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Wright writes.....


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The comments about the Hornby A1/A3/A4 valve gear are spot on. It is pretty awful and, if upgraded, would have finished off 2505 and 2596 nicely. I would certainly have done it if they were my models. I remembered this morning that I also commission built a pair of DJH A3 a few years ago.

 

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DJH valve gear out of the box isn’t too bad. The only thing that is a bit iffy to my eyes is the shape/size of the expansion link.

 

Along with other selected parts for replacement valve gear I drew a multi-layer etched expansion to support the Graeme King Thompson Pacific conversion kit. Here it is seen on a model of Great Northern that I did. I also corrected the return crank angle on the donor Hornby valve gear to lean forward on both sides. I’ve never made the expansion link part of the etch available commercially. Firstly to respect that the Thompson 4-6-2 project was Graeme’s baby and also, in hindsight, I felt the expansion link I drew was a bit undersized for 4mm scale.

 

78F31240-DC5E-4A0C-9617-9B636F7ED18E.jpeg.44f21707baa5fb7fc2168a96e223d088.jpeg

 

Finally here is an example of the Gresley Pacific valve gear from Comet applied to a full Comet A3/A4 chassis. The spec of the rest of this model is fully written up on page 97 of this thread. The Comet gear also isn’t bad, much better than Hornby, but does lack a certain “je ne sais quoi” in a couple of areas.

 

00DF90E0-9699-4169-A0DD-BE71EE4E8EF5.jpeg.f3215ff4bfd73e8b46fe88562cf790b9.jpeg

 

Are there any others out there worth commenting on? SE Finecast springs to mind. I don’t have experience of building the SEF product.  There are no others that I can think of that can be purchased as a full set of aftermarket rods and valve gear to improve a RTR model.

 

cheers...Morgan

 

Edited by 45609
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3 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

Ah, the unmistakable sound of the Morris Minor fart. My Dad has two - Morris Minors that is - one owned from 1972 when it was a year old, and another from 1981. Alas he is thinking of selling them now as he rarely drives these days.

Yes our family has two; one is a 1949 lowlight that we've had for 30 years, but only worked for about 10 of those.  The other is a '55 convertible that's been substantially rebuilt twice (and needs it again before it's too far gone) but has been in our family since 1974, so we won't want to lose it.

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2 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Yes our family has two; one is a 1949 lowlight that we've had for 30 years, but only worked for about 10 of those.  The other is a '55 convertible that's been substantially rebuilt twice (and needs it again before it's too far gone) but has been in our family since 1974, so we won't want to lose it.

 

I don't really want my Dad to sell his - one's been in the family from before i was born the other from when I was 4. I won't try and stop him though, I don't have anywhere for them or the need for them. They are a  '71 traveller in bermuda blue and a 50-something (56?) convertible. Like yours, the convertible has had extensive repairs twice as well. The traveller has had some floor welding done in the last 10 years, and new wings but otherwise is unrestored. The only bits of wood that aren't original are one rear door and the post it attaches to - both damaged in the '86 storms!

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The SE Finecast valve gear is better but still wrong. In mid gear, the lifting arm should be in a straight line with the valve rod. In that respect, the Hornby one is right.

 

Also, the join between the top of the combination lever and the front end of the valve rod should be visible and not tucked away behind the curved fillet of the cylinder casing and the gap between the valve rod and the bottom edge of the footplate is too small.

 

So neither version is right.

 

Having said that, the overall appearance is much better than the RTR version as all the bits are in the right relationship to each other.

 

Anybody got a photo of a Finney one made up?  

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Can I join in.

 

seagull.jpg.db89a70f867619ac7ca1310f9bde9920.jpg

 

Holt Model Railways, Swansea, 1981. Note the skilled removal of front tension lock, and the carefully black painted wheel rims - and, er, that's your lot! Still gets a run every now and then though.

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GN via Graeme's  conversion kit. Yes I know about the Bogie wheels and the Tender lettering spacing already on the Green version , both will do for me !!! :lol:. The second  photo is the PDK version which I never liked, and was sold on when the much better Hornby based version was available and built.

 

For all the flack GN receives it is one of my favourites in LNER liveries of course none of that Khaki Green here. 

 

 

 

 post-7186-0-91142300-1482355814_thumb.jpgpost-7186-0-33592400-1489592844.jpgpost-7186-0-22696600-1489592883.jpg

Edited by micklner
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37 minutes ago, micklner said:

GN via Graeme's  conversion kit. Yes I know about the Bogie wheels and the Tender lettering spacing already on the Green version , both will do for me !!! :lol:. The second  photo is the PDK version which I never liked, and was sold on when the much better Hornby based version was available and built.

 

For all the flack GN receives it is one of my favourites in LNER liveries of course none of that Khaki Green here. 

 

 

 

 post-7186-0-91142300-1482355814_thumb.jpgpost-7186-0-33592400-1489592844.jpgpost-7186-0-22696600-1489592883.jpg

And GREAT NORTHERN does receive flak, Mick,

 

With justification? 

 

It's been said before, but the best bits in it came from Gresley, anyway - the boiler and the double Kylchap chimney. Though it was arguably an 'improvement' (and certainly more-powerful) than Gresley's original A1, it was nowhere near as good as a double chimney A3, which it would have become had Thompson not had it rebuilt. It was far less-reliable than an A3 and, instead of being the forerunner of a class of post-War A1s (which Thompson presumably had intended it to be?), it remained an unloved and unreliable one-off. Other than the divided drive and independent valve gear, the actual Peppercorn A1s (one of Britain's best 8Ps?) owed nothing to GREAT NORTHERN. 

 

As for 'khaki' green (I thought khaki was the sandy colour of desert tanks), I cannot remember it very well. I was in my second year on this planet when the LNER ceased to exist (for the first time!), though I can just recall brand new, bright green B1s in the very early-'50s. They'd be branded 'British Railways' of course. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Regarding the A1/1 conversions, I believe you had a fair bit of involvement in this one below, owned by David West?

 

Yes I did. I did the conversion and painted it for David. He then did a really nice weathering job on it.

 

Morgan

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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

And GREAT NORTHERN does receive flak, Mick,

 

With justification? 

 

It's been said before, but the best bits in it came from Gresley, anyway - the boiler and the double Kylchap chimney. Though it was arguably an 'improvement' (and certainly more-powerful) than Gresley's original A1, it was nowhere near as good as a double chimney A3, which it would have become had Thompson not had it rebuilt. It was far less-reliable than an A3 and, instead of being the forerunner of a class of post-War A1s (which Thompson presumably had intended it to be?), it remained an unloved and unreliable one-off. Other than the divided drive and independent valve gear, the actual Peppercorn A1s (one of Britain's best 8Ps?) owed nothing to GREAT NORTHERN. 

 

As for 'khaki' green (I thought khaki was the sandy colour of desert tanks), I cannot remember it very well. I was in my second year on this planet when the LNER ceased to exist (for the first time!), though I can just recall brand new, bright green B1s in the very early-'50s. They'd be branded 'British Railways' of course. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

The argument over poor old Thommo and his engines will never end.

 

GN as said was was a one off and unloved . I am surprised it lasted as long as it did. No attempt to ever improve the design during its life and no doubt poorly maintained by BR it really never had a chance. Yes it was more powerful than a A1 , if it had been developed properly who knows what potential it had ? we will never know.

 

It is one of my favourites simply because it has a unique appearance as did the original W1 Hush Hush .

 

Khaki Green ?,   Desert colours were yellow shades I believe.

 

 A search produced every variation you can think off , this colour looks familiar in some  BR model Loco shots I have seen .Sorry re image size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

amara-khaki-green-dark-fabrics-close-up_1.jpg

Edited by micklner
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Only a little progress with the N/2mm Turbot wagon kits. I've got the buffer heads on and given them a coat of grey primer. Plus I've put together the bogies (well, cleaned them up, trimmed off some flash, cut back the longitudinal tang to allow the NEM pocket to fit and clipped the wheels in place) but I still need to sort out the coupler pocket location to prevent a problem with the couplers sticking out too far:

 

DSC_7847.JPG.42089db23e570cd8a82b7f94d88e83c8.JPG

 

Out of interest here's some tiny 3D printed detailing items that I've obtained in N/2mm scale that I'll be using to bring the layout (when built) to life. Some are purchased through Shapeways from various designers/suppliers and other direct from Peedie Models. Some I've already cleaned up and painted (like the double station cabin and the drinks machine) but these models are very small (I should have included the obligatory coin in the pic) but hopefully being on a PC by a key board it gives an indication of their tiny size. Painting the buttons on the drinks machine may look messy but it was very taxing :

 

DSC_7851.JPG.82e20716a5a553d7021f200f2f7a63ea.JPG

 

G

 

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2 hours ago, 45609 said:

 

Yes I did. I did the conversion and painted it for David. He then did a really nice weathering job on it.

 

Morgan

I'm still delighted with it. 

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Really enjoyed the video.  Thks.  From a personal perspective I enjoyed more than many of the others because it showed some of the scenery that make it a Model of a Railway.  I especially enjoyed the Station Master's House and the pigs that like other livestock was often a perk with the tied houses because they often had available land associated with them.  I would also suggest that in light of some recent events it might be appropriate to make the video Private Viewing.  The link could be posted on the thread but it would still be a lot more secure than on the general U-Tube site.

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8 hours ago, micklner said:

GN via Graeme's  conversion kit. Yes I know about the Bogie wheels and the Tender lettering spacing already on the Green version , both will do for me !!! :lol:. The second  photo is the PDK version which I never liked, and was sold on when the much better Hornby based version was available and built.

 

For all the flack GN receives it is one of my favourites in LNER liveries of course none of that Khaki Green here. 

 

 

 

 post-7186-0-91142300-1482355814_thumb.jpgpost-7186-0-33592400-1489592844.jpgpost-7186-0-22696600-1489592883.jpg

 

 

Evening Mick,

 

the Peppercorn A1 will always remain the most sublime of British steam loco in my opinion, in looks, practice and performance. Almost matched by the greatest of Gresley engines, the superb V2.

 

However, I do have a soft spot for the Thompson Pacific, the kind that could only come from a modeller. As for GN, it's basically an A4 with larger cylinders and thus it could deliver more power than the streak. As shown by GN's superb climb of Copy Pit, were the banking engine (crab) was left winded and trailing in the trains wake. Unfortunately, I suspect that the front end would have fallen off and the crew would be in a field sometime before 126 MPH could have been achieved.

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On 20/06/2019 at 22:00, Tony Wright said:

One thing I did notice about the video was how loud those locos I've built with Portescaps are. It's a most-irritating whine, and, other than their ease of fitting, I cannot see any advantage to them.

 

 

Is this a possible solution?

http://www.cometmodels.co.uk/data/PDF/Noisy Portescaps.PDF

 

I've read that Labelle 102 gear lubricant works well too.

(I've no personal experience of any of the above though, though must admit to having "several" portescaps squirreled away following those [very] rare occasions when I've seen them at a good price....)

HTH

Brian

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10 hours ago, Theakerr said:

Really enjoyed the video.  Thks.  From a personal perspective I enjoyed more than many of the others because it showed some of the scenery that make it a Model of a Railway.  I especially enjoyed the Station Master's House and the pigs that like other livestock was often a perk with the tied houses because they often had available land associated with them.  I would also suggest that in light of some recent events it might be appropriate to make the video Private Viewing.  The link could be posted on the thread but it would still be a lot more secure than on the general U-Tube site.

Thanks for that,

 

Though the real thanks should go to Archie Brown for making it. 

 

Regarding your point about 'Private Viewing', the 'genie is already out of the bottle' in that respect. Two DVDs were made of LB last year, which went out as a cover-mount on BRM, and one appeared a decade ago. There are also umpteen U-Tube DVDs made by visitors of LB already on social media. 

 

Social media (I suppose U-Tube and RMweb are social media sites?) means that just about anyone can now view thousands of model railways which, in the past, would largely remain unknown. Down the years 'famous' ones have always appeared in the press, often on many occasions and in many different periodicals, but most layouts used to remain anonymous. Today, however, RMweb's 'layouts' section is packed with examples, to the extent that (at one point some years ago) there was almost (probably was) a 'competition' as to which was the most popular (which I personally thought was pathetic!). Is this 'popularity' the reason why so many 'owners' of threads choose a name different from their own? For security reasons? 

 

With regard to security, what can one do to obviate (as much as possible) theft or damage? The recent event at Stamford was unprecedented and, one hopes, never will be repeated. Unprecedented on that scale, though a friend's house was broken into several years ago in Wolverhampton, and his collection of railway models (several built by me) was hurled around the room, destroying the lot. Nothing was actually stolen! In a recent DVD I was making, I used the word 'imbecile' to describe certain types who wreck things or trespass, and was told that that footage couldn't possibly be used because it was pejorative. Interesting isn't it? That we're protecting the feelings of those who destroy people's work or delay railway services by criminal trespass! I suggested 'moron' as an alternative, but it, too, was deemed unsuitable. Don't we live in enlightened times? 

 

Security will always be an issue. That's why locks, alarms, the police and insurance will always be necessary. LB is as 'secure' as can reasonably be expected. It's alarmed whenever I'm not with it, and the windows and door have substantial metal protection plates, along with their mortice locks and padlocks. Ironically (though is it 'ironic'?), were anything to be stolen from/off it, it would be far more difficult to dispose of. Why? Because just about everything I've made has (at least) been photographed, and I've written hundreds of articles about the things I've built and about the layout. Yes, there's always the 'stolen to order' situation, but the recent thefts at Quorn illustrate what's most-easily targeted. Thousands of pounds worth of brand-new RTR items were pinched from traders, yet nothing (overnight) seemed to have been taken which had been built. Two or three of my locos were left overnight, yet weren't even 'investigated'. 'Anonymous' new stuff is much easier to 'shift'. That's not to say that 'unique' items will not be 'desirable' to those of criminal intent (the most-successful of which are certainly not imbeciles), and security should be paramount in everyone's mind. 

 

But, how 'secure' does one make a situation? It's my privilege and pleasure to have invited and to continue to invite hundreds of visitors to see Little Bytham. The fact that they're invited means that all of them, to a man and woman, are entirely trustworthy and of the highest character. Yet, might they subsequently speak of what they've seen? At a club? In a pub? To (unknowingly) those who are of less-good character? Who knows, but it would be a very sad day if 'railways which never leave home' could only be seen by their builders! The late, great Roy Jackson's Retford was frequently visited, to the extent of an annual 'Open Day' where often over 100 visitors would attend. Obviously, some shifty characters once did attend, and Roy actually had something stolen! It made all the team think twice about how many should be invited. Care should, of course, be taken at all times, though in one book I've seen recently there's an aerial photograph showing the building in which the vast layout featured in the publication is kept! I thought that a bit strange, though Google Earth means that security could be compromised at times. Sites (containing large sheds) previously 'invisible' from roads are suddenly highlighted for all to see. 

 

Finally, and on a slightly 'lesser' note, it does make me question the 'value' of certain model railway items. I'll explain............. From time to time, Mo, friends and I have hired a table at the Spalding swapmeets. The purpose of these is to sell second-hand RTR items on behalf of bereaved families or just 'disposing' of unwanted stock. Once the traders have had their pick (talk about descending hordes!) we're left with a pretty good selection - almost all of which has been 'improved'. By that I mean detailed/altered/improved/weathered/etc. 'I don't want that, it's not got the big couplings' we'll be frequently told. Or 'that's not the same as the one shown on the box'. We tend to get less for those (now much better) items than we do those as-supplied. I suppose that's a 'swap meet mentality', and they're worth going to because of that. Not as a 'collector', but as a railway modeller, because there are bargains to be had.

 

Food for thoughts in the above?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

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The guys at my local club have decided to have a ‘members only’ swap evening in a few weeks time.  It’s not something that I have ever seen a club do before, but we are encouraged to bring all those unwanted bits and pieces that modellers find useful, as well as the usual locomotives and rolling stock.  It will be interesting to see what actually turns up!   I’m anticipating something much more eclectic than the commercially motivated  swapmeets... and a welcome opportunity to rationalise my own ‘stuff’ accumulated over time, but still unused.

 

It’s all being done in the spirit of helping each other out, recognising that one mans junk will be someone else’s valued acquisition.  Going through my stuff, I have been surprised how much stuff I have that I have hung on to, simply because it must be worth something to someone, even though I will never realistically use it myself!  I’ll have a lot of ‘stuff’ to take on the day!

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30 minutes ago, Chamby said:

The guys at my local club have decided to have a ‘members only’ swap evening in a few weeks time.  It’s not something that I have ever seen a club do before, but we are encouraged to bring all those unwanted bits and pieces that modellers find useful, as well as the usual locomotives and rolling stock.  It will be interesting to see what actually turns up!   I’m anticipating something much more eclectic than the commercially motivated  swapmeets... and a welcome opportunity to rationalise my own ‘stuff’ accumulated over time, but still unused.

 

It’s all being done in the spirit of helping each other out, recognising that one mans junk will be someone else’s valued acquisition.  Going through my stuff, I have been surprised how much stuff I have that I have hung on to, simply because it must be worth something to someone, even though I will never realistically use it myself!  I’ll have a lot of ‘stuff’ to take on the day!

It's often amusing when one person's junk turns about to be another's gold mine, Phil,

 

I might have mentioned this before, but, with a couple of friends, I used to regularly attend the Gloucester swapmeet (the largest in the land at the time?). It was during my teaching days, and often kids would bring items given to them by their dads/granddads, to be sold on behalf of the school fund. Anything of high value, of course, would not be accepted without the family knowing its value, though some items in that category were still donated. 

 

Anyway, on one occasion, I had two donated items I remember. These were a Tri-ang Britannia chassis, minus everything apart from the frames and the driving wheels (not even the rods) and a Hornby-Dublo box for a cement wagon (just the box). The chassis was all right, and the box was what might be described as mint. I put 25p on the chassis. One bloke picked it up and asked 'What's your lowest price?' This would be the early-'80s, so I said 'That's it.' He thought a bit, then another guy came along and said 'I'll have that.' Whereupon a slight 'argument' developed. I thought this was daft, so effectively took it off sale - it eventually went for 50p! I thought the thing was junk, but to some, it was a matter of 'war'! 

 

As for the box, one of my friends was into collecting (he had the same  box and the cement wagon in his collection), so he took it along to a fellow stall-holder who specialised in Hornby-Dublo. The guy was obviously interested and asked 'How much?' He had on his stand a Wills A3 kit, complete with chassis. It had been started, but appeared to be in good enough order. 'How much for that?', I asked. 'How about a swop?' said he. I couldn't believe it, and, in an instant, the deal was done. I learned later that he thought I was a fool...........................

 

517101464_WillsA360103.jpg.cbb452ea4e3e4433f7412620475688f0.jpg

 

Some fool? Yes, I had to dismantle the Wills kit (dead easy, since it was just glued together) and build it again, also scratch-building a chassis for it. I also bought a K's streamlined non-corridor tender to go behind it (but sold the Wills tender for the same price!), and did all the painting myself. I wrote about the whole thing and it was published in the RM in early 1986. 

 

An A3 for a 20+ year old (at the time) piece of cardboard? Do you see why I suggest modellers go to swapmeets? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

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Original boxes in good condition have always been desirable for collectors. When I was in my late teens I sold all my Lego - something I regret bitterly. I always kept the boxes,  and most of what I sold I got more than I paid for new. Being given £50 for a £30 set was a bizzare but welcome at the time experience!

 

I've said previously in this thread my Grandad, brother and I used to have fantastic fun thrashing and crashing Hornby tinplate O gauge. But there was quite a lot that was easily described as mint boxed - that was always treated with the greatest of respect. Occasionally it would be carefully taken out and run, but never thrashed or crashed! It's still in the family, and presumably still in similar condition as when I was growing up, but won't be sold.

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Regarding collecting, I have to admit it's something I've never understood. 

 

Some years ago I participated in the making of a DVD at the Bassett Lowke Society's get together at Tewin, near Welwyn. 

 

I was astonished to learn that an O Gauge loco from the 1930s (which looked to me to have been made out of lots of pieces of bent tin!), because it was rare, in mint condition and in its original box with original documentation was worth five or six times more than a hand-built, professionally-painted equivalent. One was crude, fitted with steam-roller wheels, totally lacking in fine detail and the other was as good an example of loco-building as one might ever see. 

 

I can understand the notion of recreating one's childhood by 'playing' with train set stuff from one's youth (after all, that's what it was made for!), and, I agree, Bassett Lowke railways were never cheap train set material, but to value 'crudity' so highly I cannot understand at all. 

 

I believe the following items are worth a great deal of money! 

 

978733419_Andrianna01A.jpg.c78be437bf579fae6d04696f5101a261.jpg

 

591819224_Andrianna04.jpg.33ad3758714cacefaea4569cfccf0740.jpg

 

402453371_PeteMarshall07.jpg.76bc48c9bdde9c02af9c12720611b711.jpg

 

1949789082_PeteMarshall14.jpg.aa08dc1fe662662a5e30a06465987b5a.jpg

 

2049029459_PeteMarshall15.jpg.5376ed2ddefe46845d4423e2af60d227.jpg

 

1808975538_PeteMarshall18.jpg.73a5cadb0f99c5c02aa43c7980352d00.jpg

 

2080659641_PeteMarshall27.jpg.75041df5b1aa02236849ea794977b0c5.jpg

 

1669116497_PeteMarshall28.jpg.c68a31c4772381c5eb1f8789ad99c63a.jpg

 

1197858134_PeteMarshall33.jpg.3a64200b6e769ba2fc2988c2d727fe0d.jpg

 

If anyone can explain exactly what some of the above items actually represent, I'll be pleased to hear. Or, what this lot might be worth. 

 

1032414007_AceScotsman02.jpg.1d3d435e6bc5e694e790e8c16244a141.jpg

 

1311630575_60072SUNSTAR.jpg.78e826901b043af1130e9621d777091a.jpg

 

Though I don't have any actual figures to hand, these are RTR examples of O Gauge A3s. Are they close in price (the forthcoming 60072 will be about £700.00)? 

 

Thanks in anticipation.................

 

 

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Bramham Moor - that's one of the "good" ones we have. Not mint, and no box, but pretty good. Probably the worst loco is Flying Scotsman - so that was well and truly fair game! Poorly repainted by someone.

 

As you say, they are toys not models. I can understand the collection of them however but they do need using from time to time. Shut up in their boxes is a bit sad.

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Morning Tony, looking at it dispassionately your box swap sounds like the perfect win/win deal to me. As Rich (Bucoops) says boxes are important to the collector, they are probably rarer than the item that was packed in them, and having the box enhances an items financial value. A part-built kit is equally valuable to a builder, and the time spent rebuilding and/or completing it adds some financial value, but more importantly gives great satisfaction to that builder. Two different, and valid perspectives on the hobby, though give me the kit anytime.

I don’t really get the collector’s thing. I suppose there is a sense of achievement in collecting an example of all of a particular set of vintage models, and particularly the thrill of finally finding a particularly rare example. I think many of us GWR modellers would get that same feeling if we came upon a stash of Slaters Toplight Kits, made or unmade. I’ll admit to enjoying the working displays of old trains, and I’m glad people put such layouts together, but it wouldn’t maintain my interest.

Jon

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2 hours ago, Long John Silver said:

Morning Tony, looking at it dispassionately your box swap sounds like the perfect win/win deal to me. As Rich (Bucoops) says boxes are important to the collector, they are probably rarer than the item that was packed in them, and having the box enhances an items financial value. A part-built kit is equally valuable to a builder, and the time spent rebuilding and/or completing it adds some financial value, but more importantly gives great satisfaction to that builder. Two different, and valid perspectives on the hobby, though give me the kit anytime.

I don’t really get the collector’s thing. I suppose there is a sense of achievement in collecting an example of all of a particular set of vintage models, and particularly the thrill of finally finding a particularly rare example. I think many of us GWR modellers would get that same feeling if we came upon a stash of Slaters Toplight Kits, made or unmade. I’ll admit to enjoying the working displays of old trains, and I’m glad people put such layouts together, but it wouldn’t maintain my interest.

Jon

Thanks John,

 

I once photographed part of a whole collection of the Hornby-Dublo range. The guy who owned it had acquired EVERY single item ever made for HD by Meccano. It had taken him years. Every time he obtained an item, he'd look for one which was better/mint, especially with regard to the boxes. That done, he'd then sell the 'inferior' item (exchanging boxes, if necessary), until everything in the collection was 'mint boxed'. And it was, including the track-cleaning wagon. Then what? Bit by bit he sold the lot! To him it was the 'thrill of the chase'. 

 

As to what some folk 'value', WMRC once exhibited Stoke Summit at a show in S.Wales. Overnight, the show was broken into. On being informed of this on the Sunday morning, my heart dropped, expecting our locos/stock to have been pinched. Not so. Nothing on SS was disturbed at all. However, the rarest items on a Hornby-Dublo display had gone! Clearly the low-life responsible had visited the show on the Saturday, saw what was there and planned accordingly. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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