Peterborough North

[great northern]

can you remind us again what the period the layout is set in?

 

they are doing the early one in the future so could maybe recreate this

 

D5906 near Hitchin with the 0928 freight Ashburton grove to New England 12 May 1962 by pondhopper1, on Flickr

 

You do find some interesting photos Michael! The layout is supposed to be August 1958.........give or take a few months. My EE type 4 is D209, which didn't appear till September. I may be obsessive about detail, but not excessively so. Nice looking diesels those Baby Deltics....... I can't help thinking it would be appropriate if the one in the photo was hauling a rubbish train as it started from Ashburton Grove, but Andy Rush has already put me right on that point.

[micklner]

Is TW due a visit to optician?? lol . He must have seen a Bachmman V2 that no one else has seen before !! Hopefully Hornby will bite the bullet as they now have a nice GS tender to go with one !!

[Mallard60022]

They all come DCC ready, unless they're already fitted!

You have a PM on that subject Phil

 

Well Tim, It must be your fault! (see below).

 

Good afternoon. For some strange reason the loco shown below arrived today; I've no idea who ordered it (nose expands rapidly).

So, the reason I got this is all GN's and Tim Easter's fault (Peterborough North) as I swooned when I saw Tim's beautiful weathering job on one of GN's A4s.

I was considering changing it to Miles Beevor and that needs a non corridor tender. I'm also converting it (at some time before November I hope) to EM, with support (thanks Tim) and some large cakes to sustain.

As it 'runs in' on my Bachrus (doesn't like reverse very much at the moment - uuuummmmm; maybe a tender connection issue?), I'm thinking about the necessary upgrade(s) as this is the 'Railroad' version.

There are some obvious items to add such as cylinder drain pipes, decent couplings and things to add such as lamp irons. There are also some cosmetic changes to be made. For example the moulded cab handrails need removing and replacing.

If anyone has done a Railroad A4 upgrade I would be glad of your advice and thoughts.

GN and Tim will have loads of info I'm sure and I'd be delighted if they have a moment to inspire a duffer when it comes to ER Pacifics .

Many thanks P @36E.

P.S. For a 'child's toy' this model is superb; brilliant Hornby and thanks.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Mallard60022

[great northern]

Where's he been, I hear you ask? Well, perhaps one or two of you anyway. Last week was spent in Cardifff, doing possibly the last bit of work I shall ever do. And on my return? No internet connection Again. This happens quite regularly, so another forty minutes on the phone listening to horrible music, followed by a conversation of which I understood parts, including ( I think) that a technician would visit on Tuesday. No internet all weekend, or Monday, but today it came back.......twenty minutes before the technician arrived. Anyway, I now have a new widget, a hub I think it's called, and as you can see it works, for the time being at least.

 

So, no layout progress and no more trains run, but I hope to remedy that tomorrow. And at least there has been another triumph. Not in the same league as converting Tetleys to DCC perhaps, but getting our friend Mallard to buy an A4 isn't bad either.

[Mallard60022]

Welcome back GN.

I went to Cardiff once; it was closed (but that was in 1963).

P @ 36E

[ianwales]

Welcome back GN.

I went to Cardiff once; it was closed (but that was in 1963).

P @ 36E

 

Hi

 

Ouch!! Cymru am byth

 

Ian

PS: only closed when the english are about!

[JeffP]

LOL at Cardiff being closed........

 

Glad you are back, Gilbert. The thing about the internet, and computers in general, is that you haven't to let them KNOW you are afraid of them.

[Mallard60022]

Apologies Ian. Canton was one of my fave Depots even in Diesel days. It had true atmosphere and getting around without being kicked out was a challenge even when you spoke Welsh to the staff. East Dock was interesting in the old days and Rhydr (spelling?) was great for 'extra' 37s if I remember correctly.

I am led to believe that Cardiff (in places) has changed beyond recognition?

GN re A4s. How could I resist a cheap and cheerful version of 'Mallard'? (OK most blokes that model other regions ) Anyhow I'm led to believe that Mr Comet has a motion/gear set for an A4 but I'll try Hornby for a 'proper' set first (spares?) Could go for the full Comet chassis/motion makeover which looks very nice, however that would mean fitting another drive/motor set up and I'm not sure I want to get into all that.

I reckon I can get away with running an A4 down the back track of my layout in its' transition era ER phase (what the he** does that mean - don't ask, I've no idea.)

P

[S.A.C Martin]

Mallard - the super detail valve gear Hornby does for the top of the range A4s will fit your Railroad model, along with the appropriate cylinder set necessary for conversion. Both can be found on eBay - try Peter's Spares, or typing in "A4 valve gear" and "A4 cylinder set". Very cheap and very quick upgrade. I have just done this to my Graeme King W1, and the resulting model (which was originally a Railroad Mallard!) is much improved.

 

Apologies for the off topic post Gilbert!

[great northern]

LOL at Cardiff being closed........

 

Glad you are back, Gilbert. The thing about the internet, and computers in general, is that you haven't to let them KNOW you are afraid of them.

 

I think that my computer knows that Gilbert's final "solution" for dealing with recalcitrant inanimate objects is "hit it with a big hammer". For that reason alone I am convinced that it always draws back from complete and final lack of co-operation.

 

By the way, who is this SQL fellow? Always making errors. Damned inefficient! Sack the man I say.

[great northern]

Apologies Ian. Canton was one of my fave Depots even in Diesel days. It had true atmosphere and getting around without being kicked out was a challenge even when you spoke Welsh to the staff. East Dock was interesting in the old days and Rhydr (spelling?) was great for 'extra' 37s if I remember correctly.

I am led to believe that Cardiff (in places) has changed beyond recognition?

GN re A4s. How could I resist a cheap and cheerful version of 'Mallard'? (OK most blokes that model other regions ) Anyhow I'm led to believe that Mr Comet has a motion/gear set for an A4 but I'll try Hornby for a 'proper' set first (spares?) Could go for the full Comet chassis/motion makeover which looks very nice, however that would mean fitting another drive/motor set up and I'm not sure I want to get into all that.

I reckon I can get away with running an A4 down the back track of my layout in its' transition era ER phase (what the he** does that mean - don't ask, I've no idea.)

P

 

Can't have these jibes at foreign parts don't you know? Yes, Cardiff has changed beyond recognition. The hotel where we do our course is firmly in what used to be Tiger Bay, where policemen used to fear to tread, even in large numbers. I didn't realise that for ages, as it is now Cardiff Bay, seat of the Welsh Parliament and lots of trendy restaurants. Sadly there is also the crumbling remains of Bute Street station, which I believe is a listed building, but which is just being allowed to rot away. I find it a bit weird to be wandering happily about in a place where I'm told I would at the very least have been parted from my wallet in no time flat in the "good old days".

 

I would not dream of poking fun at our Welsh friends, but it is a statistical fact that in all the three day courses I have done down there over the last ten years, and there must have been getting on for forty, there has never been one where it has not rained at least some of the time.

 

As to that A4. well it is a start on what I suspect may be a long and rocky road to redemption. You are exercising creativity, pushing back boundaries, resisting stereotypes, and any other silly phrases you can think of for doing exactly as you please. A word of warning though - you may not be able to stop at one. A4's can be addictive. Come to think of it, for me they are addictive. But then so are A3's....and A1's......and B17's........and the odd LMS thingy.

[Grafarman]

 

I would not dream of poking fun at our Welsh friends, but it is a statistical fact that in all the three day courses I have done down there over the last ten years, and there must have been getting on for forty, there has never been one where it has not rained at least some of the time.

 

 

Ah well, that'll be the south innit boyo; come up to the North Wales Coast if you want bit o' sun... and if you travel on one of these you'll get a view of one of your LMS thingy's too!! http://www.railwaytouring.net/uk-day-trips/north-wales-coast-express

[mikemeg]

 

As to that A4. well it is a start on what I suspect may be a long and rocky road to redemption. You are exercising creativity, pushing back boundaries, resisting stereotypes, and any other silly phrases you can think of for doing exactly as you please. A word of warning though - you may not be able to stop at one. A4's can be addictive. Come to think of it, for me they are addictive. But then so are A3's....and A1's......and B17's........and the odd LMS thingy.

 

There's no shame in being addicted to A4's, A3's, A1's, etc, etc. Some of us became addicted to these (as I imagine you might well have done) long before we knew what an addiction was and we are still addicted. I know you saw the ECML way back in the days of steam, the last of the glory days, just as I did.

 

Someone told me, or perhaps I read, that the two 'exiled' A4's - Dwight D Eisenhower and Dominion of Canada - are being/have been brought back to the UK on a two year loan, and that the NRM plans to have all six extant A4's on display some time this year. I fancy that many more folk may find they too have the same addiction, on seeing that line up.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[ianwales]

Apologies Ian. Canton was one of my fave Depots even in Diesel days. It had true atmosphere and getting around without being kicked out was a challenge even when you spoke Welsh to the staff. East Dock was interesting in the old days and Rhydr (spelling?)

 

Hi

 

No apologies needed, they say when you can see the tops of the mountains in Wales its a sign of rain, when you can't its already raining, talking of rain I'm marshalling for the F1 at Silverstone this weekend and I've just had a message from the MSA saying the campsites and car parks are already waterlogged!

 

Ian

[Mallard60022]

6 A4s at the NRM (or somewhere suitable) is almost a certainty according to discussion in the August Railway Magazine. Perhaps we could have a GN Association (Peterborough North Supporters Club) get together when that happens?

P @ 36E

Edited July 4, 2012 by Mallard60022

[JeffP]

Out of interest, why did we present the USA and Canada with their relevant A4's, but NOT Australia and New Zealand?

 

That's assuming Dwight D. to be relevant?

[Coldgunner]

I thought the possibility of gifting further A4's was mooted, but never came about. No idea why, I wonder if Empire of India was offered too?

[jukebox]

Out of interest, why did we present the USA and Canada with their relevant A4's, but NOT Australia and New Zealand?

 

 

Have you any idea how much Royal Mail wanted for postage to the Antipodes... even back then??????

[Markeg]

Very expensive to post to Australia and New Zealand, but they were only paying £10 for passage to OZ. At least the name plate of Commonwealth of Australia is in the NRM at York as the longest nameplate. I could not fit it in the backpack, so I left it there.

 

Mark in OZ

 

[JeffP]

How odd: I put myself to sleep just the other night counting the letters in each A4 name.

 

Well, it's better than doing long divisions in your head...........

[great northern]

I thought the possibility of gifting further A4's was mooted, but never came about. No idea why, I wonder if Empire of India was offered too?

 

I'm not at all sure that India would have wanted a reminder of empire back in the '60's, in fact the same might well apply now. it is intriguing though to speculate about Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps those in power there at the time didn't like railways? There were plenty of that type in the UK that's for sure.

[£1.38]

There might be gauge issues too - where would anyone run A4s in NZ and India, especially?

[great northern]

Hi

 

No apologies needed, they say when you can see the tops of the mountains in Wales its a sign of rain, when you can't its already raining, talking of rain I'm marshalling for the F1 at Silverstone this weekend and I've just had a message from the MSA saying the campsites and car parks are already waterlogged!

 

Ian

 

Ah well, that'll be the south innit boyo; come up to the North Wales Coast if you want bit o' sun... and if you travel on one of these you'll get a view of one of your LMS thingy's too!! http://www.railwayto...s-coast-express

 

Ah yes, I have happy memories of holidays in Criccieth in the '50's and '60's, when it seemed to be sunny all day, but rained at night to freshen things up. Memories too of sitting on the beach watching those incredibly antiquated looking 90XX 4.4.0's roll by, and comparing them with the engines back home. Not to mention the nice Welsh girl who made my stay even more pleasurable.....I was only 14 though.

[great northern]

There might be gauge issues too - where would anyone run A4s in NZ and India, especially?

 

Yes, but sadly neither Eisenhower nor Canada have ever been more than museum pieces, so I don't think that would have been a deciding factor. The idea of running retired steam locos was very much in its infancy back then.

[great northern]

How odd: I put myself to sleep just the other night counting the letters in each A4 name.

 

Well, it's better than doing long divisions in your head...........

 

And much better than counting, and scratching what felt like 1000 insect bites as I did last night. Golf course, stagnant water and high humidity adds up to a lot of mozzies, all of which seemed to want a go at me.