New Wagon Kit

A new wagon kit is available for the LDEC 5 planker, a vehicle which ran on a steel frame. It comes from Furness Railway Wagon Co, 10 Duke Street, Dalton-in Furness, Cumbria LA15 8HH. A welcome addition.

I think I am right in saying that some of these were marked for coal traffic by the GC, others for goods traffic. However I'm too lazy to check right now.

The kit costs £30 plus £3 p&p. The first batch is sold out but Marc at Furness Railway Wagon Co says there should be some more in late January.

Meanwhile, Gladiator have announced a re-tooled 8K/04 kit for £275. While David Andrews offers his version of the same engine for £279 and promises an improved Director for £259.

I'm sure Mr Robinson would be gratified, though he might wonder at a market where some of his locos are duplicated while others are not offered at all... But that's a petty quibble, in loco matters at least GC modellers are blessed.

Heroes of the Footplate

I've had a link to Heroes of the Footplate on here for some time, but I think they deserve a special mention for the quality of their railway staff figures. Very reasonably priced too. Do have a look at the excellent web site - you will be impressed.

Slater's Printed PO Wagons

I notice from the Slater's Site that several of the pre-printed PO wagons are 'currently unavailable' including the iconic Manvers Main.

Aaagh! Could it be back to hand lettering PO wagons? Ah well at least the Round Green wagon is still available and it's ideal for the GCR up to around World War I. Better buy some while they're to be had...


POSTSCRIPT (October 2015) You can now get Manvers Main from Powsides. The bad news is you can no longer get Round Green from Slaters!

6C etches.

I understand from Tony West that he has arranged with Bill Bedford for the etches for the 6C (LNER J12) to be made available in 7mm scale.

Certain parts such as framespacers may need altering for 7mm as this was originally intended as a 4mm kit. What comes will be a set of etched brass components for the basic structure including a piece of brass for the boiler (to be rolled by you) , etched nickel silver rods and the tender. This leaves all the usual castings to be sourced (or home made if you are an engineer) to say nothing of wheels, motor and gears and working inside valve gear to do a complete job.

This kit is for the belpaire rebuild version. Almost the whole class was rebuilt in GC days but if you are modelling the earlier years you'll need to get your RCTS Green Book out to be sure that you pick a suitable number. In late GC days these locos were mainly shedded at Trafford Park (with a lot sub-shedded to Wigan where they were the mainstay of the stud) and at Mexborough. So ideal for those, like me, whose main interest lies with the GC in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Particularly ideal for anyone wanting to work trains into dodgy colliery sidings where that 2-8-0 will not penetrate!

I stand to be corrected - please tell me if you know better - but I believe these engines (certainly in this condition) were always turned out in plain black, with GREAT CENTRAL on the tender side and a nice, standard issue oval brass numberplate.

There's some notes on these locos here but please note the photo shows one prior to the Robinson-era rebuild. A couple of unrebuilt engines lasted into LNER days but they were simple vacuum brake only and could only be used on goods trains. The Robinson rebuilds, like nearly all modern GC engines, were fully fitted and could be used on passenger services.