Lancing

Indeed Jeremiah, but it's a shame the author has insulted the largest island community in the South of England by mis-spelling the name. Some of the A1/A1X Class locos did operate on the Isle of Wight Railways, but NOT the Isle of WHITE!

The Z Class shunting locos had limited duties and a very limited operating range - mainly London marshalling yards and, later, banking between Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central, so perhaps not a very popular choice.

I think you mean Bulleid LC&DR, or were you intending to knock them around a bit?

Thanks RAF96, I've now found some useful information of the RMWeb site. I'd done a number searches already, under 'foam board', but the new result came up using 'Celotex' as one of the search words.

Because I need to keep weight to a minimum, I'm considering using plastic foam for baseboard construction - 50mm or 100mm thick to ensure it's rigid. The best on the market seems to be US made Gator Board, but it's prohibitively expensive. UK building trade 100mm thermal insulation board is cheap, however, but would need to be edged and possibly surfaced in ply or timber. Does anyone have any experience or comment about the suitability or otherwise of this material?

Alessio - that sounds lke an electrical fault, possibly something just making contact until it vibrates out of contact. Look at the electrical pick-ups first - are they making good contact with the wheels, if yes, then remove the body and check all the wiring very carefully to see if anything is loose. If it all looks sound it may be what's known as a 'dry joint', ie a poorly soldered joint. These are tricky to spot, but if any soldered joint looks dull grey rather than silver, that might be the problem.

My belated thanks for your reply LC&DR. I'd considered using microstrip for the sash windows, but concluded that the men in white coats might have to collect me if I tried. I agree with you that they would be best produced as separate items before fitting in place. However, I think I may have to sub-contract the job to a specialist!

That's a magnificent model of Gillingham shed LC&DR, very well done. I'm currently drawing up scale plans for my local station and have been researching web-sites for suitable components and materials. One of the many challenges will be the LB&SCR pattern sash windows - according to the original drawings they were 3'0" wide and 6'9" tall. I can find similar pattern windows but not in the right size, so I may have to commission specials. Do you have any suggestions?

Unfortunately, clearances for our model railways are subject to much compromise, mainly due to lack of space in the average house to lay realistic radius curves. The 67mm distance between parallel track centres is largely determined by the need to avoid contact between lengthy coaches and other long model vehicles, when passing those on the adjacent track on small radius model curves. The minimum centre distance on 'the big railway' scales at close to 45mm on straight track, but this is increased on curves to avoid the same problem in real life! Unfortunately you have a level crossing close to your bridge with the same 67mm track centres, otherwise I would have suggested replacing part of your fixed radius curves with flexitrack and reducing the centre to centre distance across the bridge. That might have been an easier option than widening the bridge.

Hornby has recently released this model, reference R4936. I assume it's a re-issue of the old Lima version, which was not a bad model in its day. If so, however, no attempt seems to have been made to update it to modern standards - it appears to retain the old clunky couplings and bogies, while the glazing is not flush as would now be standard. As such, I would have expected it to be in the Railroad Range, yet it seems to have been priced more in line with recent coaches, at a RRP of £36.99. I'm no expert on tooling costs, but I'm suprised Hornby has not taken the opportunity to upgrade the couplings, bogies and glazing, which would really have lifted this model. Similar comments apply to the former Dapol tooling ex-LMS restaurant car, which now seems to be a mainstream premium priced model, despite its age and the unsightly solebar cut-outs.

Hi NLOB Thank-you for the additional info. I thought there must have been a BB train pack with 12-wheelers to explain why the addional 3 vehicles were released in R4381, but R2819 was missing from my records. I see that the vehicles in that pack were Kitchen 1st Malaga, Parlour Brake 3rd car 94 (ex-Ansonia) and Parlour 3rd Car 96 (ex-Sylvia), so that makes 12 in total. If Ramsey says 13, which one have I missed?

So far as I am aware (and the regulars on this forum will correct me if I'm wrong) Hornby has produced only 9 versions of the 12-wheeled Pullman. These are R4384 Kitchen 1st Monaco, R4385 Parlour 3rd Car 98 (ex-Milan), R4419 Parlour 3rd Car 294 (ex-Cadiz), R4420 Kitchen 1st Neptune, R4475 Parlour 3rd Car 97 (ex-Calais), R4476 Kitchen 1st Portia, R4477 Parlour Brake 3rd Car 95 (ex-Arcadia), plus the 3 cars in the Bournemouth Belle coach pack R4381, which were Parlour 1st Sunbeam, Kitchen 3rd Car 45 and, again, Parlour Brake 3rd Car 95 as noted above. These are lovely models and I would be very surprised if Hornby did not release more in the future. However, modelling early Pullmans is problematic for manufacturers, as the original cars tended to be re-built often several times and in slightly different form over the years, so they are not always strictly accurate in their details. Nevertheless, lovely models.

The Brighton Belle was retired in 1972, although we may hopefully expect to see an expensively restored and re-engineered BB back on the main line in the next couple of years.

Ex-LBSCR coaches that might sell in sufficient numbers to make them a sound commercial proposition would probably be those converted for 2-coach push/pull (or pull/push if you prefer) operation. They were often seen in BR days behind 'H' Class locos on the Central Section, but modellers' licence should make them attractive for all Southern areas.

Others have made the point also, but be aware that your loft space will likely be subject to seasonal extremes of temperature, from very hot to near freezing, which can have a damaging effect on stock stored and used there. Both plastic and metal will expand and contract with, sometimes, very expensive consequences. However, loft space can be used successfully, but ideally it should be insulated and boarded-out first by a reputable builder with loft space conversion experience. They will also move or adjust the loft hatch if required and can install a retractable ladder for better (and safer) access. Building Regulation approval may be necessary from your local authority. It will cost a bit, but you'll need to do it only once and well worth it.