Steven B

Supurb.

Spend some of your cash on plasticard & brass and start scratch building the items of rolling stock that you're missing. You're almost guaranteed to get at least one of them from Farish or Dapol as soon as you've finished the first one. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Solder wick (braided copper impregnated with flux) is great for getting rid of excess solder. Like JMissy I don't have much trouble with a fibreglass brush and always clean etched models with a tooth brush and Jif/Cif type cream cleaner - helps get rid of any excess flux and neutralises any that you miss. The micro-scratches it leaves also helps the paint stick. If you're still worried about the excess solder spoiling the paint finish give it a quicke dusting with white primer. It will show the areas you don't need to worry about and highlight the parts you need to do a bit more work on. Keep up the good work! Steven B.

Firstly, A diesel loco is just as important in telling the story as a steam loco. It anoys me that some folk just can't see that. There's no doubting that steam engines are great pieces of engineering and as a 30-something I'd much rather ride behind one (or just stand beside one) than a diesel. Diesels do have a role to play in preservation. They're a lot less expensive than a steam loco to run and require much less preparation and end of day time and effort - many first trains of the days are run by diesels whilst the steam locos raise steam meaning that the volunteers don't have to get up before they went to bed. I hate seeing anything rusting away at the end of a siding. Seeing a steam loco falling to bits is just as sad as seeing something much newer rotting away - the Class 504 Bury electric at the East Lancs is a prime example. There's no doubt that Tornado has done much to raise the profile of the preservation movement and the other new build projects are very interesting. That said I'd much rather see the time, money and effort into getting some of the rusting lumps up and running. So say that a diesel should be written off just because of cylinder head cracks is nonsence. It's not beyond the capabilities of a decent engineering workshop to get a new one cast and machined - no different to a replacement steam cylinder or even boiler. Happy modelling. Steven B.

The A4s, Kings and Britainias often seen (and loved) on preserved railways aren't branchline locos either and so are just as inaccurate as a J94/Austerity. How often did Bridgenorth see Kings? How often Rawtenstall a Princess? True, industrial/freight 0-6-0s wouldn't have had much to do with passenger work but then I'm guessing many of the larger "freight only" locos didn't spend much time on carriages in pre BR and BR days but do now in preservation. What's more fun, a 4-6-2 barely making any effort with 6 Mk1 coaches trundling along at 20mph or a J94 actually putting some hard work in on the same load? Give me the smaller locos any day! Happy modelling. Steven B.

Have you tried Manchester library for suitable OS Maps? They might still have some larger scale maps for the period you're interested in. Happy modelling, Steven B.

A very adventurous plan. Best of luck with it! I bet you're rather pleased Dapol have anounced the 142 (or that Worsley Works do an etched version of it) - plenty of them to be seen at Victoria in the late 1980s. There was a thread on the old RMWeb which included quite a few photos of Victoria in the 1980s including class 25 haulled parcels trains made up of GUVs or CCT. Might be worth finding them. Never seen anyone store their books by the colour of the cover before Happy modelling, Steven B.

Given that the Dapol tungsten chassis'd N Gauge Terrier will handle four or five Mk1s on the flat, the Farish 04 double that, I'd be suprised if the Sentinel couldn't manage something similar (although the lack of wheels might not help matters if your track laying isn't very good). Happy modelling. Steven B.

Only the Chivers one I'm afraid. Hopefully someone will buy the molds from Chivers and get the models back into production. In the mean time you'll just have to do what BR did and convert a VDA or OCA. It's not a difficult task to scratch build one - 20' 9" chassis are available from the NGS and TPM. If you ask TPM nicely they might have some spair ends from the VCA/VDA kits which would speed things up. Other option is to bash the Farish OCA - remove the sides and extend the ends. Happy modelling. Steven B.