Castle

Hi Scott, I know it really is a one stop shop on most stuff. The reason my copy is what is sometimes euphemistically referred to as ‘pre enjoyed’ (apart from the accident!) was that it’s used by everyone in our little modelling group. The way I look at it though is - it’s no good just sitting on a shelf collecting dust - it must BE enjoyed! All the best, Castle

Castle’s Modelling Musings Volume 1...* Hi All, I thought that I would have a go at an interjection of my modelling philosophy every now and again as it sort of underpins what I do here on Little Didcot. It’s probably of little interest to anyone in the history of the known universe ever but still, it might stimulate a conversation! So, for the first time, here we go... There are lots of really good kits and some really nice RTR stuff out there. This leads me to suspect that, for my wagon fleet, I would be easily satisfied by going to the likes of the Parkside, Ratio and Cambrian ranges, laying down a lump of my hard earned cash and walking away with a selection of really nice kits that almost fall together in most cases and having them trundle about behind my engines without the slightest worry.** This is of course absolutely fine and there is nothing wrong with this but I do think that by choosing to model the GWS / DRC Collection, it pushed me into areas of personally hitherto unconsidered esoterica (given my trouble with autocorrect, I had to be REALLY careful with that last word...) and makes the selection of interesting projects very easy. Would I have really cared about the fact that the Parkside BLOATER wasn’t a Dia. S10 and was in fact an S8? Would I have gone to the trouble of making ENTIRELY new ends and sides just to get to an S10? Would I have even ventured into the territory of doing an obscure 1952 conversion of a 1905 brake van into an S&T mess van? Would my Little Didcot Ballast Wagons be 4 wagons of 3 different types? Possibly or probably not. By doing the DRC Collection, what I have unwittingly done it seems is to invent what I am going to call the ‘Fleet Difference Engine’ or possibly an ’Easily Pleased Avoidance System’. Is it just me or does that last one sound slightly iffy? Preservation is, by its nature, a lottery. Sometimes vehicles are preserved for a very specific purpose. No. 1466 and auto trailer No. 231 is a good example, being preserved to fill a very specific hole in what was to have been the national collection. Most of the time however, it’s complete chance. Was Dai Woodham thinking carefully about what he was buying to fill what was to become his South Wales locomotive retirement home? No, of course not. It was a great time to be in scrap metal. He grabbed what he could - making hay while the sun was shining and the fact he didn’t cut it all up at once was yet another random act that had unintended consequences. The wagon fleet we have in preservation is the same. Some were bought because they were useful. Some lasted a long time in service. Yet more were hidden away in industrial service or departmental yards and so on. Then it had to be noticed by a preservationist who had the time, money and energy to save it and, more importantly to some degree, somewhere for it to go. This all has to happen before it became a nuisance taking up yard space or the thought of weighing it in for a bit of cash became too tempting. The point I’m obviously making is that the collection is totally random. Would there have been stuff that wasn’t saved that would be nice to have? Sure, given the contents of the ‘wagon bible’ book there are a few things we could have done with. A few more GWR cattle wagons perhaps? A rake of Felix Pole minerals? The CROCODILE L? But what we have is a wide and interesting selection. If your only search parameter is GWR built wagons, the Vintage Carriages Trust Wagon survey returns a huge amount of results! Admittedly, a large chunk of these are grounded van bodies, but there are still a vast selection of complete GWR wagons in preservation, in various states of repair. Not everything is in there but it’s a nice snapshot and what are our models and layouts if they are not just snapshots? There is an existing list of a large part, if not all, of the survivors here too: http://www.uksteam.info/gwr/wagons.htm Make that little lot and your fleet would be incredible. Imagine if you had a representative model of each one! I suppose the one big issue is that a wagon fleet of that size, of a wide variety of different types and diagrams is a LOT of work. There goes the rest of my modelling time for the rest of my life! Who needs a layout anyway?*** I don’t think that is feasible or even desirable but it is an interesting thought. So, what am I saying? I’m not sure! I definitely know I’m not saying that this approach or one like it is exclusive to me - RMWEB is full of evidence to the contrary. I think it might be “open up your GWR/LMS/SR/LNER/BR/other (delete as applicable) wagon book(s), put a pin in randomly and model that! You will find it both challenging and rewarding and it needn’t be expensive either. Or possibly, have a look round the stock lists of our nations plethora of preserved lines and if possible visit the vehicle to both support them and the work they do and take a few pictures. It’s great to be able to actually see and interact with the thing you are modelling. Make sure you contact them first as there are likely to be people there will talk to you about the vehicle and help you. They are usually enthusiasts too! Or I might be saying don’t be satisfied with settling for an S8 when you can reach for that illusive S10! I think the most important thing I’ve learnt doing this is that I didn’t think that building the wagons would be as interesting and absorbing as it has been. I mean, they are ‘just wagons’, but they are small, easily achievable and the more you get into them, the more you want to do. So there you have it I think - jump down the wagon building rabbit hole - it’s not bad in here! What do you think? All the best, Castle *If Guardians of the Galaxy can start with Volume One then so can I... **WHEN I get round to actually building a layout... ***Me!

Hi 111, It’s the snappily titled GWR Goods Wagons by Atkins, Beard and Tourret. I use the most recent combined volume that is a bit pricey at £55 but has almost everything innit you need to model most of the 20th Century goods stock the GWR ever used. The only stuff not in there are the milk tanks, SIPHONS and the other stuff that was in the coach diagrams. The go to book! This is my heavily thumbed (and lightly external weathered due to a small incident involving the dropping of it into some dirt coloured powders - D’oh!) version: This is the ISBN: The two volume set is a available on line too and might work out cheaper if that’s a concern. The only issue is that not all of the drawings are in there but enough are to build a fair majority of subjects. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I had the great pleasure of knowing Sir William too and he was a real gentleman. I have volunteered at his Fawley Hill railway for a couple of years and he was nothing but the nicest, most enthusiastic and warm gentleman you could wish to meet. He is of course a former owner of Pendennis Castle and it was an absolute pleasure to reunite him and Lady Judy with his former steed last year. I am really sad that he now won’t be there to see her run again. I remember watching him in preservation films on television as a boy and really admiring what he had done for steam. Years later I got to meet and work with him. All I can say is that it is a fortunate person who gets to meet someone he admires and it is a doubly fortunate person that gets to realise that they are exactly as you imagined them to be. He is a true loss to the movement and he will be remembered long into the future. All the best, Castle

Hi All, Here is the state of the union of Little Didcot list(!). These are all based upon the three lists on the GWS / DRC website. There are links to these pages below. Remember that my time period is the GWR/BR(W) cross over period so there are some vehicles that just don’t fit and are therefore ignored. The broad gauge stuff being the most obvious but sadly Shannon and Bonnie Prince Charlie are others. Also on the loco front, I have also included the new build project and the locomotives they were built from as it adds variety to the fleet and extends it in directions it wouldn’t go in otherwise (52XX, extra Halls and large prairie and a visiting 8F). I will assume that Nos. 2999 and 4709 DID exist in the time period. This is to annoy purists when we get a layout going... Those marked with an asterisk have no known (to me at least!) kit or RTR options - answers on a postcard please... Locos http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/locomotives.html Coaches http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/coaches.html Wagons http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/wagons.html Little Didcot Wagon To Do List: 1. 3030 O58 ROTANK Flat Wagon* 2. 42193 G22 HYDRA Carriage Truck* 3. S4409 Dia.3152 Southern Railway 6 Wheel Milk Tanker* Brakedown Vehicles - All Parts Acquired. 1. 47 Riding Van 2. 135 Tool Van Service Vehicles 1. No. 901002 BR(W) WELTROL* Little Didcot Locomotives To Do List: 1. 1338 0-4-0 Kitson Saddle Tank* 2. 2999 4-6-0 29XX / Saint Class “Lady of Legend” 3. 4709 2-8-0 47XX Class 4. 7202 2-8-2 72XX Class kit build in progress The ‘Barry 10’ and ‘Saint Project’ Additions. 1. 2861 2-8-0 28XX Class Heavy Freight 2. 4115 2-6-2 5101 Class Large Prairie 3. 48518 2-8-0 8F LMS Heavy Freight 4. 7927 4-6-0 6959 / Modified Hall Class “Willington Hall” 5. 4943 4-6-0 49XX Hall Class “Maindy Hall” Cranes 1. RS 1054 50 Ton Steam Breakdown Crane 2. 205 GWR 12 Ton Hand Crane and Match Truck 3. 537 GWR 3 Ton Hand Crane Little Didcot Coaches To Do List: Actually - it’s easier to list what is finished here (D’oh!)... 1. 111 Collett Full Brake 2. 190 Collett Autotrailler 3. 231 Hawksworth Autotrailler 4. 290 Dean 4-Wheel Composite (departmental service) 5. 2796 Collett SIPHON G Bogie Milk Van 6. 9118 Princess Elizabeth Super Saloon The rest is still so do! The only one I can’t find a use for in the main historic list is the remains of the original broad gauge body. I can find uses for nearly everything else either in departmental service or at least one was a GWR era camping coach. The replica broad gauge stock is obviously no use and the Mk 1, 2 & 3 stock is too late in date to use. The stuff that needs an asterisk is as follows: 1. Collett Excursion Third No. 1289 to Dia. C74* 2. Collett Brake Third No. 5787 to Dia. D116* 3. Collett Brake Composite No. 7976 to Dia. E114* 4. Medical Officer's coach No. 1159 built to Dia. K36, as modified to Dia. M33* So, there we are so far! As before, any ideas with the asterisk stuff will be warmly welcomed. All the best, Castle

Cheers Bryan! It is a fascinating tale isn’t it? If you look up the wagon in the stock lists at the start of the combined wagon book you can actually trace the incident. Two taken off role to go to France, one returned. All the best, Castle

Hi Tinker, Thanks for those kind words! It is really appreciated. I will sort out a few notes (along with the to do list) and post it up sometime this weekend. All the best, Castle

Hi All, That’s very kind of you to say so good sir - thanks! Sorry I didn’t see this sooner - I’ve been a bit busy! I see 81C has sorted you out in the meantime! All the best, Castle

Fetch me a boiler trolly and make it snappy... Hi All, Having looked through the increasingly short list of Little Didcot’s wagon fleet list, it seemed that I had all the bits I needed to do CROCODILE F No. 41934 and it is an interesting vehicle so that leapt to the head of the line! It’s one of those “because I can” type reasons... The CROCODILE series of vehicles live in the C Wagon Diagrams which are usually long, bogie well wagon types. They are referred to by all sorts of different titles including the aforementioned well wagon, awkward loads wagons and boiler trolleys. The 1908 Diagram C12 example at Didcot was built under Lot 594 and is usually referred to under this latter category. It has a carrying capacity of 25 tons, although there were versions of these wagons that could carry much more. I guess it would be amiss if we didn’t mention the biggest one of them all here - The CROCODILE L! this multi bogie monster was simply huge! There are some pictures of it if you scroll down here: http://www.swindonviewpoint.com/sites/default/files/GWR%20S%2018%20Great%20Western%20Crocodile%20bogie%20wagon%20used%20to%20transport%20heavy%20and%20awkward%20loads%20the%20building%20is%20the%20General%20Offices.jpg I like mentioning this vehicle as although there was only ever one (No. 41977) built, it was the only wagon that had 2 diagrams! It had a pivot set between two bogies each end and there were 2 interchangeable centre sections (stored on old coach bogies at Swindon when not in use). Fitting the straight type girders made it a C24 and using the well type girders made it a C25. Not relevant to our current conversation but interesting none the less! I’ve had more than one of my friends mention this monster as a future project so maybe one day... Back to the current plot. The life of No. 41934 should have been a sedate one, deliving boilers where required at a sedate 25mph until boilers were no longer needed. This wasn’t to be however as in 1939, the foreign policies of certain European nations and host interactions really wasn’t going very well... If you know anything of WWII history, you will know that the British Expeditionary Force was sent to France to try to stem the tide of the German advances. As part of the various forms of equipment that were requisitioned for this effort was a pair of GWR C12 CROCODILE L wagons, one of which was No. 41934. The German Blitzkrieg tactics swept all before them and soon the miracle of the Little ships and the Dunkirk evacuation (if you haven’t seen the recent movie then give it a go - it’s very watchable!) was performed. However, the vast majority of the BEF’s equipment was left behind. That which wasn’t destroyed was used by the enemy and this included No. 41934. Like the rest of Europe, it has to wait until after June of 1944 to be liberated and in an unlikely turn of fate, it was returned home after hostilities ended. After that, it was back to business as usual and eventual preservation but what a great story it has given it to tell! It continues to serve in its role as a boiler trolley on the GWS locomotive works at well over 100 years old and counting at the time of writing. They built them to last back then... For the model version of No. 41934, I turned to the old but more than serviceable Mainline / Bachmann moulding. I got two as, well, why not? I have a friend who wants to do a large CROCODILE too so I’m going to cut them both at the same time. I have the correct size section styrene to make new lower sides and some other sections to detail the new parts. I also have a set of working square shank coach style buffers that I have had in stock for a long time and I can’t remember where they came from (possibly MRD?). According to the erstwhile Miss P’s site, this represents a Diagram C23 or C27 vehicle. This is more than a little bit shorter than the C12, not even looking at the incorrect strengthened bogies and the big differences in the well sides... ...however, the upper and curved sections are pretty darn close. Out with the scalpel! I did both at the same time. Further chopping... Then we had a quick check against the drawings in the wagon bible. Still a little long me thinks... That’s more like it! New sides added in. I then mocked it up using the original bogies. I then ‘enjoyed’ marking out and drilling out all 50 of the holes in the side rails! Using sheet, strip and T section styrene, I cut out the remaining bits of old floor and added in a new one. The L version also has cut outs in the upper decks and this requires a new C section letting in and I also recovered the inner ends as they had a lot of nice sign writing on them and the picture of a CROCODILE L I have in BR livery in one of the Russell books shows this in place. I removed the end with a slitting disc. I also trimmed out the weight / bogie pivot so it would fit. The pivot won’t fit the replacement Cambrian bogies but I wanted to know it was possible. It is. The buffers also got fitted which caused even more metal to be trimmed away. Then I had to fit the scale couplings so even more of it had to go. You can do it, it leaves just a strip in the middle. I then tried it on a pair of large radius points I have. In terms of movement and gauging - no problems. BUT, the amount of weight that I have had to remove means that it is too light. There is also no room anywhere easy to replace that weight. What to do? Then I thought it was about time I thought about the load. I mocked that up using a slice of plastic pipe. This is where a thought crossed my mind. Why not make the load heavy? By the time it has had all the chains and shackles added, I won’t want it to come off again any time soon so it’s effectively part of the model. Problem solved! I think that will need a bit better load though - a boiler perhaps? The Cambrian bogies and their pivots were fitted and that left almost none of the original weights left. A pack of two Bachmann boiler loads were raided, chopped and fused together. Two styrene tubes were filled with liquid gravity and a bit of superglue and they were fixed in before the end was seal in place. That’s the heavy construction over and done with - we are down to details and paint now. The only permanent tie down points on the wagon are four rings, two each end on the upper deck sides. I made them from shoulderless boiler handrail knobs and some thin signal wire. This was a wee bit fiddly. A few more little items later and we have some grey primer on the wagon as it’s going to be, er, grey (with black bogies)... ... and the boiler load gets a coat of red oxide to represent the red lead undercoats of yesteryear. A dose of rivet transfers and top coat later and we are here! The small black stripes and then a coat of varnish enabled more work with tiny little letters. This time I had a go with transfers from the Railtec range and very nice they are too. Well done Steve and Co! The real thing has holes in the top of the ribs for fixing D type shackles as you can see here. I made some representations of these using some Smith’s scale screw link couplings. This was also a wee bit fiddly. A smattering of weathering and the shackles are added and we are ready to start loading! The boiler load was then added. I have lightly enhanced this with weathering powders but I was careful to make a large difference between the heavy weathering of the wagon and the lighter weathering of the much newer boiler load. I also added some balsa strips to represent the packing that the boiler sits on and removed the four end D shackles as they weren’t needed as the boiler isn’t that long. I wish I’d thought of that before I cut two serviceable screw link couplings in half... A frustrating hour or so fiddling with tiny chains (it really looks the business but it is a PAIN to do!) results in a finished CROCODILE! Well, that’s another one I haven’t seen done in 4mm scale before (cue 20+ pictures from people that have one in their collection!) and another small step closer to a finished set of Didcot wagons! The list is really small now. Just 4 wagons from the historic fleet, two more breakdown train tenders and the BR well wagon from the service fleet. Wow - I never thought I would get this far! So there we are, 54 down and 7 to go! All the best, Castle PS: I’ve been thinking about a few random posts about my philosophy of my way of modelling (by no means the right one!). Would that be if any interest?

That’s what I figured but I’m not getting anything from the lower market lights and only one of each at the upper ends. Do we think his unit is faulty? Cheers! All he best, Castle

Hi All, A friend of mine has asked me to fit the above loco with a DCC chip. We have tried both a gaugemaster 4 function and a Dapol 6 function but all I can get to work is one light at each end (either the cab interior or the top headlight) and the motor functions. The rest of it works flawlessly on DC. Is there a trick in missing or is his loco faulty? I even went as far as to consult instructions which has got me nowhere... The chip is definitely in the right way round too! Any positive help is gratefully received! All the best Castle

Hi All, Well then, I took a few pictures today! Let’s have a look shall we? Class is now in session. I will be mentioning cylinder drain cocks at one point and ther will be no sniggering when I do - ok? Right- as No. 2999 now has a whole heap of cladding on and her boiler back in place, I decided to go off to centre sidings to illustrate the point about the way that Saint and Hall (among many other GWR types) front ends are constructed. Above the spooky shadow (!) is the cylinder block from Maindy Hall. The cylinder block is in the middle and there are two sets of extension frames fore and aft. On the left is the section where the buffer beam is attached. On the right is where the main frames are attached along with various spreaders and motion attachment points. You can tell the difference because there are lots more holes in the rear set. You can also see the cut out shape under the cylinder block for the bogie wheels to sit in. This is the view from the front. You can see the front extension frames here as well as the all important seam in the middle. The clever bit about this cylinder block is that it is not handed. This means that in order to make this block, Swindon cast two of the same casting, machined then and attached them together back to back. Clever stuff! For further interest, here are a few more details. Here is the view from the rear of the block and we can see the rear cylinder covers and they have attachment points for the slide bars that take the cross heads. The two studs in the middle take the gland packing to make the piston rod steam tight and down and to the left of this is where the pressure relief valve is mounted. Above the cylinder cover is the valve bore and on top of the whole unit, the two together form the smokebox saddle. Here we can see the join between the two cylinder castings. The two lumps inside of the valve bores are part of the exhaust system that goes up to the centre and thence through the blast pipe, sending the exhaust through the chimney. This next shot is looking down the valve bore - why? Because I thought you might like a look! The big hole are the exhaust ports and the small holes are the live steam ports. The live steam ports are smaller than the exhaust ports because once the steam is used in the cylinders, it expands so it needs more room to get out, hence the larger exhaust slots. Behind that is the dark of the steam chest and the rear valve bore can be seen in the distance. This is the front edge of the cylinder bore and you can see the ports in the top of it. There are a matching set at the rear. The hole at the bottom is for one of the cylinder drain cocks. I can hear you at the back... Notice that the cylinder cover studs at the top pass through where the ports are (sometimes known as stay studs) and these are steam tight and as a result are not easy things to replace... And this is the view down the bore. So that’s the theory, here’s a bit of practice! This is the front of the cylinders on No. 2999. We can see that they have been clad on the outside but not on the ends. The running plate is above and we can see the front extension frames leading forwards. Some of the ceramic insulation is visible (remember that back in the day this was all asbestos!), as is the centre and the front wheel of the bogie. A small part of the rear bogie wheel is just visible and the large brass lump is the pressure relief valve. This is the rear of the cylinder block. The rear cover here has its slide bars attached, the piston rod running through it and the gland and it’s retainer block in place. There is also a cover over the rear valve, the valve rod running through it and another smaller gland in place too. Another pressure relief valve is also present. The cladding is also missing from this end too. Again, insulation will go underneath to keep it all warm. This is a view of the Swindon De Ghlen bar framed bogie and it is a pretty standard design. This is ex. Maindy Hall and was transferable to Lady of Legend with a few small modifications to take care of the changes of height due to the larger driving my wheels of the Saint Class design. The red oxide painted piece is the cover from the front of the valve chest. I would have moved it but I wasn’t sure if the paint was 100% dry! By way of a contrast with that which has come before, here are the frames of No. 1014 which are ex Modified Hall. Big difference, right?! The frames come all the way through to the buffer beam. The cylinders are bolted to the outside of the frames and there is strengthening on the other side to help distribute the loads along with the bogie pivot. The smokebox saddle is also a separate pice not fitted here. The grey bit sticking up is the top of the exhaust pipework and it is on this end piece that the blast pipe is fixed. And finally, here is a view of the Swindon plate frame bogie. I hope that was in some small way interesting or informative! Here endeth the lesson for today... All the best, Castle

Hi All, The only issue with welding tender tanks is that it is very easy to get the large, flat and relatively thin panels to warp and bow slightly with the heat involved and there isn’t any easy way of getting it out once it’s in there.. In fact I’ve seen teams of workers going around modern shipyards with huge gas torches and massive hammers to flatten stuff out post welding which is a skill in itself! Hot riveting, although more labour intensive and much slower, is far easier to keep flat. The new tender tank for No. 2999 is a mix of both. On the inside where it is difficult to get to with rivet gear and can’t be seen it’s welded, and on the outside it’s flush riveted just as it would have been back in the day. If you look down it’s flanks, it is absolutely flat. It’s not to say welded tanks can’t be done well - they can and have been done so - it’s just not as easy as you first think. I hope that’s interesting! All the best Castle

It’s really good to see the thorough preparation of a space for a model railway. I know we all want to get to building it but I often wonder just how many people run into problems because the room isn’t up to supporting their project. This is beautiful work too! All the best, Castle

Hi David, I’ll need to check that - I would have thought that you have that backwards as the Collett cab on the Halls requires more room than the Churchward one on the Saint. I’m prepared to be wrong though... The Saints started with 18” cylinders but later had 18 1/2” cylinders. There is also a difference in where the centre line of the cylinder bore meets the centre line of the wheels. Someone will doubtless correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember that the early 18” chaps were on a common centre line and later on it was cylinder bore centres above the centre line of the wheels. It was made the patterns for No. 2999 a bit trickier as the drawings for the not in line ones is still extant but the in line one wasn’t if you get my drift... Enough rambling! All the best, Castle Edit: I rambled so much, I missed a question! Yes, Hall and Saint wheel spacings are the same. The first Hall of course being a converted Saint which I’m sure you know. Big wheels in the Saint (6’ 8 1/2” diameter) and smaller wheels (6’) in the Hall. I’ll stop now...

Hi David, Nope - the Swindon De Glehn bogie is common to the likes of Saints, Stars, Castles, Halls. Modified Halls and Counties have the bogies as per your kit bits - the Swindon plate frame job. The running plate and hanging bar is the bit that is different. The frames on the Halls and Saints go all the way to the cylinder block, the cylinder block is then effect’the next bit of the frames’ and incorporates the smokebox saddle. There are then what is known as extension frames out the front. It’s the same on 28XXs, 47XXs, and several other designs. On the 4 cylinder jobs and the County / Mod. Halls the frames go all the way to the buffer beam. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Guess which way round I have built my 72XX. Clue: it’s not as above... It’s not often I’m right but there I was wrong again. Oh well... All the best, Castle

Hi Clearwater, Horse is right - it is effectively the wrong chassis. Would you like me to flake a couple of sneaky pictures of No. 2999’s frames at the weekend to help this along? All the best, Castle

Hi Tinker, Get a bit of T-Cut polish on those windows and you should be able to get them clear again! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Turns out you CAN do an AA7 but it’s a LOT of scratchbuilding... Further updates as they occur! All the best, Castle

Hi Andy, We have all read our fair share of Mr Gasson’s tales in our time! Here’s a few of No. 5322s... The truth is that something like No. 5322 (when in ticket) was quite strong enough for all the work that modern preservation got to throw at her. She could walk off down the track if encouraged to do so but she could also be very smooth once the valve timing was sorted out. Her staccato blast was immensely strong and could tear a fire to pieces as well, sending the hard work of the fireman out through the chimney. She is a lovely engine that is much missed as she sleeps. It really is a shame that more of the Moguls didn’t make it into preservation as they would be very useful machines. Small and efficient yet highly capable. The genius of Churchward, preserved in metal. No. 5322 is a very lucky machine indeed to have survived. She did a tour of active duty in France and Belgium in WWI, served again on the home front in WWII but strangely had a bad reputation with crews towards the end of her career. The oft told lore surrounding her is that she was so disliked, that there was a highly ‘accidental’ lighting of a fire in her boiler when it was empty of water. I guess as it was quite near the end of steam, as the loco was towed away to the works, her would be assassin(s) must have though that they had dealt the fatal blow. What they didn’t reckon on was the fact that old ‘soldiers never die’ and she promptly returned from the works to blight their lives further in full working order! She actually survived until withdrawn in 1964 and is recorded on the same page of the Swindon disposals book as No. 4079. Yet again, fate smiled upon her and she was bought by the South Wales Old Locos Retirement Home (Barry Scrapyard!) and was only the second loco (and indeed the first GWR machine) to be saved from its interminable seaside holiday. She has been a firm favourite amongst GWR fans ever since and even took a role in the movie ‘One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing’ after restoration. The remarkable thing is that through all the overhauls and modifications, trials and tribulations and the miles and miles of service she underwent, the two hooks and modified rear cab roof ribs at the top of each internal cab side that were applied in 1917 are still with her. That’s right - they are the racks for the Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifles for the military driver and fireman from the Railway Operating Division (ROD). An amazing link to the past. A crack in a rear outer firebox corner has put pay to the fun and games for now but mechanically she is in fine order so she won’t be gone forever. So there you have it - from the killing fields of the Great War to a Disney movie. Quite a history... Here endeth the lesson for today! All the best, Castle PS: Here’s her entry in the GWS Locomotive Who’s Who: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/5322/5322.html

Hi All, No. 5322 is known as ‘The Donkey’ at 81E as it bucked about a bit due to its poor valve timing on its first steaming after overhaul the last time round - I’ve been on that, driven it, but not nodded at it. That’s a genuine GWR nodding donkey - does this make it more authentic? I will nod at it the next time I’m on shed and report back... All the best, Castle

Hi All, There are 3 wagons that could be good for Oxford to do (not least of which that they are missing from my Little Didcot Collection - motives revealed!). Despite the fact that they are personal wants, I really think that they would be a great move and very popular with modellers. The HYDRA - long lived wagons that would fill a gap in the 4 wheel fitted well wagon market (there isn’t one I don’t think!). It could be sold with a road vehicle load that is appropriate to each of the many livery options! Rail and road vehicles are two things that Oxford already do so it shouldn’t be hard to arrange. I also know where there is a G22 example ready for measuring, scanning and / photographing. I’m just saying... http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/42193/42193.html The ROTANK and a suitable road tanker. I’m surprised that Oxford haven’t twigged this one as it’s a two for one. A road vehicle and a rail vehicle in one! Think about the fact that they could also sell a suitable tractor unit to go with it too and it’s a no-brainer! How about a box set with a loading ramp, a couple of ROTANKS, some trailers and a tractor unit too? Sounds like a useful addition to a goods yard! The chassis is also VERY similar to some of the GWR milk tanks too. I know where the last complete example is sat just waiting to be measured, scanned and / or photographed and it’s an O58. Just saying again... http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/3030/3030.html Here’s the odd ball suggestion. I don’t think I’ve seen kits or RTR for any of the later BR built bogie well Wagons. You can’t bash these from any of the existing Bachmann RTR as the side girders are really different. I will need to build No. 901002 Bogie Well Wagon. To call this a service vehicle is a bit of a weird one as it older than the conversion I have just built (S&T Van No. 263), 1952 and it is a product of Swindon Works! They also lasted a long time in service. Again, I know that there is a diagram 2/513 vehicle that could be measured, scanned and / or photographed. Well, you know, I’m just saying... http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/901002/901002.html What do people think? All the best, Castle PS: What about doing the AA2 conversion from the TOAD they already have to the S&T mess van like No. 263? I did. Also, as you may have guessed, I know where one lives... http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/263/263.html

No worries Miss P - yoir help has been more than useful! I’m definitely doing it with the loco lube oil type set up - I doubt anyone will know for certain what these tanks did anyway... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Right, looking at that sole bar I have the following text - any thoughts? DW43989 GAS OIL [something small and illegible] [6 point star] TO WORK BETWEEN OLD OAK COMMON AND RANLEIGH BRIDGE 3108 GALS [‘S’ is small and underlined] [something small and illegible] What is the small and illegible text? Any ideas please? We are close on this one... All the best, Castle