SRman

Always a sense of achievement when you can get that last bit of track linked and powered and that first train runs!

50 years down, Chris. Now you have to start the countdown for another 50!! Congratulations on such a long and illustrious career. I certainly remember some of your earlier contributions and also some of your white metal bits and pieces.

Yes, the 3T units were blue initially then blue and grey, neither of which is currently available from Kernow and only the blue is projected at this stage. The problem also would exist if you were swapping bodies, chassis and/or bogies that any coaches within the units (3H, 3T or 4 EPB) all require the couplings with through contacts if the lighting is to work from the one decoder. It's starting to get messy!!

I like that suggestion but you would still need two DMBS vehicles (one powered, the other better unpowered, which means getting two 2 EPBs. Still, with some adaptation, one could then contemplate a class 204 (3T) unit from the 2 EPB DTS and 2H unit combination.

Yes, I can see customers "mopping up" existing stocks of 2H units if they can buy a centre coach at the same time. You can certainly include me in category 1!

Steel axles, Wayne? I have seen this happen on other layouts where steel axles were fitted to wagons - the nearest axle gets attracted towards the magnet and if it is free-running, the whole wagon tends to follow!!

Thanks for that, George. Just to show it all works, here is a video I took on my mobile phone, edited a little. It also includes my pre-grouping goods train with the Bachmann SECR 'C' 0-6-0 hauling it.

I don't know if it is an illusion caused by the wide angle lens but please don't tell me they have gone to 3' 6" gauge.

Getting very close to being finished now! I have added the safety valves (Markits) and whistle (a Bulleid one from Markits - the only type I have to hand right now!) plus a representation of the pipework leading to the whistle area. This is only representative as some of the pipes were a bit too fine for me to cope with. I need to dig out the copper paint for the clack valve pipes and those whistle ones. I added a partition of plasticard inside the back of the cab to separate the lower bunker from the cab area - visible from some angles looking into the cab. Coal has been added to the bunker (some of it is still loose in the photos as I haven't shaken it out again) - an underlayer of IKEA coal followed by a layer of real coal.

Last night I added the crests and numbers, then this morning I added glazing to the cab and ground away a couple of spots inside to allow the body to sit slightly lower on the chassis. It still looks a little high but is better than it was. The main tasks left to do involve the whistle and attached pipework and the safety valves, plus a little painting of details and some weathering.

Peter, the 'slave' I used was another Power Cab set to cab address 3 (yours is set to 2 by default). NCE also have Pro Cabs, which look and feel the same as the Power Cab but don't have the built-in command station (and, therefore, must be used as a 'slave' unit on the Power Cab system). Other, simpler cabs include their Cab 04, Cab 05 and Cab 06 units. Cabs 04 and 06 also come with two flavours: one type with potentiometers (suffixed with a 'p') which means the knob traverses a fixed arc, like your old DC controllers, or the other with an encoder wheel (suffixed with an 'e'), that acts the same way as the Power Cab in that there are no stops or fixed points. The Cab 05 has push buttons like the alternative controls on the Power Cab. I like to have two Power Cabs at exhibitions to cover against any (unlikely!) failures.

The locomotive has now been sanded back lightly and resprayed, followed by a quick going over with Humbrol #85 coal black satin on footplate, smokebox and tanks/bunkers, then the buffer beams and buffer shanks were painted red. I have also filed the cylinders down just a little. At this rate, I'll be able to hand the thread back to Norwenglish very soon! The GAP G16 4-8-0T can be seen in both photos as well.

Thanks Peter. I turned Peter's (PCM's) siding into a preservation line up! Nice photo too. Progress report for the Z follow: the first coat of undercoat grey (photo 1), handrails added over the front steps (no photo), second coat of primer grey (no photo), followed by two shots with the first coat of black (photos 2 and 3, front and back). The black needs a light sanding down to eliminate a few lumps and blemishes before a second coat then some brush painting to pick out buffer beams (in red, of course!) and other details. There are still a couple of wire pipes to add around the whistle area, with the whistle and safety valves to be added last in unpainted brass.

Yes, the cylinders and that support bracket will have to be dealt with ... eventually. At the moment I'm happy to have something that runs nicely.That means I can take my time to work out what I want to do. If at all possible, I would also like to alter the slide bar and crosshead arrangement to better represent the single slide bar configuration of the real Z. The Z is currently in the spray booth and has now received a coat of black, after adding the missing hand rails at the front and giving it another coat of grey primer last night.

I forgot to bring a camera too! I must say that the new bits looked very impressive and add to the overall impression very favourably. It was good to see you and Llanbourne again, together with some old friends, one of whom we hadn't seen for a very long time. Thanks for having us over.

Every time I think I'm close to finishing this I discover more details that I have missed! I keep checking the photos for positioning of items; the last time was to add the lamp irons and I noticed two more handrails on the back of the bunker. The lamp irons have been done using round section wire, flattened a bit in the pliers (not enough though!). The bunker handrails were added. The smokebox number plate was added out of 20 thou plasticard. "At last I can apply the first coat of primer!" I thought. I duly dismantled the body from the chassis and sprayed it with a coat of grey primer (which is still drying as I type this) and I looked at the pictures again and then I spotted the two handrails on the footplate above the front steps! Ahhh well. They'll just have to be added afterwards. Anyway, here are two more pics showing where I am at now, but just before the painting started.

Coach, I have disagreed with you on this one because, even though the P2s were rebuilt before nationalisation, there were still a few LNER green locomotives around still in green to haul BR mark 1s in crimson and cream. In my opinion, the colour combination didn't look too incongruous at all. I can see it as a plausible might-have-been for an LNER green P2, perhaps with "British Railways" emblazoned on its tender, hauling some blood and custard Mk 1s and some teak and blood/custard Gresley/Thompson stock. Now, having thrown my hat in the ring for might-have-beens, what does anyone think of a P2 in BR express locomotive blue with white/black/white lining?? That would certainly look appropriate on BR mk 1s. I can picture it in my mind's eye ... Although, rereading your post, perhaps you were a bit tongue-in-cheek anyway ...

Some very nice video footage of the 45 there, David. Interesting 'substitution' too, 69843.

Hi Colin. Sorry I missed your comment earlier. I agree with what you say about dstance from the coupling's leading edge to buffer face although with tighter curves I tend to allow a millimetre or two to avoid buffer locking. As the photos show, this installation clearly exceeds that by a considerable margin!! It would be possible to move the coupling mounts only slightly further back. The axleguards are part of a boat shaped etching which takes up a bit of the chassis space on either side of each axle. Addtionally, I have opted to use the compensation unit which means that the coupling mount cannot be attached touching the pivot or etching as it would then interfere with the movement. The upshot is that I have mounted them as far back as I dare. I want to get hold of some shorter couplings (I think Bachmann make them) to reduce the distance from buffer face to end of coupling bar. Kind Regards, Jeff.

Still tweaking and refining things on the Z, I have added the strange pipework on the front above the buffer beam and the rear bunker steps, which were cut from 20 thou plasticard. I temporarily installed a small Gaugemaster decoder, gave it the number 950 and took it to show off at PCM's BRMA meeting yesterday. It ran rather hesitantly because of the various disturbances to wiring and valve gear and a little resin dust in the pickups but after a quick lubrication job and dust off it is now (as I type) trundling around my layout. I still need to add lamp irons and the smokebox number plate and then, I think, it will be ready for painting in plain BR black. I have not, as yet, figured out how I am going to affix couplings!

You seem to have done wonderful job of fitting everything into the restricted space, Dave. Everything we do in modelling has to be a compromise somewhere along the line, even if it is for such things as accessibilty or limited space. The modelling and your photography are superb!

And yet one more shot of the detailing bits. The holes in the tank fronts are a fudge as the real items actually pass behind the tanks; on the model the tanks are integral with the boiler (a necessary compromise for the casting). I will try to carve a little more detail into the clack valves rather than leaving them as semi-shaped blobs!

I have been working on the Golden Arrow Productions Z class 0-8-0T, the body kit for which arrived last week. Rather than duplicating everything so far, I have hijacked Norwenglish's thread that deals specifically with this model, here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74548-gap-z-class-kit/page-1. This uses a Hornby motor-driven Stanier 8F chassis but involves a lot less modification than the one in the G16 kit. While most of the previous posts about the Z could equally well belong here, I have duplicated only the most recent post, in part because it also shows further work on the G16 and on a Triang 'Nellie' 0-4-0T that I have been detailing up as a 'quickie' project. This was prompted by the sudden availability of some Romford wheels and axles of a suitable size, cascaded from re-wheeling my Craftsman class 07 diesel shunter with newer and truer Markits wheels. The 'Nellie' has received separately fitted handrails as well, and now has some etched brass spectacle frames (the front ones have been filled and filed to match the rear ones)..This loco will eventually be finished in lined black. The finer detailing continues on the Z. I mixed a bit of Milliput to repair the holes and gaps in the resin castings and used that to make some crude clack valves. Once painted these shouldn't look too bad. After some digging through photographs, I have worked out that the rather delicate lifting links for the valve gear were covered by boxes on the footplate after nationalisation (or possibly even just before!). I have made boxes of approximately the right size from two pieces of 60 thou plasticard laminated together. There was also one more little wire handrail/handle on the smokebox door to do and that can also be seen in this latest photo. The G16 has also had my crude Milliput clack valves added. The sheet of etched brass spectacle frames, the rear ones with coal bars on, are from Mainly Trains and I will use these on the Z. I have also used a set on the Triang 'Nellie' project which can be sen at the rear of the photo.

One more from me: the finer detailing continues on the Z. I mixed a bit of Milliput to repair the holes and gaps in the resin castings and used that to make some crude clack valves. Once painted these shouldn't look too bad. After some digging through photographs, I have worked out that the rather delicate lifting links for the valve gear were covered by boxes on the footplate after nationalisation (or possibly even just before!). I have made boxes of approximately the right size from two pieces of 60 thou plasticard laminated together. There was also one more little wire handrail/handle on the smokebox door to do and that can also be seen in this latest photo. The G16 has also had my crude Milliput clack valves added. I also have a sheet of etched brass spectacle frames, the rear ones with coal bars on, from Mainy Trains and will use these on the Z. I have also used a set on the Triang 'Nellie' project which can be sen at the rear of the photo.

Yes, just when you think they can't get any more realistic these guys come along and post something ... well ... more realistic!! Some of those recent photos are totally convincing. Well done guys.