Adam

Very nice indeed - and so quickly done! I wonder whether the smokebox dart could be finer though. For small locos like this make them up from N Gauge handrail knobs - which are shoulderless - and it makes a significant difference. I have some somewhere f you'd like? Adam

Eventually! It's destined to be a stores van on the layout, parked at the end of a siding. To this end it has an internal user number and branding. Of course the layout doesn't exist yet and the associated clutter will take a bit of work, but the van is done. Adam

I'm sure it was a product of the pit signwriter (who was quite good, on this evidence). Something approaching Gill sans and everything. For those unfamiliar with Caernarfon, Shirehall Street (where the assizes met, among other things) is, in Welsh, called 'Stryd y Jel', literally, jail street... Adam

I’m not certain of the photo’s date, and that’s certainly not an official sign, but it’s probably - going on the rest of the collection - late ‘60s. Maybe early ‘70s. As ever in Wales, there’s a difference between what the Anglophone owners (and their market) called a thing and what the Welsh-speaking workers or community called a thing. Some of the differences are quite revealing (look up the Welsh name for Shirehall street in Caernarfon for good example). Adam

Excellent. And there's a Christmas present suggestion sorted. Adam

I can't claim a comprehensive survey, but 'never' is almost always a bit strong as this picture of Cynheidre in west Wales demonstrates: Cynheidre 1 by sapper537, on Flickr So Bwrdd Glo Cenedlaethol (Board Coal National), Adran De Cymru (Area South Wales), and our friend Glofa, followed by the place name. Note the English language sign on the other side of the road in characteristic NCB style. Adam

It's looking very impressive, Justin. With regard to buildings, I've found that by far and away the most reliable way of keeping them warp free is to build the carcasses from 60 thou'. Granted, this is in 4mm so proportionately there's probably a difference but with a modicum of bracing of corners and the use of internal floors and walls they survive. I've come to the conclusion that you need to be cleverer than I am to manage the multiple lamination method (though I can make it work with quite large wagons on occasion). In 2mm you could probably get away with 40 thou' as a base because the buildings are smaller. Adam

Try this instead: http://www.johndaymodels.co.uk/ Adam

Hello, There's a good chance that the Bodmin and Wenford will have a set - as they have both locos. I suspect that there were some drawings published in the Industrial Railway Society journal at some point (an elevation appears on the front of the IRS handbook for the SW). The Bagnall drawing collection is held at the Railway Museum in York: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110069833/wg-bagnall-ltd-drawings and if you know the work's numbers (easy to find) then you may be able to get hold of a set (for a price). Hope that helps, Adam

Ha! Jas does both, of course. Adam

Not quite - it was S scale (by Jas Millham); Abbey Street, in no. 260. Adam

Excellent news, Mike. Adam

Certainly later - I've seen colour photos of the units in Rail Blue. Dad was brought up in Saltash, he might well have a more accurate notion of when it ended. The dairy there wasn't actually rail-served; the milk was tripped to the yard by lorry. Adam

Courtesy of my dad who was involved in restoring the wagon in question. Neither of us knew about the mechanics of the buffer until that point... I think I have some of those 51L buffers; they're not the most amazing castings and they're not absolutely right, but they are the same size and proportion (just like the ABS ones used here) which ultimately is what matters! Adam

As it happens, @Jack P here's the real thing (from an ex-Port of Bristol-owned SECR open - the burning shown was to free up the shank which had seized). Interestingly, for anyone that had ever wondered how a 'self-contained' buffer works, the spring acts against the headstock and is not physically contained within the buffer housing. Simple, isn't it? Adam

Hi Jack, I'd forgotten about the unfitted ones (not sure that they made it to BR, you see) and the short fitted ones ended up branded as Carfit due to their lack of proper container fixtures; the lashing instructions for securing containers to them seem to involve an awful lot of rope... As an SR modeller, you can probably justify one - Geoff Kent made one of the fitted ones and detailed it in one of his wagon books (part 3, I think). They're fiddly. Adam

Assuming you mean the conflat B (per the SR branding: https://hmrs.org.uk/photographs/12t-conflat-b-sr-39327-vacuum-brake-undloc-ca1938-side-sr-insulated-container-f742-in-background.html). Tricky - they had a 9' wheelbase with 17' 6" over headstocks chassis and SR patent brakegear and RCH 'W-irons' which I'm not sure is a combination that's readily available. The brakegear can be had, I think, from Masokits, in etched brass and obtainable only by old-fashioned mail order by cheque (https://traders.scalefour.org/masokits/ - as Mike Clark makes very clear, this is his hobby, he conducts it how he wishes). There's a drawing in SR wagoons vol. 4. I've occasionally thought about making one but can't really justify the fiddle... (Maybe the longer Conflat D, which lasted better and are more attractive/useful in my view). Adam

The spares box - they must be ABS ones. Lanarkshire Models do something similar (look under the GWR self-contained types), the SECR ones were fairly similar - the heads should have a ring of rivets around the shank to secure the head to it but only Kenline ever included this feature and while we had some of those they weren't actually round... Adam

Something I didn't mean to start, or at least, not just yet. Cambrian's kit for the first of the distinctive 'Southern' vans with their loading gauge-filling domed roof. I've built examples of most of the major variations, less the plywood and banana versions but this is the progenitor of the breed, with a 9' 6" wheelbase, lifting link brake, and a bottom flap door. This is about as close to building something out of the packet as I get; I've replaced buffers, axleboxes and brake levers but that's it. The lever guides are from the Scalefour Society and the levers from Masokits. I've even painted it, though just the first pass as you can see, I've missed the odd bit. Adam

The components were used for platform extensions all over the place, indeed, I suspect at almost every station in Kent, including the two nearest me, Hildenborough (country end extensions) Leigh (wholly built of the stuff), and Paddock Wood (Tonbridge, I think, was always longer). I've seen these things in 7mm by one of the laser cutting outfits, but not in 4mm (yet). I'd look at scribed plastic sheet for the platform slabs, probably in continuous strips rather than the prototypical way for the sake of longevity. Adam

Right, for @2996 Victor's benefit and because it was out of the box: A reasonably tidy finish for this one. Transfers (especially the TUBE lettering) a bit of a mish mash from various sources. Adam

And all done - a bit of a change up with the valance turning black as well. Hopefully that's good for the next however long. Adam

An interlude. Last weekend, I went to RailWells (fine show, lovely city, go next year) and got talking to @lapford34102 which resulted in a brief guest operating spot on his Sheepcroft layout and also thoughts about the Heljan class 14. Now I bought one of these when they first appeared and converted it to EM by the simple expedient of pulling the wheels out and adding some spacers behind them (a bit of Milliput in the resulting holes finished that part of the job - simple). So for Stu's benefit here's a quick run down of the other cosmetic improvements: 1. The thickness of the buffer beam seems to have been double counted and thus they're about 1mm too proud. These pop off fairly easily and trimming a bufferbeam's width of material away is not too difficult using a new scalpel blade. The beams were remounted and the buffers replaced (I used GW models non-rotating sprung ovals but you might consider Lanarkshire Model's LB124 http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_124.htm or Hornby class 50 spares). 2. Decommission the lighting with scissors. It's too bright, the wrong colour and getting the wiring loom in and out is a pain. 3. Replace the handrail round the bonnet. This is a bit fiddly but essential as the plastic version supplied is very fragile and looks a bit naff. I've used 1mm nickel silver strip to which I soldered 'L's of nickel silver wire and fixed these into the existing mounting holes. 4. This is the one I haven't done (yet). Replace the coupling rods. The Heljan ones are a bit feeble and Brassmasters do a set. I must fire up the soldering iron and sort this out. Still, as it stands it's good solid model that runs well. Hope that helps, Stu! Adam

It's now seven years(!) later. A quick audit of the box of mixed industrials revealed a couple of mechanical duds (filthy wheels and pick ups) and a burst bunker caused by the combination of lead shot and PVA. The loco? Ah. My fault, of course since I reweighted this model (it was made by Bob Alderman from the Impetus kit and acquired from him when he gave up EM to fully commit to O), alongside replacing the gearbox with something more sophisticated than the Romford cog it was built with. So what's at stake? All three soldered joints had failed as was revealed by a bit of drilling and soaking with warm water: Removal turned out to be relatively painless and so I've soldered the rear plate back on and - since it's plain black - a patch repaint is worth trying at least, hence: Time to harden off and retouch with a brush. Maybe some cabside lining as well? Adam

Hi Mark, Thank you - I'd seen the alerts! I've finished both, but haven't got around to putting them in front of the camera; I'm toying with loads for them but what with one thing and another, they're sitting in boxes. I am doing up a house at present, and it's the cricket season so I'm pretty busy. When I get a minute... Adam