alastairb

Not sure how you would find photos of that particular UP boxcar with patched reporting marks. However might be worth a trawl through http://freight.railfan.ca/ An amazing collection of North American railcar photos (not just Canadian roads). It is organized by railroad / reporting marks, but there are plenty of patched railcars.

Thanks I didnt spot that bit

Update from Rails at https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/Heljan-showcase-oo-class-26-deco-samples Look nice, albeit no update on when delivery is expected

As always there seems to be more Brakes and Firsts than TSOs, but have managed to (separately) buy 3 of the latter at aound £40. Did get a BSO for £12 recently! Returning to topic would love some Accurascale MK2bs but not found photos of any on the Kyle line in blue and grey.

Yes I noticed that too. I am gradually picking up Bachmann Mk2/2a's for my 70s / early 80s Highland layout. A lot more on that auction site recently and now going for circa £40 - as you say a lot less than they have been going for lately.

Complicated doesn't mean the same as impossible!

Not to mention the people who join the queue thinking the Loco is on general sale. I understand people's frustration as the delivery has been dragging on a bit, but as SLW's email says there are logistic issues (including but not limited to transporting and storing locos, checking orders, and afterwards reconciling what has been collected and what needs to be sent out by mail etc) with doing show pickup

Aside from Holyhead as mentioned by @The Stationmaster Kyle of Lochalsh had cattle traffic into the 70s see .

Strong agree. I've returned to British Outline modelling after 20-odd years on the US Outline 'darkside'. Modelling 70/80s standard blue and yellow is harder than it should be, with the seeming obsession for celebrity locos.

Yes they could set up a system to do just that. Practical for kits etc but maybe not for the myriad of lines they carry on their exhibition stand, many of which are not packaged or barcoded, eg switches, nuts and bolts, sheet material etc. Their stand at exhibitions is large and very busy, usually with several people waiting to to pay for items at any one time. Scanning everything through will not be quicker than the staffs impressive mental arithmetic.

Yes it would be great if Squires had an all-singing and dancing website with real time stock levels. However, I am not an e-commerce expert but it looks like it would be a nightmare to integrate this with their exhibition sales stand. Would require either a 100% stock check after each exhibition or for them scan every single thing they sell at each show. The guys are working like one-arm paperhangers as it is.

As with many things, it will be a tendency but not a universal truth. I was a teenage trainspotter from '76 onwards. I recently returned from the dark side (US) back to UK outline and am modelling BR Post TOPS BR blue era. Hence pleased to see Blue Grey TSOs, albeit BGs would have been even better. That 70s era was still similar to the steam era, in the sense of how the railway look, felt and operated. However i have less interest in the rationalised post privatisation system. Each to their own.

Perhaps reflects that 37s ran on some very modellable lines (eg WHL & Kyle), Scotrail 47s maybe less so? 🤔

First time at an exhibition since pre- covid days. Had a great time, very inspired by Penmaenbach. I'll be ordering a SLW Class 24 and 25 after seeing a 24 in the flesh.

Some random thoughts / memories on Hattons: 1. Vaguely recall visiting with my dad in the early 70s ( I would have been 8 or 9) , I suspect some of the Hornby Dublo locos/stock on our garage layout were picked up on this trip. 2. Passed the original shop many times on my bus trip from hall of residence to Liverpool University in the early 80s. Like many this was a time in my life when I temporarily left the hobby for wine, women and song. 3. Returned to the hobby in middle age (sound familiar) modelling US Outline. Bought plenty of Peco track (latterly HO Code 70) from Hattons. Agree with previous posters about their brilliant packaging ie L shaped MDF angle on the flex track box. 4. In the last few months returned to my roots with a 70s BR blue project based on Kyle of Lochalsh (location of several childhood holidays). I've bought plenty of rolling stock recently, but not from Hattons - was a bit mystified why they had no Bachmann / Hornby - this thread explained why. Can't help thinking this was a key factor in their decline. Hard to see how you can be one of the key players in retail if you don't stock the key brands. 5. I found their website a bit chaotic, albeit the ordering process was always good. Hope we don't lose their model directory. A great resource that has been invaluable as I work out what has been produced relevant to my project during my 25 years hiatus from UK modelling. Hope someone takes it on. 6. Bit underwhelmed by their 2nd hand offering, but now I know why reading this thread - all the good stuff was snapped up straightaway to all of you who checked the website several times a day. 7. Respect to the management team for exiting the business in a proactive, professional and dignified manner. In my working life I've seen many businesses keep going hoping something would turn up, but it seldom did. Hopefully it will mean the staff have time to find a new opportunity and also their suppliers will get paid in full. 8. My last Hattons purchase arrived today. A Peco Rannoch Station kit as a stand-in station building for my Kyle layout - a lasting memory of a small but significant part of my model railway journey over 50 odd years.

I recall seeing it heading north through York as a teenage spotter. It was a weekday so probably the October half term ( I was too much of a swot to skive off). Yes I remember seeing lots of people 'testing their eyelids for leaks' in some tatty Mk1s.

Glad to hear it was useful. From memory: cement cars (small 3000 cu ft? Trinity Hoppers on my visit) go in one side, the cement is unloaded and is stored in a tank in the centre of the shed and road vehicles are loaded at the side. As a bonus I got a cab ride in the Alco S4 later that morning

Nice layout! Intrigued by the cement unloading shed. Just getting back into the hobby with an N Scale project. It will have a cement unloading shed based on the prototype in New Lebanon New Hampshire. Now on the New England Central Railroad, when I visited in 2008 it was on the Claremont and Concord. PS yes it pretty much is a Pikestuff kit

Yes lots seems to have changed. Even the paint scheme of 3026 and 1126 was different in 2010. They seem to be a permanent pair.

Brings back memories. Yes the chain link fencing makes photography a bit tricky but it is an interesting location. I was there in 2010 and there wasa varied selection of locos including GP9s and a couple of end cab switchers.

The GP60 has an EMD 710 engine. I have a Walthers Proto 2000 GP60 and fitted it with a Soundtraxx Tsunami board replacement decoder. Agree with other posters that the Tsunamis have good prime mover sound, but motor control isn't quite as good as say Loksound. Not sure about the horn sounds I dont press F2 that often. Hope this helps PS if the decoder prime mover sounds familiar it's because a GP60 has the same engine as a Class 66.

I suspect it is probably an external fuel tank from a fast jet. Reasons being:1. They are quite light, essentially an empty aluminum or glass fibre cylinder, so only need a small forklift to move. 2. Fuel tanks are often stored in stackable cradles like that pictured. 3. The forklift has presumbly fallen off the loading dock. The building is an ordinary warehouse not a munition storage building. 4. The nose cone is a different colour, probably an anti-erosion coating as would be used on a fuel tank that is repeatedly carried, maybe for 100s of sorties. 5. The item doesnt appear to have the coloured rings showing what class of weapon it is. These are mandated under international law. For example high explosive bombs have a yellow ring. The picture is not high enough resolution to see whether the top of the item has a fuel connector so I can't be certain. Hope this helps Alastair

I agree that a "roundy roundy" gives far more options. My garage sized HO layout was transformed (for the better) when I rebuilt it from a U shaped by putting a lift out shelf across the garage door end. Its much more enjoyable to leave a freight slowly run around the layout while doing modeling jobs, especially with sound equipped locos. Also continuous running is good for debugging locos, rolling stock and trackwork. Anyway glad you're mojo has returned

Jersey Barriers "also those concrete barriers that get used along the edge of the RoW a lot." BLMA make some, but I've found these ones from Unit Models are fine and a bit easier to get hold of in the UK http://www.unitmodels.com/product.php?id_product=123

Perhaps one of the freight cars has a loose truck screw, causing the body to "flop" slightly to one side, and there's nothing wrong with the track.