New to this, building a RES / early 90s mail layout

[resluke]

Hi all,

First post, having read, searched and researched for some time. I’ll also start off by saying I’m brand new to this, I’ve decided to begin modelling now as I’m on chemo and am struggling with other hobbies and fatigue, so thought this would give me a good and manageable focus. 
 

We don’t currently have room for a full layout, so to get me started I am going to build a collection of early Rail Express Systems vans and locos and spend some time weathering them (lightly); testing them; and, if I can get to grips with soldering, making them dcc ready. This is something I think I can manage around fatigue and nausea. 

I’ve read a lot on here about eBay, the pitfalls and prices etc. Do you have any advice for where to look out for RES/Royal Mail GUVs and coaches? I’ve trawled the net and every time I think I’ve found one at a good price (either a link or one with an ‘in stock’ marker in the search engine) I click through to the model shop and it says out of stock. Realistically I can’t afford to spend £30-40 per item (several on eBay are £60+ for guvs/tpos!), so any advice with regards to where to look for second hand stock would be greatly appreciated. In an ideal world I’d stick to unique running numbers but I am open to renumbering.

 

In case in helps I’m in North Yorkshire, but travel to Merseyside, Leicestershire and Devon&Cornwall pretty regularly for treatment.

 

Nice to meet you all and thanks in advance for any advice.
 

Many thanks,

 

Luke

[Clive martin]

Hi very sorry to hear that you are on chemo, a bit of railway modelling could be just what you need to help you through this tough time in your life,a good way of finding rolling stock at good prices is to just key in pre owned model railways into your search engine ,their are a lot of retailers selling pre owned items on line Howes of Oxford sell their pre owned stock at very good prices ,another retailer that has good prices is Elaines trains ,it is well worth spending a few hours checking out as many retailers as you can find on line although res livery stock does not come up very often ,the GUV vans in RES livery by lima are well worth checking out these seem to go for a lot less than the Bachmann examples also replica railways mk1 BG is a very nice model i am not sure if they have ever been produced in RES livery ,but i think you can still purchase them brand new from replica railways in various liverys includeing royal mail red i hope this is of some help to you ,my thoughts are with you whilst you are undergoing your chemo treatment all the best clive.

 

 

[The Johnster]

Having survived a prostrate wobble in 2020 (what a wonderful year that was for everyone, wasn't it), you have my unquestioned symathy for your condition, and my best hopes for a full recovery.  I underwent Radiotherapy which was bad enough, but remember my mum's chemo in her final illness, and really hope I never have to do anything like that...

 

 I'd echo Clive's comments about stock and sourcing it, and add that the Hornby Railroad BG is a pretty good model in blue/grey for your needs.  I'd recommend developing skill in repainting and applying transfers if you can, as you will be able to source a wider range of locos and stock in other liveries to repaint into res.  It's not hard; I can do it and I can't do things that are hard as a rule...  Avoid Hatton's secondhand listings, they are obsessed with overpricing models because they have a 'good box'.

 

I have a suggestion if I may?  As you don't currently have room for a full layout, how about a simple end-to-end fiddle yard-terminus shelf layout?  My suggested scenario would be the parcels/mails platforms of a big station, leaving the main part of the station unmodelled or suggested as a backscene.  Bay platforms off to the side, and possibly used for rush-hour commuter traffic so you can include the odd dmu.  It could be as simple as a point and two roads, but it would give you somewhere to test-run your locos and stock, and add a layer of interest to your new hobby as well as being a good training exercise for the proper layout,.  And it could be constructed, to the point of being able to run trains, fairly quickly.

 

Welcome to the lunacy hobby, Luke.  Be careful though, it's a slippery slope and you could end up like one of us.  One of us, one of us...

[JDW]

Hi, and welcome. It sounds like an interesting project. There's quite a lot you can do with parcels stuff in various spaces, so probably quite a few small layout options. Short trains aren't uncommon, if I remember right BG+GUV+GUV+BG was a common RES formation. Definitely worth keeping an eye on places like Ebay for the occasional bargain (I had a quick look out of curiosity this afternoon and an unboxed Lima Res class 47 sold 'Buy It Now' for £28. There's a set of Heljan Res 47 and 4 matching GUV/BG's at £150, which is great value per item (though I suppose that depends on whether you can afford the outlay to buy all of them at once, or are more restricted to spending £20-30 at a time, of course). A 2000s-era Lima 67 +3 GUVs at £84.95 isn't bad either.

There are of course plenty of bargains to be had at model shops too. I was in Bolton the other day and popped in to Nuffy's Models, and happened to notice a weathered Lima Res 47 at a good low price. If I didn't have a couple already, I'd have been tempted. 

I wonder if some of the well-designed Metcalfe buildings would be a good start, depending on the style of layout you're going for ultimately, for things like Royal Mail depot or for loading platforms. Easy to build and modify, and not too expensive. They could also form the basis of a small diorama to display models on.

Good luck, keep us posted.

[rob D2]

replica railways in swindon used to produce their own BG which they are still selling for £17.50 on their website .

 

Whilst not in RES colours , early 90s parcels trains often had a lot of variation or you could repaint them