nigel newling

I was advised by a bookseller at the Folkstone show that Mr Larkin was not intending to compile the promised 6th volume, preferring to move his attention to the Speedlink series. I do hope this is not true. This set of books provide my go-to reference for wagon appearance in my preferred era of just post war. Does anyone on here know any better?

Well done Mike. To save me the bother of searching, what brake yoke etches did you use, please?

For a model of this excellence, I do think Accurascale could have supplied alternative yokes in their detail pack. After all, they did go to some lengths to make conversion of their Deltic easy.

Nigel

On 26/07/2023 at 11:46, Rugd1022 said:

Cotswold delight at Winchcombe...

 

 

 

Bootiful - but it ain't Winchcombe box. That one is an implant to replace the demolished box. Winchcombe box was right-handed with the stairs leading towards the platform end. Why they could not have rebuilt the donor box the proper way round when it was brought in as a full "kit of parts" I have never understood.

Mine arrived from Derails - express delivery - on Wednesday. Absolutely fabulous models but - narrow gauge. I had considered a direct appeal to Accurascale for an option accessory replacement part 46 (or is it part 47), the brake yoke, with the brake blocks set sufficiently far apart to clear a P4 wheelset. However, I have chosen to ask on here first in order to assess what level of demand there may be. We have already seen several messages about EM conversions which have required surgery, whereas a "drop in" replacement would make life so much easier. If Accurascale have already seen a way to make their Deltics convertible, surely an alternative brake assembly for the siphons is not too much to ask.

These siphons are masterclass models and I cannot bear to put them to the knife unless I have to.

Nigel

On 13/05/2023 at 13:08, ClikC said:

Any thoughts for offering EM/P4 drop in wheels as an accessory for these?

Never mind drop in wheels, what chance we can persuade Accurascale to offer alternative brake yoke mouldings with the brake blocks set at the correct gauge? It will break my heart when I have to take a craft knife  to these beautiful bogies in order to get P4 wheels in.

Nigel

.... and still no post '36 LNER liveries! So I will have to wait for the batch 3 release I suppose. :-)

It seems very strange that Accurascale have chosen not to include LNER livery variants in their hopper range. I would definitely buy a set of hoppers in post '36 format.

Please Corbs, can you make me one of the happy recipients? :-) These two wagons will form part of my engineering train, as spoil wagons, and, in 1947, would definately have been either side braked.

Nigel

There should indeed be a break gear protection spring but, as this chassis is a direct lift by Rapido from their Iron Mink, it does not appear to be available as an add-on for use on the O21. It seems also to have been lost from the preserved wagon which may explain Rapido's decision. 

For most people, the wagon also needs the addition of the secondary, single shoe, brake, as fitted to 14432. My two post '36 examples arrived in the post this afternoon and I am keeping my fingers crossed that Rapido will make the extra break gear parts available as an accessory pack.

I suspect there will be a queue of new owners who will want to follow the example of the great company and add the additional single side brake to their 925006. Any chance of an add-on accessory pack?

Cooper-Craft Cattle wagon end are the wrong profile or format for most of the W diagrams but they are spot on for Y5 Banana vans so if anyone has some spare I would really like to hear from them. :-)

For interest, I attach a photograph of an engineering occupation at Winchcombe in 1949 It is clearly a GW 4-plank being used to collect spoil during the installation of a replacement cess drain. While it is impossible to see a wagon number, it is clearly an old wagon. It has square cut headstocks and a single side brake with a Churchward ratchet brake guard. It would appear to have the standard modification of a second lever added on the opposite side with one pushrod and brake shoe as there is no visible cross shaft. Definitely an instance of the Rapido model. :-)

Be wary of the BB DC3 brakegear etch. DC3 geometry uses a shallow V iron, resulting in the lower pushrod being almost horizontal and the upper being inclined at a steep angle.  CES920/4 has pushrods more suitable for Morton brakegear, being angled equally above and below a centreline passing through the axleboxes.

Have you got model numbers for the post WW2 GW so that I can get my pre order in please? :-)

The Midland also insisted that GW 4-6-0s could not run on the Bristol and Gloucester line, so trains from Birmingham to Bristol had to rely on 4-4-0.

A windmill has to be able to turn into the wind. That requires a track, concentric with the axis of the mill, as part of the mill footprint, rather like the track around a manually operated turntable. You may be a little pushed for space.

23 pages of praise for these coaches and there is no mention of the fact that Hornby have not bothered to match individual coach numbers to the set brandings they have chosen. It did not occur to me to check when I decided, a little late in the day, that I must have the Birmingham set. Consequently, I ignored the A suffix options when I searched the market and paid £30 over the odds to buy the two composites. I now have a mongrel set comprising 4971, 6360, 6362 and 4972 (which is most of set 35) instead of 5513, 6636, 6637 and 5514 that actually made up Birmingham set 43. I have not checked the composition of the Chester set so cannot say if that set is numbered correctly.

... but they are fabulous models. :-)

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

I’ve heard those tales too, not just Porlock Hill.  I was told that it was because reverse was the lowest gear in the box.

Paul.

As a (very) small boy, I remember holidays with my family when we regularly ascended hills backwards to gain advantage of the very low reverse gear. As we did not trust the cable brakes either, my mother walked behind, keeping a house brick pressed up against a front tyre to ensure the car would not slide back should dad have to pause the assent. There is just no colour in life today! :-)

2,3 & 7

Focus 7 (as the only one not now available from one source or another).

Comment : The classification "Mink A" is far too generic. Fitted/non fitted, Churchward / Morton Brake, Outside framed / planked doors, planked / plywood sides ? The variations fill pages of the reference books.

... but I am enjoying the polls. :-)

I bet that guard wishes they had found the time to turn his van before setting off.

Has it been taken off the up Paddington with a hot box? Have they used one of the prairies to take the train on? Would have liked to watch that. :-)

Once the Up Stamford has been established to the east of the dive under entrance, is it likely that they will slew the Down to ease out the current excessive curve?

... but note that the brakes on the Bachmann van would not work. With the push rods as represented, the lever would need to connect through a reversing Morton clutch.

My mistake guys, the Southern built these vans for both the GW and LMS with independent either side brakes with double V hangers - no cross shaft and no Morton clutches. It was the contemporary GW utility vans on V34 that had single sided brakes.  

I believe so - look at https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsvan, although the three shown there are fitted with more modern buffers and have been extensively re-planked as well. As unfitted vans, the brakes should only be on the side with the reversing Morton clutch. The Bachman chassis needs to have the brakes on the other side removed when in LMS or GW livery. The Southern did have vacuum fitted versions in various forms.