John Isherwood

I gather that they're not rock cliffs in the accepted sense - more something fairly soft and prone to waterlogging; whatever, they are measurably on the move - albeit slowly. It makes sense to move the trackbed off unstable ground onto mass concrete. Regards, John Isherwood.

Do 'Romford' make O gauge wheels? ..... do they even exist nowadays? "O gauge used to be the top seller..."; and clockwork was considered to be a perfectly acceptable mode of locomotion for model railways! Are you in a parallel universe that is still stuck in the pre-WW2 era? "... if someone realeased a vacuum plastic kit for a 0-6-0 tank engine with say, two four wheeled carriages, including a cheap five pole motor, a roof switch and plastic wheels, it would appeal to a very broad range of people ..."; really - on what basis do you make that assertion? Hornby are dumping the Thomas the Tank Engine range - they don't seem to believe that there is much profit in the toy train market. Can "... a vacuum plastic kit ..." realistically be built by your target market - or his Dad? In Dad's Army speak - I think that we are entering the realms of fantasy, Pike! Regards, John Isherwood.

The first one is a wagon for plate glass - I can't say which company though. They usually had screw clamps to prevent the crated glass from moving. Regardless of origin / diagram, they are a s*d to model in anything but P4, as the well has to fit closely BETWEEN the wheels! Regards, John Isherwood.

According to SW local TV, teens of millions have been authorised for site investigation work, which is already in hand - there was film of a core drilling team at work. The emphasis was on the unstable cliff section, which apparently already has continuous ground stability monitoring, linked to railway control. Regards, John Isherwood.

Did 61633 always run with the centre tender wheelset off the road? This is presumably one of the "necessary alterations"? Regards, John Isherwood.

Larry, Have a look at some photos of WR hydraulics in their latter days - I don't know what the WR used for coach cleaning, but it must have been closely related to Modelstrip !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I find that plastic bogies can be manipulated and distorted enough to be able to use a 2.0mm. drill perpendicularly to the bogie frames. In this way, I have fitted brass pinpoint bearings to many, many coaches, from Tri-ang Hornby, through Lima to much more recent production. The improvement in running is nothing short of miraculous. Regards, John Isherwood.

It does help, though, if you wish to make a helpful comment, to actually read what the problem is. Regards, John Isherwood.

See OP - he hasn't got a meter, and he can't turn it off because the stopcock flap is screwed down. Does no-one read the OP nowadays???? Regards, John Isherwood.

Fill in the panels in question with your preferred filler; (Milliput in my case); and sand back when hard. The local carriage sidings, where I did my trainspotting, were filled with rakes of ancient coaches that only moved on summer Bank Holidays. Period 1 coaches were very much in evidence; patch-panelled, painted in faded maroon and devoid of lining - just the thing for a day trip from Leicester to Skeggy! Regards, John isherwood.

I can't answer for Bachmann, but there were maroon and crimson / cream versions by the original producer Mainline Railways; see :- http://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1000444/1000588/1000636/0/Mainline_OO_Gauge_1_76_Scale_Coaches/prodlist.aspx A search on Ebay for Mainline Railways coaches will find quite a few. Regards, John Isherwood.

It works well - I tried it back in the 1970s for a couple of plasticard scratchbuilt coaches. Two holes and two brass pegs in an offcut of thickish sheet brass. Then, with suitable softish brass wire, up the rabbit hole, round the two trees, and down the other rabbit hole; a quick tug on the ends of the brass wire and clip off the finished grab handle. (Those of us who were in the Cubs will recognise the aide-memoire)! Regards, John Isherwood.

It's called research; you know - looking things up in books and online. Are you really trying to reproduce the prototype without even a photo? Good luck with that! Modelling isn't just buying RTR models and, perhaps, putting new transfers on them. Those of us who do the job properly have probably spent as much, if not more, on reference books than we have on the models themselves. This forum is an excellent source for information, but it's unreasonable to expect those who buy reference books to do research for those who don't. Regards, John Isherwood.

..... and I'm not taking one to bits to find out either. However, the photo of a dismantled motor in your link clearly shows six sets of windings - surely not just a mock-up to perpetuate mis-selling? Regards, John Isherwood.

I didn't notice anything adverse - but, at those prices, why not see what you think? Regards, John Isherwood.

Try adding a touch of meths to the water - allegedly, this should soften the glue. Regards, John Isherwood.

..... and here it is - somewhat behind time due to family commitments, but better late than never! Despite the 'foolish' price that I paid on Ebay, it has been modified to have a swivelling trailing truck, completely (brush) painted with Phoenix BR Loco Green, lined and renumbered with my own transfers, and fitted with Modelmaster etched plates. A misting of Testors Dullcote took the edge off the ex-works appearance, but it is still evidently ready for a prestige train or a railtour. IMHO, and in the absense of a new run from Hornby, I am well pleased with my non-bargain. Regards, John Isherwood.

I'd put my last quid on it being behind a loading bank. It appears to be piled high with something; (scrap?); and what use would a grounded steel mineral be, anyway? If you filled it with, say, scrap; you'd need to get it all out again via the side flap door. Wooden bodied vans were grounded because the body had little value as scrap, and could provide (relatively) weatherproof storage; not so steel opens with side flap doors. Regards, John Isherwood.

I have recently taken delivery of a pair of :- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2PCS-DC-12V-6500RPM-Large-Torque-6-Pole-Rotor-Minebea-15MM-Square-Motor-for-Toy/252631354230?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 These seem to be very well engineered - no slop in the bearings, incredible torque, virtually silent and a general 'precision' feel. Running at full throttle from an old Tri-ang transformer / H&M controller there was no significant heating whatsoever. Also ordered at the same time, and received today, is a :- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Minebea-3-Pole-Rotor-Carbon-Brush-Motor-DC24V-12000RPM-Screw-Hole-for-RC-Car-Toy-/282369397467 This, again, seems excellent, with only the slightest whine at full revs; pretty much silent under normal operating conditions. Size-wise, it would be ideal for larger locos at 4mm. scale. Both types of motor have threaded fixing screw holes; at the price, they are well worth trying. Regards, John Isherwood.

Ohh - the gorgeous Samantha; she of the many unfortunate innuendoes !! You couldn't broadcast those anymore - who says we live in a more liberal society ? Thanks for the memories. Regards, John Isherwood.

I'm sure that it has been posted here that Samantha is listed in company information as the sole owner of Falcon Brassworks, and that the management of Dart / MJT have no business interest in FB, regardless of family connections. I certainly haven't posted my warning lightly; initially I seemed to have a good rapport with Samantha as I was defending her here against what I felt was unreasonable criticism. Unfortunately, my own experience in ordering a couple of kits - purely to support FB - has caused me to reconsider my position, and I would strongly advise against placing orders with payment, despite my continuing sympathy for Samantha's family challenges. Regards, John Isherwood. Agreed. John Isherwood.

Unfortunately, I have to sound a note of extreme caution concerning ordering on-line from Falcon Brassworks. Having been a staunch supporter of Samantha, who owns the company, it is with considerable regret that I have to advise members NOT to order on-line from the Falcon Brassworks website. Well before Christmas, I placed an order with Samantha which was partially fulfilled within a reasonable period, accompanied by an apology and a promise of delivery of the other half of the order within a month. However, when something was eventually despatched, it proved to be a duplicate of the first item received; this I returned at my own expense with a request for the correct item to be despatched. Despite repeated reminders, and finally a request for a refund, nothing was forthcoming by way of a reply. I have been forced, therefore, to register a dispute via Paypal, and they have found in my favour and made a full refund. Whilst I do sympathise with Samantha's trying family circumstances, if she is genuinely too busy to respond to e-mail correspondence then she needs to close down Falcon Brassworks. It is with genuine regret that I must advise members to regard Falcon Brassworks with the same degree of scepticism as Coopercraft, and certainly NOT to pay them money via the internet. Regards, John Isherwood.

It would seem to be likely - below is what appears to be a later photo. (Copyright Alex Betteney) Regards, John Isherwood.

Oops; as I said, the Bachmann 4F had passed me by - literally - I hadn't realised that they'd done one !! I've already got three Airfix 4Fs, all of which are about to be equipped with Comet / High Level / Mashima / Markits chassis, so I haven't been in the market for more, and had missed the release of the Bachmann model. Regards, John Isherwood.

Bachmann Midland 4F? That one passed me by, both prototype and model ! Bachmann DO produce a Midland 3F, but it is stretching the facts a little to describe it as "... a slightly earlier built version of what is basically the same loco ...". If you had, as I did years ago, converted an Airfix 4F into a 3F, you would realise that there is slightly more to it. Regards, John Isherwood.