Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The simple way to express this concept from within England is to say “abroad”, which tidies away the idea of visiting the place under the heading “maybe if we ever go there on holiday, but definitely not otherwise”.

Wot, like the Isle of Wight?

[Nearholmer]

Somewhere in Southern England ........

 

We saw Mr Holmes’ fancy Longmoor blue Austerity a while back, now my very austere  wartime WD livery one has arrived.

 

Another excellent piece of work from the WJV/Raylo/ETS collaboration, just enough detail, without disappearing into finescale fragility.

 

 

[Ben B]

51 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Somewhere in Southern England ........

 

We saw Mr Holmes’ fancy Longmoor blue Austerity a while back, now my very austere  wartime WD livery one has arrived.

 

Another excellent piece of work from the WJV/Raylo/ETS collaboration, just enough detail, without disappearing into finescale fragility.

 

 

 

Stop it! I'm having enough trouble controlling my addiction to collect clockwork 00 locos thanks to threads like yours, the last thing I need is further temptation to buy things I don't need

[GRASinBothell]

I went for the slightly less austere post-war livery (just because I liked the extra touch of red), and it's now winging its way to me in FedEx's capable hands...

Must get myself a LOWMAC or two to hold some military vehicles. Is that a Directory Series one?

Gordon

[Donw]

I have a soft spot for Austerity Tanks  they had one on the Haverthwaite and Lakeside railway painted in Furness colour.  I was taking the Mikey out of the Fireman about it being a fraud. He said to me are you coming for the trip. I said not today we have a meeting but I will tomorrow. I turned up the next day and he said "bought your ticket" to which I replied "of course" common then he said and I had a footplate ride there and back.

Don 

[Nearholmer]

Gras - the lowmacs are Directory, yes. As I’ve told before, I bought one secondhand at a very fair price, and when it arrived it was two in one box!

 

Don - I used to help (well, I thought I was helping) on resto and maintenance work on them at the KESR, alongside the USA tanks, in the mid-70s. They are amazingly powerful beasts. There is a steep, curving gradient up from Rolvenden to Tenterden and they would blast up that with the heavy ‘Santa special’ trains making a terrific noise, but with plenty of “go” to spare. More stable than the USA, which have such a short wheelbase* that they wag their backside all the time.

 

Funnily enough, this model reminded me how big they are - definitely not what you’d call dainty engines!

 

*I just checked, and the wheelbase is only 1ft different, so maybe the outside cylinders have something to do with the wagging too.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Nearholmer

[GRASinBothell]

Thanks. I need to look out for them.

I was looking at a book on the USA tanks the other day. Apparently, the Southern tried an Austerity first, and the decision to go with the US ones had a lot to do with the shorter wheelbase, and the ability this gave them to manoeuvre around Southampton Docks.

Gordon

[34006]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Gras - the lowmacs are Directory, yes. As I’ve told before, I bought one secondhand at a very fair price, and when it arrived it was two in one box!

 

Don - I used to help (well, I thought I was helping) on resto and maintenance work on them at the KESR, alongside the USA tanks, in the mid-70s. They are amazingly powerful beasts. There is a steep, curving gradient up from Rolvenden to Tenterden and they would blast up that with the heavy ‘Santa special’ trains making a terrific noise, but with plenty of “go” to spare. More stable than the USA, which have such a short wheelbase* that they wag their backside all the time.

 

Funnily enough, this model reminded me how big they are - definitely not what you’d call dainty engines!

 

*I just checked, and the wheelbase is only 1ft different, so maybe the outside cylinders have something to do with the wagging too.

There was one of these at our local colliery(back a long in the mid 70's),Cadley Hill No1,and with a load of empty "poolies"(16 toners to you and me,but NCB slang is different) it would raise the roof going up past the screens to the top weighbridge and sidings.And she used to wiggle her arse...

Happy days.................

 

Phil.

[Northroader]

Ah yes..

[Nearholmer]

Comparative utility tank engines.

 

This is very good indeed, link forwarded by a friend who dates it to 1939 based on the commissioning date of the ship. Colourised film of trip across the channel with boat trains on each side. https://youtu.be/-Dbvj6-SdX0

 

There is a roundabout connection, because NS had c30 Austerity tanks after the war as their 8800 class. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Class_8800#/media/File:NS_8811_Simpelveld_1.jpg

Edited September 16, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Northroader]

Lovely film, off to the Netherlands then?

[Nearholmer]

We can all dream.

 

 

[F-UnitMad]

On 15/09/2020 at 16:40, Nearholmer said:

Somewhere in Southern England ........

 

 

 

Those have to be RAF Regiment Armoured Cars?? I bet the crews were less than thrilled to have their nice khaki motors given a big "HERE I AM!!" target painted on them, for Herr Luft Waffe to aim at....   

[rockershovel]

2 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

Those have to be RAF Regiment Armoured Cars?? I bet the crews were less than thrilled to have their nice khaki motors given a big "HERE I AM!!" target painted on them, for Herr Luft Waffe to aim at....   

 

Don’t forget that by 1944, the Luftwaffe was so reduced in scope that aircraft engaged in the Normandy campaign were painted with big, black-and-White stripes to mitigate the principal threat, ground fire from Allied troops. 

[F-UnitMad]

Just now, rockershovel said:

big, black-and-White stripes to mitigate the principal threat, ground fire from Allied troops. 

Troops? I thought it was the Royal Navy that traditionally shot at "anything that flies"?

 

Also by 1944 (or during, probably) the US 8TH Air Force gave up on camoflage paint on their aircaft. 

[Nearholmer]

They are Humber MkIV armoured cars, that are available very cheap from ebay - I think they are over-production from one of those "front of a magazine" promotions, because they come in un-labelled blister-packs.

 

The label on the base says they are painted as per Indian Army Infantry Division in the Italian Campaign of 1943 (which begs questions about their presence Somewhere in Southern England), and I can only assume that the Allies had air superiority to a degree that made "friendly fire" a serious risk. From above, they do look very similar to some German, and presumably some Italian, armoured cars, and some photos of that campaign show US tanks with big stars on every conceivable surface.

 

So now you know.

 

Here’s a photo of some in Italy in 1944. These guys were involved in the battles of Monte Cassino and their unit are now the Indian Army's specialists in mountain warfare (so wikipedia tells me). It is all quite educational, because the Indian Army seems to have been written-out of WWII by Hollywood.

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by Nearholmer

[doilum]

22 hours ago, Northroader said:

Ah yes..

My two steam obsessions in one shot!

[uax6]

What the EE type 4 and the Austerity?

 

I'll close the door on the way out....

 

Andy G

[Nearholmer]

At first glance I actually took the Austerity for some sort of powered tender, a la Sturrock, attached to the A4. It would explain how Mallard went so fast, if there was an 0-6-0ST hidden in her tender, pushing like that blazes ....... or maybe it wouldn't.

[Nearholmer]

In the occasional series: Things That Have Nothing to do With Toy Trains.

 

There have been four small earthquakes locally over the past couple of weeks, two today, one last week, and one the week before, largest magnitude 3.5.  BBC News gives reports that make them sound pretty exciting.

 

Well, during two of them I have been out cycling, by coincidence close to the epicentre on each occasion.

 

And, I felt not a thing. The earth did not move noticeably.

 

We did have one c15 years ago during the middle of the night, and that was definitely noticeable, but these recent ones, no.

 

 

[Northroader]

Maybe it just marks the start of the Great Buckinghamshire Fault, when the earth is rendered apart, and a huge volcano starts to appear. It’s happened before in some poor Mexican farmers backyard, I read about it in the National Geographic from the library when I was a kid. It would make a good tourist attraction for Milton Keynes.

[uax6]

It would probably do millions of pounds worth of improvements to MK if it did....

 

Andy G

[Nearholmer]

The epicentre is nearer Leighton Buzzard, which, as you know, is already a tourist Mecca on a par with, well, Mecca.

[Northroader]

That little two foot railway would be giving rides round the crater. Much more interesting than sandpits.

[Nearholmer]

Well, my good lady and I did once ride on the Circumvesuviana railway, and that is narrow gauge (950mm IIRC), so there is precedence, and by equivalence your idea would make Hemel Hempstead into Sorrento, which wouldn't be all bad.