matt-b

Hello Does anyone have any info on the current situation at Donnington (Telford) terminal? On real time train there are booking now and again but they never run. It was a brand new terminal built not long ago so seems wasteful just to leave it all empty. any info would be appreciated. Matt

Hello I am looking to complete my N Gauge HST First Great Western blue rake and need the following to complete.. 2 x TSO 2nd class coaches 1 x TGS coach i know these are available in the shops, but was wondering if anyone has them that they are looking to move on before I buy brand new. thsnks? Matt

Thanks for the response and replies all. If any has any good videos or pictures of green and blue mixed rakes that would be great to see. Thanks, Matt.

Good evening I currently have a N gauge Dapol First Great Western HST set which I'm going to add some extra coaches to make a full rake. my question is though, I'm torn between going for a all blue mk3 set or mixing in some new green coaches running a mix and match rake, however when in real life they take out say for example blue coach D, do they replace it with a green coach D, or do the coaching letters get all mixed up when coaches get taken in and out, swapped from sets etc. So could there be no D in a set but two E's? thanks, Matt

Delivery of scaffolding boards. Just need a Cargowaggon and a couple of people now..

Evening Over the past few weekends major work has taken place at Craven Arms (Shropshire) with new point work and colour signal for the "Heart of Wales" line. The new layout means the south bound service doesn't have to use the wrong line platform. Anyone seen or got much info on this? I know they had the line shut for at least 2 weekends and there was a nice brand new Colas crane there. Thanks, Matt

Just out of interest, how many people actually use the two different sleeper services to and from London. Are figures on the up? Personally I don't get the idea.. with how cheap hotels and flights are. Thanks.

Does anyone have a Heljan open type Cargowaggon? Could do with knowing a few dimensions so I can build my loads. Thanks.

I think I'm done..

Thanks Dave, though they look a lot older then I'm thinking of modelling. I was thinking of 80/90s but then I could bring it more up to date with more modern Cargowaggon. Ahhhh choices! Thanks

Thanks for the comments guys. I don't intend to clean of the rails Martyn has it's a diorama, there is no need to make sure the tracks have power. If I change this in the future then I agree, there will be some flaking where I rub it down. Good point on the scale, has the layout doesn't have any depth, any change in scales will become to obvious, shame though because there are loads of great lorries and trailers in 1:50th. I'm still unsure on loads, what do bagged cement on pallets look like.. they seem a bit square and neat to me? Going to cut some coffee wooden stirrers up to simulate a timber load. Thanks.

How out of scale do 1:50th lorries/trucks look? Anyone got reference pictures or info on this please. Thanks.

Slowly getting there. Need to get the static grass on it, tone and blend the concrete hand standing and a few final detailing parts.

Finally over the last few days I've made a start on things. Concrete hard standing is down, just needs weathering and a little toning. Ballast sheet laid and ready for the track to be cut and glued down. Then ballast in and around the track, add static grass to the corner and radom patches. It's slow work but I might be done by Christmas! Matt

That picture of the yard enterance is interesting. Looking at the lines inside the fenced area it doesn't look like there is hard standing across the tracks? Can a reacher/stacker stretch over all the lines ok? Or am I missing something? Matt

Hattons have Cargowaggons at £89, I wonder how close this figure is to the price they buy them for? It's a massive discount on the RRP. Matt

2900 tons? Is that one of the heaviest trains on the current network? Is this handled with a single class 60? Does a load this heavy work the 60 hard? Or do they have plenty in reserve? Matt

Big Jim, you say you was going to do route learning? Slightly off topic but I'd be interested to hear more about what this involves.. Have you a blog or anything you write? Matt

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but what sort of points are you using? Do your locos with longer wheelbases run smoothly over them ok? Thanks, Matt

Thanks guys, I've just seen that version of the magazine on eBay which is handy. Matt

Shrewsbury Coton Hill yard used to handle speedlink workings I believe. The yard is still in use today, handling stone movements and the spare sidings for rail tour stock while they wait for the return trip. Another one was Gobowen coal yard, pictures of this are harder to come across though, is it unusual to have a yard so close to the platform edge, no fencing etc.. The line into the yard was (not sure if it still is) used recently for Colas log trains from Chirk to run around so they could hear back up north. Matt

The Bulmers factory at Hereford was served by rail. I'm unsure if the ingredients or the final product was transported by train though. I'm sure someone will be able to help? Matt

Thanks for that information, big help. Certainly gives me ideas about what and how to model the loads. Davids book looks a interesting read, I'll lookout for a copy of that. I'm guessing once speedlink/enterprise stopped then so did most of these movements? Matt

Hello I'm looking to model a O gauge small layout which consists of a Cargowaggon with a imported timber load. I've seen a few pictures of this type of load on these wagons but wondered if anyone had anymore information on them, where did it come from? Go too? Etc. Was there any other interesting loads on the open version of cargowaggons? Any help would be appreciated Matt

Nice selection of locos you have there, but what wagons/rolling stock do you have run on the layout just out of interest? Matt