Blandford1969

And that is the point. Lots of opinions expressed about what is right or wrong that must make those manufacturing anything despair. Unless a time machine is invented then we are not going to know.

Lots of other people stock Markits including 247, Wizard and some others. As others have said contact your credit card company and raise a dispute, that will get their attention if they are not responding to emails or calls.

Here is the thing, if a railway 'chooses' to stop running steam then its up to the railway concerned when they start running steam again. If on the other hand the local Fire Brigade impose a steam ban its down to them when you can run again.

It has to be said both are strong performers, the 15 is quicker to prep and doesn't need a pit, but on the road the 94 is more stable and has slightly more power. The model captures perfectly the look of a 15 and its amazing to see one appearing.

I'm glad and relieved to read the tone of comments. There have been some commentators on FB ranting that they did not know a railtour was cancelled and had wasted their fuel driving a considerable distance to photograph it!. Even doing footplate rides over the weekend and diving off at every opportunity it was like a mobile sauna. Great for the skin, not so for hydration!. Engines at 25mph or less are incredibly hot in this weather and no matter how careful you are its so easy to get a lineside fire from the ashpan. Pray for rain, gentle and prolonged to damp everything down.

In truth I wonder if my boss will even go. I'd rather not but it would be admitting defeat.

That's why for simplicity I reduced it to the level I did. as angles take a lot of thinking about.

The challenge with colour is that it varies by the light conditions, by how long ago it was painted, what the exact mix of the paint was and of course our own perception of colour. Are there any NER paint samples from the NER era as that is the only way you could compare. Even then the challenge as shown by the QE2 in its purple livery is that you can provide a pantone sample of what you want but matching that to a paint sample can be at times challenging, whichever way round it is done.

In terms of those two strokes you can roughly approximate what is going on in the cylinder (of a 2 cylinder engine for ease) by looking at the position of the connecting rods. - This is not exact as of course it is affected by where the cut off is, however it gives a rough idea. In my example we are talking about an engine in full gear either way. Remember we are looking just at one side of the engine with (on a 2 cylinder engine) the other side set at 90 degrees difference. If the rods are either full forwards or full backwards - we can say that the piston is about to start its travel in the other direction and that the cylinders have lead steam applied - to cushion the piston and improve acceleration and power. If the rods are at the top or bottom then the cylinder has steam cut off and that steam is now expanding (bear in mind my comment about the position of the reverser) If the rods are at 45 or 135 degrees then depending on which way the engine is running we will have either live steam or steam being exhausted. A simple way is to think of a cylinder in either direction running being lead, live , expansion, exhaust. We can then take that one stage further on our two cylinder engine which we know the other engine is set at 90 degrees to the one we are looking at. So if the side we are looking at is on lead steam for example the other side is on expansion. This becomes particular importance when we want to start away as we need more power.

Yes lead steam is effectively allowing a very small amount of steam to be admitted on the other side of the piston to the direction of travel and you are right that it acts as a cushion. On Walschaerts the lead is the same be it forwards or backwards . On Stephenson's, its not so much as two sets of gear as that due to the way it is constructed either the fore or back eccentric rod are having an effect on the position of the valve. A Pannier light engine once running on the flat will go in mid gear due to the lead steam effect. Try doing anything in neutral in your car. You only change direction and therefore move the gear from fore to reverse and therefore by the movement in the gear it moves the valve rod such that the position of the valve means the lead steam becomes on the other side. Have a look at this video on Stephenson's. STEPHENSON LINK EXPLAINED JHA 01-06-11.MOV - YouTube

My boss actually asked how I was on Friday, Now its really just a case of wanting a date when this part will be over. Its coming , just a leaving meal to get through this week.

All BR standards were built to run at 21". Remember if the loco went onto a set of stock which had been brought in by a loco running on 25" the guard would have pulled the strings to top the cylinders (reduce the vacuum) so that when you blow up to 21 the brakes are fully off. You will be able to see 82045 at Warley this year and hopefully in a couple of years you will be able to take ride behind it. It is going to be interesting to see what it is like when finished!

Peter Russell cannot remember what the frame was, as he says he just enjoyed being able to pull the occasional lever , could I also get a stove as well please?

Thanks Steve, I will ask Peter Russel if he can remember what type of frame was in the box (which is a long shot)

Thanks, I would never have known that. As for the period 1950's

If it does thanks that would be great as 'Signal Box Diagrams of the Great Western and Southern Railways' by GA Pryer has the layout and numbering, but not the positions.

Hi Steve, Thanks In terms of the plates this is what they looked like - (this is a snip of a photo from the KRM, done with approval) There were 24 levers with 23 being spare. I have to will come back to you on the positions for the levers once I have spoken with Peter Russell, who as you know is the person who really knows the most about West Moors and I'm sure now has the signalling diagram. So far my only guess based on this partial view is all are normal apart from 15 being revered ( but I have not seen levers 1 to 9) Best wishes Duncan

That is true, the downside is that at present (perhaps to do with you know what) on the screen they are £63 each, by the time you get through to the basket they are £93 and that is before you have gone parts for bogies, interior. This may just be another way of getting to the same point.

Tim, you might be interested to know that it might be possible to get a set of etchings for the SECR articulated set 513/514. Time will tell but its always been something you have mentioned.

Wow is the only word for that

Thanks for the extra information, I have updated the caption.

My Boss does not ask me 'are you ok' now odd that.

These are looking wonderful, you are filling a gap in the market and it is really appreciated. How is progress on a shorter lead point going?

The inevitable happened today as I hit the upset , frustrated, upset wall today. I finally said after a call with my boss asking if I had done this that or the other than I have to look after me and I did not make the decisions that now are having a downward pull. The one good thing is finally having the courage to email a passive aggressive character who had a strop because I would not do what they wanted and who blocked me (thank goodness) One less childish person I don't have to have anything to do with and that is a weight off my shoulders. I have even ordered some parts to get on with projects like replacing a chimney I lost, even though all the bits were meant to be in the same box ! As a friend says each week in his weekly update to us all at a different place KBO

Hope you feel better soon.