Gordon Connell

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39702623

Sorry not sure, for the type being modelled by Bachmann, probably 1930's.

Thank you and thanks to Oldddudders as well.

One classic duty for these sets, right up until the end, was the Redhill to Reading service. Indeed a set from this service

was used each weekday evening to form a Guildford to Cranleigh train. ( M7, 700, Q1,E4 etc ).

 

Would you be able to tell me when they started service on the Redhill to Reading line?

News on work in the Severn Tunnel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-36837623

News report arguing that HS2 is needed but that the current plans need rethinking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36376837

True - that's likely to be some more, and there's also Airdrie-Bathgate which was electrified from the time of re-opening.  But, for what it's worth, I think Alloa will be the first line that was closed and re-opened to be electrified later on... 

 

Edit: excluding freight-only lines that were re-opened to passenger, such as Stratford to Dalston.  Now it's so heavily qualified this isn't looking like an interesting fact any more ! 

The Paisley Canal line was re-opened and has subsequently been electrified.

The Alloa route is a success on the freight front, however there's no passenger service in either direction other than the srps forth circle trains, seems like an opertunity to breath some new life into some of the communities the railway passes most notabley Kincardin.

I'm not sure if there's a misunderstanding here. The line to Alloa and on to Longannet power station was rebuilt to allow for coal to the power station to avoid using the Forth Bridge and also for passenger services to Alloa from Glasgow. The passenger service runs I think once an hour and has exceeded the original estimates for passenger numbers. There may well be a case to be made for extending passenger services on to Clackmannan, Kincardine and even beyond using the old freight route.

Gordon

Baling is another farming activity that I don't think I've seen, I cannot remember when it is the year that it's done, but nowadays it tends to take the form of 'round' bales. The bales are made up by the baling machine and are then taken to the wrapper, which binds it in a black, tackie plastic. In storage the bales sag under the weight of the ones above and due to rain fall. Be advised, wet hay stinks.

 

Baling will happen at various times in the year depending on what is being baled. It's only silage that is wrapped in black plastic, to help retain moisture, and there can be a couple of cuts in the year depending on conditions. Hay and straw would normally be baled when they are as dry as possible and without any wrapping.

So my question is as the end of the steam period slips further back will new people coming into the hobby who want to model steam have a more open minded view of periods to model having no direct connection or nostalgic link to the 1950/60s era, are we going to see a shift to a more even balance to periods modelled and are RTR manufactures going to see this if they haven’t already as it seems that more pre-grouping subjects are being covered now than say ten years ago. The companies that went to make up the southern seem to be doing quite well at the moment. So are we on the eve of a golden period for pre-grouping modellers or will the hobby continue to jog on as it has for the last 30 years with the majority modelling periods they can recall if this is the case then steam period models could decline in favour of post steam period models (see what I did here, managed to keep away from the much debated modern image turkey) anyway lets have your views. Regards all Steve

The other way of looking at this is that the nostalgic link will keep moving and be focused on the diesel/electric traction of later years and that if people model steam then it will take the form of a heritage line. Of course, if this were true then I should want to model the BR blue/grey period but I have no nostaligic feel for that, though I am sure there are some that do. As it is I do want to model a pre-grouping railway, in my case the G&SWR, but I suspect that is because I have always loved history in the broadest sense and have taken that same interest in the historical into my love of railways.

Although there are more pre-grouping models I suspect that we are not on the verge of a golden age of pre-grouping though because to do it properly will (almost certainly) always require kit- or scratch-building which puts most people off. I know how they feel because I am approaching the whole idea of kit building with great fear and trepidation. My children keep on asking why I haven't started building the stock yet and I am running out of excuses, so who knows.

Hi,

 

Good idea, lets see some more Scottish classics recreated in miniature. Here is my rendition of the Sou West 'Greenock Bogie' on the turntable at Ochiltree.

 

Ian.

 

Ian,

What an absolute beauty! Did you make this yourself?

Gordon