Jack P

I received my SR Crane today, and a very very fine specimen it is! Is anyone to give any more detailed information about what specific vehicles were in this specific breakdown trains (1561S) formation? Or, where I would be able to find this information myself, I've flicked through 'Service stock of the SR' - Oakwood, but (unless i'm not looking hard enough) can't find anything specific, or conclusive, just general information. I did create my own thread in the SR group if it's easier to reply there https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/150419-southern-breakdown-train-vehicles-1561s-stafftoolmess-vans/

Hello again collective southern mind, I'm sure given the release of the new Bachmann Cranes I'm not the only one looking for some slightly more specific information on this. From my understanding 1561s was allocated to Guildford in the early 1940's. From the few photographs of guildford shed that I can find, you can see the road along side of the shed where the crane was kept, and what looks to be (from the end view) a birdcage coach of some description. Is anyone to give any more detailed information about what specific vehicles were in this trains formation? Or, where I would be able to find this information myself, I've flicked through 'Service stock of the SR' - Oakwood, but (unless i'm not looking hard enough) can't find anything specific, or conclusive, just general information. Thanks in advance!

I do indeed, thanks for catching this one! Excellent - so a simple renumber should be ok? I don't have the Tatlow volume, would someone be able to advise where 1560S was allocated?

Hopefully any signalmen he encounters aren't too impatient..

Pray tell, do you know what sort of differences there were between 1561S and 1506S?

I had planned to repaint mine - so when they arrive i'll update here!

Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to all - It's been fantastic having you all along for the ride so far. Here to an exciting 2020 - I've certainly got a lot planned! Stay safe everyone!

I too am interested in what might be appropriate to run with the crane (circa 1947). Pardon the slightly ignorant question - but for those more well versed in R&R history: Can the SR crane be renumbered to represent any other SR cranes?

Tony, I'm terribly sorry to hear of the passing of your wife - Wishing you the merriest Christmas possible from the other side of the world Very interested in this, are you allowed to share more details of where/who it's coming from? (and will they be available to purchase?) Jack

Hey Tony, I appreciate your kind words. Personally, I would appreciate a post war 4mm Golden arrow set very much! In the fantastic book Brighton Atlantics by James S Baldwin, there is some debate about the colour of the wheels - most sources i've come across suggest they were painted black, the main issue is that photos of green atlantics usually have the wheels in shadow. (It's worth mentioning there were a few malachite locos with black wheels, but not many) The green does look very nice and If I can find something concrete regarding the colour i'll repaint them! JP

Apologies for the long post: My modelling year in round-up has been an eclectic mix of Plastic and metal kits, modified and repainted RTR stock. I've continually been pushing myself to try things outside my comfort zone, some of my 'proudest' achievements are below. Repainted H2 atlantic 'Beachy Head' In late 1947 condition Repainted and slightly modified Lord Nelson 'Sir Richard Grenville' Progress on my first kit-built loco, I'm now on the home stretch. Lining is being finished at the moment, as well as final details. Soon to be 3221 'Beattie' Re-name/Renumber, along with some slight modification/detailing and weathering of a BR Brit for a good mate of mine: My first leap into a new facet of this hobby, 1:64th scale NZR. Here's a 50ft Day coach. A bit of a mixed media kit. And in the new year i've got this NZR Ab class loco to tackle, along with countless other SR prototypes. Roll on 2020!

I was tempted, and maybe have 'accidentally' purchased one from rails the other day.. oops. Looking forward to it arriving!

So does he

We had some horrible weather over the weekend, thunder, lighting, torrential rain and wind. A real Wellington summer! I managed to get some work done on the 50' coach. The roof was a bit short, so some plasticard fillets helped bring it up to size, then the end partitions were a bit low, more plasticard underneath helped bring them to the correct height. I've learnt a few tricks here though, if I was going to build the roof again, I would glue the end parts to the door/corridor section first and then attach the main roof. Some filler and plenty of sanding got everything leveled off. Although after looking at the photos, I might need to do one more pass of filler. Roof ventilators fitted too - the drawings are, erm, 'interesting' to measure from, so they are in approximately the right place. I also adjusted the position of the corridor connectors, I had them too low before. the soldering looks a bit messy, but black paint should hide my sins. I think the connections might be a tad too long though, which means that either I need to take them off again and sand the backs down, or on the opposing carriages, I need to have some sort of flexible connections. I'm still not sure. I've added working chopper couplings from NZ finescale. As per the prototype, these couplings are handed although my understanding is that the 'chopper' is held in place by a pin, and can be removed and put in either coupling I've secured the pin with a small dab of glue, this means that if later on I need to remove them, I can do without too much hassle. And finally here's the coach posed next to my N15x. The difference in scale (1:64/1:76) is actually very apparent, maybe less so in the photo though. Next steps are to complete the interior, this includes cutting seats and making all of the interior partition walls!

As Mr Mad Dan said, it is indeed the NZ Prototype Models upgrade of the JG Models kit. He doesn't have a website, but does have a Facebook page! Heya Dan! It is indeed the 'upgraded' version, but as you say, it's only really had some of the material changed as opposed to constructional changes. It should be (hopefully) a good place to start. Thanks for your list, i've gone through and addressed them in a similar fashion! - I had looked at the proportions and wondered about weight distribution, so that's good to know. Having built a single coach and realising how heavy full train would be, I full expected to have to add weight anyway. - I've got a spare motor kicking around, but once the boiler is rolled i'll see how much room I've got, and see if I can get a flywheel assembly in there too. I haven't had the best look at the instructions yet, but due to the motor/gearbox connection, I assumed a torque arm would be a good idea anyway. - I've got some ideas on pickups, but you're right, I don't want anything that creates too much drag. - Side control on the leading bogie, do you happen to have any photos of how you've achieved this? - Brakegear, what was the reason you substituted plastic? - My plan is for this to be a North Island Ab, I haven't managed to track down and she allocations or anything like that so it's hard to know which ones would've been seen around wellington/paekok. I eventually plan to build to a specific prototype as you say though.

Made some progress a start, on removing the brass casting from their sprues last night. This was after taking delivery of a jewelers saw. (Why didn't I get one before?) It's certainly laborious and more than a little tedious, not as bad as I thought it would be though. I've also noticed the bottom of the westinghouse pump still needs some cleaning up. I also decided that this build is the perfect opportunity to equip the loco with a smoke generator - I know that generally there are mixed opinions on these types of things, but it's something I've wanted to at least try for a while now. Plus having recently moved to DCC, now seems as good of a time as any. I'll also be adding directional lighting! This meant that with basic hand tools and a drill I had to drill out the chimney. Now that was time consuming! I've just ordered a pillar drill, which should hopefully be here soon, and will help with drilling out the rest of the holes, but specifically the holes for the piston rod in the slide bar casting - and actually getting them straight! Of course, I needed some reading material.. The NZR Steam Locomotive by Sean Miller is a fantastic book, covering (as you might expect from the title) all of the classes of New Zealand steam locomotives. There is a wealth of reference material, from operational use in the early 1900's through to preservation actions in the early 2000's. If you have even a fleeting interest in NZR, i suggest finding a copy of this book. Now to start the long slog of cutting out and cleaning up all of the castings. The plan is to finish this before I start any assembly.

Thank you for linking my content here, I actually didn't realize there was an S Scale forum here, although i'm not surprised!

I too am too young to have seen steam in full throw, I do have fond memories of travelling behind steam on the occasional special railtour. I also rememebr travelling to J-Ville and the Hutt to visit friends in DM and EM multiple units. I'm hoping to add some of the old railcars to my lineup too (eventually)! I can't confirm that the updates will be 'regular, but as often as I can! the more I think about it, the more I agree. It's also far less hassle than trying to sort everything individually (which could in the end cost more!). The only replacement I think i'll make is replacing the cast brass handrails for turned brass ones. As for the Gearbox, the link is here - look under gearing: http://www.northyard.co.nz/ (the usual caveat of no connection other than a satisfied customer). the website has been a bit mish-mash for a while now, but if you send off an email they will get back to you promptly with a price and delivery eta's etc. I do indeed also model the Southern - and to boot, I have an absolute mountain of things to get on with in that genre. I hope that because it will be far easier to obtain RTR southern models. My NZR modelling will be a good opportunity to change things up when one or the other gets a little tedious. I don't plan on having either cross over, I'm still strapped for space so it's not like any great magnum opus's are going to pop up anytime soon. It certainly does look a little daunting, but i'm not worried. Slow and steady, and good quality parts should result in a decent model (I hope). This will be my first crack at a compensated chassis though... hmmmm.

Heya Rob, Thanks for your reply! It's certainly a well presented kit. I'm a bit hesitant about the amount of time I expect it to take to cut everything off the brass sprues, and then clean up ready for assembly! I can only imagine how good a vantage point the paekok hill would've been (Find me someone in the lower north island that doesn't call it that!). Those edited photos of the Ka looks fantastic, very evocative of the types of scenes you might've seen in the late 50's and 60's. The model is brilliant too! I'm not sure if you've noticed, but they go for silly money these days, I saw a kitbuilt Ka go on trademe (a couple of weeks ago now) for a touch over $2k. I'm not sure how far away my rendition of a NZR scene will be, but I might as well start building the stock now, right?! I'd imagine this 50fter will be one of many! The Ab looks fantastic too! I haven't settled on a specific prototype yet, hoping to land on something that would've been a regular around the greater wellington region. Let me know if you ever think of parting with your NZR models!

Who's had success chipping their H class locos? I've tried the Hattons direct 8-pin, but that doesn't seem to want to work for whatever reason.

This post marks the start of what I expect to be a slow and challenging adventure into modelling the Railways of New Zealand. It's amazing how many options I have for the other facet of my modelling, Late 1940's Southern Railway, compared to what is available for NZR . Virtually nothing (read; Nothing) is available RTR, and as far as locomotives go, there are only a few kits on the market at the moment, with some only now being re-introduced after a hiatus. There are however a few rolling stock kit suppliers, so you aren't confined solely to the world of scratch-building. After having a chat with the owner of one of these suppliers, I decided this would be where I would dip my my proverbial modelling toe. I'm not quite sure why, but there's something charming about fat little trains running on narrow bogies and rails. In case you didn't know, prototypical NZR is 3'6" gauge, and is regarded as being 'narrow gauge'. I duly ordered a NZR 50ft Steel Panelled Day-Car (Coach). The kits comes with everything you need, sans paint (and tools, glue etc). Wheels, bogies, couplings, handrails, the whole shebang. Here's the work of a few hours efforts: The kit is a bit of a mixed media affair, although mostly comprised of whitemetal and resin. The Resin components are actually very nice to work with, they are flexible, and sand easily - closer to ABS than to resins i've used before. Here's the underframe. The trussing was all soldered together and then glued to the floor. I did fix the battery boxes on upside down and get the fuseboard in slightly the wrong place, but this has since been corrected. The same approach is taken with the vestibule ends, you solder them all together and then glue them to the carriage end. This means the resulting assembly (sans roof, interior and bogies) is already pretty weighty. There is still a bit to go, the ends need to be fitted to the roof and then filed to profile. But first it needs some plasticard glued in, as its not quite long enough. Of course, now I need something to pull my, err.. single coach. What better than the re-released NZR Ab? The Ab was a 4-6-2, 2 cylinder workhorse. Of which 141 were built between 1915 and 1927, making them the largest (numerical) class of steam locomotive to run in New Zealand. They could be seen everywhere up and down the country, from mainline passenger work to branchline freight. Again, the kit on offer, while not exactly 'cheap' (£300 at the time of publishing), Comes with everything you need, including motor, gearbox and wheels. So you pays your money, and you gets your kit: The whitemetal parts are crisply moulded, with no defects and almost no flash. The N/S etches are fantastic, and a wooden dowel is supplied to roll the boiler, and water tank on the tender. There is also a small etched Jig supplied which helps you quarter the wheels. I've not had much to do with brass castings before, and have just purchased a jewellers saw to help me remove the parts from the sprue. The gearbox is a rather simple arrangement, and i decided to tackle this first. The worm is already pressed onto the gear axle. you just need to fit 2 small washers and the bearing cups This then slots into one side of the gearbox frame, and the first pinion(?) wheel simply slots in below. You then screw the two sides of the frame together. Fit the gear wheel to the axle, drop it into the slot and screw the bottom of the gearbox on. It then connects to the motor via some very tight rubber sleeve. I hope to have a few more updates, but I imagine they will be sporadic, as this is a subset of my more prevalent railway related hobby. Finally here's a photo that was published in a copy of 'Womens day' of Paekakriki depot in the late 1950's. This is just up the coast for me, and the sheds are now one of the main preservation centers in the country. They've even (present day) got a Garratt outside, waiting for overhaul! Thanks to all those who have stuck through to the end.

Looks really excellent. There's something about red coupling rods that just hits the spot for me. What's your usual tipple, enamel or acrylic? (or lacquer I 'spose)

Fantastic as usual!

I appreciate these things can be frustrating with extended time-frames, but Rails have been pretty darn good in explaining why there have been delays. if you've ordered one they won't have just magically forgotten you, as they've said, they're working through the backlog. If you've got a genuine issue with your order wouldn't it be better to contact Rails directly instead of lambasting them here? If this is the only option for a RTR version of this particular van, and one is unwilling to kitbuild or scratchbuild - shouldn't we be happy that it's actually come to fruition? I just hope that to Rails our purchases are seen support to look down the 3D printing avenue again, and it to be a viable means to produce more niche rolling stock. Just my 2c.

Oops, it's been a while since i've posted. It seems coming into the silly season and summer here in NZ means my priorities are pulled in different directions. New bike, getting the car serviced, Christmas presents etc etc. This is a rather large update, so maybe make yourself a tea and settle in! Rather sadly my grandmother passed away on the 7th of November, she had been battling with heart failure and while it is immensely sad, the old addage of, "she's in a better place now" certainly applies. I even have a model related project in the works to honour her memory. More on that later though. My Grandmother grew up in the london suburbs and travelled to school behind steam every day. Was taken to the countryside during the blitz behind steam, and eventually relocated and started a family in Woking. My dad and his brothers have vivid memories of playing near the main line, and being deathly scared of the live rail - a Southern connection if there ever was one! A little further afield than the Southern is the cutlery photographed below, gifted to me by 'her'. Can anyone help with identification and valuation? I thought some of the LNER stuff looked a little Art Deco in style. Any information is good information though! In the same vein, I thought I would post a photo of some NZR heritage, A Crown Lynn NZR saucer (of a cup and saucer set), I am unsure of the vintage but I think, possibly the early 50's. For anyone interested there is some further information here: https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/1148 I've recently bought a few more from our local auction site (trademe) and we have a few for saucers in storage, along with a few cups. They are a very interesting part of our/my railway history. Plus, my one might be the most often used one in the country - it's the plate the cat eats off!! Next up, our local model rail show, Rail-Ex. Now it's certainly no Warley, but it's the biggest show in the lower north island. The first photo of this update is me outside the hall. This year I went with one thing in mind - NZR rail! (any surprises there?) The first thing that caught my attention was this massive 7 1/4 inch gauge Streamlined NZR J Class sitting in the middle of the hall. 'Gloria' - in all her, err, glory. Here's some more info on the streamlined J's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_J_class_(1939). A quick summary below; Built in 1939 the 4-8-4 Mountain class were built by the North Brtish works as a capable mixed traffic engine, designed to run on the secondary lines and be more powerful than the AB class 2-6-0's. they were equipped with some interesting and modern features, like roller bearing axles and twin Westinghouse brake pumps. 3 of them lasted until the end of steam on 26 October 1971, and 3 have been preserved. I have recently been in talks with a kit supplier who is due to release this in S-Scale (HO/OO equivalent) in the new year. Now for what is really a niche industry, the prices of these kits are an interesting talking point. I see/hear lots of complaints about the cost of RTR locos in the UK, and sure, they are on the increase, with the newly announced SECR D due to cost £250. Precious little (read: nothing) is available ready to run for NZR S-scale. There is an expanding range of kits, but they seem to put RTR British stuff into perspective as good value! Most coach kits are around £60, and most wagon kits around £30, the loco kits sort of range from £150-£700 depending on what it is (tank engine - Garratt). Now this seems expensive on first glance, but these kits come with everything needed except hand tools and paint. So for the loco kits, you get wheels, a self quartering wheel jig, motor, gearbox, nickle silver frames and white-metal castings. I think when you take this into consideration they are actually quite good value. The coach kits also come with compensated bogies, etched plates and transfers! Now, this is where it gets mental. I recently watched a kit-built 4-8-4 loco go up for auction on Trade-me (like a local ebay), it sold on sunday night for the astronomical price of $2011 - approx £1000. Of course I've gone and bought some kits, which are due to arrive any day now! NZR modelling here I come! I was also gifted some EM gauge wheels at Rail-ex.. which I have a plan for, eventually. Back to models - there was this quaint little early 1900's scene Some extremely well crafted scenery, all kit built, scratchbuilt etc. Looks fantastic! Then there's this, for the life of me I can't remember the name of the builder, but it's the product of 15 years work. All scratch-built, except for a few kits/modified RTR items. Even the loco wheels have been turned. I took precious little in the way of photos of this, but the shay loco ambling around the track had working inside valve gear. This was my favourite, there was a photo on the board behind of the prototype, apparently folks here had a bit of a thing for cutting up cars/trucks and throwing them on locomotive chassis'. Here's some NZR 9mm, (O gauge equivalent). An NZR AB class (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_AB_class) on a small piece of scenic rolling road. On the far side of the hall was this gigantic 9mm layout, with a fantastic assortment of stock, everything was DCC sound/lights and being controlled with a wireless hand controller system, all very exciting! Very impressive - I only wish I had taken some more photos! Now for some of my own medicore attempts: SR cattle wagons have been repainted and the transfer application has begun! I have two of the earlier maunsell diagram ones that are in line for a repaint, but I might wait until the SECr box vans arrive and do them at the same time. DONE! My SECR bolsters are finished. Chains, shackles and stanchions added. I did have an issue with one of the AG wheelsets - a tyre delaminated from the wheel centre as it had shrunk and become very warped, no bother, plenty of spares. That's all for now. apologies that this has gone slightly off topic from specifically 'Southern Railway Modelling', if the NZR stuff gets more serious I might start a different thread! As usual, comments, criticism, discussion, random tangents are all welcome, (and if you got this far) thanks for reading! Still looking apparently....