Castle

Hi All, Another recommend from me - great kits and I have enjoyed building the two I have worked on this far. They need a bit of thinking about but that’s what makes them a good kit building experience in my book! I have done the GWR gas turbines, 18000 (finished) and 18100 (nearly done!). 18000 - full write up is on Little Didcot below. 18100 - I just have the bogies and cab interior to do. This is a much earlier stage of progress and I will write it up when I’m done on Little Didcot too! Lovely work on the model by the way Luke! All the best, Castle

Hi All, This was my feeling too - a drop from a great height (for a model at least!) is what I suspected. The packaging would have protected it in normal service so to speak... Nice review by the way! There is a really nice model trying to get out amidst all the horror stories and I am not far away from adding a larger capacity DCC chip (mine has already eaten one of my usual selection!), testing and then adding weathering. All the best, Castle

Hi Tinker, When my mate and I did his condensing Pannier, we took the Bachmann body off the chassis and trimmed it down so that just the front splashers and the smokebox front panel was left. Dremel and a thin slitting disc were the weapons of choice. Corresponding cuts were then made to the K’s body and Robert was our mother’s brother! We did use an 8750 Class model as the basis though... Pictures of the result are on Little Didcot somewhere. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi Ade, First time I have looked in for a while and there has been lots of progress! Perhaps the 2019 RMWEB Didcot tour will see all the Shannon models on this thread meet the real thing? Excellent work - keep it up! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks Mikkel! Jeff - I know! The first twenty were built that way but converted afterwards. If you search on line, the occasional picture pops up of GWR engines of this period built this way. It would sure make for an interesting model no doubt! All the best, Castle

Hi Tinker, Thanks for the kind words! It is a rather nice picture isn’t it? There is some lovely stuff on that website. What we shall be doing after finishing Pendennis will be looking after Pendennis until it needs another overhaul. Then guess what? A steam nerd’s work is never done... All the best, Castle

The Good(s), the Bad, and the Ugly? Hi All, Well, here is a quick chat about a little weathering project I have just done for a friend. There has been much talk about the pros and cons of the Oxford Dean Goods model but in hand it looks very refined and is very well made. Let’s see what happens when we throw a bit of dirt on it and hope for the best... The Dean Goods needs no introduction. There were 260 of these machines between 1883 and 1899. It was an early purveyor of the inside framed look and although built without domes and other boiler improvements, they received all sorts of updates throughout their epically long service life. They are famous not only for their longevity but also as providing vital military service in both world wars. A number saw service in foreign parts and not all of them came home again. By the time nationalisation beckoned, there were still 54 left. They still found use on the Welsh lines as their light axle loading was useful on the lightly laid lines of the area. The final cull due to their replacement by such machines as the BR Standard 2 2-6-0 was complete by May 1957 with No. 2538 being the last in service. Thankfully, No. 2216 of 1897 vintage is preserved in the collection at Swindon’s Steam museum. An amazing silent reminder of the fact that there was a Dean Goods on the Railways of the UK and in service in many other parts of the world for nearly three quarters of a century. It’s one heck of a record in anyone’s book. I haven’t done any updates or extra detailing to the outside of Little No. 2532. The project has been inspired for Harry by this picture here of the real thing taking water on Goring troughs on the 15th April 1953: https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p679214033/h8ed6b97d The basic instruction I got from Harry was “make it REALLY filthy please!” So I did... It has been fitted with our usual Gaugemaster DCC chip and firebox flicker LED. My usual go to is the Youchoos 2 pin plug to add the wiring to the tender and DCC socket. I usually go in through the drag box on the driver’s side. The construction of this tender doesn’t allow this however as it is solid metal at this point. I had to open out one of the securing screw holes forward of the middle wheel set in order to add the wiring and have it ‘unpluggable’ when removing the tender. Not the best solution but it looks ok if you don’t look too hard. The firebox doors were opened out by chain drilling a series of holes with a 0.7mm (ish) drill bit in a pin vice. Of you get the holes close enough then you can gently use the drill bit in a sawing motion to link up the holes. The LED is mounted on a small piece of ‘L’ section styrene and there has been a light shaving away of the material at the rear of the firebox back head to allow clearance for the LED mount. The wires were arranged to go out the same way that the existing wiring does. Not much room in this model... Then it was my usual application of brass plates and a coat of matt varnish. All masking was done with Blue Tack and the wheels were removed and done separately. A couple of coats of weathering powders of the right colours in the right places and then another shot of varnish in between each layer. Here are the results! Well, that’s enough of that. I have been reliably informed by two more of the Little Didcot gang that they too have a Dean Goods and they have suggested that it would be great if they all looked like this wouldn’t it?! There is and 8F and a Wickham Trolley currently awaiting dirt applications and I’m out of matt varnish so a trip to the model shop is on the agenda... All the best, Castle

Hi RJS, The Railmotor Shed is perfectly well and healthy and where it always has been! I think said wiggly tin are the spare sections. All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, No Baxter sadly - it just doesn’t fit in with the modelling plan and if I deviate from the plan then I might start buying all sorts of stuff and my wallet will be subject to what can only be described as cruel and unusual punishment... I agree on the vintage stuff - lovely to see out and about! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Been a while hasn’t it?! I have a few model projects in the go and I will start posting again in the not too distant future but until then here are a few 12”:1’ prototype images to be getting on with! Ancient 0-4-0s have been a key feature this summer with the wonderful little engine Captain Baxter built by Fletcher Jennings in 1877. Here he is alongside 81Es oldest resident Shannon built by George England & Co. in 1857! Things Pendennis went well - it’s got to the stage where it is lots of fiddly little jobs so progress isn’t always massively apparent but it is occurring(!). A little but vital project undertaken by right hand man Harry was the restoration of the cab seats. Rather than make new, the originals have been spruced up and made shiny once again! The main steam pipes have been sent off up north for replication in fresh steel. The tape measure gives some indication of how large these items are... No. 4079 was moved outside to allow No.3650 to get under the crane in the lifting shop to have its boiler removed at the beginning of the pannier’s overhaul. Looks good even if we do say so ourselves! Also moved outside was No. 2999 Lady of Legend - in the very temporary black paint scheme she will wear for a photo charter prior to her being painted green and entering traffic. No. 4079 also received a very special visitor. Peter Ward was her driver out in Australia and was one of the people responsible for convincing Rio Tinto to send her home. He now lives in the UK and has just retired from driving on the big railway. He was able to be one of the first to try out those seats! I was duty manager one day when a minor problem with No. 4144 stopped it running. So, having lemons we made lemonade. We got Railmotor No. 93 (originally built 1908) running on the branch and then coupled up No. 3 Captain Baxter (built 1877) to Dean clerestory third No 1941 (built 1901) and Dean 4-wheel brake third No. 416 (built 1891) and put that on the main demonstration line. This meant that the total age of the 4 items of rolling stock in operation that day was almost 500 years! Half a millennia with 4 vehicle’s is pretty good going I think. If you are looking for something to do this weekend - a big shunt has be done to set the scene for Didcot’s ‘Engine Shed Experience’ over the Bank Holiday Weekend. There are other cameos around the shed including the rarely outside No. 5900 Hinderton Hall! Trains are running every day plus Real Ale Bar, and on Monday the launch of our nature trail. Don't forget your camera!! You won't see this many GWR & BR(W) locos ‘on shed’ anywhere else! I will be working on No. 4079 on Saturday and Duty Manager on Monday so come by and say hello if you can! On that note, I promise to upload a bit of actual modelling soon. I have done quite a lot but no one thing has reached fruition and it got to the stage where all the modelling kit just needed sorting out before I went nuts so that’s taken a few modelling sessions away too but for the greater good I feel! There may also be two ‘Castle Tours’trips next year as well. One to DRC as normal and another to an as yet undisclosed location (you can probably guess!). More news on that as it occurs. All the best, Castle

Hi Bob, Use the links on the Didcot Railway Centre website to ask to be put in touch with the Great Western Trust. They have a wide range of sources including pictures and documents, etc. I’m sure they will help! All the best, Castle

Hi Andy, Thanks for that - I use a Z21 as the controller if that helps? I will use my multimeter to measure the current draw and see how we go. I just wondered if it was a thing before I went in deeper... Thanks! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Has anyone else had one of these let the 'magic smoke' out of their DCC decoder? Mine cooked a perfectly innocent Gaugemaster decoder and I don't know why. I have looked at all the wiring and it all checks out. Is there are large current draw from the motors on these or something else I'm missing please? Cheers! All the best, Castle

Hi All, As always it was a real pleasure to be able to share the wonderful collection with such a friendly and enthusiastic bunch. I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Thanks must also go to Stationmaster Mike and his annual extravaganza in Radstock Signalbox! We really must do it again sometime... All the best, Castle PS: Post some pictures! I didn't take any - I was too busy wittering on...

Hi All, See you tomorrow... All the best, Castle

Hi Rich, That's a bit of a MONSTER job you've taken on there! I'll get my coat... All the best, Castle

Hi Bernie, That's about right - It's No. 4144 on the main demonstration line and Railmotor No. 93 on the branch line. Get your rides in and grab a bit of lunch / cuppa / etc before meeting up at the entrance kiosk at 12:30 and we will then have a look around! See you there! All the best, Castle

Of course you can tag along Kevin! See you Sunday! All the best, Castle

Just seen the PM Duncan - see you there good sir! All the best, Castle

No worries Kelly. See you next time hopefully, All the best, Castle

No worries Bern! All the best, Drew

Hi Rob, It looks like a blue Didcot King never offends too! Glad you had fun with Spud II - it’s nice to see her both out and about and being enjoyed by a wider audience. All the best, Castle

Hi Rich, Very nice! Have you thought about a light coat of Halfords white primer over the etch primer? All the best, Castle

Badum - tish! D.R. Umroll

Hi Stephen, This is true - I am slowly building up the Comet GWR special saloon kit and the way they have got round it by repositioning the pivot points for the bogies which seems to work just fine. On a case by case basis, the problems are surmountable. All the best, Castle