John Isherwood

Driving south along the A1 (Princes Highway) this morning, perhaps 90 minutes south of Batemans Bay, what should I see on my nearside but the unmistakable shape of the engine end body of a Sentinel steam railcar, now doing duty as a (rather ineffective) store! Circumstances mitigated against a photo, sadly; were Sentinel steam railcars widely used in Australia? John Isherwood.

Not here in Australia, anyway! John Isherwood.

Tony, Just a thought - if these coaches are sold out, and there is not going to be a future supply of them, would not a BRM article be rather pointless / frustrating from the readers' perspective? Along the lines of "Take a Jamieson kit for a ........."? CJI.

As I posted elsewhere, the entire Cambridge Custom Transfers range will be available for 2.5mm. scale when we reopen in mid-March. John Isherwood.

Come on Jesse - if you are going to frequent the UK on a regular basis, at least learn some of the bigger words! In your lingo it means 'downright bloody stingy'; (though I can think of a few more colourful expressions - perhaps referring to the bodily orifice of a mozzie - which could have no place in refined company such as this)! CJI (currently in Sydney, prior to travelling south and west).

I would love to know the circumstances - just shunted, or operational? CJI.

A quick railway update on our Oz Brisbane - Adelaide coastal jaunt. En route from Sydney to Katoomba, whilst waiting at traffic signals - so I couldn't get a proper look - an eclectic mixture of five locos appeared alongside, comprising an alternating consist of modern and 1960s bonnet types on a long container train; impressive! Yesterday morning we passed through Oberon, and noted what appeared to be a budding heritage railway under reconstruction. We didn't stop to investigate - I try to avoid injecting too much railway content when on holiday! Then, yesterday evening, on leaving an excellent pub opposite Katoomba station, an XPT rake pulled in, paused for a couple of minutes, and then pulled out in that inimitatable, purposeful, HST / XPT fashion; happy memories of Bodmin Parkway station back home - soon to be gone forever! John Isherwood. PS. Totally out of character, I had earlier recited the Stanley Holloway classic "The Lion and Albert", in my best native Lancastrian accent, to a poetry group meeting in the pub. It was received with a standing ovation, to my immense gratification! I doubt that an Ozzie interloper at a similar UK gathering would have received such warm treatment! Two weeks gone - three to go, and a very enjoyable time we are having, too. Having said that, will SOMEONE please tell Googlemaps that, since the new tramway opened, the bottom end of Jamison Street, Sydney has been closed at George Street! Google still thinks that Jamison Street is one-way, and that, consequently, there is no legal way to get to the Amora Hotel!

You are aware that Macgeordie of this parish has done the Insixfish in brass? CJI.

No personal experience - but Thingiverse is used by a very skilled designer of my acquaintance, who kindly supplies prints to this technology-challenged geriatric! CJI.

I have a LOT of locos, bought / built over many years, and the vast majority have three pole motors. All run very well - if a loco does not do so, the LAST thing to check is whether the motor has three or five poles! CJI.

Get some Copydex - rubs off without a trace when no longer needed. CJI.

Glue? CJI.

Can't help with the number but - put on some random number transfers; rub off 90% of the printing; a bit of weathering; and you'll have a perfect representation of the prototype!! CJI

Too right !! The Mercure Hotel seems to have survived unscathed, thankfully! CJI.

On our last Oz trip - west coast, four years ago - we stopped off at a supermarket which closely resembled this. Floor to ceiling wooden shelving; a single checkout and poor lighting. Fifteen years ago, in the old gold mining town of Croydon, there was a tiny general store that sold everything - including fencing wire, explosives, etc., etc. We are now in Port Macquarie, having driven down today from Brisbane. CJI.

Tasmania? CJI.

It's the counterweight end of a Cowans Sheldon handcrane; as modelled, all those years ago, by Tri-ang - and still available from Hornby, I believe. CJI.

..... look closely, it's got SYP. Am I right in thinking that this is unusual on the original livery? CJI.

Could Rapido supply a spare set of rods, so that you could articulate two shortened rods on the centre crankpins? CJI.

Yes - all of that particular diagram; they only became bauxite when they ceased to be meat vans. Before maroon - ie. from new, they would have been crimson - hence airfix moulding them in red plastic! John Isherwood.

Do a Wikipedia search on Rollbock - there is a picture there that will give you an idea of the wheel diameter in question. CJI.

Looks excellent - but I've got the Bill Bedford jig. CJI.

That top-feed is, I think, non-standard - a Swindon feature? CJI.

Picky, I know (sorry), but the lettering on the maroon wagon would have been straw yellow. CJI.

Correct - but my recollection of Continental transporter wagons (Rollwagen?), seen on YouTube, is that the wagon bogies (6-wheeled?) had similar, tiny wheels to the transporter bogies. CJI.