RateTheFreight

The Kirow rail crane is heading there this morning so looks like recovery will be in part via this method vice road. G

I’ve always had a soft spot for Waterloo. When I worked in London on the big railway back in 2010 as a route freight manager I was based out of the offices within the station which had all sorts of interesting artefacts and nooks and crannies to explore. Around the station was also interesting to explore especially finding what was the Necropolis railway building. Ive also always had a soft spot for the ‘Merchant Navy’s’ in both original and rebuilt form which seem synonymous with 60’s Waterloo and live in eternal hope that ACE will eventually make them. Greg

Afternoon all, Out of interest, is the SDJR livery authentic and if so what kind of timeframes are we talking for it’s existence? Did it exist post-grouping for example? I’m always a bit unclear how joint railways are covered livery wise! thanks in advance. G

Was this their only announcement as I recall reading they were making three today (unless all three are minks!). The minks are lovely models though. G

I had wondered about the size of the tram and whether it was too big. In the pic below lined up against a Hornby Peckett and B’man oo9 loco it doesn’t look to bad but I’ve got no point of reference as to whether it looks out of scale so welcome thoughts. The tram is a Corgi Dick Kerr Brum tram. The other potential would be to purchase one of the motorised HOe continental offerings on eBay in the style of the Lisbon tram and try and anglicise it. thanks for all the suggestions so far, much to look into. G EDIT; when compared to my OO Rapido Brum bus the tram does look too big?

Afternoon all, I’ve planned for some time to build a small oo9 table top layout but with a tram interface (likely motorising a corgi offering). My thoughts were that the tram would run to a rural ‘end of the line’ destination as a means to transporting workers to the narrow gauge railway. My question is, are there any examples where this actually happened? To be clear I’m not talking about narrow gauge tramways I’m talking about historic trams that were once a part of most cities running to a tram stop or interchange linked to a narrow gauge railway. Being from Birmingham the tram stop at the Lickey Hills has so far provided some inspiration with fanciful thoughts of a fictitious NG railway moving aggregates from the hills. Greg

On the theme of O gauge clockwork I picked up an excellent book by Jack Ray titled ‘A lifetime with O Gauge; Crewchester and others’. It’s a joy to read and is very informative. As others have said the key to successful clockwork operation appears to be much trial and error, influenced by different loads, to understand the sweet spot for number of turns. G

Love the black terrier, I have one too and it’s a very well made model. I just wish WJ Vintage/ETS put isolating switches on their locos as it makes operating ‘Old Albion’ a challenge if using them and other locos. Speaking of WJV, and apologies if slightly OT, did anyone else notice the newsletter article featuring a delightful ETS made prototype of the narrow gauge ‘Dolgoch’ of TR fame? I’ve expressed an interest as it would make a lovely set with the coaches and provide something different coarse scale wise (appreciating it was shown to run on standard 3 rail track). Greg

Indeed the scale seems to be slightly off but as you say it’s nice because it’s got a rather generic style and the colours aren’t too showy. that being said the pic below shows it next to an old Hornby offering with figures which rather highlights the scale issue! greg

Hi all, By chance a few weeks back I purchased the below tinplate station from a well known eBay site for what I considered a reasonable price (£30) given it seems to be in great condition. The listing didn’t have much info only to say that it was stamped ‘made in the US zone, Germany’. it’s a lovely item that fits nicely on my tinplate shunting layout but I’d love to know more about it. Any help appreciated. greg

Hello, I’m looking for a Graham Farish N Gauge ‘FNA’ nuclear flask wagon (wagons if more than one available). Happy for either variant produced. Greg

Afternoon all, Apologies if this has been asked however will these go round R1 curves? Lovely looking model especially the GWR green one. G

Thanks both, and you’re correct, a brief trawl of the internet makes reference to various types of council work undertaken but little in the way of picture evidence. I’d particularly been hoping for picture evidence of one of the Devon council’s ‘Wrens’ (Lorna Doon, Peter Pan et al) at work but have lucked out this far. G

Afternoon all, Does anyone have any decent or interesting pictures depicting the use of narrow gauge locos and stock on council/local authority works such as road building etc? TIA G

Hello, is anyone aware of any manufacturer who produces an N Gauge/scale Swiss post bus? I’m particularly after one of the vintage style buses rather than the more modern versions Busch do. thanks in advance. G

That’s a great shout and an interesting take on the history too! g

Evening all, I’ve recently purchased one of Bachmann (USA’s) G scale ‘Lyn’s’. Lovely model and all that. My Dad already has one and so I was wondering what would have been the next logical name for an L&B loco had they ordered another Baldwin (or other)? I know Bachmann in 009 gave the name ‘Sid’ to its fictional loco but would welcome suggestions for something different to this. G

Afternoon all, Have just stumbled across these having been impressed with previous iron mink purchases. These look fantastic and eye catching in equal measure. out of interest does anyone know why they carried a yellow livery? G

Evening all, having enjoyed travelling on the Schynige Platte numerous times I wondered if anyone knew of anyone who manufactured the name/badge that adorns most of the locos such as the attached pics? Whilst not prototypical I’m looking for something to add onto an LGB G scale HGe 2/2. thanks G

Evening all, I’ve been looking into the latter years of the Tyneside DC system and would be interested to know whether the introduction of the Eastleigh built pioneer MLV or 2EPBs ever received any formal publicity? Presumably there must have been a formal introduction but fascinated to know more. g

Afternoon all, hopefully a quick one to answer. Will the J70 operate round 1st radius curves (either Bachman or Hornby)? thanks in advance. G

Evening all, I’ve somewhat assumed that most of vintage tinplate clockwork offerings from the likes of Bing, Bassett-Lowke and Hornby will negotiate relatively tight curves but thought I’d check just how tight for the medium (say a Bing George V) to a larger (Say Hornby Lord Nelson or Castle) could go? I’m in the process of building a 6 x 4 ‘train table’ predominately to run US stock (electrically) but with the ability to switch ‘time and place’ to run some of my smaller British outline coarse scale stuff too (also electric). The curves will roughly be what in the US are classed as 0-36, 0-31/0-27. It would be great if I could also run vintage British outline clockwork too as a change of pace! welcome folks thoughts. greg

Agreed about Bassett Lowke branding, just bizarre and slightly smacks of someone who doesn’t know the history picking it (although presumably Simon K signed it off). Whilst great to see tinplate O make a return to the Hornby catalogue I think the price point is way out for what the model is. I’d of considered one had it been half that price. I suppose any publicity is good for coarse scale O but hopefully it encourages folk to check out the modern repro’s too to keep them going. In some respects it’s a shame they didn’t reincarnate one of their famous clockwork locos either as a stand-alone item or as part of a small train set with repro buildings etc. Greg

Interesting to see they’ve gone down the tinplate route which is fantastic in one sense (as someone who runs and collects ‘Coarse’ scale tinplate O’ ) however their price point for those models seems way off compared with the original and modern repro models that are more detailed from the likes of ACE, ETS and so forth. Still, well done to them for doing something a bit different that honours their past too. g

Hi all, so my wife kindly purchased the Lionel Union Pacific Flyer Lionchief set for Christmas which has duly arrived. I’d purchased the 500w step down transformer highlighted above which is due to imminently arrive. What I’m slightly confused about is that the power pack that came with the set is DC (the control is remote and the loco can also be controlled via phone). So, do I still need to plug the power back Into the step down unit or just buy a US-UK adaptor plug? The manual states that the loco can run on AC (and states most US locos do so). any help greatly appreciated. greg