Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[Northroader]

You could argue that the arms are set to different heights because of sighting under the station canopy. Eridge, eh?, I was in the Huntsman two weeks ago.

[Nearholmer]

Maybe.

 

A chap that I used to share paper rounds with when we were at school was landlord of the Huntsman for several years, but he's now got another pub, with more space, so that he can better indulge his love of cooking for his clientele.

[brianusa]

A NP switcher on a short goods

 

 

A SR barrier wagon with a Lionel coupler on one end and a Hornby one on the other.

 

Brian.

[Nearholmer]

The cast of Harry Potter take a 1950s-style railtour to celebrate the fact that the Hall has had a body swap, to become ‘Hogwart’s Castle’. Whisper it quietly, but the GWR means nothing to modern children, while Platform 9 3/4 means a lot.

 

Two American engines in a row, this being Lionel.

[Northroader]

“Shrinkio wheelflangibus!!!”

[Nearholmer]

Non semper magis melius.

 

(According to google translate)

[brianusa]

Kevin, what did you do about the different couplers?

[Northroader]

Non semper magis melius.

(According to google translate)

Quia episcopus dixit mima.

[Nearholmer]

I took the truly awful Lionel ones off ages ago and it was managingon the little plastic ‘scale’ hook until yesterday, when I fitted a proper drop-link coupling.

[Nearholmer]

Given that the Latin equivalent of ‘flange’ is ‘lip’, we can get all Shakespearean: Take, oh take those lips away ......

 

Which crosses over with a recent episode of CA, because it’s sung either to or by, I forget which, Mariana.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Now, a picture of a really boring shopping arcade that I just walked down on the way back to the station from a meeting in Birmingaham, which happens to be one of the spiritual homes of Paltry Circus.

 

PC was inspired by display layouts designed by Greenly c1909-11, and one of his layouts was for the shop window of W H Hull, one of the very first ‘model railway shops’. The shop started as a stationers, and I have a copy of the LNWR train-spotters book that they produced.

 

Anyway, North Western Arcade fell from grace and got rebuilt a long while back, but, fortunately, Great Western Arcade, which forms a continuation, and shows what it was like c1910, didn’t, so a picture of that too. Imagine going to buy a new wagon or engine in that environment; good, eh?

Edited September 12, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Simond]

the first arcade photo reminds me of Chester, near where the model shop is/was, but I haven't been there for donkey's years, so it may be tenuous in the extreme!

 

Best

Simon

[Nearholmer]

I only went there once myself, about twenty years ago, so can’t remember the details either.

 

K

[Northroader]

Walking along Great Western / North Western Arcades, did the railway names strike you as intriguing? They were built over the cut and cover tunnel for the GWR main line between Snow Hill and Moor Street.

[Nearholmer]

Ah, now it makes sense! I thought it was simply because it was a convenient walking route between snow hill and new street stations.

 

Thank you.

[Nearholmer]

There were doubtless many good reasons why the Hornby Dublo Dad was delighted to be home, safe, and demobbed, but having to dress like this can’t have made service life any easier. Quite how one got ones feet into it I can’t fathom.

 

From a book that my son is reading for his ‘Britain at War’ homework.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Ian Kirk]

Seeing this reminds me. In my home town of Kirkcaldy (and perhaps elsewhere)  had a scheme to "adopt" a serviceman. Two old maids (can I still say that?) adopted my father and sent parcels of just such knitted items.  Fine while he was flying over Germany but towards the end of the war they were sent out to Burma (on the assumption that conventional war with the Japanese would go on for a long time)  The supplies of thick socks and balaclavas continued...

After the war my parents and I sometimes visited the ladies for Sunday afternoon tea. The younger one was the manageress of R S McColls on the High street and caused me to feel guilty of my first "crime".  My Mother and I went into the shop one day (me being 2 or 3) and I was given an under the counter sweet. Sweets were still rationed and it was presented as a sort of secret. The feeling of guilt must have impressed me so much that it is one of the few things I can remember from being so young. 

Back to the Railways: This thread always reminds me of the joys of railway modelling in the 50s  pressing my nose against the glass of Walter Westwaters shop looking at Bassett Lowke locos that I could not afford and wondering if Santa would be kind.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Edwardian]

Seeing this reminds me. In my home town of Kirkcaldy (and perhaps elsewhere)  had a scheme to "adopt" a serviceman. Two old maids (can I still say that?) adopted my father and sent parcels of just such knitted items.  Fine while he was flying over Germany but towards the end of the war they were sent out to Burma (on the assumption that conventional war with the Japanese would go on for a long time)  The supplies of thick socks and balaclavas continued...

After the war my parents and I sometimes visited the ladies for Sunday afternoon tea. The younger one was the manageress of R S McColls on the High street and caused me to feel guilty of my first "crime".  My Mother and I went into the shop one day (me being 2 or 3) and I was given an under the counter sweet. Sweets were still rationed and it was presented as a sort of secret. The feeling of guilt must have impressed me so much that it is one of the few things I can remember from being so young. 

Back to the Railways: This thread always reminds me of the joys of railway modelling in the 50s  pressing my nose against the glass of Walter Westwaters shop looking at Bassett Lowke locos that I could not afford and wondering if Santa would be kind.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

 

I hope he, Santa, was.

[mervyn]

Always remember looking longingly at the Brass steam Locos in Bud Morgans in Castle Arcade Cardiff ,was an adventure being taken to the shop to buy a new wagon or more track !......Reminiscing is a thing of the past !

[Ian Kirk]

I hope he, Santa, was.

I was a very spoilt little boy and got a Bassett Lowke Compound in BR Black one year and later a Hornby 4-4-2 Flying Scotsman. This was because I had campaigned for a proper "big" engine as even the little me recognised that the Hornby 0-4-0s were not very lifelike.  I still regret having sold the two "big" locos when as a poor teenager I needed new tyres for my first car.  As well as my main presents at Christmas I often got a "Santa" present -something made specially for me. One year a two road engine shed which just fitted my two big engines and another year a two platform station with working signals. My Santa was really an aeromodeller so this is almost all balsa wood with dolls house paper. The loco shed did not survive dampness mice etc in the loft but most of the station did and I rescued it when I cleared the old family home after my Mother died. I still hope to restore this (as well as a hundred other jobs)  I think I need to live on into extreme old age. I still have some of the 00 electric stuff that I got as an older child which I hope to set up again too as well as sundry unfinished layouts and I still need to spend some of my time with the little bit of my business that I kept - the O gauge coach kits.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[St Enodoc]

Seeing this reminds me. In my home town of Kirkcaldy (and perhaps elsewhere)  had a scheme to "adopt" a serviceman. Two old maids (can I still say that?) adopted my father and sent parcels of just such knitted items.  Fine while he was flying over Germany but towards the end of the war they were sent out to Burma (on the assumption that conventional war with the Japanese would go on for a long time)  The supplies of thick socks and balaclavas continued...

After the war my parents and I sometimes visited the ladies for Sunday afternoon tea. The younger one was the manageress of R S McColls on the High street and caused me to feel guilty of my first "crime".  My Mother and I went into the shop one day (me being 2 or 3) and I was given an under the counter sweet. Sweets were still rationed and it was presented as a sort of secret. The feeling of guilt must have impressed me so much that it is one of the few things I can remember from being so young. 

Back to the Railways: This thread always reminds me of the joys of railway modelling in the 50s  pressing my nose against the glass of Walter Westwaters shop looking at Bassett Lowke locos that I could not afford and wondering if Santa would be kind.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

Was that the same Westwater Ian?

[Nearholmer]

Mr Kirk

 

I hope this Compound stimulates the memory cells. What it’s doing with an LNER horsebox special, I know not!

 

This in thanks on behalf of my several friends who have spent many a happy hour building your kits - mostly 00 Maunsell stock IIRC.

 

Kevin

Edited September 18, 2018 by Nearholmer

[LNWR18901910]

Mr Kirk

 

I hope this Compound stimulates the memory cells. What it’s doing with an LNER horsebox special, I know not!

 

This in thanks on behalf of my several friends who have spent many a happy hour building your kits - mostly 00 Maunsell stock IIRC.

 

Kevin

The Grand National, methinks.

[Ian Kirk]

Was that the same Westwater Ian?

I shouldn't really highjack Kevin's thread but strangely no. There were at least two families (with no connection, at least within living memory)  of Westwaters in Kirkcaldy. Walter Westwater owned the Lomond Cycles/ Model Shop. One half bikes the other Trains.  He had quite a big 00 layout in one half of the shop and one day in my early teens I met a slightly older teenager there who was demonstrating his scratch built NBR 0-6-2T. This was Pete Westwater and we have been friends ever since.  Our first foray into plastic kits ten + years later was as Westwater and Kirk N gauge The W&K wagon kits were the first proper British prototypes in N gauge at a time when the RTR ones were European re paints. . Pete's main output over the years was commission building locomotives mostly in O gauge. Pete also did the Westykits 00 kits (moulded by me) and did quite a bit of toolmaking for Parkside.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Nearholmer]

Somewhere back up-thread, there was discussion of the WJV/Raylo/ETS Adams Radial in LSWR guise.

 

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, please greet, in the usual way, 3520 a la mode Southern.

 

Very smoooth engine this one, with a rather hypnotic connecting rod motion.