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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/01/21 in all areas

  1. Half the issue with me is the rise of the digital camera. I have said before that I think it has made many photographers lazy. Take the shot and sort any problems out on the computer is the way now. I spent a short while this afternoon looking at a few pre digital magazines. It just confirmed my view that the technology is now so good that a huge, totally pin sharp image from a camera at eye level to a model person is easily done. It is usually the view with the camera placed within the layout that needs the backscene digitally manipulated. That is because the layouts are just not designed to be viewed from there. When cameras couldn't take those shots and the photographer usually had a tripod standing alongside the layout giving the same view that a person looking at the layout got, then such trickery wasn;'t needed. I actually prefer many of the older images, which are not 100% focussed over a 30ft long layout, which have a clear focal point and a surround that is not quite as sharp to frame it. My eyes work like that too, which is why I prefer them. I don't see everything pin sharp across my whole field of view. I will never be a great photographer and I don't have anything better than a point and shoot camera but this shot illustrates what I mean. Other than setting the camera at "black and white" this has had no digital manipulation. It was framed to miss the top of the backscene and the baseboard edge. The background goes out of focus but I actually prefer that as it is how my eyes work!
    29 points
  2. ECML yet again today, starting at Essendine on Stoke Bank and ending atGamston, just south of Retford. Essendine Class 254 Newcastle to Kings X Aug 83 J8044.jpg Stoke Summit (near) Class 55 9021 Newcastle to Kings X March 73 J3155.jpg Grantham Class 254 up April 83 J7866.jpg Hougham Class 47 up June 78 C3912.jpg Gamston Class 254 down June 79 J6523.jpg David
    28 points
  3. Indeed it's difficult to see these as a positive development for the hobby.
    27 points
  4. Dear Hornby I can vouch this is definitely a generic tank engine.
    25 points
  5. There's been quite a lot of progress since my last posting!
    24 points
  6. HAPPY NEW YEAR! At a time when we've just gone back in lockdown I think we all need things to look forward to so I’m making my latest project public on here in the hope that it might interest, entertain or even amuse a few people. To put it in a nutshell I’m building a 2mm finescale exhibition layout of York Station which will make its first public appearance at York Show Easter 2022 2023 - see post 30/12/21. Regular attenders at exhibitions over the last 15 years or so may well have come across my previous layouts: Blea Moor – transition era Settle & Carlisle in finescale OO: and, up until about a year ago and back at exhibitions again soon, Laramie Engine Terminal – 1950s Union Pacific in American O scale: The new layout (provisionally named ‘This is York’ - the name occurred to me before I discovered there's a BTC film of the same name) will take design elements from both these layouts to present the view from the INSIDE of the overall roof of York Station during the LNER days of the 1930s: The view is the one you get when standing on the platform by the entrance to the station. The roof will be 'peeled open' (as seen in the photo) to allow this view. The open air parts of the platforms will be visible through the ends of the roof which will be modelled uncompressed. The current position is that a full sized mock up has been built (photo above), the fiddle yard is built and working, some stock is built and much more is part built. So there is MUCH to do! More will follow……...
    21 points
  7. Apologies, I'm a bit late to the 'I'll show you mine' party but here goes. Last winter we had windows fitted in place of our garage doors and converted the former garage into a hobbies room. So I now have a separate railway room and a workbench in the hobby room which has made a huge difference. This is my railway room, much use is made of storage under the layout and the ubiquitous 'Really useful boxes' hold both stock and modelling "stuff". The track diagrams and route indicators are almost ready to be mounted on the wall, and the junk in the far corner occupies the space where a turntable will be installed... both projects for this new lockdown, I think. This is my new workspace in the converted garage. I have all the stuff for different activities in separate boxes, and pack it away when not in use to prevent clutter becoming excessive. A plate girder bridge kit under construction on the cutting mat. A Heljan Class 35 on the rolling road, having its chip modified using the Lok-programmer and PC. The spray booth is a new acquisition, awaiting an extractor fan as I nearly asphyxiated myself using it for the first time a couple of weeks ago! A workbench with a view as well! Faithful companion, an almost permanent fixture when I'm modelling. She doesn't like the Dremel but is pretty tolerant about everything else. I think I've at least as much clutter as everyone else has shown, its just mostly hidden away in those (really useful) plastic boxes!
    21 points
  8. A plonk to start our day.
    21 points
  9. I’m quite pleased with the bridge position, looks like I’ve managed to position it just the right distance from the curve to give the impression that the coaches exit on a straight....if that makes sense? I didn’t want it to be obvious that the line curves after the bridge (especially as I was forced to use 2nd radius curves due to the space available)
    20 points
  10. And tonight, we have the arrival of the Birmingham-Ely. Which passes another of those locos with a 4 at the front, this one on an M&GN Yarmouth train.
    20 points
  11. Although many of the Buckingham articles were in the magazines before I was born, my dad was a modeller and I often used to thumb through his old copies. My favourites were also Buckingham and Borchester but there were many others too. Some haven't stood the test of time and when I look back at the magazines now, they look very dated. Others just have an indefinable something that still works for me today. The first time I got to visit Peter Denny in Truro, when he was already in his high 80s in terms of age, I was so pleased to be able to tell him how much he had influenced me and that my modelling the Great Central Railway in pre-grouping times, in EM, was as much due to him as anything. I said that I hoped he didn't mind but I had brought along something and wondered if he would sign it for me. With a huge twinkle in his eye, he just chuckled and said "I hope you haven't brought every article, I should take all afternoon to sign them." There were nearly 200 in total, including ones in Japanese and American magazines, plus appearances on the telly. So my signed copy of the Wild Swan book is a very prized possession. Spending a couple of hours working Grandborough Junction with Peter working Buckingham is a memory I hope I never lose. I never got to say "Thank you" in person to Frank Dyer but his series in the MRJ is something I still read and the Borchester Market special issue is much thumbed. I think that the reason I admired them both is the fact that they were the ultimate all rounders to my eyes. There didn't seem to be any job on a model railway that they didn't do for themselves. Modelling standards have clearly moved on since those days and a Denny or Dyer loco would be no more than "average" compared to what is around today but to me, especially the Buckingham locos, they are like old friends that I care for very much. Each one has a personality and responds to the controller differently but if you really get to know them inside out, so you learn how to get the best from them, they will still run very nicely indeed. The oldest is now in its 75th year and still going strong!
    18 points
  12. Eek! Poor Hattons, they really don't deserve this snub IMO.
    18 points
  13. When I first edited this picture I sat back and thought it looked like you where looking through the drivers vison slit on a tank. So I 'wobbled' the edges and faded it a bit. Looks better but.......well here it is anyway.
    18 points
  14. No, that wasn't the case. Measurement and survey of details were taken from Stroudley examples at both the Bluebell Railway and at the Mid-Hants in November 2019, which were used as the basis for this range of coaches. Prototypically, the Stroudleyesque 4w Brake that Edwardian is admiring should have been on a shorter chassis, but a bit like Les Dawson's piano playing, all the notes are there, just not in the right order...
    17 points
  15. Today I cut the slit in the Branch trackbed for the superelevation, then extended the short joist under the Chapel Sidings to support the branch just on the Down side of the toe of 41B points. I then decided it would make sense to relay the temporary Up and Down Branch Spurs on their correct alignment. First, having lifted the tracks for the second time in two days, I found a small offcut of 9mm ply that would extend the Up Branch Spur just enough to get the full long clay train - 42xx + two Toads + 10 clay tips - in. I used another piece of ply to support the joint and moved the temporary joist and riser to support the extended Spurs. After that, I laid the temporary tracks on both Spurs but without 41A and 41B points at this stage, as these need some fettling before they're ready to reuse. Here are the relaid tracks from the end looking Up and from the side. You can see that I also put a further piece of ply in place temporarily to catch anything that might fall off. Finally here is the long clay train tucked into the Up Branch Spur, pretending to be at St Dennis Junction awaiting its path back to St Enodoc, Porthmellyn Road and on to Tregissey. That's it for construction for the time being until I get some more timber to make up the St Enodoc L-girders. In the meantime I'll turn to other things, like the platforms. In preparation, I've looked through lots of photos showing the relationship between the various buildings and station furniture at Par, to get the relative positions roughly the same at Porthmellyn Road.
    17 points
  16. As for suitable motive power for the GWR train pack, I think the answer has been staring us in the face all along ....
    16 points
  17. All generic ducks are Network Rail yellow, these coaches may be Mandarins as they're attractive non-native species considered to originate from the Orient.
    16 points
  18. Well, to wildly misquote Oscar Wilde, "To duplicate one product is unfortunate, to duplicate five* looks like a strategy" * Cavalex Class 90, Rails Terrier, Rails Rocket coach, Dapol Large Prairie, Hattons coaches.
    16 points
  19. Thanks Mikkel. Thats why the small, 'boxed off' approach suits me. The realisation started with Sheep Lane being completed so quickly. Returning to the loft layout, it got to the point where I would not go there for weeks, perhaps months. I could see no change, no progress. The enthusiasm just went. When I start a new project, almost immediately I see progress. Generally, the day I start tracklaying is the day I run my first train. The biggest drag, like many of us, is the treatment of track and ballast. Proper struggle. Once that is done, things come together fairly promptly and without delay. The big challenge for me will be something like Eweington Burtle. I want it to be a large layout.....but I will need to strike a balance. That balance is that despite being a junction station, it maintained a very simple trackplan throughout its existence. Small buildings and short trains will add to this but still maintain sufficient operating potential to make things interesting. However, for now at least small layouts rule....though I have something in mind for Outwool as I want to create a feeling of a flat,open space. This will be aided by small locos and small low buildings. Nothing too tall........as per Standard Sheep Operating Procedure. ( S.S.O.P ) Rob.
    16 points
  20. West Park station platform entrance and the Great Western Hotel are nearly ready for their coat of primer (I ran out of grey plasticard brick, lol).
    16 points
  21. Yes folks, due to a combination of Governmental policy, the current lockdown restrictions and the need to measure some bricks at my dentists, I found myself in the village this morning, so I undertook to initiate a quick quality control test on the usual pasty supply, to ensure that quality control is satisfactory. I am happy to confirm that the quality is still eminently satisfactory.
    15 points
  22. First version of the Sentinel 0-6-0 now finished with all its mouldings. The huge dumb buffers and electric headlights were only on the Dorman Long locos, the prototype loco and the GKN ones had conventional buffers - not all had the full set of lamp brackets seen here either.
    15 points
  23. Well I did not think that when I started this thread in March 2016 that it would take this long to get from Severn Tunnel Junction to Pantyffynnon! A lot has changed since I started out on the journey, life has thrown up some surprises, many pleasant, but with some challenges for all of us in 2020. Thank you for all the comments, contributions, and corrections. Despite constant reference to my notes, maps, Baker rail atlases, and book collection I still managed to forget things, or get things wrong along the way including some locations. I am grateful to those members who have supplied local knowledge and anecdotes that help give a more rounded view of the freight scene of the 1980s in South Wales. I have also learned a lot, so thank you. I have used a number of photos from two of my previous books; 'Railways of the Western Region in the 1970s and 1980s', and 'South Wales Railways in the 1980s'. I have also included some photos from a book that will hopefully be published in - EDIT - May 2021: 'Freight Trains of the Western Region in the 1980s'. This will be in a similar format to the other books, but in addition my friend and BR colleague Roland Carp kindly looked through his photo collection and allowed me to use 30 of his photos. None of his photos have been published before, they mostly date from 1985 to 1989 so help to give a fuller coverage of the whole decade. To finish here is a photo from Severn Tunnel Junction taken in September 1986, most of us on BR could never imagine a day when a place like this would close, but it did indeed shut the following year in October 1987. As the sun sets over Severn Tunnel Junction a class 47 stands beside the bridge with another member of the class by the loco depot, and a pair of class 37s stand in the down yard. The haze behind the bridge pillar is from a class 33 on a Cardiff - Portsmouth Harbour service braking for the station call, which would then take me on my way home. 25/9/86. cheers
    15 points
  24. Bit naughty of Hornby. There are loads of other coach types missing in RTR. Surely picking some of them would have been more sense.
    15 points
  25. Hell has frozen over then... Return of the Clans.
    15 points
  26. Place ya bets folks!
    15 points
  27. We've managed to get our hands on one of the coaches and take a look:
    15 points
  28. From what I've seen of the Hornby vehicles - just the one reviewed on 'World of Railways' they're not a patch on Hattons efforts. That might sound odd in respect of what is basically a generic model but clearly there is 'generic' and then there is 'generic'. i could perhaps understand Hornby going this way for vehicles to go with locos they have issued in Pre-Group liveries but going beyond that seems to me to be little more than copying somebody else's idea and then rushing it into production (with incredibly bright interior lights ). The Hornby ones are, i believe, likely to be cheaper and you do of course get what you pay for. The big potential advantage I can see for one - if they do one with a suitable body/doors configuration - is that it would have the advantage of being cheaper to paint in all over black to match a WR departmental staff accommodation vehicle which I photographed back in 1963. Bbut otherwise if I decide I want any to go with my various Pre-Group liveried locos my money will inevitably go to Hattons.
    14 points
  29. I am happy to see these. That is because I am happy with the idea of generic coaches and these look entirely reasonable in conception and execution. I'm glad that Stephen (Compound) was bold enough to comment, because I was looking at the pictures and thinking that these were perhaps not so well conceived and executed as Hattons', but I think that we must reserve final judgment until we see them side by side in the flesh, and I predict that it will be the difference between the good and the very good. Whether this is an unintended duplication or another "don't park your tanks on our lawn" release, I cannot say, so will not express a view. As was said on the Hattons topic, yes, a reasonable match for many means a perfect match for none, and some livery choices represent better approximations to the chosen companies than others. It all depends on whether you buy into the idea of generic coaches. I think better to have such approximations to modern standards than have nothing and I cannot help but think that such releases encourage more modellers to look at earlier periods and I think all good things will ultimately flow from that. Hopefully the happy hackers will have a conversion field-day too. As a pre-Grouping Era freelancer, these coaches are particularly welcome and I'm now spoilt for choice. Hurray! A special mention I think goes to the rather Stroudleyesque 4-wheel full brake. What a delightful model and I can see me taking that one to my heart. I note the duckets/look-outs/projections are flush sided on the brake coaches. This conforms with Stroudley practice (they were latter rebuilt with panels), but does mean that in liveries depicting panels to the duckets, it looks like faux printed panelling. i find this particularly nasty (it ruined the otherwise usable Hornby GWR corridor clerestories), but compromises have to be made with this type of generic product. I notice that the grab/commode handles resemble the GWR's. These were not especially common more generally, so it's an interesting choice. It does mean that in this regard the coaches are likely to match my Triang GWesque clerestory hacks.
    14 points
  30. Lead times for new models being what they are, it's quite likely that Hornby started on their 4 & 6 wheel coaches before Hattons.
    14 points
  31. I was thinking some more on this, and actually given Hornby's place in the market it does need a range of 4 wheel coaches to replace the previous ones and they do look like improvements on what went before. It gives people a choice and there will be those that demand accuracy and will kit build, there will be those that will support Hattons and there will be those who would only every buy from Hornby. And a bit of mix and match would be good too - have your cake and eat it.
    14 points
  32. Thank you for your kind comments. Our own Facebook post was shared far and wide on Social Media. There were some negative comments on some of the Model Railway forums, answered by members of those Groups. The one's above are not from our own page. The support we received was outstanding. Over 22,000 people have viewed our Facebook post to date. The three of us spent most of Sunday and Monday evening replying to as many as physically possible. On our own Facebook page, support was just like the Sanitizer sat on my desk 99.99% effective. I would like to add that the 0.01% negative post was from a poster who had a horrific lung condition, I have to take his word for that as we have done with a lot of customers. A quick look at his Facebook profile showed he had fairly recently walked nearly 4km, with 33,000+ steps and walked up 12 flights of stairs. I will leave you to draw your own conclusion on that one. On the point of whether we have discriminated: We have served and allowed into the shop genuinely exempt people. A father and son who had to lip read. Others with clear issues. We have offered them the use of a mask or a face shield. Not cheap but safety first. But we first made sure they were the only ones in the shop at that time. Customers were very understanding on this. We have kept the double doors open with the back door also open to ensure good ventilation. Cleaning work surfaces between customers whenever we could. With the thousands of pounds we have spent on PPE, cleaning and perspex screens, we made the shop as Covid Secure as we could. We did refuse access to the "you're not making me wear a muzzle", "fake virus" types. The guy who had breathing difficulties who came in sporting the gym wear from the gym across the road still sweating from his workout claiming he was exempt. "We don't wear face masks, government plans to track us all". One of whom did put on a mask when I pointed out that it would hide his identity from the government watchdogs. Genuine customers were not the ones abusing us. On a really positive note; only one customer was known to us. Clearly Boris follows our Facebook page as he decided to follow our example....... Stay Safe and thank you.
    14 points
  33. This is a cropped version of yesterdays picture, it shows more Bogie detail and focus's the mind better on the subject matter I feel.
    14 points
  34. Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, of Lincoln, was formed as the result of the merger between Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd and Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd on September 11, 1918 and their first narrow gauge diesel locomotive left the works on September 1, 1931. In the summer of 1932, production was moved to the larger Boultham Works, where the firm were eventually to become Britain’s largest builder of diesel locomotives, with over 6,500 being built by the time production ceased in 1969. Almost as soon as the firm’s 44/48HP 0-4-0 locomotives were making an appearance, an upgraded, more powerful 0-4-0 was on the drawing board. Although many of the features of the 44/48HP were retained for the new 80/88HP, such as the chain drive and running gear, a new type of transmission was fitted, along with Westinghouse airbrakes. The new power unit, Ruston’s own 4VPB, delivered 80BHP at 1000rpm and was later supplanted by Ruston’s improved 4VPH that delivered 88BHP, but it required compressed air to be injected into the cylinders to be able to start. While running, an air reservoir was kept charged via the braking system, but after standing idle for a period the reservoir depleted and a secondary source was required to recharge the reservoir. This was achieved by fitting a small, secondary 1½HP ‘donkey’ engine, giving rise to a distinctive raised cover on the right hand side of the engine compartment that differed in size and placement depending on the make of engine used. Two basic weight options were offered for the 80/88HP, of 17 tons and 20 tons, the difference being achieved by attaching weights to the outside frames, as well as to the front and rear buffer beams. In 1941, Ruston’s locomotive classifications were changed, with the 80/88HP becoming 88DS (with the narrow gauge versions being assigned the DSM and DSN suffix, and the broader gauges assigned DSW). Outward appearance changes to the ‘standard’ locomotives were mainly confined to the cab area, with examples from mid-1947 replacing the open cab with a fully enclosed cab that featured several ad-hoc styles of front window. The final 88DS, 518494, left Boultham Works on 29 November 1967, bringing to an end a production run of 271 locomotives. Ruston 421415 was built new for the North British Distillery Co. Ltd, being delivered in March 1958 to their distillery in the Gorgie district of Edinburgh, around the period when the distillery was expanding to include the former Edinburgh Corporation Tramways depot. In 1973, the locomotive was donated to the fledgling Fife Railway Preservation Group, who located it at the Lochty Private Railway until it’s demise in 1994. 421415, now numbered NBD No. 4, has now been restored and wears the livery of the North British Railway. Ruston 441934 was built new for Rowntree & Co. Ltd of York, being delivered in April 1960 to join R&H 421419/1958 and 432479/1959 in the confectionery company’s fleet of locomotives as No. 3. In 1979, the York factory bought a new 0-6-0 locomotive and No.3 was transferred to Rowntree’s Fawdon factory in Newcastle. Rail services at Fawdon came to a halt on 30 January 1987, with No. 3 being handed over to the North York Moors Railway for preservation. After some years being moved about it was purchased in 2013 by two members of the Derwent Valley Light Railway, Glynnis and Tony Frith. 441934 has now been named Ken Cooke, in honour of the former Rowntree’s York employee, D-Day veteran and holder of France’s highest military honour, the Legion d’Honneur. Ruston 432478 was built new for British Railways, being delivered in January 1959 to the North Eastern Region Civil Engineers Department at the Leeman Road Permanent Way Stockyard in York, one of six Ruston & Hornsby 88DS locomotives built for British Railways which were distributed between York, Dinsdale Depot, Etherley Tip, Crofton, Hartlepool and Darlington. As well as working shunting duties at Leeman Road, 432478 also worked at the York Central Concrete Depot, which is now the site of the Railway Museum’s main visitor car park. -Ruston 408493 was built new for British Railways Western Region, for use at the Signalling & Telecommunications Department workshops at Reading and was delivered in January 1957. Taking the Departmental number 20, the locomotive spent its entire lifetime at Reading, housed under the Vastern Road bridge when not in use. Renumbered in 1973 under TOPS, to 97020, withdrawal came in April 1981 and it was disposed of at Reading by Cartrights of Tipton in August 1982, being replaced by a Barclay Class 06 No. 06003, which was transferred to Reading from the Scottish Region.
    13 points
  35. Ahead of the 2021 announcements here is an update on revised delivery dates for items announced in 2020 with a narrative from Simon Kohler.
    13 points
  36. Workbench and a store inside. 88DS outside.
    13 points
  37. Every time Hornby throw their weight around trying to deter new players entering the market, they are squandering resources they could be using to produce something that's not available anywhere. Band-wagon jumping is not the mark of a true market-leader and, whilst I can accept that the Rails/Terrier conflict might have been purely a matter of timing, this looks entirely calculated. John
    13 points
  38. But you said there were none. You were wrong and then you have the nerve to start a topic for complaints. You really do need to get a sense of proportion and stop throwing silly statements around wasting my time and that of other readers.
    13 points
  39. All look pretty much the same to me so I'd say generic. Wonder what's being said at a certain retailer right now... ?
    13 points
  40. Full range images North British Great Northern London & South Western Great Western London, Brighton & South Coast Railway London & North Western BR(E) Crimson London & North Eastern Southern
    13 points
  41. First post of the year, hopefully a better year for us all. I’m cracking on during January finishing the triangular section of scenery. Basically I make a list of all the details to add (once I’ve completed the static grass) which is what I’ve been doing today. I’ve allowed two weeks to get all this done after which I’m going to start assembling all the lighting gantries, which provide light from the front and above.
    12 points
  42. My track cleaning coach, from the 1980s, had a plastic body. I've never seen a metal one.
    12 points
  43. There has been much talk of Model photography on here lately, and whilst not a professional photographer by any means two magazines have used my photos to illustrate my layout articles. The only thing I have ever changed is to crop to get rid of most of the off layout clutter and to clone the sky (painted by me) upwards if there was any clutter still left. Personally I do like photos that are taken to make the layout look real. As a modeller I know what the clutter around the layout is likely to like so I do not want to see it on a photo of THE LAYOUT. However if someone is showing how the layout fits into their model room then OK. And on that basis I will show you my model room which is 12ftx 9ft into the alcove. In the last photo "Sir" might notice one of his photos of my then Castle stomping round LB. The flood light, which has 3 curly whurly energy saving bulbs allows me to get a more evenlight on the layout when I'm taking pics, as you can se it is bounced off the ceiling
    12 points
  44. My pair of Revolution class 92's arrived this morning and they look stunning. They are worth the wait. Quickly posed on the layout during a coffee break, will hopefully have an operating session this evening. Thanks again Ben and Mike.
    12 points
  45. I have had to trim my Genesis order due to a lack of cash over the next few months but once I am able to buy more 4 wheelers they will be from Hattons who have engaged with us here unlike Hornby who for the second time with a Hattons product have snuck in the back door late in the day. I wish Hattons all the very best with the Genesis coaches and will keep my views of Hornby to myself as I don't want to cause Andy and the team any trouble.
    12 points
  46. Ordering some more from Hatton's. Hope Hornby get their fingers burnt with these. John
    12 points
  47. Sam's trains is going to wet his big boy pants
    12 points
  48. Still finding bits to do on the other buildings, such as telephone insulator brackets....
    12 points
  49. Thanks Rob I just need to design my goods shed, I’m planning to draw one based on the Ratio N gauge goods shed Its a shame Ratio doesn’t do this shed in OO gauge It will tie in nicely with my engine shed and pump house It might take me a while though
    12 points
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