Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, mattingleycustom said:

Re the Golden Age A4 (60027), notwithstanding the errors with the tender detailing, what is going on with the running plate 'curve' and the boiler bands having differing levels of prominence - as you said for over £1,000 I would expect more, in fact I would expect perfection.

 

Glenn

Good evening Glenn,

 

I must admit, I hadn't taken much notice of the 'features' you've observed, but they're even more pronounced in this shot of the Golden Age MERLIN heading the Down 'Elizabethan'. It would appear to have only three cladding bands on the boiler!

 

 

Looking back, I can't understand why I bought it. In fairness, because I provided pictures, I receive a discount which took it to just under £1,000.00 (still a substantial amount). This was ten years ago, when the retail price was around £1,200.00 (or very near). I never use it, and it cost me more to have the DCC nonsense removed.

 

Ah well, we live and learn. 

 

The proprietor once took me to task, claiming I was 'easier' on the Hornby A4 when I first reviewed it than I was on his. When I pointed out that his was ten times more in price than the Hornby one, the correspondence ceased. 

 

There's no doubt that they're very well-finished, and it you want an opening 'cod's mouth', an inside cranked axle, middle connecting rod and working conjugated gear then there'll be a price. But that much? 

 

Are they still available?  

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Having not long returned from a most-pleasant weekend at the Loughborough Show, may I please thank all the organisers for putting on such a fine event? 

 

It seems attendance was up, and most traders seemed happy. 

 

Mo and I made a modest amount for CRUK from my fiddling with models and selling donated items. One of those items was an old Wills 'Flatiron', mounted (as designed) on a Tri-ang 'Jinty' chassis. After a clean, pick-up adjustment and oiling, it ran very well. I put a price of £40.00 on it. It was well-painted in plain black.

 

One very pleasant chap said he was interested, but it 'wasn't finished'. He was right, inasmuch as the buffer beams needed painting red and it needed lettering/numbering. I said such things were a doddle, but he said it was too much. Not the price, but too much for him to contemplate doing. He left. 

 

A question crossed my mind. Is this now 'typical' of 'modelling' today? Where a participant in the hobby thinks it's beyond him/her to complete such easy tasks as applying paint and transfers?  

 

He returned some two hours later, and then bought it. His wife/partner had told him that he'd regret not picking up such a bargain, and told him to finish it! Good for her!

 

As is typical now at many shows, the trade held little interest to me. However, on one second-hand stall I found a part-built Model Loco Black Five, complete with Portescap motor and an untouched, complete DJH 'Britannia'. I bought the pair for £130.00. The Black Five (having been superglued together), simply 'came apart in my hands'!  

[bbishop]

Chatting to a trader at Telford, I mooted that the rtr LBSC Terrier (in Stroudley improved engine green) would have generated sales of his kits.  Nope, not one!  And this is 7mm!

 

Bill

[davidw]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Having not long returned from a most-pleasant weekend at the Loughborough Show, may I please thank all the organisers for putting on such a fine event? 

 

It seems attendance was up, and most traders seemed happy. 

 

Mo and I made a modest amount for CRUK from my fiddling with models and selling donated items. One of those items was an old Wills 'Flatiron', mounted (as designed) on a Tri-ang 'Jinty' chassis. After a clean, pick-up adjustment and oiling, it ran very well. I put a price of £40.00 on it. It was well-painted in plain black.

 

One very pleasant chap said he was interested, but it 'wasn't finished'. He was right, inasmuch as the buffer beams needed painting red and it needed lettering/numbering. I said such things were a doddle, but he said it was too much. Not the price, but too much for him to contemplate doing. He left. 

 

A question crossed my mind. Is this now 'typical' of 'modelling' today? Where a participant in the hobby thinks it's beyond him/her to complete such easy tasks as applying paint and transfers?  

 

He returned some two hours later, and then bought it. His wife/partner had told him that he'd regret not picking up such a bargain, and told him to finish it! Good for her!

 

As is typical now at many shows, the trade held little interest to me. However, on one second-hand stall I found a part-built Model Loco Black Five, complete with Portescap motor and an untouched, complete DJH 'Britannia'. I bought the pair for £130.00. The Black Five (having been superglued together), simply 'came apart in my hands'!  

Sadly the average 'Joe Public' can rarely see beyond cosmetic issues with models. Those who are prepared to tinker with a model are in the minority, and becoming rarer.

Edited September 1, 2019 by davidw

[Flyingscotsmanfan]

19 minutes ago, davidw said:

Sadly the average 'Joe Public' can rarely see beyond cosmetic issues with models. Those who are prepared to tinker with a model are in the minority, and becoming rarer.

 

Then I must be in the minority! At 34 years of age I can see a lot of potential in even the most moth eaten of models. I have over the past few years have picked up kit built wagons cheaply from Ellis Clark Trains ( other traders are available) at a few of the bigger shows, often they have damaged brake gear or are fitted with unusual couplings. I buy them, strip them, replace any couplings with three link couplings (if not already fitted), repair any damage ( usually having to scratch build missing gear from plastic strip), paint, transfer and varnish.

 

The attached picture shows my workbench of organised chaos. All but three of these box vans are rescue kits, the rest having been built by me from new PECO Parkside kits.

Why do I rescue these kits? Because I can get them cheap and I know I can do them justice, I get immense pleasure from seeing something battered returned to its former glory or in most cases better than they’ve ever been.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Flyingscotsmanfan
Spelling

[Clive Mortimore]

13 minutes ago, davidw said:

Sadly the average 'Joe Public' can rarely see beyond cosmetic issues with models. Those who are prepared to tinker with a model are in the minority, and becoming rarer.

I must be doing something very wrong. I have been tinkering with some cheap secondhand Airfix LMS coaches.

 

An articulated twin dia D1965 BSO+SO

 

A dia D1948 Buffet Car

 

A period II dia D 1807 SO, I cut away the Airfix top of the coach sides and have added my own from plastic card, sort semi scratchbuilt than a conversion.

There is still loads to do to these, my LNER cut and shuts and the BR Mk1s I have been chopping about. My plan is to get them all running well before detailing and painting. I am in no rush, my aim is to have a working scenic layout with a selection reliable running "modelled" stock by the time I am 70, only 7 3/4 years to go. This year is a stock building and running year.

[Porcy Mane]

Never seen this before. Thought this might be an appropriate place to post it knowing Tim will probably See it..

 

 

 

P

[davefrk]

Nice.

 

[Miss Prism]

Superb footage.

 

[Engineer]

Delighted to see the King's Cross film, many thanks for making it visible for all.  I'm sympathetic to the railway content of course, but the film [rather like modelling] is able to communicate the whole scene and the spirit of the area.  My father had lived close by up to the early 50s, in the Buildings between KX and St Pancras that are just visible in the distance at about 2:36.  A small remnant of those Buildings still stands among the modern developments along with the truncated German Gymnasium building just North of the Great Northern Hotel.  I was brought up with visits and stories of the area and can just remember the array of buildings in front of the station before Victoria Line construction swept them away.  It's nice to see it all recorded on film, especially the people, vehicles and presence of trolleybus overhead.  There's one excellent, unusual, rare view at 1:22 of a small house close to the corner of Pancras Road, which I believe was built as a show house in the 1920s.  I shall watch a few more times - definitely more detail to be discovered.

[westerner]

I sometimes forget how steamy , smokey and dirty railways were in the days of steam.

[Chamby]

Interesting to see the 08 shunter towards the end... smoke free in stark comparison to the preceding steam locomotives.  That we now associate diesels with ‘clag’ and see them as a dirty option, shows how much perceptions and sentiment have changed over time.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Chamby
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[Clem]

A couple of brilliant posts this morning, (not taking anything away from the other posts), but first from Flyingscotsmanfan, it's refreshing and very encouraging to see a relative youngster have such a creative approach, making lovely accurate models from battered cast-offs. The workbench looks great to me!  Secondly, what a brilliant piece of film from Porcy Mane. Looks to be late 1957 or early 1958? Captures the period beautifully. Some great views of locos and rolling stock from different angles. Thank you, it's really brightened up my morning (which to be fair was pretty bright to start with!).

[Clem]

I'm just half way through a van building program at the moment. Here's the present lot, the front line and one or two on the back line ready for the weathering paint shop....

 

 

The front three are old Airfix vans with a new chassis, most of the rest are Parkside.

[PMP]

30 minutes ago, Clem said:

 Secondly, what a brilliant piece of film from Porcy Mane. Looks to be late 1957 or early 1958? 

 You can work out when a ‘not after’ time. The film shows the gap (1m:57) in the buildings from the bomb damage on platform 8. Knowing the date(I don’t), the roadside of the building was rebuilt will give you the filmed before date. It was good to see the J50 and freight train that had obviously come up through the widened lines including oil tanks. Seeing the suburban side takes me back to daily commuting through there to my first job at MRM, also popularly known as ‘Kings Cross models’ 

Edited September 2, 2019 by PMP

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, Chamby said:

Interesting to see the 08 shunter towards the end... smoke free in stark comparison to the preceding steam locomotives.  That we now associate diesels with ‘clag’ and see them as a dirty option, shows how much perceptions and sentiment have changed over time.

Hi Phil

 

The 08 could well be a class 10 Blackstone engine 350 shunter, pity the number isn't clearer. Most of Kings Cross 350s in the 50s and early 60s were either class 10 or the LMS designed class 11.

[31A]

11 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Phil

 

The 08 could well be a class 10 Blackstone engine 350 shunter, pity the number isn't clearer. Most of Kings Cross 350s in the 50s and early 60s were either class 10 or the LMS designed class 11.

 

I was trying to work out the number; I think it might be one in the 133xx / D33xx series (for example 13309?) several of which were allocated to KGX when new then went to Finsbury Park.

[jwealleans]

What's that third van in the train the J50's leading (4:24)?   I don't recall seeing outside framing like that before.  It has an LSWR look to it, but the framing has thrown me.

[Mallard60022]

12 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

One very pleasant chap said he was interested, but it 'wasn't finished'. He was right, inasmuch as the buffer beams needed painting red and it needed lettering/numbering. I said such things were a doddle, but he said it was too much. Not the price, but too much for him to contemplate doing. He left. 

 

A question crossed my mind. Is this now 'typical' of 'modelling' today? Where a participant in the hobby thinks it's beyond him/her to complete such easy tasks as applying paint and transfers?  

 

He returned some two hours later, and then bought it. His wife/partner had told him that he'd regret not picking up such a bargain, and told him to finish it! Good for her!

Such is the wise thinking of the 'experienced shopper's' brain? However, maybe the Flatiron was a mistaken identity of the item? 

Already retreated and assigned myself to the window (indoor sides) cleaning task that is so overdue...…………………………..

H. Enpecked.

[Mallard60022]

13309.

When the X was a real station, the air was filthy and the entertainment at such a place provided hours and hours of fun and education.

One of the best little piece of 50's film I have seen for a long time; such great detail if you watch and watch. Almost Huntly (and the other chap that still does it....name has gone from my remaining brain cell)  standard; I can hear their introductions, interjections and summaries. Thank you for around 9 minutes of pure pleasure.

Having said all that, is it not now a huge pleasure to be able to see the magnificence of the face of both the X and St. P after the extensive rebuilding locally; a hugely vibrant and pleasurable place to take a stroll or sit and watch the world passing by? The interiors are, sadly, modern and clinical and rather boring train wise.

P

Edited September 2, 2019 by Mallard60022

[Tony Wright]

12 hours ago, Flyingscotsmanfan said:

 

Then I must be in the minority! At 34 years of age I can see a lot of potential in even the most moth eaten of models. I have over the past few years have picked up kit built wagons cheaply from Ellis Clark Trains ( other traders are available) at a few of the bigger shows, often they have damaged brake gear or are fitted with unusual couplings. I buy them, strip them, replace any couplings with three link couplings (if not already fitted), repair any damage ( usually having to scratch build missing gear from plastic strip), paint, transfer and varnish.

 

The attached picture shows my workbench of organised chaos. All but three of these box vans are rescue kits, the rest having been built by me from new PECO Parkside kits.

Why do I rescue these kits? Because I can get them cheap and I know I can do them justice, I get immense pleasure from seeing something battered returned to its former glory or in most cases better than they’ve ever been.

I'd say you are in a minority. 

 

A getting-even-smaller minority if my observations at shows are anything to go by.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

12 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

I must be doing something very wrong. I have been tinkering with some cheap secondhand Airfix LMS coaches.

 

An articulated twin dia D1965 BSO+SO

 

A dia D1948 Buffet Car

 

A period II dia D 1807 SO, I cut away the Airfix top of the coach sides and have added my own from plastic card, sort semi scratchbuilt than a conversion.

There is still loads to do to these, my LNER cut and shuts and the BR Mk1s I have been chopping about. My plan is to get them all running well before detailing and painting. I am in no rush, my aim is to have a working scenic layout with a selection reliable running "modelled" stock by the time I am 70, only 7 3/4 years to go. This year is a stock building and running year.

'I must be doing something very wrong'

 

Why would you say that, Clive?

 

Unless it's in jest, which I think it is.

 

The likes of what you do is becoming rarer and rarer in my more-recent experience. What one might call 'actual modelling'. It's a kind of return to the past. A past of make-do-and-mend, adaptation, creativity, personal modelling and self-reliance. I commend you! 

 

More and more, what I see recently is a hobby awash with straight-out-of-the-box stuff, unaltered, running on layouts at (general) shows, through a landscape of ready-made 'mediocrity'. And, this is not just OO. Or it's 'get someone else to do my modelling for me' because I (the generic 'I') can't do it myself, won't do it myself, don't have time and I want it right now! Or it's 'fantastic' (in the truest sense of the word) model railways where 'creativity' is paramount. That they represent no known railway in the whole Universe is irrelevant. 

 

So much for 'progress'.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Porcy Mane]

6 hours ago, Engineer said:

a small house close to the corner of Pancras Road, which I believe was built as a show house in the 1920s.

 

 I've often wondered why a single detached Art Deco house stood outside of Kings Cross when it's rightful place should have been Metroland or East Sheen.

 

Edit: Just had a look at the 1953 OS map where the Dwelling is described as "The Show House". Looks like it's a Jubilee House (1935?) built by Laings. Re-built at Kings Cross/St Pancras the catch the eye of all those pre-war commuters with ambitions to move out Enfield way perhaps?

https://goo.gl/maps/ajXbAQ9gcXnGREbq6

 

Interesting to see the size of the Tyne Main coal offices showing perhaps how reliant we were on the Black Diamond.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Porcy Mane

[DougN]

I have to say thanks to every one for assistance with the get the dome for my Jinty. There is per my previous post on it, it was presented by a friend to me saying just finish it I won't. Unfortunately the person passed away 18months ago and with all my time committments (well work, family etc) I have finnally managed to get it almost complete! 

 A couple of things to finish off (paint the piano front, wheels, and break gear, number plate to the smoke box door). As Tony says just build things! 

Also recently, after about a 5 year rest in the box, I have decided that it is time to finish the following D17. Still a list of things to finish off but I am happy (though the photo is too dark) that this has finally reaching completion. 

This is the first time I have used lining transfers, Not the best but for a loco that will be weathered in the future I think they will work out OK. 

 

I have realised that the number of kits I have started over the years and not finished it is now time to finish as many as I can. One of the things I have started to do is place each distinct kit which is part built into a take away container. The reason for this is things have got mixed up on the work desk so as I sorted them I placed them in a box (or common items such as open wagons, I have 2 NER 5 planks which inhabit a common box). Once all the bits are together I find that the kit seems to practically fall together and be completed! 

 

After last year where I targeted a kit complete a month which I just about did...year was to finish old kits... I will have to count them up once done at the end of the year I bet it will be about the 12! This will be a bit easy as I have 7 NER 20 Ton hoppers to finish along with these 2 locos! My challange continues! 

 

[Porcy Mane]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

13309.

 

Yep. That's the fella.