Annie

A forum member on NGRM is building Thrumster station in 16mm scale.  The real station building has been restored and from the photos I've seen is very nice indeed.

 

My current interest though is actually pre-steam, I want to model Lord Carlisle's horse-worked colliery lines as they were up to the opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle railway. Fortunately both MSTS and Trainz have working horses, which so far none of the common modelling scales have.

 

Trainz has plateway wagons and other early types as well.  The working horses are certainly interesting.  I had a horse drawn tram on the layout at one time and I should really think about bringing it back as it was a lot of fun.

Thank you for the details about Pevsoft AR.  I should have a proper look at it sometime and just have a play about with it to see what it can do.  A downside of having narcolepsy is that I find myself resistant to trying new things and especially learning to use new graphics or mesh editing software since it's a real struggle for me to concentrate long enough to actually understand what it is I need to do.  

I have the Australian 4-6-0's for TS2012 and they are really nice Sem. Beautiful engines to drive and the AI stuff and physics is really well done.  I also purchased the Beyer Peacock 4-4-0T for TANE at the same time as it was a Black Friday sale and everything was seriously cheap.  Australia either purchased or built Beyer Peacock influenced locomotives in fairly large numbers which has caused me me to consider an Australian layout more than just the once..

 My favourites are the SMR colliery 4-6-4 tank engines which while being only Beyer Peacock copies are unmistakeably Beyer Peacock influenced in every inch of them.  I have a coal and steelworks layout with an urban traction railway as a part of it and it's the 4-6-4T tank engines that rule amongst the hot steel and coal.

I never really got on with TS2012, - apart from the fact it made my much rebuilt ageing computer scream for mercy, - I didn't like what they'd done to 'improve' the editor (surveyor) and I didn't like the session layers that'd they'd sewn into everything so it became a nightmare to try and join different layout boards together.  As for TANE I don't know much about it and some on-line friends who've got it say it's Ok, but whenever I think about it I find myself thinking of circles of salt and garlic.

My Raven 'Z' Atlantics arrived and one of them is in NER livery, - the other two are LNER livery, but with slight differences between them in the livery details which is nice.  Once again the GWR station on my layout ended up with foreign visitors while I did a screenshot.  I don't have any NER coaches so some 'Litho' style GER ones in Lake livery did the honours.

I haven't bought payware for my system so I don't know the score, but in the license for use you get with your stock, does it permit you to reskin for personal use? If so, you will only need freeware such as Gimp, Paint.net and Irfanview plus PevSoft's TGA converter to put whatever livery you choose on your models.

I re-skin models all the time and for 99% of models re-skinning for personal use is fine by the creators of the models.  Sometimes you'll find somebody who has filled up the attached notes with a model with all manner of threats about modding their models, but by and large all they do is prove they know nothing at all about copyright law and fair usage of their original material.  Basically so long as what you're doing is for your own use and you're not trying to represent it as being all your own work or trying to sell it then it's fine.

I mostly use Paint.net and Ifranview for what I do.  Sometimes even good old MSPaint has its uses.  I've heard of PevSoft, but I don't really understand what it does and I haven't ever used it.

I buy from Paulz Trainz because he has models I can't get anywhere else.  And he has reasonable prices too.  Three Raven 'Z' class Atlantics cost me $US15 which I think is very reasonable.  Wagons and coaches are even cheaper at around $US4-5 for three wagons and $US12-15 for 6-8 coaches.  Most of his models are for older versions of Trainz Simulator, - that is TS2012 and older not including TANE.  I run TS2009 and everything I've purchased from him is fine.  He provides good after sales service and if there is a problem he gets it fixed very quickly.

I will most probably have a look at modding the Raven Atlantics into NER livery, but at the moment it's not a big priority since I'm still running a fair bit of Big 4 era stuff.

I think it may be a good idea to keep a listing of available pre-grouping content for both Trainz and TS. There is a lot for MSTS, probably too much to mention.

 

 

 

Need to go now, but will continue later...

I really don't know anything about MSTS.  I do own a copy, but haven't looked at it for a long time.

A list for Trainz?  There's a lot of pre-group content available, but I'm not sure if I have the energy to try listing it all.  Some older content is a bit naff and has a lot of issues that are a pain to fix and I don't think I'd bother to list them should I do a list as they're fairly disappointing.  Anyway I'll think about it.

Ok done it.  Spent my pocket money for this week.  Three Raven 'Z' class Atlantics will be arriving on my layout shortly.  They're in LNER green as there wasn't an NER livery option for them unfortunately.

Isn't it beautiful  

Oh yes indeed  

Now I can't get that image out of my mind.

I also have the Atlantic in GNR livery.  My imaginary layout is still very much Big 4 era though bit by bit I'm gradually rolling back time.  Atlantics are the top link express engines on my line as it's a Pacific and 4-6-0 free zone.  I'm presently considering a Raven 'Z' class Atlantic from Paulz Trainz.  I like GNR locomotives well enough, but I like the NER ones best.  I'm considering a NER Tenant E5 as well even though the E5's were only a class of 20 locomotives and they were gone by 1929.  I have plans to buy some NER coaches from Paulz Trainz too, but with the dilemma of whether I buy them in NER livery or LNER livery.  Winding back to the the grouping transition era would let me have the lovely red NER livery so I'm considering doing that.  The Gresley coaches would have to go though.

My HUGE UK layout has over 100 scale miles of trackwork and is great for playing top link expresses on when the mood takes me, but mostly I concentrate on the corner of it where my imaginary GNJt.R has its metals.  The GNJt.R has some wonderful anachronisms in that rolling stock and locomotives from the 1860-70's can be still be found working alongside 20th century pre-grouping era locomotives and rolling stock, but it's my railway and I don't care.

Random snap of a GNJt.R tank engine at work.  This is one of the too short J72's that I call a Kitson copy built to the GNJt.R's order.  Four of them are named after former Grand Navigation Shipping Co ships from the early days of the company.  After I got properly correct J71 and J72 models I was going to retire them, but decided not to.  They're older and more simple models made for TS2004, but they're basically Ok.

So it's not pre-grouping, - so take me out and shoot me  

I was delighted to read Simon that you are working on a model of 'Gazelle'.

That basic boiler print would be good for scenic stationary boiler use too.  

Another snap of Furlong station at the end of the twiglet of a branchline I've been working on at the moment.  I love my digital trainset it makes me feel happy.

Delightful.  These pictures really made me smile this morning.  James, your daughter puts me in mind of my own intrepid daughter who at age 30 something is quite fearless about picking up tools and having a go at most things including a year or two ago rebuilding the engine in her car.

While looking about for useful spares for some of my old clockers I came across this auction on our local auction website for a down on its luck Hormby M1 tender loco  https://www.trademe.co.nz/toys-models/models/railway/locomotives/auction-1568799152.htm?rsqid=f937d59f2bf4417eb66c5ea2b5467382

Only $NZ118.00, - a positive bargain!  Since I already own several that are much the same that now makes me potentially a modestly wealthy woman  

Not much is presently happening with this project of mine at the moment as I'm presently spending anything up to 18 hours a day asleep and when I'm awake I'm constantly feeling like I'm about to fall asleep.  Trying to build a layout looks like being a step too far, but I may be able to do some repair work on some of my tinplate treasures if I take my time and be patient over what it's possible for me to achieve during the time I'm able to maintain a useful level of concentration on the task at hand.

Lovely aren't they  

That's the kind or wheel you can depend on.

Seems like an appropriate picture for the UK at the moment.

GNJt.R tank engines on the K&ESR.  The looks-like-a-J72 isn't really as it's been modelled about 4/5ths too short and it's quite noticeable when they're in company with a scale sized J72 or J71.  They were originally made for TS2004 and are fairly basic with no crew.  I tried to adapt one to have a footplate crew and ended up rendering it completely inoperable due to not being able to mod configuration scripts for toffee.  For the purposes of the GNJt.R I call them a Kitson copy built to my imaginary railway company's special order and I think the GNJt.R grey goods livery suits them very nicely.

Sounds as if you’ve yet to acquire the true classic version, as produced by Mettoy.

 

Every layout should have one, if only for target practice.

 

I hope the wheels, and the lack of wheels, don’t upset purists.

Got one of those too, but missing the correct tender.  They don't look so bad, much better than the 'Safetylectrics' which are seriously weird.  I guess it's because I've still got a 9 year old me somewhere inside my brain that I have a liking for all these little trainset toys by Chad Valley, Mettoy, Brimtoy as well as Hornby's 'M' series.  When I was still an HRCA member I found that the other women members tended to like these trains too.  The boys would be trying to outdo each other by showing off the latest large pre-war item they'd just purchased and us girls would be having fun with our 'small trains' as the boys tended to sneeringly call them. 

EDIT:  I should mention by the way that some of Mettoy's goods wagons are actually quite realistic and of near to scale proportions.  Chad Valley did some LMS looking brake vans that are nicely proportioned too.  One of mine even has 3 link couplings which Chad Valley fitted to their earlier wagons and locos for a short while.  Brimtoy purchased some of Bing's old press tools and their earlier tinplate stuff made using these old tools isn't too bad at all.  I have an early Brimtoy signal box that's as good as anything else from the pre-war period and is quite a rare piece.  Later on Brimtoy lost the plot though and much of the stuff from their final years even I won't buy no matter how many pairs of rosy tint Christmas morning nostalgia spectacles I might put on.

Nice work Corbs.  I'm really enjoying this thread.  The Furness engine looks so good in NWR lined blue  

Mettoy box art was really good.  I've got a box (and the contents) for one of their larger sets.  The box is knocked around unfortunately, but the couple that sold it to me said it was it was their brother's favourite toy.  He was an invalid and died young and the family kept the trains to remember him by.  They were going into a rest home and they sold everything to me because they had me figured for someone who wasn't going to break it all up and sell it all off piecemeal to turn a profit.  Quite a bit of Brimtoy stuff came with it all too and it was all in lovely condition.

I've always wanted one of those Mettoy Etons, but somehow never had the money at the right time.  I have one of the Pullmans from that set though, - only without a roof which is a bit of a shame.  I have a few of the smaller green 0-4-0 tender engine clockers though and the smaller sized bogie Pullmans.  They look quite good with Hornby M1 and M2 tender engines.  Better than Hornby's own 4 wheel efforts truth be told.

That cattle van is a thing of beauty.  Superb model making  

£20 for 6 metal wheels doesn't sound expensive to me Sem.  

Signals for the earlier pre-group period aren't easy to find.  I mostly use some lovely slotted post McKenzie & Holland signals that I found on Auran's Download Station, but otherwise apart from a pair of lonely LSWR signals there aren't any other lower quadrant signals except for GWR ones.  Fortunately some of the GWR ones are on wooden posts and are of an older design and sometimes I make believe that they are Saxby & Farmer signals which they almost look like if I take my glasses off.

Paulz Trainz has some early signals, but many of the ones he had aren't available anymore due to the files being lost.  But he was able to provide me with this junction signal in both left and right hand versions.

At the moment it's not exactly easy to say what period my HUGE UK layout is set in.  Most of it is mid period Big Four era and the biggest engines I run on the layout are Atlantics as I've kept it a non-Pacific zone.  All engines and rolling stock are of pre-group origins, - or at least to my knowledge they are since I'm not an expert on the finer points of post grouping rolling stock and that isn't helped by creative 'in-the-spirit-of' reskinning of some wagons and vans into looking like something else by various content creators.  Overall though I'm happy with the picture I'm managing to paint of a pre-war steam railway.  As I continue to progressively work on the layout I am trying to wind back time a little more, but it's going to be a long job and I'm going to have to put up with time warp jumps in and out of various eras for a good while yet.

It certainly is a lot of fun though and there is absolutely no way on earth that I could own a layout with over 100 scale miles of trackwork by any other means.

More Engerth locomotive.

Possibly having a little too much fun.  An Anglicised Engerth 0-8-4T built circa 1860 hauling coal on my imaginary railway.

I'm having a fairly rotten time of it health wise at the moment so I'm sticking firmly to doing things with my digital trainset.

Continued to work on the twiglet of a branchline which helped to take my mind off things.  The buildings on the small station need their textures working on a bit so that they properly match and the noticeboards need changing to suit the GNJt.R, but overall it's coming together how I want.

That North Cornwall goods shed is very nice and would be very much the kind of thing to be found on a small rural railway.  Then I suppose I'm a bit biased since I like North Cornwall railway architecture.  Not so keen on the GWR, but I find the Cornish absorbed lines absolutely fascinating.