Castle

It's The Little Things - Alice Cooper

Rock and Roll Angel - Heaven & Hell

Hole In My Soul - Aerosmith

Hi All, It has already happened - they are sat together in the transfer shed! It is well worth a look. Iron Duke has an imposing bulk when compare to the almost dainty looking Firefly! No - not really! All the best, Castle

Somebody has broken into my toilet... You know, if anyone reading this HASN'T seen the original version of the Italian Job (I know, there are poor, Unenlightened people out there that haven't) then this this thread has just gone very weird indeed! All the best, Castle

Thanks for that Mikkel! Well, if you will have rushed visits to Didcot without the proper guidance... The next time you can make it back to the UK let me know and we will do things properly - there is so much more stuff that a patented CASTLE TOURS visit would show you! All the best, Castle

Night Train - Guns & Roses

One Vision - Queen

Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden

Hi All, The oldest TOAD in the pond. The earliest TOAD in the GWS collection is No. 56400. As it was built in 1900 it actually makes it a Dean era vehicle! It was built in lot No. 282 to diagram AA.3 Although it is a 16 ton van it started life as a 14 ton vehicle. The AA.3s are often regarded as the first of the 'modern' TOAD designs. The earliest members of the diagram had grease axle boxes but they quickly swapped to oil lubricated boxes. Many hundreds were built and a few survived until the end of steam in various guises and roles. You may ask why No. 56400 isn't regularly used in freight trains being such an old and interesting vehicle but it gained a tradition on shed after preservation as being crew accommodation and as such it is kept warm dry and weatherproof. As long as heads need to rest at 81E, it will have purpose and it will be looked after! It has become sort of self preserving... The model is an etched kit from Frogmore Confederacy. It is available in three versions - wooden verandah, road van and what I needed for little 56400 - steel verandah. Mine came from Dart Castings. The kit needs the usual wheels, paint and transfers to complete. It is a comprehensive little kit that has lots of detail and while it was a little fiddly, it was well worth the price of admission so to speak! I did it in a very grubby full GWR livery on the basis that it was an older van and in the GWR / BR cross over period, it would have been low on the list for repainting! Well, there we go! That's Nos. 56400 and 17447 done and No. 68684 on the way it just leaves Nos. 950592 and 56867 to do and the pond will be full! I shall stop there before I croak... All the best, Castle

Hi 69843, Poop poop! And before you ask, NO - no way will I be dressing as a washerwoman. I haven't got the legs for it... All the best, Castle

Hi All, It's interesting to note the repair patches on No. 5239's side tanks - I assume (knowing nothing of the history of this loco) that they are the originals? It was quite common - No. 6697 has them too. There is a big 3 piece sort of wrap around patch on the rear of the tank / bunker arrangement too. Its just nice to see a detail like this preserved. It tells us quite a bit about working practices and repair techniques. All the best, Castle

And Justice for All - Metallica

Little Didcot Update Hi All, Little had happened recently but a few back burner projects were slowly nibbled away at over the last few days. A reoccurring case of hay fever? Firstly, the second set of POLLEN Es from Hazelwood Models was started. These are a bit different to the previous offering which depicted the two original outer wagons. These are the two converted ex inner wagons and the makers have felt with this quite neatly by simply supplying the inner wagons with added outer ends in the FUD material. They are very fine and very much look the part. They differ from each other in that they have brakes in different places on different wagons and they also have disc rather than spoked wheels. As supplied the kit looks very good with little in the way of the stepping associated with the process at times. As before I have added my own free turning 'bearing' system based upon an M2 bolt and an M4 (I think...) washer for the turntable as this will be carrying the other bridge side as per the vehicles pictured in a previous post. Next, the ends have been added and very nice they look too! The brakes on both kits have been updated and now feature the ratchets (I added these last time using a Mainly Trains etch) and now have holes to allow the brake cross shaft to be added with brass wire. Although perfectly acceptable D/C printed brake handles are provided, because I had used the etched MRD versions on the other ones and that they would be running in a train together, I used the same here too. Sorry about the fuzzy picture! And here we have a handsome pair ready for the load to be constructed and fitted and then the finishing and painting to commence! That's a near dangerous level of progress compared to the last 6 months! But wait... There's MORE! Engage TOAD mode! Having built 1940 Diagram AA.21 No. 17447 here 'live' on RMWEB and also having built 1900 Diagram AA.3 No. 56400 'off camera' from an etched kit (anyone interested in seeing it?), I figured that it was about time to knock another one of the total of 5 possible brake vans available in the Little Didcot GWR / BR cross over period. Well, little No. 4144 and the POLLEN Es will need a brake vehicle won't they? The TOAD in question is the AA.15 vehicle of Lot 910 built in 1924 No. 68684. This diagram was built between 1918 and 127 in a series of 6 different lots under both the TOAD and TOAD A codes with 378 vehicles constructed. The AA.15 was a development of the earlier pre 1918 20 ton 24' long vehicles but had self contained buffers, metal cladding on the lower sides and verandah end and a number of other minor detail variances. The model is based on the Bachmann offering and required a number of modifications to represent the vehicle in the collection at Didcot. These are as follows: 1 New GWR self contained buffers from LMS 2 New axle boxes and springs with 'J' type end hangers from Dart Castings 3 Due to the amount of stuff that is all moulded together in the chassis area changing the spring hangers meant that the bearing pockets and the step boards also got replace with MJT 'W' irons and Frogmore Confederacy step boards. 4 The sandboxes on the verandah end got a Frogmore Confederacy etched linkage and operating handle. 5 All moulded detail that should be "3D" is scraped off and replaced by etchings of various sources including MJT and Mainly Trains. 6 The clasp brake gear is represented using parts from a Mainly Trains etch. 7 Brass rod to represent the sand pipes. 8 Send as large a drill as possible down the chimney to thin it out and make it look a much closer to scale thickness. 9 A pair of scale instanter couplings from Slaters. 10 To finish a Dart Castings stationmaster (not Mike I hasten to add!) masquerading as a guard! Not a lot when you say it quick then... So if you want to do this, take your Bachmann TOAD to bits, throw away the coupling pockets and then attack everything below the sole bar with a razor saw! Then carefully throw bits back at it until it looks like a brake van again... Sorry there aren't any in progress pictures of this one but I was just enjoying doing the model and didn't stop to think about such things! But here we are with progress thus far anyway. It was of course only after I took these pictures that I realised that the step board brackets are different on the AA.15... Oh well, of the the box of etches to see if there are any likely looking spare bits loafing about! Until next time... All the best, Castle

Hi Rob, Picture 4 Bloke in beige cap: "I think you'll find it should have plain GWR green without the lining, different tank side insignia and cast iron number plates. The nameplate is all wrong too..." Rob: "I'm on the footplate for this run on a 52XX and you're not." Bloke in the beige cap: "Oh yeah...." All the best, Castle

No - he just thinks the poor guy looks a little bit RUFF! Coat on and out the door... All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, A lovely job on the wagon as always good sir! All the best, Castle

Wow - a VERY little City! I have seen this one on the the slow burn for a while from Missy at the various shows and to see it with the boiler on is really great! I love doing auto trailer under frames - lots of lovely fiddly bits... Very nice as always! All the best, Castle

We Will Rock You - Queen

Money For Nothing - Dire Straights

I Want It All - Queen

Hi Jaz, That miniature of Max gets me every time - it looks SO much like him! Although you do realise that if he was that close to so major a source of ice cream there wouldn't be any ice cream... He isn't allowed it (dicy digestion with Westies being a bit of a breed trait) but that doesn't stop lofty ambitions. All the best, Castle

Very nice Mr 10, very nice... All the best, Castle

You Gotta Move - The Rolling Stones