Castle

Hi All, The last few Modified Halls had mechanical lubricators too. For an early(ish) loco with modifications look no further than the GWS' No. 5900 Hinderton Hall. She has the later 3 row boiler fitted. See here: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/5900/5900.html For comparison here is the Modified Hall from the collection, No. 6998 Burton Agnes Hall http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/6998/6998.html Quite right - when you gave No. 5322 a good standing start you really could feel it squirming under your feet! All the best, Castle

Hi Stewart and Rich, This is the first time I have happened upon this thread and it is great! Some very nice work indeed. I have done a number on the ex Airfix, now Hornby large prairie on Little Didcot so if you want so see how not to do it please look in! All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, I love the use of delicate adjustment tools shown here. I would be afraid to use that hammer on the full size stuff, let alone the 4mm scale! A brilliant thread as always good sir and on the 'must read' list in the Castle household! All the best, Castle

Hi Neil, I will be interested to see how the new printed version turns out. A friend and I did a version using the old K's white metal body shell and the chassis of a new Bachmann Pannier. As it turned out, we kept the running plate of the Bachmann version, including the splashers at the front, the cab interior, the smokebox front and smokebox door. It turned out pretty well and because of the massive extra weight, it will pull pretty much anything you string behind it! All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, That is a monster machine you are making there! It really looks impressive. Have you thought about a class / locomotive name yet? Here's an idea if you don't mind... Instead of Merchant Navy class, why not make it the Royal Navy Class? As they would have been wartime builds, use the names and ships badges of famous WWII and WWI vessels. Each ship in the RN has its own badge which, coupled with a West Country / Battle of Britain style crest & nameplate arrangement would look the business. If you haven't seen ships badges before, Wikipedia can help: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Royal_Navy_ship%27s_badges There are some great names in RN history too (not all of which are on the Wikipedia page). HMS Leviathan and HMS Dreadnought spring instantly to mind for this beast... Best of luck with the rest of the project! All the best, Castle

Hi SJRixon, Thanks for the compliments - I haven't seen the film yet so I will have to wait for a hard copy to turn up in the local newsagents! No. 93 is a bit of a beast isn't it?! It is great fun to be on and operate but wasn't set up with maintainence in mind shall we say... With any luck she will be running on the RMWEB tour but I will confirm the rostered engines closer to the time. Personally I think the ideal roster would be Nos. 93 and 4144... All the best, Castle

Hi G-BOAF, The early Castles such as Nos. 4073 and 4079 had their ATC gear under the cab hence there was no need for the conduit on the running plate. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Might be me... All the best, Castle

Which DVD is that? All the best, Castle

No problem Carl - see you there! All the best, Castle

Two x two places - check! One small place - check! We look forward to seeing you SJRixon and Keith! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Here we go... No. 5572 was built in 1929 and withdrawn in 1962. She was a Barry scrapyard resident until 1971 and became a Didcot resident in 1977. She is unusual in being one of the relatively few of her class to be fitted with auto working gear in service and is (I think) the only so preserved example. The debris and tools hanging around are the bits being used to repaint No.6106. Bunker details. Rear buffer beam including auto working gear. More auto gear. And more... And stuff round the front too... Tank top. Cross head and rods. Lubricators and rocker arms. Spare lamp irons. Cab details. If there is anything else, let me know! I hope this helps. Edit - My version of No. 5572 is to be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/51212-little-didcot/page-5 All the best, Castle

Hi All, Rob - this looks like a photo request in the making and I'm on shed tomorrow... It's a small prairie cab we need to see is it? No. 5572s any good? All the best, Castle

Ahhh! - that will be a model of the legendary CROCODILE Z which was used for transporting the tall tales of fishermen and train spotters alike. It was at least this long (imagine me with my arms really quite far apart), maybe even bigger! It was honest! You had to be there to see it... Sort of... Well, I only saw it for a second... I'll get my coat. All the best, Castle

Hi All, Well done to Andy on this milestone from a little corner of an Oxfordshire field that is forever GWR... All the best, Castle

Hi M.I.B., Thanks for the honourable mention in dispatches! This looks like a very nice collection of stock waiting for a layout which it is now going to get! I will read on with interest and maybe it might encourage me to get on with a bit of railway modelling myself... All the best, Castle

No Worries Dave! All the best, Castle

Hi Pete, If you ever make it out our way just let me know... All the best, Castle

Hi All, What a fantastic thread this is Killybegs - I'm glad I've found it! Just wonderful atmosphere on the whole lot - structures and stock alike! Here is a picture of No. 4144s slide bars in the lifting shop at Didcot today to illustrate the point about the cut out - I hope it helps! The driver's side connecting rod is in the top of the picture, then the slide bar and the wheel underneath. All the best, Castle

No problem Mr B - I hope we see you both again! All the best, Castle

Hi Russ, That's no problem! We shall induct Mrs 4630 in the ways of Western! All the best, Castle

Hi Phil, I have the etches for trailer No. 92 (as in Railmotor No. 93) and they are not much different to the offerings from Comet et al. Would you like me to dig them out for a quick picture or two? All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks for all the positive comments and great pictures and recollections of the big prairie! Simon, thanks very much for your kind words about the book too - I'm glad you enjoyed it! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks for all the positive comments - she may well be motive power for the RMWEB tour this year so it will be great for you all to be (re)introduced to her! You are definitely right about the paint Mr B - it had faded to an almost (dare I say it) LNER shade and looked most odd. When you slid the cab shutters back the original shade was still there and it was amazing to see just how far the shade went! Hmmm - tavern car livery... Now THERE is a though! Nobody's done that one before and the bar would have its own central heating too! The beer might get a bit too warm though! Hopefully this is a good reflection on how, well, errr, reflective she will be! Correct on her being a 1946 build Buffalo - so it is liveries from there onwards are the only choice. Mind you, one wag in the team suggested FGW purple. Yes, with the big pink swirly stripe thingy! I suppose they have been kind enough to make No. 57604 look like our Pendennis Castle so we SHOULD return the favour... I think also that if we did that we would be politely but firmly asked to leave and never darken Didcot with our paintbrushes again! This has been a pretty quick job Mike - it would have been faster had the boiler not been as bad as it was but still, it's great she is nearly back with us! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Prairie Power! A multitude of very serious 1:1 scale kit assembly sessions and a great deal of very hard work has resulted in a happy boiler inspector and an VERY happy No. 4144 restoration team! The boiler was signed off at midday today and therefore the large prairie is officially back! When you realise that the vast majority of the work on the overhaul was undertaken by volunteers who's average age (when you take myself and the chief boilersmith out of the equation!) is around 23 years old, you get some measure of the achievement that this represents. Needless to say we are very proud of them. Once No. 3650 had been taken off the main demonstration line at the end of the open day, we took her out to stretch her legs for the first time in well over 5 years! She was put through her paces and she performed very well indeed. There were a number of very minor issues noted but in the main it was all very good news. Once we were satisfied that there was nothing immediately and obviously wrong and, just as importantly, the whole team had a go a driving her (!) we declared the day a success. We then tucked her up again in the lifting shop ready for the overhaul to enter its final phase. There are a number of small bits to go back on, the handrails, steam pipe cladding and cab windows being the most immediately obvious, a number of small snagging points to deal with and then a final livery application. The big question is of course, what is it going to be? I can exclusively reveal that it will be a green and black one! I guess this is our way of saying wait and see... Although the boiler is signed off, she isn't yet regarded as being back in traffic. She will only be officially accepted once the last bits are finished and she has had a few more tests. The answer to the obvious question about the LT head code box is that No. 4144 is a 'Steam on the Met' veteran so it seemed appropriate to start the new ticket with a reminder of the old one. Edit: one of my No. 4079 crew was there and took a bit of video for us which he has posted on YouTube under his channel name of Bennymilk (he has some great Didcot and other steam videos on there) - Enjoy! All the best, Castle PS: I'm still grinning like an idiot...