MrTea

We were fortunate enough to inherit a cast house number in the style of a GWR loco plate when we bought our house. It’s in need of some TLC and we’re having the outside of the house painted. So my question is: What’s the correct/authentic colour for the outside painted edge of the plate, where it’s attached to the cab side of the loco? See below: Thanks for any information you can provide!

@flockandroll I’m glad you asked this. It’s always bugged me that I didn’t know!

Spotted in a card shop in Reading today: This is proof of why getting rid of ticket offices isn’t such a great idea…

It’s been a tough few weeks at work so I booked the day off on Thursday and spent some time at the Watercress Line in Hampshire. Fortunately my brother was able to join me for the day and we had a frightfully civilised day of riding the trains, drinking tea and having a natter. We were fortunate that 6th July was the first day of the new enhanced mid-week timetable which features an additional shuttle service between Alresford and Ropley alongside the normal 1 train service from Alresford to Alton. Here are a few photos from the day: Essential refreshments before the off. Me with ‘definitely not Percy’ at Alresford awaiting the 10:30 shuttle. The Ivatt tank simmering in platform 1 at Alresford. Arrival at Ropley. The timetable allows time for a quick brew stop here before the following service. And there’s the usual excellent view over the Ropley works from near the tea cabin and the play area. The Ivatt was in fine form and was more than equal to its 4 carriage rake of Mk1s. Thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of Nick, our driver for the day, I was asked if I’d like to visit to the footplate after the run-around at Alton on the final trip. As there is a 2-hour gap between services at the Alton end we took the opportunity to take a walk into the town for some lunch and then we rather carelessly stumbled into Alton Model Centre on the return to the station. It’s a very well stocked shop and I came away with a few essentials plus one or two items that I just couldn’t resist. All in all a splendid day out and just what we both needed. Recommended if you’re in the area!

A few photos of Flying Scotsman at Reading station a couple of weeks ago: Just a few people turned out! And there were even more waiting at Newbury after the water stop at Newbury Racecourse.

This isn’t the most artistic photo of a DMU you’ll ever see but hope you guys appreciate it. My Dad took it at Ilkley station in West Yorkshire in April 1980. That’s me in the blue aged 4 trying to get a good look in the driver’s cab. The Metro-Cammell Class 101s were one of the most common types on the line in the 1980s along with the Class 108s.

I had an interesting experience with one of the TOCs ticketing apps earlier in the week - I needed to get from Reading to west London for a meeting but I need a receipt to claim expenses. Normally I’d use either a machine or preferably the ticket window if it’s open but I knew it would be busy as I was travelling at morning peak so I tried to book via the app. Even though the app lets you choose Zone 1 & 2 as a destination you can’t buy a travelcard because it just errors so I had to buy an anytime return on the app and then use contactless on the tube, which I had to spend time faffing about and registering for. The real irony is that I work in Digital Marketing for a living and despite working online most of my day, I found the experience properly frustrating! How you’re supposed to do things like this if you have poor eyesight or don’t have access to a device I’ve no idea! This whole proposal and the thinking behind it just doesn’t seem very kind, to me, overall.

The way this has been announced is nuts. It’s so obviously come straight from the government. I don’t understand why the train companies are going to the trouble of tailoring it in their own ways when they could have just cut & pasted the directive. Am I right in thinking that the TOCs essentially get to choose the paint on the trains and that’s about it?

…there’s also this one, starring a younger MrTea (in the blue anorak): I remember the work-worn state of 125s after they’d been in service for a few years.

Archive shot from Kings Cross, April 1980:

I found the programme interesting and entertaining as well. It really highlights the difference between the experience of train travel in the south (where you can expect delays but cancellations are more of a rarity) and the lottery that commuters face in the north. I think we might be in danger of looking back at the good old days of BR with our rose tinted glasses on - especially with regards to the notion that government input/interference is a post-privatisation problem. I happened to be reading the editorial of an old issue of Modern Railways from March 1980 the other morning and it has a segment about government (DTp) intervention in the procurement of further HST sets to expand services to Hull and Aberdeen. “What does become clear from this affair, however, is the remarkably detailed control which the DTp mandarins are now exercising over the British Railways Board's business. It is plain that this control covers not just how much BR spends and what it spends it on (in quite fine detail) but also just where equipment funded with the investment will be used - down to the allocation of 5% of the HST fleet”

Those look nice 👌 Does this mean Hattons and Hornby are friends again? I’ve had a couple of emails from Hattons about decorates samples from of new Hornby models recently. Good news if they are.

Who can say at this point. Although I’m pretty sure Jason (Shron) is an HST fan from things I’ve previously read? All we know is that Hornby were concerned enough about another manufacturer having a HST under development to make some tweaks to their power car offering and follow up their plug door Mk3s with the slam door variety. I personally think a Rapido HST would be a good model given the lengths they’ve gone to on other prototypes.

Thanks Mike. I think that makes sense. It’s not necessarily what segments of this forum would wish for but it’s probably not a bad strategy. And I think we’d all acknowledge that one of the Hornby businesses strengths is its brands and their resonance with the target market. Affordability is surely only going to become more of a factor given the way that the UK economy seems to be heading?

Are there any hints in the report at which way Hornby is looking to go with regards to its product offerings? E.g. continue high(ish) fidelity, increase RailRoad etc. From an enthusiast’s point of view we have a lot more choice (both of models and of brands, and indeed ways of buying) than we did in the 1980s and 1990s when I first got into model railways. I find the marketing side of the Hornby conundrum fascinating and a real challenge for whoever takes it on. I can see that they’ve invested in digital via their partner agency and I’d be intrigued as to what direction that might take in the future? With the right kind of research and data modelling you can get some incredible insights into your customers and what motivates them.

It certainly seems strange from the outside. But then again we’re not being paid to run the place are we?

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that tender tank in a video from one of the model manufacturers recently. Possibly in the Accurascale Siphon G video?

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9893856/ I’ve watched this over the past couple of weeks and it’s been quite enjoyable. It’s more travelogue than railway documentary but it’s none the worse for that. Heritage rail operations feature in a number of the episodes and there’s also a fair amount of social history content that I found interesting. In the UK it’s available free on Netflix to subscribers but also to rent or buy on Amazon.

Thanks Jim. I missed about 5 mins in the middle after my laptop had a ‘wobbly’. One question I thought of afterwards was: Is there anything particular you’d like to have included on both layouts but couldn’t for whatever reason?

Looking forward to this later Jim. Ian

On the subject of the Lima model, has anyone tried a side by side comparison of the two? I’d be fascinated to see how much difference there is and how much model fidelity has improved on the last 35-40 years. I have fond memories of my Lima Siphon G and it’s massive tension lock couplings and gangways you could detach.

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours at Abrail yesterday afternoon with my family. Modbury is excellent and really shows what you can do to create the impression of a landscape in 2mm scale. How you created the valve gear on that Railmotor Ian is beyond me! There seemed to be a good variety of layouts on display across the scales and my daughter enjoyed her little drive on the African-themed 009 layout upstairs. Couple of other layout pics for anyone who’s interested:

Couple of questions: 1. Is the speaker on the cab floor between the crew figures? 2. How is this even possible?!

My sound-fitted Beatrice arrived in the post mid-week and today was the first chance I had to check the model out. I think she’s been worth the wait. The level of detail is excellent and the livery is really well applied. I’m impressed with the sound quality too. The whistles play well without distortion and the overall package seems well balanced. The performance seems pretty good. I’ve experienced a few stutters reversing over set track points but to be fair not everything agrees with those. Perhaps I might look at getting stay alive fitted in the future.

Hi @bubbles2 I got the bearings from Dundas Models at the same time as the kits. Looking back the reference on the order is: N Gauge Brass Bearing Cups (20) DP09 Hopefully that helps!