Blobrick

April 11

I m hoping that the more knowledgeable amongst our membership, will be able to help me ?

I ve worked on the railway from the late 70s until retiring in 2020, and as such hang my head in shame for not really taking all that much notice of changes happening around me at the time.

One such subject is that of liveries being applied to various classes of loco and why?

If we take the class 37 fleet for example, in 1985 an initial batch of 26 class 37s were refurbished and fitted with ETH to work freight/local services in Scotland, with a further 6 being completed afterwards and allocated to Wales for similar duties. These locos received the new Large Logo livery (which l feel suited them well) However by 1989 some of these 37/4s were being repainted into Intercity/Engineers/RailFreight liveries. I am assuming the these liveries were sponsored by the sectors to which the liveries belonged to?

What l find confusing is that after 1989 you could see a Railfreight or Engineering liveried locomotive working passenger stock, or an Intercity liveried loco on and Ballast working. As an example 37262, which was allocated to Inverness in 1989 was repainted from Large Logo to Engineering livery, yet still worked passenger stock between Inverness and Aberdeen. Does that mean that 37262 had been allocated to the Engineering pool, but after repaint, was on hire to Inverness to use as required?

How was the decision made as to which loco went to which sector? And if there was as much hiring of locomotives between sectors as appears to be the case judging from photos, the accounting sections at depots much have been on permanent over time !

Bob C

March 26

Just in the off chance someone has one, they are prepared to part with, l m seeking a Bachmann Branchline 39-726Dc BR Mk2F DBSO Driving Brake 2nd Open in Scotrail livery.

Bob C

March 24

On 24/03/2024 at 18:08, ohmygoodnessme said:

Not quite:

Railtec, Replica and Hurst electrification 80’s/90’s flash transfers cover the Bachmann 1:1.

The fox transfer on Ref. F4214 is longer (taller). Rather odd.

The data panel on 35-412 is in the wrong place for 47712. The Bachmann decals can be softened with white spirt and rubbed off gently with a cotton bud but this will leave you with a shiny spot.

If you are thinking of adding the aerial which was in undercoat reddy orange on 712, I wouldn‘t use a 250 GBP model to practice fitting a Shawplan 45-39 to. My method is to paint the aerial whilst still on the etch, then cut off, hold in place in the middle and one end with blu-tac, swipe the back with superglue and press down.

The builder plate is available as a 3D transfer from Railtec. Useful for renumbering 35-415 to 47712.

The headlight lenses have a rippled effect on them which isn‘t prototypical for the late 1980‘s model but I‘d advise leaving these as they are.

Brilliant that just the information l needed to know. thank you and everyone else for taking the time to offer advice and help on this matter

Very much appreciated

Bob C

March 24

Thanks chaps, really appreciated all your help on this matter. One quick question though does anyone know if the modern electrification flashes are bigger or smaller than the original ones?

Bob C

March 22

4 hours ago, GD said:

Bogie frames will need to swap ends for the speedo cable to be correct and silver kick plates need to be the lower body colour.

That good info thanks, looks like its doable then !

March 22

I am hoping to back date the model to around 1989 so when were the roof mounted aerials fitted?

March 21

Are there an class 47 experts in our happy throng who could answer this query please?

I currently have my eye on Bachmann's latest offering of a ScotRail class 47, namely 47712 "Lady Diana Spencer"

I note that the model appears to be finished in its current preserved livery, and was wondering what apart from replacement of the modern warning flashes would also need to be altered to back date the model to its late 1980s condition?

Hopefully the donor model is suitable in the first place?

Bob C

March 13

8 hours ago, Daddyman said:

There used to be a thread on here explaining it, with photos, but of course all the photos have been squandered. However, this post by Brian Daniels does offer a description in words of the different types.

From that, should be possible to work out what these are at Bo'ness:

Thanks Daddyman, appreciate the info 😊

March 11

1 hour ago, meanach said:

You model the same time frame as me! I didn’t know about 260’s bogie swap either!

The next question is ; are the cast bogies under the 37/4s the same as the cast bogies under 37/0 ?!

I feel we are going down the rabbit hole here! l have a model of 37417 from the 32 xxx series and lo and behold, it has cast bogies as well! Suspect it was down to what was available to be used at the time when the loco went into shop, so for the modeller its back to good old Flickr and start looking lol

Bob C

March 9

20 minutes ago, wirey33 said:

True, and then not true !! In the mid-eighties 37260 had cast bogies as per the Bachmann model, but by 1987 it had a set of fabricated ones. The class 37 data site lists an E exam at Inverness in August 1987, and I suspect that is when they got swapped.

Typically I'm modelling late eighties.....

Well I was right this is a mine field, so easy to get caught out as l appear to here done so here. I had set my period as 1989, Ness viaduct incident and the introduction of 156s, looks like l ll need to spread my time line again lol Mid 87 to mid 89.............. yes l could make that work !

Bob C

March 9

44 minutes ago, meanach said:

Or, as I did for the same project, buy a grey departmental 262 and utilise the chassis. I sold the body on auction for a reasonable amount.

Funnily enough l was just looking at the Engrs Grey version of 37262 in this years Bachmann catalogue, thinking along the same lines. It would depend on if l could get a suitably finished body shell from Rainbow Railways. l suspect not!

Cheers

Bob C

March 9

16 hours ago, Blobrick said:

Arrgghh, this is the type of pit fall its all to easy to fall into. Thank you so much for pointing this detail out . TBH l never noticed any differences on the bogies of 260 or 262. I m guessing the same applies to 261, it had class 37 bogies as well?

What type of bogies did 37262 have, fabricated or........?

March 8

1 hour ago, Daddyman said:

No - 262 had class 37 bogies; Bachmann's base model of 260 correctly doesn't. Rainbow's model appears to be wrong - unless 262 had non-37 bogies for a brief period? But I can't find any photos of it while in LL.

Arrgghh, this is the type of pit fall its all to easy to fall into. Thank you so much for pointing this detail out . TBH l never noticed any differences on the bogies of 260 or 262. I m guessing the same applies to 261, it had class 37 bogies as well?

March 8

37 minutes ago, nightstar.train said:

Is there a list of what was trapped north when the viaduct first collapsed? Could the photo be mislabelled and the coaches actually be being brought south after rescue?

I m currently digging to find a list.............

Bob C

March 8

1 hour ago, wirey33 said:

37012 is also not a suitable start point for 37114 as the roof finishing is different. (D6700 to D6742 (inc. 37012)) were double rivetted, most other split box ones were single riveted and a small batch D6799 to D6818 (inc. 37114) were welded. All centre headcode ones were welded.

I heard that the Bachmann factory only has a certain capacity, so this was taken up by the Class 31 production, hence no more Class 37s for the moment. I'm 100% sure sales have been affected by the Accurascale release, but they have chosen their models carefully and opting for the ever popular Scottish locos is a good move. 37012/043/201/260/262/371/401/401/418/423 all have some degree of Scottish pedigree.

Many thanks for your advice re class 37 donors for given prototypes, for us not familiar with the class, its a class full of pit falls for the unwary. Models are far to expensive to discover you ve made the wrong purchase!

I ll be chasing Rainbow Railways for a re numbered 37260 to 37262, that will give me a second Inverness loco at least.

Cheers

Bob C

March 7

1 hour ago, nightstar.train said:

Slightly off topic but one of the photos shows a Mk1 Pullman and a Mk1 Restaurant of some description being moved north. Were these for the summer season for special excursions? Why else would they be moved up North of Inverness?

Good question. I ve not seen these coaches turn up in any other photos etc over the 15 months in question?

March 7

42 minutes ago, PJT said:

Out of idle interest to see who House of Hobbies is, I've just looked at their website. I think you may have missed a red strap line at the top which says 'Due to staff shortage we are unable to take phone calls at the moment. Apologies for the inconvenience. Please email us with any enquiries.'

From that I think it's more than likely you'll eventually get an answer to your emails, though probably nowhere near as quickly as would normally be the case.

Pete T.

Thanks Pete, l confess l had not noticed a red banner, that most likely explains the lack of reply, however over three weeks is a long time to not heard back from them, oh well l ll just keep my fingers crossed and wait and see?

Cheers Bob C

March 7

Quick question if l may, does anyone know if something has happen to the model shop "House of Hobbies"? I ordered an item from them about three weeks ago, unfortunately the item was defective, so l ve been trying to contact the shop to arrange a replacement etc. So far l ve sent three emails and numbers phone calls with no rely from either. Have they ceased trading?

Bob C

March 5

On 05/03/2024 at 07:07, 60B said:

Thanks Bob, I was Googling around because I could swear I read a list of what came in and out at Muir Of Ord but found that Flickr set in the RealTrack 156 thread.

From my limited research so far.... Class 37414/415/416/419/420/421 seen working passenger stock 37260 x 2OBA and 37261 on a rake of TTA (Shell livery l believe)

Two part rake for the north typically seems to be Mk1 TSO,BG,TSO+MKlla BSO,TSO

It seems that normally the TSO+BSO set went to Wick, with the 3 coach formation going to Thurso, typically a BG+TSO+TSO (MKl) rake in addition to above, though l ve seen at least one photo of a two coach set at Thurso too! Suspect it was down to the time of year and patronage

There's a video on You tube covering the initial incident, in it it states the 6 locos and 4 coach sets were trapped on the north side, which was sufficient to run a service straight off .I ve read somewhere that there were only 3 x Locomotives and 6 x Sprinter set at any one time working north from the Muir of Ord during the 15 month period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhXPLUzxU-8

Hope this helps

Bob C

March 5

21 hours ago, TravisM said:

I thought I'd ask, mainly on behalf of @class26, I'm sure I've seen a picture on Flickr of the Green & Cream tourist set on the far north line, as far as Wick. I know they were mainly used on the Kyle line but did they go up to Wick/Thurso only when there was possibly an equipment failure of the booked set, so it was a quick swop to make sure the service ran?

Heres a very poor screen grab from a video on youtube called The Far North Dingwall to Wick 1989, it shows two TSOs in Tourist livery with a Blue Grey BG in rear

March 5

6 hours ago, 60B said:

Which now has me wondering, were they originally stranded after the bridge collapse (the opening of the new one was still a month away) or were they rotated in?

There's a collection of photos on Flickr showing stock transfer during the 15 months period when the rebuilding of the Ness viaduct was on going

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/albums/72157639810566544/)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12293897945/in/album-72157639810566544/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12347193233/in/album-72157639810566544/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12347944014/in/album-72157639810566544/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12477663253/in/album-72157639810566544/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12477976864/in/album-72157639810566544/

Bob C.

March 4

Here's a photo l found on the web showing 37421 with Tourist stock at Strathcarron 14 July 1989. Class 156 on opposite line

March 4

58 minutes ago, TravisM said:

I thought I'd ask, mainly on behalf of @class26, I'm sure I've seen a picture on Flickr of the Green & Cream tourist set on the far north line, as far as Wick. I know they were mainly used on the Kyle line but did they go up to Wick/Thurso only when there was possibly an equipment failure of the booked set, so it was a quick swop to make sure the service ran?

I ve seen a photo on Flickr of 37 419 at Thurso April 17th 1990 with two Tourist liveried Mk2a coaches in tow. This would be during the period that the Far North line was severed from the rest of the network after the collapse of the Ness viaduct.

March 3

Just now, Simon Bendall said:

Saloon 6300 was painted for the 1988 season, the Mk.2s for the 1989 season. Last year was 1994 by which time the green/cream stock was being mixed with Regional Railways examples with ScotRail branding.

Thanks for the dates Simon, that certainly fits with what s been said here. So a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, its been a great help

March 2

14 minutes ago, Matt said:

From what I’ve seen RR reliveries / renumbers are top notch - it’s often difficult to see the difference vs factory finished models. I’m pretty sure that either Bachmann or Accurascale will announce more Scottish 37s in due course - both have invested heavily in moulds for 37/4 and 37/0 with headlights and, whilst some of the Bachmann releases seemed slow to shift (though to be fair we don’t know batch size), I’m sure they didn’t fail to notice 37260 shifted quick to the extent I’ve never seen a heavily discounted one….
Me, I have too many 37s already but I’ll struggle not to buy anything that emerged with a Westie or Stag or even better a Salmon on the side!

I must admit i m finding RRs 37261/262 hard to resist, ideally l d like a split head code 37/ and a 37/4 and l d be a very happy bunny, but in lieu of any of them becoming available l think l ll be ringing RR again !

Cheers

Bob C

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