During the 1960s and the 1970s it was fashionable to make 35mm colour slides rather than prints. Slides appear remarkably stable, but how to convert them into digital images? I am aware that there is equipment ‘out there’ to be bought, but how much better to capture the images for free. Luckily we still have a quality projector, so the other evening we projected some of our slides onto the kitchen wall and made fresh images with our current digital camera.
Two images that I came across were of
I was tempted recently by one of the larger Internet Stores to purchase an ‘end of line’ bargain.
It has been in my mind for some time that I should add the Hornby L1 to the railway. Ideally I would have liked 67777, a Darlington engine (51A) which featured prominently during my train spotting days around Stockton and Middlesbrough.
However the Hornby model on offer was 67722, which in 1959 was shedded at Bishops Stortford (30C). Interestingly my Ian Allan books show that by 1961 eng
This is the final installment in a series of Posts about adding detail to a Hornby / Dapol County Class. After posting pictures of the Dapol locomotive body with its new lamp irons and replacement buffers I was directed by friend José in Argentina to ‘do something about’ the moulded smoke box handles.
Yes I know that there are turned brass items for purchase but I was born in Yorkshire and I still relish the challenge of saving some money!
Ex GWR darts courtesy of FJ Roche
What s
My last Post looked at Dapol County engines. These models appear to me to be essentially the same as the latest Hornby Rail Road models. At one end so to speak the models come with a working fall plate, at the other there is a lack of detail – such as no lamp irons.
Dapol County and Airfix Castle fitted with lamp irons
To my knowledge the earliest ready to run models that came with lamp irons fitted to the front foot plate were the Airfix 14xx models.
Recent Hornby 14xx showing s
Some time past I had the good fortune to ‘win’ Dapol County of Merioneth. It came from that well known auction site. The engine was ‘new’ and would need ‘running in’-this is some thirty years after it was made.
Dapol County of Merioneth – complete with original lacquer finish.
In due course the model arrived through the Post. It looked splendid –provided you like a lacquered finish. Oh and it was not a happy mover. As I suspected – no amount of ‘running in’ would improve matters. This
Previously I have described some of the 2-8-0 freight engine models that are currently available ready to run. Recently there have been questions on RMweb regarding the smaller Bachmann 0-6-0 2251 models and it seemed logical to post a summary here.
The early Mainline Model (37-059)
The current Bachmann models are direct descendents from the earlier models marketed under the Mainline branding. In fact the body shell mouldings are nearly identical. In a previous life I had a Mainline BR
In this Post on heavy goods engines I make reference to one of my earliest purchases and to one of my most recent purchases.
Hornby Dublo 8F from the 1960s
I have used the image above before in a Post ‘in praise’ of Hattons. A visit was made to the shop in Smithdown Road in Liverpool and it was purchased in person in the early 1960s. It was an up to date model of the time and came with a Late Crest which was exactly right for the period.
When I went off to college my layout was dis
Growing up in the north east of England I did not get to see many heavy ex GWR good engines. In fact with one possible exception, number 3826, I did not record seeing any 28xx, 38xx or 47xx in the flesh so to speak. In the period 1959/1961 number 3826 was a Pontypool Road (86G) engine. Would it have travelled as far north as Chester, where I visited, or did I see it whilst on holiday in Pembrokeshire?
The latest Hornby 28xx
Whatever the answer when I started building the current layout in
The new Hornby O1 seems to have been well received. With my roots in the north east of England I would have preferred a Q6 or maybe a Q7. However they are not as yet available so I have invested in an O1 to complement my WD 8F. My Ian Allan Shed Book confirms that I ‘spotted’ two of the four O1s allocated to Tyne Dock. I am guessing that I would have seen these engines passing around the outside of Newcastle Central I can imagine heading north on a freight bound for Edinburgh.
First imp
One of the first engines that I purchased on returning to the hobby was a Bachman Austerity 2-8-0.
I remember seeing a number of these engines on Teesside in the early 1960s and I was keen to have a model of one on the layout. From memory the Q6s, J26s and J27s handled the local traffic bringing coal and coke from County Durham whilst the WD 2-8-0s handled more long distance freight south to York and beyond.
Whilst the detail on my Bachmann WD was superb, its performance I thou
These last few weeks I have been playing with some of my Stanier Jubilees. My original Mainline Jubilees ‘Orion’ and’ Leander’ with their suspect quartering have long departed. However ‘Mars’ and ‘Amethyst’ from the second Mainline batch live on with replacement Bachmann chassis.
Ex Mainline Amethyst on Bachmann Chassis
I was inspired by a ‘thread’ on the RMweb site looking for help with lack of tractive effort of the Bachmann model ‘Drake’. The contributions from ‘Alan’ and ’34’ are v
There has been some discussion recently about techniques and materials for connecting ‘droppers’.
Single Core 0.6mm tinned wire for making droppers
Those of you who read this Blog will know that it is an account of my own experiences and as such it contains descriptions of activities and techniques that work for me. Since 1980 I have constructed three large layouts. They have all used Code 100 Peco Streamline track. For each layout I have reused and added to the components from the pre
This last week saw the arrival of Western King – with no yellow panels. Heljan had already introduced their Western Class models prior to my return to the hobby and I have been on the lookout for some time for a Maroon model with no yellow panels – now I have found one!
Heljan D1039 Western King
I have fond memories of the introduction of the Western Class diesel hydraulics. As a school boy I used to be taken once or twice per year to visit 'family' on the Wirral. My parents would take
Following on from my last Post I have been running playing with my
.
When I want to watch trains ‘go by’ I can operate the Main Line as a continuous loop with up to three different trains following each around all at the same time. The power comes from four different Gaugemaster DS controllers which is kept constant for all trains. This does have the disadvantage that if one train runs faster than the others it will catch one of the other trains up. Not to worry it is relatively easy to find
Following on rather quickly from my last Post I can see that there is far more interest in Bachmann’s newer Cravens than their earlier Class 108s.
Cravens (top) Class 108 (bottom)
To prevent buffer locking on Peco Medium Radius points the Cravens appear to need an extra millimetre separation compared to the Class 108.
"Mind the Gap" - Cravens.
My Cravens do not get much use and hence I have not studied them quite as much as the Class 108s. I have been puzzling - “Why the d
Following my posts dealing with Collett and Hawksworth coaching stock I am moving forward a few years to talk about Bachmann DMUs, Class 108, 105 and Derby Lightweight.
Location – location!!!
When I acquired my first Bachmann Class 108s I immediately set about closing up the gap between the units. The Bachmann 108s have sprung buffers and it is possible to draw the two coaches together such that the moulded corridor connections are almost touching yet still allowing the unit to negotia
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
This Post follows on from comments received on the last Post. As bought I think there is a significant difference in the ride heights of the Bachmann Thompson coaches and the Hornby Gresley coaches.
Early Bachmann Thompson BG compared to super detail Hornby Gresley
I am indebted to John who commented on my previous Post describing a means of remedying the situation. I am not sure what I was thinking about when I said that there were differences in ride height between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Ba
In an earlier Post I detailed the construction of some corridor connectors for my Bachmann Collett coaches. I have now added a Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake coach.
I like the look of the Hornby Hawksworth coaches, perhaps with the exception of the corridor connectors, which could well be the subject of a separate Post. I bought my first Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake coach back in October 2010 for use with a rake of ‘express coaches’. Most recently I have added a Full Brake to the local ‘s
In the absence of any pictures on my Blog over the Holiday season I have set up an alternative view or http://longsheds.blogspot.co.uk/
So far I am about half way through adding the old posts.
My initial attempt Updating to RM 2013 appeared to have no effect however I can now report (14:09 27/12/2012) that all is back in place. There were problems initially with one of the more recent Posts that I had edited over Christmas - this was solved by pasting in a complete new copy.
Regards
Apologies to all for the lack of pictures from Flickr. RMweb seems to have fallen out with Flickr (and Photobucket).
I guess the powers that be will get things sorted.
No amount of 'clearing the history' using Firefox or IE makes any difference at this end.
If you want to view my model railway 'in the making' there are lots of (boring?) pictures on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/longsheds/collections/72157609823068107/
Regards Ray
I thought this a suitable occasion to reminisce. What railway models did I treat myself to in the past?
46115 ‘Scots Guardsman’ – Mainline Pallitoy model on Bachmann chassis
One of my all time favourites was ‘Scots Guardsman’. This was purchased new from Kings Cross Models at the end of November 1983 for the princely sum of £27.64. The scanned image below shows the model shortly after purchase with black painted wheels.
46115 ‘Scots Guardsman’ – Mainline Pallitoy model on early M
An outline of the current layout would not be complete without reference to the controllers and switch panels.
Diagrammatic Controllers and Panels 2005
At the start of construction in 2005 there was a lot of trackwork and rolling stock from previous incarnations dating back to the 1980s. In 2005 DCC was not considered and the layout was to be operated by quality Gaugemaster controllers using ‘cab control’. The diagram above shows the initial layout of control panels and controllers.
One or two of you have asked if I can describe the layout itself in more detail.
1999 and the old layout was dismantled and all the rolling stock boxed up ready to move house. After the move there were flower borders to be made, stone walls to be built and ponds to be dug. It took until 2005 before a start could be made constructing the new layout. After much discussion an area was identified which would enable the formation of an oval approximately 12ft by 9ft together with an
Apparently I recorded my intention to purchase the Bachmann Blue Pullman in August 2010. Well it finally arrived this week and has provided hours and hours of nail biting entertainment over the last few days.
Get 50% off (Insurance)
My layout is DC and I thought that perhaps I would have to go inside and remove the installed DC Chips. I did not expect that I would have to do it so soon and to have to dismantle and correct so many other bits before enjoying its running.
I cannot imagin
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