John Isherwood

I have found the spec sheet for the motor - a DC-60. John Isherwood.

It's a long time ago, but I have a recollection of it being moderately complex - ie. not just a drop-in exchange. Packing under the new motor, and probably drilling the chassis for a new motor fixing screw. At least there's plenty of room for the new motor when the huge Ringfield is removed. I can't recall if I found a worm that would mesh with the original driven axle gear wheel; most probably, I used a Romford worm / gear set. The motor was an unused, boxed Pittman bought cheaply on Ebay; it has transformed the 8F into a superb, slow-running and powerful loco. Once stripped, the Hornby Dublo body has very pronounced rivet detail, which I reduced somewhat with emery paper. Regards, John Isherwood.

I had a three-rail one of those, bought when 3-rail was being sold off cheap, but I could never stop it squealing / slowing down after a period of running. With retrospect, I've a feeling that the armature expanded marginally when running, just enough to contact the interior bore of the Ringfield magnet. I tried adjusting the armature shaft rear bearing, but nothing worked. The loco has now been rebuilt to 2-rail with Markits wheels, and a Pittman motor in place of the Ringfield, which no longer intrudes into the cab. Regards, John Isherwood.

That is very nice indeed - I really don't know how you 2mm. scale chaps do it !! Regards, John Isherwood.

Shows how much interest I take in such fripperies !! Regards, John Isherwood.

As my wife comes from Sunderland, and I went to college there, I have quite an interest in the early waggonways. In their more modern form, I used to spend ages watching the activity at a changeover point between two inclines at Seaham. Regards, John Isherwood.

I would have thought that highly likely - Oxford were not going to tool up two different guns, were they? John Isherwood.

Now what would a Jacobite armored train have looked like? Can you armor a horse? Regards, John Isherwood.

As one who regularly skipped Cubs in order to see and hear a pair of Metrovick Co-Bos, on full throttle, at the head of the CONDOR, I can tell you that they were audibly more impressive than even a DELTIC ! At the time, a uniform train of containers, with a headboarded pair of new locos at the front, did speak of the future. Regards, John Isherwood.

Really? Containers, door-to-door; pretty clever, no? Oh - suit yourself! John Isherwood.

Agreed - so many plastic and etched brass kits have spindly, flimsy brakegear that would never have stood up to the tough conditions of the prototype. I always substitute ABS castings - and they add useful weight just where it's needed. My stock won't last forever, though - please, someone take on Adrian's legacy! Regards, John isherwood.

That's a shame - mine went together beautifully, but it was some years ago. John Isherwood.

We walked past Padstow station this morning - now isolated in a(n unusually empty) carpark. I have never been able to work out why there is a railway milepost attached to the frontage of the pub, across the harbour from the end of the railway line - I can only think that the harbour, now the property of the Padstow Harbour Commissioners, was once owned by the railway. Regards, John Isherwood.

Tony, The ones that I bought were the generic ones - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/761590804.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4f0e1d4agZYbXk&algo_pvid=4641bcd4-225d-4158-a937-8a73de627bb3&algo_expid=4641bcd4-225d-4158-a937-8a73de627bb3-51&btsid=0b0a0ac215923952967257903e648e&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603 - which I suspect may well come from the same source as the branded ones! They work perfectly well. Regards, John Isherwood.

That's fine for accessible brass, but something a little more delicate and precise is required for whitemetal work. On brass, too, the 3M wheels will get in where the big wire brush won't. For intermediate work on brass, I have some smaller brass cup brushes. John Isherwood.

It all depends upon the extent and depth of the excess solder - for large accumulations I'd start with a fairly course one and then finish off with a finer one. The finest impart a beautiful polish. I bought several of each - a significant investment but well worth it. To gauge which ones you need, go to a store selling wet and dry paper and decide which grades you would use if applying that medium - the 3M wheels used the same grit size grading. Regards, John Isherwood.

See my post above - warm water, a pinch of washing soda crystals, and a tiny drop of the cheapest washing up liquid. John Isherwood.

Indeed. John Isherwood.

I would strongly encourage any modeller who engages in brass construction to invest in an ultrasonic tank. Filled with warm water, a pinch of washing soda crystals to neutralise acid flux, and a tiny drop of washing up liquid, (the cheaper brand the better), and the model will immerge pristine and ready for priming. I use the fibreglass pencil much less nowadays, since I dicovered these https://nancylthamilton.com/resources/charts/radial-bristle-discs-grits-and-colors-chart/ . Regards, John Isherwood.

CJL of Model Rail and this group, plus Genesis Kits, produced these bogies at one time. Regards, John Isherwood.

In my experience, the answer to stray glass fibre filaments is an ultrasonic cleaning tank - it's amazing the amount of debris that these find in an apparently spotless model. Regards, John Isherwood.

Me too - but I have had no problems with stuff delivered to me by Hermes. John Isherwood.

Can you name any courier whom you can be confident has no weak links in their chain? John Isherwood.

No weakest links round here! Our Hermes lady is as reliable and efficient as one could wish - certainly way better than most of the other couriers. It all comes down the the person responsible for recruitment; if they are committed to customer service, the chances are that you'll get a reliable agent. If the recruiter is just concerned with fulfilling his / her quota, you could well get a wrong 'un. John Isherwood.

Whilst my transfer range is very largely BR era, there are a few GWR sheets in the C-prefix section at the end of the list. Within the BR section, there are quite a number of early examples that make use of the ex-GWR script; particularly amongst the departmental wagon sheets. Regards, John Isherwood.