Stoke Courtenay

[Coach bogie]

12 hours ago, checkrail said:

Just been online to order one of those nice ex-Caledonian Railway vans. <Groan>  Seems to be something new to order every other day. Are these people at Rapido and Accurascale trying to bankrupt me?

 I have stopped pre ordering this stuff now. Really frustrating when some of the range is being sold for less than £20 within a year of introduction. I have gone back to making wagons. Five Airfix cattle wagons came my way so I hit the books and produced five variants from the same kit. For me this has much more satisfaction than opening a box. on returning south after the new year, I was struggling t get back in to modelling mode. The wagons was a perfect cure with the coach works now back at full capacity. I have just finished an ex Royal train linen van.

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

[Neal Ball]

6 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

 I have stopped pre ordering this stuff now. Really frustrating when some of the range is being sold for less than £20 within a year of introduction. I have gone back to making wagons. Five Airfix cattle wagons came my way so I hit the books and produced five variants from the same kit. For me this has much more satisfaction than opening a box. on returning south after the new year, I was struggling t get back in to modelling mode. The wagons was a perfect cure with the coach works now back at full capacity. I have just finished an ex Royal train linen van.

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

I have also stopped… although for me it’s the other way round! My kits are of course carriages.

 

Much as I like all the different wagons that are coming out at the moment, Henley was predominately a passenger station, that during the Regatta was cleared of all goods traffic.

 

I have enough carriage kits to see my building continue to probably the end of 2024!

 

Your cattle wagons look good Mike, interesting that they are all variations on the same kit.

[57xx]

11 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

I have stopped pre ordering this stuff now. Really frustrating when some of the range is being sold for less than £20 within a year of introduction.

 

Same here, no point joining the initial froth and fawning when they can be had at a much more reasonable prices later on. I'm not desperate for any of them, but when they appear in the inevitable sales, I may pick up any that take my fancy at the time. e.g. I was never interested in the AA20 until I got one for £20. I've even cancelled a coach pre-order now based on pre-prod pics, I'm not convinced the models will be up to scratch for the very steep asking price, especially given errors on other models have gone unfixed. I'll be waiting until release for all future models whether wagons, coaches or locos, if I miss out, I miss out, the world will keep turning and I'll keep kit building.

[MrWolf]

Likewise. I already have more than enough coaches in progress to serve my single track branch line and as yet unbuilt wagon kits stretching back to when I was at school more than 35 years ago! 

Some of you may grumble that your Memsahib takes no interest in your hobby, well think of it this way, mine does and she knows how much stuff I have....

I don't actually need anything else for the layout other than bits and pieces for completing the layout itself, so I'll spend the money there.

Elsewhere, I've just blown £56 on a pair of new old stock rocking horse manure exhaust valves for my motorcycle, which it did actually need to run again. They certainly won't be a purchase I'll regret and won't be gathering dust on a shelf either.

[gwrrob]

5 hours ago, 57xx said:

 

Same here, no point joining the initial froth and fawning when they can be had at a much more reasonable prices later on. I'm not desperate for any of them, but when they appear in the inevitable sales, I may pick up any that take my fancy at the time. e.g. I was never interested in the AA20 until I got one for £20. I've even cancelled a coach pre-order now based on pre-prod pics, I'm not convinced the models will be up to scratch for the very steep asking price, especially given errors on other models have gone unfixed. I'll be waiting until release for all future models whether wagons, coaches or locos, if I miss out, I miss out, the world will keep turning and I'll keep kit building.

 

I know what you're saying @57xx but I'm a believer in backing these relatively new manufacturers after they've gone the extra mile to ask what we wanted. I remember the survey of a few years back. OK there's been a few hiccups along the way but would we have had the same choices or versions from Bachmann or Hornby for a van or open wagon. I still have high hopes that Rapido's B set will blow people away. Maybe I'm deluded but I couldn't build/paint the Comet kit and detail the interior to that standard offered, all for 70 sheets each. I can wait for the prices to come down or miss out but I think life is too short and buy today as sometimes tomorrow never comes.

[MrWolf]

Fair point, I quite fancy whatever new that comes along which is relevant to my interests and I am all for supporting the small manufacturers who are setting the bar so much higher.

 

Unfortunately, once the bills are paid, it's a case of:

 

Many interests, one wallet!

[Garethp8873]

On 17/02/2024 at 10:29, gwrrob said:

 

Did you notice the slight price increase John 😟 , having said that we really have never had it so good.👍

 

I've been waiting for the Caledonian Vans for years so I am not complaining at all. And you're right, we've never had it so good 😁

[Coach bogie]

I still have an unbuilt one in my 'to do' box. You can tell from the price it has been waiting a while.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[checkrail]

A stopper pulls into Stoke Courtenay as a Grange-hauled parcels train passes through on the up line.

 

 

 

John C.

[MrWolf]

Very convincing and atmospheric shots John, I especially like the platform level views.

[Neal Ball]

57 minutes ago, checkrail said:

A stopper pulls into Stoke Courtenay as a Grange-hauled parcels train passes through on the up line.

 

 

 

John C.

 

Lovely scenes John, thank you.

[checkrail]

Here's the other half of today's snaps. Have always liked my Hornby Grange (truth to tell, even more than my Accurascale Manor).

 

 

 

John C.

[gwrrob]

I wonder if we’ll ever see another run of Granges from Hornby John  @checkrail

[Miss Prism]

My knowledge of Granges is rudimentary - when did they start using the Collett 3500g tenders - 1950?

 

[checkrail]

1 hour ago, Miss Prism said:

My knowledge of Granges is rudimentary - when did they start using the Collett 3500g tenders - 1950?

AFAIK they had them from new, replaced from late 1940s (?) onward by 4,000g types. I've certainly seen post-nationalisation pics of them with 3.5000g tenders as late as 1959, though most had the 4k job by then..  

[Coach bogie]

I liked the Hornby Grange. Sadly it lacked the pulling power required. as my Granges are usually on fitted freight. Grandfather used to work them to and from Swindon to Weymouth. He always preferred a Grange over a Hall out of Weymouth due to the climb away from the coast. Mine freight Granges are heavily modified K's that are VERY heavy and can haul the van trains up my incline.

 

I find it bizarre that a Railroad Hall will pull two coaches more than the Hornby Grange, well on my train set anyway.

 

Looking good John as always

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Coach bogie said:

I liked the Hornby Grange. Sadly it lacked the pulling power required. as my Granges are usually on fitted freight. Grandfather used to work them to and from Swindon to Weymouth. He always preferred a Grange over a Hall out of Weymouth due to the climb away from the coast. Mine freight Granges are heavily modified K's that are VERY heavy and can haul the van trains up my incline.

 

I find it bizarre that a Railroad Hall will pull two coaches more than the Hornby Grange, well on my train set anyway.

 

Looking good John as always

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

All down to adhesive weight, Mike. My Granges have only 8 oz so bound to be a bit light on their feet. Not much room for more, unfortunately.

 

I haven't got any Hornby Halls but my Bachmanns have an adhesive weight of 9 oz so marginally better. My new Accurascale Manor has 11.5 oz, while the Hornby Castle has 10.5.

[Hal Nail]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

All down to adhesive weight, Mike. My Granges have only 8 oz so bound to be a bit light on their feet.

I can't help feeling some sort of magnets in the wheels would pull it to the track?!

 

Hat, coat...

[MrWolf]

Is there any room in the widest parts of the boiler/ firebox / smokebox to secure strips of lead whilst still allowing room for the chassis block?

[St Enodoc]

51 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Is there any room in the widest parts of the boiler/ firebox / smokebox to secure strips of lead whilst still allowing room for the chassis block?

Not much in the Grange, especially if it's one of the earlier ones with the decoder in the loco.

[Tim Dubya]

@lezz01 mentioned this stuff over in Lydbrook Dean for modelling lead flashings, but I can't help but think it might be of use in those tight spots in a loco to add some more weight.

[St Enodoc]

20 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

@lezz01 mentioned this stuff over in Lydbrook Dean for modelling lead flashings, but I can't help but think it might be of use in those tight spots in a loco to add some more weight.

That's an extremely expensive way to buy lead!

[Tim Dubya]

33 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

That's an extremely expensive way to buy lead!

 

Yep but if it's for weighting models it should be "reassuringly" expensive. 🤔

[lezz01]

Wheel balance weights are a much more cost effective method of adding lead to a model than the lead foil. That is good for lead flashing on buildings.

Regards Lez.  

[Tim Dubya]

On 26/02/2024 at 12:58, lezz01 said:

Wheel balance weights are a much more cost effective method of adding lead to a model than the lead foil. That is good for lead flashing on buildings.

Regards Lez.  

 

That's what I use for wagons, they come self adhesive and already painted black from eBay 👍

 

 

I was thinking that the thin lead strip could be stuck on the inside of tanks/boilers etc where space was limited and anywhere else that you couldn't get the fick stuff in.

 

Edited February 27 by Tim Dubya