Downendian

Terrific service from Steve at Railtec this week. In the process of renumbering a significant number of my fleet having languished with their factory applied numbers for years, plus eventually getting around to respraying some class 24s in green full yellow livery. 10 bespoke numbers supplied, a couple of query emails from Steve re font and numeral size in the interim (my fault for not providing this info in the first place) and delivered this morning, five days after placing my order. My renumbering projects now all involve Railtec pre made numbers - far easier for a computer to get the numbers aligned than my eyesight and a trembling cocktail stick on the model. A very satisfied customer. Neil

News emerged this evening on the BR diesel hydraulic group on Facebook of the passing of Adrian Curtis, author and publisher of many books and magazines on WR diesel hydraulics. Adrian’s works were famed for their extensive research and a valuable mine of information for those of us modelling hydraulics. RIP Adrian and condolences to his family.

Good move by Heljan to upgrade the Hymek with fan and body side etched grilles/footsteps and better representation of the roof horns, a very “Hymeky” characteristic. I will look forward to seeing images of the new model, however I cannot replace all my already large class 35 roster with new versions. Hopefully the floor level door handles will be included in the upgrade, and perhaps even losing the headboard clips for the early versions, none of which are in the advertised new models. A good model will hopefully become a great one, but also making sure the alpha numeric headcode is dimensionally accurate which was certainly not on the recent releases.

Progress on the Lima remotoring projects. 4x47 and 1x31 with a few more to do. Test fitted the butchered bogie frames to the locos yesterday, a few adjustments needed but all now fit as sweet as a glove. All have Lima tanks/battery boxes removed (except the 31) and Bachmann spares added. The spare Hornby body fits superbly onto the Lima chassis. All class 66 bogies (each loco will have two of them) are ready to be wired, wire has arrived and DCC sockets arrived too. All the bogies fit snugly into their new cradles Hopefully test running within a week or two. Some preliminary work on the bodies has taken place, carving off the cab front handrails ready for wire replacements, one has been renumbered 47 499. Orientation of the bodies with respect to the new tank assemblies yet to be worked out! Still a lot of detailing to be done.

I’ve just seen it too Phil, terrible news. I had much correspondence with Russ, and have some of my photos in his new book. A huge contributor to all we know about the wonderful green/maroon/blue transition era, without Russ’s efforts much would remain unknown. RIP.

Thanks Phil, and thanks for coming all the way to Bristol and the present. it was a complete surprise to me, my lovely wife had informed me that we were attending a fireworks display at our local rugby club with our grandsons. Somehow though, information regarding the cake decoration was inaccurate! It was thought my favourite loco was the class 47, and having spent much of the last month building replica D1001 name and numberplates, the clues were there.

Lima Brush 2s and 4s. currently on the workbench are my long mothballed Lima fleet getting an upgrade. They are all to be re powered using twin Hornby class 66 power bogies, using essentially the techniques described on the outstanding Kier Hardy EM site : http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/project_lima31mods.html the motor bogie cradles are exactly the same size for the 47s. The bogie side frames from the Lima models were cut off and aradited to the 66 bogie having lopped off the 66 side frames. Next the chassis frame was subjected to dremel surgery to cut a new aperture for the second motor bogie. Care was taken to centralise the hole required for the bogie pivot, and fitted exactly as per the Kier site. I also used semi-round rod (2.5mm) to allow the bogie to pivot both fore and aft. All looks good and gearing up for wiring. The incorrect Lima tanks for my era (1974 ish) were surgically removed and replaced with Bachmann spare parts (thanks to the excellent Bachmann spares department). Test runs to commence on the prototype as soon as the wiring is done. Sure the power bogies have traction tyres, but hopefully the only negative point. The max current draw from the paired bogies should be 850mA or so, hopefully a TTS decoder will cope with that. All will be LE/CF 47/4s operating Paddington South Wales trains, mingling with the occasional Western. I have plenty of Bachmann mk 1 class 47s, but rather a shortfall in blue serck fitted locos, this hopefully will redress the balance a bit. I know the Lima model doesn’t match the Bachmann model for looks, but with a bit of detailing with roof fans, windscreen surrounds, new wipers etc modelling will make up for that. A pretty cheap option to a 47 - although I notice that now Lima diesels are 4-5X more expensive than what I paid for them just 5-10 years ago, although some are my 1980s originals. The Lima 31 is a little different as it will be a Lima remotored chassis (as above) transplanted onto a Hornby 31 body. I had two spare Hornby bodies as a result of replacements of Mazak infested chassis which came as two brand new models. I’m a big fan of the Lima 31, but the Hornby model is predetailed and there are only so many hours in the day- the Hornby body fits perfectly. Neil

Sunday 31 October 1976 just a solitary Western seen, D1058 on the 1B33 diverted through Bristol. The previous day though, the prototype HST set was seen twice, I presume on service trains to South Wales. It was the last time I’d seen this celebrity in service. Despite searching I can’t find a record of the last workings of 252 001. Neil

Indeed it is Steve - full numbers are much easier than cutting individual numbers from water slide sheets and resultant alignment problems. A very satisfied customer. neil

Hi Bob/Phil Here’s my D1065 horn cowl in progress a few years ago now. Not a perfect shot, and a bit of a compromise, using U channel plastic rod cut into two equal pieces and thinned down at the inboard end to get a taper. The real cowl was fitted with grilles, and from the limited photos I’ve seen the “m” shape extends the whole length of it. Some suggested it was merely a dent in the cowl - I really don’t think this is the case from photos, but have no idea why the mod was made. Back on topic, I can vouch for the Railtec 3D works plates, they are superb- I’m gradually working through my green 47s in the renumbering programme, next job the headcodes.

Sunday 24th October 1976 From my 45 year old records, quite a sad day but I was not to realise it at the time. Four Westerns seen at Bristol Parkway in a morning. Two workings are known thanks to Mark Alden’s excellent records, and sadly two locos were the last time I saw them turning a wheel in anger. D1013 (service unknown); D1022 (service unknown); D1036 (8Z23) and D1065 (1B33 1026 Paddington-Paignton). Engineering diversions must have been in place for the Berks-Hants for D1065 to be seen, plus 50 007/010/034/035- unusual to see more than one 50 at Parkway in a day. 50 010/034 were recorded as the first sightings I’d made on the WR. Sadly, Western sightings were in single figures for me for the rest of 1976, and D1036 and D1065 were never seen working again. Neil

Also lacking the floor level door handle mod. One of only a few not to receive this.

Indeed Matt captures my sentiments exactly. I only became aware of hydraulics in 1974 when a school friend mentioned he’d been to Swindon to see the first few Western casualties and that the WR were fighting the mighty BR to keep the remaining fleet running as long as possible. Family holidays to Highbridge in the 1960s meant I certainly saw maroon Warships and Westerns, and perhaps class 22s and Hymeks on the sole surviving working section of the Somerset and Dorset - the Bason bridge milks. Numbers never collected back then, but I feel fortunate to have seen the final few Hymeks working and most of the Westerns. I was saving this info for the on this day in history thread, but approaching 44 years ago on Sunday 24 October 1976 I saw four in service in one day at Bristol Parkway. Not a rare occurrence in 1974/5, but after that date I was lucky to see the odd one. The locos concerned were D1013 (unknown service) D1022 (unknown service); D1036 (8Z23); D1065 (1B33) workings taken from Mark Alden’s excellent records. Sadly it was the last time I saw D1036 and D1065 working. Sundays in late 1976 saw many diverted services from the Berks and Hants due to ongoing HST works. Neil

Well I had to check Phil -it’s the A end. Trev’s photo in his thread here is the best shot I’ve seen of the cowl. Despite some saying it was merely damaged, I’m convinced it was an official modification. i

Oh I’ll be there Phil for sure, hopefully with some of my new stock and guest appearances.

5th October 1976. As the daylight hours shortened we continued to cycle to Bristol Parkway most evenings after school, mostly in the dark. There were several stopping points en route, including two that overlooked Stoke Gifford yard. This evening 45 years ago, we were met with an unfamiliar scene. The Bath road rerailing crew were active on site as 25 061 had come to grief on the catch point at the entrance of the passing loop of the down sidings. Complete with floodlights which lit the scene, we watched with interest from the nearby embankment the goings on. 25 061 was recorded as a cop, and was still parked up at Stoke Gifford the following day, I presume having sustained some damage. Apart from this event, the evening was much the same as other evenings late that year. Class 253 HSTs had just come into service on South Wales-Paddington trains with 253 005/008/009 sighted today. Still some Landore/Cardiff 47/4s supplemented this service as insufficient HSTs had been delivered at that time for a complete takeover. The timetables were labelled “125” to indicate which services were HSTs. Our favourite services, routinely producing foreign motive power was the 3B31 Worcester-Temple Meads parcels, and 3S15 Temple Meads-Glasgow, which today produced 25 260 and 25 263 respectively. Sadly the Westerns were by now thin on the ground, there were no evening sightings this week, only D1005 on Saturday 9th October (1B76). This most probably was a weekend diversion from the Berks/Hants line where HST upgrades were in progress. Sundays in this era produced in particular many diverted services bringing higher than average class 50 sightings and our beloved Westerns. Neil

Looking good Phil. Can’t wait for your first show.

I’ve just upgraded to RMweb gold - not yet checked if I have the badge. I don’t really object to ads, any user of Facebook or YouTube accept its part and parcel of the experience although YouTube you can upgrade to be ad free. Many iPhone apps are the same, free to users yet you have accept ads. Some of the conversations in the thread reminded me of when Mark Zuckerberg was cross examined in the US senate, one irate senator demanding why Facebook was free to users. ‘Senator, we run ads” was his response with a puzzled look on his face.

Indeed the D6122 or D6121 saga Phil. Sadly one of the only NBL diesels I ever saw along with D601. Your beloved class 43s had gone before I started spotting in 1973. neil

Wow three years have past since I added to this thread, for no apparent reason except that my layout has received much more attention of late (a complete rewire and added 47 servo point motors etc). However some stock modifications now back in progress, my fleet of 47s getting most attention recently. I have a motley mix of Lima, Heljan and Bachman mark 1 getting work done in the past few weeks. Updates soon to follow once I persuade my eldest daughter to come and do a photoshoot as she has my SLR on long term loan, and is a superb photographer, and not an iPhone snapper like myself. I’m also in the process of rebuilding a Hornby class 29 chassis to fit under a spare Dapol class 21 bodyshell I picked up for £35. I’m loathe to throw my old models away and wanted a model of Barry resident D6122 (1?), which I almost have now completed and cost less than £60 in total. I couldn’t justify spending another £100 plus on a Dapol 21/29 as I’d already purchased class 29 D6107 late last year. It has a double power bogie and I hope will rival D6107 in performance. Watch this space! Neil

Sorry late to this, Mike is quite right Shawplan did resin ends for both split and centre headcode 37s complete with buffer beam skirts. I have two pairs but need more for Lima/Vi trains conversions. They are no longer available but do crop up on eBay occasionally. I never liked the modified skirtless 37 models (although prototypically correct), as I’m locked firmly in the mid 1970s. Neil

Over a year late to comment on the wonderful shot of D1047. It’s taken at Dr Day’s junction rounding the Rhubarb curve. 1975 was the year that the Badminton route was closed for HST upgrades, and us Parkway passengers had to change at Stapleton road for a shuttle DMU service to Bristol Parkway. For some reason 3H units were often used on the shuttles.

A bit left field, but the 100T "jumbo" ammonia tanks are ripe for the Accurascale treatment. Built by Fauvet-Girel and leased by STS for various UK fertiliser companies (Fisons, ICI). They also of course worked in Ireland in similar arrangements with STS and the CIE. Built in several batches from the late 1960s, downside is there is very few photos in service (I've looked), and there were several detail differences between lots. Very fond 1970s memories of these working to Avonmouth from Immingham. Empties were often stabled in Stoke Gifford yard prior to return to immingham. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=Ammonia tanks https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/7113-ammonia-wagons/

Terrific, and as stated a gaping hole in BR coaching stock now filled. Accurascale getting most of my model railway rolling stock budget in 2021/2; HopABs, coil As and MDOs on order, oh and not forgetting a Deltic. A staple of WR services in the 1970s, but as Robert has said will look odd with Bachy mark 2As and catering vehicles with the lack of close coupling. Neil

Hi Charlie if you or fellow RMwebbers are looking for a 47012 with working fans, Model Railways Direct of Portishead near Bristol have some still available to preorder (just checked). Preordered mine last night. No connection except a satisfied customer of theirs. neil https://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk/locomotive-diesel-electric/Bachmann-35-411sfx-class-47-0-47012-br-blue edit : now sold out