Castle

Hi 81E, I love that username! Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad I can be of service to help refine your excellent kit! If you need anything else, measurements, photographs or indeed visits for such things can be arranged. No problem. I did a lot of finishing work on my 3D printed POLLEN Es but I felt that on my example of your kit, it really added something to the vehicle so I left it well alone. While we as modellers do lots in terms of paint finishes, we don't think too much about texture so to have it built in is a bit of a bonus! All the best, Castle

Hi EHerts GER, I can confirm that no ladies undergarments have ever been thrown on a stage when I have been on it. Mind you, the only stage I am usually found on is a coaling stage where such events are understandably quite rare... All the best, Castle

You got it Deano! Look forward to seeing you there! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I don’t know if I have shared this before but, if it wasn’t for a fairly hefty price tag, No. 4079 could have come home by air! Thankfully, a shipping expert came to the GWS’ rescue and saved the society over £250,000... It was reckoned to be feasible and she could have been back in the UK in two weeks. Antinov aircraft were investigated and could have quite easily lifted both loco and tender. A REAL Castle in the sky! By the way Rob - I’ll have to bring along little No. 4079 to the real Castle party at Brent! She’s feeling left out... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Who’s been on our Castle? I recognise that rusty handrail! Nice job Conflat. Just to finish off the good work, here is the view from No. 4079 again... ...and here is the view from No. 5051. The gap pretty much isn’t one (!) and it is a real pain in various anatomical areas to fit cladding after the boiler has been placed in the frames in the way we have to do it at DRC with the 50 ton lifting shop crane. Remember - we don’t have road access, so it’s the single point lift or nothing. Guess where the balance point of a boiler is? Just in front of the firebox which is where the tunnel is... Grrrrr! You can fit cladding pretty much everywhere else except that bit and when you are juggling the ceramic wool lagging too it adds an extra fun factor! At least we are only paying for the maintenance and insurance on the crane though! The tool tunnel on No. 5051 has been there since her construction but No. 4079’s was fitted in the 1930s. Other nerdy details to look at in this respect is that No. 4079 no longer has the vertical brass heading to the front face of the cab. These were lost when the tool tunnel was fitted. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I’m on the case - pictures to follow after the next No. 4079 working party day unless anyone else can get there sooner of course! All the best, Castle

Hi Bob, What a shame you didn’t look in the cab - you would have found a tall, hairy, hat wearing thing doing owner’s representative duties in there that would have said hello to you! I’m in there again on Sunday on the King’s first trip of the day if anyone is around to say hello! I’m relenting to other, younger RMWEB Didcot Tour Guide types in the afternoon for a look round the engine shed museum as I haven’t seen it yet! All the best, Castle PS: No. 6023 (A.K.A. Spud II) was very pleased to contribute to the ballasting of your siding and if you want any more, you know where to look. It might still be a bit warm on Sunday evening though...

Hi TBG, The Viking thing isn’t funny but it is true! All the best, Castle

Hi All, The real No. 1363 once carried the unofficial name ‘Viking’ chalked on it several times. Why we don’t know but there we are... I wonder if it was because it could sing the spam, spam, spam song? All the best, Castle

Dear Mr S. Cratchyhead, Send an email to Didcot asking your question be forwarded to the drawings manager and he MIGHT have one in the 100,000 sheets of paper, linen and other media he has under his control. Not for definite, but worth asking. He’s a good bloke and also looks after a Pannier tank, which as we all know, never offends... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Two words that will end ‘greyvangate’ at a stroke: Through Piped Coat, Hat, gone... In other news, this one is FAR less heavily mashed! A slight wibble on the smokebox lamp iron but I can live with that. It’s off to the Little Didcot home trainer and large radius point conundrum to see how it runs before the DCC fairy the weathering pixie and, as it’s going to become No. 4709, a creature that can only be described as a renumbering troll pay it a visit! All the best, Castle EDIT: just tried it and it’s really smooth right from the box. Credit where credit is due - good job Heljan. Shame about the quality control / dodgy shipping contractors / 300lb gorilla in the packing department (delete as applicable). I WANT it to be option 3. It’s just a great mental image! Using his dexterous feet to close up the plastic clam shell while nibbling on a banana... Awwwww!

Hi All, The Elite No. 4079 Spanner Turning, Tour Guiding & Model Making Squadron will be at Railex on Sunday as well - looks like quite a meet up! See you all there! All the best, Castle

Hi Andy, Wonderfully put! This is of course the Swindon No. 3 superheater system. The great thing about it is the ease of changing the elements. If you look at the nut and bridge on each element, that is all you have to do undo and take them off to remove and replace a leaking element. Genius! Where the blue lubrication pipe connects to the steam pipe, the fitting there contains an atomiser to get the oil into the steam. On 5 glass locomotives, the third pipe comes down the other side and connects into the corresponding pipe on the other side in a mirror image of the blue pipe arrangement. Which loco is that? Tag team steam loco explaining! All the best, Castle

PS: If you want to know what size lubricator a GWR loco has then look at both sides of the smokebox Locos with one large bulge on the driver’s side have the three glass lubricator. Those with a second smaller cover on the firemans side have the larger 5 glass version and the little bulge covers the valve and elbow for a third oil pipe that is on that side. PPS: Hattons have sent 47XX take two - we wait with baited breath...

Hi Rob, PLEASE don’t see this as a dig - it looks like you are asking a question here so here we go. The bulge on the side of the smokebox / boiler join is a cover for two oil pipes that go from the hydrostatic displacement lubricator in the cab to the live steam bits in the smokebox. To the regulator and down through the steam supply to the valves and cylinders. The two pipes come up from under the cladding and into the smokebox via two shut off valves and a pair of 90 degree elbows. That’s all it is. I hope this helps! Also, if producing and posting the pictures make you and others happy then that’s all we need to know - keep up the good work sir! All the best, Castle As an aside - I just don’t know where this superheater cover thing started but it’s quite a common misunderstanding and if a lot of people have repeted the mistake it becomes sort of pervasive. If that person who thought it up were to see the superheater in our Castle, the header of which can JUST be picked up by two people and goes across almost the full diameter of the boiler front tube plate, bolted to this are the 14 superheater elements which go over two thirds the length of the barrel. It just doesn’t fit under the little cover!

Awww Rob! Go on - you know you want to come along... All the best, Castle

Hi Star-Rider, Don’t feel guilty good sir - you have been very fortunate! Go and get a lottery ticket too - it might be your lucky week... All the best, Castle

Hi Mike, With regard to the packaging - if anything, I would say that it is as, if not more, substantial that either the standard red or blue boxes. Perhaps it is not quite the right shape and therefore putting undue strain on the model? It’s difficult for me to say as mine was broken before I removed it from the packaging. Cheers, Castle

Hi Rob, Funnily enough, that’s more or less where my missing stay was found... All the best, Castle

Hi All, 172 - that’s historically too much. I wouldn’t mind though! All the best, Castle

Hi John, The front running plate is not a separate part - it is part of the main body moulding. You could clearly see on mine before I sent it back, the fracture lines where it had snapped through on the hanging bar. Sorry that you have joined the ‘club’ New Zealand Rob - it is interesting that this from section seems to be a weak point and that these BR black ones are the worst affected. There was obviously a 300 pound gorilla working in the Heljan factory’s packing department that day... All the best, Castle

Hi Dave, You got it - see you there! All the best, Castle

Hi All, As per Marks notes, I finished my model of No. 565 in BR maroon with yellow lettering. I have to say that is most likely that a black departmental livery could be used along with a DW prefix on the number for a later portrayal. My build of my PYTHON is on the Little Didcot thread which is linked below. All the best, Castle

Hi All, I don’t like bashing manufacturers as we live in something of a golden age of production of seemingly obscure, no way that will every be RTR type prototypes. Isn’t it great? I’m not the greatest fan of the 47XX as a loco but given that a group within the GWS is building one I thought I would get one and do a ‘Little Didcot’ job on it. Something a bit different I thought. A tiring day turning spanners on No. 4079 later and a brown card box awaited me on my return to Chez Castle! I’ve been looking forward to this! Well, mines going back! No damage to the box Hattons sent it in. No damage to Heljan’s box either or the seemingly bombproof plastic surrounding it. So can someone please tell me why it looks like this? The front buffers are flapping around on the shafts, the running plate is flapping around and the hanging bar is split through at the top of the Holcroft curve, one of the support struts is missing (or so I thought), the top lamp iron is crushed and the vacuum pipe broke off as I lifted it out of the plastic. This is the first Heljan loco I have bought and might be the last. It must have been packed at the factory like this. How do I know? Because the packaging is pristine and after examining something poking out from the card in the red bit of the box I found this: There is no way it could have got there other than if it was dropped at the factory as it was being packaged and the mortal remains then poured into the box. It’s also covered in oil. Looking at he way it is splashed up the firebox, I think it’s the result of it being dropped. Needless to say, Hattons will be being contacted forthwith. It’s a real shame as I think, despite a few shortcomings, it has potential to be modified and weathered into quite a good model. Something I was really looking forward to doing. Not with this one though... As one of my friends has just messaged me and said, “Well played Heljan, it takes real effort to be this bad!” Except he didn’t use the word bad... It was another word... A naughty word... All the best, Castle

Hi All, This is ex Didcot shed stationary boiler and is sadly unidentifiable. The stud at the back where the boiler number is stamped has long since rusted to a state of illegabillity. It’s not a Dean Goods boiler or a Pannier one. Research done by GWS members suggests it intriguingly MIGHT be a boiler from a Barnum 2-4-0 or possibly even a Stella! If it is, it’s quite an important relic... Funnily enough, the Pannier boiler from No. 9629 was bought by the owner of No. 3650 as a spare and spent many years at Didcot but it was never used and has since been sold to the group who are restoring the engine! I hope this helps! All the best, Castle