For much the same reason that model non-corridor carriages get their interiors modelled - the end windows on the Toad are about the same size as quarter lights on a carriage. On the Toad, the interior, being painted cream above the waist on the prototype, is (if anything) more visible than that in a carriage.

The choice to paint the verticals black but the diagonals body colour on the Skinner wagon was made based on several facts: Many Gloucester-built private owner wagons are recorded as having black vertical ironwork, while the diagonal washer plates were painted in body colour (for example the J. Jones wagon we are producing, of which there is a photograph of the prototype on our website. Possibly related to the Gloucester company's predilection for inside diagonal washer plates? The red stripe passes over only the diagonal ironwork, but not the verticals, and it seems to me that it would be rather strange to paint the diagonals but not the verticals with a red stripe if both were green. Assuming the corner plates to be black, they look to have a very similar brightness level to the woodwork of the adjacent sheet planks. As such, the best method available to tell whether the individual pieces of ironwork are black or body colour would appear to be whether the aforementioned red stripe covers them. One of the great joys of trying to determine colours of liveries from black-and-white photographs! I suspect that until someone creates a working time machine, we may never know for certain. Thanks, Linny

Ah, but I trust you'll have noticed that the Gloucester wagons represented are ones with outside diagonal washer plates, rather than those with inside diagonal washer plates that have historically been so popular with modellers... Unfortunately with the number of small variations between different builders' body designs (and, indeed, within the same builder!) we haven't been able to tool an exact bodyshell for each version, but we've done our best to pick wagons that are as close to the tooling we have as possible while still giving a good range of liveries and locations. You'll not find our wagons wearing liveries only seen on post '23-spec wagons, for example!

Hello Stephen, The two bodies we're offering are modelled on a Charles Roberts 7-plank (16' over headstocks, with end doors and lift-bar end catch), and a Thomas Burnett 5-plank (also 16' over headstocks, with side doors only). If these sell well, we'd like to look into other body styles to expand the range further. Hope this helps! Linny