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Railpassion

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Posts posted by Railpassion

  1. My Heljan wheels are the silver type, the poor running is mostly on corners where it simply stops.

    Maybe it's the pickups? I had a copper wheeled 27 once and it was useless so i put it straight on ebay. I'm chipping locos with stay alive at the moment but not got round to the Heljan. 

     

    • Like 1
  2. One axle was a fake. I had one whilst at school, it was a much better runner than anything Hornby.

    I bought a double-motored super detailed one on ebay in 2008. It was terrific and I sold it when I went HO in 2011. I got three times the amount I paid for it. 

    I'm looking forward to the Bachmann version.

  3. Lots of wonderful models from Heljan, but does anyone else find that after a few months performance becomes erratic due to dirt, dust etc? 

    I have Bachmann class 20s and 24s and they have always been smooth tunners for almost 20 years now. I can't say the same for my Heljan class 26/27s. I've had to strip them down for a thorough clean to get them back to initial performance. 

     

    Is this common to other members? 

     

  4. On 04/03/2024 at 20:16, GWR57xx said:

    Could you move the turntable to the left a bit to where the engine shed & pump house currently sit, and move the shed to where the X is?

    Maybe straighten the coal stage ramp a bit, and have the coal road run onto the turntable, with an ash line beside it?

     

    Good idea. The turntable could tuck into the space and the shed would have more room at X.

    • Like 1
  5. Sound offers a new dimension. Having bought a Suttons 24 (with superb sound) a while ago, I'm finally able to run it as I've just gone DCC. 

    Previously, to intensify the experience of playing trains, I'd eventually run the maximum number and bring out most of the stock. Now, the layout experience is transformed as station work, shunting, running round, has become far more pleasurable and realistic with a sound loco. 

    My layout is a 9x11 double track roundy with a branch to a single track upper level roundy, so trains can stretch their legs. Each level has a return loop. 

    In such a moderate space too many sound locos would be overkill. 

    Once sound arrives, it has implications for layout design - less is more.

     

     

     

    • Agree 1
  6. Much work has been done on the line recently. 2 miles of new CWR North of Bridlington and the relaying of the entire station and resignalling. The service, since it became hourly, is better than ever and is well used at times. Comfort and cleanliness have never been better. I think there's potential to tighten journey times by raising speeds a little north of Bridlington to Bempton and between Filey and Seamer where trains dawdle at 50. Currently class 170s have to brake shortly after Sewerby, halfway through the 1 in 92 climb to stay within the 50 restriction. Just 4 minutes saved represents around a 10% improvement. Timing Scarborough trains to depart two minutes later would smooth things in the dynamic loop at Filey. 

    The other problem is the long block section between Driffield and Beverley. An IBS signal on the UP would help when trains run up close due to delays.

    A later train from Scarborough (not 2113 but, say 2205) with  a York connection would be an improvement. 

    On the Scarborough - York line an hourly Northern service (promised,  but not delivered) would be excellent and could be extended to Filey or Bridlington once or twice a day. 

     

    • Like 5
    • Agree 1
  7. It's shameful.

    Millions of pounds of rolling stock investment, specifically for the North,  has been withdrawn. It's an affront to northerners and a kick in the teeth. 

    34 five car trains are reduced to just 19 in order to save money. They will not return  and nor will replacement stock arrive before 2028. 

    The entire TPE franchise has been so badly run that the brand's hard won reputation is now in the dirt.

    Passenger numbers are way down and inter-city style rolling stock for journeys up to three hours long has been dispensed with. 

    I know all the ins and outs of the past few years, and the coming together of so many poor decisions, on top of huge technical challenges, has created chaos.

     

    One day the papers and TV will have a field day, as new northern rolling stock eventually begins to benefit people in the South. 

     

    • Like 1
    • Agree 3
    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
  8. 1 hour ago, D5158 said:

    image.jpeg.9c03e7ecee18349a47ab517d74f1d26c.jpegThis is the last official working of the Malton, Gilling, Coxwold, Gilling, Kirbymoorside, Helmsley, Malton pick-up prior to closure.  The first four minerals were left at Coxwold,  the low-fit at Gilling and three of the vans at Helmsley.  Some days later a diesel shunter was used to collect the empty wagons.

    This train was filmed by Michael Marsden and is available on Marsden rail DVDs. Dets at Coxwold and a storming run up Nunnington bank are seen. 

    • Like 4
    • Informative/Useful 4
  9. The second plan is so much better. I do think there's a lot of track around the shed and turntable and it may look cramped. Do you need the purple road to the turntable? Without it, you would have more space and one less point. 

     

    Yards were quite spacious around turntables. 

    Here's Fort William in the final years

     

    Photo: Eastbank Model Railway Club

     

     

    image.png.41e880fbc06ddbedf9dbc298127bb761.png

     

     

    • Like 3
    • Agree 1
  10. I think the NYMR has had a good season. 

    Trains were very well filled, even on the last day, when I travelled.

    Sadly, the trolley and buffet were mostly absent or closed. Other lines do this much better. 

    A pressure point is the ticket office at Pickering, a branch line set up with two windows, but having to issue several hundred tickets in a short space of time, rather like Orpington on renewal day a few decades ago. 

     

    Everywhere is much tidier and better presented than ever before. 

     

     

     

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