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Philately

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  1. For me the Easterner represents BR as I remember it better than the Scotsman. Apropos secondary ex-LNER secondary routes, in the days before the 4-car Metro-Cammels, the Newcastle-Carlisle route was populated by B1s but V2s were not uncommon. There was a Haymarket turn for an A3 which travelled Edinburgh-Newcastle, then Newcastle-Carlisle, and corresponding return trips. Also, I remember a Kingmoor Britannia on the east-bound "Paddy" from Stranraer to Newcastle, leaving Carlisle at 1410. I also remember seeing A3s, A4s and Deltics being run in on Sundays, heading westwards to Hexham after maintenance at Gateshead, and of course traffic diverted via the Waverley route when the ECML north of Newcastle was unavailable. No doubt other classes got similar treatment but didn't catch the eye. So it should be possible to twist history sufficiently to run some unusual locos in unusual places. Anyway, Rule 1 applies! Oh, and 60004 William Whitelaw was the standby A4 at Waverley station. It didn't have a corridor tender, and could sometimes be seen late in the day on a stopping train to Newcastle.
  2. One good reason to change is to lose the awful N Gauge couplings and allow some shunting without resorting to lifting wagons off the track. I have N Gauge stuff and I note that (a) Hattons seem to have abandoned new N Gauge and (b) that the range of available models is if anything shrinking except from specialists using crowd funding. Perhaps the easier handling qualities of TT120 will accelerate current downward trends in N? But let’s face it: TT120 is aimed at newcomers to model railways in an effort to grow the market, not at established modellers. The fact that the latter are taking an interest is a bonus to Hornby. So if you don’t like it, don’t buy it.
  3. Many thanks, folks! I feel much encouraged to acquire a length of track and a couple of wagons. Richard
  4. Thank you to all who were kind enough to reply to my earlier post, but I'm still a bit confused. I'm basically a train set operator rather than a modeller, who wants to have a railway that enables predictable and reasonably realistic shunting (and long-distance train runs). There's no point in jumping out of the N Gauge frying pan into the TT:120 fire if the Hornby couplers, of whatever provenance, aren't reliable and easy to work with. FWIW I don't do exhibition layouts, and I have zilch knowledge of Continental/American couplers. So I'm trying to find out whether the Hornby system, (a) on straight track couples up consistently, (b) on straight track, with the aid of an uncoupler rail/device uncouples reliably, and ( c) trains when coupled up stay that way. If Hornby are following Continental practice, then do Continental couplers measure up? This isn't an absolute yes/no thing. A score of 7/10 would be a win for me. Richard
  5. Can anyone attest to the effectiveness or otherwise of the Hornby TT:120 couplings for (a) their propensity or otherwise to come apart when trains are running and (b) the ease of otherwise of uncoupling using the uncoupler rail while shunting? I have N Gauge at the moment and its worst aspect is the user-unfriendliness of its couplings. Richard
  6. Many thanks gentlemen. I had wondered whether TransPennine were quoted a price for electricity that was uneconomic. Now I know it's a shortage of capacity in the OLE. I must say that the new Trans-Pennine stock seems to run very quietly for diesel.
  7. Probably a stupid question: LNER Azumas run on the front pantograph, but TransPennine trains of apparently similar ilk (but of 5 coaches only) on the line north of Newcastle don't use the wires though they appear to have pantographs. Why?
  8. There are no clips as such. In N Gauge each section has a hole in the centre of the sleepers at each end (not 100% sure about 00), designed to take Peco track pins. This works on Sundeala baseboard surfaces, not so good on plywood. If you are doubtful about Peco Setrack, why not look at Kato Unitrack? This comes in 00 as well as N Gauge sizes and I find it much easier to work with. Gaugemaster's website will give you further info. Richard
  9. Reopening the Blyth/Ashington/Newbiggin route has been in the local news on and off for some time in Northumberland (my home County), and the County Council seems likely to publish a proposal at the end of the year. Double track (mostly) and semaphore signalling is still in place, albeit with electric illumination. Level crossings are fully operational as there's quite a lot of freight traffic. There are 2 platforms still intact at Ashington (covered in weeds), likewise at other places on the route. So it's not just an Election special but there will still be a lot of persuading to do...
  10. I can't remember when Rebuilt Scots and Jubilees were taken off but can remember A3s with German "blinkers" and then Class 44/45/46s. Richard
  11. A few months ago I abandoned all pretence at being a railway modeller and decided that what I wanted was something to play trains on. N gauge is my chosen size so I bought some Kato Unitrack track packs. As a medium to enable one to set up a layout easily it is brilliant, if a bit limited in pointwork. Things like single slips are alien to it, though it does an absolutely brilliant scissors crossover. At the moment I am using the Kato controller as a power unit for the Kato 2-wire solenoid point switches that came in the track packs I bought. Motive power is controlled via a Z21 and an iPad, which is likewise very user-friendly, but unsuitable for powering the points without an adapter. You may well ask why bother, seeing that Kato wiring is so easy to use, with plugs and sockets pre-fitted, and extender cables readily available; the answer is I'm aiming for computer control, and in any case want to integrate signals so that when visitors come, one can act as signalman. Foolishly I bought an 8-way decoder for stall motors, thinking that Kato N Gauge points worked this way - they emphatically don't! I'm now advised that I need a DCC Concepts 8-way accessory decoder with adapters for 2-wire point control. Does anyone know of any other DCC alternative I could use? Just to allow choice. Richard
  12. As of 16.15 today I accessed the Zimo site without difficulty. If it was unavailable earlier it was probably being updated - a not unusual occurrence at weekends. Richard
  13. What about the Gresley V1s and V3s, succeeded by Thompson's L1 2-6-4T. Seemingly the Gresley 3-cyl locos were less inclined to slip than the 2-cyl L1s.
  14. On the Alnwick to Cornhill/Coldstream line (closed to passengers in 1930) the stations on the west of the track between Whittingham and Coldstream (e.g. Hedgeley and Wooperton) had their single platform faces on the loop, with trap points on the "straight" line. Those on the east side (like Ilderton) had their platforms on the "straight"line. When it was built, this section had a double track spec with but a single track actually laid, to allow for the possibility that a line from Newcastle upon Tyne to Edinburgh via Kelso might be built via Ponteland, Belsay, Scotsgap, Rothbury, and Whittingham. Of course it never happened. At one time, there was a Saturday timetable that had an "autocar"(i.e. Sentinel steam carriage) and a standard Branch train to cross at Hedgeley and, I believe at Mindrum, which only had one platform. This confounds all our expectations of what's "normal" but gives one lots of operating licence! Richard
  15. Hope this isn't teaching Granny to suck eggs, but is the operating system of the iPad as up to date as possible? It may be that the new app doesn't like an old version of iOS.
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