Henley-on-Thames - GWR in the 1930's

[Coach bogie]

I agree, they are magnificent coaches.

 

They do not appear to be overly popular in 4mm. I built my own from Hayes and Geen kits. Conversations with both manufacturers, over the years, revealed  shorter coaches out sell the longer coaches. Hammond used to say the same thing which was the reason, the only TPO coaches he did not etch were the 70ft L13/14.

 

I have both Saints and the Bear running on my Westbury Racecourse layout so they are bound to appear at some point.

 

Luckily Worsley Works have joined in and provide modern etches including the obscure Dreadnought Tea Car. Try finding that one in the coach books, but it did exist!.

 

That railcar is so "right" for Henley. Brilliant.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[Neal Ball]

13 minutes ago, Coach bogie said:

I agree, they are magnificent coaches.

 

They do not appear to be overly popular in 4mm. I built my own from Hayes and Geen kits. Conversations with both manufacturers, over the years, revealed  shorter coaches out sell the longer coaches. Hammond used to say the same thing which was the reason, the only TPO coaches he did not etch were the 70ft L13/14.

 

I have both Saints and the Bear running on my Westbury Racecourse layout so they are bound to appear at some point.

 

Luckily Worsley Works have joined in and provide modern etches including the obscure Dreadnought Tea Car. Try finding that one in the coach books, but it did exist!.

 

That railcar is so "right" for Henley. Brilliant.

 

Mike Wiltshire

Thanks Mike.

 

Sadly I think my soldering skills wouldn’t be able to cope with a full kit….. I think my E153 was a fluke, as proved by the mess I made of my original build of the H43.
 

Dreadnought tea car sounds intriguing…. A Google search, produced the RMWeb pages of your build from 2014!
 

I have often thought of late that we need a revised Great Western carriages book… one complete book, or a logical series of books that pulls together everything from the Russell books… to be in a chronical order and clearly to correct all the omissions.

 

The Dapol style of the railcar is correct for Henley as I have various photos of one of the early units visiting the branch, although I think that’s in the 1940’s. But a nice model of a lovely prototype.

[Nick Gough]

Hopefully the Didcot Dreadnought can be restored to its former glory before too much longer.

[The Fatadder]

I really like the Dreadnought brake third I built this year, I think another all third will definitely be a job for the future.   I really want a  concertina Third, but don’t fancy the thought of soldering on all of those door recesses…

[Siberian Snooper]

The David Geen, concertina kit has whitemetal doors and recesses,  if you like I can dig one out of the stash and take a piccy of the etch and a couple of castings,  but unlikely before Monday or Tuesday as I'm not at home, pre xmas business meetings .

 

 

[Neal Ball]

12 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Hopefully the Didcot Dreadnought can be restored to its former glory before too much longer.

I’d like to see all the Didcot carriages restored…. And then placed in a suitable dry space and of course used from time to time….

 

11 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

I really like the Dreadnought brake third I built this year, I think another all third will definitely be a job for the future.   I really want a  concertina Third, but don’t fancy the thought of soldering on all of those door recesses…

Whilst I like the look of a Concertina, I would fancy building it!

 

Dreadnoughts different matter, although as I’ve said before a full 70ft kit would be a challenge. 

 

9 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

The David Geen, concertina kit has whitemetal doors and recesses,  if you like I can dig one out of the stash and take a piccy of the etch and a couple of castings,  but unlikely before Monday or Tuesday as I'm not at home, pre xmas business meetings .

 

 

 

Interesting thanks….

[Siberian Snooper]

OK, here's a couple of snaps of the David Geen Diag 80 Brake tri compo.

 

 

 

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I took them on my phone.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

RE: Greenwood model railway co and their (non)working turntable.

 

The saga continues - I still do not have a working turntable, despite having paid £600 and €160 duty.

 

Today he has sent me an email to say I have not communicated with him, therefore he is terminating my contract.

 

I would like to say words fail me, but they don't .... they are not very nice words and not the sort of words you would use to someone providing a service to you.

 

So far I have reported him to Trading standards in Dorset and also complained to @Andy Yas Warner publications (World of railways) website was still taking advertising from him.

 

IF IN DOUBT, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM GREENWOOD MODEL RAILWAY PRODUCTS IN SWANAGE, DORSET.

 

Please see the separate thread under the small suppliers section of products here on RmWeb.

 

The replacement part is currently stuck at customs, probably as Mike hasn't filled the forms in correctly again.... time will tell.

[Harlequin]

If he’s not just being bloody-minded and objectionable for the sake of it he must have a reason for saying that. Do you have any idea what he might mean?

 

[john dew]

Hi Neal

 

I have been following this tragic saga, hoping for a happy ending, with lots of “friendly supportive” emojis but this latest twist to the tail is too much. You must be incredibly angry and frustrated by all this and you have my total sympathy.

 

One has to hope against hope that the replacement package will be released soon and actually work.  Will it be possible to recover a portion of the purchase price? I guess the logistics of court action are horrific?

 

Looking on the plus side…. you have an incredibly realistic GWR turntable which is only a step away from functioning. Is it too much to hope that you can find an electronics whiz, either here or locally, who can adapt/modify Greenwoods board?

 

Best wishes

[Neal Ball]

7 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

If he’s not just being bloody-minded and objectionable for the sake of it he must have a reason for saying that. Do you have any idea what he might mean?

 

 

No idea Phil - sadly I think he is being bloody minded for the sake of it.

 

I found another email from 3pm this afternoon where he asks me "What have you done about the shipping?" I was out and didn't reply, so got his next message at 18:28

 

UPS sent him an email asking for more information at the weekend.... it turns out that the reply from UPS was more of a holding email and the parcel is stuck in customs...

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

4 minutes ago, john dew said:

Hi Neal

 

I have been following this tragic saga, hoping for a happy ending, with lots of “friendly supportive” emojis but this latest twist to the tail is too much. You must be incredibly angry and frustrated by all this and you have my total sympathy.

 

One has to hope against hope that the replacement package will be released soon and actually work.  Will it be possible to recover a portion of the purchase price? I guess the logistics of court action are horrific?

 

Looking on the plus side…. you have an incredibly realistic GWR turntable which is only a step away from functioning. Is it too much to hope that you can find an electronics whiz, either here or locally, who can adapt/modify Greenwoods board?

 

Best wishes

 

Thanks for that John.

 

It's made me very angry this evening and having read the email before sending it, I know its very robust. However, it will leave him in no doubt that I want a full refund.

 

I have also now lodged a complaint for a full refund with Paypal.

 

Not happy, the whole saga is just rubbish / crap / awful / why would any business treat its customers like this?

 

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

13 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

OK, here's a couple of snaps of the David Geen Diag 80 Brake tri compo.

 

 

 

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I took them on my phone.

 

 

 

The quality is great thank you. It looks interesting, but to make it into a full carriage I think is beyond me at the moment. Thanks anyway.

[Neal Ball]

For something completely different, I’ve had a newsletter from Pendon museum this morning.

 

Their “views of the vale” films has been added to with a video showing buildings around Letcombe Bassett. Took my mind away from my turntable issues for a couple of minutes.

The video is available to watch here:   Unfortunately the video is only available as part of the friends membership scheme at Pendon - sorry I thought it was available on the general website.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Neal Ball
edit: Video not available

[Neal Ball]

GWR / AEC Railcars:

 

The three railcars are seen arriving and departing Henley on Thames with full sound on.

 

There is clearly a big difference between having a single sugarcube speaker vs a double mega bass speaker - even when its the same sound files (Youchoos). The railcar with the sugarcube is no 11 in Platform 1 at the back. I need to see if a megabits speaker will fit into the toilet of that railcar.... it might be a squeeze.... Lets hope Mrs Simmons doesn't need the loo on her trip to Twyford!

 

(Apologies, the first clip is slightly out of focus).

 

As ever, the video highlights areas where I need to do a bit more work on the railway - its an on-going project!

 

I need to add the crew (hoped for Christmas present) and tail lamps. It would be good to get a working tail-lamp on the bracket and then disable the current red light.... cabling it up though might be an issue.

 

 

I intend to keep the white roofs, on the basis that they are all new... (although in reality there is a few years between them all), but will lightly weather the underframes. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Neal Ball
edit: White roofs to stay!

[Coach bogie]

On 14/12/2021 at 08:13, Siberian Snooper said:

OK, here's a couple of snaps of the David Geen Diag 80 Brake tri compo.

 

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I took them on my phone.

 

 

Here is what it looks like assembled

Mike Wiltshire

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, Coach bogie said:

Here is what it looks like assembled

Mike Wiltshire

 

That looks very nice Mike, thanks for sharing.

[Neal Ball]

On 26/11/2021 at 10:43, McC said:

More very soon, and delivery is currently on schedule for Q1.

 

Are we being treated / teased with the decorated samples today @McC ?

 

At least your firebox top / slope looks more convincing than some photos we are seeing....

 

Thanks, Neal.

[Neal Ball]

Today is the 20th December and it's my annual look back at another adventurous year at Henley on Thames.

 

We have had new arrivals; new sound decoders; new Kadee couplings; new carriage projects started; which of course means more projects half finished as the year draws to a close!

 

Plus of course, new projects announced from Accurascale: The Manor was announced on 1st Feb, with a teaser photo of the cab shown here in November; Then the new range of Siphon G were announced a few days ago. 

 

Not forgetting the Rapido announcements during the year: Gunpowder vans finally in production and now a new Toad and Loriet.

 

Then we have the anticipation(?) of the Hornby announcements in a couple of weeks time. Perhaps a new Saint; hopefully the new Restaurant carriages and some new full brakes. Maybe even Bachmann will introduce a new range of GWR carriages during the first week of February 2022.

 

Of course 2021 has had its ups and downs, sadly it seems more of the latter. Lets hope that 2022 is a heck of a lot better.

 

Thank you for following my efforts at portraying Henley on Thames in the 1930's.

 

This year:

• @40,000 views
• An increase in 24 pages
• With some 600 replies
• We have also gained 6 new subscribers!

Thank you for the support and encouragement, I am always blown away by the reaction from everyone at RMWeb.

 

Wherever you are over the festive season, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photo changed

[McC]

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Are we being treated / teased with the decorated samples today @McC ?

 

First few samples will be shared in the next hour or so...

[Neal Ball]

In the meantime, the AEC Railcar no 11 is idling in Platform 1.

 

I have adjusted CV266 from 64 to 70 (max value 100) and as it ticks over in the platform, I can almost hear the windows rattling... It's certainly made a difference to the sound.

 

 

 

With two AEC Railcars idling in the station, its got very loud all of a sudden!

 

I am happy that No 11 and 22 are a similar volume now!

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed

[Graham T]

That's very nice!

 

Sorry if I've asked before Neal, but where did the lamp come from?

[Neal Ball]

On 20/12/2021 at 11:42, Graham T said:

That's very nice!

 

Sorry if I've asked before Neal, but where did the lamp come from?

 

They are the Gaugemaster lamps. I've got different ones across the station....

 

To address the balance, just in case anyone should think this has become a diesel layout!

 

Here we have Grange class 4-6-0 in front of the water tank platform in front of an early lamp that was originally green, (They didn't have any GWR stone coloured lamps in stock that week!)

 

 

 

As well as the Barley twist lamps seen with the Railcar on Platform 1, I have these lamps further down Platform 2

 

 

Suddenly it got very noisy at Henley on Thames with 3 sound locos in the station. No 11 has since left with the 11:55 to Twyford.

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed

[Neal Ball]

Hall class loco no 4965 Rood Ashton Hall.

 

Is currently round the layout (the non-Henley bit) with a rake of Collet carriages; K22 full Brake and an outside framed Siphon G.

 

The loco is from Bachmann and was split from a Stratford Express(?) pack by Hattons. Partnered with a small 3500 gallon under and a Loksound Decoder with Olivias Trains sounds, its sounding good.

 

Seen here on arrival at Henley on Thames with its train from Twyford:

 

 

 

Later seen ready to take the train back towards Twyford:

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed

[Neal Ball]

This looks very good... I think I might need an Accurascale Manor after all. Maybe coupled to some of their new Siphon G as well.

 

 

 

edit: April 2022 - I have since ordered both. The Manor in DCC sound and a Siphon..... lets hope Accurascale produce a Pannier tank 0-6-0PT soon to the same standards

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed