exet1095

There used to be a shed by Aldermaston Station that looked very like the Airfix loco shed. I think it was a boiler house for Sterling Cables in the early 1980s, but it was by the end of the headshunt for Padworth sidings. Paul

Another suitable locomotive… the Heljan Metropolitan electric BoBo.

The Jinty chassis in question is an almost new train set one, China made, with a small open-frame motor fitted. This one is non-DCC. I might do some careful measuring today to see if I can cut bits off without wrecking the whole thing. Likewise, (almost any!) buffers from the scrap box will probably be an improvement on the Grafar pin heads, although I will see if the heads will come out before cutting off the whole thing. Paul

The Jinty chassis in question is an almost new train set one, China made, with a small open-frame motor fitted. This one is non-DCC. I might do some careful measuring today to see if I can cut bits off without wrecking the whole thing. Likewise, (almost any!) buffers from the scrap box will probably be an improvement on the Grafar pin heads, although I will see if the heads will come out before cutting off the whole thing. Paul

Thanks, I have the Jinty and pannier chassis to hand; my aim is a quick conversion with no extra cost, rather than get stuck-in to a serious job. Johnster, I have two Lima bodies too (one on the Lima chassis it has had since I bought it as a teenager. Perhaps I should use the Bachmann for that and cram the (helpfully plastic) Lima one into the Grafar body. That would confuse people. And the weight will probably take it into the Heljan haulage league!

I hope nobody minds me resurrecting this thread. I recently acquired a GWR green 94xx body with no chassis. I’d like to get it running cheaply and easily with an RTR chassis: As it’s solid cast metal it means the split chassis Bachmann pannier is a no, and it is too wide to fit between the splasher backs. I also have a recent Hornby Jinty. That looks narrow enough, but bits of the block at the front and back would need to be cut off. Has anyone done this conversion? All advice gratefully received. Oh yes, what to do about those weird buffers too? Thanks, Paul

Thanks for those great pictures. I particularly enjoyed looking at the battered 2021s. Lots of variety, but it looks like most variations could be covered. Two at least were still auto-fitted, and the steam heating pipes show they can be used on other passenger trains too. 140 engines spread over the whole of the GWR/WR. Passenger and goods work. Not only that, but as well as being suitable for a lovely Edwardian livery, they remained in service with BR until the end of the 1950s, in industrial use for another half-dozen or so years. I have said it before, but these are the panniers we are looking for! Paul

Thanks for those great pictures. I particularly enjoyed looking at the battered 2021s. Lots of variety, but it looks like most variations could be covered. Two at least were still auto-fitted, and the steam heating pipes show they can be used on other passenger trains too. 140 engines spread over the whole of the GWR/WR. Passenger and goods work. Not only that, but as well as being suitable for a lovely Edwardian livery, they remained in service with BR until the end of the 1950s, in industrial use for another half-dozen or so years. I have said it before, but these are the panniers we are looking for! Paul

They’re both Mainline and City break thirds, both preserved (and one restored) at Didcot. https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/148/no-3755-churchward-non-corridor-brake-third https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/149/no-3756-churchward-non-corridor-brake-third Paul

‘Hoi polloi’ is sufficient on its own. It means, ‘the many’, and needs no additional definite article.

It is quite simple. There is a legal requirement to show prices. See: https://www.gov.uk/product-labelling-the-law If not, then it is a matter for Trading Standards. Paul

Does anyone have a spare bogie wheelset for a Bachmann parallel Scot please? Just bought a rather bashed-up ‘Royal Horse Guardsman’, channelling my inner blue-red-blue, and although it runs, it is missing the inner wheelset. I know people change the wheels for LMS-pattern bevelled ones, so if anyone has a set they no longer require, I should be most grateful, and happy to reimburse costs. Many thanks, Paul

Most (but not all) big exercises on the Plain use Westdown Camp and the eastern half of the training area for the initial concentrations. Ludgershall is nearer, and it is also close to Bulford and Tidworth, which is where the armour is based. Warminster has a different role.

When you move a Regiment by train, you move its vehicles. An armoured reconnaissance regiment equipped with CVR(T) will have sabre squadrons equipped with Scimitar (12), but also a squadron headquarters with Sultan (x3), a Samson recovery vehicle, a Samaritan ambulance abs possibly a couple of Spartan. They will also have wheeled vehicles, but these often move by road as they are not restricted by track mileage. Regimental Headquarters will have more Sultans, Spartans, Samsons etc… Current light cavalry regiments equipped with Jackal are also on the rails at the moment. The QDG has moved from Norfolk to Ludgershall recently. Jackal, Coyote and Panther all on the train. Having driven or commanded these types on long road moves, I can’t say how glad the boys are that they are being spared the drive from Swanton Morley. Paul

Interesting as that is years after Fox was withdrawn from service, which was in 1994. Saxon was also pretty much OOS by 2011, although I am told there are some still in storage. Perhaps these were being moved from Ludgershall when it closed?

Just one thing on CVR(T) transport… We always used to put ours in 20’ ISO containers (back it in or you’ll never get out!). These were taken by DROPS lorries to wherever, and when they did go by train, it was in a container. Paul

Mine were not. All of my Army driving tests were more stringent than my original civilian one.

I’ve just used bits of microstrip, painted in advance, and stuck on with canopy glue. Looks fine at 3’.

Mine scattering Stormers are OOS as anti-personnel mines are now illegal and we don’t use them! The Stormer feels so much bigger than “ordinary” CVR(T), especially my favourite little sports tank, the Spartan. Paul

Always nice to see model Rovers. looking good on the wagons too. I hope you don’t mind a couple of comments? To make them more military they need a few little tweaks. It would be good to add paper jerry can panniers behind the doors, square rear number plates on the near side rear, split door windows (a black line) and recessed door handles too. (I appreciate that this would not be easy, and would not bother myself.) The TUAAM boxes on the wings also look a bit undernourished and need black rubber antenna bases. All best wishes from someone who has had more 110 FFR Landrovers on his flick than soft mick… Paul

You’ll need to add a spacer to the Scorpion turret ring and slim down the Scimitar turret as the Fox ones used on the conversions were not as deep as original Scimitar ones. Also change the coax from a GPMG to a chain gun (but neither should be fitted for rail transport). Paul

The Erlestoke Manor Fund shop at the SVR at Bewdley? Other preserved railways also have outfits like this.

The Spartan I did my CVR(T) crew driver course on back in 1993 was a real sports panzer, with a six foot flame coming out of the exhaust on one particularly vigorous night drive, which I was told was at 60mph by the other students in a following vehicle. (I was watching the road, not the speedo!) Anyway, even dieselised and noisier now, CVR is much better suited to snurgling around out of enemy sight than something that tall and wide.

The great advantage of the current 120mm gun is the three piece ammunition. Just empty vent tubes to dispose of, rather than big cartridge cases or shell stubs. However, kinetic energy rounds rely on fins for stability, and the round has drive bands that work against the rifling to enable them to come out without rotating - otherwise the would waste lots of energy spinning against their fins, and not penetrate the target (that they would also probably miss). HESH (high explosive squash head) rounds, on the other hand, rely on the spinning for accuracy. They are also better against soft-skinned vehicle targets or bunkers, where a large metal dart will not really have much effect. Paul

It’s the prototype 183mm gun mounted on a Centurion chassis, with a non-armoured turret that allows easier access to the gun for development and testing purposes. The project was cancelled in 1957. This turret was mounted on a spare Cent and now sits outside the Tank Museum at Bovington.