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On 16/11/2021 at 11:14, Headstock said:

Good morning Richard,

 

despite the horror stories you here about the Proscale V2, that looks really good. The essence of V2 is well captured.

 

Thanks very much Andrew, I always think that accuracy is really important but so is, as you say, capturing the essence of a locomotive's appearance. In some ways more so.

It was, at times, a bit of a devil to build but it is a very old kit!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

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Congratulations Tony on another page milestone passed with your blog. Andy will be having to get another server soon just for you!

This is really a most interesting part of RMweb, even though it is very  definitely non GWR, and you still somehow have time for modelling.

Bazza

 

 

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6 hours ago, jwealleans said:

Liking the tinted windows on the D245.....

 

LOL! I'm afraid it is an illusion caused by the CAD program's shadowing effect.

 

Here are the almost finished bodies for the complete set.

 

188487757_Gresley-HowldenTripletCompositeSet.jpg.64aa1858375c8f64b2438b6bc20cbfa1.jpg

 

This triplet set will be 46041-3 which will form part of the 10:50am King's Cross to Doncaster service. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that Grantham has the same set (built by you).

Edited by Atso
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1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

 

Indeed it does (Graham's photograph):

 

GN_triplet_test_jan_17.jpg.413b1e9b0b1f1c1d85efbb773872b822.jpg

 

 

I thought so and very nice it is too!

 

I notice that there are no torpedo vents or gas lighting on the luggage compartment of the composite. I'm working from Nick Campling's drawings which shows them; are the drawings incorrect?

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I couldn't let the 2500 pages pass by without a post!

 

Little Bytham has had a visit today from the EM Gauge Society quality inspection team. I am happy to say that it passed with flying colours. The layout has come on really nicely since my last visit and it really does look very good indeed and the running, as expected, was pretty top quality too.

 

It took me a while to work out the ups from the downs and at the start, the odd wrong signal got pulled but after a while, it all felt quite natural and after the fairly intense and involved operating on Buckingham, being able to just pull the signals and watch the trains go by is really quite satisfying and enjoyable. Would it be a layout that I would want to operate for several hours once or twice a week for year after year, as I do with Buckingham? Maybe not. That doesn't prevent me thoroughly enjoying seeing and getting the opportunity to have a go at running it. 

 

Many thanks to Tony and to Mo for putting up with the invasion and for a "Grand day out".

 

 

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13 hours ago, Atso said:

I notice that there are no torpedo vents or gas lighting on the luggage compartment of the composite. I'm working from Nick Campling's drawings which shows them; are the drawings incorrect?

 

To be honest, Steve, I couldn't remember what sources I used.  I have the Campling book so I must have referred to that, but John Smart lent me his copy of the GNRS publication on articulated sets which I think was probably my main reference.   It also had photographs.  Looking through my GN carriage information I've also found an isinglass drawing for set 164G which also has one of these luggage compos.  John has drawn it with only what might be a small torpedo vent on the centreline, but I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to represent so it looks as though I omitted it.   It would make sense not to light or vent a luggage compartment, I'd have thought.

 

 

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Clarity.
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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Tony,

 

It was really great to see you, Vincent and Mick today, and thanks as well for your collective hospitality at lunchtime. 

 

I have to say, despite your getting slightly confused with Bytham's signals, and the respective Up and Down drivers being thrown by my puzzling labelling on the control boxes, the sequence was run today as well as (almost) I've ever seen (I qualify 'almost' because the usual operating team has rarely done better). Even I didn't cock-up too much. 

 

The only 'black mark' was that slightly dirty bit of track on that little-used Down siding, which caused the pick-up loco to just stall momentarily. It now has gleaming rails! Still, almost a full 60+ movement sequence run with no derailments, no jerking, no stuttering (apart from the bit just mentioned), and over 50 different trains run entirely satisfactorily. I tolerate nothing less. 

 

I'm delighted you all enjoyed yourselves, and my personal enjoyment was crowned by having the opportunity to photograph this.......................

 

901837306_VincentWorthingtonClaughton.jpg.e847e5f6059ce56a0e339cb0d137eccf.jpg

 

Vincent's exquisite O Gauge Claughton, painted by Warren Haywood (Heywood?) to perfection. 

 

Thanks once again.

 

Yes, two and a half thousand pages in just nine years! Thanks to all contributors.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

That Claughton scrubs up well! I suggested that Vincent bring it in the hope that it would end up in front of your camera. I have taken some snaps of it but I thought it was worth having the proper gear pointed at it by somebody who knows how to use it.

 

Without wishing to sound too "gushing", today was one of those days that reminds me just how good this hobby is. Good company and good modelling, who could want for more. I count myself as truly lucky to have such friends.

 

Seeing and operating Little Bytham, Vincent's super loco and seeing the progress Mick is making on his new layout have genuinely been inspiring. I have come away full of enthusiasm to get on with things.

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11 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

To be honest, Steve, I couldn't remember what sources I used.  I have the Campling book so I must have referred to that, but John Smart lent me his copy of the GNRS publication on articulated sets which I think was probably my main reference.   It also had photographs.  Looking through my GN carriage information I've also found an isinglass drawing for set 164G which also has one of these luggage compos.  John has drawn it with only what might be a small torpedo vent on the centreline, but I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to represent so it looks as though I omitted it.   It would make sense not to light or vent a luggage compartment, I'd have thought.

 

 

 

That makes a lot of sense Jonathan. Here is mine adapted to the same, many thanks.

 

2020357020_Gresley-HowldenTripletCompositeSet.jpg.d4f3405c8f4751a1e4fb7a7f72b32955.jpg

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Since my comment I've found a picture of a different set which is just a pair of these luggage compos.  It's straight out of works and up against a newly painted Doncaster wall, so white on white, but I can't see any roof fittings above the luggage compartment at either end.

 

I think the picture may have come to me from Nick Campling, ironically enough.  

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Just as a piece of comparative carriageology, a similar question came up very recently re. the luggage compartments on Midland Railway 48 ft non-corridor clerestories - and indeed in that case the luggage compartments were without lamps or ventilators. So I propose a general rule: if a luggage compartment hasn't got windows, it won't have lamps. I'm off to test this hypothesis against Great Western carriages on Penrhos' site...

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11 hours ago, t-b-g said:

That Claughton scrubs up well! I suggested that Vincent bring it in the hope that it would end up in front of your camera. I have taken some snaps of it but I thought it was worth having the proper gear pointed at it by somebody who knows how to use it.

 

Without wishing to sound too "gushing", today was one of those days that reminds me just how good this hobby is. Good company and good modelling, who could want for more. I count myself as truly lucky to have such friends.

 

Seeing and operating Little Bytham, Vincent's super loco and seeing the progress Mick is making on his new layout have genuinely been inspiring. I have come away full of enthusiasm to get on with things.

Thanks again Tony,

 

Having some wonderful friends in this hobby has helped me through some difficult times in the past. And, it's days like yesterday which really reinforce that fact.

 

What astonished me most yesterday was that I don't think I cocked-up Bytham's operation once! I'm usually so full of blathering on about some item of indifference to most, that I throw the wrong switch, forget to do something or just generally mess up. Who knows, one day Bytham will get a perfect operating session of its sequence. Apart from one stutter, it was almost that yesterday. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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12 hours ago, t-b-g said:

That Claughton scrubs up well! I suggested that Vincent bring it in the hope that it would end up in front of your camera. I have taken some snaps of it but I thought it was worth having the proper gear pointed at it by somebody who knows how to use it.

 

Without wishing to sound too "gushing", today was one of those days that reminds me just how good this hobby is. Good company and good modelling, who could want for more. I count myself as truly lucky to have such friends.

 

Seeing and operating Little Bytham, Vincent's super loco and seeing the progress Mick is making on his new layout have genuinely been inspiring. I have come away full of enthusiasm to get on with things.

 

I concur completely with the sentiments in this posting.  I too had a most excellent day yesterday.  Two friends came over, we ran some trains - my railway is  nowhere near as advanced as LB but I do have two complete and operational circuits of the shed - we did some work by forming tumblehomes and detailing of sides for some new etched brass coaches, we had some excellent cake made by my better half, ran more trains and then adjourned to my local for an early dinner and a pint - or two!  A most excellent day and one that entirely reinforces what this hobby is all about.

 

And Vincent's Claughton is just gorgeous!

 

Gerry

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On 17/11/2021 at 09:56, Tony Wright said:

I received an email yesterday from the Railway Enthusiasts' Club telling me that they will no longer be holding any exhibitions. I've attended the event at Woking for several years now (up to lockdown) and would like to thank the organisers and the whole club for making me and Mo so welcome and for putting on such a good show.

 

The reasons are all too familiar, and do not bode well for the long-term future of the hobby. The average age of the membership increases each year, and with an ever-dwindling band of volunteers it's just not possible any more to stage the event. Add on to that the ever-increasing costs of suitable venues, plus the uncertainties of future restrictions, then an event might lead to a club actually folding - with considerable debts. Many clubs just won't take the risks. 

 

It's happened to the Wolverhampton exhibition and also to the Southwold one; again, mainly due to age. In their 30s, 40s, 50s, even 60s, for members moving hundreds of tables and chairs, lugging around barriers and generally having to be busy all the time is not a problem. Into the 70s and 80s, hang on! 

 

I'm convinced the coming years will see more and more (well-established) shows just disappearing. 

 

Food for thought. 

This is sad (and also not wholly unexpected news) for me; firstly, the Woking show is a conveniently close "big" show with lots of layouts and traders.  Secondly, Tony, we have twice got to meet and say hello at the Woking show when you've been able to resurrect several comatose locomotives for me.  I still have the correct buffers and chimney which you sent me for the O4, tucked away safely.  Unfortunately the tender for that O4 is tucked away somewhere even safer as it has disappeared in amongst the boxes of projects, defying all attempts at rescue!

 

The Woking show is one of those that as I have suggested here before, is in that middle ground of events at greatest risk.  It's not big enough to be an almost National event and get major sponsorship, not small enough to be supported by a small group able to hire a small venue.  The other local show to me is run by the Farnham MRC in an Aldershot school; always excellent but I'll bet the venue hire is a fraction of that at Woking's Leisure Centre.

 

It isn't the subject matter so much that is deterring younger club members - although we are still a minority hobby really - it is that my children's generation (and my own to some degree) don't join clubs in the way our parents did, because they have so many alternatives for entertainment.  I grew up with four TV channels, my TV now has about 100 (and that's the basic level subscription), there is limitless streaming available of so much media, the Web is there to read utter rubbish or to learn about something useful if you wish.  A bored child in our youth had to make more of their own entertainment, as otherwise for many, there really could be very little to do.  The media industry won the battle for our attention long ago, so much so that it doesn't now present itself as the most important thing, but the only important thing.

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A great pity, though I fully understand the reasoning behind the decision.

 

The REC exhibition at Woking has long been on my regular itinerary of medium-large shows, all of which have assumed greater importance as the biggest ones are beginning to feel a little too much like hard work for me. It was also an event that I could easily attend by train, so will be missed on that basis, too.

 

Many thanks to all concerned in providing much pleasure and opportunities for face-to-face contact with distant friends attending from other directions over a good many years.

 

John

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8 hours ago, Northmoor said:

A bored child in our youth had to make more of their own entertainment, as otherwise for many, there really could be very little to do.  The media industry won the battle for our attention long ago, so much so that it doesn't now present itself as the most important thing, but the only important thing.

 

I read a good quote in The Guardian a few weeks ago about the power of boredom (which I'll paraphrase): "boredom isn't particularly enjoyable, but when you're denied input, you generate output".

 

I thought it was a pretty good dictum. 

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3D creativity in hobbies is fast disappearing. My twin girls are talented artists. These days they tend to do their art on a specialised Wacom tablet computer. One is a moderator on a forum for such - and gets angrier than Andy Y !!!!!!!

 

It's a changing world, we old 'uns are OK, the young have to adapt to survive.

 

Brit15

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I was stuck in Cardiff Central for a hour or so on Sunday, waiting for a train to Pencoed. It's normally the Maesteg service, but it wasn't showing on any of the destination screens, which only ran up to a certain time. I went looking for the old, printed timetables (on hinged boards) that give all the services by destination, listed alphabetically ... and they've gone. There were none on any platforms. I was given no explanation other than, no they've gone mate. Because there was a rugby international I couldn't get down into the main concourse to see if any still remained but I still found this astonishing. Are such things now deemed too old-fashioned on our app-driven, screen-obsessed age?

 

It reminded me obliquely of a time when we were looking for trains from San Francisco down to Bakersfield. We went to the Amtrak office and the guy started listing the available services. I asked if there was a timetable and with some amusement he dug into the dustiest drawer and came out with the printed schedule. He said: "I don't need to tell you guys how to read one of these, do I. You're Europeans. No American has a clue."

 

 

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