Andy Cundick

If its any help i've already built Tailte and have all the bits to do Macha if i make a start on her now i can pretty well guarantee ,an 800 announcement within the week. Andy.

That would prove my point having built both of them,Andy.

You can bet your bottom dollar that what ever it is i either won't need it or will have already built one or more,Andy.

The locos are the Golden Arrow kits which shall we say are of their time,Earl in her unrebuilt form is the first of 4 to be built the idea is to have them in both their original and rebuilt GW forms other than that the layout is finished as i have all the rest of the stock. The Cambrian stock is my chief helpers as he is doing the Welshpool in that period and you can judge who has been operating Llanfair by the preponderance of either Cambrian or GW period stock.Llanfair is after all said and done the model railway layout a Great Western branchline terminus.Andy.

The main thing is to have a go,as thats how you learn after all we all started at the same place.Andy.

The loco is probably an SSM kit as it is in its original state,i ha d to modify mine to its 1930s condition.As to the standards for wheels and tracks i don't understand why people immediately assume 21mm gauge has to be to P4 standards ,i've been modelling using 21mm gauge to EM standards for last 40 years with no problems, as for axles for the drivers i use 1/8" steel bar cut to length with the ends squared up with a file,its around an 12" long depending on the depth of the bossfor pin point wagon axles its 2mm steel rod put in a drill and the point ground on old bit of grinding or a file, 21mm w irons are avaliable from SSM and Priclkey Pear or you can just widen MJT ones coach bogies are eay just use the MJT compenstated coach bogies.As for rolling stock the problem with regaugeing British stock is usually they are narrower best to start off with perhaps a couple of MGW convertibles from SSM,its a fact of life that manufacturers seem on the hole to ignore the 100 years of Irish railway history .If you want a quickie loco conversion then if you havn't done it before then a Jinty may be your best bet nice and simple though not very appropriate Hope this helps Andy.

My next project is a tractor shed as my Fordson has been evicted from the garage to make way for my Jowett Bradford van (useful layout hauler) Andy.

The simple answer to that is yes i am,there is a slowly developing model of Marlborough along with several other projects,the sticking point at the moment is the 3 way point,there is also about 20 standard gauge locos not to mention the layout i'm taking to Warley this year is a scale model of Llanfair Caereinion in the 1930's the classic GW branch line terminusAndy.

Just remember GWR stands for Gods Wonderful Railway and not without reason Andy (ex Swindon apprentice)

My go to for paint stripper is Dettol it works well on metal and plastic with no harmful effects apart from the smell ,Andy

Well it looks like it might be in Model Rail soonish as Chris Nevard did the photos a while ago and they're now looking at an interview to do the article.Andy.

Castledergs last trip out this year at Thornbury Gloucestershire Sat and Sunday.Only Warley to after that but with one of the Welsh layouts this year.Andy

Whats more Nonneminstre did a kit for that Hibberd model,and it can be rejigged for 21mm gauge ,been there done it,Andy.

And they were 3 rail as well,Andy.

Some of my handiwork on the front of the 4 CEP,they were refurbished at Swindon,and my bit was brake plumbing in the cabs,a bit of scratchbuilding on a large scale,Andy.

Might sound silly,but John Langford,he's still alive and kicking as far as i know,Andy

Well i can guarantee that it will something i dont need (too modern) or i've already built itAndy.

I'm there again this year but with my model of Llanfair Caereinion in 009,it looks like i may well there next year with Brucklees all being wellAndy.

Its not the Arigna extension it is fact Arigna the line crossing is the extension to the mines the building being Arigna station building,been modelled that,Andy.

Also note the rather rustic replacement doors on van 83,Andy.

Same vehicle the photo also at Strabane was taken in 1947 the only visible lettering on the van is a DR on the centre moulding on the door,though there is a small board up by the eaves on the right hand side with some indecipherable lettering on it.The caption states that its 14 which is quite posssible as the donor chassis is certainly one of the original WDR chassis judging from the grease axleboxes and brake gear so the CVR van inherited the original number makes sense though the link and pin coupling is just weird.Andy.

The point(pardon the pun) with trackwork and points especially is they look daunting until you have a go,Trackwork scared the crap out of me but i was determined to go down the 21mm route so bought an SMP point kit blew the plan up to 21mm gauge and had a go much to my surprise it worked,the second one was pants as was getting cocky.Quite agree with Phil about P4 much more work involved as its that more precise bear in mind the wheels dont have flanges just burrs.One point if you stick to EM the EM Gauge Society commissioned PECO to do basic flexi track and a couple of B6 points.I used it on my North British layout and jolly fine it is too.Andy.

Nope its definitely DR (Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock Page 64) ,not sure about the number as it certainly isn't Red Van 14 as theres numerous photos of it.Possibly it took the number of the donor chassis as 290 did with a CVR convertible van (Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock Page 77).Andy.

The trouble is EM still doesn't look right,i've got layouts in both EM and 21mmespecially when it comes to steamers where you have the wheels peeking out behind the splashers.AS for bogies just use the MJT bogies which can be readily built to 21mm gauge and use the side frames off the original bogies as a cosmetic overlay.Andy.

A odd one that ,a picture of it appears in Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock page 64.Its on a Donegal chassis but fitted with a link and pin coupling.none of the books/articles on Donegal stock mention it,but thats the fourth photo i've seen of it,the others are at Strabane,,Stranorlar and Killybegs so she got about a bit,theres no trace of a number in the photo but a small DR in the middle of the door.Andy.