John Tomlinson

Thanks for this. In respect of the buffers, I don't think Heljan used any glue on the sleeves at all, which is why so many secondhand examples have buffers missing. Those sleeves are a pain to find as well if they ping off into the carpet! The problem is that the chassis as supplied won't fit to the body with the buffers and sleeves in place. One trick I learnt on here was to file small recesses into the chassis corners that allow the buffers to stay in place whilst the body is removed. Interesting comment from M1AYM above about the motors being poorly made so that at speed the armature hits the magnets making a noise. Rather agree with you "I'm not overly impressed by Heljan"!! John.

Being a BR modeller, of somewhat elastic period, I did wonder about using transfer remover and then trying to apply an early BR number and lettering to the apple green "Chamoissaire". If that ends up as a complete Horlicks I can then just respray into BR green, and add it to the BR Pacific fleet! John.

Could you perhaps tell us which size of Mashima you used? Many thanks, John.

I wonder if any of you could clarify something for me please, rather than me plough through over 250 pages? I seem to remember that the capacity of Old Oak Common station, for any period in which it is the line terminus, is 9 trains per hour, which I assume to be 9 in, and 9 out. Is this correct, or am I just confused? If this is so, then the actual line, running to Brum or the junction with the WCML near Lichfield, would only be able to operate at around half of capacity originally envisaged, which was around 18 tph. Is this also correct, or am I again deluded? Many thanks, John.

I bought Model Rail fairly religiously when it first appeared, lots of "practical, how to" articles, some good prototype research and some interesting layouts (to me obviously!). I gave up somewhere after issue 100 and haven't looked at it since. John.

I don't know if it was you who has posted a repaint before, or someone else, but anyway this confirms what I thought then, that a proper repaint is the only real answer to Hornby's terrible green. The outcome is excellent, and the Fox lining looks very good. John.

Like you I have some old split chassis B1's and also a J39, which, touch wood, run fine. I have to smile when some folk make disparaging remarks about this design. All of Bachmann's current Diesels and DMU's, some of which are not exactly cheap, have a similar design of driving wheel, namely each wheel with a short axle stub that pushes into a nylon(?) gear. It is this that can cause the problem on our older steamers. The actual split chassis isn't a problem at all, save that if you wish to add extra pick-ups the mazak isn't very helpful for soldering. I always enjoy your pictures, and these are no exception! John.

As a general observation, the price of Hornby motors, as with their bogie drives for diesels and DMU's, seems to be all over the place. I rather wonder if they just have a list of numbers into which they stick a pin! I've found Lendon's of Cardiff to be very well priced for many spares, and worth a look (connection only as a customer). I realise this doesn't help specifically with X9108, but may be of use to someone. Remember though that parts do return to availability, sometimes after many years, when a particular loco has had another production run. John.

You started this on February 23rd. So I make that 24 days. Quite remarkable for something of this scale!!! John.

If you fancy a bit of respraying, Hattons are now offering "Chamoissaire" in LNER green for £109! John.

I seem to remember that one of the criticisms of these was that the various handrails stick out too far, as do the brake wheels on the sides. I addressed this on my two from memory without much difficulty, as the handrails can be carefully pulled out, the holes drilled clear and then they can be pushed in properly. Or something like that! Anyone with a better memory care to comment please? John.

After our exchange re. the P2, I've now found this and had a quick read. Certainly reminds me of Darlington, and what a mega construction the station is, plus the lights are splendid! Now I've a link I'll be able to look in via my activity list. John.

Yes, I did both of mine, with Hornby ref X9108 IIRC. The chassis appears to be the same for both Railroad and Full Range models. It does make an improvement. On this subject, years ago your repaint into BR green of one has something to answer for! I was encouraged to do something similar, but into BR early blue. The outcome can be seen here, being the Railroad one repainted and with proper wire handrails, the Full Range one being as bought. John.

I have a feeling that in many cases this problem is due to the thickness of the paint, so the unpainted details might fit into an unpainted shell, quite tightly. Once they've been painted it doesn't work! As noted by Jeremy above. Very boring to have to either file the lugs on the details down, or open up the hole a bit, especially if it's a square. May in part explain why many people never bother, however I consider it to be adding the final gilt to any model. Also I'm northern, and if I've paid for stuff I expect to be able to use it! John.

This is looking like the fastest Garratt build ever!! Apparently, or so I have read, the issue of firing whilst the loco was at Mexborough, was dealt with by failing the loco on shed at every opportunity. One can see why! John.

Looks like a Part 2 or 3 loco, as rebuilt by Gresley or Thompson respectively. John.

FWIW I made one of these some years ago. I didn't find it an easy kit, mainly due to my lack of experience, however the final outcome I was pleased with and it runs well (A High Level box and 1420 Mashima IIRC). I wasn't aware of the dimensional issue in the wheelbase, although like you I had to mess around with the boiler casting to get something about right in diameter allowing for the cladding. The main problem is the front bogie against the cylinders, Raven's fault not DJH's, and my cylinders are filed off a bit at the back to help with travelling around curves (it doesn't really show). As a someone who isn't an NER specialist it looks like a B16/1 to me, although I'm sure better models can be made. This one is clearly well on course now! John.

I used 6mm ply with traditional softwood bracing for my 4mm layout built over 20 years ago. Probably have been better if I hadn't bought the stuff at B&Q, rather a proper supplier, but nonetheless not really had any problems. If I were doing 7mm I'd go to 9mm, probably. John.

I spoke to one of his regular customers at the recent Doncaster Show. it would seem that normal service has not been going for a while, not sure when it will resume. John.

FWIW I've been using the Phoenix Precision 2 part etch primer for several years, sprayed on, and been very pleased with the results. For unknown reasons, it seems to do well on resin too. Big caveat, the 1:1 recommended mix of the two parts is rubbish, it's then far too thick to airbrish. More like 2 or 2.5 parts thinner to 1 part primer is right. They will sell you just the thinner when one runs out before the other btw. Essential to clean the airbrush immediately, the primer will, not surprisingly, start to etch on the insides! John.

That's a great find and very informative. Apparently, and relevant to your later discussion, the spaces under the tanks were to allow maintenance staff to crawl in and reach down to service the valve gear on the middle cylinder. It being the conjugated Gresley design as used on the 02 2-8-0's. What a lovely job that must have been..... John.

I'm sure you know that by the time of the second visit in 1955 it had been converted to burn oil at Gorton (I think in 1954). Your 1949 shot indeed enables the top of the coal space, then open, to be seen. I did research this a long while ago, and it seems that this was just an in-house one-off job, with no detailed drawings made, or at least saved. Not helpful for a modeller, particularly with the dearth of photos, but it seems to imply to me that there was simply a covering metal sheet over the coal space, so as to turn that into a fluid tight oil store. More positively, if no one really knows precisely how it looked, it follows that they can't claim however you've done it is wrong! John.

I thought I had a lot of coaches, but I'm sure it's a fair few less than 200+, so thanks for the nudge that I need to go out and get some more! Strange things being towed, the older I get the more I think there's lots of things happened that are lost in the mists of time. Certainly the special locos you've listed would have been dragged to Open Days and Exhibitions all over the country, particularly in the time when the fairly new British Railways was trying to impress the public with its modern credentials. John.

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I'd agree that the Bachmann green is pretty good, but the Hornby one varies between not right and way out. I was interested in how you remedied your King. Did you mask the Hornby lining and so preserve it, or just start again with something else? Thanks, John.