buffalo

I think you'll find it's 8 inches. Nick

Go to the HighLevel site and download their gearbox planner. It shows the outlines of all their gearboxes and can be used to compare with the sapce available. Use the largest motor that will fit. With the popular Mashima range, the numbers are the dimensions in mm excluding the shaft, so you should be able to get a good idea as to what will fit in conjunction with the gearbox planner. Try to avoid the 12xx range as they are a bit less powerful than any of the others. White metal rods? It must have been intended as a static model. Nickel silver is the usual material for rods in 4mm. Nick

Very nice and, as you say, much closer to LB than most that I found earlier. It goes to show how local the styles can be. As with some other types it has the local village name as well as the district or county. I assume KCC on the ring is Kesteven? Nick

Yes, but many different counties shown there. Each county, sometimes smaller units, had their own style so it's important to include the county name in a search. That colection of images does illustrate the differences rather well, though. Nick

A quick google search for 'lincolnshire road signs' produced these which look sufficiently old. Also see the images link about fourth down on the google results page, though there are only a few more there. Nick

Indeed, and this would also entail removal of the x-bracing and replacement with the later pattern of stantions. We might be able to find the odd example of x-braces surviving to a late date, but most had the ends modified in the twenties and thirties. Nick ps, there certainly were some cattle wagons that retained the x-bracing stype into the 1937 livery.

Great to see the more general views in the last few posts, they really help to put all the excellent detail work in context. Previously, I'd not realised how complete the layout is. Well done!. Nick

Looks like you're making good progress. I thought it was Paul who mentioned that he used the buffer beam reinforcement in 7mm, I only use a fillet of solder in 4mm. You'll probably have to file some notches in the frames to get them to fit. Another suggestion for your growing arsenal. As you'll soon be forming the curved corners in the tanks and bunker, a few lengths of silver steel rod will be ideal for this. I've a collection from 1 to 12mm diameter, but 2,3,4mm should suit these curves, or substitute 1/8" for 3mm which would then be useful for frame alignment. Larger sizes are good for rolling splashers, boilers, etc. There are several reliable suppliers on ebay. Nick

I 'discovered' the washout plug problem a few years ago when building a Finney Dean Goods. To help get the heat in the right place I bent the end of a soldering iron bit to about 45 degrees which did make access a bit easier. Recently I've been building a Mitchell 517 and forgot about the problem. Not only are the Mitchell washout plugs much smaller than the Finney ones but clamping was even more trickey with the side tanks in place. Old scrap printers can be a good source of rolling rods if you know anyone who is chucking one out. Good luck with the rolling. Nick

You mention waiting until later to fit the tiny detail parts. I'd recommend doing them as soon as possible. The little pieces that go through the top of the firebox to represent the clamped ends of the bands are quite easy to do, but aligning the washout plugs and clamping them with, say, an aluminium hairgrip, can be quite tricky. In fact, it would have been easier to add these when the firebox was bent to shape but not yet fully soldered to the formers. I'm also a little suprised to see you soldering the cab front to the back of the smokebox at this stage. Is this what the instructions suggest? I would have thought it would be better to erect the cab on the footplate then tack the smokebox or even the complete smokebox and boiler onto the cab. I know everyone seems to have a rolling mill these days but you really don't need them to roll boilers. I made my first boiler with a piece of wooden dowel rolling it on a carpet. Since then I've used a length of silver steel rod (10 or 12mm diameter is fine for most small boilers) and rolling on a mouse mat. Taper boilers need a bit of practice but, essentially, it's just a matter of applying a little more force at the narrow end as you roll. Nick

Or, to expand slightly, the LMS continued to build the MR design without duckets for a few years, thereafter they built them with duckets. I'm not sure when the duckets first appeared, though. Was it arount 1927? Nick

I've been watching the card cutter topic with interest to see how people get on with cutting out the 'lacework' for coach beading. I have a couple of brass coaches with incomplete beading (they are in a later form when the beading was partly removed, but I want to backdate them). At first I thought about soldering together many layers of thin brass shim and attempting to mill the block into suitable shapes, but I'm beginning to think one of these cutters might do the job with the thinnest plasticard. I agree that the Brassmasters kit is nice to build and quite effective, but I suspect they are overkill for many situations. I have several German H0 six wheel coaches with a sliding central axle which work very well down to two foot radius (I expect they do tighter but I have nothing suitable to try). I've also used a similar approach in P4 which handles 4' curves with ease and have calculated that with 00 wheels they would work down to about 18". I'm not sure whether Dave is intending his coaches for EM or P4, and maybe EM would be a problem given that the outer width of EM wheels is a little wider than P4. Nick

Chris, I agree with Jaz, the fellow in the middle looks more like a station master or inspector too me. His jacket is far too posh for a driver and I'm sure he wouldn't want to get it dirty. I'm not so sure about other railways, but on the GWR in Victorian and Edwardian days, drivers wore white fustian jackets and most photos show them buttoned only at the top button. Indeed, the rules stated that they should be clean when they dooked on. They ceased to be white in the 1900s but the style persisted, at least amongst older men, well into the twenties. It's rare to see firemen buttoned up this way, often they had all except the top button done up. The jackets could have lapels folded down if the top button was undone. Whilst you sometimes see others on the GWR using the single top button, I've often wondered whether its use was a mark of status. Nick

Given that the Southwark Bridge brass kit appears to be unavailable, has anyone considered backdating one of these to a P7? It would need different axleboxes, brakes, buffers, etc., plus some rivet strip or a large number of Archers rivet transfers. I might get one too see if it's feasible/worthwhile. Nick

Perhaps not quite as difficult as it sounds. Drivers would want to look as far ahead as possible so signal sighting would not be difficult from the right hand side unless the engine was very close to, or alongside, the signal. Signals might be less easy to see on left hand curves but, where necessary, signals could be placed on the right to aid visiblity. The rule books made it clear that observing signals was the drivers responsibility but the fireman was expected to look out for signals when he wasn't shovelling. Definitely, it was a GWR engine. Nick

The figures given in Bixley et al. An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons show 43 S&D brake vans were passed to the LMS, plus perhaps a few more on the duplicate list. Of these, about 26 were of the 6-wheel 20T type (as seen for many years in use as a mail van). Three were the 20T vans acquired from the LMS in 1925. The remainder were the four-wheel 10T S&D types. Nick

Tut, tut, this is the GWR! Right hand drive was good enough for Daniel Gooch and none of his successors saw fit to change it. Nick

But that's not what I said, Tony. They are not the same skills, but the point is that both require skills. It also requires different skills to make models from card or plastic or to turn a chimney on a lathe. We can't expect all of us to have all the skills for all the methods. As it happens, I do have the necessary CAD and 3D modelling skills from years of professional use, and I could get access to a 3D printer, laser cutter, etc. if I wanted to. If so, I would then have to develop further skills in using them to the best effect. However, when I returned to modelling some years before my retirement, part of the motivation was to develop and employ the more 'mechanical' or 'manual' skills rather than the 'virtual' skills of the day job. I've continued that since retirement but it's always possible I might return to the virtual approach now and then. Concentrating on the differences invariably leads to value judgements about other peoples' unfamiliar skills whereas we should really be celebrating the fact that different folk are employing different skills to so some modelling. Nick

Of course interests will change over time but, if I understand you correctly, you are assuming that folk always model what they remember. Certainly, many do and are encouraged to do so by the limited temporal range of models offered by the rtr manufacturers. However, many of us who choose to build kits or scratchbuild using whatever methods we prefer do not model what we remember. I am old enough to remember steam but I choose to model the much earlier late Victorian and Edwardian eras, and see no reason why interest in such times would decline over time. Modelling periods may be influenced by fashion and other external factors. For example, there has recently been a growth in interest in WW1 models resulting from the widespread commemoration of the centenary. 3D printing and other developing techniques simply add to our arsenal of modelling methods. A wider range of methods may encourage more people to try them but, like anything else, they require their own skill sets. Models do not simply drop out of printers, you need motivation and then the design skills and experience with the machine to be able to produce anything. Different skills but essentially no different to any other modelling technique. I might add that decent printers, like the B9, are still significantly more expensive that entry level machine tools and material costs are not insignificant. Nick

Not at all, Tony, I would use much the same tools by preference over the, to me, more tedious methods of hand cutting and drilling. Mind you, compared with your experience, I'm probably still in or very close to the 'botched-building' phase. I was a little suprised by your comment about rolling bars as I'd never used them until last week having always found a set of round bars and a mouse mat suitable for most jobs. It was only when I was faced with producing a 70' tri-arc roof that I felt the need. The mouse mat wasn't long enough and I couldn't find a suitably long commercial offering, so I made my own. That couldn't have easily been done without some of my luxury machine tools. David's comment about time was an interesting reminder that we all have different priorities. I'm retired and don't have any deadlines so I can, and do, take as long as I like over making things. To me, it's an enjoyable process and I'm not particularly concerned about seeing the results running on a layout. To others, running, operating, etc. are more important. Then there are others whose work rate is such that they can do all of it. Nick

The Bachmann van in the form withougt duckets would be suitable. I believe it is LMS diag 1659, the final Midland type and was continued by the LMS. As it happens, the S&DJR aquired three of these (Nos 23-5) from the LMS in 1925. I don't know about LSWR road vans, though I doubt it and haven't seen any photographic evidence. I would expect them to be kept for their own local use on LSWR/SR lines. The S&DJR had their own vehicles labelled as "road vans", but they were outside framed covered goods vans and, apparently, travelled much further afield than their own lines. Nick

Welcome to RMweb. I suggest posting questions to one of the suitable forum areas, e.g. Modelling questions, Prototype questions, or perhaps start your own layout topic in Layouts showing us your plan and trying to make your questions more specific. Blog entries are much better suited to showing us your work. Nick

I hope it didn't come over like that, Ian. Yes, it was biased towards metal bashing because that's what I mostly do, but there is also much excellent practical work in plastic, card, wood, etc. on these pages that is equally worthy of exposure in the magazines That is also my fear, so it's reasuring to read Tony's comment about Ben Jones. As to expensive/special tools, it's interesting to note the effect that cutting machines are having on plastic and card working. I certainly wouldn't be without most of my more expensive tools but, for the purposes of magazine articles, perhaps it's worth remembering that most of us metal bashers started with no more than a pair of smooth jawed pliers and perhaps a couple of steel rulers for bending, a piece of suitable rod and a mouse mat for rolling boilers, and some lenghts of silver steel for aligning chassis. The rest is convenient luxury. Nick

Of course it is suitable! If the practical articles in mainstream mags descend to little more than how to renumber an x or, at best, a lttle basic weathering. how will newer modellers ever discover that there is so much more to the hobby than opening boxes? Without articles about builds like your 0-8-4T, more and more will fall into believing that "no one needs kits because rtr is so good". When the rtr manufacturers start to give us scale thickness frames and inside motion (dummy will be good enough for most), maybe I'll start to believe it, but not yet. As to the oft heralded "demise of kit-building", is it really inevitable? Even if supplies of new kits ever dries up, I suspect there are enough unbuilt kits out there to keep the second-hand market going for a generation or two. Similarly, kit shortages may well lead kit builders on to scratch building. After all, some build kits because their chosen prototypes are not available in rtr and others scratch build because they are not available in kits. Such folk have always been a minority, but that's no reason to exclude such work from the mags. As to 3D printing, remember that someone still has to do the design work. Phil's point reminds me that there appears to be growth in many forms of craft skills, so surely they should be encouraged in railway modelling? Nick

Paul, we are discussing brake vans on the former Somerset and Dorset. There was precious little of anything to be seen there in late 80's/early 90's! It's my impression from photos that BR vans were rare up to 1958. Indeed, some (or more) of those vans seen in the distance at the end of long trains may well be the Southern type as noted above by Combe Barton. During this period LMS types predominate. Thereafter, and presumably as a result of the transfer to the Western Region, the number of LMS vans decreases quite rapidly so that by 1961/2 very few are seen and the majority, if not all, are BR vans. The only exceptions that I can recall are the couple of ex-GWR toads that appeared with the BR vans during track lifting in 1969. Nick