Some very recent Keyser builds

[Lysander]

All of these are recent acquisitions which required repairs and then a complete rebuild with and added detail. The GWR Brown used is Halfords Ford Rio Brown, an excellent rattle-can product.

Dean 40ft. Passenger Luggage Van


Siphon F


Siphon F [later livery]


I have two more Siphons to finish and a further Luggage Van.

Tony

[GeraldH]

Simply stunning and it's lovely to see something being restored rather than binned. It must give you an inner glow every time you run them .

[Bigglesof266]

Impressive! Very tidily done restoration work Tony.

[Lysander]

Thanks both. It is hugely satisfying to resuscitate wrecks. This is how the Dean looked after some initial cleaning up and the removal of excessive amounts polystyrene cement. Just five parts, all of which required repair and filler:



Tony

[Bigglesof266]

Where do you source your decals for the refurbs?

[Lysander]

Top and bottom picture : HRMS Pressfix transfers, except for the ‘return to’ branding which is from Modelmaster. Middle picture transfers are Railtec 3mm (as in TT) transfers as Pressfix are too large to fit in between the panelling.

Tony

[Mountain]

I have one of those bogie vans in a bit of a mess that needs rescuing if you are interested....

I was thinking about GWR livery must be different for locomotives and wagons because I read in an old book that they used to have "Great Western before 1935, and the short lived roundel monogram from 1935 to 1938, and then G.W.R. (Or G.W.) from 1938 onwards? But wagons seem to be different depending on the vehicle. I have only ever seen "G.W." on brake vans. It is interesting.

[Lysander]

If it is genuinely surplus to requirements I’d be interested Mountain, but not to restore but cut up to create a four wheel Siphon C from it. How much do you want?

[Mountain]

I will PM you...

[Dad-1]

Hi Lysander,

More superb GWR stock from the ashes of others misadventures.

Geoff T.

[Lysander]

I will PM you...

Have replied.

Tony

[Lysander]

I was thinking about GWR livery must be different for locomotives and wagons because I read in an old book that they used to have "Great Western before 1935, and the short lived roundel monogram from 1935 to 1938, and then G.W.R. (Or G.W.) from 1938 onwards? But wagons seem to be different depending on the vehicle. I have only ever seen "G.W." on brake vans. It is interesting.

I've not had a chance to answer until now Mountain. There probably were some exceptions to the general rule but.....

From about '23 to around '34, Siphons carried the 16" 'G W' as shown on one of the models above. Prior to that, Siphons carried the larger 25" letters higher up the body [on some, across the louvres, these must have been extremely difficult to paint, too]. From '34, the passenger style livery was adopted and the Roundel was applied. No further changes were made to Siphon liveries from then until the end of the GWR.

I'm not a great lover of the Roundel on locomotives, to me it seems to lack presence. But when used in yellow on brown vehicles, it is extremely attractive.

Until '34, freight livery markings bore no similarity to loco and carriage liveries.

Tony

[Mountain]

It is strange that it is only now I noticed about the livery. Wagons and vans etc one tends to pay less attention to unless one is building them.

I hope the body and roof comes in useful. Is the roof origional? Or has someone cut a piece of curved plastic to try to fit?

The GWR round monogram on locos was just too small to be noticed. I am actually surprized they used it on locos.
There are various liveries out there today where I am thinking "That won't stay looking clean for long!" At least years ago they had the common sense to pick colours which hid the dirt, but I think that is why they stopped using the round monogram on locomotives as one layer of dirt and it dissapeared.

[Lysander]

It was very kind of you to deliver it Mountain. The body is fine and in due course will be sliced up into portions to make a Siphon C. Probably six weeks away yet though .

The roof is u/s I’m afraid and home-made. As you noted, the person who crafted it did not cut it straight either and it will not fit. These Siphons had three arc roofs which are extremely difficult to scratch build because the profile is quite complex. I have tried many times, using thin brass sheet, and failed spectacularly. Ratio coach roofs will not fit well as substitutes either. Luckily however, I have an old roof of indeterminate origin in my bits box and it is almost an exact fit.

Tony

[Mountain]

I am glad you have a roof. I thought that roof looked odd. I wasn't the origional owner so I was not sure if it was the proper roof or not.