Nick_Burman

The top video is in Costa Rica, so 3'6". The bottom one is shows what remains the Standard Fruit RR which was the system centered on La Ceiba and which was 3' gauge. Cheers NB

The Murphy Models 121 has two issues, one is that it's OO scale and the second that it's one of those locos too expensive and rare to chop up... Cheers NB

Anyone here familiar with Polish online hobby shops? If yes, can they be trusted? I'm asking because I found an item at this particular shop https://kolejowemodelarstwo.pl/ which I'm interested. However, I'm feeling unsure about ordering as the page has no other language option and no mention of shipping outside Poland within the EU (I'm in Italy). I've emailed them in Google Translated Polish and English but so far, silence. Any suggestions? Cheers NB

I, too, was there several years ago on the tourist path and my experience was that the roads were not near as bad as the one in the picture - at least the main ones, such as Merida - Valladolid - Tulum or the "local" (not toll) Merida - Campeche road. The pavement was in good shape (freshly repaved in a few places) and there was a frequent bus service providing several types of accommodation, we stuck to ADO (Autobuses de Oriente) because they were the ones with the A/C buses. Saw very little rail activity, some switching around Merida station and signs of traffic (palleted cement) at Valladolid. Track was in absolutely parlous condition there. Cheers NB

Newark, N.J., Central of New Jersey station is a good example. Cheers NB

@Keith Addenbrooke, swap the bogies on the caboose with those on the Burlington boxcar as these are caboose bogies. Cheers NB

The IRCA locos were C+B+C, i.e., all axles powered. The attached file has some info about them. Cheers NB GE Pre-Universal Exports Issue 3 20220224.pdf

Just one correction - both RENFE and IR locos are in fact derived from a batch built in 1949 for the Santos a Jundiai Railway in Brazil. At the time these were being built, Spain was negotiating credits with the UK towards electrifying several sections of railway. A Spanish delegation was sent to the UK and happened to pass through VF's plant at Newton-le-Willows at the time the Brazilian locos were being built. They saw the locos, and after requesting the particulars, saw that the locos fit their bill too. So an order was hammered out and lo and behold, the RENFE 7700 (later 277) class was born. In the Indian case, I'd hazard that IR came round asking if EE had something to offer; EE must have shown the Brazilian and Spanish locos to which IR must have replied, "yes please, with a side order of poppadoms!". Cheers NB

That sign indicates the beginning of yard limits. Any moves within this are under the control of the yardmaster or station agent. The sign also indicates how far out a locomotive on switching moves can move out on the main line on a switching move before needing to request block occupancy. Cheers Nicholas

"Patio" - assigned to yard service? Cheers NB

I believe this indicates the type of multiple unit connections the locomotive has and with what other other locomotives it can run in multiple with. Cheers Nicholas

Question, what would be the best scale for modelling Czech railways, HO or TT? I have developed a soft spot for TT scale of lately, especially with PECO's new track range. It seems to be an interesting scale, good for those who are short on space and thus cannot fit an HO layout while being larger than N scale (and thus better for the eyes). Price-wise both scales seem to be the same, however TT seems to be more Mitteleuropa-centric, with some offers (like Soviet/Russian wagons) which are hard to find in HO or simply doesn't exist. Cheers Nicholas

Rivarossi used to make similar coaches in O scale. I've seen one and despite it's age the coach looked as if it had been made yesterday, such was the quality of the tooling. However it was HUGE, it would be impossible to run it (or a train of such coaches) in a home layout. Stick to the N scale ones... Cheers NB

Update on the farce - after almost two and one-half months the first package has finally arrived! And like the second package it came with a €4.05 customs charge, just to brighten the day. Cheers Nicholas

Update - It's moving, after TEN DAYS "in transit". Remarkably customs was very quick (3h). "Fog in the Channel, Continent cut off". Congratulations... 🤬🤬🤬 Cheers Nicholas

It works well northbound though, and I have ordered goods from the UK in previous occasions (pre-Brexit) with no problems. Cheers Nicholas

I wouldn't be surprised... Cheers Nicholas

Hello, I live in Italy and a few weeks ago I ordered a package of Greenwich couplings from Dundas Models (formerly Parkside Dundas), which were duly shipped via Standard Postage. Two weeks later, no parcel... wrote to Andrew Hastie who very kindly posted another package, this time with tracking. Parcel was posted, but so far roughly two weeks later no sign of parcel. Royal Mail tracking goes as far as acknowledging the departure of the parcel from the UK, however there is no sign of any tracking from Poste Italiane (Italian Post). If one presses the "Continue Tracking" on the Royal Mail tracking result, this leads to the Poste site, meaning that at least the parcel has been electronically acknowledged. But, still no parcel... anyone knows what's up, is Royal Mail having problems with sending parcels to the Continent? Cheers Nicholas

By then wouldn't these wagons be in use as departmental vehicles? To this day SBB Cargo has E type 2-axle opens in their fleet, however these are departmental vehicles, painted in a rather garish red and blue scheme. Cheers Nicholas

Hello, The K2 vans were once the workhorse of the Swiss railways - the first were built for the pre-SBB private railways and construction went on for a very long time. They were also very long-lived, herein my question, when were these vans finally withdrawn from revenue service? Cheers Nicholas

Thanks, I'll keep it mind. However I live in Italy an need something a bit closer... Cheers Nicholas

Could anyone point me to a Crimson Lake paint or something similar from the big model paint makers (Tamiya, Vallejo, etc...)? I'm looking for something preferably water-based. Cheers Nicholas

Fuggerth sadly went under several years ago, however I believe that the forthcoming Piko V43 is made using former Fuggerth tooling. Cheers Nicholas

Yes, I wanted to expand on that but was rather in a hurry. From what I understand of the several South Wales lines, there was much shareholder protesting over the Grouping as they would find their position degraded from being major/main shareholders in the company(ies) they held to being just ordinary shareholders in a much larger concern - ergo little or no voice at the boardroom once inside the GWR (except, of course, if you were the Marquis of Bute...). The railwaymen must have been happy to join the GWR not only because of the pensions, but also because many of the South Wales lines were extremely mean to their staff and the GWR regime must have been a relief by comparison. As for the mine owners I'd hazard thy did not care provided the coal arrived at the docks promptly. Cheers NB

Not a colliery, but Seaham Harbour used chauldrons to retried spilled coal from under the staithes. They lasted until the staithes closed. Cheers NB