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Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1


Nearholmer
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It took me a while to cotton- on to scale (some might say I never really did!).


When I was c4-6yo, I used to have a small brown suitcase, in which lived all the ‘toy cars’, it weighed as much as you’d expect of a near-solid lump of Mazak about 18”x12”x6” and I recall my father being less than totally supportive when I decided that it had to accompany us on holiday to grandparents - for some odd reason he thought that three small boys, a pushchair, two suitcases, a couple of large teddy-bears, and my mother’s commodious ‘everything’ bag were quite sufficient to take on a trip involving two bus rides, and two train rides, the latter involving the transit of Waterloo station.

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1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:


Not that you let it bother you, or stay with you for fifty years as a stinging resentment.

 

(I still remember when one of my bros deliberately punctured my football)

Funnily enough, I received it as a substitute for something else (I now forget what) that I had been given as the equivalent of bro's D Series low loader and which was so clearly inferior that I wouldn't shut up about it for a period of, possibly, several days. 

 

I will say in my defence that I could have been no more than 4 or so at the time. An age where one's sense of justice is far better developed than one's sense of gratitude, or even basic politeness. 

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16 minutes ago, Simond said:

That was the whole ethos of “Matchbox”.

 

even at an early age, it really annoyed me.  You can draw your own conclusions :)

 

Atb

Simon

(a Birkenhead boy, living on the South Coast)


Sharp frost but plenty of sunshine in Birkenhead this morning, by the way  :offtopic:

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The holiday bus/train ride thing reminds me of another incident involving my father.

 

Similar holiday expedition, on the way to stay with family at Hayling. Changed trains at Brighton, and in the process of heaving and swinging a suitcase into the luggage rack, he ‘wiped out’ every lightbulb in the compartment, showering us all with glass - just as a travelling ticket inspector appeared at the doorway.

 

My father always poked fun at TTIs, greeting them as ‘Vice Admiral of the Railway’ in reference to the luxuriant gold braid on their caps, but he was very sheepish that time.

 

TBH, I don’t think my father always enjoyed family holidays.

 

 

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7 hours ago, PatB said:

I'm not sure the colour scheme is all that bizarre. The blue base is a little odd, but the yellow upper works were presumably done that way to be consistent with Dinky's other construction plant type offering's. 

 

When it comes to bizarre paint jobs, ....

Dinky Toys and bizarre paint jobs?? DON'T get me started on their later-issue 'metallic blue' Thunderbird 2...!!!   :shout::mad: :nono:

 

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:


Not that you let it bother you, or stay with you for fifty years as a stinging resentment.

 

A bit late, now.... :banghead:  :jester:   ...but at least it gave me early practice at repainting models. :good:

Edited by F-UnitMad
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Aficionados of the tinplate,  a pal has just posted this on WT, and has accepted my offer to repost in this thread.

 

I quote”...

It'll come as no surprise that our heritage railways are really hurting now, financially. I, personally, have made some small contributions to funds which are designed to provide some financial relief and I'll continue to do so, within my somewhat meagre abilities. However, the reason for this missive is that the Great Central Railway "Emporium" have been gifted a quantity of tinplate O gauge which looks to be in pretty poor condition but may be of interest to someone who's in to the restoration of classic stuff.

Now, I have no knowledge of the possible value - it might be nix - but in the hope that there may be someone on WT who has an interest in such things and may be feeling altruistic here is the info from the latest e-missive from the GCR:

 

0 Gauge

Complete train set in tin-lots of rail, wagons carriages etc-needs lots of love but probably quite rare.Contact me for details. Looking for offers in excess of £100

Phew that's it.Remember all the money(every penny)we raise goes towards helping our railway in these trying times.

All goods are subject to discussion re delivery/collection/payment etc

Email for all the above chris.shilliam@btinternet.com"

 

Hope it’s good news for all concerned

atb

Simon

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I know someone who as a child was treated as second best to an older sibling and was made to feel everthing that was wrong was their fault. The effects are still strong although now in their 60s.

Don

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On 09/01/2021 at 10:44, Nearholmer said:

The holiday bus/train ride thing reminds me of another incident involving my father.

 

Similar holiday expedition, on the way to stay with family at Hayling. Changed trains at Brighton, and in the process of heaving and swinging a suitcase into the luggage rack, he ‘wiped out’ every lightbulb in the compartment, showering us all with glass - just as a travelling ticket inspector appeared at the doorway.

 

My father always poked fun at TTIs, greeting them as ‘Vice Admiral of the Railway’ in reference to the luxuriant gold braid on their caps, but he was very sheepish that time.

 

TBH, I don’t think my father always enjoyed family holidays.

 

 

I have great sympathy for your father, family holidays are a flawed concept, at least they are if the idea is that everyone is going to enjoy it, because that never happens.

 

And don't get me started about families, Philip Larkin had it sussed, that's all I'm saying.

 

Mark

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Indeed - one thing I would say, though, is that I found being a child infinitely less challenging than being a parent, which I still find very difficult to get right. I found the irresponsibility of childhood immense fun actually, but I know that not everybody had that positive experience.

Edited by Nearholmer
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Parenthood is certainly one of those roles for which the training is somewhat cursory, and the stakes are rather high.

 

It’s a bit like watching politicians make a complete dogs breakfast of things and saying “I wouldn’t do it like that”, without having any concrete plan of how to do it better.  
 

Then again, not being a violin virtuoso does not disqualify one from knowing when an instrument and the audience are being tortured...

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Indeed - one thing I would say, though, is that I found being a child infinitely less challenging than being a parent, which I still find very difficult to get right. I found the irresponsibility of childhood immense fun actually, but I know that not everybody had that positive experience.

 

I always felt and sometimes still feel that my attempt at bringing up my children were flawed and could have been better, but I did try hard and, most os the time, gave it my best shot.  The end result is 3 happily married sons who are now giving t their best shot with their children, and they all appreciate what I did and still like having me around.

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The transport for the earliest holidays that I remember was a motorcycle and sidecar. Dad drove the bike with Mum on the pillion with me and my sister in the sidecar. We had a cheap pair of googles each and on nice days the top of the sidecar would be rolled back and I would stand with my head out of the top. When the combo was replaced by a Ford popular the journey was less fun especially if we also had the Grandparents and I was sat on someones lap. This was replaced as early as practical with me travelling by train on my own while the rest went by car. Quite the best arrangement I doubt anyone would allow a kid to do that these days. 

Back in the Sidcar days  I was so young I have no memory of it we had got to a caravan site. My sister and I both needed the toilet so my Mum took us to the toilet block while dad got the luggage sorted out. Coming out of the toilet block Mum said Oh dear Mummy doesn't know where the caravan is. I do I sad and promptly led us straight back. I only know this because mty Mum related it when she had cancer and was thinking back over the past. So I assume they were not too worried I would get lost when I was older.

 

Don

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Going back to the Dinky yard cranes, I also bought one on eBay for my layout. But, as I started adding scenery to the area it was to be sited, I found I really couldn't put up with the garish colours. Here it is with a WJ Vintage/Raylo Austerity 0-6-0ST in post-war Army livery shunting. That's an Ace GWR Mogul, in the background.

 

DSCN0281.JPG.6cd2f5d7ee025de36704223243dc5a5f.JPG

 

I felt it was in too good a condition to paint it, and I have a Marx Freight Depot (which you can just see in the background) it can sit beside, garish colour scheme and all. So, I went back to eBay, and bought a more down-at-heel version (actually in slightly different colours - the base was a much darker blue), and repainted it. Here it is, with my Christmas present, British Railways 0-6-0T No 30074 shunting. The extra hook hanging from the crane hook is the one it came with, now replaced, as you can see, with a replacement similar to the Dinky original.

 

DSCN0280.JPG.844b89bd1a7363df4be16bc96297a2ad.JPG

 

BR No 30074, I should add, was the later identity of US Army Transportation Corps #4326. She was borrowed by the Southern Railway,  for trials in Southampton Docks, after which the remainder of the USA Tanks were purchased. And she spent most of the first year of the existence of British Railways in her USATC livery.

 

Gordon

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Grey is definitely better.

 

I’ve been very tempted by the USATC or WD version of the Yankee tank, but have been put-off by the cab/bunker being the rebuilt style. It’s all very odd, because WJV/Raylo released it in both LMR and NCB liveries with the original can and bunker (correctly, in both cases).

 

I know we shouldn’t worry about these things ........

 

 

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Well in toy train terms you can be choosy because you like the original bunker better not because it is more accurate  because you would still like it even if the bunker would have been rebuilt.

 

Don

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I was aware of it having the wrong bunker and cab when I purchased it (on my wife's behalf, so she could give it to me for Christmas!), but decided to go for it anyway. I gather from Paul that they only made a grand total of 4 of that version, because they decided to do it after all the other versions, and at that time ETS only had enough parts to make 4. Reading between the lines, I suspect they had 4 sets with the later cab/bunker, and zero with the early versions!

I'm pretty sure I got the last of the 4, so you're now limited to the WD version...

Gordon

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Nowt wrong with a Ford Popular ..I spent my later youth being bounced around in ours ...Still got it after taking it to meets for 30 years ..but off the road at the moment .

 

Re yard cranes , ive created a nevawazza version from the Hornby Dublo version fitted to the underframe of a later French Hornby 0 Boxvan . Looks the business and it appears in one of Richards NARROG newsletters .

 

 

I bought the crane by itself out of the junk box at the TRIX collectors meet in Sussex for a song ...Hornby being *off topic * of course .

 

Currently considering the Trix crane on a scrap chassis ....maybe old Bing......Bruce

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Yellow cranes and Austerity Tanks, an emerging theme.

 

Of course, I couldn't resist emulating the pictures in those old Meccano Magazines, by hoisting a container aloft.

 

 

 

 

C9C21721-33A0-4777-B7E4-7499033B4583.jpeg

8970E021-6A7B-4D9E-9D45-B689321683F1.jpeg
 

A half-crown prize to any boy or girl who can spot the connections to this.

 

45428131-0336-4867-B14C-B214AC6C2F71.jpeg.b8f367ad90a3929fad6ec9d3988cf437.jpeg

Edited by Nearholmer
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Those HD outriggers are a joy of miniature engineering - a friend of mine had an excellent HD 3-rail layout, and rigging-up the crane for a lift was always a highlight. Nice little knurled tops to allow the weight to be properly taken off the wheels of the crane.

 

But ....... the connections to the yellow cranes and Austeritiy Tanks?

 

I'll give a further clue, but the prize reduces to 1s 9d: hockey sticks.

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On 27/02/2018 at 21:24, Nearholmer said:

The one on the Fry’s wagon is a Hornby auto (if you are very lucky) coupler, the Terrier has hooks only, most of the wagons have droplinks, but of about three different designs, and a couple have three-links.

 

Miraculously, it all couples together, and even more miraculously can be propelled through reverse curves without buffer-locking.

 

Actually, not a miracle really, it’s partly down to LMC’s design of buffers, which are wide ovals.

 

I was trying to show more pictures, but my phone is doing strange things again, so unless you want them upside down .......

 

And, since there appears to be A Rule, which says that a pre-grouping layout has to be infested with MR 5-plankers, here is one. Not in pristine condition, it came ‘ready weathered’, by a century of playing trains, and it has been subject to cruel and unusual behaviour in the coupling department. I don’t know what this coupling is (Bing?), or why somebody has mangled the headstock to fit it, and probably never will! [Well, you’ll have to imagine that, ‘cos it won’t upload!]

post-26817-0-56891700-1519839836_thumb.jpeg

Kevin,

 

I have been wasting a lot of today re-reading this thread from the start and just wondered if you had ever worked out that the coupler on the pictured MR open wagon is actually a HAG / Buco type as used on lots of Swiss models such as my HAG loco and coaches. It is fully compatible with the regular hook and link types as now used by ACE / Darstaed, Hornby types and also the Marklin types.

 

I'll post some pictures of the different couplers on my HAG coaches soon - three types on five vehicles (including the loco), but all compatible!

 

Regards

Chris H

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43 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Those HD outriggers are a joy of miniature engineering - a friend of mine had an excellent HD 3-rail layout, and rigging-up the crane for a lift was always a highlight. Nice little knurled tops to allow the weight to be properly taken off the wheels of the crane.

 

But ....... the connections to the yellow cranes and Austeritiy Tanks?

 

I'll give a further clue, but the prize reduces to 1s 9d: hockey sticks.

The picture of the Dean Goods is of one in "Army" service, on a training exercise - notice that all the blokes milling around under the load are wearing khaki fatigues and berets! I think the picture was taken at Longmoor - but not absolutely sure.

 

Regards

Chris H

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