Caledonian Railway Association Forum

Hi Guys I am coming a bit late to this stream having been in hospital for most of August and now with a long recovery period from major surgery. None of you really wanted to know that did you. John Boyle produced a 4mm etch of the No 1 class 2-4-0 which we originally intended to produce as a kit. Th...

Hi Dave I spotted that, hence I used separate axlebox and spring castings with the spring hangers mounted separately also. I am not sure where the dimensio0nal error occurs but you could make the slot in the axlebox, which is necessary for the sprung movement in the BB units a bit deeper. Does putti...

51L Models supply the brass etch for the brake levers used with TLM D22, D46 and D3 wagons. They have issued a new instruction sheet which is attached.

Tony B

Jim Pairman obviously made the solebars on the Drummond van pattern narrower than prototype, usually 6" or scale 1.5mm, to accommodate Bill Bedford's sprung w-irons which I know he likes using. The usual spacing between the inside faces of the solebars would be 6' or thereabouts or 24mm to scale. I ...

Jim Pairman had problems with his roofs on the Drummond vans. I like removable roofs as they avoid having to mask for painting and for carriages enable access for finishing the glazing, interiors and to add passengers. The attached notes describe my method for making a removable roof for the Drummon...

Steve The brake van (should it be break van for this period?) is looking very good. One query. I can't see from the photo how the foot boards are mounted. It looks as if there are hangers at each end visible underneath the foot boards but is there a hanger or hangers near the centre of the underfram...

These are the 2 photos of Blairgowrie I promised at the weekend.

Tony B

I certainly remember walking around Blairgowrie and other Caley stations in the early 1970s and the ground was always covered in ash presumably as a convenient and close place to dispose of engine ash, level the ground and keep down the weeds, although these had started to take hold when I arrived o...

Lindsay I am now starting to realise how lucky I was to get to Blairgowrie before it was demolished and take many photos and measurements. What I also had from an early date was a copy of the drawings for the station buildings obtained from the BR Civil Engineer's office at Perth. All this was aroun...

Oops - who can't do apostrophes!! Apologies Mike.
Tony B

I am pleased to announce our new project - the Diagram 3 Drummond 6-ton van. Full de4tails of the prototype vans are included in Mike William's Caledonian Wagons. These vans were based on very similar vehicles built under Drummond's regime on the NBR. There is so little difference that our body can ...

Hi Jim Southwark Bridge Models produce a "MacNee" point lever in 4mm scale. This will be based on LSWR practice as I believe SBM is actually the LSWR Circle, the line society for that railway. The arm in their version has a balance weight incorporated and is 12.4 - 12.5 mm long from the fulcrum poin...

Thanks for the mention Peter. The fundamental problem is that Plastikard is not as stable as we would all like to think. Any operation to cut, shape or join it puts stress into the material which if not relieved can lead to warping or misshaping in the long term. Any Plastikard assembly needs to be ...

Please add my name to the list of potential purchasers.

Tony B

These are looking very good Jim. An obvious question is what are the chances of developing your artwork for other scales. After many years of thinking about it we have all decided these are going to be difficult to reproduce in any medium. (Except cast white metal which Ian Middleditch used successf...

After a very long wait I am pleased to advise that I have reasonable stocks of both mineral wagons for orders by post. I know some of you who placed pre-orders have purchased your wagons from the CRA stand but if you haven't or you want some more now is the time to confirm your order by sending me s...

Re the recent exchange on the vacuum pipe we need a pattern for this and the Westinghouse pipe for the 4mm kit. Dave Franks has offered to make the patterns but has anybody got detail drawings of these or a GA that shows them? Failing that can anybody point me towards good photos? The Westinghouse p...

Hi Folks The manufacturers are not supplying me with body castings as fast as I had hoped and there is still a delay in sending out orders. I have completed all the orders for which I received payment but I will now be away for 4 weeks and will not have any more bodies until June. I will post a note...

We currently have a friendly etcher looking at what we need. We also have somebody looking at our white metal castings requirements. My intention is that we will have a set of brake gear parts that can be used or adapted for any Caley Westinghouse or dual-fitted vehicle.

Tony B

This is looking very good Ross. Have you any more of these?
Tony B

Thanks for your interest chaps. We have enough interest for this project to go ahead. Mike Williams is having to modify the pattern for the body to make it suitable for resin casting. I am exploring possible sources for the bits and pieces. The white metal castings are fairly easy to source. However...

I went through the same selection process many years ago and finished up with Blairgowrie which is a bit bigger then I would choose now. I have photos and track plans of most of the possibilities mentioned and we can have a look at these at your next visit. I am at Scaleforum North this weekend and ...

The Prussian Blue colour is darker than what you are probably used to which is the later colour. I don't want to attempt to repeat what is in Jim MacIntosh's Caledonian Liveries on the subject. If it is any consolation I am painting my Conner 2-4-0 dark blue.
Tony B

Dave S
I would do if I have your email address. Is the best way to contact me at [email protected] and I can send by reply.
Tony B

Dave S
I will send you via email a copy of JBs instructions for the 6-wheel stock.
Tony B