rodent279

Though the Australian Crossleys perhaps didn't get quite the pounding that they did on BR, especially on long overnight freight runs.

Interested, if you do have some spare!

Nice. Where did you get the BRUTE trolleys from?

Yes, that's what I was thinking of. Didn't guards compartments have wooden floors as well?

Agree, I remember them well. Though I think some may have had wooden flooring at least partially.

+1 from me. Any advance in the state of knowledge of green 31's with TOPS numbers? Last I heard was that there was one possibility (can't remember which), but no definitive photographic evidence has been found.

Buckeye couplings, hoses, gangways, buffers etc ordered from MJT & Comet. Might as well make a start if it's going to take me 25 years!

Those Comet bits look the dog's dangles, I'll have to get some. I think the buffers certainly look better than the plastic ones. I don't think there is much of a ridge in the grey area, I might get away with over painting it. Best of it all is that for some reason, there were two sets of underframe bits with the kit. I have a Replica MK1 body shell, so I can spend the next 25 years doing that!

OK, I did warn you not to set your expectation high. Here goes. Despite starting this in 1997, yes you read that correctly, 1997, it is still unfinished. I have yet to add the roof ventilators and the footboards that go under the doors. Being stored in a box in the loft for some years hasn't done it any favours, it's missing a couple of buffers and one or two other details. I do have all the windows, just can't put my hands on them at this time. They fit well into the apertures in the sides, but you do have to be careful not to get glue on them, otherwise they frost up. However, that's not totally unrealistic, it wasn't uncommon to see Mk1's with condensation on the inside of the windows. The BR1 bogies come with the kit, and a nice set of wheels with steel tyres, which roll very smoothly. The pivot pins are missing, (I have got them safe) which is why the bogies don't look centred. The bogie centres on the underframe are as near to 186mm as makes no difference. All in all it's nice kit that went together well. It certainly kept me out of mischief for a while. My painting skills do leave something to be desired. I managed the single colour maroon ok, but the blue and grey, with the fine white divider, was a real challenge, and I've never tried finishing it properly. The raw plastic is a sort of off white, not quite the same shade as the grey, which is a shame. I think I might have got a better result if I'd just painted the whole of that side in blue, then done the grey centre section separately. I'm tempted to overpaint it in maroon on both sides.

The other distinctive thing about 235 is the position of the blue star MU symbols, most 25's had them under the marker lights. Good one to model, I might just renumber mine, even though I never actually had it on BR.

Think it was 067

Presumably, for a 2-cylinder engine, there's not much to choose between inside & outside frames, just the reduced accessibility of the motion between the wheels, and the need to have crank axles & eccentrics, where an outside cylindered loco could use plain axles?

Ok, but don't set your expectations too high, my kit building skills are not exactly black belt level! I'll upload some later this evening.

Now Aberdare's are nice looking engines, and IMO a gap in the rtr market.

I guess an outside framed loco with outside cylinders would be challenging, to say the least, within the UK loading gauge.

That is an interesting beast. Looks like a cross between the first Kruger 4-6-0 and City of Truro. Regarding pyramids, I suppose it's a fairly simple structure for an early civilisation, in that as you go higher, there is less material, so less to lift, and less weight for the lower levels to support. The trick would have been in getting the corners square, and getting the degree of inset right, and consistent, on all levels. No mean feat, even today.

Have any NR sites been vandalised? Something like 50-odd commercial sites have had some form of vandalism, and there have been numerous incidents of staff being physically and verbally abused.

I would imagine key to all that is the mobilisation of resources. Nothing much has changed in that sense, just methods.

Dug my Coopercraft MK1 out of the loft this evening, bogie centres are spot on 186mm. Must find the windows-I saw them in a pile a while ago.

Fair point, I guess there isn't quite as much traffic through Patchway, and there are alternative routes. Not sure how far they had got with the bridge replacement, presumably not beyond the point of no return.

It is interesting though, why this work is being allowed to proceed, and also the Werrington dive under, but the work on Gypsy Patch Lane bridge in Bristol has been postponed until after lockdown?

I guess a similar technique could be used using Hornby mk2a's to create a 310?

Not sure about 30,000 years ago.....5000 maybe, but I take your point.

Reminds me of that whale that goes around with it's mouth open, feeding on plankton all day. Can't remember the name of the whale now.

Does the same apply to the Kitmaster/Coopercraft MK1 kits as well? Cheers N