Western Star

Stephen @Compound2632, Sorry to draw your attention to your comment on the photo above, I believe that you are wrong to describe the brake gear of the MR covered wagon as "left handed Morton brake". From study of photos in MIdland Wagons (Essery, OPC) I suggest that the arrangement of the brake gear on the wagon in question has both handbrake levers mounted on the same brake cross-shaft with the connection of each lever to the shaft through an in-line clutch. Applying the handbrake on either side of the wagon causes the corresponding hand brake lever to engage with the cross-shaft through the adjacent clutch and thereby apply the brakes without any movement of the other handbrake lever. This MR design does not utilise the Morton clutch design and hence does not contravene the Morton patent. regards, Graham

"Fired".... there has to be a funny reposte to this comment, maybe I shall leave Stephen to find it!

What is "Blu"? How does it improve the printed product? thank you, Graham

"We" - the global fraternity of 7mm modellers - have a problem with this wagon and it is a problem that has been brought to Slater's attention. Ian Pope and I have spent many hours looking through the GWR Freighter registers - predecessor to RCH registers - and have not been able to locate this wagon. Ian has a copy of the Gloster official for this wagon and there are no likely orders in the registers which could correspond with the photo date. Unfortunately the details of the plates on the wagon solebar do not identify the wagon precisely and hence a match with the registers is not possible. Sorry, regards, Graham

Sorry Stephen, not so for the guard's door on some of the Gresley brake coaches, you are in good company as JLTRT thought the same. regards, Graham

If this wagon has been painted red.... then what colour are the wheels and axle? If this wagon has been painted grey.... then what colour are the wheels and axle? To my eye, this photo seems to present a wagon with black wheels / axle and that goes against all that we have been told for either the red or the grey liveries. regards, Graham

OK, not a steam engine..... over here one could have a Swindon Wizzo running 21st century mineral services.

What time does Baldy run past?

Mike, You could send the errant u/f to me and I shall see if I can recover the item. regards, Graham

Mike, keep on putting off! I do not have a mobile telephone and the family continue to nag me about how useful they are... really? I have a landline... a laptop... television and sky... what else could I want? Social media...? just so I can read about corrupt politics, lost keys, village vandals, where to photograph the "best" bits of nature - no way, just give me a bucket of clean sand each and every day. Peter does not even let me hold his mobile when he wants to show a picture to me, he reckons that I can wreck a smart 'phone just by asking "how do I....?" Same thing with Sat Navs, why follow directions from a squark box just so that you can avoid one congestion to arrive at another delay (because everyone gets similar directions). Much rather go from A to B by following instinct and "long cuts" taking in village coffee shops. regards, Graham

This photo shows that at least two of the AA3 vans retained wet sanding into the BR period (the other being the AA3 at the Dean Forest Railway).

Ah, but... What if the "top hat" bearing is machined so that there is a "cone" at the outer end of the bore of the bearing. Although I might have to find a guessing stick to check, the parallel portion of the hole in the bearing is a greater diameter than the diameter of the parallel portion of the Slater's axle journal. ......tricky things these 7mm modellers.

Mike's photo shows that the Slater's wheelsets have pin-points to the axles. Parkside used to provide Slater's wheels if one wanted S7 wheels with their kits. I believe that Peco supply Slater's wheels for their 7mm kits.

Slater's 7mm coach and wagon wheels use the same axle for the FS wheelsets as for the S7 versions; the S7 wheels have a boss to the rear face of the wheel and that boss provides the correct B2B for a S7 wheelset. If a 7mm wheelset has parallel journals without pin-points then, I believe, the wheelset is not from Slater's Plastikard (or someone has cut the pin-point off of the axle end).

Thank you Dave for that link - I buy normally from Squires where a pack of ten drills has been, recently, £7.50 with free postge for order value of £15.00 so the Ebay seller looks to be a better bet for some drill sizes (provided that in stock). As to the post from Mike, we were discussing how to hold drills of diameter smaller than 0.5mm. It is worth noting that the "drill in tube" observation is a way to produce the equivalent of a long--series drill without the hassle of searching for a supplier (Drill Services of Horley generally comes up trumps here). regards, Graham

Given that maybe there are readers which do not know the subtleties of GWR motion work.... my comment applies only to those GWR engines which use Stephenson motion. The Stars, Castles and Kings are capable of continuing to move when the reverser is in mid-gear because the valve spindles derive motion from an eccentric and a rocking lever - the movement of the combination lever is sufficient to provide openings of the valve ports. Similar with the Hawkesworth 1500 class and the dock shunters that were built by Avonside.

Safety valves (2 off) are gunmetal. Safety valve spindles (2 off) and spindle bridges (2 off) are forged steel. Safety valve springs (2 off) are wound spring steel. Safety valve pillars, nuts and washers (4 off) are (probably) mild steel. The safety valves are below the spindles and cannot be seen easily.... so all of what you see inside the safety valve cover is going to be (a) steel and (b) varying shades of rust.

Not likely as the reversing lever is set in mid-gear.

Oh dear, do you really think that coffee shops are going to know which way "deals" are "finished"? Or even which way the "grain" runs on the stirrers?

The word which caught my attention in this extract is "finished"... so what was the surface finish of sawn timber in the early 20th century. I expect that we are all familiar with the term PAR (planed all round) which means that the wood has been planed (smooth) on four edges - otherwise wood is described as "sawn" and that is definitely not smooth (read as capable of giving you splinters). If, as suggested by Stephen @Compound2632 the deals in the wagons are for housing projects then I doubt that such timber would be usable as floorboards without further "finishing". Kit @kitpw - can you illuminate the matter? regards, Graham

Ian, Thank you, your reply is just what I wanted to know. regards, Graham

My apologies, zoom in on the photo shows me that the buckles are present and weathered to match the springs.

Um, buckles on the springs to retain the leaves (which otherwise could get out of alignment). Irrespective, rather nice photos of a rather well-presented model, thank you.

I wish to know in which year Mk.1 corridor coaches were first built with the external window frames; ideally which Lot was the first to be subject to the modification. This question does not apply to Mk.1 corridor stock that was built without external window frames and gained that modification at a subsequent repair / overhaul. thank you, Graham Beare

Gentlemen, Please return to the subject of this topic... train reporting numbers for express services on the New Line. Motive power is not crucial to the discussion... what is required is information on which services were worked by an out-and-back turn from Old Oak Common. thank you, Graham