Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[Nearholmer]

The cab front design on the No.2 tank carried-over from the No.2 4-4-0 loco, which I'm convinced was itself value-engineered by Hornby to compete in market with the Bing George the Fifth, so the LNWR look may trace to that. Bing also made a very good, and very popular, Precursor Tank, of course.

[Nearholmer]

6 minutes ago, Simond said:

we’re not talking about the same kind of bike...

 

I dabbled in the motorised kind for a few years, although nothing that chunky, but for some reason have always enjoyed the non-motorised ones more. 

 

PS: 136hp is a figure I'd associate with a shunting locomotive, rather than a bike.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Donw]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

To the boy of 1928 for whom that loco was first bought, it was almost certainly a glorious thing, and as green. gleaming and dashing, and as much a County Tank, as he wanted it to be.

 

This is a toy, from the age when toy trains were for boys with imaginations, not for detail-obsessed "sad old blokes" (to quote James may describing himself).

 

 

 

Hence my wagging finger telling me off. I would have given it a ficticious number rather than one belonging to a very different looking loco. The tank engine to me looks much more like a Dean/Churchward concoction than when Churchward was on his own.  It was someone saying it was a Country tank by the number which pulled a jarring image into my mind. 

I was a bit older when I statrted hanging round the station and the yards and by then the Hornby 0 gauge had been replaced with Triang (not at my request I liked the Hornby 0). I was disappointed the Hornby 00 wouldn't run on my Triang track as it looked like the ones I saw at the station. 

 

Don

 

Don

[Nearholmer]

There are some things left to look forward to after the Covid stole Christmas.

 

 

 

[brianusa]

It would appear that playing with toy trains is still not the haven of escape from reality that we thought.  Recent correspondence on another site has proved that axiom of toy trains, "they're your trains run them as you like", is still not approved of in certain O track circles.

      Brian.

[Annie]

1 hour ago, brianusa said:

It would appear that playing with toy trains is still not the haven of escape from reality that we thought.  Recent correspondence on another site has proved that axiom of toy trains, "they're your trains run them as you like", is still not approved of in certain O track circles.

      Brian.

Sounds like a site to avoid then.

[brianusa]

It is becoming a bit cliquey so it would seem.

    Brian.

[Simond]

It’s called “Rule1” fora reason!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

On 18/12/2020 at 00:06, Donw said:

 

Hence my wagging finger telling me off. I would have given it a ficticious number rather than one belonging to a very different looking loco. The tank engine to me looks much more like a Dean/Churchward concoction than when Churchward was on his own.  It was someone saying it was a Country tank by the number which pulled a jarring image into my mind. 

I was a bit older when I statrted hanging round the station and the yards and by then the Hornby 0 gauge had been replaced with Triang (not at my request I liked the Hornby 0). I was disappointed the Hornby 00 wouldn't run on my Triang track as it looked like the ones I saw at the station. 

 

Don

 

Don

Sorry Don, that was me - Growing up in the BR Blue Tops era (late 70s, early 80s) the number was the thing I looked to first, a habit it looks like I’ve maintained in later life,

[Nearholmer]

Inspired by Northroader's "State of the Layouts Address", I too have been reflecting on a year's progress (or not) toy train-set wise.

 

At the start of the year, I was deeply into a big distraction from the main show, in the form of the 00 1963 BLT, which got from nowhere to baseboards, track laid and wired, and rolling-stock acquired between about 'breaking-up for Christmas' and the start of Lockdown 1, with lots of material generously contributed by RMWebbers. Stunning rate of progress by my standards! Then it got stuck, and everything is currently packed carefully away in the big cupboard, hibernating. Why? I think it really needs a continuous run, rather than a pure BLT, because 1960/70s mechs are just too much hard work when it comes to truly reliable slow-running, a very similar tale to Northroader's whimsy-bahn, so it will re-emerge later in new clothes, I think.

 

The space on top of the study bookshelves has been re-occupied by the nascent teeny-terminus in 0, which did get track, and has been useful as a photo-plank. The fiddle-yard for it got built, but still lacks track.

 

Meanwhile, the main show, Birlstone and Paltry Circus, has, SFAI can recall, has had absolutely no work done on it at all! It has earned its keep as somewhere to play, though.

 

While various depths of Lockdown have left some people with oodles of hobby time, that hasn't been quite the case for those of us with school-aged children. Attempting to run "home school" during L1 was really demanding, and TBH not a great success; the summer is always a bit fallow in model railway terms due to cycling and school holidays; and, even during the autumn I prioritised cycling over toy trains, because fresh-air and exercise always serve me well.

 

The ancient locos that I'm revivifying will be ready for traffic soon, so the logical next move in the new year is to lay the FY track for the teeny-terminus, but I rarely make logical moves in toy trains, so it probably won't be that!

[Donw]

6 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Sorry Don, that was me - Growing up in the BR Blue Tops era (late 70s, early 80s) the number was the thing I looked to first, a habit it looks like I’ve maintained in later life,

 

It is certainly due to my reaction. As a boy I never minded that my trains did not represent the ones I saw regularly they were just trains. However had someone said to me that one is a county tank I would probably tried to look it up in the library and been very disappointed to find it was nothing like it. 

 

Don

[Donw]

28 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Inspired by Northroader's "State of the Layouts Address", I too have been reflecting on a year's progress (or not) toy train-set wise.

 

At the start of the year, I was deeply into a big distraction from the main show, in the form of the 00 1963 BLT, which got from nowhere to baseboards, track laid and wired, and rolling-stock acquired between about 'breaking-up for Christmas' and the start of Lockdown 1, with lots of material generously contributed by RMWebbers. Stunning rate of progress by my standards! Then it got stuck, and everything is currently packed carefully away in the big cupboard, hibernating. Why? I think it really needs a continuous run, rather than a pure BLT, because 1960/70s mechs are just too much hard work when it comes to truly reliable slow-running, a very similar tale to Northroader's whimsy-bahn, so it will re-emerge later in new clothes, I think.

 

The space on top of the study bookshelves has been re-occupied by the nascent teeny-terminus in 0, which did get track, and has been useful as a photo-plank. The fiddle-yard for it got built, but still lacks track.

 

Meanwhile, the main show, Birlstone and Paltry Circus, has, SFAI can recall, has had absolutely no work done on it at all! It has earned its keep as somewhere to play, though.

 

While various depths of Lockdown have left some people with oodles of hobby time, that hasn't been quite the case for those of us with school-aged children. Attempting to run "home school" during L1 was really demanding, and TBH not a great success; the summer is always a bit fallow in model railway terms due to cycling and school holidays; and, even during the autumn I prioritised cycling over toy trains, because fresh-air and exercise always serve me well.

 

The ancient locos that I'm revivifying will be ready for traffic soon, so the logical next move in the new year is to lay the FY track for the teeny-terminus, but I rarely make logical moves in toy trains, so it probably won't be that!

 

The purpose of a hobby is to enjoy yourself and on that score Birlstone does you well. I think you have enjoyed some of the side shows even if the end results were not a good as you hoped. You have also provided entertainment for us on here.

Wishing you and your family a merry christmas and a much happier new year.

 

Don

 

[PatB]

Well it's more constructive activity, railway wise, than I've managed over the last 12 months, so I'd say it was an excellent effort. Certainly, the related threads have been a most enjoyable distraction. 

 

While a bit late to the party (Christmas trade has kept me away from RMWeb for lengthy periods), perhaps I might suggest our friend in the US looks into the possibilities of old Marx windup locos as a source of clockwork mechs or springs. Being from the bottom end of the toy market, I doubt if they have the engineering refinement of the European derived, or even British mechanisms but, from what I've seen on YouTube, they still seem to work quite well. Very cheap, too, if you don't need to pay US international shipping rates. The one caveat is that most seem to be non-reversing. I spent quite a while trawling for reversers and failed to find any with the right combination of condition, price and affordable postage. However, even a non-reversing mech may be a source of a useable spring. 

It occurs to me that cheaply available Marx mechs could be transplanted into motor less (hence cheap) Hornby etc bodies, to create an affordable motive power fleet for an enjoyable, if not museum grade, layout. 

[Nearholmer]

The Merriest Christmas possible, to one and all!

 

 

[Annie]

And a very merry Christmas to you as well Kevin.

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Here is my Christmas greeting, a fantastic film shot on a (it would appear) gauge 1 layout.

 

 

Douglas

[Florence Locomotive Works]

On 21/12/2020 at 17:49, PatB said:

perhaps I might suggest our friend in the US looks into the possibilities of old Marx windup locos as a source of clockwork mechs or springs. Being from the bottom end of the toy market, I doubt if they have the engineering refinement of the European derived, or even British mechanisms but, from what I've seen on YouTube, they still seem to work quite well. Very cheap, too, if you don't need to pay US international shipping rates. The one caveat is that most seem to be non-reversing. I spent quite a while trawling for reversers and failed to find any with the right combination of condition, price and affordable postage. However, even a non-reversing mech may be a source of a useable spring. 

It occurs to me that cheaply available Marx mechs could be transplanted into motor less (hence cheap) Hornby etc bodies, to create an affordable motive power fleet for an enjoyable, if not museum grade, layout. 

Pat, assuming you mean me, and not Brian USA, (if you do mean Brian then please excuse my entitlement) the truth is I’ve rather given up on European coarse scale until I leave college, as it was becoming too expensive, and coupled with the sad demise of the mogul (boiler leak), I decided it needed to wait.

 

But as some may know, I’ve done the smart thing and gone electric, with coarse scale Lionel, a much more obtainable goal, due to my already having a small collection of said brand. And it’s got a layout,  (granted, it’s on the floor) with proper subject matter, i.e. the New York Central. My soon to be NYC 4-6-4 “Hudson” is below. 

 

Douglas

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Nearholmer]

Just to make the point that one of the great advantages of a coarse approach is that, if the mood strikes, it’s far easier to create pop-up scenes than if you “do proper modelling”.

 

I was in a level crossings mood today, as per the Christmas photo, so I arranged a not-Christmas one too.

 

 

[GRASinBothell]

And a Merry Deliberately Old_Fashioned Christmas to all.

Gordon

[brianusa]

Its nice to see so many railway themed Christmas pictures.

  Thank you, and hope everybody has a Merry Christmas with a train in your oversized stocking!

           Brian

[rockershovel]

Any short film starting with a credit “score by Bernstein” is off and running.... love the porter and handcart! 

 

Like Nearholmer, I find it hard to account for the year’s activities, although I did go on holiday  in Jan and Feb. Remainder of 1Q and part of 2Q was spent at work (I worked a highly inconvenient rotation of 12-hour shifts at Werrington until late April) and a fair amount of 2Q and early 3Q was consumed in (mostly unproductive) bike racing activities for (ultimately cancelled) meetings. I did get three outings, and passed on two more while getting various workshop projects near complete, so it wasn’t a complete loss on that front. 

 

No model railway club meetings at all. Much unproductive correspondence and general chasing about after repeatedly delayed work, although one has now materialised so I’m feeling fairly sanguine about that side of things now. I rather think I have seen the last of the offshore, international work, though. 

 

The O27 “back of a door” layout is running quite well now. I must get on with lifting the track, fixing down the wiring and laying the “grass matting” roll I found in a craft shop. Sorted out (replaced) the troublesome electronics on an MTH K4 and collected some hard-to-find larger radius, tubular track so the next stage - a 9’x5’ layout on a folding ping-pong table - will be on the cards for the coming year. 

 

Still, it’s Xmas. Press on! 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

What a strange old Christmas. 

 

Presents don't seem quite relevant this year, in the absence of extended family, but I will show the best one that I received, from my children (my good lady guided them, but they made the final selection based on what my favourite colour is, which was a very smart move).

 

Its a Hornby-esque piece of work, made by Bernard Ridgeley, probably about twenty years ago . Pratts did have some[Actually only one, having checked] bogie tankers in the 20s/30s, but this rather grand colour is more inspired by Hornby than by the real things, which I think followed the buff with red-stripe convention. It doesn't really fit any theme I'm running, but it is really very nice, proper good-quality toy train. 

 

 

Mr Ridgeley made some near-replicas of the Hornby 4W milk tank, and one of those would make a very good companion to both this and my other milk tanks, if I can find one.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Nearholmer

[brianusa]

A matched set, no less!  Great present!

   Brian.

[GRASinBothell]

The Darstaed bogie tankers included the Pratt's one, and Dave Upton's February 2019 Just The Ticket newsletter included a picture of the prototype in (as you stated) what looks like a buff-with-red-stripe livery, as was the Darstaed model. But I concur that it looks splendid in green.

I seem to recall from a book on oil tank wagons, that Pratt's in fact had only one bogie tank wagon, and that wagon became the one and only pre-war Esso bogie tank wagon, so technically  (subject, of course, to Rule 1) those two wagons can't appear in the same train...

Gordon

[Nearholmer]

It was a one-off, built in 1929, and I think Milbro made the most accurate model of it.

 

 

Some of the Darstaed bogie tanks look very close to convincing, but I’ve never quite worked out what the wagon really is. It always looks vaguely Australian to me.