metmangraham

I have actually just purchased another of the Met Bo-Bo bargains from Hatton's. I must be a glutton for punishment and incorrect running (my station is 1960ish 'Uxbridge Central' after all), but I love these locos. I now have three; one laboriously built kit from Radley Models, plus two Heljan versions. The two makes sit remarkably well together. All this, just before a planned autumn total revamp of the layout after generating more space in my garage by building a garden shed in the spring. My MG will just about squeeze in next to the expanded layout, which will once more use all the baseboards I had on the Uxbridge Central's original incarnation, though not with the same configuration, back in Aberaeron ... close by where Mantle's Wood now is. Once again, I only wish I had made as much progress as Metr0Land in the past three years...

Poor old Hatton's seems to be attracting some criticism these days. I write to reverse this trend. My small order was placed on Tuesday, despatched on Wednesday, and received today. All is well, well packed, exactly what I ordered (why ever not?). I approached them for advice on compatibility of one item, was assured it would be OK, and it is. I remember my dad swearing by them way back in the '50s... My order was signed off my Christine Hatton... No, surely not a member of the founding family....? I have no doubt that I shall carry on using them for many of model railway needs. Well done, Hatton's.

Hi after a long, long break. Your layout is looking superb. I wish that my move from west Wales to south Oxfordshire had produced such impressive results. Not that my original had got very far before our move. I remember you visited just before we moved in early 2015. I, too, am now confined to the garage, shared with my MGC, so space is at a premium. Having started a rebuild just over two years ago, and being dissatisfied with the much restricted layout compared to what I had in Aberaeron, I have now managed to free up more space in the garage, courtesy of a large garden shed to house the paraphernalia of my other main passion, growing Australasian plants (and an MG? No wonder my time any one hobby is limited!). Anyway, I have just started planning a revamp to commence after the main gardening season ends in the autumn. This should result in a track run almost as long as my original layout, except that I shall lose the long straight 16 feet run before disappearing into the fiddle yard area that I used to have. When I have decent results, I'll post under 'Uxbridge Central' once more.... Keep up the good work. All the best, Graham

And there was me putting off the eventual inevitable, by making it very 'eventual', and saying that I would only attempt third and fourth rail construction once I had done lots of other things, like making buildings, platforms, bridges, tunnel entrances, etc. Always the procrastinator, that's me! Methinks you have found a very good method for fixing the centre rail, perhaps deceptively simple. Your layout has come on in leaps and bounds. Well done. I think I may now have the track laid for the final layout (it must be of course once I do finally take the decision to lay third and fourth rails), and hope to start wiring this week, daughter's imminent baby permitting. Maybe one day soon I'll start a new thread about my resuscitated layout, and put up a few pictures. Courage, mon ami. I have at least run trains over the tracks using temporary clips and it seems to work. Better still, my Heljan Bo-Bo is running impressively well, and, yes, my self-built Radley version compares very well next to it on the layout. My 9 year old grandson thinks mine is the better model, though he may of course feel he has to say that! Graham

Wow! Now that would be a great rationale to include Met-Vics at my Uxbridge Central. It's stretching a point 100 years later in the 1960s, but, hey, in for a penny, in for a pound! G

Well done. You have accomplished a lot in, I guess, about 18 months since moving in. I moved 10 months ago (from Wales to England, the reverse of you), had far less to do in the new home than you, and have only just managed to get my baseboards re-erected (or what there was room for). The much-modified and down-sized layout is now decided upon, and I am hoping that a putative Uxbridge Central (version 2) might be taking shape by Christmas. Part of my delay in restoring a layout was uncertainty as to where I put it. The originally designated smallish bedroom proved out of the question, as one problem with house down-sizing, even including disposal of a large proportion (we thought) of three decades' worth of accumulated tat, is that quarts still don't fit into pint pots! A newly-built large model railway shed in the garden was ruled out as the only suitable level ground had our main drains running under it. So, the new layout shares a (still functioning) garage with my MGC; a sort of multi-hobby den, even including gardening stuff and lawn-mower! It's drafty, but manageable at present with some new carpet trimmings laid over the floor. I'll have to see how damp this becomes. Uxbridge Central is generally much smaller than its first incarnation. Pictures may follow as long as I make progress, but I think I can fit twin fiddle yards at either end - a larger one for LT and BR trains to Paddington, and the other, smaller to handle only push-pull or diesel railcars/units, in the opposite direction towards Denham. At least this time I can pretend to model the lines from the three historic Uxbridge stations. Gone will be my intention to run 7-car tube trains, and there will be only two tube and two BR platforms. However, I shall have a much improved BR sidings layout, plus numerous LT sidings, so I should have plenty of operating fun ... one day. I suppose, I must say 'watch this space'..... Can't wait to power a run of track to make sure the Heljan Met-Vic Bo-Bo runs OK! My humbly assembled Radley kit looks quite good next to it; currently prides of place on a study bookshelf. Graham

If I had the courage I would take a pic of my new Heljan 'Sherlock Holmes' with my Radley 'John Lyon'. From a distance they look remarkably similar, but I'm not sure if a full-screen, full-frontal close-up of them would look as good! Anyway, as I said in an earlier post on the London Underground section, I am very pleased that my colourings of roof and body are very close to the Heljan model. I shall be able to display them close together on the layout. As pleased with the Heljan model as I was when I completed the Radley model. Now what on earth can they pull once I get the layout up and running once more?......! Graham

Wow! These look very impressive. Can't wait!

Classic! Wonderful! Wish I could have been there, and wish I could be there this weekend to see them as well. Too far away, but thanks for the memories (of the Met Vic - not No.1!). Graham

Looks good. I wonder how many and what liveries/variants will be produced - and the price. Can't wait ... but must. Graham

Al I can say is 'WOW!'. Tremendous pictures. In my long-distant youth I never saw steam down the Uxbridge branch, but I do remember the odd bo-bo invasion with Dreadnoughts (presumably specials) and a more conventional 'brown Met' or two (substitution or by accident?). Both schoolboy delights: the sight of steam at Eastcote is amazing in spite of the present-day nuisance, and the steam-filled Uxbridge terminus is wonderful. Thank you for sharing. We don't get many such in Aberystwyth! Graham

As a fellow LU 'modeller' (inverted commas could be ironic, but for me imply 'inexpert'!) what the previous contributor says regarding competent kit building resonates strongly with my situation. If you are modelling rather esoteric themes such as the London Underground (and I've never quite worked out why LU should be so unusual with so many millions using it per day) you have little choice. There is little by way of real RTR, so you mostly have to fall back on the limited kit base or modify existing non-motorised static tube train models. I'm certainly not up to scratch building and even some simple kits have elements which defeat me (e.g. bogies, which if self-assembly are never successful for me) so I have to substitute using spare parts from the main manufacturers (e.g. bogies from Bachmann), which are not authentic. So, I am not able to be the modelling purist I would like to be. But then, it's meant to be a fun hobby, isn't it? Many take liberties by bending time lines, rolling stock progeny, and others, like me, employ a 'what if', almost science fiction, approach to our chosen area and era. For me the hobby cannot be about achieving the realism I would like to attain (and which I really appreciate when I see at exhibitions, etc.), but a totally absorbing interest, both as a model and researching the background to it. It is an ideal retirement hobby/interest to compete (and it does!) with other more outdoor activities.

L150 DOES look good! Dammit! Pity it won't 'fit' on my 1960 layout.

Indeed there are, both still and movies. I felt quite sorry for the little pannier when it was at the tail. It really looked as though it was being pulled along uncontrollably fast by the diesel and Sarah; shades of a Thomas Tank Engine story! It clearly got its own back in the the other direction though!

I look forward to any pictures available from today's event: from a rain-filled, cold and LU-less Far West Wales!