pete_mcfarlane

Maybe we should write letters to the Grauniad about how 'expensive' model railway shows are?

71s were HA A standard 33/0 was KA - there's more detail on the various codes used for 33s here: https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/locos/d/d6570.html

Nobody has mentioned the ultimate example of this - the Southern's expresses (in some cases with Pullman cars) from London to Ore, a tiny village on the outskirts of Hastings.

I remember walking past RS8 many times when it was an apparently derelict hulk by the High Peak trail. It's been restored to really high standard, in what seems like a short space of time.

It's always written as '40 hommes et 8 chevaux' rather than 'ou 8 chevaux'. Must have been a bit cosy.

"Hello DIYers...."

These were used on the SECR 'Continental' stock, but later changed to be outward opening after (IIRC) a fatal accident. Pullmans and CIWL stock had inward opening doors, but they had attendants to operate them. The CIE Mk3s had sliding doors a few years earlier than the Wessex stock.

I was expecting him to get stuck and the (modern, CGI) international Rescue to be summoned to extract him.

I'm thinking of the Russian aircraft carrier (on the rare occasions it actually works).

I hope so. It could shell the hall where the contest is being held.....

I've always thought that these units in their original livery was a really good piece of industrial design, with the black windows and warning panels extended onto the ends. Somebody had put a lot of effort into that. I'm about halfway though building one of your 508s, so the announcement will presumably come when that's finished in a few months time.....

Under UK conditions. They were more popular in Europe, where the coal wasn't as good (lower calorific content). The extra maintenance costs were presumably absorbed by the fuel efficiencies - you could burn cheap poor quality local coal instead of having to pay to import steam coal from Wales. That was more of a war time measure - coal was in short supply (as the Germans didn't have enough for their own needs), but Switzerland has loads of cheap hydro-electric power. Back to the original question - yes, it has been done. There are some modern European rack locos that can take hot water from an external source and/or have electric preheaters. The ones on the Schafbergbahn look a bit odd, presumably due to the extra boiler insulation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schafberg_Railway More detailed but in German: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLM_H_2/3_(1992) Whether it can be retrofitted to existing locos is another thing, but if you want a generic steam loco to take your non-enthusiast punters (or whatever the German word is for punters) up to the top of a mountain then it definitely works. The original Schafbergbahn locos were much nicer - here's a rubbish photo of one I took in 1992....

Is there still railway stuff at the Guinness theme park museum? They had some NG stock when I was there in the 90s, including one of the narrow gauge locos.

Having finally sorted out all of the my RMs I can nowfind articles fairly quickly...... You are possibly thinking of November 1986, where there was a GWR 2-2-2 with a brass channel chassis.

Any kit can be made into a nice model if you chuck enough of it away...... The problem is that people a see nice model made from a poor kit (with a lot of work) and buy the kit on the back of it.

I think you need to be DBS checked for each organisation you are involved with. At the very least ask to see people's form, rather than relying on verbal statements that people have been checked through work. The other challenge is that DBS checks are only point in time confirmations that people are OK, so you need to redo them every few years. I don't think you need to check everyone, you just need to make sure that somebody DBS checked is always present with the junior members. So have some 'Junior group coordinators', get them checked, and make sure that one of them always turns up.

Hints and pitfalls from clubs and societies I've been involved with (not necessarily model railway clubs): Child protection is now a thing (well, it always was a thing but people ignored it). So think carefully about junior members - if you want them, you'll need to have safeguarding policies and DBS check people (which is about £10 a head for voluntary groups, so not the horrific expense it's made out to be in some circles). Think about it from the start, rather than than we some 15 year old asks to join. Be careful with the money, but not too careful. The group having little money doesn't mean there's no money at all, and you can never spend anything (whilst the bank balance slowly creeps up). Make sure you are insured. Watch out for that person who contributes bu**er all, and then turns up on the night that the test track is set up and expects to monopolise it.

6 liveries if you paint each side of the coach differently. SNCF had a TGV in multiple liveries, including the original orange one. It looked a bit odd.

Didn't John Allen do the same thing, giving up work and relying on a small private income to devote himself to building his layout?

The scene in 'Le Vacances de Monsieur Hulot' with the platform changes and incomprehensible station announcements.

I'd never noticed the changes to the springs. It seems to have happened during the loco's time in Holland. There are some really nice photos of Tommy online from that time. I guess a lined green LNER loco probably stood out in post war Holland. https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p746692738/hC60C5E1C

To misquote Mrs Thatcher, there are no such things as societies, only people. So for a society to become a trader, it will need people in the society willing to pick up the work.

Worsley still list the sides: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/4mm/4mm_BR.htm

The dimensioned BR Diagrams are in the Brian Haresnape BR fleet survey book on electric locos. The Barrowmore group also have them online: http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/Locos/Book_ELO_274_JP_web.pdf Both types are the same length, the difference is that the cab door is further back on a production loco to allow for the cab side windows. The drawings show the window side of the body, the window/grille differences are on the boiler side - the production locos have more/bigger grilles, so presumably there were cooling problems on the first loco. Tommy was also a couple of tons heavier than a production 76 with a boiler. I learn something new every day.

Especially if the smell of the steam locos overwhelms the normal smells we all complain about at shows.