Bassettblowke

As you can see these were bought from an online auction site although these were listed as buy it now. As with all auction sites you are never quite sure what you have bought until it lands on your doorstep. My initial assessment on studying the pictures was that the United Dairies tanker at top right would be the best of the bunch, how wrong was I, peeling paint, missing parts and a dent in one end not forgetting the drips of what appears to be Dulux Non Drip brilliant white dabbed all over in a vain attempt to tart it up. It was quickly decided to strip it back to the tin ware and start afresh the other two are destined to be conserved with hopefully just cleaning and a de rust operation. The breakdown to parts was relatively straightforward with only one tab broken, this had bent flat during assembly and when the attempt was ade to straighten it it quickly broke away. Below is the stripped down Tanker after a dip in the hot caustic and a quick wash and brush up also the first replacement Buffer has been glued in place. Next step is the etch primer.

Whilst it might seem I am singing the praises of Araldite I only mean to point out it has its virtues, one of these is it will grip to an imperfect surface better than a bright polished one (when used with metal) surfaces pitted by rust and even perforated can be fixed together with a vice like grip. In the past I’ve used a punch to provide a key and even drilling small holes so the adhesive can flow both through and into and around the joint being formed. That has the added bonus of sealing any remaining rust in an air and watertight covering. You can tell I am a fan. soldering undoubtably would be the ideal choice but it has its limitations especially on less than perfect surfaces, abrasion is normally required on anything less than perfect and a Dremel type tool is indispensable for this. To sum up in my book it’s horses for courses whatever works for you is the way to go.

I don’t do a lot of soldering but I’ve never had a problem with the stuff that has a flux in it I will have to dig it out to put a name to it, looks like wire and comes in a tube all coiled up, cracking stuff. sticking with Araldite (sorry) here’s a couple of pictures of it used to refit Hornby buffers, excess can be removed with a knife if required but personally I prefer the excess in place to provide a better anchor. On the underside it’s out of sight anyway.

Aldi recently had a pencil type gas soldering iron which beyond soldering comes in handy for all manner of things, personally I would go with Griffs suggestion the only thing I would add is degrease the surface and then roughen it to provide a good key for the Araldite. You don’t have to go overboard Araldite is a superb adhesive.

I recently acquired two United Dairies tank wagons and a Colas Bitumen Tank all in decidedly sub standard condition at £16 each they were affordable albeit with faults galore but I took the plunge regardless as these in even average condition are beyond my pocket. The close up of the Colas wagons paint will give some idea of the rust problem, to the touch they have the feel of pebbledash render. The next few posts will document the struggle to make them presentable.

The only coupling I can’t get along with is the Hornby hook and loop auto coupling these I normally replace with a drop link of whatever type I happen to have stashed. I tend to operate stock in fixed rakes all with the same type of coupler. Being an unadventurous soul I don’t do any pushing so no problems in that department. My favourite is the bonds drop link but they are not that common these days and they are in the minority the Ace type being the most common amongst my stock. As regards changing couplings nothing I own could be considered being in above a good average condition so I don’t worry about originality, that said the majority of conversions can be easily reversed if so desired.

Mark Many thanks for “Weighing” in with the info initially I wasn’t to interested and put them in my pile of interesting but Unknown’s also known to my wife as ‘’that” box of crap. Over time my curiosity was aroused now that itch is scratched. Phil

Anyone recognise these they were acquired a while ago in a box of odds and ends principally B/Lowke track items. I haven’t got a clue so help would be appreciated, heavy non ferrous metal possibly a weight of some sort ? But for what ?

Another childhood toy was the Lone Star midget submarine / manned torpedo as operated by the Royal Navy and the Italian Navy, the Italians had more success than the British effectively blowing the bottoms out of two British Battleships and leaving them sat on the bottom albeit in shallow water in Alexandria Harbour. the Frogmen could be dispensed with as they tend to look more like characters from an episode of Dr Who. The Torpedo itself would make a nice load for a flat.

First one finished, initially I intended for all five to be identical but in the end decided to experiment with differing components obviously the Manchester Collieries livery and the 7plk open wagon bodies are a constant. First off I had a choice of three different types of coupling in stock, Darstaed, Mills 1 link and an unknown make of 3 Link coupling in the end I opted for the Darstaed.. The buffers are an unknown make and probably a bit over the top on a colliery wagon but They were the only ones I had so the choice was made for me. The running gear/ chassis is Hornby Tinplate ex cement wagon with post war plastic wheels. This was such a snug fit I haven’t bothered fixing it to the body, it will be removed for a coat of paint but I quite like having the option to alter the running gear without major surgery. All in all I am quite pleased with My first effort however the other 4 will probably reflect their Leeds heritage to a much greater degree.

The last one bears a resemblance to Fat Man but i am not sure I would like to model that particular subject. Here’s a picture of that particular device. And getting back to rolling stock a wagon from the Royal Navy Cordite Factory.

Sadly none of my stuff survived my younger brother although I can’t blame him for my nice new used only once hand grenade that once lobbed in realistic fashion disappeared without trace despite an extensive search. Dug up some more pictures and quite a variety are still available, some more missile like in appearance, the metal one is available off Amazon.

Brings to mind the small toy bomb from my childhood which had a nose cone you unscrewed and placed a cap inside, that’s the sort of cap that fitted in the cap gun that would probably get you arrested or even worse shot in this day and age. Mine wasn’t a cowboy gun mine was a Luger and a very passable albeit small imitation of the real thing it was too. A good job it’s the trains that stuck in my mind and not the bombs and guns.

I would be delighted to see some pictures it’s a lot easier (for me at least) posting on this forum rather than the other two I frequent. I fully admit this is down to my own failings but it is what it is. should you wish if you have difficulty I would happily post some for you just email them to me and Bobs your Uncle or in this case Phil. Back to the subject In hand a quick ferret about in the scrap box turned up a left over from some previous dabbling, judging by the yellow on the solebars I reckon it came from a Hornby cement wagon. Much to my surprise it fitted the the ready made body nice and snugly and could be described as press fit it fits that well,. however on the four kit built bodies it would need the ends trimming with the newly found snips.

Yes the sleeves on the progress wheel sets are unsightly, they would’ve been better in Black and the Araldite was definitely overkill but in my own defence this was my first stab at a Bakelite body and was very much done with what I had to hand The undersides will get a coat of black while the current paint shop is in session. I had bought the Progress fittings with another project in mind but in the end opted not to use them so they ended up surplus. I agree with your comments about fitting the Hornby Chassis to the Leeds body again my first stab and very much a learning curve. If you look closely at the Michael Whitaker one end has a overhang due to the slight mismatch in size between the Hornby chassis and the LMC body. The answer to that is as you rightly suggest removing the Hornby buffer beams and retaining the Leeds body unadulterated that will give a perfect fit. Time to buy a new blade for the mini hacksaw or taking my life in my hands flash up the Dremel. There’s a healthy stash of Hornby wrecks in the scrap/future projects bin it could be time to put them to use. i wish you hadn’t mentioned tinsnips I will probably spend the rest of the day searching for my pair.

The Michael Whitaker one was probably the most complicated as it involved a fair bit of fettling to both the wooden body and the Hornby chassis, that said it was probably the cheapest to do as both donor body and chassis came from the scrap box and the only real expense was the couplings which are Darstaed bought in a job lot some time ago from Wonersh Trains when they were still dealing Darstaed products.

It must have spread to the midlands my dad in his twilight years used the same phrase. Maybe this thread should be renamed Uncle Tom Cobley’s Here we have three Leeds wagons with differing chassis and fittings , two wooden and a Bakelite you should be able to see the dollops of Araldite quite clearly on two of them. The one with the Hornby Chassis has the Michael Whitaker body. The Stedman I am not sure about the buffers or the couplings or come to think of it the axle boxes. The unliveried Bakelite wagon has Progress fittings with Ace/Darstaed couplings and buffers.

Yes the fiddly little screws are a pain also where on earth do you find them, whilst nut, bolts and screws preferably in brass definitely float my boat I now use araldite which can be unsightly but painted black on the underside acceptable, to me at least. The other reason is “old Arthur” in my hands makes little screws and the like torturous.

Recently acquired from Bruce Palmer and John Davies a 7plk wagon body and four body kits and from the Leeds Stedman Trust reproduction Litho’s for Manchester Collieries wagons. Shown below is progress so far, why five ? Well I fancied a rake of wagons and I also figured that by the time I got to number 5 I might have reached an acceptable standard. I am still pondering which axle boxes and buffers to use but the wheels and axles will be Hornby plastic of which I have a good supply and the couplings look to be Mills of which I’ve also got a good few stashed.

Another Marklin military wagon just the job now the nights have closed in

I suppose the principal difference between Carnegie and the others was he gave his wealth away and not just a PR job donation to charity to make himself look favourable. I don’t think you will find any of Carnegie’s descendants dripping in inherited wealth. He could have have donated a shed load of cash to a political party and got himself a Knighthood whilst keeping the rest of the dosh safely out of reach in Belize, but he didn’t he just gave it away. i also visited Hiroshima back in the early 70’s when memories were probably still raw, we were the first RN ship to visit for some considerable time so we weren’t quite sure of the reception we would get. The people were extremely courteous and friendly and the ship which during a visit would normally open to visitors for two days of the week had to remain open for the full week the demand was that great. I was 19 the same as the average age of the ships company many were much younger than me, to say we were bemused would be an understatement. Of the local people I never met one who had a word of English so communicating was a challenge, a different kettle of fish in Yokosuka where the USN had a large support facility. When the ship cast off to leave Hiroshima a band struck up and a huge crowd was waving us off although there’s always the possibility they were glad to see the back of us. Our visit to the peace park was laid on for us complete with a translator and from what I remember was quite a sombre experience. Outside in the grounds the park had the appearance and feel of a civic park with parents and children enjoying the sunny weather the shattered building with the Dome just another part of the surroundings. As regards Eric despite his impeccable social democrat pedigree he too has some aristo’s in the closet and I suppose if you have had an education you may well be a tad sniffy about the antics of the great unwashed who could’ve been turfed out of school at 12 and most definitely by 14. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell sums up the lot of the working class to perfection.

I will close on this, just imagine Joe Public fancies becoming an Army Officer so off he toddles to the recruiting office but flunks the entrance exam and is turned down flat. Next one who rocks up is a very well healed aristocrat, with the best of educations and swimming in cash but sadly somewhat dim and he also flunks the exam. Some 40 odd years later guess which one is poncing around in a Generals uniform. Now he may have only been a weekend warrior and kept at arms length from the regular army but it’s decidedly odd that someone judged incapable of filling a second lieutenants role should end up in charge of the army reserve forces. Sadly he passed away a year or so ago so you could possibly say this argument no longer applies and that society has moved on into the broad sunlit uplands of truly equal opportunities for all. Nah don’t think so

Government, armed forces, judiciary I could go on, representative of society ? they are still there and thriving. No place for Fiona Hill no place for Andrew Carnegie nothing changes.