HonestTom

First windows stuck on, first few courses of stone. I also added a piece of balsa that will be a chimney (65p from 4D Model Shop).

The plan is to clad this shell, and here’s how I plan to do it. In my box of crafting materials, I found some card seed trays with a very rough stone-looking texture (you get the same on the inside of egg boxes). These will provide stone blocks. The trays cost £3 for 3 from Flying Tiger. For windows, I’m using cross-stitch mesh, aka plastic canvas or granny grating (NB do not grate your granny, this is very unsafe). This mesh comes in big sheets and various sizes of hole. I believe mine is "5 count," i.e. five holes per inch, and a 22x13.7in sheet is £3.30 from Hobbycraft. It can also be cut with scissors, which is just dandy.

I’m currently working, very intermittently, on a narrow gauge layout for my various Welsh quarry locos. And I thought, as a challenge, that I’d try scratch-building some structures. I’m a big fan of builders like John Ahern, who didn’t have access to the materials we do, so I thought I’d set myself the additional challenge of using as little by way of proprietary modelling materials as possible. The first one is a sort of generic industrial building. I’m not really going for accuracy so much as atmosphere. The inspiration came from a visit to The Works, which had a number of wooden houses for decorating. These were about the right size, so I picked up two and a little trinket box, total cost £5.50. I removed the lid from the box, and this is the basic shell. Here’s a better view of the box sans lid: More to come shortly…

It is, however, much easier to scratchbuild buildings in 00 IMO. The details are less fiddly. In general, though, it seems like O is what you're interested in doing, so I say go for it and see how you feel. If you don't like it, well, pull up the track, sell the rolling stock and start again.

If they make what I want, I'll buy it. I have several of Oxford's wagons, plus an N7, Janus and Radial. I don't know what flaws the N7 and Janus may have, to me they look fine. I know there are flaws with the Radial, but I just wanted something to haul a train of LSWR coaches I had. I was prepared to accept the flaws, because it was good enough for my purposes. I have nothing from EFE, but if I had space, a train of 1938 Tube stock would be top of my list.

In my experience (various nieces and nephews), kids today are still fascinated by steam trains. Apparently it's something to do with spatial awareness and the fact that a steam engine has all sorts of things going on (moving rods, steam and smoke etc).

I wonder if the heavy emphasis on SDJR locos is related to the upcoming release of their coaches in that livery?

Thanks for the tip - I shall have to see what I can find. It could probably work as a micro-layout. I've always found the prototype interesting, it's not far from where I live and generally it's just an itch I want to scratch.

A couple of items of interest to me, but on the whole, I'm not getting that "wow!" feeling I've had on previous years. In many ways, the biggest surprise is the lack of surprises. The B17/5 was somewhat unexpected, but it's an LNER streamliner that can presumably reuse some existing tooling, so it feels fairly safe. The only model that has me really excited is the Pug in maroon, and that's purely because I was planning to make a model of that loco myself - it's not like it's top-of-the-range. The LBR Royal saloon is interesting, but with nothing to run it with, I don't know if it's interesting enough to lure my wallet out of hiding. I would have put money on more pre-Grouping coaches, but perhaps Hattons getting theirs to market has made Hornby reconsider for the time being. It definitely feels like Hornby have decided, this year at least, that collectors are the focus with the new Dublo stuff, the new LMR packs and the Caley pack.

I think a significant portion of the appeal of Dublo is the sense of weight - that's partly the die cast body, partly the mechanism, partly the hefty rolling stock.

Perhaps it's intended to represent the stock in preservation, as with the Lion pack?

To be fair, I actually think those would sell a few. I know people who are fans of them. Not my cup of tea, but nor was the W4 and that did alright.

I think the heavy emphasis on the Dublo range is interesting, and I'll be curious to see how it sells. I do think there's a strong collector market with deep pockets - but are they deep enough to buy several variants of the same model? Are these things selling to completists who buy everything, or people who think "That's nice" and buy a specific model? I don't know, and as I say, I'll be curious to see what happens. Surprised they haven't done anything for the 75th anniversary of BR, given that they're commemorating seemingly everything else. The one that's calling to my wallet is the United Glass Bottle Manufacturers-liveried Pug, although strictly it shouldn't have the covers over the slide bars.

Not really surprised, I think it's basically the last gap in Hornby's LNER streamliner line-up. I could be tempted, as a fan of the GE.

Clearly Hornby have reason to believe there's money in this market, given that they've been catering to it since 2020, so I don't find it a bewildering choice at all. It's glamorous, it has the nostalgia factor (whether you saw it in service or in a museum) and it's the first diesel under the revived Dublo brand. I won't buy one, because I'm not in that market, but I daresay there are plenty who will.

My problem is not that the layouts are too large or impractical, but too numerous. If I had the space, I'd build... - A Pre-Grouping layout set in Victorian London centred on the GER. - A Minories layout based on the City Widened Lines c. 1965-1980, inc. parcels depot and Underground through lines - Something based on the Wisbech and Upwell, perhaps using the Ffarquar Branch as a template - An 009 layout based on the Metropolitan Water Board Railway

I deliberately paint my wagons in slightly different shades, because most colour photos I've seen of goods trains indicate that that's how they were in real life. There was dirt, there was fading, there were variations in batches of paint. So I'm not bothered if my RTR wagons don't have the "correct" shade, because in practice, I reckon they'd probably only be that colour when immediately ex-works, if at all. But my general rule is, if it looks right to me, that's fine.

A couple of YouTubers I follow are Bill Making Stuff and Studson Studios. They don't do railway modelling stuff, being more sci-fi/fantasy, but they are big fans of recycling plastic rubbish. I'd recommend checking them out if you want to get lots of ideas for what you can do with the stuff you throw away.

How about a Manx Electric Railway tramcar? Oxford do the car, it can be motorised, Hornby are throwing a ton of money at TT...

Given that it's the 100th anniversary of the Big Four, I reckon that's going to be the theme. I therefore predict four Dublo models to represent each of the Big Four - re-releases of the Duchess, Merchant Navy and A4 with a new tooled GWR loco. I would predict a Castle class for this, having nostalgia value for those who had the original. Failing that, four locos from the main range. Possibly four pre-Grouping locos that were in service in 1923 - County, Compound, T9, N2? The problem is getting four locos of a consistent level of detail and a similar size - the T9 would show the others up. I think The Great Bear is a strong possibility, as is a Saint. There aren't many obvious gaps in the GWR express locomotive lineup. I'm also going to join the chorus of people expecting a new tooled 8F. Of course, 2023 will also be the 75th anniversary of British Railways coming into existence, so we might get something relating to that. Perhaps something in early BR livery? As for something silly - it'll be the 160th anniversary of the Metropolitan Railway opening, so how about an A class? Never heard of a Subway train?

The Bestwood wagon is one of Hornby's old 5-plank wagons. They later tooled up a better chassis with the brake gear as a separate piece - this can be found under their Crook and Greenway No. 2 wagon, Hunting No. 7, Pounsbury No. 1 and the Thomas range closed van and open wagon among others. The chassis and body fit together differently, but other than the need for glue, it's a straight replacement.

I honestly can't rank them, my preference keeps changing. Plus I like the different railways for different reasons. SR - Grew up in their territory, always admired their commuter routes, love their embrace of Art Deco, fond memories of the Mid Hants and Bluebell Railways. GWR - I like their design throughout their existence, fond memories of Didcot, admired Brunel's think-big-regardless-of-anyone-else attitude, the train ride from Paddington to St Ives is probably my favourite, their travel poster game was always on point. LNER - Love Gresley's Pacifics, the train journey from King's Cross to Edinburgh is another favourite, I'm obsessed with the GE lines of East London and the GN lines of North London, the politics and economics are fascinating, and again the Art Deco. LMS - I have several familial connections and Stanier's designs are some of my favourite locomotives ever built. I don't think there's a single one of their major constituents that doesn't interest me (but NSR 4eva). Ranking them almost feels to me like ranking your friends. Is that weird? That's kind of how I feel about it.

That's the one!

I recall seeing a chap exhibiting a broad gauge layout at Swindon some years back who wore appropriate Victorian attire. The layout was also very impressive, being largely built from card. Between the subject, the method and the presentation, it was by far the most memorable exhibit at the show, and it was only a small layout.

I think Hornby have been quite clever about it. It means that they can concentrate their advertising for TT on people who they know are interested, or at least curious. I'd love to find out from their marketing bods if that was the intention.