alexross42

That's incredible - with the right backdrop you could fool people into thinking it's the real thing!

Ahhh, thanks for clarifying, something didn't quite feel right as I typed it but still went ahead and labelled it as such on several photos anyway! I shall amend them accordingly.

I've just rediscovered this print after many years and it's piqued my curiosity as to my knowledge Class 33's were rare this far West certainly in the early 1990s, which is when I'm presuming this was taken as it was donated by a friend so I have no further detail on it. Could it be that it covered for a 50 and brought the stock ECS to Laira for servicing?

Similar to a pic I've just posted on the Class 50's thread, this too was recently found in a stash of scans I'd lost until recently - a photo donated by a family friend who was fortunate to live near Laira Depot and captured this on the triangle curve - I've no date info but is at least 1991.

I finally found my lost stash of prints and amongst them was this one taken at Laira, presumably early 1990s - not my photograph, it was donated by a family friend. Probably returning from a visit to the carriage washer? I can't make out the second loco's number but I'm thinking either 48 or 18?

I had no idea it had been over a year since my last post and what a time we find ourselves in now. Hopefully most of us can find some time to seek solace in modelling and running trains, a welcome distraction from the anxieties, worries and frustrations that are all around at the moment. St. Penleo has still reached its current limit in terms of track layout, the development of the loop has certainly been a game-changer though and brought greater levels of enjoyment to running trains of more prototypical lengths as well as easing the whole running-in process. A curious development has emerged through the acquisition of further stock over the past 12 months...I've been absorbing a lot of detail concerning operations around the Exeter area in the 1980s and as a result St. Penleo has migrated Eastwards somewhat, namely by the addition of a Dutch Class 33 and blue Class 31 to the loco stable - certainly not common visitors to far West Cornwall! Thank goodness for Rule #1 I also found time to work on the Peco bridge girders that had been sitting around in their box for far too long. Along with some brick paper, packing foam and road textures I followed the guide as outlined in the excellent Catford layout thread (click here to see it), so full kudos to Rich for sharing this technique. Now it's just a simple matter of major landscaping and scenic works to put it in place.... Thanks for looking. Be well, Ross.

47712 'Lady Diana Spencer' runs into Inverness station, August 1990. 47604 'Women's Royal Voluntary Service' departs Inverness, August 1990.

I think your experience may have been immortalised in Bernard Mills' book 'Devon and Cornwall The Class 47 Years' - pages 54-55 features two shots of 47281 in RF grey with two BSK/BSO coaches as a last minute replacement for the Exeter-Plymouth portion of a late running service on 15th July 1990 - worth checking out if you get the chance!

Not the greatest of quality - apologies - but a couple of shots I've dug out from the archives. An unidentified Class 37 at Aviemore with ZBA Rudd wagon, August 1990: 37670 at Tavistock Junction, Plymouth in November 1987 after the sidings buffers/wagon collision:

A bit of a long shot but if anyone has a spare or no longer wants their copy of this book I'd be very keen to give it a new home. I've really enjoyed re-reading 'Blood, Sweat & Fifties' but cannot locate a copy of the follow-up anywhere! Thanks Ross

Good idea, thanks. I feel it's definitely time to invest in a soldering iron and start learning these skills too!

Thanks again for all your help & suggestions. I ended up removing both drivelines/worms and cleaning everything ensuring that all parts were moving freely and free of any gunk or excess lube, it did then run a little better but still had a restricted speed and was still subject to judder and occasional speed 'lunges'. Then I removed everything again so that the motor would turn but wasn't connected to anything - at speed step 1 it was juddering/struggling to turn but beyond this it performed smoothly and seemed to be increasing speed in line with the controller. (This also gave the opportunity to run some interesting double headed consists as it freewheels along the track very well!) Next I'll reassemble everything and reassess. If it still isn't right then a replacement motor will be the next step. If nothing else this has led me to learn and appreciate a lot more about the mechanics of these locos which I'm sure prove to be useful knowledge to recall and use throughout my modelling adventures....! Cheers, Ross.

Thanks for all your suggestions, appreciated! To answer some of the questions.... - I bought it 2nd hand about 18 months ago so not sure how heavily it was used before, it's probably done less than 24 hours running since I've had it but will take a closer look at the bearings/motor situation. - It's 50046 'Ajax' - maybe it's trying too much to be as realistic as it's namesake is these days.......! - On this model the fan was one of the static types, so isn't connected to the motor (and was subsequently removed to make space for the speaker). - I'll try the approach as described by 34theletterbetweenB&D to determine if one of the drivelines is at fault. Cheers, Ross.

Hi, I'm looking for some help/advice with a Hornby Class 50 that has recently started running very poorly so all ideas are gratefully received! The loco had been running fine for approx a year and then suddenly started juddering/struggling and became unresponsive to commands, sometimes taking a few seconds to apply changes sent through the controller. Also, it's speed capability now seems quite limited (at max it reaches about step 35 out of 126). I've checked everything I can think of - there is no excessive build up on the gears, nothing caught within any mechanism, no dirt on the wheels and the contacts are fine. I've had the bodyshell off and swapped out the DCC chip but the behaviour is the same. One thing I have noticed is that both the chips I've tried get very hot during running, to the point where I could feel the heat through the roof of the body and the chip itself can barely be touched. Is there anything else that's recommended to check before I disengage the worm gear and run it as a 'dummy' in some double-headed consists?! Many thanks, Ross

Looking at the picture from 1964 on page 7 of Bernard's aforementioned book I'm pretty sure it features these two buildings although it seems like that may be a generous description for them! They aren't of brick construction, maybe corrugated plastic sides with corrugated roofing (the old asbestos style?) so theres a chance these aren't the original structures. It looks as if they may have been used for washing/inspecting DMUs. Regards, Ross.

According to Bernard Mills' excellent book 'Backtracking Around Millbay, Saltash & The Tamar', Belmont diesel depot was mainly a DMU stabling, fuelling and inspection point that was also used by locos until Laira became the main place for this type of work, which happened from 1961 onwards. After closure the depot was used for empty stock stabling. There is absolutely nothing left of this facility nor anything else on that line which served Millbay. Bernard's book has a number of excellent photos of this, I highly recommend it. Regards, Ross

Aha! Found a much better image after a Flickr trawl, courtesy of https://flic.kr/p/Nf1jfd:

Many thanks for all your replies, much appreciated

Hi, I've been looking up information regarding non-AC Mk2 coaches that were painted in IC executive or swallow style livery after seeing some on this YT video as I'm looking in to getting a coach resprayed into this livery. I've included a screengrab of the vid below, for which i point all copyright/credit to the original video owner - please can someone provide any information about this coach in terms of its interior layout? Would it have been a BSO or a BSK? And is this a MK2C? Any better quality images or ideas on numbering too would be very welcome! Many thanks, Ross.

This and other videos by the same user on YT are a great resource for viewing traction and rolling stock of the era you mention: https://youtu.be/4f70k6W0c5Y Variety was still very much in abundance which makes the number of consists you could create almost endless!

This is really starting to take shape, looks great! At first I thought the fencing was the footpath that once ran along the outside of the viaduct but then realised this was on the West side, not the seaward side. I'm not sure if that path existed in the 50s?

Yeah if it had been £189 when it was on pre-order I would have thought about it a lot more before buying, however it is a great model and runs brilliantly straight from the box, very smooth and quiet.

Pleasantly surprised to find mine waiting for me when I got home today - it's another great model from KMRC

A few things have been happening lately (albeit slowly), I decided that the lineside fencing needed a bit more to it so I constructed a small polystyrene based mound under the length of it, grassed it then inserted the fence posts through the foliage and into the polystyrene, which means it can be re-positioned without too much trouble: After having some LED platform lights for almost a year I finally got round to getting the wiring sorted and installing them in one of the platforms.....not without one or two LED casualties though - it's been quite some time since i studied electronics! After having looked at it online about a thousand times over the past few months i finally picked up Kernow's ltd. edition 47706 last week when passing Camborne - must say I'm really pleased with this model, the weathering and detail is exceptional. I nearly lost some years off my life when fitting the DCC chip though as the last of the 6 screws holding the body to the chassis just refused to come out, it was turning endlessly but never releasing. Eventually I braved it and decided to see if the body would give anyway and 'thankfully' the thread of the screw hole must have worn as it finally eased apart (and one of the door windows fell out too just to add to the tension). Loving the cab interior lights: Finally, I followed up on a middle-of-the-night idea that came to me regarding how to construct a loop for running trains. I realised that for both true running in of new engines and maximum enjoyment of being able to sit back and watch consists roll by a loop was the only way to achieve this. It has required the removal of one of the platforms and building of a board section across the window in the room but this was only ever a temp location for the layout anyway and they are small sacrifices to make for much larger gains! Happy Modelling

Very much looking forward to this model, I see it's now been rescheduled for Q2 of this year which at the very least provides a bit more time to herd the ££ together for it - was pleasantly surprised to find out that the lead loco on the recent 'Looe Brush' railtour was this very loco albeit in it's current guise of 47772 'Carnforth TMD' - good to know that it still survives!