Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[sncf231e]

Here are some stylish passengers in "deliberately old fashioned 0 scale" style in France:

 

 

And they do board the train!:

 

Regards

Fred

[Hroth]

The chap in the brown overcoat with hat and briefcase looks rather like Rowan Atkinson as Maigret...

 

[railroadbill]

 

Deliberately really old-fashioned O gauge. These are Omen figures.  (got them quite some years ago so no idea if they are still made, there were a reasonable number of figures in it's day).

Lee Miller's story is well worth looking up, if you don't know of her, not just about her war time photography but her life in the 20's/30's art world, with Man Ray, Picasso, Cocteau etc. 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by railroadbill

[sncf231e]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

The chap in the brown overcoat with hat and briefcase looks rather like Rowan Atkinson as Maigret...

 

However, it is Sheena Easton's lover:

 

Regards

Fred

[sncf231e]

8 hours ago, railroadbill said:

Deliberately really old-fashioned O gauge. These are Omen figures.  (got them quite some years ago so no idea if they are still made, there were a reasonable number of figures in it's day).

 

 

OMEN miniatures are still made but under a new owner. Here are pictures of OMEN figures and CIWL cars: http://sncf231e.nl/pictures-of-omen-0-gauge-people-and-ciwl-cars/

Regards

Fred

[Ben B]

Well, in the spirit of the recent postings, here's an artificially old-fashioned bit of 0-gauge... Steampunk rather than tinplate (my Cakebox entry from 2021), with a fairly fashionable lass on a station...

 

 

[railroadbill]

Cracking photography !

[Annie]

On 09/07/2022 at 07:38, sncf231e said:

However, it is Sheena Easton's lover:

 

Regards

Fred

Back when I was still active in the HRCA and modelling in 'O' gauge I purchased a set of ACE Metropolitan coaches based on the catalogue images ACE had put about on the internet only when they arrived the coaches' tin printing was completely different to the catalogue images.  Needless to say I was disappointed and I sold them not long afterwards.

Not knocking your video at all by the way which as always is a lot of fun and nice to see.

[Nearholmer]

That’s interesting. How did the advert images differ from what materialised?

[Annie]

18 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

That’s interesting. How did the advert images differ from what materialised?

I doubt that I could find the copy of the catalogue I obtained back then as it was a good while ago, but the panelling and the representation of varnished teak were much better defined.  The catalog images looked like MET coaches which the bland looking pale orangey brown coaches I was sent most definitely did not.

[Nearholmer]

I believe Ace were tinkering around between hand-drawn and computer artwork, and trying to make the new Met coaches look like the Hornby Met coaches. Our correspondent Met H will surely opine, and show us pictures, but I think the Ace Mets were computer work. The really good ‘wooden’ coaches in that series were the LNER ones, which were all hand-drawn. They are maybe a bit pale, but the variation between panels, and the teeny degree of imprecision about the whole thing makes them much less clinical that computer work of that period, and far more ‘alive’.

[Annie]

10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I believe Ace were tinkering around between hand-drawn and computer artwork, and trying to make the new Met coaches look like the Hornby Met coaches.

Well they certainly failed at that then having seen ACE MET and Hornby MET coaches side by side.

Somewhat ironically the local agent for ACE here in NZ was having problems getting the MET coaches for me and he offered me an LNER set that he had in stock instead.  If I'd taken them I'd most probably still have them.

 

16 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

They are maybe a bit pale, but the variation between panels, and the teeny degree of imprecision about the whole thing makes them much less clinical that computer work of that period, and far more ‘alive’.

The old hand drawn 'litho' artwork on tinplate coaches has a special quality that I really like; - and yes you are right, they do look more alive.

[TT-Pete]

Is this"old-fashioned" enough? (note to self - must get a uniform)

 

 

[Nearholmer]

I’ve seen that before, and it poses so many questions. Intriguing.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

I’ve seen that before, and it poses so many questions. Intriguing.

See this topic:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/172962-1967-home-layout-with-full-sized-signal-box/

[Nearholmer]

It was more the imponderables of individual character that I was thinking about. I’m sure people are more tram-lined into norms and conventions these days than they were, and there was something about the situation in the 50-70s that allowed people enough spare time and money to (slightly overstretch themselves by), and tolerance of the quirky, indulge in this sort of thing.
 
In the early 1980s I visited a layout of this general sort (absolutely enormous) in what must originally have been a hayloft. Miles of track snaking to and fro, intermediate stations, signalling, trains to run a full service, but clearly a case of reach exceeding grasp, especially as the owner advanced in years.

 

Nowadays people seem more “sensible”, focused on doing things to perfection, less content with the odd rough edge, so in some ways self-limiting, and certainly more concerned with image projection.

[Metropolitan H]

On 11/07/2022 at 08:55, Nearholmer said:

I believe Ace were tinkering around between hand-drawn and computer artwork, and trying to make the new Met coaches look like the Hornby Met coaches. Our correspondent Met H will surely opine, and show us pictures, but I think the Ace Mets were computer work. The really good ‘wooden’ coaches in that series were the LNER ones, which were all hand-drawn. They are maybe a bit pale, but the variation between panels, and the teeny degree of imprecision about the whole thing makes them much less clinical that computer work of that period, and far more ‘alive’.

 

I'm not purposefully avoiding "opining", but I want to take some pictures first of my rahe of "Darstaed" Metropolitan bogie coaches and my ACE C/26 Metropolitan "Dreadnought" cars first.

 

I agree that the ACE C/1 Met. coaches are a bit of an orange colour and are not really to my taste. Also they are too long to directly represent the first Met bogie cars - the Ashbury stock were 39ft 6in over the body, while the ACE C/1s are 35cm (50ft). Hence my first coach purchase, when ACE released the Metro-Vick electric loco and the British-Westinghouse "Camelback" loco, was a set of the Darstaed Met coaches in the circa 1905 livery with the cream upper panels. However the ACE "Dreadnoughts" are really true to type, being directly modelled and liveried as the three preserved vehicles on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. And I do like the ACE Pullmans in both the early Brown / White and later Maroon.

 

One day I will get round to building a set of converted "electrified" Ashbury cars (proper length) based on the card lithos provided by Bruce Palmer - but not just yet the railway needs work first!

 

Both ACE and Darstaed have produced Met liveried 6 wheeled coaches, which are popular with some people. But the Met only ran two 6 wheel coaches, a pair of fancy saloons which were later put on one long bogie frame! The early Met coaches were rigid EIGHT wheelers later followed by 4 wheelers - Jubilee stock like 353 - and the the bogie "Ashbury" stock.

 

When it comes to hand drawn ACE coaches. the only ones were the LNER C/1 type! Interestingly I do have a few 6 wheel LNER teak effect coaches, but only because I still wait longinly for the ACE LNER "Quad-art" set(s).

 

When the Railway room is tidied, I will take some more pictures.

 

Regards

Chris H

[Ben B]

I hope nobody minds me intruding on the topic whilst it's a bit quiet, but I had to share this rather lovely item I found on Ebay, and treated myself to as a reward for a stay in hospital...

 

 

How about a bit of old fashioned, modern-image, clockwork O gauge?

 

 

This delightful beast is a Wells-Brimtoy clockwork diesel, and despite the distinctly-unlikely moulded-on 8 wheel bogies, it sits on a very compact 4 wheel clockwork chassis.

 

 

A nice amalgamation of plastic and tinplate, with a design in the spirit of the early English Electric diesels like the class 40's/45's.

 

Edit- yep, the real d206 was indeed a class 40

 

 

Mk.1's, again mixed plastic and tin,on 4 wheel chassis.

 

My interest with Brimtoy are their 00 clockwork tank locos, but when I saw this for 12 quid I couldn't resist! The only damage is one broken buffer.

 

 

It must rank as one of the final British-made, toy O gauge clockwork train sets (the dates are in the excellent Brimtoy book I have at home, I'll check later). There's an even more bonkers version though, where plastic ends are used to turn it into an AL-type electric (in red, but with BR arrows no less).

 

Do I need it? No. Do I really, really like it? Yes. Will I be keeping it? Absaloutely :)

Edited July 28, 2022 by Ben B
Extra info added

[Nearholmer]

Plastic and  printed tin composite toys were a weird transitional thing, the ones from East Germany I think lasting longest - maybe you should specialise in that neglected sub-genre, and clutter up your house with lots of them. 

[Nearholmer]

Some actual, physical progress on the new, smaller layout to report, in that I have laid one complete circuit.

 

Not much really, but it is slow, fiddly work due to all the baseboard-joint crossings, and TBH it would never have happened now if I didn’t have a bit of a cold that has temporarily removed my desire to do ‘outdoor things’.

 

This will probably go back into aestivation (I had to look that up) shortly.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Compound2632]

10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Some actual, physical progress on the new, smaller layout to report, in that I have laid one complete circuit.

 

It is, I believe, essential to have a circuit of track, if only on the dining room table (my fall-back), in order to be able to indulge in the simple pleasure of running trains, whatever other grand plans one may be slowly working towards.

[Donw]

On 21/08/2022 at 13:17, Compound2632 said:

 

It is, I believe, essential to have a circuit of track, if only on the dining room table (my fall-back), in order to be able to indulge in the simple pleasure of running trains, whatever other grand plans one may be slowly working towards.

 

A sufficient length of plain track will do if there is not room for a circuit. Three times the length of a suitable train is the minimum I think.

 

Don

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Donw
typo

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Donw said:

Tree times the length of a suitable train is the minimum I think.

 

Is that for trunk lines or branches?

[Donw]

20 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Is that for trunk lines or branches?

 

Well if you think a suitable train is a King with twelve coaches you will need a fair length of track compared to a 14xx and an autocoach.

 

Don

[F-UnitMad]

On 21/08/2022 at 13:04, Nearholmer said:

This will probably go back into aestivation (I had to look that up) shortly.

 

I will have to look it up as well..!! 😳🤣

Any progress is better than none. And yes, an oval of track is definitely a Good Thing. 👍