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After some delay, the print mentioned above arrived Tuesday. I've almost got the height right but still some work to be done. The tender draw bar is too short so I have now lengthened it slightly, Also it has a tendency to lift the front of the tender so have made more modifications to resolve this . The crank in the chassis extension that I made to replace the original B12 one is still too much as it continues to lift the body slightly and to pops out as it is fractionally too short, so I have lengthened this this and reduced the crank. Hopefully this will push the chassis back and allow me to tighten the body screw which will reduce the amount the front bogie appears to protrude. If I remove the tender coupling and pushr down on the body so that its level, the running plate seems to be around 1mm to high, while the top of chimney is also about 2mm higher than it should be. I will therefore reduce that by 1mm. Hopefully lowering both the body and the chimney will bring it back to within loading gauge. On the rolling road there is a regular knock so I will be increasing the clearance above the con-rods. Another modification I have already made to the virtual model iks to lengthen the steps so that they should line up better with those on the tender. I will ultimately make two versions of the body, the one shown which is in a later condition while the other will be in original condition, and it will be this one that goes for the next test print as I just have to switch in a new smokebox saddle and switch off some pipework on the boiler

Thanks Simmo, I think I'll have to look for it on line as both my local Rustoleum suppliers (Wilco & B&Q) have closed

@Simmo009 do you know t5he name of thje textured paint? I used "Roughcoat" I think made by a Warhammer to texture the roof of my Scaledale Colliery and it was very good but they discontinued the paint many years ag0 and I still have one roof to do.

Making allowances for the axles presents some interesting problems. My approach evolved out of the type of component made and its choice of materials. Some of my initial models were coach bogies made to replace the BR Mk1 type used on the Lima Siphon G and Hornby short clerestories. As the former used a flexible plastic I chose Shapeways "versatile plastic" to enable the axle boxes to be sprung out therefore the grove into the bearing was not necessary. Indeed my initial models were designed to use Romford "Top hat" bearings so a grove would have been not help. To this end I used a stub axle as below. The 4mm diameter was to accommodate the bearing flange while to two projections either end were 2mm diameter and stick out 5.5mm beyond the flange. This shape was then deleted from the finished bogie frames whoes inside faces were 23mm apart, thereby giving a 0.5mm recess for the bearing flange. The nature of Versatile plastic is such that when some wheels ran a bit tight, I could slightly flex the side-frames outwards around two dozen times to slightly stretch the print until the wheels ran smoothly, being careful not to break anything. However, when I experienced difficulties obtaining bearings, I adopted the approach that you have taken by replacing the axle model with a straight sided 'rod' with pinpoints on the ends. Overall length 26mm with the points being cones 2.5mm x 2.5mm diameter (see below). Although, as I still used the flexible material I did not need the grove. As I moved onto complete wagon kits where versatile plastic appeared too grainy, I used a composite material approach making the body out of fine detail plastic while I still used Versitile plastic for the under frames (or at least the parts that carry the axle. Unfortunately this approach has not worked for my 009 GVT slate wagons and I soon found that the versatile plastic too brittle despite introducing grooves. I have therefore being experimenting in making these in Bronze via Shapeways. As a result you may wish to consider getting that firm to makey our W irons and axle boxes out of either bronze or brass and then fix them into a fine detailed plastic body. I hope you find the info useful particularly the dimensions as a starting point although they may need some adjustment as some of my prints have prooved a little too tight.

Hi Rana, They are also so easy to hard wire DCC and although noisy I do like the way they growl, although not quite the right sound for any particular diesel it is a t least a bit better than the steam equivalent chuff-chuff fitted to the Triang B12 and Hall and presumably not really intended!

Some of my earliest memories is being sat looking out of a window at a railway bridge at the bottom of our road which carried the single track line between Kennington Junction (south of Oxford) to Prince's Risborough (then truncated as far as the car factory in Cowley and seeing the occasional train of car transporters waiting at the bridge pulled by some blue diesel or another. Sadly we moved away shortly after I started school as a "rising five" so this must have been circa 1971. A little later my father started tio help with my Great grandfather and great Aunts Allotments at Cripley Meadow, Oxford which was right next to the sidings just north of the former GWR loco sheds (by then demolished). However, I found little to be inspired by the incesent stream of class 47s and soul-less DMUs. However, the inspiration did come from a trip to the GWS at Didcot and seeing Pendennis Castle on its last trip before it went to Australia and my first electric train set (the 1975/76 GWR freight set) and a visit to Pendon. I was fortunate to witness some of the last vestiges of the GWR before they disappeared at varous places particularly when on trips out and I think it was this coupled with several old films and the memoirs of the Fireman Harold Gasson that fueled my interest in all things GWR. However, My interest in the Glyn Valley Tramway came about as a desire to create as much of a complete railway as possible (not difficult with around a dosen coaches and only four locos! Oddly old age has brought about a certain level of nostalgia about those blue boxes I found so boring at Cripley Meadow hence my growing collection of second-hand Lima Diesels (I'm not that nostalgic to fork out on any of the new ones!).

Hello Bee, Might I suggest a some pure speculation about the cutouts - could they be there for some other purpose connected with the uprights or could they have been second hand originally intended for a shorter three compartment coach which might explain why they are not the same length as the coach body. Also a swing back seat means that the distance between the "doors" would not need to be as great as that required for back to back seating, so each compartment could be around 2/3rd the size of those in the blue coaches. Consequently the entire swing back coach would only need to be around 1/3rd longer than the blue coach. Note also that nobody is sat facing at the end of the coach in the 1833 image which also suggest to be a shorter compartment.

Just been notified that my latest test print left the Shapeways in the Netherlands this morning. Much earlier than the previous estimate of 26th. I hope this time the body will fit securely enough on the chassis for me to test run on the Rolling Road to check con-rod clearances and height above rail level when the fixing screw is fully tightened. However, this is the print before I added the frames shown in blue so I will still have at least one print before I'm ready for the final (and more expensive) fine detail plastic.

Thanks for the warning about the couplng especially as I am developing a brass replacement to couple the chassis to a Bachmann G2A tender for a project I am working on

Currently I have 3 B12 chassis on my work bench, bought off ebay as "noisy runners but nor too bad. Having trouble with one as it keeps jamming when in reverse at low speed , but has got better after re-quartering the back set of wheels. the other one kept faltering even on the rolling road but that was fixed after removing the pickup plate and bending the wipers otwards to ensure the the remained in contact with the wheels. The third just needed an oil. All ready for my LNWR Prince of Wales Project once I have worked out how which wire from a Bachmann 21 pin G2A tender needs to connect to what on the B12 chassis.

Autocoaches were certainly uncoupled for the reasons given above and also if the loco was needed for another use (e.g. freight). The loco would also need to be uncoupled to run round if a non Auto fitted coach was tacked onto the end of the train. I recall reading one of Harold Gasson's books about his time as a GWR fireman in which he mentions that in addition to uncoupling the usual coupling, vacuum and steam heating pipes, the fireman would also have to uncouple a whistle change. Failure to do this would result in a peep from the loco whistle as the chain broke. He did specvulate that this was a fairly common occurrence because of the number of photographs he had seen with bits of string holding the two ends of the chain together! If you do not know already the reason for the maximum of two coaches from the loco was that the apparatus (which I believe just controlled the regulator was mechanical and it would have been too heavy to operate with more coaches. In addition to the regulator I understand the only other control aside from the whistle, was the vacuum break which worked by simply allowing air into the system (so no linkage involved). However, this did mean that the fireman had to look after the reverser (which was not just for reversing the loco but controlled the cut-off point for steam entering the cylinders). Interestingly, RAFs photo shows a small prairie in an Auto train formation, however these locos were not Auto fitted until after nationalisation.

Hi All, Does anyone know if Mentholated Spirit is likely to harm modern paint finishes on rtr rolling stock or more accurately a solution of 3 parts meths to one of water as I need to use this in order to apply some 'Methfix' transfers. Also is this likely to harm acrylic paints? Also is there anything I might need to know before I seal the transfers with an acrylic varnish. Although I have used these in the past that was before acrylic paint became available. Many thanks for any help.

Thanks Bee for some thought provoking comments. My intention is to re-use the B12 pony truck, although I am toying with the idea of getting some slightly larger diameter wheels. At 3'9" the prototype's would scale to 15mm whereas the B12 model's are only 13mm. However, do you think raising the front coupling by 1mm is likely to cause trouble with it operationally, although I could probably mitigate some of the additional height by replacing the plastic one with a metal version and bending it down slightly? You make a very good point about the strength of fine detail plastic. My thoughts about the frame is to follow Triang's example with the B12 and add the frame detail to the body and have cut-outs over the wheels (see blue in image below) . However I would reduce the cut-outs radius sit the edge is much closer to wheel flanges. The ones on the B12 feel around 2mm above the flanges of the wheels so I think I'll try reducing this to around 1mm. Once the dummy frames have been added I will probably also thicken up the material between them where it cannot be seen. Depending upon what I find when my most recent test print comes back I will look again at lowering the body to match the Bachmann tender. I will also have to lower the steps so they match up with the tender. On the model in the photo, the running plate is about 1mm too high whereas the bottom step is about 2mm too high. This will probably mean yet another test print with a boiler cut-out to check the clearance from the top of the motor. However I will take the opportunity to try out the alternative front end detail shown above.

Sadly the paint has now pickled on one side (hence only a view of the left side. However as this was just a test it doesn't really matter. However, I think it shows that I will need tpo do the final print in a fine detail plastic rather than PA12 which is a lot cheaper. However, I have been working on the tender and will probably use the 21 pin socket in that to convert to DCC so have designed a new drawbar to link the B12 Chassis to the Bachmann G2A tender. A test print is being made by Shapeways (in PA12 plastic) but I will probably do it in brass ones I have checked the clearance. At the moment the tender is coupled using a spare Triang/Hornby Hall drawbar but aside from being a bit sloppy the tender also looks a little distant. I have also added some more detail to the boiler and hopefully resolved the problem of the missing chimney top but I will not know for sure until my next Shapeways delivery towards the end of the month I am still not sure whether to add the chassis above the pony truck to the chassis extension or the body, but the photo clearly shows it is needed.

@LGH10@lghten, All you need now is a smoke generator that chucks out a load of black smoke on startup! but I don't think anyone makes them for diesels

Reading this thread got me thinking about how we are missing one aspect associated with Railways. Thanks to sound decoders we have the Chuff Chuf, wheels squealing, whistles and other noises. But what about smell! Being mostly a GWR fan I would favour "eau de charbon à vapeur Gallois" (eau de Welsh stem coal)!

Hi Chappers The GWR did indeed remove the engine and convert these to Auto-coaches and that is how this one survived. However, I am not sure if a model of a converted one would be quite right as the one pulling it would have probably been converted at the same time. However, the GWR did build Auto-coaches specifically to work with the rail-motor. However, these had quite different window spacing from the conversions. Sadly none of the Auto-trailers produced to date (Collett and Hawkesworth type) would be suitable since they are too modern. However, Dapol say they will be making an Auto-coach based on the GWR Diagram N These which were constructed during 1907 which is right time frame for the rail-motor but I don't think these were the ones built for the railmotors as they look shorter (sadly I cannot find my copy of GWR coaches by J Russel to confirm). however, I have pre-ordered a couple of these . My only concern is that the Maroon might not match but hopefully any difference in the chocolate and cream will not be noticeable. In the meantime you might want to consider getting one of the Dapol suburban toplights. Although I do not know if the Rail-motors ever pulled these, it wouldn't look too out of place except they are a slightly different shade of maroon.

An Ivatt 2-6-0 dating from mis 70s. Have remotored it and had fitted a Dcc chip. It ran at full spees with no problem but when run at a slower more prototypical speed it produced an error at exactly the same point on the wheels rotation and tended to be a bit stiff at that point as well. I think the problem was the axle touching the back of the con-rod and creating a short. The rear drivers were slightly out of quarter. so it no longer shorts when pushing it along. However with all the taking apart and testing the red wire has come off the chip so will have to hard wire another one 😞

Sprayed the body gloss black last night to show up any blemishes only to find that the top of the chimney is totally flat without the capuchon and ridge around the top. This would explain the loose washer floating around the bag when the print arrived. Thankfully before I ordered a revise print last night Shapeways diagnostics picked up the "loose shell" so I hope I've fixed it. Sadly the paint is still sticky so I won't be able to photograph it before I loose the light, so will use the time to try and remove the paint from the Bachmann tender top I intend to use before moving onto some coal rails.

Many thanks Bee, Just been probing around at the back of where body and fount that there is a slight step (see below) between the internal rear surface of the cab and the lower part of the body. Although this cannot be more than 1/2mm it is probablt just enoght for the body to pivot upwards as the screw is below it. I have fixed it now but probably too late for the latest test print 😞

Just got the test print back ordered on the 6th March and the cab handrails actually printed. Sadly the steps look too narrow so my latest version has this widened slightly. I've also added more detail on the boiler and enlarged the secondary splasher over the con-rods to accommodate some beading, correct an error in the curved bit at the front and give more clearance for the con-rods themselves. Although the body now sits level it tends to rise up at the front when I tighten the body screw so Ive lowered this again by around 1/4mm since this reduced the problem compared with the last print. Sadly the chassis extension is too short and slightly too thick to fit in the slot in the body so I've increased the height of the slot and lengthened the extension which might also stop the body from lifting when the body scre is tightened. In addition, I have discovered that the buffers had six rivits to hold them onto the buffer beam rather than so I may decide to reprint these if I find any other problems with the brass fittings. As soon as the light is good enough and I have time to take a picture I will post one.

Purchased a second hand tender-drive GWR King in allegedly good condition but found the slide bars slightly bent. Also it had a BR logo on tender yet the body was clearly GWR. but given that it was less than £30 including P&P I was not bothered as I intend to strip out the motor, severely weather it and use it in a scrap train minus con-rods. However, with a bit of a service and straightening of the bent parts, I could probably get it running again, so I've put it back into the project drawer for something to think about later while I focus on my 3D printed LNWR Prince of Wales body project.

Sadly I think someone has already done the Baltic on Shapeways, however if I stick with the LNWR its only a small change to make an Experiment Class, except I would have to paint those Green Wheels. I also have a Hornby Triang Hall Chassis fitted with Hornby Saint wheels from an aborted attempt to make a Star. I do have an idea for this but it will depend on my ability to create a tapered boiler and an eight wheeled tender.

Also the nameplates

Another digital preview showing reduced boiler diameter. Note the greater distance between the smoke-box door and line of rivets