Silver Sidelines

February 2025 February 2025 and Rapido UK have released their new models of the ex GWR ‘B’ Set carriages. Ex GWR ‘B’ Sets in BR Lined Maroon livery.  Spot the red flashes for the communication cord apparatus on the new coaches, Rapido front, Mainline rear The new models are everything that you might expect from Rapido, well finished and very well detailed.  They are also delicate, expensive and finding space to store the empty packaging will be challenging. I have purchased three sets, in BR plain maroon, crimson and lined maroon liveries.  The new coaches will replace earlier models.   Ex GWR ‘B’ Sets in BR Crimson livery, Hornby front, Rapido rear Ex GWR ‘B’ Sets in BR Maroon livery, Airfix front, Rapido rear Some history   Over the years I acquired three variants of ‘B’ Set carriages from Airfix, Mainline (Palitoy) and Hornby.   The old order BR Maroon (Airfix) left, BR Crimson (Hornby) right I fitted metal wheels to these old carriages and Bachmann Mini...

The ex GWR ‘B’ Set Airfix model coaches date from 1975. Almost forty years later and the coaches reappeared as Hornby R4293. The coaches must have proved popular and in the intervening years similar models have been available first from Mainline and later Dapol. Bachmann 9017 on Airfix ‘B’ Set passing Hornby Crimson ‘B’ Set The ‘B’ Set coaches were operated in pairs. As fitted with standard Airfix (or Hornby) couplings the gap between the coaches is hugely too large. Original Airfix/Hornby Couplings Left, Bachmann Mini Long Couplings Right One relatively easy way of closing the gap is to substitute Bachmann Mini Long Couplings (36-026), with the wings cut off. Original Airfix/Hornby Left, Bachmann Mini Long 36-026 minus wings Right The original Airfix/Hornby couplings are a simple push fit. Fitting the Bachmann couplings requires removal of the small keeper plate on the underside of the coupling pocket. I used a tiny screw driver for the purp...

In recent posts I have detailed corridor connectors for Bachmann Collett coaches and I have touched on the Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake. Hornby Hawksworth Coaches as bought (left) and as modified (right) When Hornby introduced their Hawksworth coaches back in 2010 I was most impressed with the coach detail but not so happy with Hornby’s corridor connectors. I wanted the coaches to be more closely coupled and it took me a lot of courage to remove Hornby’s moulded black plastic connectors. Closer coupling is quickly achieved by paring away some of the plastic from the Hornby R8220 coupling to enable it to push back further into the coupling pocket.   For the Hawksworth coaches I adopted a ‘belt and braces’ approach and drilled through both the pocket and coupling enabling the coupling to be pinned in place. Subsequently I have discovered that there is often sufficient friction between the coupling and the pocket such that pinning may not be nece...

Some weeks have elapsed since I first wrote about using sieved sand from the garden for ‘scatter’.   I can now report on what happens when you add coal dust. In the view above the area of ‘ground’ at the end of the platform is a mixture of my original sieved sand and paste mix with the addition of 25% coal dust (three teaspoons of sand and one teaspoon of coal dust).   This Station is a busy junction and the dark colouring seemed perfect.   However to differentiate between more rural and less heavily trafficked areas I decided to reduce the coal content further. In the view above the area labelled ‘A’ is my original mix of sieved sand and paste.   The material labelled ‘B’ is this original mix with 12.5% coal dust added (seven teaspoons of sand and one teaspoonful of coal dust).   The area labelled ‘C’ is a mixture of the two and was an attempt to grade the colour of the material on the right so that it matched the material on the left.   I...

I do like the rolling stock to be close coupled.   This Blog entry is about close coupling ex GWR Siphons of the Airfix / Mainline / Dapol / Hornby varieties. I like to keep the rolling stock in as near ‘mint’ condition as possible.   I am against cutting and gluing.   For close coupling rolling stock of Airfix origins my usual procedure is to fit Bachmann Mini Couplings (Long).   This solution is totally reversible should the rolling stock need to be sold on.   It also enables trains to negotiate curves down to Peco Medium Radius.   In the past I have successfully employed this technique for ‘B’ Set coaches and 14xx / autocoach combinations. The view above compares the original Mainline plug in type couplings with the original Airfix style and the replacement Bachmann Mini Couplings (Long).   The picture also shows how the wings on the Bachmann couplings have to be cut off to allow the coupling to be placed in the ‘plug in’ couplin...