Hroth Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 27 minutes ago, robmcg said: If longevity is any measure of recent RTR steam, the rebuilt Merchant Navy of 2000 must rate highly. Don't mention blue box WDs (equally brilliant, moreso if you count adhesion). edited a tiny bit... You must admit it looks a lot tidier without any Continental external plumbing! Its a pity that 35029 was sliced and diced at York, I can think of an "iconic" Pacific that would have been better suited... Though 35029 was even better when in the can..... Source: Hattons https://www.hattons.co.uk/430676/Hornby_R3649_Class_8P_Merchant_Navy_4_6_2_35029_Ellerman_Lines_in_BR_green_with_early_emblem/StockDetail.aspx 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarnish1 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Could somebody help me please? I am seeking a Rivarossi "Big Boy". What's out there please and are any new versions planned? Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I like my 2 Scotties and now, finally DoH: Al. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Tarnish1 said: Could somebody help me please? I am seeking a Rivarossi "Big Boy". What's out there please and are any new versions planned? Thanks! Hattons had one in their pre-owned section this morning, about £180. Don't know if it's still available. Still there as of 13:50 @ £188 plus delivery. Hope that helps! Edited April 4, 2019 by Hroth 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, Tarnish1 said: Could somebody help me please? I am seeking a Rivarossi "Big Boy". What's out there please and are any new versions planned? Thanks! Hornby Rivarossi have one planned for 2019 No.4014 not weathered. It's on their page under International, then Rivarossi, then selecting high price to low price. The Rivarossi version often turns up on Ebay but isn't cheap, the other brands are slightly better but even more expensive... like metal versions by MTH. The weathered Rivarossi 4014 is a nice one in my view, but was panned by critics. Great! An excuse to show off one of these models rather heavily edited! Here is the Rivarossi 4014 again, details added and removed but very nice... and here is a pristine MTH metal model... again, some details added by editing. Edited April 4, 2019 by robmcg 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigherb Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 23 hours ago, Tarnish1 said: Could somebody help me please? I am seeking a Rivarossi "Big Boy". What's out there please and are any new versions planned? Thanks! https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/rivarossi-h0-1-87-union-pacific-heavy-freight-train-steam-locomotive-class-4000-big-boy-running-number-4014-special-edition-in-celebration-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-first-transcontinental-railroad.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 On 04/04/2019 at 10:49, Tarnish1 said: ...I am seeking a Rivarossi "Big Boy". What's out there please and are any new versions planned? If you buy the new production, would you report on whether they still use the good translucent traction tyre that was fitted when the product originally came from Rivarossi? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarnish1 Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 I used to have the Maeklin Big Boy - it got lost when I moved back to the UK. It was all diecast I recall. How does the Rivarossi version compare I wonder? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted April 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hmmm, must drag Rob back to Swindon... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Next you'll be telling me that Swindon knew something about efficiency. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hornby Jouef tour de force. 241P.25. Who said French crews never showed off? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railroadbill Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 1 hour ago, toboldlygo said: Hmmm, must drag Rob back to Swindon... Really nice rake. Assume the corridor connections must be very flexible. Look good with the screw link couplings as well (last coach not from same set?) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted April 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2019 22 minutes ago, railroadbill said: Really nice rake. Assume the corridor connections must be very flexible. Look good with the screw link couplings as well (last coach not from same set?) No it's not - it's Gwrobs 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 (edited) My French affair continues. A 1971 Rivarossi H0 Chapelon 231e with sympathetic editing... Edited April 7, 2019 by robmcg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 (edited) How would the above compare to Hornby's best models of 1970-71? Oh, Triang then... or was it Wrenn? I lost touch between 1968 and 2004. Edit; I have to say that Rivarossi at least were pretty good back in the late 60s... I bought this 1970 model last week, and wonder if anyone knows where I might find a spare front buffer to replace the missing one? Edited April 8, 2019 by robmcg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted April 11, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2019 More Swindon delights... Hornby's latest Collett 57'Non-corridor Coaches - subtly tweaked by your's truly and happily trundling around ANTB.. And another Star with castle pipes, midway through renumbering (waiting on replacement nameplates) Another golden oldie from Mainline.. Oh and did I mention the B-29A is back on the workbench.. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railroadbill Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 On 07/04/2019 at 22:33, robmcg said: How would the above compare to Hornby's best models of 1970-71? Oh, Triang then... or was it Wrenn? I lost touch between 1968 and 2004. Edit; I have to say that Rivarossi at least were pretty good back in the late 60s... I bought this 1970 model last week, and wonder if anyone knows where I might find a spare front buffer to replace the missing one? Nice looking model! I got out my folder of old "Model Railways" mags and the very first advert in the November 1971 issue was for Rivarossi (then imported into UK by A A Hales). Although price isn't always the best test of quality, an HO Southern Pacific cab forward AC11 4-8-8-2 loco (18" long!) cost £24. You could have an 0-8-0 heavy shunter for £11.05. Nu-Sto scale models of Hartlepool had more Rivarossi; (HO ) Chapelon pacific (black, maroon or Golden Arrow liveries) £15.15 U.P. Big Boy £23.75 B&O 2-10-2 £18.60 By comparison, a Trix A3 or A1 was £9.31 (probably best UK express loco model then?) Triang-Hornby Evening Star was £9 and Lord of the Isles £5.35 An Airfix mineral wagon kit was 24p and a Romford driving wheel was 22p. So Rivarossi were definitely an upmarket brand. The cab forward looks nice in the ad... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, railroadbill said: Nice looking model! I got out my folder of old "Model Railways" mags and the very first advert in the November 1971 issue was for Rivarossi (then imported into UK by A A Hales). Although price isn't always the best test of quality, an HO Southern Pacific cab forward AC11 4-8-8-2 loco (18" long!) cost £24. You could have an 0-8-0 heavy shunter for £11.05. Nu-Sto scale models of Hartlepool had more Rivarossi; (HO ) Chapelon pacific (black, maroon or Golden Arrow liveries) £15.15 U.P. Big Boy £23.75 B&O 2-10-2 £18.60 By comparison, a Trix A3 or A1 was £9.31 (probably best UK express loco model then?) Triang-Hornby Evening Star was £9 and Lord of the Isles £5.35 An Airfix mineral wagon kit was 24p and a Romford driving wheel was 22p. So Rivarossi were definitely an upmarket brand. The cab forward looks nice in the ad... Very interesting Railroad Bill, I recall those days and those prices very well too. Rivarossi was rather expensive in the UK by the sound of it at £15 for a Chapelon Pacific, but the quality was high by comparison to a Hornby-Triang 9F. I recall in the 1950s-1960s Hornby Dublo was a bit more expensive here in NZ than Triang, but Marklin H0 was more expensive again. Markiln was sold by bicycle shops and the like, the British brands were in larger 'general' shops from memory, and the retail was about double the UK price. Markups, import duties etc. My older brother had friends with Fleischmann (sp?) models which were pretty cool, and the local model railway association had a meeting where some showed off dozens of brass US models, made in Japan, but I was mostly interested in Kitmaster in 1961 (age 10)... a Coronation was 18/9d and a Prairie tank from memory 8/9d. I bought a Pug which was about half that, but my pocket money or earnings were rarely over 2 shillings per week so it was mostly dreaming! My first job in 1966 paid £7/week, school holidays! What wealth! In 1971 wages were nearer £25/week, and I bought a 1952 BSA Gold Star 350cc motorbike with 89,000 miles for that... As to the older Rivarossi models, they stand up quite well except for underscale driving wheels and coarse flanges, the detail and mouldings are first class, oh and the older motors are large and intrusive in the cab. I did another pic of a 231e Chapelon Nord engine and am thinking of some Trix Wagon-Lits carriages but alas they are H0 and won't look right next to a Hornby Nelson or original Merchant Navy. Pic edited Cheers p.s. the Cab Forward AC11 and AC8 etc you still see on Ebay quite often, so they are durable, but Intermountain do a more detailed modern spec version these days. Impressive engines! Equally impressive the Rivarossi Big Boy which is going to continue production this year with 4014. Here is an H0 MTH version showing just how good RTR has become, my editing helps perhaps Edited April 13, 2019 by robmcg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railroadbill Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Cracking pictures, Rob, very realistic! Keep 'em coming. I saw a cab forward in the museum in Sacramento, enormous loco. You could go in the cab which was equally massive. The museum volunteer in the cab had been to the York railway museum and we had a long chat. Prices have certainly changed, but then a 2 shilling Airfix kit was just affordable if you had 2 shillings pocket money.... Re Fleischmann, I remember back in the early 1980s visiting a commercial layout in the Lake District that was part of some other attraction, and that was all Fleischmann. The guy running it said that the locos were very reliable and advised me against Hornby etc. One thing about current Hornby locos is that they do run very well and don't stall in my experience. Better pickups I think. They don't need the big finger from the sky to get them going again now. Had a running session on the layout earlier and locos like rebuilt west countries etc just kept going. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 (edited) Swindon would do well to copy this design.... just bought this on Ebay to go with my 231e and 241p models.. pic slightly edited. I think the maker is Altaya which means nothing to me, must look it up. edit; a Spanish publishing house, but the model looks rather like Rivarossi... engine tender connection just like their 231e. Maybe made under licence? It was advertised as Rivarossi too, but unbranded underside according to the seller. Whatever, c'est magnifique n'est pas? Similar engines of the era on the PLM hauled 300-ton trains at averages of over 60mph... In reading about French compounds, they certainly were complex things to drive and fire! Not sure what Swindon would have made of that chimney. Cut it off and added a copper cap. Job done. Hornby-Jouef do a superb 241P which is a 4-cylinder compound from post-WW2. Why am I talking funny these days? Might have to do a Lord Nelson as punishment. Edited April 18, 2019 by robmcg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 I'm sure you know they did! As for the French Compounds, they were Swindonised over the years and ended up with proper boilers, chimneys, etc and lasted until the mid 20's. Churchward did borrow some small elements of the Compound design but found that in terms of overall efficiency the French locos weren't any better than his own and in a couple of years after the comparison trials began, the GWR 4-6-0 locos built as Atlantics reverted to the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. Perhaps Hornby could do a proper GWR Atlantic? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Hroth said: I'm sure you know they did! As for the French Compounds, they were Swindonised over the years and ended up with proper boilers, chimneys, etc and lasted until the mid 20's. Churchward did borrow some small elements of the Compound design but found that in terms of overall efficiency the French locos weren't any better than his own and in a couple of years after the comparison trials began, the GWR 4-6-0 locos built as Atlantics reverted to the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. Perhaps Hornby could do a proper GWR Atlantic? Indeed! But it's hard to go past the gracefulness of the Star... also the French didn't have good coal? I think perhaps the French engines might have got a little more out of yer average briquette than a GWR crew, but who knows? With separate regulators and cut-off for high and low pressure cylinders, and valves for running as simples, or somewhere in between, a driver had a lot of choices. Not that I have read much about the art. The French Atlantic grates were 13 feet long and 3 feet wide, a Lord Nelson would have been too easy... Still, that's the French. Why do something with basic ideas finely-designed , when complexity will do it better...? Averaging over 60mph between major cities in the 1920s with top speeds never over 70-74mph, that WAS something! People these days don't know they're born. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 The French imported Welsh steam coal for their premier trains; into the 1930s, sail-powered vessels, owned by the PLM, sailed into South Wales ports. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted April 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 18, 2019 Something a bit different from me.. More or less straight from the box (add the detail pack & some spare screw-link couplings) and invested in the Fox Transfers Etched Plates (plus the Work & Shedcode plates). On the Aircraft front one is nearing completion and the other to the point where I have to put it away again till next month :/ The Trumpeter 1/48th Scale DH Sea Hornet NF.21, just the decals on one side of the fuselage still to do and then I get the bits fitted the photo (props are part painted) The B-29A is getting there, though is be-set with problems, hence why it will be going back in the box for a bit. So that two more blog entries to do in the next few days hopefully.. ..and I'll be making a start on this.. So back to Trains sort of 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railroadbill Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Wondered how your Sea Hornet was going. Looking good... A while ago you recommended the Airfix Martlet kit (the one with operation Torch markings). I managed to get one, (in the local Hobbycraft), and what a cracker it is. Good mouldings and can be built with wings folded so less room on shelf. So thanks for heads-up on that one. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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