Silver Sidelines

This Post describes some modifications that I have made to a Replica Railways BR Mk1 RB. Previously i have modified the Mainline Maroon RB by fitting Finecast glazing, wire handrails and Bachmann close coupling mechanisms. I promised myself that I would do the same for the chocolate and cream Replica BR(WR) RB. Success! Replica Railways BR(WR) Restaurant Buffet on BR1 Bogies First task - find a suitable coach! Replica Railways Mk1 RB from around 1992 Models are bit like London buses. When I first started looking for a BR(WR) RB there didn’t seem to be any around and eventually my coach came from Australia. Then suddenly there were lots available here in the UK. On opening the box I was surprised to discover that Replica had painted the solebars chocolate to match the lower body panels – why? Was someone confused by the blue solebars ion the blue and grey version? They should be black and they can be over painted with new transfers added from the P...

My last session featured some of my older models of BR (LMR) steam 4-6-0s. On that occasion I had started to strengthen some of my rakes of coaches and had added additional second class BR Mk1s. Six Up The Hornby ‘Staniers’ are relatively light weight. The Bachmann ‘Portholes’, despite some criticism of the bogie design, I think are free running. Adding an extra Bachmann Mk1 to the ‘Staniers’ and the ‘Portholes’ did not cause any haulage problems on my gradients. My Bachmann Mk1s appear to be heavy and rather sluggish coaches. A rake of six Mk1s was maybe a ‘coach too far’ for some of my 4-6-0s. With a good run the train would manage the gradient but the performance was rather frantic. I would clean the coach wheels and check the bearing cups with my reaming tool. The old split chassis type Bachmann Jubilees weigh in around 308 gm. Mine have quite a good haulage capacity. The new Bachmann Jubilees have a space inside the boiler for the DC chip and th...