Well, I've managed a few hours here and there in my evenings this week and this is how the Ratio suburban carriage is shaping up....

The eagle eyed will see that I've replaced the Ratio bogies with Gresleys. Let me explain....

Basically, I found a really nice clear image in George Dow's Great Central Album of a rake of GC suburban stock which shows the bogies very well. They are (were) quite hefty, slab sided things. The Midland ones supplied in the Ratio kit, in contrast, are light and spidery. The closest things I have to the GC design are a pair of Coopercraft/ Mailcoach Gresley bogies (about the only good part of the 'Coronation' beavertail observation car I attempted a few years ago). They roll exceptionally well, better even than some of my RTR stock. So last night I switched them over. I kept the Ratio bolsters and couplings, and used wood screws to fix the bogies to the chassis, by means of a 2mm hole through the bolster and a 1.2mm hole through the floor of the carriage (hidden, of course, under my new interior). Result? A very well-riding suburban carriage. Next steps? Adding plastic sheet and strip to the Gresley bogies to make them closer to the GC examples. I've also gone and ordered 4 more pairs of same from the Coopercraft website, a steal at £3/pair, to fit to my other Ratio stock as I re-work it.

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Also, the 1880s express moves forwards a little as the Hornby 4-wheelers arrive....

I found out my old Ratio GWR 4-wheelers too... two of them are in quite good serviceable condition, so they'll be part of the express. The third is broken quite badly so i reckon I'll keep it in hand as a grounded coach when I finally get around to building a layout. My plans for these five Hornby carriages are shaping up as follows: two will be converted to full brakes whilst the other three will be merged into two longer six-wheeled vehicles. This will give me a rake of 6 carriages...

Ah yes, the loco. My first attempt at a conversion/ hackbash a few years ago. It's spent quite some time on my bookshelf, hidden behind (variously) a Bradshaw's, some Discworld and a couple of Anthony Trollope novels. It looks a little worse for wear, and I'm compiling a list of things to alter on it. I'm thinking of adding new brass splasher detail, spectacle ports, an entire new tender front, new paint job, new lining and decals, separate wire handrails.... it won't be a slavish perfect model of a Stirling Single but it will certainly evoke the 'feel' of one.