5050

For the rivets/bolt heads on a buffer beam I've recentl;y made I used paper, pricking the rivets out on the reverse with a pin and the solvent fixing the paper to styrene sheet. Probably not a very useful idea on a large metal surface such as the saddle tank shown above although, many years ago, I did make the tank for a GWR 'balloon' water tank in a similar way.

The Stafford Salt wagon has a metal body and, now I've had a chance to think about it, was probably purchased around '62 when my sister lived in Kingston-on-Thames, not far from Norbiton station which is where I caught the train to Raynes Park to visit Model and Tool Supplies. I also bought a Low Side Peco wagon at the same time. Both were brought back to my sister's and assembled that afternoon with the help of a tube of Bostick. The Triang open wagon was hand lettered even earlier (on one side only!) and the name is a nod to the Craig and Mertonford, then and now one of my all-time favourite layouts. I think the Airfix Church end probably became part of an Engine Shed conversion - or, at least, and attempt at one! Very few of my early attempts at 'proper' modelling were overtly succesful.

Yes, painted in Chocolate and Cream. I was a GWR 'fanatic' in my youth and painted all sorts of things in GWR livery(ish!).

Shawplan produce the laser cut window sets for the B Set. I've seen a demonstrator showing how he fitted the laser windows into the apertures and then sprayed the whole coach with Klear to fix the windows and provide a base for weathering.

Have you actually tried fitting the wheels to the axles or just measured? If you've fitted them and removed them then I find that they don't grip very well in a second fit. You could use P4 wheels in OO but the back-to-back measurement needs widening appreciably and overall performance will be compromised in comparison with 'proper' OO wheels, especially over commercial pointwork.

A few things here from my dim and distant past, some found in drawers, others in old shoe boxes (I have quite a few!). Photo taken for a thread on another forum but I thought it relevant for this one too. I'm sure that all items will be readily recognised but please bear in mind that they date back well over 60 years to when my 'scale' ambitions hadn't really had much chance to develop There are several shoe boxes still full of similar 'nostalgia'. I find it very difficult to throw stuff away..................

Axle end covers are available for Romford/Markits wheels or just punch them out of thin shim with some 1/8" steel rod. A dab of Evostik to hold them and they can easily be removed if necessary.

I remember hearing that! Showing my age - but I was VERY young at the time............. And Walter Gabriel wasn't a relation BTW, me old pal, me old beauty.

"Lamp irons should be moved as well but I can livewith that." Yes, 2538 seems to be the only one I can find that has the lamp irons positioned on the sandbox fronts. TBH, I'm getting to the point now that I will be considering the job done as I'm not really prepared to do a lot more hacking etc. or changing the tender for a 2500 one. I can live with it as it is and I doubt that it will see much - if any - actual layout running.

Here we are again! This project was put on the back-burner late last year as I found - at the time - I was going nowhere with it. A couple of weeks ago I got it out, sat down and made a list of all the bits that needed doing - and thereby clearing my brain a little on the 'problems' I'd been having. I have now painted the loco chassis, fitted brake gear, fitted rods, painted the cab interior and made and fitted a fall plate. On the tender i have made and fitted loco/tender pick-up connections, finalised the brake gear and made a new rear buffer beam. I'll add some more photos shortly but, to keep you going, here are the loco/tender current 'plugs and sockets'. Made from fine bore telescopic brass tube, solder - and patience! The tender buffer beam. Made by solvent fixing an image of a beam onto a piece of 20thou styrene after pricking out the rivet positions with a pin..

Photo of the beam now painted (a bit roughly I'm afraid although it is much larger in the photo than in real life!) with hook and buffer heads to be attached. I hope it looks like a bufferbeam that has had a hard life and in need of retirement. The 'hook plate' (don't know the correct term) is from an old etch of PC couplings.

I've made a beam using the image from the Brassmasters site, cropped down to the bufferbeam only, printed it scaled to 30mm wide, pricked out the rivets with a pin, trimmed it to size and solvent fixed it to a suitably sized piece of 20thou styrene. After drilling holes, Gibson Dean buffers have been attached and the whole is now ready for a coat of red paint - after I've fretted out the hole for the hook. Thanks for all your comments etc. In due course I'll attach photos to my Dean Goods thread.

Nicely finished. What did you use for ther wasp stripes? Could you post some images of the whole layout? It looks interesting and convincing.

Also remembered that a mate of mine in the Wakefield club built one some time ago in (I think) EM.

So, the one supplied by Mainline/Hornby with their 2538 isn't correct. Given how much work I've done on it to press I'll have to find another suitable candidate! Looking at Alan's photos it can't be 2516 either. Alan's photos are extremely useful, I wish I'd found them before I started! I think I'll go along with the 'recessed' beam, it's a bit more 'characterful'.

So, the question now is - 'which tender did 2538 have during its last days at Oswestry?' Answers on a postcard etc..................................... Actually, it was a 3000gall one but I can't find a good photo of the tender rear. Several photos of the loco in action in various Bradford Bartons etc. but mainly 3/4 front views.

Not necessarily (depending on who 'the other' is of course). Here's mine - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106477-another-one-started-kingdom-kits-barclay-16/ Must do something about the chimney.............................. Eventually

I'm still rather confused. Whilst trawling the web (something I should probably have done before posting!!) I found this comparison between the Mainline/Hornby version of Dean Goods and the Oxford Rail one. https://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t52551.html Scrolling down there is a photo of the tender rears side by side - and the buffer beams are different! Which is correct? Both versions appear to be coupled to a 3000 gall tender. Is the left hand Mainline one correct for a 3000 gall tender and the Oxford one on the right only for a 2500 gall one and therefore wrong? Or were both designs correct for 3000 gall tenders manufactured at different dates? Looking at Jeff's post above it would seem Comet decided on the 'Mainline' version whereas Finney/Brassmasters went for the 'Oxford' one. EDIT - just had a thought. I wonder if Mainline - for reasons of economy and simplicity - simply used the loco bufferbeam (which is a separate push-fit moulding) for the tender rather than making a different one?

Many thanks for everyones' help with this. I suppose I should have checked a bit more deeply with Jim Russell's excellent tomes before posting but I couldn't see anything there as specific as the info. you've all provided. Just waiting for some Dean loco buffers to arrive from Alan Gibson and then I can get on with the job. I did start a thread in the Kit and Scratchbuilding section but it needs some considerable updating!

So is the Mailine tender a 3000 or 2500 one? I'm supposing the latter TBH.

Those advertisement hoardings are brilliant! Love the 'Digger Tobacco' one.

Does it also have the 'recessed' section between the buffers?

"I then took one look at it and put it back in the box, where it was to stay for the best part of 15 years. That was a really bad kit I'm sorry to say and the inexperienced teenaged me thankfully realised that it was quite beyond him." My thoughts exactly! Although I was rather older than teenage. You've reminded me of my build from a few years ago where I did manage to get mine running although it was a 'labour of love (!!)' at times.

Thanks for those quick replies. I've looked at the gwr.org site and sadly it wasn't that much help. Is CoT's tender the same as a Dean Goods one? If so I could use the Brassmaster's etch for a pattern but I thought it was a bit different?

There's also some in Stanley (or there was!), remains of the NG line from colliery to canal at Stanley Ferry.