Wright writes.....

[Ollie K]

While Sir is away, here’s a shoddy cameraphone video from the 1:1 scale Little Bytham yesterday. 60103 passes on its ‘Centenary Weekender’ special, running about 45mins late with the diesel on the back working hard to help reduce the arrears.

 

 

Plenty of friendly people on the bridge - the usual Stoke Bank vantage points were all pleasingly busy. 

[Tony Wright]

13 hours ago, 30368 said:

 

Good Morning Tony,

 

Hope all is going well at Ruddington. We have a "Railex" at Buxton this weekend so off to that later.

 

The video of the O4/8 is very good and thanks for going to all that trouble. I hope it encourages more modellers to have a go at kit bashing - it can be a cheap way of obtaining a decent model of a different prototype.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

Good evening Richard, and thanks.

 

It's gone very well indeed. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there have been more visitors today than on both days combined last year. I think one of the reasons might be the not-so-hot weather this time - very pleasant. 

 

Now, one or two items of interest.................

 

 

I mentioned that there were some GWR locos for sale. 

 

This was one, a scratch-built Hall. There were some dozen metal GWR locos on offer at Ruddington, apart from two of which I got running well. Most just needed a clean, oil and pick-up adjustment, and away they went. The pair, an Aberdare and a 28XX needed a lot of remedial work, so they were sold as spares/repairs for about £10.00. 

 

And, the price for the one above once I'd got it running? An amazing £20.00! Admittedly, at some time during its life a tender-swop seems to have taken place (did the early Halls have smaller tenders?). However, some lining and a touch of overall weathering and the two should match. My intention is to tidy this up a bit, then offer it for sale (for more than £20.00!), donating any 'profit' to CRUK. What price a tidied-up, sweet running (fully-compensated), scratch-built Hall (the first one, I think)? 

 

Needless to say, all the locos were snapped up!

 

But, there was some other stuff on the Bulwell second-hand stand at Ruddington, all from the same source.

 

 

What price this trio of rather nice kit-built GWR vans (a Python, Prize Beast van and a Bloater?), all just needing a tiny bit of repair? With my repairs done (I've been busy!), how about £15.00?! Yes, that's all, for the three. There was some reluctance among purchasers because all the models had Peco/Hornby Dublo-style couplings (which I've now removed). I'll fit proper couplings and, again, offer them for sale, with profits to CRUK. 

 

I think these are Parkside kits. I think the price of one un-made kit is more than this trio put together. 

 

There are still some left at Ruddington, all around those prices.

 

 

Or even cheaper! This pair went for £8.00.

 

If you want this sort of bargain, get to Ruddington tomorrow.

 

 

There are several left of these as well, all for the princely sum of £7.00 each (note the couplings, which put some folk off. How difficult is it to change couplings? Too difficult it would seem for some in the hobby).

 

Once again, I'll tidy this up and offer it for sale in due course. I might even buy more! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

P.S. There are also some unmade LNER/BR ER/LMS/BR MR loco kits for sale as well. I bought a Nu-Cast K2 (with all wheels and a brass chassis) for £45.00 (no instructions), and a friend bought a Nu-Cast J6 (all wheels and a brass chassis) for £50.00 (with instructions). Absolute bargains! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Steamport Southport]

Yes. The first batch or two of Halls got second hand 3500 gallon tenders from new. Mostly from 4-4-0s that were going for scrap.

 

The 4000 gallon tenders they were built with went to the Castles and Stars. Eventually they all got 4000 gallon tenders of either Collett or Hawksworth design.

 

4900 was the one rebuilt from Saint Class 2925 Saint Martin with smaller wheels. Really the opposite to what they did with the new build Saint.

 

Anyone who thinks GWR engines are all exactly the same could waste a while reading about the tenders. It is very complicated as they rebuilt many of them and swaps were very common.

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

 

 

 

Jason

[Iain.d]

For the last four or five months I’ve struggled to find the enthusiasm to do much modelling for myself; I have done a few bits and pieces for other modellers as that comes with a commitment and their stuff is a little different to my ‘normal’ stuff; variety being the spice of life and all that. There’s been a lot of change at work and that’s been quite stressful too.

 

But in the last couple of weeks I’ve found the time and the inclination to look at a few half started models taking up space on the bench, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to show some of the current modelling I’m doing.

 

Over Christmas 2022 I started a Roxey Mouldings Non Corridor 3 carriage set of LSWR origin, comprising an SR Diagram 285 58ft Lavatory Composite with an SR Diagram 126 56ft Lavatory Brake Third on each side. They’ll be completed as Set 122 and finished in unlined BR unlined crimson.

 

When originally built the brakes had their solebar stepboards level with the bottom of the solebar, when the sets were rearranged (in the 1930s I think) with different intermediate carriages the stepboards were raised to the middle of the solebar to match the other carriages. The kit of the brake provides half-etched slots that need opening out if this is what the modeller wants, and I did.

 

There must be an easier way to do this, but I chose to drill about seven .5mm, almost touching, holes in each half-etched slot (9 slots per solebar, 7 holes per slot, 4 solebars…), then thought it would be a simple task to cut away the little bit of brass left between each hole. No such luck! I tried a variety of methods but each seemed to have the potential to damage the solebars too much. I settled on carefully using the cutting edge of .5mm drill shank as a file and then smoothing down the cusp this left with the finest file I possess. It took an inordinate amount of time and the slots were still more than a bit raggedy than I would have liked. A little tweaking was needed to get the stepboards to marry up with my slots but they soldered in okay and all will be fine when painted.

 

 

The floors, headstocks and solebars before soldering, I have pressed in the rivet detail:

 

 

And all folded and soldered (the nearest chassis is upside down):

 

 

I also managed to prepare the bogies:

 

 

The Lavatory Composite has standard SR steam stock bogies, the brakes are a simpler bogie with no tie bars or stepboards needed. I find Roxey bogies slightly wide when made up for the Hornby or Bachmann wheels/axles I use, so I solder in a thin washer on one side of the bogie as a spacer for the bearing; this reduces the amount of free play of the axle between the bearings. I’ll look to solder these this week.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Edited July 2, 2023 by Iain.d
Spelling

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Yes. The first batch or two of Halls got second hand 3500 gallon tenders from new. Mostly from 4-4-0s that were going for scrap.

 

The 4000 gallon tenders they were built with went to the Castles and Stars. Eventually they all got 4000 gallon tenders of either Collett or Hawksworth design.

 

4900 was the one rebuilt from Saint Class 2925 Saint Martin with smaller wheels. Really the opposite to what they did with the new build Saint.

 

Anyone who thinks GWR engines are all exactly the same could waste a while reading about the tenders. It is very complicated as they rebuilt many of them and swaps were very common.

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

 

 

 

Jason

Thanks Jason,

 

Could it be then that the scratch-built model of SAINT MARTIN is still a Saint?

 

I'll have to measure the drivers' diameters.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Coach bogie]

13 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Jason,

 

Could it be then that the scratch-built model of SAINT MARTIN is still a Saint?

 

I'll have to measure the drivers' diameters.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Saint Martin ran with the no 2925 after rebuilding as the prototype hall until the main construction started several years later. It was always different to the others. Easy to spot in 1930's. Lower mounted boiler compared to production halls as it retained the original saint cylinders and no outside steam pipes, the only hall without them. Later in its' life as 4900 it was fitted with outside steam pipes when it had new cylinders.

I made my model of Saint Martin by rebuilding a Nucast hall.

 

Mike Wiltshire

Edited July 2, 2023 by Coach bogie

[Joseph_Pestell]

On 28/06/2023 at 09:59, gr.king said:

In the modern UK, where anybody with a chip on his shoulder can complain about so-called "discrimination", they would probably have to put the lettering low enough to avoid any possibility of being accused of "heightism" by the vertically challenged. Then of course, tall people could complain instead...

 

Quite so! I am a very average 5'9. I had great difficulty using an Avanti West Coast ticket machine at Stockport yesterday. The touch screen on the machine is placed so low down that it gives a completely false view of the letters on the screen. The Northern Screen seemed to be similar. Good to have a machine accessible to wheelchair users but all three machines?

[Mark Laidlay]

On 01/07/2023 at 19:46, OliverBytham said:

While Sir is away, here’s a shoddy cameraphone video from the 1:1 scale Little Bytham yesterday. 60103 passes on its ‘Centenary Weekender’ special, running about 45mins late with the diesel on the back working hard to help reduce the arrears.

 

 

Plenty of friendly people on the bridge - the usual Stoke Bank vantage points were all pleasingly busy. 

I recognise that 47 class from my trip around GB in April, I equated it to the lurking VW Beetle seen on some Top Gear challenges.  

[Tony Wright]

Just to report; a very successful Ruddington Show.

 

I fixed several locos/items of rolling stock, helping some buyers to make purchases - all in the aid of Bulwell Club funds.

 

A modest amount was made for CRUK as well. 

 

May I please thank all those with whom I spoke? 

[Willie Whizz]

I was interested in your earlier comment on the Ruddington attendance, Tony.

 

I was there around mid-day on the Saturday (along with none other than Lady Whizz herself!); there seemed few people around, the (quite well-stocked) traders were looking glum, and apart from South Town very little seemed to be moving on the layouts, especially the sprawling n-gauge American job that occupied the whole central area of the room. 
 

‘Disappointed’ would be too strong a word (‘underwhelmed’ perhaps?) and the entry price allowed access to the rest of the site, but shall I just say I was glad I didn’t have to travel too many miles to get there … but maybe we were just unlucky in our timing …

Edited July 3, 2023 by Willie Whizz

[FarrMan]

On 01/07/2023 at 21:47, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Richard, and thanks.

 

It's gone very well indeed. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there have been more visitors today than on both days combined last year. I think one of the reasons might be the not-so-hot weather this time - very pleasant. 

 

Now, one or two items of interest.................

 

 

I mentioned that there were some GWR locos for sale. 

 

This was one, a scratch-built Hall. There were some dozen metal GWR locos on offer at Ruddington, apart from two of which I got running well. Most just needed a clean, oil and pick-up adjustment, and away they went. The pair, an Aberdare and a 28XX needed a lot of remedial work, so they were sold as spares/repairs for about £10.00. 

 

And, the price for the one above once I'd got it running? An amazing £20.00! Admittedly, at some time during its life a tender-swop seems to have taken place (did the early Halls have smaller tenders?). However, some lining and a touch of overall weathering and the two should match. My intention is to tidy this up a bit, then offer it for sale (for more than £20.00!), donating any 'profit' to CRUK. What price a tidied-up, sweet running (fully-compensated), scratch-built Hall (the first one, I think)? 

 

Needless to say, all the locos were snapped up!

 

But, there was some other stuff on the Bulwell second-hand stand at Ruddington, all from the same source.

 

 

What price this trio of rather nice kit-built GWR vans (a Python, Prize Beast van and a Bloater?), all just needing a tiny bit of repair? With my repairs done (I've been busy!), how about £15.00?! Yes, that's all, for the three. There was some reluctance among purchasers because all the models had Peco/Hornby Dublo-style couplings (which I've now removed). I'll fit proper couplings and, again, offer them for sale, with profits to CRUK. 

 

I think these are Parkside kits. I think the price of one un-made kit is more than this trio put together. 

 

There are still some left at Ruddington, all around those prices.

 

 

Or even cheaper! This pair went for £8.00.

 

If you want this sort of bargain, get to Ruddington tomorrow.

 

 

There are several left of these as well, all for the princely sum of £7.00 each (note the couplings, which put some folk off. How difficult is it to change couplings? Too difficult it would seem for some in the hobby).

 

Once again, I'll tidy this up and offer it for sale in due course. I might even buy more! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

P.S. There are also some unmade LNER/BR ER/LMS/BR MR loco kits for sale as well. I bought a Nu-Cast K2 (with all wheels and a brass chassis) for £45.00 (no instructions), and a friend bought a Nu-Cast J6 (all wheels and a brass chassis) for £50.00 (with instructions). Absolute bargains! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony

 

Are the brown vehicles still available?

 

Lloyd

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, Willie Whizz said:

I was interested in your earlier comment on the Ruddington attendance, Tony.

 

I was there around mid-day on the Saturday (along with none other than Lady Whizz herself!); there seemed few people around, the (quite well-stocked) traders were looking glum, and apart from South Town very little seemed to be moving on the layouts, especially the sprawling n-gauge American job that occupied the whole central area of the room. 
 

‘Disappointed’ would be too strong a word (‘underwhelmed’ perhaps?) and the entry price allowed access to the rest of the site, but shall I just say I was glad I didn’t have to travel too many miles to get there … but maybe we were just unlucky in our timing …

Good afternoon,

 

Did you speak to me on Saturday? If you did and I failed to acknowledge who you are, my apologies.

 

Though I didn't really have chance to see the show in 'full swing', the two small layouts next to me (one in OO, the other in N) always seemed to have something moving, and the operators were in constant communication with viewers. 

 

Did Deepcar not run well? It is getting on, but the operators told me they'd had only a few problems. 

 

I agree about the sprawling N Gauge system. It's 'modular', apparently, where different groups build different sections, the only stipulation being that all tracks must begin/end at exactly the same place at the baseboard ends. To say I'm unconvinced of the validity of such an idea is also an understatement, though things did seem to be moving (slowly) on it when I occasionally glanced up. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Barry Ten]

3 hours ago, Willie Whizz said:

the (quite well-stocked) traders were looking glum

 

When do they ever not look glum, though?

 

(allowing for the usual exceptions, of course).

[Jesse Sim]

On 02/07/2023 at 06:47, Tony Wright said:

I bought a Nu-Cast K2 (with all wheels and a brass chassis) for £45.00 (no instructions), 

if you find another let me know please!! 

[Tony Wright]

I did buy more GWR OO items at Ruddington.............

 

 

A plastic kit (Parkside?) for a Fish Van (which I should have given a dust). The builder had even gone to the extent of putting 'fabric' on the roof (painted lavatory paper, I think). 

 

 

A question, please? I think this small GW horsebox is built from a D&S kit. It's certainly etched brass: can anyone confirm, please? 

 

I sold an un-built D&S kit for a similar van for £40.00 recently. What price, I wonder, for a (well) finished one like this? 

 

 

Another Parkside kit for this 'Tube' wagon? 

 

Not just GWR stuff either............

 

 

This pair is cast metal (I need to re-fix the roof on the cattle van). 

 

Could they be ABS kits? 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[gr.king]

Last two D&S?

[micklner]

D&S etched kits normally are marked D&S and the type on the underneath. I agree with Graeme the last two looklike D&S, I might have a built one of the same GN Van.

[Woodcock29]

Agree D&S

Fitted GC cattle so wrong colour - DS67

Fitted GN vent van - DS252

 

Andrew

[John Isherwood]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I did buy more GWR OO items at Ruddington.............

 

 

A plastic kit (Parkside?) for a Fish Van (which I should have given a dust). The builder had even gone to the extent of putting 'fabric' on the roof (painted lavatory paper, I think). 

 

 

A question, please? I think this small GW horsebox is built from a D&S kit. It's certainly etched brass: can anyone confirm, please? 

 

I sold an un-built D&S kit for a similar van for £40.00 recently. What price, I wonder, for a (well) finished one like this? 

 

 

Another Parkside kit for this 'Tube' wagon? 

 

Not just GWR stuff either............

 

 

This pair is cast metal (I need to re-fix the roof on the cattle van). 

 

Could they be ABS kits? 

 

 

 

The GWR tube wagon is a Ratio kit; OPEN C.

 

CJI.

[Tony Wright]

36 minutes ago, micklner said:

D&S etched kits normally are marked D&S and the type on the underneath. I agree with Graeme the last two looklike D&S, I might have a built one of the same GN Van.

Thanks Mick,

 

There is just evidence of an intaglio name on the underneath of the horsebox, but it's covered by all the brake gear (which is very complicated and comprehensive). 

 

Did Dan Pinnock do such a kit?

 

The two other vehicles are cast metal. I thought D&S were always etched kits. Either way, they're nicely made and detailed.

 

Does anyone have an idea what D&S kits go for these days? I know some have qualified as 'Ebay madness', but since I don't do Ebay, I don't know. I assume un-made (complete) kits go for more?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

1 minute ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Mick,

 

There is just evidence of an intaglio name on the underneath of the horsebox, but it's covered by all the brake gear (which is very complicated and comprehensive). 

 

Did Dan Pinnock do such a kit?

 

The two other vehicles are cast metal. I thought D&S were always etched kits. Either way, they're nicely made and detailed. From the reaction of others, they are D&S kits, then? 

 

Does anyone have an idea what D&S kits go for these days? I know some have qualified as 'Ebay madness', but since I don't do Ebay, I don't know. I assume un-made (complete) kits go for more?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Duplicate post!

Edited July 3, 2023 by Tony Wright

[Tony Wright]

Good afternoon all,

 

Having now checked and made good all the GWR goods vehicles I've shown over the last day, I'm now offering them for sale. 

 

The Python, Prize Beast Van, Bloater, Fish Van and Macaw (which is a cast metal kit) I'm pricing at £20.00 each, the Tube Wagon at £15.00 and the horsebox at £30.00. Anyone buying the lot can have a 10% discount (that's how I'd like to sell them), with postage at £10.00. 

 

I know the Parkside kits are around £15.00 (or more), so £20.00 seems fair to me. 

 

Any 'profit' will go to CRUK. 

 

Please PM me if interested.

 

Thanks in anticipation. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[micklner]

20 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Mick,

 

There is just evidence of an intaglio name on the underneath of the horsebox, but it's covered by all the brake gear (which is very complicated and comprehensive). 

 

Did Dan Pinnock do such a kit?

 

The two other vehicles are cast metal. I thought D&S were always etched kits. Either way, they're nicely made and detailed.

 

Does anyone have an idea what D&S kits go for these days? I know some have qualified as 'Ebay madness', but since I don't do Ebay, I don't know. I assume un-made (complete) kits go for more?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

GWR and any kits relating to them are a total mystery to me. I have never heard of "Intagilo" or similar sounds Italian .

 

D&S kits go for silly money, if anyone is willing to pay some of the daft  asking prices.

 

D&S made a quite a few whitemetal wagons, most appear to be now lost, like many other kits.

[John Isherwood]

1 minute ago, micklner said:

GWR and any kits relating to them are a total mystery to me. I have never heard of "Intagilo" or similar sounds Italian .

 

D&S kits go for silly money, if anyone is willing to pay some of the daft  asking prices.

 

D&S made a quite a few whitemetal wagons, most appear to be now lost, like many other kits.

 

I believe that an intaglio is a logo composed of letters - such as was used by D&S.

 

CJI.

[westernviscount]

8 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

I believe that an intaglio is a logo composed of letters - such as was used by D&S.

 

CJI.

Intaglio is a type of etching, scribed/incised onto metal, usually by hand and usually printed from.