GCR Name and Number Plates

A good range of loco name and number plates, very reasonably priced, are available from Severn Mill Nameplates. The range includes most, if not all, of the classes for which there are kits. (Of course many of the earlier classes don't need numberplates, or only need them for certain locos - please do consult photos.) For some classes, for example class 1 (Sam Fay) every engine is catered for. Does anyone have a model of all six? Lucky you!

An alternative supplier is Guilplates who unfortunately don't have a website as such, so you will have to send off for their list by post or ask for it at one of the exhibitions they attend.

Bill Bedford Kits

Bill Bedford has a new website.

The 7mm stuff is now slightly harder to find, but go into 'Products' and then 'Made to Order Lists'.

There are a wide range of items available but they cannot be accused of being cheap. It's good that they are to be had though, for all that.

GC Cattle Wagons

I understand from Simon Spare that his GC cattle wagon kits are more or less ready to go out. Cost £25 each plus post with a choice of grease or oil axleboxes.

Both fitted and unfitted versions originally had grease boxes but they would have slowly been upgraded, especially the fitted ones. Don't ask me exactly when.

There's a photo on the GCRS Yahoo website and they look to be another excellent product.

Please note for these wagons you will need 'GCR' and 'number' plates NOT the usual lettering. Now how shall we procure those??? Photos of these wagons in GC days (to show you what I mean) are quite rare. There is a partial on p 73 of Locomotives of the Great Central Railway, volume 2, by E.M. Johnson, that shows enough if you look at it carefully.

J9/10 kit

I was looking on the Tower Models site recently and noticed that in their section for Gladiator Models this kit is now listed although still 'to be announced'.

Unfortunately the Gladiator Models site is down at the moment so no cross-referencing is possible.

As a 'J9/10' is proposed (that is GC classes 9B/9D/9E/9H) some interesting variations may be possible, as discussed in my earlier post. Anyone with a GC or CLC layout is going to be able to justify at least one of these, and really I think three or four would be more the thing.

I'm looking forward to this becoming available!

Signalling Record Society

On the subject of online resources, the Signalling Record Society lists among its publications a Signal Box Register for the GCR, listing 'basic physical and chronological details of every known signalbox.' It's only £4-20 plus p&p which can't be bad, given that I paid £3 for a pint of ordinary bitter the other day!

If you haven't got a copy of the 1914 Appendix they can also supply that for £12-30 plus p&p, which again is excellent value.

Finally, if you check out their list of available photos there are lots of GCR boxes among them. Oh, and there's even a list of signal box diagrams that includes some on the GC.

Great Central Drawings Online

Some of you may be unaware that there is an online source of Great Central Drawings.

Some of the smaller items would make very nice castings or etchings, preferably in 7mm scale!!!

Dragon Models

Dragon Models now has a website. It is still under development but already it includes a full price list.

For the GC modeller Dragon provide a very good single bolster wagon in 7mm scale but also a range of wagon transfers including the GC, LDEC and CLC.

The 'small' GC lettering is too large to fit bolster wagons. Strangely, what you need for this purpose is 'small' lettering in 4mm scale. The small lettering is OK for certain ballast wagons in 7mm scale, although if you want to be accurate you will need to scratch build the actual wagons. (Or you can cheat and use modified Slaters Midland 3 plankers.)

Great Central Wagon Grey

I have been asked the proper shade to paint Great Central wagons. There is no easy answer. Certainly it did not come from Dulux in a tin marked : Great Central Wagon Grey.

It is sometimes called 'lead grey' which isn't that helpful as lead itself comes in all sorts of shades. When wagons were painted in GC the shade was mixed from black and white pigments in a ratio, if I recall correctly, of nine to one. However, for starters, the paints used did not resemble modern paints and secondly the mixing was not done with any great precision but by individual foremen on site. As the 'sites' were many and various it is highly unlikely that the same shade was achieved every day in every place. (It's worth remembering that many GC wagons were built by contractors, and some were not owned but merely hired. This further reduces the chance of any standardisation.)

If you look at black and white photos you will often see two GC wagons standing together, one looking almost black and the other almost white. To some extent this may have been the effect of 'weathering' - it must be recalled that the GC ran through many areas of intense industrial pollution - but knowing which wagon is the more 'weathered' is not always straightforward to establish. Even the condition of the lettering is not always a guide - at this period many railways used a special white paint for lettering that was particularly resistant to wear.

There is also the question of what looks right on a model. I am no expert in this field but I believe it's generally accepted that to look right a model should be painted in a slighter lighter shade than is strictly 'correct'.

So what is the answer? I don't believe there is a correct one. For many years I used Airfix M3 for GC wagons, but now feel it looks a tad too blue. But really that's just a personal taste. I doubt it's 'wrong'. Or that any other dark to mid grey would be 'wrong'. Comments on the matter are very welcome.

The Furness Railway Wagon Co

The Furness Railway Wagon Co now has a website.

There are (last time I looked) three kits suitable for the GCR, all ex LDEC vehicles.