P.C.M

Thanks Bob, I have a Stratford class 47 waiting to be finished off so keep dropping by for a look. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Jintyman, Still work to do on the layout, I just need to stop working on stock. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Alex, I am pretty sure I have a pic of a class 25 at Toton I will try and find it. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Jeff, I have like the A class ever since seeing my first one back in the early 90s thought they were in a different Livery back then. Here is A85 taken last year on shed in Melbourne. By this time the loco belonged to Pacific National and was stored out of use. Cheers Peter.

25224 left the workbench the other day. I think I will do something with the headcodes but otherwise I am really happy with this loco now. This loco was painted about 18 years ago then improved about six years ago and re motored 4 years ago with a 5 pole motor, I was pretty happy with how it ran but decided to try and put a Bachmann chassis underneath. Also sitting on the layout is a new Loco I bought last week. Its an Australian A class loco. I have been tempted with one of these for a while as it's my favourite Australian loco but they are normally quite expensive this loco was on sale so I couldn't resist. Cheers Peter.

No worries Ken, My older Bachmann class 40 has arrived and I have tried the Lima body on the chassis, as you say its a pretty good fit. I will let you know how I go. Cheers Peter.

Thanks meanach, The cab cab window on the class 37 is the Bachmann glazing, I just scribe a straight line where I want to cut it the carefully cut away the small section with a knife and file. I then glue a thin stripe of plasticard to the top and paint blue. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Jeff, I have an older class 40 now so will see how I go with putting a Lima body on the chassis. Cheers Peter.

Hi Phil, The latest track plan looks pretty good, with the RES sidings away from the station area it would look less crowded. If you have the room maybe lose the short loco siding and extend the platform a bit then you can fit loco and 5 coaches or loco and 4 coaches with room for the loco working the train back out to fit in the platform. Cheers Peter.

Hi Ken, My post may have confused you. My Bachmann class 40 is just a detail job. The chassis is going under a Hornby class 25. Though its funny you mention putting the old Bachmann chassis under a Lima body as I am planning on doing just that, and have an old Bachmann class 40 on its way over. Cheers Peter

Thanks Alex, You would have seen 25244 on the layout thread before, though now it might see more use as it runs really well. Cheers Peter.

Despite having a class 33/1 two class 20s and a 150 Sprinter on the workbench the class 40 has jumped the queue along with what I thought would be a fairly quick re chassis project. So far on the class 40 I have added extra pick ups, replaced the buffers with Hornby ones. I have replaced the multiple working pipes on the front and on the bogie sides with white metal ones from a Craftsman class 40 detail kit. The Bachmann pipes on the side are not that over big really so with a bit of sanding down and reducing the thickness of the raised section on the bogie that they sit on improves things quite a bit. I have also made up the pipework that sits on the bogie sides from 1mm brass rod. On the body I have removed the numbers and double arrows at one end, 97406 also had its horn grilles missing from one end so these have been drilled out. I have also been working on an old favourite of mine. 25244 was done about 16 years ago and a few years back I did some extra detail on the model and fitted a new 5 pole motor. I have been happy with it's running but it's never been as good as my Bachmann 25s. Over the Christmas holidays I thought about fitting a Bachmann chassis. My original plan years ago was to fit a Hornby body to the Bachmann chassis but this would mean finding a way to attach the body, my new idea was to just use the metal part of the chassis with motor and bogies and bodge the Hornby chassis underneath. It was more work than I thought but I am quite happy with how its come out. Cheers Peter.

I have started work on 97406 and looking at pics I am not sure if the inner sandboxes have had the pipework removed. Also looking for pics of the inside of the cab and bulkhead. Cheers Peer.

Hi Rob, I like the look of this, will be following your progress. Cheers Peter.

Superb black and white shot Jason, Love the view looking up the street. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Rick, it can be a bit of a pain. More than one has hit the floor. Cheers Peter.

I have been asked how I do my bufferbeam pipework and still have Kadee couplers. The pics will hopefully explain things but I use a small piece of bungee cord and superglue it to the air or vac pipe, then glue that into the pre drilled hole in the bufferbeam. Depending on how sharp your curves are you may be able to get away with just doing the inner pipes and gluing the outer ones the normal way. Hope the pics help. Cheers Peter.

Hi Derek, Always nice to see your pictures, thanks for the blow ups it gives me a good idea of how the step looks. Cheers Peter.

Hi Cav, Backscenes are certainly worth thinking about earlier rather than later. I won't make that mistake again, having left them until too late on Llanbourne. Cheers Peter.

Hi Cav, Just been catching up, and it's looking good. Now that you have the bridges almost sorted I presume you will be cracking on with track laying? I like the signal too hard to believe it's 2mm in some pics. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Tom, I was looking at pictures of 40135 (97406) on Flickr the other day and noticed that the horn grilles were missing at one end. Something else to try and model. Any pics of how the horns site behind the grille would be good, Hadn't really noticed the step any pics of that would be nice. Cheers Peter.

Thanks heaps tinsley-toton, That's superb, just about covers everything, I think I will be spending a bit of time checking it all out. Cheers Peter.

Hi, They do look the same, so get the cheaper 47474. I did 515 myself but used tanks from a Bachmann 47035 and did a few mods so they didn't look like the class 57 ones that they were based on.

Thanks Dave, They are very nice class 40s, and there was an article in Express Modeller a few years back which does give some of the detail differences, so well worth a read if you can find a copy. Cheers Peter.

40012. has extra brackets half way up the nose doors, they are right next to the ones fitted in the normal position. Also small round disc bottom right of nose door, I think this was fitted due to the loco working a royal train. 40012 at some point had it's multiple working cable and socket removed from the bufferbeam, leaving two holes. Cheers Peter.