John Isherwood

It's quite easy, really. I take a Peco R2 coupling hook and cut through the shank immediately on the pivot side of the vertical tail, using tin-snips. I then scrape off the blackening from the underside of the remaining shank immediately behind the 'buffing bar', and tin the exposed steel with a hot iron. Taking some square brass strip that is a loose sliding fit into the NEM pocket, I bend it at a sharp right-angle; (annealing the brass will make this easier if required). I cut off the vertical leg of the brass approximately 1.5mm. above the upper surface of the main brass strip; ie. so that I have a horizontal L with a 1.5mm. vertical leg. Having tinned the end of the 1.5mm. leg, I solder it to the shank of the coupler tight up against the back of the 'buffing bar'. You should now have a coupler with a shank which is offset below the head. Cut the new brass shank to length so that the coupler projects from the NEM pocket by the required distance. Drill the NEM pocket 0.5mm. centrally, right through both upper and lower faces; with Bachmann pockets this will be in the middle of the moulded letter. Place the coupler shank in the pocket and lightly turn the 0.5mm. drill in the hole in the NEM pocket until it marks the brass shank. Remove the coupler / shank from the pocket and drill the shank centrally 0.6mm., at the point where it has been marked. Place the coupler / shank in the NEM pocket and press a length of 0.5mm. brass wire through the pocket, through the shank, and back into the pocket; it will be a friction grip in the pocket. Cut off the wire 3mm. or so below the underside of the pocket, and bend the projecting wire flush with the underside of the pocket. Result? One freely pivotting Peco (Hornby Dublo) coupling, which can be removed and replaced with a tension-lock coupling simply be pulling out the brass wire. All this sounds horrendously long-winded, but it can be done in a couple of minutes once you get the knack; I'll post a couple of photos when I get the chance. Regards, John Isherwood.

Fair enough - but then, what will be achieved by posting your frustration here? Regards, John Isherwood.

Why not give them a call? Regards, John Isherwood.

Surely, anyone with pretensions to being a modeller should be able to fabricate these simplest of components? I can understand complaints concerning major departures from prototype, but repeated protests about the absence of a couple of plastic steps - easily represented with bent metal strips - is surely OTT? I daresay the crew's respective corned beef / cheddar sarnies are similarly missing - I'd better bang off a protest to RMweb !! Regards, John Isherwood.

If you can't solder, it's because you're using the wrong combination of iron / flux / solder - it's as simple as that !! I learned to solder tinplate in metalwork at school - a big copper iron heated in a gas flame; good strong tinman's flux that would burn holes in you workshop coat; and a tinman's solder stick. When I tried this with pieces of whitemetal, I quickly had one blob of whitemetal ! The items needed vary according to the job. So - read up on the necessary iron / flux / solder for the material you want to solder; don't imagine that you can do all jobs with a cheapo iron from Lidl, (though they're very good for the right job); and some electrician's multicore solder from Homebase. It's not a magic art, but you wouldn't try and shoe a horse with a pin hammer, or hang a picture with a sledghammer, would you? ........... oh - you would? I wouldn't try soldering, then !! Regards, John Isherwood.

Well, if they're not, I wouldn't hold out much hope for further batches / variants ! Regards, John Isherwood.

....... which is precisely why it would not be sensible business practice until all of the current batch are sold !! Regards, John Isherwood.

"Fitting the brake rods - slightly frustrating, ended up reaming out the holes nearest the cab, which just happen to part of the metal chassis". Agreed. "Fitting the vertical (smokebox plate) - very frustrating as it was obviously designed without thinking about the handrails on the smokebox door. Sort of got into place but slightly loose and flops forward slightly". Me too - until I removed the body, and then it was a doddle. If it's still loose it isn't engaged in the holes in the bufferbeam support brackets, and it could drop off. Regards, John Isherwood.

Not whilst I am compos mentis !!!!!!!!!! ........... and when I'm not, I won't care. With many of us now living to a ripe old age, if my offspring, (with not inconsiderable help from the Bank of Mum & Dad), are not financially secure by the time that I peg it, (hopefully not for a while yet), they really shouldn't be relying on my hard-earned to keep them comfortable in their own dotage ! Regards, John Isherwood.

Since the Southern Railway didn't acquire the USAs until after the end of WW2, I would think that the only version relevant to the WW2 period would be the US Army Transportation Corps one. Regards, John Isherwood.

James, I don't disagree with anything you say, except perhaps the suggestion that RTR manufacturers are ever going to set trends as opposed to follow them. Not unreasonable, really; they are in business to invest in fast sellers. What they are doing at the moment is to offer earlier period spin-offs from their 'mono-period' releases, albeit at present only where these can be created by alternative decoration only. If these sell well then they may be encouraged to vary the moulded detail too. The Why buy an E4 when I can't buy matching coaches approach, though, could defeat this tentative entry into the more historical periods. If earlier period modellers are prepared to buy the current limited offerings, and at the same time venture into kit-building for other rolling stock, then they may find in time that there is less need to take to the workbench. On the other hand, if the few current releases are ignored because there's not a compatible range of rolling stock, there is little likelihood of a broader range of historic subjects ever appearing. Regards, John isherwood.

But that is the crux of my point - you CAN have something to go with Bachmann's E4 - you'll just have to develop the skills to build such stock from kits. If you sit around waiting for manufacturers to provide all that you need to build in your self-confessed minority era, or bemoaning the fact that they don't, you'll end up with little to show for a lifetime's modelling ambition. Bite the bullet - buy a simple kit and be prepared to make a hash of it. It's the ONLY way to develop the skills that will open up a whole vista of possibilities in your chosen era. If the odd relevant RTR items crops up from time to time, so much the better, but I don't believe that you will EVER be able to bring your plans to fruition using just RTR items. Regards, John Isherwood.

Not knowing your age profile I am at a disadvantage in trying to respond to your points. However, I can tell you that I started modelling some sixty years ago, and only now do I feel fully competent to tackle the construction of a layout - buildings, scenery, track and stock - depicting a relatively mainstream subject such as Evercreech Junction, on the S&DJR, in the early 1960s. As it is, I have severe reservations as to the practicality of completing the necessary loft conversion and layout building within the rest of my lifetime. With such a popular modelling period, I have at least managed to acquire enough - (to much?) - stock to operate the nacent model; either from modified RTR, kit or scratchbuilt sources; (though the 'TO DO' pile of kits never seems to significantly diminish). My point? Well depending on the percentage of your projected lifetime remaining to you, the choice of modelling period can be critical. If you are in the flower of youth, you still have the time remaining to you to develop the skills to produce the stock that you will need to portray the - and I'm guessing here - Edwardian period. If, on the other hand you are becoming increasingly conscious of your mortality - as I am - you may well be wise to reassess the scope of your modelling ambitions, vis-a-vis the time involved in acquiring the skills that you are going to need to bring such a minority plan to fruition. Don't fool yourself that the RTR trade is going to come rushing to your aid. They'll produce your yearned-for earlier versions of their later period subjects if they can do so at minimal additional expense, but don't expect them to invest heavily in expensive alternative slides for their moulding tools, just to satisfy what you have to accept is a very restricted demand. Don't get me wrong - I admire the offbeat models that I come across - but a dose of reality is always good for tempering our rather more exotic expectations. Regards, John Isherwood.

Are you really so short of things to worry about that such matters can be annoying? If so, I think many of us would envy you !! You'll get your new engine in due course - in the meantime, why not do some modelling? Regards, John Isherwood. PS. I don't have standard responses - just a lack of patience with people who get worked up about things most of us left behind in the playground. Please Miss - he pushed in front of me !!!

See post #200 above. Regards, John Isherwood.

Having waited for so long, is it really a major issue if you have to wait a couple of days longer? It's only toy trains, after all !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I may be entirely wrong, but my recollection is that the lever in question was formed from plated steel formed into a U section. My preference, if the model is to be non-operational, would be to remove the offending lever in such a way that it could be replaced if required; I cannot think that this would be impossible. Regards, John Isherwood.

Just received notification that my BR black 30069 has been despatched. Regards, John Isherwood.

I've purchased Lima length axles from Alan Gibson on occasion. Mind you - the Lima bogies are BR type rather than Stanier, anyway! Regards, John Isherwood.

You are proceeding correctly. However, it always was difficult, even when the plastic was new and reasonably pliable. By now, the plastic will be old, rigid and brittle; you may well have to do some damage to remove the glazing / roof. Whatever; make some slips of 10 thou. plastic card and press each window in, one at a time. The aim is to slip the plastic card between the top of the window and the window frame, so that the window can't spring back into place in the frame. If you can achieve this then the window / roof moulding will pull out when all of the windows have been treated. If this proves impossible, push in each window, whilst supporting the roof, until you hear a crack; repeat for each window, at which point the roof / windows should pull out. The cracks can be repaired with solvent and allowed to set, before refitting the roof. Be brave !! Regards, John Isherwood.

How about a fine-toothed hacksaw blade - or perhaps a junior hacksaw? Regards, John Isherwood.

.... or make one cut with a blade 1.5mm thick - automatically parallel faces to the two parts ! Regards, John Isherwood.

I suppose that just to know how many decoders are sold per loco sold would be, in itself, quite revealing. Any retailer prepared to answer that one? Regards, John Isherwood.

I hate to sound a negative note - but any carriage cleaner who let a coach go out with obscured windows like that would be in for a 'rocket' next day; (though it did happen - and I've travelled in the neglected vehicle in question)! Perhaps a touch of Klear to indicate that someone had at least shown the windows a dirty rag? Regards, John Isherwood.

None of us were born with skills - of any sort; as in all things, we learn by our mistakes. If you never try to build an etched kit, you will never get it wrong - and therefore you'll never learn the correct way to do it. So - it's not a case of not having the skills, but rather the fear of getting it wrong that deters you. Start with something simple / not too expensive - perhaps a pair of etched coach bogies, wagon chassis or something similar. Regards, John Isherwood.