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Showing content with the highest reputation on 20/07/19 in all areas

  1. 02 heading purposefully towards Ferme Park, while A3 Enterprise is about to restart the Hull. and here's how things looked just a little while later.
    24 points
  2. Evening Graeme, You are well informed. I was told several days in advance that Thomas had been 'lamped', I rather wondered what that entailed. The evidence is below. Cheers, John
    21 points
  3. Two locations in the north east today. A few more photos of Monkton cokeworks and around Seaham. Monkton coke plant 08808 and 03099 Aug 85 J8373.jpg Monkton coke plant 08808 and 03099 Aug 85 J8374.jpg Monkton coke plant 08808Aug 85 J8375.jpg Seaham 17th April 87 C8304 Long disused track at the harbour Seaham 17th April 87 C8305 Seaham railway to harbour 17th April 87 C8306 David
    19 points
  4. Around this time the flow of coal to London really gets going, this 02 hauled train being one of the first of the evening and night shift. Not quite into the setting sun, but not far off.
    18 points
  5. Just in time to catch 5355 passing by with a freight train heading into the West Country.
    16 points
  6. Good progress was made today. I did some modelling and Neil soldered a shedload of bus droppers and supplied power to GS and NM, as well as fitting the reversing loop module. First, my bits: A crude engine shed was converted from the Bachmann tin barn by the simple expedient of dremmelling 20mm off the 8 square section brass legs. Maybe somewhat unlikely but it appeals to me. The finished article will have the far side extended down to ground level (with old sleepers) to make a full height wall for workbenches, tools and stores to be piled against. There will also be an awning rigged up outside over the adjacent track under which "tent" the line's mobile crane truck and runner will live. A small bothy will be supplied for the crews to brew tea and eat their sandwiches. I also noticed today that the Hornby resin coaling stage has the footsteps broken off but I have some in the spares box so will replace these at some point. It and the tin shed will be subject to some severe weathering mayhem in due course. Second, a timber trestle bridge. I finally got around to building this. It's my first scratchbuilt model in at least 20 years and I'm moderately happy with how its turning out. For now the leg assemblies are just placed loose under the two longitudinal baulks that support the rails. You can see in the last pic that the nearest assembly is leaning... I need to remove this track piece, shed the Peco sleepers and use some small section timber and chairs (I have a stash in the bits box) to extend the sleepers outwards beyond the ends of the leg main members, otherwise as it is now it looks odd. Neil's wiring work today included installing the Tam Valley reverse loop module for the turning triangle. This is an idiot proof installation: Two wires from the DCC bus to the input terminals and two wires from the output terminals to the ISOLATED section of your reverse loop or triangle. That's it. The widget does everything else and locos can be driven around a loop without stopping and with no polarity "clicks" or pauses. As the loco enters the reverse loop or section the green/red lights will flip indicating job done.
    16 points
  7. Just a few pictures of a model of the Launch Umbilical Tower in 1/400 scale I made a few years ago. The Saturn V is a Dragon model. This is my tribute to those magnificent people that worked to put a man on the moon before 1970. I still quite can't believe that there are still people who refuse to believe in this brilliant achievement. Especially given the plethora of scientific information available on the web nowadays. I'm really enjoying the event and there has been some great stuff on the TV showing a load of previously unseen footage of the event. A picture sourced from NASA showing the real Apollo 11 en route to Pad 39A. My take of the Launch Umbilical Tower as copied from the picture of the real thing behind. Outside shot in the garden. The plane going over was just a lucky coincidence as I took the shot. All the way from Cape Killarney! This is where I live in Southern Ireland. A night shot - the tower has been stuffed with a set of cheap LEDs run from a battery. The light shines out of small drilled holes in the tower. I was a young boy in 1969 and the Apollo moonshots dominated our lives. It was an exciting time to be alive during an era full of hope for the future. We were a lot less introspective back then and all of us thought we'd be living on the moon by now. What a wonderful achievement - the benefits of which we have been living off ever since.
    15 points
  8. There is no evidence that 835 carried the chocolate livery. Most if not all of those so finished had enclosed cabs. I have pictures of 835 circa 1914 and later with an early belpaire boiler but no enclosed cab. Those locos that received the brown livery are listed in the RCTS and IIRC, 835 is not among them. This is my 835 which was spray painted with a very elderly tin of Precision Paints pre 1928 which is darker than their current pre 1906! For some reason the colour on the boiler is darker than the tank sides! Since this photo was taken she has been finished off with whistles and buffers:
    14 points
  9. Visited one the cottages this afternoon and realised that the end one is owned by Jim Riddle, you know, the chap that is always standing at the end of Platform 2 with his hands in his pocket. Apparently he is a railway buff and collects memorabilia which he keep's in his shed at the bottom of the garden. Well if I need any signs I know where to go now....!
    13 points
  10. And this........ 32650 running round its train at Hayling Station. Photo Roger Gallienne
    13 points
  11. Today I looked at the layout. I then looked at the weather which has continued to be very wet. I looked at the wine rack and decided that as it was Friday a large glass of Red Laughing Water would be in order. After which I wasn't in an ideal state to play with some very sharp-edged toys indeed and put them away for another day!
    13 points
  12. Using the first one of the previous post, cropping can change the impact of a picture. Which, I think, is better for it.
    12 points
  13. Good old Crewe, 23rd July 1971, the bowler hatted Traction Inspector climbs aboard 343, photo c/o Jim Hardwick...
    12 points
  14. First, an apology to Mikkel for hi-jacking his thread. However, in the light of some of the comments above, I dug out some "late period" Woodham Wagons which may be of interest. If anyone has any of these in their "unbuilt kit mountain", they might raise a bit of interest on e bay - but I would not give up the day job in anticipation. LSWR 4 plank, Swindon, Marlborough and Andover (predecessor of the M&SWJR) and Eastern and Midlands (predecessor of the M&GNR) PO lime wagon and coal wagon with real, working dumb buffers Great Eastern opens Knotty merchandise wagon, Spalding and Bourne (or possibly early Midland) open and SER van Message to self. Must try to do better with the hand lettering. I hope that these are of interest. Best wishes Eric
    12 points
  15. Finished of some ballasting today, hehe, now to get a nice big signal....
    10 points
  16. Hi Will these do? A pair of scratch built German ferry wagons in 1/148. I'm waiting until I've got a few things ready before setting up the airbrush. Diagram E006 Diagram E277 Cheers Paul
    10 points
  17. Heading off into the distance
    9 points
  18. Today I've made a start on the Hill and Cuttings. Nothing to strenuous, just the Hot Glue Gun, some bits of wood off cuts, some Cardboard, Masking Tape and PVA, then some Paint. Next up some flockage etc.
    9 points
  19. Sorry for the delay in replying, unfortunately an unforeseen house move means this project will go no further. All of the buildings and some of the locos will be available for sale if any one is interested. Other than that I’ll be taking a break from modelling for a while. The Riviera line is also being disposed of thanks for all of the interest in this and my previous projects
    9 points
  20. Thankfully I have the most accommodating of wives and she suggested a visit to the SDR where these were taken. They might come in useful when Bachmann release theirs in 2020.
    9 points
  21. 19 July 2019 Great Moulton The first daylight run up/down the GEML 754003 on 5Q71, 09:15, Norwich C.PT. T.&R.S.M.D - London Liverpool Street (11:34) 37608, Andromeda, on 0Z71, 09:44, Norwich T.C. - Colchester Sudbury Dock (10:50) - light engine (thunderbird for Norwich - Liv. St. - Norwich test run) 754003 on 5Q72, 14:46, London Liverpool Street - Norwich C.PT. T.&R.S.M.D (17:32) 37608, Andromeda, on 0Z72, 14:14, Colchester Goods Loop - Norwich T.C. (15:20)
    9 points
  22. I'm hoping for this sort of effect..... 32640 (Ex Brighton) heads for Langston station. Photo Roger Gallienne
    9 points
  23. Out on the golf course, heavy rain for several minutes, and then suddenly, without warning, a lightning strike and huge crack of thunder, very close indeed. The ground shook, and so did we. Then, one more rumble of thunder, far away, and silence. Very peculiar. Still pouring with rain of course. Scores were not very good. At PN, the sound of a shabby B1, bringing in a MK1 five set which will form the 8.10 to Grantham. and a look at a water fountain, very unhygienic really, but none of us died after drinking from them.
    8 points
  24. Lovely model and fits in lovely with the others in my collection.
    8 points
  25. About a month ago I took some friends from the north on the Javelin service from Stratford to St Pancras. They were amazed at how quickly you could get from the Olympic Park to the transport hub of Kings Cross, St Pancras and Euston. It was also rather more comfortable than what they were used to. Last weekend I went to Paris for Bastille Day and travelled by train. Passing traffic on the motorway while going at more than twice the maximum speed of road traffic and on a smooth rolling train was also a good experience. Take some, all? of the doubters for a day trip so that they can see just how far behind we are in the UK and just how good high speed train travel can be. Cost? If you take the benefits over 50 years or more it is not worth considering as an important factor. Better with Boris? I have grave doubts. He is hardly a role model for joined up thinking. Bernard
    8 points
  26. The brake van kit is now soldered together after getting the fiddly hand rails done tonight. Next task is a final clean up followed by a coat of primer over the weekend, then just the card floor, window glazing, buffers and couplings to add. I now need to buy the correct GWR grey paint and get some decals to finish.
    8 points
  27. Today I got my 2-4-0 back from Bob Essery. I made it for Bob about 20 years ago and it has run on Dewsbury and the Warley club's Ellerton Road since then so all things considered it is in remarkably good condition. The flanges at the top of the rear boiler band are missing, the front vac pipe is a bit skew-whiff and there are a few very minor touching up spots to do on the paintwork but it has obviously been well looked after and I'm really pleased to have it back to join the rest of my stud. Like the others it has Portescap power and details of the paint, wheels etc. are as the majority. Dave
    7 points
  28. Through my Dad, we got involved with the East Midlands Group of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society when I was a kid. This involved taking trade stands to shows and also area group working party visits to Tywyn. When old enough, I joined the Loco department working my way up to driver. I have been a guard at one time also, but no longer. However I’m also a Blockman (our term for Signalman) and take part in engineering working parties in the winter when I can, mainly on carriage maintenance. I spent five years editing our volunteers newsletter, had stints on the Society Council and have put together the Railway’s Guide Book. Though a 7 1/2 month old daughter has reduced the time that can be spent currently on some of these extra duties. Through my Talyllyn connections, I got an interview and then a clerical job with Virgin Trains shortly after I left University. Two years after that, I got a driver’s job with the CrossCountry arm of the business and been driving Voyagers and HSTs out of Derby since. The TR has many volunteers who are also modellers, and several who hold down jobs on the big railway too. Plus, like several others, I found my wife through volunteering on the Talyllyn. We spent the first two weeks of July in Tywyn swapping 125mph tin rockets for 15mph antique kettles. Here’s a nice shot of me bringing No 3 across Dolgoch viaduct. Hope that answers your questions. Andrew
    7 points
  29. York in 1965, 1986 and (mainly) 1987 this afternoon. York Class 47 D1514 Leeds to Newcastle Aug 65 J242.jpg York 45150 extra Derby to York 3rd Aug 86 C7868.jpg York 144001 Harrogate to York 13th July 87 C8678.jpg York 43070 up 13th July 87 C8690 York 150203 and 150206 Scarborough to Liverpool 13th July 87 C8694.jpg David
    7 points
  30. About twenty years ago I put together a layout in a box file, just to see if it was possible. It predated the OO gauge association's box file challenge and came about as I used box files for stock storage and wondered if I could build a layout which would stack on the same shelves with them. I'm not sure if it was the earliest example of the species but I was unaware of any others at the time. It had it's five minutes of fame in the Modeller in June 2007 since which it's gone back into another set of shelves and been largely forgotten. This afternoon as I had the camera out for other purposes I thought I'd get the layout out and take a few snaps. Here are a few of them. Box 1. Box 2. The side backscene (does that make sense?) fitted into place. The remaining pieces. Fully assembled. I'm quite please with how well it's kept, but then it has been boxed up for years.
    6 points
  31. It is indeed from 2mm greyboard as the main structure and then clad with postcard strips etc. Plastic corrugated roof. Rear wall, tissue paper worked with Roket glue to give an uneven surface It's sort of this size....
    6 points
  32. Hi Clive, Here is some DMU action as I've been having a sort out. Some of the models are slightly more started (ie. less finished) than others ! Swindon 123 (Triang Mk1's/Lima), BRCW 110(Hornby), BRCW 104 (Hornby 110 Conversion), Park Royal 103 (Hornby 110 conversion), Gloucester 128-(Hornby Mk2/Lima), Cravens 129 (Triang Mk1/Hornby). Metro Cammel 101, Derby 108, Cravens 105 (X3), Derby Light Weight, (DC Kits with Lima power bogies except for the DLW which has a Hornby power bogie). Gibbo.
    6 points
  33. The Coal Tank is now finally in primer awaiting painting in LNWR Blackberry Black. This was once a K's kit; it's not quite perfect but I want to get it off the workbench:
    6 points
  34. Thanks Nick. Here is a shot of the Toad now in grey primer. A cardboard floor has been installed too. Cheers, Ade.
    6 points
  35. A quick bit of googling turns up an article on smit marks. They are certainly pre-Grouping, pre-pre-Raphaelite, pre-railway: "in 1817 Joseph Walker published the first manual of smit marks. He published the manual for his home area of Martindale and the surrounding valleys in the Lake District in the north-west of England. His guide was so popular – so popular that over the next 80 years or so other farmers published guides to many other parts of the country."
    6 points
  36. Back to the canine in question. When I was a teenager back in the 1950s, there was a programme on BBC radio called 'Round Britain Quiz" in which really bright people tried to answer remarkably vague and difficult questions. They failed miserably on: "What do the following have in common other than beings breeds of dogs - greyhounds, terriers, and bulldogs?"
    6 points
  37. I'm too young to remember the 1980s British Rail era of proper loco haulage before 'Sprinterisation' but for me as a late '90s spotter, the nearest thing you could get to that were the superb ILRA pool of Virgin Cross Country Class 47s on the loco-hauled services that connected all corners of the UK prior to Virgin's widely-criticised Operation Princess fleet & timetable overhaul of 2001-2002. A day's spotting at a key location like Reading, Crewe or Birmingham New Street could yield a parade of tens of these incredible life-extended Brush beasts in a short time - those were the days! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Long-term readers will remember I recreated a batch of these Bachmann 47s in the bright Virgin red & grey colours back in 2017, now here comes 47840 NORTH STAR to redress the balance in its iconic Intercity livery. The starting point was the Bachmann 'Fire Fly' release of a few years ago, several of which I pugged away when Rails of Sheffield were flogging off at £49.99 each on eBay, one of the last few genuine brand new bargains that I can recall! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Firstly, the body was removed and preparations made for renumbering, being a straightforward job I elected to leave in the glazing and simply apply Humbrol Maskol over the top, this lazy bodge ensures that you never get the sometimes-challenging issue of the glazing not re-fitting so well once the extra layers of varnish have been applied as part of the modelling process! As with the other locos, the body was gloss varnished to give a good background for the Fox waterside transfers, with Shawplan nameplates applied using varnish as an adhesive, and a final layer of Railmatch Matt Varnish to seal it all in, before leaving the body for a month or so to harden prior to weathering. I set to work adding a wash over the body, to highlight dirt in some key places that are not reached by the regular carriage washing machines, as well as enabling a couple of fresh dirty oil-soaked rain streaks down the side to really take the edge off that once-smart Intercity livery that had fallen from favour and was fast being eradicated from the system. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The dark grey was wiped off using cotton buds soaked in enamel thinners, working reasonably quickly to ensure the matt varnish layer beneath didn't lift, the month-long hardening period certainly helped though! After this, the loco was given a final coat of varnish to seal everything in, reassembled and airbrush weathered with the big batch of locos. Cab detailing was added, including a driver and a copy of The Sun on the driver's desk! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The prototype NORTH STAR was one of the former Western Region 'namers' and chosen as it was a regular 'everyday' loco carrying Intercity livery quite late (to 2000) and not achieving default 'celebrity' status like 47826 Springburn which kept Intercity until the end of VXC operations. By 1999-2000, 47840's livery was largely intact but had a few battle scars, rust pockets and some white and yellow undercoat spots showing through in places - it was definitely deserving of it's new Virgin red colour scheme applied by 2001! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr One of the fun parts was carefully pouring over dozens of Flickr photos taken during 1999 to monitor exactly where the tiny peeling paint spots were on the bodyside, and faithfully replicating them using a 00000 brush. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Although primarily intended for Loftus Road and my new Didcot layout; the Virgin workhorse can be seen first in action on Wells Green TMD, pulling in for fuelling and servicing - 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The loco had an interesting life after this, firstly receiving Virgin red livery, then being selected by to wear British Rail blue as part of the 2002 Virgin farewell celebrations where many of the surviving locos received heritage repaints. By a miracle, 47840 survived the devastation of the 'Bodysnatcher' massacre where most Virgin ILRA-pool class members were rebuilt as the soulless, anonymous Class 57/3 'Thunderbird' locomotives. Happily for 47840, it soldiered on intact and soon entered preservation where it was returned to original guise as D1661 on the West Somerset Railway. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr For the photos, I couldn't resist getting out some of my other ILRA pool fleet members; 47702 County of Suffolk stables alongside 47840 NORTH STAR. The irony being 47702 is actually an EWS-owned locomotive on hire to Virgin, and painted in their livery, whereas 47840 is a Virgin loco clinging onto Intercity! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Another great fun nostalgia project, and perfect to sit at the head of my Virgin Cross Country Mk2 coach rake on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road, there's still a few well-loved ILRA Brush colleagues that I'm looking to model still, so it is always going to be tricky to decide which loco gets to haul the set at exhibitions! Cheers, James
    5 points
  38. Hopefully it's okay to post this here, but I came across this photo of a 47/4 at Dundee (dated 1986), hauling an Aberdeen service with what to my eyes seems to be a rather unusual formation - appears to be a ScotRail liveried Mk2d TSOT, ScotRail liveried Mk2Z FK then a number of blue/grey pressure ventilated Mk2s (possibly Mk2A): (Photo copyright to Paul Smith flickr)
    5 points
  39. Certainly not cheating, Chuffers. I've just started planning my next layout which will be a small ( very!) Southern Region terminus. All the buildings will be ready to plant and in fact I will be laying them out today or tomorrow to get an idea of how things will look. I tinker with all of the buildings, repainting here and there, adding a bit of detail and above all, weathering. All you need to worry about is how it looks to you, not how you think it will be received by others. Remember, you're not building your model railway for me. You're doing it for yourself. .... and it appears making a pretty decent job of it in the process. Rob.
    5 points
  40. O.K. Lez, all sorted in less than 5 minutes, I wetted the PVA, left it for a couple of minutes and then gently lifted the Rail. Ballast, Sleepers and Rail all came up together and stayed there, I then applied some more diluted PVA and now it's all set again. there is still a pin in the photos that is holding it until it's rock hard. P.S, Its also on the board join, hence no Fish Plates. Cheers again Lez for pointing it out to me.
    5 points
  41. see John Alsop's photo here: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/trumpers_crossing_halt/
    5 points
  42. L&YR Diagram 21, 10-ton goods brake van. I have used up all the suitably sized L&Y lettering from my HMRS sheet, so I put the illiterate symbols on it instead. It's also supposed to have the tare weight on the solebar but I couldn't get the individual numbers and full stops to come away from the methfix backing and so I gave up before it drove me crackers.
    5 points
  43. Then after coffee I decided to do the Hedge hiding the Farm Track and the Embankment along the back using some cardboard folded into an inverted V and covering it with Flock and Foliage.
    5 points
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