Satan's Goldfish

Thank you, adding Staiber and Chas (rather than kase!) Seems to have helped. Looks like they a very much hens teeth, more of the HO versions appear rather than anything N, found some info on the buffet but still no sign of the 1st coach or any others that may have been made. I'll keep hunting!

Evening all. A question (and Google is not being my friend with this) occured earlier today in a conversation. Can anyone shed an light on what the Roco coaches pictured below are from? Sorry about the crap quality. They don't match any prototype pictures I've seen, and apart from that now ended Ebay listing I've never seen the models anywhere else.

That's my Sunday going to waste, thank you Jeremy 🤣

Hi there, Not much further to report, work and life commitments have gotten in the way of all of my modelling activities for the last couple of years so the layout has been in storage for a while. I may have had the odd additional piece of stock to help keep the spark alive since the last update. Not sure where the original pictures are but I'll see if I can dig anything out.

Hi Phil, Not 'based' anywhere anymore, I get to go home each night after a days work instead :)

Not updated this for a while, can't believe I didn't even have a Christmas train update here last year! The house has taken priority over any work in the garden, and a change of jobs has kept me very busy. The pond/stream are now built though ready for the 'big bridge' to get built. It's getting towards Christmas again though and I'm starting to put thought into my annual token effort of a decoration. Earlier this year I finally managed to buy a Kiss locomotive and I'm looking at using it this festive season. It didn't come with any instructions, but underneath there are 3x toggle switches (1 on the left, 2 on the right); can anyone tell me what they do? Google hasn't been helpful. Cheers.

Linked from Flickr. Looking closer now (I was on my tiny phone screen before) only the first wagon is bogie articulated, then followed by 3 of the usual 2 axle type. A prototype for mixing the wagon types! Looking at what other manufacturers are offering in different scales, I'd be interested in finding a prototype picture of other 2 axle wagon types with a pair of post containers on.

Thank you Gordon, that removes all doubt. The model making companies use other types more often than the real thing does!

I see Hobbytrain do/did articulated container wagons with Swiss post containers on. I couldn't recall ever noticing those containers on anything other than the 2 axle flats (as modelled by Creanorm) but a quick Google revealed 1 prototype picture of some of those flats and containers forming a train. This got me wondering though; were any post services run with a mixture of flat wagon types? And what other types of flat could these containers be found on? Other than seeing them transshipped onto narrow gauge wagons, I assume they are also loaded onto lorries? Or offloaded from the trains somewhere anyway!

I enjoyed that. Ref the costumes, I'd just see it as part of their image by this point that's part of the overall act, similar to the face paint Kiss used. They are sensible as maid outfits go, it's not like they've been down to Ann Summers for them to try and sell an image instead being talented at their music! (A lot of modern western female pop acts spring to mind there......)

Bay platforms next a through station was another way to use minories that always appealed to me. Not sure how that could fit in a modelling context though!

I'm not much of a fan of the centre road in the plan anyway, especially with the loco release, as it kind of defeats some of the point of the Minories setting. I've only added it in because I was being a bit lazy and adding all thoughts onto 1 drawing. It would function better if it were just carriage storage, no release points; station pilot can just shunt carriages to it rather than another platform. If the centre road is removed completely then the standard minories layout could be used with the milk platform only accessible as a kick back siding from platform 3 (no access to loco facilities) which was my original thought when relocating it to create an easy turnover locomotive siding. With regards to track plans and operational awkwardness, I work on the theory that if it's less awkward and disruptive than Norwich Thorpe pre 1987 resignalling then the plan is acceptable

I did say i'd have a play about with it following my last post, so here goes; Ramp road down to goods shed from over bridge. double slip in goods yard to provide a short head shunt and extra siding for domestic coal supplies (with it's own access road down from the town above). Goods still arrive in a passenger platform outside of peak times and are shunted across. Turnover loco facilities in front of the 'rest of the world' tunnel, could cover coal, ash, water, and possibly a turntable in the end but that could be very rule 1 given the location. Milk platform has been moved to a kick back location from platforms 2 and 3. it could have been just platform 3 as per other goods versions of Minories but i went with the version pictured instead as it would have created a reverse curve due to the centre road i've added. The other end of the milk platform leads direct into the loco facilities, if there's no milk wagons in the platform then that line can be used to move some of the turnover locos with out fouling arrivals to platform 1. Centre road between platforms 1 and 2, (the loco release isn't necessary) can be used for carriage storage outside peak services. accessed by a single slip in the departure direction only so it doesn't have direct access to loco facilities for added operational interest. And discuss!

Quite agree, that would be a useful arrangement for goods access, I was simply doing it the way I did to fit it in the 4 point length. As mentioned before, I originally tried it with a double slip to access the 2x goods tracks to provide a short headshunt for shunting and replace the trap points. No reason why the sweeping reverse curve couldn't be there, I just drew it straight for ease. And I think I used a Hornby Y point rather than a Peco small Y in that plan is the radius is close to 900mm on those. Ramp up to the street on the bridge sounds good, much neater than access at the other end as I drew it. To satisfy both the milk and quick turn around loco options; maybe the kick back siding from platform 3 shown in some plans could be for a milk platform, just need to model the platform and pipes as the viewer would be stood in the building. I might get the laptop out later to try a couple of other ideas.

This was my take on freight provision from a few pages ago. Goods trains arrive in a free platform then is shunted across to the goods shed by the station pilot. Seperate area for Express milk arrivals to be backed straight into too (imagine the main milk facility entrance is at a higher level in town to where the lower tracks are). The point in the goods yard could be a double slip for further interest, would do away with the 2x trap points too. Ref the query on where to have a loco spur for quick turn arounds, in my mind the milk platform in my design could be replaced with a couple of spurs and basic coal/watering facilities. With enough board width in front of the fiddleyard there could even by a turn table, but it is supposed to be a cramped urban environment. Released engines can go straight back to there from any platforms. HTH