Castle

Them's the beasties! One based on the 4 cylinder 4-6-0s and the other based on the 28XXs! It's hard to see what you would do with the King one. 80,600 lbs tractive effort? It's even stronger that the LNER's U1! It would go over the any of the banks on the GWR like they weren't there I suppose but the 20+ coaches wouldn't fit in the platforms... All the best, Castle

Hi Drduncan, Welcome to the joys of the uniform and standardised locomotive policy of the Great Western Railway! All the best, Castle

Hi 29843, That is a wonderful restoration - well done to all concerned! Amongst those fantasy land drawings and suggestions of projected GWR locomotive classes there was an outlandish proposal for a Garret based on the King. 8 - yes that's right 8 cylinders of Swindon power! You have to wonder how big the boiler would have to have been to keep up with that little lot...* All the best, Castle *to which the idiot's answer is I suppose 2 x a standard 12!

Yes - they may have all been green at one point or another but the collection would be unbelievably boring if it were all the one colour green wouldn't it? A magnificent spectrum of liveries gives a magnificent spectrum of interesting stories... In any case if you have to put all 81Es locomotives back into their original liveries, there will still be one unlined black (No. 3822), one lined black (No.6998), one maroon (Shannon is reputed in some sources to have been so) and of course one khaki (No.5322). There are also the pre grouping liveries on Nos. 1340 and 1338. The industrial liveries of No. DL 29 & Bonnie Prince Charlie. Oh, and railmotor No. 93 is maroon, No. 22 is chocolate and cream, and the less said about No. 08 604 the better... I can't wait for the reaction when when we put No. 4079 out in FGW blue with pink and purple stripes! Thinking about it you can have Nos. 2999, 1014. & 4709 in any livery we like as we are writing their history by building them! DBS livery on steam anyone? That C2C one was quite nice... No, got it - Wrexham & Shropshire silver - magic! All the best, Castle PS: Some of the information contained above MAY be a deliberate attempt to wind certain people up.

How VERY dare you... It's a highly authentic 12":1' scale model of Didcot Railway Centre in the early 21st century period. All locomotives are sound fitted and even the track gauge is accurate to two different prototypes as well! All the best, Castle

Driven by You - Brian May

This man was an inspiration in both his modelling and his courage in the face of enormous adversity he endured. I never had the privilege of knowing him but none the less, he made contact in a way with all of us here on this forum that read his posts. We all enjoyed his ready wit, admired his skill and were humbled by his struggle with illness and the heroic manner in which he dealt with it. As a result, we all felt we knew him and we all feel his loss. My thoughts are with his friends and family at this most difficult time. Goodbye Dave. Saddened of 81E

You Rang?! The detail difference are quite subtle but none of the 5 were exactly the same. Mostly it is pipework and toolbox positioning but the big changes were that the cab roof was originally of wood and canvas construction and the chimney was shorter. The chimney was made taller as it was found that smoke would not to clear the cab effectively. The wood and canvas cab roof was a common detail that was incorporated on many locomotives in the Churchward era and later phased out. No. 2999 at Didcot really should have a timber and canvas roof too. They do require a LOT more looking after though... Strangely, the positioning of the water filler and breather pipe on No. 1363 was different to that on other locomotives leading some to suggest that it's tank is a recycled item from an earlier loco but there is no direct evidence for this. Mike has chapter and verse on the whole class whereas I am more familiar with the locomotive project I look after. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, A thank you from the No. 1363 Team: "We in the No. 1363 Restoration Project are really grateful for the very kind financial support offered by Kernow Model Railway Centre from the sales of models of our 'Big 13'. We would like to publicly thank KMRC for this generous gift which will help in getting No. 1363 back to full health and steam her again for the first time in well over a quarter of a century. We have really enjoyed being part of this project so far and look forward to future cooperation between the GWS, KMRC and DJ Models on this and other projects." All the best, Castle PS: I beat you all to it and ordered one a few days ago but I did have insider knowledge! Anyone care to guess which one I went for?!?

Hi B15anc, Remember that many GWR classes used 5'8" driving wheels. Granges, Moguls, Manors, most of the Large Prairies and so on. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, What Mike is said here is very true - they were not the great and powerful locomotives people seem to think they were. They were less powerful than Castles, Kings, 28XXs, 42XXs, 72XXs, and many others. If you increase the wheel size and can't increase the cylinder size much more or don't provide more cylinders for example, then the tractive effort goes down. They may look purposeful, have the lure of being one of Churchward's last designs and the perceived mystery of thier illusiveness but they were of very limited use - if things were otherwise, far more than 9 would have been built! But this takes us severely off topic and into the realms of a 'what makes a great locomotive' discussion that is for other areas of this forum. Still, that is a superb model being made there B15anc! All the best, Castle

If You Want Blood (You've Got It) - AC/DC

Hi Mikkel, No experience on this issue but how's this for an idea? Use track voltage and some electrical pick ups on the wagon to power an electromagnet thereby making it able to to be turned off and on. Put the fixed magnet on a rod under the track to slide backwards and forwards. There might just be the germ of an idea in there somewhere... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Well this is exciting - I never thought they would do Shannon!* http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/5/5.html Cue Wantage Tramway layouts! I'll get my coat... All the best, Castle *Just kidding although it IS an NRM machine...

Love Bomb - AC/DC

I'm in Love With My Car - Queen

Up To My Neck In You - AC/ DC

Hi Jock, No. 5952 is part of the Grange project and they bought it with the initial intent of restoring and using the bogie under No. 6880 but they have said that the long term aim will be to see Coggan Hall finished in its own right too. Grange first, Hall later! As for No. 2859 - who knows? It is an early version with the Churchward cab so it has the potential to be a nice engine... It needs a fair bit of cash throwing at it though by the looks of it but it's all 'doable'. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

That's right - it's a type of ceramic wool not unlike the loft insulation stuff but a bit denser and designed for high temperature applications!

Hi Polly, The cladding was removed and scrapped on the locomotives at Barry as it deteriorated in the sea air and released asbestos boiler lagging all over the seaside town... I suspect a new set will need to be fabricated! All the best, Castle

Hi Jaz, When you say 'fancy' what do you mean? What you are seeing there is the boiler in its unclad state. It is usually covered by a layer of insulation and then a thin steel cladding goes over the top. This is the bit that receives the paint scheme. The small lumps are the stays that hold the inner and outer firebox apart and the larger lumps are long stays that hold the two sides of the outer firebox in position above the inner firebox. The job of a stay is to prevent the boiler distorting and bending against the internal pressure of the steam. EDIT: Polly is partly right in that in the close up of the cab / firebox area of Coggan Hall, the first two double rows of round thingys are indeed rivets. The ones on the extreme left hold the barrel onto the firebox and the second hold the sides onto the front of the firebox. I hope this is what you meant! All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, If you want Diesel Pendennis then it was available as a special edition. As C/O No. 4079 and as I assisted in the relaunch of No. 57604 I have one and very nice it is too! They were done by a company called Rail Exclusive. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Mean Green Mother from Outer Space - Levi Stubs (from the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors)

Dance Yourself To Death - Alice Cooper

Sweet Lady - Queen