jonhall

Two quick photos showing the relative sizes of the 6.5t (middle) and 10t (right) vs the standard Triang and the detail of what's cast into the backplate - given a quick coat of primer so the lettering shows up - I also have a VERY small number of the two little etches shown in the bottom of that photo, the 'foot' x4 for 10t versions was a test etch on the edge of something else, and doesn't quite fold up right, and the hook is also on the edge of something else, so isn't available in great numbers, but if you want them £2 each plus post at cost.

edit following a stock take - its a bit closer the end than I thought!, additions in bold Thanks for tagging me, (and @SteveyDee68 ) I wouldn't have found my way here without you! I think the Triang handcrane is one of the underestimated stars of their range, certainly Hornby have made the most of the tooling! The prototypes have what I would regard as 3 main batches, a group of 1941 built 6.5t cranes, then two batches in 1944/5, one of more 6.5t cranes, and the other were uprated with screw jacks to give a 10t capacity jacked. The Triang is one of these 10t cranes with jacks, and pockets over the wheels to store a foot to go under the jack. I do still have some crane kits, but they were a byproduct of a resin casting demo that I haven't done for some years, so my stock is now very low. 10t version: Toton is out of stock. Found two! Rugby (now Quainton Road) - fairly good stock under 10 remain Tonbridge West Yard (later preserved at Titley Junction - may have been scrapped? ) - fairly good stock under 15 remain 6.5T version Exmouth/Swnage is out of stock Fawley Hill(McAlpine) is out of stock the other 3 types (Shrewsbury/Herford/Watford/ I still have a few of each I also have a completely plain shaped cast counterweight for a 6.5t crane, which makes applying the transfers from @cctransuk much easier - if you don't fancy getting wasp stripes into the recesses of the cast lettering, then these might be for you - I've never advertised them, but its the only version I have in any quantity (if only I could find them - currently missing - I will look further at the weekend) they are now £6 each, plus the cost of a large letter stamp for P&P (due to the thickness) - please PM for how to order. Thanks to a little flurry of interest following this thread I have almost none that are ready to send out - I need to order some more pulleys from the etcher! Might be 3-4 weeks before they arrive. Thanks jon

Roxey do a range of different detailing kits for these vans. https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/56/4a250-detailing-kit-for-triang-Hornby-utility-van/ https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/414/4a249-sr-bogie-utility-van-doors/ https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/475/4a122-sr-window-grilles-for-bogie-luggage-van/ however I would suggest next time you make your thread title a little more descriptive, for those who don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of Triang's catalog numbers. Jon

Which rather demonstrates there is an engineering solution to making it acceptable to the ORR, probably in combination with a risk assessment related to the number of times its used, ratio of passengers to staff, routes and a load of other factors. The RhB Alvera sets I mentioned earlier, also have quite a high handrail that makes putting your torso too far out difficult, and being narrow gauge through mountains isn't known for its Berne loading gauge. Jon

Interesting you chose that video - I'm pretty sure there is at least one RMweb contributor on the right hand train...because I saw him from my position at a window about a coach further back on the same train as the cameraman! jon

The Jacobite prohibition is about falling from doors and leaning out of droplights. WCRC was visited in June and given a prohibition, gave assurances to the regulator that things would change, then when they visited again in July, it appears that the inspector saw the same issues on the second visit. The sets of mk1's had a secondary lock in the form of a brass slide bolt, and the regulators seem to have accepted that as an interim measure from most of the Railtour stock operators, however WCRC seem to have moved from one steward supervising two adjacent door vestibules, to fewer than this, where the steward can't be anywhere near the 3rd or 4th door, so there seems to have been an instruction to passengers on operating the bolts themselves. There are acceptable mag-lock solutions to slam doors that the SWT 3-CIGS on the Lymington line, and a few 121 bubble cars had fitted a decade or more ago. My interpretation is that the owners of railtour stock have been given a reasonable time to make their stock compliant, but haven't rushed to do so, nor fully complied with the procedures needed to mitigate the issues until the long term fix is performed, and the ORR have started to lose patience. The experience on the continent is rather different - the same day as I saw the Jacobite prohibition, this advert popped up on my Facebook feed Not forgetting the RhB's Alvera trainsets that actually include 1/3rd of a coach as a photographic car that has electrically opening windows, and a central bum-perch, where you are encouraged to take photos from open windows https://hellertal.startbilder.de/bild/schweiz~wagen~personenwagen-rhb-schmalspur/679846/die-rhaetischen-bahn-rhb-hat-auch.html jon

I seem to recall Carrs green label flux being around 10-12% phosphoric acid, I'd be really surprised if cola was even 1/10th of that level jon

All four bogie types on the same sprue, I wonder if we will see them available separately as parts? jon

If I thought they were listening, then now is exactly the time to give them feedback on things that need to be looked at, or even just to allow them to 'calibrate' what the potential punter wants, both of which ought to inform that 'work in progress', but since I don't think they are listening, it matters a whole lot less. Jon

Neither look anything like a 4COR! Jon But neither would the KR models one if they tried, so its a great relief they haven't!

I'm pretty sure Roxey was there with his stock of Precision (in mostly SR constituent colours) although as he can't post them any more, and is reducing his exhibition appearances, he is quietly selling off his remaining stocks, which since they are pretty heavy, and Dave is well over normal retirement age, will no doubt be a relief for him to be rid of! Jon

I wonder if Bachmann will announce anything new this year - The class 37 actually available to buy on the day it was announced at DEMU was a real coup. Jon without badly fitted windscreen inserts

and moving the building wouldn't be that expensive in the greater scheme of things

Well if you wanted to dig one out before Lydd the offer of consultancy still stands. Jon

Stu, did you ever build your etched kits? Jon

I suspect its a thermal stress thing, but IIRC its an oil burner, so it might also make lighting up easier as well? Jon

When I visited Cheyenne to see the UP heritage workshops, the UP Challenger was attached to a pre-heat system to bring the boiler up to temperature over the few days before they need to steam it - I'm not sure if the Big Boy does, but it seems likely. Jon

I'm not sure they did either! Jon

Yes, adjust the end stop nut to ensure the distance it falls is consistent, and make sure its vertical so there is no loss through friction and its very consistent. it wouldn't do for freehand marking of rivets in full thickness metal, but thats what i keep the GW press for. Jon

I have a GW Models rivet press, and a double leaky lee press, but the tool I use most often when bashing out etched kit rivets is the London Road models gravity punch, that is much quicker than either of the fancy types. Jon

not ideal, but you can get station departures do a search for a journey from your departure station then choose any departure and expand the 'show details' then hit the train number (S8 in this case) and you get the stopping plan then choose the station you depart from and choose station information and you get a next hour departure board

What aspect is better? Jon

Of course this is slightly a chicken and egg situation, those who live in the Thames Valley will have chosen to do so, at least in part, because of the available transport links to the office they already worked in, and therefore any pre-opening survey, will reflect the existing customers travel axis. It will take years for those who work near the Lizzy Line to start to move out West, as they get new jobs, or decide to move house (of course this has all been thrown in the air post-Covid). The same was true for the commuters of the Kent coast when the Javelins started using HS2, its all very well getting to StPancras faster, but if your office is nearer London Bridge or Charring Cross, loosing those services was terrible! I have always perceived that the relatively poor connection from Paddington into 'the City' has rather restricted the GW suburban, and therefore the residents of Southall or Slough will tend to look to the airport as the employment draw, and that this traffic is well served by bus. Jon

True, but th majority of that route would find itself under the new 3rd runway if its ever built in the proposed location, so it wouldn't at least need moving later. (although I think the location of the proposed 3rd runway is daft - put it immediately to the north of the existing two) 6 paths an hour (two of which won't be used every hour) going to 10 (again potentially minus 1 or 2) doesn't seem that much of a stretch to me, although I'll concede to being less familiar with the GW mainline than the SW one, and recognising those are very different lines. It seems to me that the capacity required could be achieved, although it might well need re-signaling. Has the capacity of the line been increased because of the better acceleration of electric trains over 'Thames Turbos', or is that already built in? Its also not obvious to me if some of the existing passengers on the Reading>Elizabeth Line trains aren't changing trains at Hayes&Harlington and backtracking to the airport, or that a Reading>Airport>Central London service that misses Iver and West Drayton, and at an extended journey time, wouldn't be useful to more people than a quicker, but less useful to most direct service? I'm also not sure I agree with your implied assessment of who will be travelling to Heathrow from the West, its my opinion* that its quite likely that the majority of journeys would be from Reading and points West to join flights, rather than as employees commuting to the airport, and that a 'fast from Reading', or perhaps a limited stop at somewhere like Slough wouldn't give a more useful service to a greater number of people? Jon *which could be completely wrong!

I did see this analysis of Heathrow Express' future https://www.londonreconnections.com/2023/the-slow-death-of-heathrow-express/ Jon