Adam

Mission accomplished! Canal Junction 'box complete, if not 100 per cent finished, before I disappear on holiday for a week. The remaining jobs include the bobby himself, his transport, and Wordsell's rug. Oh, and installation on the layout! The final jobs included glazing - I used CD cases which were structural as well as functional - overlaid with etched window frames from AMBIS. These were intended for Midland Railway 'boxes but serve just as well for LMS versions (well, some LMS 'boxes - later and seemingly more common versions had squared top corners) albeit with most of the glazing bars removed. All these serve to make it look just that bit different. The CD case also served for the frosted window for the toilet door, with it's framing scraped together from fragments of 10 thou'. Here is it in cruel close-up before painting. Only the operators will ever set eyes on it... All this is in preparation for the appearance of Yeovil MRG's South Junction at October's Taunton Railex. There are a few more jobs I need to do for this but this is the biggest, and - I think - the most satisfying. Adam

Very nice Dave - would I be right in thinking (I seem to remember a Don Townsley article about Austerity saddle tanks*) that Hunlset liked to paint everything black with coloured panels? In that case would the tank fronts and upper cab panels be black? The tank turn-ins and cab entrances certainly look a bit odd at present but maybe that's just me? Adam *I've always fancied doing a Hunslet saddle tank in a Hunslet factory scheme - nicely fussy to my eye.

Moving through the phases now and this time, I've completed basic detail painting, added fire bucket and name boards and made a start on the remaining interior details. More on the latter anon, but I will admit to being quite pleased with how it looks thus far. A week to harden off, afforded by going on holiday, and I'll come back to that though I may manage to sort the windows out over the weekend. Adam

Raspberry ripple? Anyone? The fun bit - adding the contrasting colour to the framing - has now been accomplished and the general effect is to make it look as though it should be perched atop an ice cream cone! Weathering will tone this down a fair bit and I expect addressing the areas that should be a bare wood colour will make a difference as will attending to the fenestration. The next job to be tackled, I think, is to attend to the fire buckets and their rack. Both will be bright red which will contrast nicely with the murk below the stairs and behind the coal bunker. Tidy enough, so far. Adam

Further to the East Yelland power station contract. The B4 was LSWR/SR 101, bought in 1949 by Taylor Woodrow. Interestingly it wasn't the only steam loco used in that job: Staverton Builders Ltd used a Barclay 0-6-0 saddle tank, w/n 1844 of 1924. Adam

Another [identity tbc] was used in the construction of Yelland power station (between Fremington and Bideford, north Devon), opened in 1955. More details when I get home and can lay my hands on the relevant copy of the IRS handbook. The Southern e-mail group webpages record a significant number withdrawn around Nationalisation and I suspect that most entered industry: http://www.semgonline.com/steam/b4class.html - note that 'Sussex' and 'Dorset' seem not to have been LSWR/SR names. Adam

Thanks (and bother, in equal measure! ). At this point, because the rear of the box, which is a solid wall, will face the viewer, they'll be staying as they are. The operator's view will be directly downwards so they won't see it either. I should still have checked, however... That said, I'm reasonably sure I have the correct number of levers and that they're the right colour. Since in these boxes, the frames were mounted at the rear, they're invisible to the viewer as well. Doubtless none of this will prevent people from telling me that I've mounted to roof back to front! Thanks again, Adam

Thanks Colin - it's had a second coat of cream and a first coat of the contrasting colour for the framing (LM red, in this instance - I've used Humbrol's matt wine, no. 73) since. I've also fitted the frame and stove before I misplaced/damaged them. I'll post another picture once the second coat has gone on as, at present, it looks a bit of a mess, albeit a neatly delineated mess. Adam

Oh, lots - see the thread on the Ixion 7mm model, for some examples: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78328-ixion-0-gauge-fowler-diesel-loco/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/51368278@N08/15985565105/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-evanses/7392331078/ For example - the North Devon Clay Company had one at Peters Marland (now at Bodmin) and all the other preserved examples of this design are industrial machines. Adam https://www.flickr.com/photos/camperdown/9186869364/

The other side of the move, thank goodness, and with a view to ensuring I know where everything is, the time has come to work through a handful of projects to completion. First up, Canal Junction 'box, last seen here. Note that before reaching its current state, primed and with a first coat of cream applied by brush, I saw fit to add some foundations which will locate it in the baseboard - 60 thou' plastic sheet. The roof is in position for context and the toilet door will be added after painting as will the fire buckets. At the other end, the water butt has sprouted a stud of wire to represent the tap - since this will be at the bottom of the cutting constrained by retaining wall, I didn't see fit to go further, or to add rivets to the water bit itself. Even I have to draw the line somewhere! Meanwhile, I've added a retaining nut to the roof using some chucks of 40 thou' with the nut wedged with plastic and epoxied in position. At the same time, I drilled an accompanying hole through the floor. This isn't especially exciting but brings us up to date. The whole thing will be hidden (if I remember) by the signalling diagram above the instrument shelf. Adam

The 'Illusodrive' business is the arrangement by which the flycrank is synchronised with the rods without - and this is the key bit - the two being connected. Does that make sense? Adam

Nor me, but if you go the the search page: http://www.eafa.org.uk/search.aspx and enter 98971 into the box the video comes up... with the URL Justin posted. Odd, but a delightful bit of film. Adam

This will be the last wagon for a bit - we're moving house - and as this one splodges off the bench (though the rust needs a bit of sharpening up, not helped by this somewhat rough pic') i'll say cheerio for a bit. Adam

The orange seems to be a standard Aveling Barford colour and the crest of the door, I think (but could be wrong) is simply a maker's badge. Adam

Well there weren't many of them, of course! What's good about this picture is that it clearly shows the large plate front axlebox demonstrating that, although the body looks like a 16 tonner, it clearly isn't. It's not quite clear what pattern of W iron is fitted, but the absence of a tiebar is obvious and, interestingly, it's apparent that the side door was not only operable, but in use. There's a large rust spot where the door hits the spring. Note that the door appears to be a replacement - it's a different, slightly shiny shade of grey - and that this seems to have been independent of the renewal of the side plating. Adam [EDIT - I may be wrong about the tiebar - be careful about low res pics on mobile phone screens! - but note also the heavy duty springs]

Not exactly. There's more details here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65264-rtr-4mm-iron-ore-train-help/page-2&do=findComment&comment=2065972 to summarise, it's actually an LMS diagram 2153 - M622381 - note that the rating is 27 tons. There's another view here: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsmineral/h5254eb6e#h5254eb6e Adam

A boxy mineral, ready to paint: Not, perhaps, the most exciting wagon on the block but the first thing I've actually completed for a bit. As I type, it's under a coat of primer. Adam

Inching ever onward, and two sub assemblies are complete. One, admittedly, is the cab roof, but that's one less thing on the list. The overall impression, however, is nicely Peckett like, though pictures of progress to date does show up how relatively crude the kit is. Having boiler fittings and a roof on does make a difference, however, and the remaining work - pipes for the injectors (supplied as etchings: hmm, but they are the correct size and Peckett injectors are hexagonal in section. No, still not using them!). The front end shows that there is a little more work needed - one side of the footplate needs a tweak for a start... Adam

Lovely work (as I've come to expect) but I am left wondering exactly how anyone reaches that noticeboard to put anything up! A stepladder, perhaps? Adam

What he said - I'd definitely be after an EM version. Adam

Thanks, information filed away for (possible) future use. A

Happy to be of service: keep up the good work!

Lovely work, Andrew - especially the brakevan. Presumably, you simply haven't got round to removing the tiebar between the W irons? Not a feature of any 1923 spec' mineral I've seen (though that doesn't mean it never happened). Adam

There's a nice flow to that. Apologies if I've missed this Andrew - whose TOUs are those? Glad to see that it's coming on. Adam

The Peckett now has a set of boiler fittings. Those supplied were fine, to an extent, but were very tall, showing up the late 19th century origins of the design. Several later X class Pecketts were fitted with chimneys and safety valves rather lower in height - and some locos, presumably reboilered, had Ross pops rather than Salter type safety valves; this was latterly Peckett's normal practice and that's my preference. So how to achieve that? The whitemetal chimney was distinctly oval and, though reducing it in height is possible, making a neat job proved impossible without a lot of filing and produced a less than happy end result. I wasn't even going to start doing anything similar with the valves so required a plan B. Plan B came in the form of spare sprues from Heljan, intended for their GWR 1361 available from Howes. This offers a neat plastic moulding in two parts, base and top, representing the composite nature of the real thing. I had to thin the rim a little and the base quite a lot, but the result is better than what it replaced. The safety valve cover was hacked from a dome in a similar way. Both are now epoxied in place, as is the chimney-mounted lubricator (from Branchlines). A suitable tank filer is on order from RT Models and when I'm feeling brave, I'll think about the whitemetal smokebox door... This pic' shows that the RH rear cab sheet needs straightening... Adam