Excellent stud Barry.  I asked because, as an LNER/LMS fan myself and having to downsize from main line to branch, I wondered what locos I should have.

I do have several of them but no duplicates.  I also have a couple or so of now redundant main line locos which I'll either keep until I can persuade SHMBO to move to the train room or buy a house with a decent attic again………………..

Hi Peter

Small engines that are not tank engines.  The Hornby J15 is, in my opnion, one of their best in recent years.  It is very GER but the mechanism is smooth and pwerful and the short length of engine+tender make it idea for smaller layouts.  The M&GNJR gives a LMS/LNER link if you feel a need to justify your choice.

The J11 is also good and I like the V1/3 2-6-2T's although they are a bit suburban.  On longer distance trains, the 4-4-0's are a good bet, either the D49's or the earlier D11's.  The D49's look better I think.  The K1 or K3 engines could haul freight - both decent models - and the Sentinels from Model Rail make a useful shunting option for an industrial line.

I love the Q6 although a bit big in the backwaters.  I do have a photo of one on a very overgrown rural branch with a 16T mineral open and a brake van, described as a "Pick-up freight" so I guess anything could go!!

Barry

I'll have a look at the J15 Barry.  I do have an Oxford Rail (?) J27 which I'm sure the crew enjoyed more than the open topped J15…………..

Whilst very common and no doubt hard workers, I've never really been a big fan of those 4-4-0's although I'd agree with you that the D49 looks better than the D11 - that huge "mudguard" just looks odd to me ……

I do like my locomotives to look "pretty" as well as functional but maybe the odd D49 could creep into my stud - it doesn't look too bad (he says grudgingly)………

I have 3 early DMU 2 car sets - all Bachmann - the Class 105, Class 108 and the Derby Lightweight.  The 105 has sound installed but I need to equip the others with the same - when funds and ability allow……………………

I also have several tank engines - one of each - a Pannier (just because I like them), Fairburn 2-6-4, Standard Class 3 Tank, V3 Tank, N7, a Jinty, G5 and Robinson A5 - with the eception of the Fairburn, all sound fitted.

Just realised I'm on your thread - I'll shut up now ……………..sorry ……………..

No complaints Peter!

Peter

As you mentioned it, what is the G5 like.  That's the 0-4-4T by Bachmann isn't it?  I looked at them but not needing any more suburban tanks, passed them over.  Now that my old Bachmann V1/3's are getting a bit long in the tooth, and as I'm wavering on getting a Ellis Quad-Art set, I might have a re-think.

Barry

I like it a lot Barry.  I'm no purist but she does look the part and performs beautifully

Mine's in the BR black livery with a Zimo sound chip - I don't much like the LNER apple green on any locos - doesn't suggest power to me……….  The bronze green (or whatever it's called) looks much more the part.

I'll take some shots of it tomorrow although you'll no doubt have seen plenty online.

Thanks Peter

At £150+, I'll need a long think.  The photos online dont show the fitted steps below the cab - I presume that these come as an extra that can be left off for tight curves.  My tightest is 24inches, so would hope to be able to fit the steps.  The push-pull fitted version looks interesting - except I do not have any push-pull trains so a bit of a waste!!

Thanks again

Barry

Sorry Barry - got delayed by "garden chores" yesterday - we had gale force winds over the weekend followed by very heavy rain so my handler wouldn't let me go to the train shed until she was satisfied with my clearing of debris !!

Whilst the G5 is a lovely little loco, I think I'd baulk at paying £150 for it (plus almost as much again to fit sound !).  Railway modelling has reverted to being a rich man's hobby after several years where mere mortals could dabble.  For that reason, I buy very little nowadays. Hopefully "Rachel from accounts" will increase my pension sufficiently to enable me to buy a pack of rail joiners this year ……………………..

Having one tight curve on my layout, I didn't fit the steps but I'll have a bash and see if she'll go round with them fitted.  Here's some (very poor) photos of her - sorry - hand held 'point-and-shoot'  £20 camera but it does at least show the accumulated dust and cobwebs on the thing !! 

 

Still haven't got the hang of this photo thing since we switched systems - hopefully, you'll get the gist of what I've said ………….

Hi Peter

At the other end of the expenditure scale, I had an old Hornby Gresley Brake composite from the Breakdown Set (N2 hauled crane and mess coach).  It was a rather natty shade of pink/red plastic so a repaint using Humbrol Railcolour into "Blood & Custard" was required.  Decals from HMRS.  This is brush painted and cost £nil.  The inside is fully painted too and it will gain some passengers in due course.

And good fun too!!

Barry

More coach stuff.

I know that eBay is a bit "marmite" but I'm a fan and a known source was selling this Ian Kirk Gresley Brake 3rd kit for £25 which I considered a true bargain.

A bit of research suggests that this is a Diagram 37A 61ft 6in Brake 3rd built after 1930 (later underframes).  The photo shows the kit in the early stages of construction with the Kean Maygib wheels waiting to go into brass "top hat" bearings in the frames.  I can't say I'm a fan of plastic bogies (particularly the old Ratio ones) but these have cleaned up well.  The floor is not at all straight and may need some gentle heat to get it back into shape.  The sides come in two pieces, joined where the brake section is recessed in typical LNER fashion of the period.  There is a ducket on one side only for some reason - prototypical according to photos I have found.  I get that it might be for spotting signals and station approaches but what if its running the other way around?????

The kit is carrying a fair amount of flash suggesting old moulds but after a bit of work, so far so good.  The interior is included as are Cavendish buffers but I will need to source some NEM pockets for the couplings.  I will probably go for a Blood and Custard livery again after my last effort.  A bit of a faff but the results are pleasing.  I still have plenty of HMRS Pressfix transfers for BR coaches to provide "Guard" and "Weight" decals.  Again, I will manufacture a running number from whatever I can find.

In the days of £60 for a coach, producing something for half the price and from your own kit-building skills is certainly to be commended.  For those who haven't tried it, have a go with a Parkside or Ratio or (even) Airfix open wagon.  If all else fails, you have (i) gained experience for the next one and (ii) got a wagon to park at the end of a siding being unloaded!!

Bashing on………

Barry

Cheap=DIY/bashing=more. Apply the 3-foot/1 meter rule. Nice looking kit, and KM wheels. And it's an Ian Kirk kit. Hot water and some weight to straighten the floor.

Lovely paint job on the coach Barry.  I have a rake of Gresley blood and custards from I'd guess 10 or 15 years ago so probably later than your breakdown set. Certainly the colour sceme looks fairly accurate.   I like the B&C scheme very much, probably because it takes me back to my younger days ………………………(very much younger….)

I absolutely agree with you regarding kit built stuff rather than the silly prices being charged today for RTR models.  I made a few Dapol (ex Airfix I think) Toad B brake vans - around £5 or £6 each if memory serves me right as opposed to the £20 plus they cost RTR.  I had trouble getting the axles perfectly square plus, I rather stupidly didn't fit brass bearings !!  I now need to try to get them apart to fit said bearings …………………

Maybe the kit manufacturers will make a come-back now that prices have risen so dramatically.  I understand many of them ceased production when RTR models were quite reasonably priced so they couldn't compete except with models of rare  stock.

I've just been ordering some paints - Vallejo - but unfortunately, the likes of Railmatch are not available here and, AFAIK, can't be posted to France.  Modelling UK outline 'abroad' has it's problems …….

Looking forward to the coach build.

 

Thanks for the tip Nigel

New YouTube video uploaded - the first for a long time!  I have been squirrelling away at lots of little jobs that needed doing before the magazine photoshoot and thus things like video making took a back seat.  Things have also been busy on the social front, but thats fine - it avoids me becoming a shed hobbit.

I have recently bought another K3 on eBay as I start to replace the ancient and failing J39 fleet.  The new loco is a lovely runner but the previous owner renumbered it (well) and then gave it a coat of high gloss varnish which makes it look like a newly polished mirror.  Best advice for removing varnish without destroying the painting and decals underneath????  The K3's shared tenders with the J39's so I have replaced the tender body, giving me the old one as a test piece for different varnish-stripping options.

Someone mentioned Dettol (antiseptic fluid) a while back as an effective paint-stripper- is this for real?

Let me know what you recommend

B

Hi Barry,
Maybe a bit agricultural but would a coat of matt varnish do any good? I like that DMU.

I too like that DMU - did you weather it Barry ?

Hi Guys
I will try a matt over the gloss to see what happens.

The DMU is "out of the box" about 5 years ago so that's a "natural" weathered look  

Hi all

The shiny loco is still shiny but the application of matt varnish over the top of the gloss stuff has worked well on the old tender body, so I will experimenting some more soon.

Silly busy at the moment with a number of things including a family wedding in Norfolk (I'm in the North West so couldn't get much further away!) and a visit from Karl Crowther, estwhile Pres Sec of the EM gauge Society and nominated lensman for the Railway Modeller.  I attach a sample of his work - this is not mine to own but I can use them provided I acknowledge ownership - so consider his ownership duly noted.


These are just two of the eighty-odd pictures he took on the day.  No publication dates yet, I am not even sure what pictures the Editor has selected, but I will have to provide captions in due course.

The first photo captures the inner city feel of Trinity Square but does rather show up the distance between buffers on the coaching stock.  This is a compromise I guess I will have to live with until I bite the bullet and start changing couplings on all 850+ pieces of rolling stock

I am also not really quite sure why a B17 with a Down stopping train is rolling into platform 3!!  I guess it makes a better picture…………

In other news, I am still debating the purchase of the G5's - they look really nice!

Ah well, bashing on……………….

Great photo's.