P.C.M

Thanks Marcus, 37284 was a a bit of a beast. I had it for haulage on a railtour where it top and tailed two class 33s up and down a few valley lines. I had a couple of nice pics of the loco so thought it would be a good loco to model. Cheers Peter.

Nice work on the bridge Marcus, Some nice pics of trains too I do like those POA wagons. Cheers Peter.

The Dogfish with there Greedy Boards have now been weathered up and have entered service with the Heljan wagons finished the other day. Cheers Peter.

Hi John, I think there were more Dace than Crab. I did a quick Google search it seems the Crab were converted from Lamprey wagons during the 80s. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Mark, I have a few with NSE branding on they used to get about a bit. I have a few Scotrail branded coaches too it makes for a nice bit of variety. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Mate, I do like a large logo class 37. I do have a few other to do but not for Llanbourne. Cheers Peter.

Nice work on the coach Simon, curtains are a nice touch too. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Rick, I don't remember ever seeing Mermaid wagons on the Southern we did get Grampus at Eastleigh and later the air braked replacements Clam but they were used for spoil mainly, as were the Turbot bogie wagons. Cheers Peter.

Class 37's were not an everyday sight on the Coast in my time period. There was a stone train booked a pair of 37's from Hope street and Llanbourne isn't really big enough for such a large train. Class 37's were quite common piloting service trains from Crewe after being in works for referbishment and during 1988-9 there was a Fridays only Cardiff-Rhyl and return booked for a Cardiff 37/4. So passenger work for Llanbourne's class 37's are a FSO Cardiff- Llandourne booked a class 37/4 which sometimes produces a no heat loco. A 37 can turn up vice class 33 on trains from Cardiff too. I do have an ex works loco to pilot a service trains and it wasn't unknown for an ex work loco to be used on it's own on a service train if Crewe was short of motive power. Another freight flow I run now and then is a coal train from Washwood Heath. There was a train from Washwood Heath that ran to Shewsbury and Gobowen so I have borrowed this train to run to Llanbourne. I did have this train running from Cardiff but Washwood Heath seems more likely. Llanbourne's class 37's. 37284 CF 37428 CF 37695 CF. Ok Pics seem to have come up in reverse order. Not sure how that happen'd Cheers Peter.

Thanks Mark, Glad you like the fleet updates, I actually have a Lima 31444 which sits in my display cabinet, I did think of putting a Hornby chassis under the Lima model but it's not the best model really, the Hornby loco looks the better option at the moment. Quick question I think I asked once before. Did you do an article on doing an ODA wagon I have the Parkside bits to do one. Any tips on what to do would be great. Cheers Peter.

Looking really good Rick, I do like those Dapol signals. If you need a distant let me know I have one for sell. Cheers Peter.

Hi Alan, Not heard that one but we didn't get many Dogfish on the Southern, 4 wheeled stuff was normally Crab and Dace. The Cambrian Dogfish are a pain to get right some of mine are not the best but they do run ok. I used to try and get the hopper looking level then use a soldering iron to adjust the bearings in the axle box to get them to sit square. I wasn't going buy any Heljan models as they were a bit pricey but I pick up 6 for about 10 Dollars each, they are a very nice model. The two that still need to be done had been painted green so I will re do these in the Dutch livery. Cheers Peter.

Here you go George, Hope these pics are of some use. Cheers Peter.

Here you go George, Hope these pics are of some use. Cheers Peter.

Hi George, Just stumbled on your thread. The brake van looks good I have one part built and could email you the instructions if you want though I think you have done pretty well so far. The brass etch forms the brake gear, I could take pics of the underside if thats any help. Cheers Peter.

No worries James, I am not sure why Bachmann made them a separate part to start with but I do think fitting them improves to look of the bogie. Cheers Peter.

So apart from adding a bit more green stuff to the yard I haven't done anything to Llanbourne for a few weeks to be honest I have lost interest a bit. So this long weekend I thought a nice easy project that could be done in a few days would fire up my mojo a bit. For this I normally go back to doing a few wagons, last year I picked up some cheap Heljan Dogfish wagons so I decided to weather them up. I did have to re do the lamp brackets as they are the wrong side and fix the couplers so they don't wave about. I did remove and add a few transfers to make some variety but other than that after a bit of weathering I think they look pretty good. While doing these I picked out two old Cambrian models and added some extensions from plasticard. Cheers Peter.

Hi James, Superb work on the wagons they look great. I really like you recent class 47s though the Virgin Liv came out after I left the UK. The RES one certainly brought back memories. I remember seeing a few Parcels class 47s on the Waterloo - Exeter trains before the 159s took over. Something I did notice with your class 47s is you haven't fitted what I think are part of the brake gear that come in the little bag of extras. I have posted a pic of them fitted to one of my Duffs. One goes on each corner of the bogie. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Andy, Definitely 4mm. Cheers Peter.

Thanks for the comments Guys, The pic of 026 was cropped down a fair bit but I thought it looked pretty good. Sort of reminded me of looking across to the Exeter St Davids Stabling point. Nearly all the 33/0s and 33/2s made it along the coast at some point. 33207 I think was one of the last on a regular service train. The 33/1s didn't I think 33109 made it to Bangor in 89 on a special though. I always remember the Slim Jims being quite rare down Southampton way but as mentioned once the Hastings line was de-restricted they did become a lot more common on the Portsmouth - Cardiff trains so working to Crewe and beyond can more common too. Happy to weather a few Jeff though your weathering is fine. I have been out in the garage today weather up some Heljan Dogfish I picked up cheap. Cheers Peter. Pic below shows what was quite unusual at the time. 33208 storming through the New Forest on an interegional service to Reading.

33026 on the fuel point at Llanbourne. Cheers Peter.

Who would have thought that the Southern regions class 33's would end up working trains along the North Wales Coast. During the mid 80s the class 33's had their Portsmouth to Cardiff working extended to include Cardiff to Crewe trains and then to Bangor and Holyhead. Llanbourne's class 33's have Three turns the 1V02 Llanbourne - Cardiff (to Crewe) 1D27 Crewe - Holyhead and return 1V09 Holyhead - Cardiff. The 1M84 Cardiff - Bangor and return 1K34 Bangor - Crewe. The 2M66 Cardiff - Llanbourne. There is also a van/ passenger service in the early hours from Cardiff which can produce a class 33 but is booked a class 47/4. 33010 EH. 33026 EH. 33111 EH. 33202 SL. Cheers Peter.

Looking good Jeremy. Agree with Paul though a couple of NSE MK1 in that cobbler set would look pretty good. Cheers Peter.

Looking good Rick, I like your class 47 too. Are you just glueing the platform down? might be worth chucking a few screws in. Cheers Peter.

Thanks for the Pics Martyn, I do like the old Mermaid wagons too. They seem to be pretty common on the coast. Feel free to post up others. Cheers Peter.