RJS1977

At the moment g scale track is around £5 per foot.

G would be good as the stock is designed to run outside on fairly rough track and is expected to just run all day long in the sun or rain. O gauge stock may be able to cope with these conditions but wasn't designed for it.

Triang Big-Big, Hornby clockwork?

Either way solves the power supply problem though keeping rewinding the Hornby is probably easier than changing batteries in the Triang.

I make the gradients 3" in 10 feet...   better than 1 in 36 or about the same as Newton Abbot to Plymouth. The upper track only has to clear the lower one  60mm for trains 5mm for track  10mm framing 75mm or 3"

 

Edit  A current generation bog standard Hornby King and 6 Airfix Centenaries sailed up a  curving 3rd radius 1 in 33 earlier this evening, a bit embarrassing for an 8P as our standard load for a 5MT is seven, but if you "only" have 10 X 6 it could be great fun.  Just cries out for DCC..... 2 trains on each main line plus the branch.

I notice that the low level tracks don't actually run under the high level tracks at the station end, but under the platform. If the platform is made hollow, this saves about 1/2" clearance though of course if the low level line could be brought out from under the station entirely (either by lengthening the plan, or by moving the branch terminus up a bit and shortening/removing the freight sidings), there would be no clearance issues at that end at all.

The bridge at the other end is probably short enough not to need any framing underneath, but if it did need framing, this could be done on top disguised as the bridge girders.

I know from experience that a 1980s Hornby Battle of Britain, or a Triang Princess or a Lima Western (or even a Triang Jinty or Nellie) can easily manage 3 coaches up 8' of 1 in 20 gradient.

Hopefully who ever is in charge can explain why our Hornby delivery was sent to our home address. Is this Hornby's idea of getting retailers to feel more at home with them? Basics, can we get back to them please?

It's not just Hornby.

In 2015 I ordered a limited edition run of wagons to be sold  by the C&WR, and asked that they be delivered to our shop manager's home. They were.

Last year, he ordered a different run of wagons, which for some reason Dapol sent to me!

Nice period shot of the much missed Jochen Rindt with his daily driver, note the dented front bumper...

 

F1 JR Rindt Porsche 1967.jpg

 

His good friends Mr.Stewart and Mr.Hill taking ballet lessons at the Nurburgring in '65...

 

F1 Jackie-Stewart-and-Graham-Hill-at-Nurburgring-in-1965A.jpg

I think at least one of the cars in the bottom picture is now in the Caistor Castle Motor Museum.

No, sorry, it's Jim Clark's though I think one of Jackie's cars is in there as well.

 

One source might be old advertising slogans

How about 'Strong Country'?

Or the Lincolnshire seaside resort of 'Bracing'!

Did the sun shine through Box Tunnel from one end to the other when it rose that morning?

 

(According to Wikipedia this is a myth, but I worked with a driver who claimed to have seen it.  It's the sort of stunt he'd have pulled though, especially given his interest in ancient Egypt and some of the alignments in pyramids and temples)

As the line through Box Tunnel was under possession on the day in question, several NR and FGW engineers went to have a look. Their conclusion was that the tunnel and its approach cuttings had clearly been designed with that in mind, however although the sun shone a long way into the tunnel, it didn't shine right through. One of the engineers mentioned that the tunnel had been relined at some point in the past which may have affected things.

I read a while back (can't remember where) that the sun does indeed shine through, but a couple of days later as atmospheric pollution has affected the refractive index of the atmosphere since Brunel's day.

I believe Peter Denny's trick with regards to wagon loads was to make the underlying spacer (i.e. the polystyrene in this case) very much shorter than the wagon, so he could press down on one end of the load to tip it up for easy removal.

66s....

I agree and that is where Hornby's Railroad range comes in. Hornby do need to maximise on both the Railroad ranges and the "top end" stuff. They need a brand name for the top end stuff, perhaps have three ranges, Railroad, and (say) Silver Seal for the middle range and Gold Seal for the very detailed / expensive stuff. I think the Crosti should be in the middle "Silver Seal" range.

 

Anyway, good luck to Hornby. Your products are excellent, you just need good management and marketing.

 

Brit15

Trouble is, the Railroad Range currently seems to be aimed at the 50-somethings. The current list of locos on the Hornby website (none listed as currently in stock, which I think shows how half-hearted Hornby's commitment to Railroad is) are:

* Coal merchant's 0-4-0

* BR blue class 20

* County 4-6-0

* BR green Class 73

* LMS liveried Jinty

* BR green Class 31

* Railfreight Class 37

* BR Schools

* Inter City Class 90

* LNER B17

* BR black 5

* Crosti 9F

* BR blue Deltic

* GWR 14XX

How many of these are likely to have been seen by someone under 20 years old? Probably the Jinty, Black 5, 14XX (at preserved lines) and possibly the Deltic.

"The company needs to broaden its customer base and draw in a younger crowd, not narrow it to ageing miniature-train spotters,"

Couldn't have put that better myself!

Cholsey & Wallingford has a connection,it's just a case of reversing.

 

No it doesn't, the connection was removed in 1981 when BR realised the cost of renewing the points was more than the line would ever bring in in revenue in their lifetime. There is a siding at Cholsey which runs towards the main lines, but doesn't connect to them.

Maybe one day we will get around to building Beresford. The intention was to make it from bits which were left over from other layouts.

 

No prizes for working out the origin of the name.

 

Geoff Endacott

Based on Wimbledon, by any chance?

I was talking yesterday to someone who is considering commissioning Dapol to do the North & Son wagon in 00....

I understood that the reason the barriers lower before the down train stops in the station was in case the train overshoots the platform for some reason.

Maybe rather than re-posting jokes, people should just post the number of the original post...

Or, to put it another way:

https://youtu.be/7Vk77HRbYgQ?t=150

That's not really an excuse though, there's still the big dial on the dashboard....

Better that the tow gives way than that it tips the car over as well. That's what happened just in front of me on the A303 a few years back.

 

Happened to my grandfather getting on for 40 years ago too...

Rather like the Two Ronnies:

"Often found in the bottom of a bird cage. _ _ IT."

"Grit"

(Nun on other side of compartment) "Grit. Of course. Does anybody have a rubber?"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-39314849

 

"The train slipped from the rails" -  really?

 

Not clear from this report as to what actually happened but presumably slipping was a problem - but was it a problem with the track or train or what?

Rather better reporting than the article I saw this morning which reported that the train was "scrapped" after "the wheels wore out" "shortly after leaving Dawlish"! 

Quasimodo goes to the doctor for a check-up.

"Take your jacket off," the doctor instructs him.

"I don't like to," replies Quasimodo. "I haven't taken it off in ten years."

The doctor persuades him to remove it.

"Now take your sweater off,"  instructs the doctor.

"I don't like to," replies Quasimodo. "I haven't taken it off in twenty years."

The doctor persuades him to remove it.

"Now take your shirt off."

"I don't like to," says Quasimodo. "I haven't taken it off for thirty years. And beside, I don't like people looking at my hump."

The doctor persuades him to remove it.

"Ah, yes, your hump is very interesting," comments the doctor. "How long is it since you were at school?"

"Thirty years," replies Quasimodo. "After school finished, I went home, put that shirt on and went to the school leavers' party. I haven't taken it off since until today."

"Very interesting," replies the doctor. "Did you put the shirt on in a hurry?"

"Yes," says Quasimodo. "I rushed home, put my new shirt on and raced straight back out to the party. What made you think that?"

"Only that you forgot to take your satchel off first...."

_{I hope the goods shed staff weren't asphyxiated by all those steam locos passing through their shed!}

_{And I was sorry you didn't film the bit where the crane winched itself onto an adjacent track and back again ;-)}

_{But that aside, enjoyable and relaxing! :-)}

As regards the question raised about 58s/60s/90s being 'retired' with decades of potential service still in them, as I understand things:

1) At the time that the 66s were ordered, the 58s were approaching a major mid-life refit. At that point ordering a further 50 66s may well have worked out cheaper in the long run than refurbishing a relatively small, non-standard class of locos.

2) Whilst the diesels may be running for considerable distances under the wires, unless the entire journey is on electrified lines (including the loading/unloading points), then a diesel would be needed for at least part of the journey. I can see how economically it could make more sense to run a diesel under wires for most of its journey than have to use two (or even three) different locos and associated crews.

Brunel described his original GWR as 'The finest work in England'. Most of his fine work was swept away when the line was quadrupled, but the GWR of that period put up some classic stations - state of the art designs in their day - as replacements. Those stations have been systematically ruined over decades since Beeching, with buildings removed, canopies taken down (there was a £7,500 premium paid for every canopy removed in the 1970s/80s) footbridge roofs removed etc until what's left is very little. The surviving structures are really little more than a roof over the stairs, with a part-time ticket office, and toilets locked out of use. Only at Reading General have these sad structures been replaced with something that's fit for purpose in the 21st century. I never thought I'd find myself advocating destruction of railway buildings but I actually feel that the electrification - and the rail users - would benefit from a railway that was totally new rather than one where electrification was grafted onto a background of decrepitude from the steam era. (CJL)

At Cholsey, the waiting rooms and loos are open when the station is staffed (Monday-Saturday mornings), and the loos and Up waiting room are also open on Saturday afternoons and Sundays if the C&WR booking office is staffed.