Wright writes.....

[Tom F]

26 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

I still sometimes flick it on now, I got caught out the other week, it came up on Foxtel and my girlfriend had snuck into scare me and there I was, eyes fixed, not a care in the world, watching Thomas the Tank Engine at the age of 23..... 

 

Don't worry Jesse, I'm 33 and occasionally dip into Series 1 and 2 still......granted in my case I'm single. Perhaps that's why!  

[Barry Ten]

The Awdry books were a huge part of my railway education...

 

In fact I still have them all.  I think the most recently purchased of these will be about 45

years old. I seem to remember the first of my collection being given to me by another

boy at a birthday party - I think it may have been "Duck and the Diesel Engine".

 

I was never that bothered by the stories (or the faces) but I loved the illustrations, both the

older style on the original books, and the slightly more colourful ones that came in later.

 

They taught me a lot. For instance, there's a story in Henry the Green Engine about running

past a signal that should have been at danger, but which had been lowered by snow - a good

lesson about signals. And the illustration, showing Henry pulling a train of fish vans at night,

under starry skies, with the glow from his cab picking out the rails, struck a real chord with me.

 

 

 

I've kept the handful of really formative railway books I had as a kid, but I can't put them all to hand right now. One that I have found, though, is a really fantastic book from 1969 in the "Inside Information" series, which were basically books of cutaway drawings by L Ashwell Wood, who did a lot of work for Eagle. Here's an example of one of the illustrations:

 

 

What red-blooded young lad wouldn't be impressed by that? And who'd have guessed that, about 40 years later, there'd be an RTR model of that lone prototype?

 

Other than his work for Eagle, other boys' periodicals, and this sort of thing, I gather that very little is known about L Ashwell Wood. He also did cutaway drawings of things like "Anastacia", from the Dan Dare strip.

 

I also have The Eagle Book of Trains, which is a splendid publication, but I acquired mine rather more recently in life. It must have been a success as mine shows that it was reprinted over several consecutive years.

 

Al (edited for typos)

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Barry Ten

[t-b-g]

3 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Evening Tony,

 

I read your qualification but couldn't see the relevance to the modelling point it was replying to, with regard to 'cutting your cloth' to achieve your goals as a modeller.

 

You statement, 'Andrew's (Headstock) idea of modelling a line where there were far fewer trains makes sense. Except, it's boring in comparison'.

 

Why is it boring in comparison? It is not as if you have modelled anymore trains than a similar sized prototype layout that had less trains in reality. It is just that you have produced a smaller percentage of the whole. Whatever you think of a specific prototype location in your memory, it has nothing to do with how good or bad a model railway layout can be. For example, I can't see any reason (certainly not the number of trains) why a model of Sheffield Victoria, or anywhere else, could not be as good or better than Little Bytham.

 

There is a 2mm layout of Sheffield Victoria that I have seen on the exhibition circuit. The real place would have had much more operational interest than Little Bytham but if I recall correctly, the operators of the model just ran trains through like any other tail chaser when I saw it. Presumably they were of the "Joe Public wants to see trains whizzing around" school of operating rather than the "This is how the real thing looked". Or maybe it was "Operating this properly would be too difficult for us".

 

To be fair, the station wasn't the most attractive in the appearance of the buildings. So much of the platforms were obscured by canopies that unless you were on the platform, the view wasn't very appealing. Unless you were on the platform, you saw very little. On the model you saw the train vanish into the station and then you saw it come out at the other end. Hardly ideal for viewing trains and their operation in a station environment.

 

Very few real places combine good visual appearance with variety of locos and stock and interesting operation. Little Bytham is a much more attractive scene than Sheffield Victoria but SV would be much more interesting to operate for me and for others who like that sort of thing. Each to their own again I suppose.

[glo41f]

Agree that Sheffield Vic would be interesting as a model to operate especially with the change of traction units. (Was the closure of the MSW route one of the scandals of the age?) . However, i was always impressed by Leicester Central for sheer variety and operational interest. Golly you could run GW locos there too!

 

Martin Long

 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, glo41f said:

Agree that Sheffield Vic would be interesting as a model to operate especially with the change of traction units. (Was the closure of the MSW route one of the scandals of the age?) . However, i was always impressed by Leicester Central for sheer variety and operational interest. Golly you could run GW locos there too!

 

Martin Long

 

 

Out of the two Leicester would be my favourite too and I really did nearly build it a few years ago when I had the opportunity to utilise one side of a 40ft shed.

 

A model in pre WW1 days with the last Dean Singles working there would have been right up my street.

 

I got as far as drawing up plans before I realised that 75% of the station wouldn't be visible due to the canopies. From the side all you would see would be one platform, 3 or 4 loops/sidings and lots of glass.

 

So Ken and I ended up building a whole railway instead. 5 stations, three terminus stations, two through stations (one a junction) and no fiddle yard. All our regular locos and stock are on view all the time although 4 trains lurk in hidden loops on an optional continuous run that doesn't get used in normal running. The stations are a mixture of purely fictitious or based loosely on real ones and we run 8-10 carriage trains, which is plenty for the period (1922-1927). There are a couple of RTR conversions to EM (Coal tank and Royal Scot plus a few wagons) but everything else is kit or scratch built including every single carriage. All the trains have destinations and things like loco changes happen so the same train can run several times and look different each time.

 

It remains a work in progress and may never be finished but it is fully operational and great fun.

[Chamby]

40 feet?  Nice...  With platforms scaling down to a little over 16 feet in OO, Leicester Central would just fit in there nicely.

 

It is a shame that you considered the glazing a problem... I could live with that!

 

Phil

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Chamby said:

40 feet?  Nice...  With platforms scaling down to a little over 16 feet in OO, Leicester Central would just fit in there nicely.

 

It is a shame that you considered the glazing a problem... I could live with that!

 

Phil

 

From the bridge at one end to the bridge at the other end is around 26' to scale. The width was a concern as it would have been 3'6" wide and against a wall. Getting to anything behind the canopy would have been a nightmare.

 

 Building the canopy wouldn't have been a problem. It was the visual aspect that put us off. Many real places look much better from a platform or an overbridge than they do from a side on distance view. Nottingham Victoria is another example. It is one of the reasons why I tend to model fictitious locations. I can choose to use perhaps the track layout and operating practice of a real location but create a more visually pleasing surround.

 

My new O gauge layout has a track plan from one station, buildings from another and a fictitious back story based on trains that ran in a third place to justify the types of traffic. I find that approach works for me.

[thegreenhowards]

I have just completed another couple of coaches. These are the buffet lounge and SK with Ladies' Retiring Room from the Elizabethan. 

 

 

More details of the build are on my workbench thread at

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3534067

 

This completes my version of the 1957 Elizabethan, which was the last year in which both of these coaches ran in the train. The rake consists of 10 PV Thompsons and just a solitary Mark 1. By 1958, it was down to 8 Thompsons and the Mark 1 'pollution' had doubled. Here is a video of the complete train. I have slowed it down compared with my Talisman video to avoid any more 'lines' from Sir!

 

 

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

 

[Chamby]

Totally off topic, with apologies to Tony, but I thought the regulars on Wright writes might find today’s discovery on a different thread useful... it is a way to remove the annoying pop-up ads that have been appearing recently, when accessing the forum on tablets and smart phones:

 

15 hours ago, big jim said:

I can get rid of the ads on my iPhone by switching the theme from ‘RMWeb 2019 Default’ to ‘Default’ at the bottom of the page 

 

(tbh I prefer the default look anyway!) 

 

Phil.

[grahame]

The DJM 'announcement' thread seems to be sucking up all the life and postings on RMweb so I thought, if it was okay, to post some photographs I took last year of a friend's N gauge model railway. They were published in the NGS Journal but as photographer (and editor at the tine) I own the copyright on them so reproducing them here isn't a problem. And it should make a welcome break from all the IP posturing.

 

 

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

And here's a little about the layout:

 

It is called 'Rhosteigne' and was originally the final layout built by N Gauge Society stalwart Keith Robbins who died prematurely at the end of the last millennium. The layout was featured in two 1992 issues of the Railway Modeller magazine and displayed at many exhibitions including the N Gauge Society’s 25th Anniversary show in 1992. It was purchased by Nick Beischer who has effectively and extensively renovated and re-built it over the years although the work is not yet complete.

 

The original three 5ft boards have been extended to just over 20ft with the countryside and river to the right and a townscape to the left (yet to be completed). The boards have also been made a little deeper, with extra track (all code 55) and a slight repositioning of the station. There are 21 fiddle roads at the back, behind the sky back-scene, and along with the various station platforms, auto shuttles, goods and engine shed area the layout can accommodate around 30 separate trains.

 

All the buildings and structures have been refurbished, (as the cardboard construction had started to de-laminate), and upgraded with Redutex roof tiling and other details. Rebuilding has taken longer than first thought and is still continuing. Expert assistance with the electrical wiring and prototype signalling was sought. 

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

[johnlambert]

That's a great layout but I've clearly been hanging around Wright Writes for too long, as the firt thing I noticed was the lack of lamps on the steam locos.

[t-b-g]

An unusual post now but I am going to hijack the thread for a social diary announcement!

 

I know that there a number of people who read this thread who will have a note in their diary for a get together at Hemswell on 6th July.

 

This date is having to be rearranged so if anybody was either going, or knows somebody who was going to go, would you please note that a new date will be sorted out at a later date.

 

Sorry to be so cryptic but there isn't a full list of who was expecting to go (for contact to be made directly), so I hope this reaches as many folk as possible.

 

Any queries or questions, please PM me.

 

Tony Gee

 

 

[CF MRC]

6 hours ago, grahame said:

And here's a little about the layout:

 

It is called 'Rhosteigne' and was originally the final layout built by N Gauge Society stalwart Keith Robbins who died prematurely at the end of the last millennium. The layout was featured in two 1992 issues of the Railway Modeller magazine and displayed at many exhibitions including the N Gauge Society’s 25th Anniversary show in 1992. It was purchased by Nick Beischer who has effectively and extensively renovated and re-built it over the years although the work is not yet complete.

 

The original three 5ft boards have been extended to just over 20ft with the countryside and river to the right and a townscape to the left (yet to be completed). The boards have also been made a little deeper, with extra track (all code 55) and a slight repositioning of the station. There are 21 fiddle roads at the back, behind the sky back-scene, and along with the various station platforms, auto shuttles, goods and engine shed area the layout can accommodate around 30 separate trains.

 

All the buildings and structures have been refurbished, (as the cardboard construction had started to de-laminate), and upgraded with Redutex roof tiling and other details. Rebuilding has taken longer than first thought and is still continuing. Expert assistance with the electrical wiring and prototype signalling was sought. 

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

Keith was a great character and a very good modeller.  I thought something seemed familiar when I saw the pictures, certainly better than the other parts of RMWeb that you alluded to. 

Thank you 

Tim 

[CF MRC]

Duplicate post. 

Tim

Edited May 5, 2019 by CF MRC
Duplicate for some reason

[Tony Wright]

Having been away at the excellent Bristol Show over the weekend, I'm only just catching up with the thread...............

 

I'd first like to say a big 'Thank You!' to the organisers of the Bristol event for looking after Mo and me so well. It was my privilege (in part) to act as a judge, to present the 'pots' at the Saturday evening dinner and to say a few words - which I did. Apparently, I offended nobody (I must be slipping!). 

 

The show was very good, well attended and had the right mix of layouts and traders. May I thank all of those with whom I spoke, and thank those who donated most-generously to CRUK? 

 

Now (at least in part), I can only conclude that my ability to communicate clearly in writing is diminishing (as is just about everything else about me, apart from my waistline!). 

 

At no point did I suggest that Sheffield Victoria would make a boring model. Far from it; if done properly, it would make a most-interesting layout, especially from the operating side of things. In comparison with Little Bytham, regarding operation, it is far, far more-interesting (as is Leicester Central). 

 

However, that was never my point (and I clearly didn't make it well-enough). What (it would seem) is what I'm 'up against here' is an age-gap. If you (the generic 'you') never saw an A1 dance from side to side, with fears of it riding up on to the platform, as it took the flat crossing at Retford at 65 mph in charge of a Down express, or a member of the same class blasting up Gamston Bank after its Retford stop, or an A4 on the 'Lizzie' leaning to the curve at Retford on the Up through road, with the regulator 'in the roof', with the chime in full-cry as it prepared to accelerate southbound after negotiating the flat crossing, or the sight of A2/2 60506 WOLF OF BADENOCH, leaking steam at the front end, but still doing well over 70 as it dashed through Botany Bay crossing heading north, or an A3 tearing through Thirsk, or another A3 belting through Ricall, or............................................ Or any other scenes of steam on fast main lines; I'm afraid you'll never understand. 

 

I've said on many occasions, the operating of a model railway has never really interested me (I never operated the real thing). Complex stations, with lots of movement in and out, shunting, separation of sets and lots of light engine movements are appealing to those who love operating. But, one would have never seen an ECML thoroughbred, on a long-distance express, going through Sheffield Victoria (or any GC principal through station) at up to 100 mph, as they used to through Little Bytham! 

 

I build what certainly wasn't boring to me! 

[APOLLO]

Jubs and Duchesses for me (around 57 - 1960). Golborne, a few miles south of Wigan, and start of the fast, straight slightly downhill bit to Wigan. The Jub is going north.

 

 

 

Dad's photos. When I really got interested a bit later these had all gone, bar a handful of Jubs over in Yorkshire - chasing them in '67 is another story. Still we had the Brits to their end - just as good (to me) as any other pacific !!

 

Brit15

Edited May 6, 2019 by APOLLO

[CF MRC]

I fully agree with Tony’s post above, I have virtually no recollection of BR steam, but very much like to see trains pounding through the landscape and in their geographical context. This is perhaps fairly obvious from looking at the layouts that I’ve been involved with. 

 

Tim

Edited May 6, 2019 by CF MRC

[Clive Mortimore]

I think we all have our thoughts of our ideal layout, some of us are lucky to build something close to their intended nirvana. 

 

Thankfully our hobby serves those who like nothing better than to spend hours shunting four wagons on a layout smaller than a coffee table to those who like (and are lucky enough) to build prototype station with trains whizzing through at 100mph. Me I am happy with my small diesel depot (Pig Lane , Western Region) and my terminus with running lines (Sheffield Exchange).

 

If I had the space, time and money, Shenfield in the 1960s would be a candidate for my ideal prototype station. Very busy services on both the Southend line and the Colchester line with terminating trains as well. A good variety of diesel locos, and EMUs and most of all Clacton units in maroon. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Clive Mortimore

[Jamiel]

I hope this is OK to post here having seen some of the lovely buildings posted on the thread over the last month.
 

A bit of kit bashing in 4mm, two Walthers Argossy Bookstores put together to create a town centre department store. I had seen the kits recommended on RMweb - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52348-large-building-kits-city-centre-style/.
 

I enjoy scratch building buildings but the window detail this kit offered gave a lot to work with without having to resort to casting off sections.

One had to be cut up and mirrored, and then a centre section was built in the same style. The protruding windows were not used as I felt they didn’t fit the feel of the rest of the building, I patched over the spaces. The back is very hacked together. I have not worried too much about the difference between OO and HO brickwork, you can spot it if you look closely but overall it feels right to me. I wanted the building to feel as though it has changed over its lifetime, perhaps even survived some bomb damage in WW2. There is a defunct winch over one of the bricked up windows/good portal that was particularly fun to make.
 

A British roof and chimneys also had to be added to anglicise the building.

Much thanks and inspiration to Geoff Taylor, Gravy Train, Red Devil, the late Allan Downes as well as the many others who post such amazing work on the forum. Also thanks to everyone who posted in the threads asking questions about things like TV aerials over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has LEDs built into light the windows and also the back yard.
 

 

There are details of the lengthy build, much interrupted by other projects on the thread for my layout Ellerby, linked in my signature. Must get on now and finish my brass DMU and Comet Black five builds.

Jamie

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, Jamiel said:

I hope this is OK to post here having seen some of the lovely buildings posted on the thread over the last month.
 

A bit of kit bashing in 4mm, two Walthers Argossy Bookstores put together to create a town centre department store. I had seen the kits recommended on RMweb - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52348-large-building-kits-city-centre-style/.
 

I enjoy scratch building buildings but the window detail this kit offered gave a lot to work with without having to resort to casting off sections.

One had to be cut up and mirrored, and then a centre section was built in the same style. The protruding windows were not used as I felt they didn’t fit the feel of the rest of the building, I patched over the spaces. The back is very hacked together. I have not worried too much about the difference between OO and HO brickwork, you can spot it if you look closely but overall it feels right to me. I wanted the building to feel as though it has changed over its lifetime, perhaps even survived some bomb damage in WW2. There is a defunct winch over one of the bricked up windows/good portal that was particularly fun to make.
 

A British roof and chimneys also had to be added to anglicise the building.

Much thanks and inspiration to Geoff Taylor, Gravy Train, Red Devil, the late Allan Downes as well as the many others who post such amazing work on the forum. Also thanks to everyone who posted in the threads asking questions about things like TV aerials over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has LEDs built into light the windows and also the back yard.
 

 

There are details of the lengthy build, much interrupted by other projects on the thread for my layout Ellerby, linked in my signature. Must get on now and finish my brass DMU and Comet Black five builds.

Jamie

This is terrific personal work, Jamie,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

On 05/05/2019 at 15:45, grahame said:

The DJM 'announcement' thread seems to be sucking up all the life and postings on RMweb so I thought, if it was okay, to post some photographs I took last year of a friend's N gauge model railway. They were published in the NGS Journal but as photographer (and editor at the tine) I own the copyright on them so reproducing them here isn't a problem. And it should make a welcome break from all the IP posturing.

 

 

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

Grahame,

 

It's always OK for you to post pictures on this thread, especially work of this quality.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

As a demonstrator at numerous shows, I try to keep projects going by way of explanations. 

 

 

This DJH Princess Coronation first appeared at the Preston Show, over two months ago. Progress has been sporadic, but I hope to complete it soon (before embarking on another build). 

 

It's difficult to actually 'make' anything as a demonstrator, because I'm there basically to talk, not concentrate entirely on building a loco/coach/wagon. At the Bristol Show over the weekend, all I did was make-up and fit the tender steps, fit the front buffers (Comet substitutes, because DJH's are too puny) and fix in place the tank fillers. 

 

Still, the loco generated plenty of comments, not least the occasional question of 'Why build one when there's an RTR one available?' Those who know me, of course, never ask such a question. However, it's a valid one, especially as this kit all-in costs twice as much as the Hornby RTR equivalent. 

 

What was most-gratifying at Bristol were the couple of youngsters (11 and 14 year old boys respectively) with whom I spoke who asked me about loco kit-building, their dads being with them. I suggested they start with simple, plastic wagon kits and 'graduate' from there. I've invited them over to see LB, because if encouragement from old gits is not given to younger modellers, then our hobby has no future.

[Barry Ten]

14 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

As a demonstrator at numerous shows, I try to keep projects going by way of explanations. 

 

 

 

 

Still, the loco generated plenty of comments, not least the occasional question of 'Why build one when there's an RTR one available?' Those who know me, of course, never ask such a question. However, it's a valid one, especially as this kit all-in costs twice as much as the Hornby RTR equivalent. 

 

 

 

 

That's already got a presence to it that the Hornby one doesn't quite manage, in my opinion. Good to chat to you and Mo yesterday, Tony, and sorry I missed you when I dropped back around to collect my engines. By the way, the Duke is indeed a lovely runner!

 

Al

[Clive Mortimore]

Back to the ideal layout concept, if there is one. Here is an experiment in making moving pictures of my present day "ideal" layout.

 

Sorry if you have already viewed it on my layout thread.