Wright writes.....

[TrevorP1]

11 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

For a "grandfather/grandson" layout, I'd probably stick with tension locks - but I'd aim to use all the same type, all at the same height, all at the same projection in front of the buffers and with any droop/floppiness eliminated.

 

Fair comment John. Having said that, care in mounting - by manufacturer and modeller - should be a prerequisite of all types. I'd bet that more model railway derailments are caused by coupling problems than bad track.

[Dunsignalling]

24 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Roger,

 

I think the problem was that not all the buckeyes were the same make. It was the long freights which separated. All Kadees are buckeye, but not all buckeyes are Kaydees? My description was, thus, incorrect. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Agreed, as with the mini-tension-locks, couplers that look similar are sometimes less compatible than we expect.

 

That said, Kadees (no "y") work best against a bit of weight and/or rolling resistance. 

 

If fitted to free-running, lightweight stock, the tendency for vehicles to bounce off one another when moving can cause problems.

 

John

[john new]

1 hour ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Fair comment John. Having said that, care in mounting - by manufacturer and modeller - should be a prerequisite of all types. I'd bet that more model railway derailments are caused by coupling problems than bad track.

I find the older t/ls much more reliable than the new mini-horrors. I have decided on sprat & winkle as a way forward now they can be used on tighter radii than earlier versions. Just need to get some ordered and start the conversion process. Just seems a very flexible timetable!!!
 

[MikeParkin65]

11 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I've got seven or eight buses but the layout will only have five bridges. What should I do?????

Set up an Evel Kenievel cameo in the station car park

[5 C]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

If I can find room, it would be nice to have a bus and coach station (not depot) at Pentowan.

There are already modelling precedents for bus depots on layouts. Kier Hardy (@Wibble) is a bus fan and Wibdenshaw featured a bus depot and workshop.

 

Another of the EM Gauge 70's team also has a bus depot on his Shenston Road layout.

 

A full selection from the link below (includes buses on bridges too):

http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/project_roadbus.html

[Tony Wright]

Just three new books this time for BRM's next issue.............

 

 

 

 

All fascinating stuff. 

 

 

[grahame]

5 hours ago, 5 C said:

There are already modelling precedents for bus depots on layouts. Kier Hardy (@Wibble) is a bus fan and Wibdenshaw featured a bus depot and workshop.

 

Another of the EM Gauge 70's team also has a bus depot on his Shenston Road layout.

 

A full selection from the link below (includes buses on bridges too):

http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/project_roadbus.html

 

The EM in the 70s website is a great source of inspiration. The monthly update page, showing details of project progress, has just been added for November - well worth a look.

 

With regards to buses, I've been trying to put together a suitable fleet for my forthcoming (sometime in the future) layout. Snag is there is very little suitable in N gauge for the 70s and 80s, and especially for London. Here's few pictured that I've managed to model : Daimler/Leyland Fleetline DMSs, a B20 variant (white top), Pointer Darts (single deckers) and a Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini, although some are not really suitable for the period. They are mostly heavily bashed, including cut'n'shuts and repainted HK Cars Workshop models.

 

Luckily there'll be no road overbridges on the layout, but plenty of rail over road bridges to hide them under ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jesse Sim]

On 02/11/2021 at 13:24, St Enodoc said:

I've got seven or eight buses but the layout will only have five bridges. What should I do?????

That’s good, the Western always broke down….

[robertcwp]

12 hours ago, grahame said:

 

The EM in the 70s website is a great source of inspiration. The monthly update page, showing details of project progress, has just been added for November - well worth a look.

 

With regards to buses, I've been trying to put together a suitable fleet for my forthcoming (sometime in the future) layout. Snag is there is very little suitable in N gauge for the 70s and 80s, and especially for London. Here's few pictured that I've managed to model : Daimler/Leyland Fleetline DMSs, a B20 variant (white top), Pointer Darts (single deckers) and a Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini, although some are not really suitable for the period. They are mostly heavily bashed, including cut'n'shuts and repainted HK Cars Workshop models.

 

Luckily there'll be no road overbridges on the layout, but plenty of rail over road bridges to hide them under ;-)

 

 

 

I didn't think Fleetlines ever operated the old route 60 that went to Waterloo.

[grahame]

40 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

I didn't think Fleetlines ever operated the old route 60 that went to Waterloo.

 

Maybe not. I was hoping people wouldn't notice/know. I don't even know if route 60 went to Waterloo in the 70s/80s - probably not. But the problem is that the only decal sheet for LT bus destinations and routes has a very limited choice with most not being suitable for inner London south of the Thames. And, of course, these are N/2mm models so are pretty small. But Fleetline DMSs on route 60, not so sure:

 

[Scrapman]

For the ultimate bus on bridge I suggest Eccleston Bridge in London.

The bridge crossed Victoria Station roughly  in the middle. Across the bridge ran the Greenline bus and coach stops in the Victoria area. Extra stops could also be found in Buckingham Palace Road.

No pictures I am afraid and of course all long gone now.

 

Ray

[St Enodoc]

30 minutes ago, Scrapman said:

For the ultimate bus on bridge I suggest Eccleston Bridge in London.

The bridge crossed Victoria Station roughly  in the middle. Across the bridge ran the Greenline bus and coach stops in the Victoria area. Extra stops could also be found in Buckingham Palace Road.

No pictures I am afraid and of course all long gone now.

 

Ray

Waverley Bridge and the North Bridge in Edinburgh.

[t-b-g]

58 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

Maybe not. I was hoping people wouldn't notice/know. I don't even know if route 60 went to Waterloo in the 70s/80s - probably not. But the problem is that the only decal sheet for LT bus destinations and routes has a very limited choice with most not being suitable for inner London south of the Thames. And, of course, these are N/2mm models so are pretty small. But Fleetline DMSs on route 60, not so sure:

 

 

If you think some railway modellers are a bit over keen on getting the little details right, then there are bus enthusiasts who are just as keen and when there are some bus enthusiasts who are railway enthusiasts too, you can't get away with anything!

[grahame]

2 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

If you think some railway modellers are a bit over keen on getting the little details right, then there are bus enthusiasts who are just as keen and when there are some bus enthusiasts who are railway enthusiasts too, you can't get away with anything!

 

Perhaps those bus enthusiasts would be so kind as to produce a range of suitable accurate N/2mm bus decals. 

 

 

[t-b-g]

13 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

Perhaps those bus enthusiasts would be so kind as to produce a range of suitable accurate N/2mm bus decals. 

 

 

 

I am not a bus enthusiast so I wouldn't know about such things. I have just had similar "that bus wouldn't have been on that route at the period of your layout" comments and on engaging people in conversation, their depth of knowledge is very impressive.

 

There is probably a whole world of cottage industry manufacturers out there producing bus transfers that those of us who are not bus enthusiasts know nothing about!

 

 

[grahame]

Just now, t-b-g said:

There is probably a whole world of cottage industry manufacturers out there producing bus transfers that those of us who are not bus enthusiasts know nothing about!

I

If there is, they're keeping it secret. I've looked and hunted for them. In N/2mm scale just Mabex and Modelmaster/NGS AFAIA. Is anyone aware of any others?

[robertcwp]

1 hour ago, grahame said:

 

Maybe not. I was hoping people wouldn't notice/know. I don't even know if route 60 went to Waterloo in the 70s/80s - probably not. But the problem is that the only decal sheet for LT bus destinations and routes has a very limited choice with most not being suitable for inner London south of the Thames. And, of course, these are N/2mm models so are pretty small. But Fleetline DMSs on route 60, not so sure:

 

There have been several different route 60s. You can see the history on this site: https://www.londonbuses.co.uk/menus/rl001-100.html

 

The first one disappeared in the massive cuts of 1958. The second one served Waterloo but was withdrawn in 1968. The  present-day 60 began on 4 September 1982, which is a date more commonly associated with massive cuts to London's bus services when about one eighth of the schedule disappeared overnight and mass withdrawals of Routemasters began. So, there was no 60 for the whole of the 1970s. 

[Bernard Lamb]

On 02/11/2021 at 07:14, Tony Teague said:

 

Build a bus garage

 

Ok then.

 

[MikeParkin65]

55 minutes ago, grahame said:

I

If there is, they're keeping it secret. I've looked and hunted for them. In N/2mm scale just Mabex and Modelmaster/NGS AFAIA. Is anyone aware of any others?

Whole range of items comes up if you type ‘model bus transfers’ into the eBay search.  The Bus hobby is well supported by at least 3 good magazines that cover prototype, current and past, preservation and modelling. For many of us on here it is a sideshow to the railways but bus hobbyists (?) are a friendly and knowledgable lot and we have of course much in common with them

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, grahame said:

I

If there is, they're keeping it secret. I've looked and hunted for them. In N/2mm scale just Mabex and Modelmaster/NGS AFAIA. Is anyone aware of any others?

 

I don't know exactly what sort of transfers you want but I know that Fox Transfers do quite a big range in 4mm scale and are also willing to do transfers to special order. So perhaps they could be talked to about reducing some of their 4mm transfers for you.

[john new]

16 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Whole range of items comes up if you type ‘model bus transfers’ into the eBay search.  The Bus hobby is well supported by at least 3 good magazines that cover prototype, current and past, preservation and modelling. For many of us on here it is a sideshow to the railways but bus hobbyists (?) are a friendly and knowledgable lot and we have of course much in common with them

Like @grahame says above though - whilst there may well be lots of 4mm bus modelling support out there for the occasional searcher it is as big a minefield as getting railway transfers right must be for beginners with trains. I am repairing/updating an EFE bus including to an alternative livery, I have photos of the basic YORK-WEST YORKSHIRE livery at about the date I want, and photos of the adverts the specific bus fleet carried in 1977 and 1985 but can I find a suitable transfer for Barratt's circa 1980, no. Yes umpteen transfer sites do exist, on them a lot of London orientated material but not what I need. Going to have to be a home produced near-enough version. 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by john new
Grammar correction

[Denbridge]

1 hour ago, grahame said:

I

If there is, they're keeping it secret. I've looked and hunted for them. In N/2mm scale just Mabex and Modelmaster/NGS AFAIA. Is anyone aware of any others?

Are you a member of the model bus federation? I'm not, but have bought a couple of kits via a friend who is. I seem to recall him saying that as well as kits, they also produce transfers.

Edited November 3, 2021 by Denbridge

[stewartingram]

Have a look on this site.

http://modelbuszone.co.uk

 

Stewart

[Dylan Sanderson]

Morning all... I came across this photo today and was wondering if anyone can confirm 60117 ran with a GN tender at all, or is this just formation for shed movement?

[jwealleans]

That looks like the Plant - has it been withdrawn and the tender swapped onto another loco, or just the order they've been chucked onto the line awaiting attention?