Castle

Hi Rob, That is a very nice full brake there - lovely job good sir! Why not add some gutters to the last set of sides and make it a K41? A bit of brass strip from Eileen's and away you go... It would make for a bit of variety in your fleet. All the best, Castle

Hi Mark, They are great little models to work on the Bachmann panniers and you are doing a cracking job as well. If you want pannier pictures then this website, run by No. 3650s crew chief, will help. I know she's an 8750 and not a 57XX but the chassis are essentially the same. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kevin.dare/index.html The other thing missing from these lovely models are the 3 spare lamp irons that live on the running plate between the injector and the toolbox on the fireman's side. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, That is and continues to be an amazing transformation Peter! Mikkel - its ok to like them in different colours. GWR machines come in various shades of green, black, khaki and even blue and its all good as far as I'm concerned! As long as you like what's under the paint... All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, Ahhhhh, my other home... You have touched on the thing there with those pictures that the volunteers strive to achieve and that is realism. Not everything is polished within an inch of its life, rather it is - a far as is possible at least - being used as it would have been. The fact that you have been able to take the pictures you have means that its mission accomplished! The paint on the IRON MINK is a result of the doors being repainted at a different time to the rest of the wagon, hence the different tones and level of weathering. The lettering on wagons was always signwritten and I presume these were too. It is probably the effects part of the partial repaint that it had when it appeared in either Sherlock Homes II or Anna Karenina. They put stickers over the writing to disguise the English origins of the stock and painted round them with GWR freight grey. When it came off it sometimes pulled paint off, hence the weird effect. Glad you found something to interest you on shed - and you have only just got to the shed! All the best, Castle

Hi Jon, That is absolutely brilliant - thank you so much for poking around in your books for me! If I read it right then, it would seem that they were still glass carrying wagons at the timeframe I am looking at (correct me if I am wrong please!) and I have a few internal racks to fabricate... All the best, Castle

Hi Paul, I knew you would be along sooner or later on this one - thanks! I will drop him an e-mail if it is ok for non members to use the resources? Excuse my stupidity but what is the Dave Larkins list? I have not heard of that before. Tell me about it - if only all the drawings for a certain 1924 Castle were there to download - it would make my life about 4 million times more easy! Cheers! All the best, Castle EDIT: Thanks to Stationmaster Mike too! Very interesting stuff. Cheers!

Hi Miss P., I agree with you on that one actually - a hint of both seems like nearer the truth! I like the idea of barely pasted over GWR livery - sounds good. Out with the weathering gear methinks! Hi Brian, Thanks for the great little insight there - very helpful indeed. From what you are saying, it was likely that the surviving no steelworks CORALs were not likely to have been in the glass trade any more. It looks like there is a whole untapped area of study and modelling with the plate glass trade. All the best, Castle

Hi Industrial, Been there, seen that but no cigar unfortunately. Nice try though... Thanks for your help! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I thought I would start a thread for talk about the more unusual items of GWR freight rolling stock. There were lots of very specialised vehicles in the Western inventory and some were very camera shy so there had better be a place for us to ask questions about them! Right, here's the first poser for you. Does anyone out there in RMWEB land have knowledge of the CORAL A glass wagon at all? The soul survivor, No. 41723 at Didcot has not yet been tackled so nobody has yet done the research. Even the good Mr Bartlett's excellent site turned up a duck on this one. A trawl through the internet and the archives of RMWEB shows nothing but the same information that I have access to either on line or in the GWR 'Wagon Bible'. The main bits of web based information on this wagon are to be found here: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/41723/41723.html http://www.ws.vintagecarriagestrust.org/ws/WagonInfo.asp?Ref=6824 Right, a few questions. No. 41723 in its 'as recovered' state and the ancient K's kit that I have acquired to build it from only have the outside load supporting frames. Is this a consequence of later use as a steel plate wagon or is it a case of the moulds for the kit being made from the survivor and assuming that was how it was done? They were moveable racks in the middle so they could have been removed and misplaced I suppose... Also, did all of the D diagram wagons go to steel plate use or was it just the D1 diagram that did? I have consulted my early edition of the 'Wagon Bible' but it is a little unclear on the point. Finally, liveries for the early to mid 1950s. The GWR scheme is in 'The Book' but what about the BR(W) one? It would be in plain grey I assume with the number and weights where they were in the previous version (there really isn't much sign writing real estate on these things anyway!). The Historic Carriage Register seems to say that it was taken into departmental stock (and therefore painted black?) and given a 'DW' number but when was this done? Would it have been an engineering wagon, permanent way wagon or another use entirely? It was recovered for preservation from somewhere in 1981. Many thanks in advance for your interest and assistance. That will hope fully kick off a very useful thread... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Right, the plot thickens for you Dave... Having chatted with the right person today, he told me that three of the first four GWS members were educated in the local Grammar School at Southall. This was John Barlow, Mike Peart and Angus Davies. Which sounded like bad news was coming but then my friend told me that Graham Perry did indeed attend Southall Secondary Technical School and the timespan you mention should give the required overlap to put you and him at the same school at the same time. However, the only bit that didn't tally was that he didn't think to the best of his recollection that Graham was a keen sports player... He will keep digging for us though! All the best, Castle

Hi Dave, I haven't forgotten - I am still on the case but I haven't got to 81E recently to start poking my nose around for you due to being a bit busy at work but I should be able to sort something soon. Watch this space! All the best, Castle

Hi All, That's it 69843 - correct! Hi R.B. That method is still in use in the UK when vehicles are transferred between the museum site at Didcot and the loading and unloading site at what is know as the West Yard. Thanks for some more great pictures! All the best, Castle

Hi 69843, As No. 6023 is main line use but not air braked, he is only required to be fitted with a through pipe to enable him to be connected with a diesel that is air brake only if required. He will operate on vacuum fitted or dual brake trains only. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, What a shame I didn't see this earlier as I was chatting with John Barlow (the guy who sent the letter in to Railway Magazine that started it all) at Didcot this afternoon! I will try and make contact with him at some point and ask. I have also met Graham Perry himself as he is still an occasional visitor to Didcot. The last time (I think) I saw him was when the HST was named in the society's honour. The GWS' official photographer was around at the beginning too and he is a very frequent visitor to 81E so I might be able to ask him as well. I will see what I can do for you Dave... All the best, Castle

Hi N15, That is looking really ace - top job! I am looking forward to seeing this one in final paint. I'm glad I'm not the only one who measures progress in how many times the mug has been filled during any given task. Some problems even run to a third brew... All the best, Castle

Hi All, No progress on the little super saloon I'm afraid but I have got a couple of pictures to show you of the 12":1' fleet so here we go: Here is a little something that turned up this afternoon that has been causing a bit of a stir. No. 92, resplendent in lake livery! It had been delivered and had just successfully completed its trial run on the branch line with No. 93 when I snapped this. Out of interest, this is the corridor end on No. 92. Another wanderer that has just made it back is big, blue and named after a potato. This would be quite an authentic looking shot if it wasn't for the air pipe on the buffer beam and indeed the 1908 Railmotor behind it... Finally, an atmosphere type shot of the mighty 'Donkey'! All of these fine beasties are in action at some point over this weekend in the May bank holiday gala. Well, it's back to the workbench for me and let's see if I can get this coach somewhere near finished at least. Enjoy! All the best, Castle

Hi Ric, Great stuff - I have done the T12 too and it's a great looking wagon. The least interesting bit I found was filling it full of chaired sleepers but I hid all my weight in there too so I can't complain. Keep up the good work - some lovely progress there! All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, I am really enjoying this current build of yours - I loved doing the resin kit of No. 18000 when I built her and I have the Silver Fox kit for the Class 05 to adapt into 81E's No. DL26. It is a great medium to work in. I had heard of the benefits of exchanging the wheel set on the Hornby 14XX chassis with the tyres on for a plain set but I figured that I would end up building a replacement chassis. Inspired by your good self I figured that at £8.00 that some over the internet purchasing was worth a try. My 14XX ran like a drunkard and had a speed range between Mach 1.2 and 1.25 or stop! 45 minutes work later and the engine will crawl along with barely perceptible movement and is as smooth as you could wish. Well done for spurring me on to sort this out! I might finish one of my auto trailers now. All the best, Castle

Hi All, The other combination that was reputedly used to haul a full brake when the GWR parcels diesel rail car was either broken or being overhauled was a 14XX. There is an account of this combination 'challenging' a King to a race into Paddington from Reading in one of the books I have and apparently it gave a good account of itself! It could be an apocryphal story but its a great yarn... All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, If you look on the Heavy Freight Group's website, you will get the information you need. No. 7202s records are here: http://www.baldric.plus.com/7202/7202repairs.htm I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi Adam, The crane you might be thinking about here is this one: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/C205/c205.html It is a 12 ton hand crane and as the link above says, it was rescued from Newton Abbot in the 1960s. The only other main line rail cranes at 81E are the ex NRM 3 ton hand crane: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/537/537.html And RS 1045, the 50 ton Ex LMS Cowans & Sheldon unit: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/50tcrane/50t.html I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

That is true for us on the Western... We can't go adding numbers here there and everywhere now can we? It will spoil our nice shiny brass plates! All the best, Castle

Hi Martin, I knew No. 9635 was on the G&WR but I wasn't aware you were! All the best, Castle

Hi Martin, I wasn't aware you ever had it?! All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, This looks very familiar... It's almost as if I have been there before... Glad you got to see two Pendennis Castles in one day! All the best, Castle