MG 7305

18100 did not have the front bogie steps. You should refer to sources such as "The Great Western Gas Turbines" by Kevin Robertson P.61 where there is a full page photograph of 18100 lifted off its bogies. It is quite clear that 18100 did not have them. I believe they were fitted to the locomotive later in its career as an electric. I think this information might be of interest here too.

My sound fitted 18100 arrived today and after understanding the sound file and adding the details, chrome numbers and vac and steam heat pipes at one end, I can only say it my model of the year.

I asked a certain supplier of Zimo sound chips and received a very swift and courteous reply: "you set CV#114=252 and then use CV#60 to adjust the brightness"

My BR(W) model has just arrived and I am about to buy a sound decoder. It set me wondering if such a machine would have been fitted with Western whistles or to have ones common with the LMS versions. I suspect that Swindon would have fitted their own whistles and not introduce a 'foreign' sound. Any suggestions?

Most of my career was in inventory management and I gained a MSC in the subject from Cranfield Institute of Management (CIT). CIT quoted that it cost 25% of the nominal value to hold inventory in a warehouse (obsolesence, rent, insurance, shrinkage, handling etc). The global company I worked for used an annual costing of 24%. I managed an inventory of USD 54 million and got the turns up to 6.4 per year which was very good for the industry but was seriously dragged down by the projects team. My targets were turns and service. perhaps not relevant to this thread but certainly to the accounts. We were really focussed on what we called excess stock, that is to say what was on hand after six months and what was not anticipated to sell in the next six months. Sales and Marketing were presented with the numbers every month and pressed to explain what their plan to shift the inventory was. It is interesting to observe what Accurascale are doing. They understand these things and work hard to sell "excess" stock. It would be illuminating to understand where Hornby stand in all of this and how their accounts value obsolete stock.

I have 2 Heljan turntables; one with 12 roads and the other with 36. they work a treat. You may wish to calibrate yours from time to time. Gaugemaster hold the spares, including both the PCB's the control box and bridge ones. I have found that a key requirement is to ensure that the electrical contacts between the bridge and the pit are clean and properly tensioned. I have also found Heljan in Denmark incredibly helpful. Every time I have asked them a question I have received a swift, clear and complete answer. Oh yes, it is 90' table in HO, in OO it is 78'. As far as aligning opposite roads is concerned, I recommend testing and turning the bridge time and time again. I use two straight tracksetas to ensure that both opposite roads are fully aligned with each other, keep turning the bridge and micro adjusting. It takes time and an awful lot of patience but once you suceed the result is excellent. Both my 36 and 12 road tables are, to coin a phrase, ambidextrous and this is key to their successful operation.

Here's one I prepared earlier:

It is the tender it has had since restoration in the mid seventies which was organised by Phil Mountford. I was the lad who carefully lined up all the set screws that hold the tank to the frames so the slots were in line and ran parallel to the frames.

Correct. The RCTS "The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway" series is the lodestone of basic information. In this case from Part 14 section "The Origins of Locomotive Names" page P122 "Garsington Manor Stands in a SE suburb of Oxford". See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garsington_Manor

Exactly. I have the Cambrian 18 Ton Sleeper Wagon kit and have had to put 60g of lead in it to keep it on the rails! If it is put at the front of the train the pull of the locomotive and the weight of the train behind allied to the long rigid wheel base tends to derail it.

This is fun. However the bunker on 4408 has not been extended. If there had been an extension piece which had been removed and an extended bunker then the bunker would overhang where the extension had been and it does not. Compare the Smugmug photographs of 4409 (with extension) and the 4408 one at Swindon. By eye, the bunker after the vertical line of rivets on 4408 is shorter than that of 4409.

It looks me as if there is no rear buffer beam at all. The buffers of the pannier behind the locomotive are pressed up against the rear of the 44xx and the 44xx has no rear buffers. The RCTS record that 4408 was withdrawn in 1/53. Perhaps the surmised clout resulted in some inspection of the damage, including the removal of the rear bufferbeam, followed by condemnation?

A quick search of the offical Bachmann website produced this, it may help. https://Bachmann-spares.co.uk/file/3MT-2-6-2-82000.pdf

I have just received notification from Kernow Model Centre that mine has been despatched.

I think you will need to be more specific in your question. In particular which railway you are modelling. I suspect there are differences in the way it was done. For example the Great Western Study Group have published an excellent book on what the GWR did; see here: https://gwsg.org.uk/GWSG_Publications.html