Silver Sidelines

It is well over twelve months since Hornby’s Duke of Gloucester arrived. Much time was spent last year modifying and improving my original ‘preserved’ version so that it would be more suitable for my 1960s based layout. My original Hornby Duke of Gloucester Special Edition back dated to 1960 Time has moved on and there are now lots of models of Duke of Gloucester available at affordable prices, both ‘preserved’ and 1960’s style. I have now invested in a second model, this time the 1960's version. As a result I have had to buy a second set of etched metal name plates.   Hornby Duke of Gloucester 1960's style Back in January 2014 I had bought a set of plates from Modelmaster to replace the rather crude plastic offerings from Hornby. The Modelmaster plates were fitted to my Hornby Special Edition model with double sided tape. With the arrival of my second model these plates were soon removed and refitted onto the new 1960’s model. My ‘Special Edition’ model...

My previousPost looked at some detail improvements to the old Mainline Restaurant Buffet including fitting Finecast Flush Glazing, wire handrails and simply filing the buffer heads. Mainline RB slotted into a rake of BR Mk Is all fitted with Hornby R8220 couplers For me the most important improvement is the fitting of the Bachmann close coupling mechanism. This enables the coach to be unobtrusively slotted into a rake of Bachmann Mk Is – in my case all fitted with Hornby R8220 couplers. Bachmann RU top, Mainline RB bottom My first plan for improving the Mainline Restaurant Buffet was to use a complete Bachmann RU underframe. Comparing the underside of the Bachmann 39-101 derivatives with the Mainline vehicle showed a great deal of similarity. The Mainline truss detail is perhaps heavier but when viewed from the side I don’t think there is much to choose between the two models. Either I would have to remove the corridor ends from the Bachmann underfra...