faulcon1

I bought a new Blue Pullman in Nanking Blue here in Australia after they'd all been sold in the UK. I paid $630.00. I saw one on ebay for $1,200.00. I wonder if the seller just bought it to make a profit once all the Nanking Blue liveried ones had been sold. I would have liked Bachmann to sell individual coaches so one could make an 8 coach Blue Pullman and made the coach connections so that could have been possible. Oh well wishful thinking.

Tumut Station opened in 1903 and closed in 1984 and is further down the same line from Gundagai. It's the terminus. The photos are: The railway side of Tumut Station The former load bank In amongest the trees is the remains of the turntable. No iron horses come here anymore but real horses keep the grass down. A ground frame with platform The former station masters house A plague explaining the restoration of the station and who funded it The back of the station building. The red plastic fire hose reel cabinet, silver fuse/circuit breaker box and ground mounted air conditioner are modern additions The notice telling of the foot warmer bottle heater one of the few remaining in NSW The foot warming apparatus The goods shed. This structure may have been moved from Gilmore the junction of the Tumut and Batlow lines The platform line at Tumut now with the 4' paved to turn it into a walkway. People have tried to run trains in the 1999-2000 era but it failed due to lack of interest. Tumut is about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne. The Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme is centered on Tumut.

I buy locos, coaches and wagons direct from the UK. It really is too expensive to buy locally. As for other items I have to pre-order boxes of Peco code 100 streamline as my local model shop only keeps limited supplies. They are in western Sydney. New South Wales. They find that people only buy one or two lengths of streamline so if I buy a whole box they get upset. If I were to buy that same box from the well known exporter in Liverpool UK that box would cost me twice as much as buying here in Australia because they use a private courier service and it's delivered to my door. But when I buy locos, coaches or wagons from that same Liverpool retailer they come via the ordinary postal route. Scenery and modelling materials can be bought locally as the price for buying from overseas is the same. In the UK we don't have to pay VAT but once the airmail postage is included the price is near to even. I'm very skeptical about buying on ebay as I bought from a shop a new Bachmann Nanking Blue Pullman here for $623.00 after they'd all gone in the UK and another seller here on ebay in Australia was selling exactly the same "never been opened" model for $1,200.00. A clear rip off. I sometimes wonder if unscrupulous people buy loads of locos, wagons and coaches just to sell them on ebay at hugely inflated prices just to enrich themselves. When buying on ebay it's always good to have a fair idea of the original price of an item before parting with your money otherwise you can so easily get ripped off.

The other day I went back to the Tarana Oberon Line as I wasn't happy with the photo I took of the trestle bridge. My still photo camera doesn't have a telephoto lens. So I took a photo using the still camera in my in video camera which has a telephoto function. I took the photo from the same place (in the middle of a public road). Although a little blurred the trestle has remained standing even with no maintenance done to it. The second and third photos were taken on the way home and one shows a four arch brick viaduct which once carried the single track original line between Tarana and Rydal. The present single track mainline is in the foreground between the fence and the embankment The third photo shows the station at Rydal. It was double track through the station but due to declining rail traffic it was singled years ago. Believe it or not this is the main western line to Broken Hill. The Indian Pacific travels this line on it's way to Perth.

On the plant front is the giant stinging tree which is a native to Queensland/Northern NSW. To come into contact with it's sharp thick needles is an experience not easily forgotten. Even months later the place where the needle contact you can flare up again. Apparently early travelers horses went berserk on contact with the sharp needles and the travelers weren't too impressed either. One thing I've found odd is that the poms have brambles whereas we have blackberries. Brambles used to be a trucking company.

When you say interior do you mean inside where in real life the water was held? If so then probably a dark rusty brown or a bituminous black. But if you mean the coal space and the space behind it where a fireman would put the bag in from the water column then that would have been usually painted black. I have a Hornby Coronation R2206 and the it was all blue other than the fake non removable coal. But if it worries you so much you can paint it to whatever colour you desire. If it happens to be the wrong shade there's no need to worry you won't be hung by the rope from a tree.

I bought KGV only recently and other than the tender coupling issue which I have resolved I'm more than please with my purchase. The tender coupling bar is thankfully made of metal and not plastic. When I took it off both the engine and the tender I noticed that there was a slight bend where it had been bent on the loco but was straight and hence the raised tender front. So I put a small bend at the tender end of the bar and now the tender sits properly on the rails. I also fitted it with sound taken from my previous 2003 released King.

This joke maybe regarded as a joke in very bad taste.....but here goes, A gay man has lost his lover and has met another guy. After a while he invites his new lover back to his house. The new man inquirers what is the odd container on the mantle piece. He's told by the other man that it's his exes lovers ashes. The new man says ' Oh I can't move in here with him watching over us. You'll have to find a different place for his ashes.' The lover says he'll think it over and let him know one way or the other. A few weeks later the new lover comes over to the house and sees that the urn has gone from the mantle piece. He inquirers where did he decide to put the ashes. The man replies, 'Oh I couldn't find anywhere suitable so I made a big pot of curry poured in my exes ashes and ate the lot in one go. His new lover is disgusted with what he's done. He asks 'why on earth did you do that!?. That is appalling!!'. The man replies, 'well I just wanted to feel him slide out of me one more time'.

I recently visited Hazelgrove station site on this former branch line. This line is hard to take photos of because most of the line now runs through private properties. Unlike the UK where lines were taken up ours were left in situ to be reclaimed by nature. Photo 1 shows an overview of the former Hazelgrove Station looking towards Carlwood and Tarana. Photo 2 shows the disconnect loop. Photo 3 shows a dismantled point frog. Photo 4 shows the former station name board. Photo 5 shows missing sleepers on the main branch line. Photo 6 shows a possible mileage post. Photo 7 shows the track work climbing towards Oberon away from Hazelgrove. Photo 8 shows a small timber trestle bridge near to the Carlwood Station site. The far away view is due to the bridge now being on private land.

I can tell you that my pink tongue lizard is now dead. I came home from work and he/she was in the mouth of a red belly black snake on the driveway. I went indoors to phone the wildlife lot and when I returned the snake had dropped the lizard and gone. All the markings from the head to just in front of it's hind legs were gone. I guess the digestive juice of the snake had done that. I've never seen the snake since. I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

I recently watched an upload by Hornby Magazine on you tube hoping for their opinion on whether the power base system is worth it or not. I was very disappointed to find it showed trains running up and down gradients but no before and after shots of locos hauling those trains with and without magnets fitted to demonstrate the difference. They didn't even say what code of rail was used. It was just a promo to buy a certain issue of their rag. Yes DCC Concepts on their you tube site has videos of before and after shots of trains running up 1 in 30 and 1 in 60 gradients but naturally they will say it makes a huge difference they want people to buy their product. What I was after was an independent unbiased proper video review but as yet there are none.

Elderly people jokes. An older man is on the dance floor with an older woman. The older man has a big smile on his face. He's also a little deaf. The older woman says 'No! No! I said I have acute Angina!!!'. Another older man who is also a little deaf is in the doctors surgery and drops his pants, bends over and produces a very loud fart. The doctor say 'Yes Mr Anderson that was very loud, but I said I want to hear your heart'. An elderly couple are sitting on a sofa and the elderly man puts his hand inside the elderly womans blouse to feel her breasts. She turns to him and says,' They're not up there anymore Walter'. An elderly married couple are in bed and the man appears to have a huge erection. His wife reading a book turns to him and says 'stop showing off I know it's your walking stick'. Another older couple are in the bedroom with husband with his pants down but gnashing his teeth. His wife in bed is clapping her hands. She says to him 'I'm not applauding your erection, I'm trying to turn out the light!!!!' I hope these jokes aren't regarded by the moderators as being 'too near the bone' and if I've offended anyone then I apologise.

When I saw the title of this thread I was a bit concerned. "Death Steam" conjured images of continental locos with long van type trains transporting thousands of people to their demise. Yet scrapyard steam is rarely modeled I think due to people not wanting to heavily weather and rust up working models. The only way in 4mm scale is to use the Dapol/Aifix plastic non working models to create a scrapyard scene. Even then only five models can used. The 9F, Bullied Spam Can, Standard Class 4 , WR large prairie and the Schools. If you wanted to have workmen actually cutting the locos up then one would need to engage in a fair amount of scratch building to show tube plates and boiler tubes. Although none of us like to think of our favourite classes meeting a hot cutting end. Don't forget that the big four companies and their predecessors cut up locos when they thought they were life expired. I saw a video of David Shepard talking about the time when he bought the 9F and Standard 4 and he knew that BR was shopping locos for heavy general overhauls only to send those locos for scrap a few months later. Being told that 92203 had just had a heavy general and that is was to be scrapped and the trouble he had in getting BR to allow the loco to run to it's new home under it's own steam. BR first said, road haulage David said no. BR wanted to pilot the loco with a diesel. David said 'well your diesel is bound to fail which means my 9F will have to push it which will do your image no good with thousands of people looking on. Eventually it was allowed to run light engine to the LMR. With BR wasting so much money you can tell it was government owned as they had an endless line of credit......taxpayers.

I have loads of compassion for the families that are left behind when someone takes their life. They may feel responsible for their loved ones demise. But when a person suicides by involving a total stranger (train driver) I have no compassion for that person whatsoever. That's an extremely selfish self centered act in which ones knows that they don't give a toss about anyone but themselves. But for people who behave like idiots at level crossings IMHO they get what they deserve. But the media trots out their bleeding heart rhetoric that the person was a pillar of the community, liked by all who knew them, had a wide circle of friends, good to animals etc. Yet their families and the ones they effect by their selfish actions are often forgotten about.

What I find on here is all the comments on the law regarding level crossings. Does anyone here know or even care for the train driver who is approaching a level crossing at speed when at the last moment a car zig zags round the barrier and gets hit by the train. There's nothing the driver can do. Trains don't stop on a 10 cent piece. Do people care what it's like for a train driver to have a suicide. A job she or he loves to do can sometimes be brutally taken away in a millisecond. Some train drivers get back in the cab the next day and others take months to recover. Some never recover. The modern trend of placing flowers at accident sites is often a constant unwanted reminder to that train driver who has to drive past the accident spot. A preserved railway had one of it's volunteers suicide and on their face book page were loads of comments on what a fantastic person the volunteer was. How tragic his death was and how terrible it is for his family. Yet not one word for the poor train driver who's train killed him. I had a go at them on their face book page and was barred. Having worked on the real railways I've seen what stupid people who lose their lives does to train drivers. One accident here New South Wales involved two 86 class electrics on a 3,300 ton coal train doing 80kph through a station and two girls who couldn't be bothered to walk via the footbridge from one platform to another. They decided to cross by the railway lines between the two platforms. There was a thin girl and a fat girl. The thin girl clambered up onto the platform but the fat girl couldn't and the thin one was trying to pull her up when the to 86class locos went through the station. The thin girl took off screaming. It took a few kilometers to pull the train up. I knew the driver and he was a really great bloke but he was never the same again. He was affected for life.

Yesterday I went to Thirlmere to their so called 'enthusiasts' day to film 6029 working hard upgrade into Thirlmere. Well what a huge disappointment know doubt due to ARTC operating procedures. One bloke had a large recorder to record the sounds of the Garratt. He said to me as I walked back to my car, "What a bloody waste of time coming down here was" and I totally agreed with him. She was towed to Thirlmere with the former 42203 doing all the work. 6029 was then put on display as was 3265. 3642 was in the roundhouse in steam and 3237 was out the back of the roundhouse. 3016 and 2705 were working the loop line. As I had to work early in the morning I was unable to see 6029 on the mainline leading the short train. What I find odd is that diesels on the back of a steam hauled train can push the train up a hill so why didn't 6029 push the 6 coaches and 2 diesels up the grade to Thirmere. I won't bother going next year. The British KNOW how to have an enthusiast day.

I only found out today that Dave had passed away after looking at a video on you tube and reading the comments. I like many others never knew Dave personally but had seen his railway in the modelling press and on DVD. I only communicated with him here on the forum and although obviously in a weakened state due to the treatment he was receiving one would never have known as he was always extremely up beat. I always loved Tetlely's Mills and thought of Dave as a modeller of Pendon quailty although he himself would have probably disagreed. May he now rest in peace.

As someone who lives overseas and is therefore a tourist when they visit England I've found that many of the signs on roads in England are hidden from view by trees or hedges. I found when driving you get a large prominent green and white sign easily viewed followed by a black and white sign that often is hidden by tree growth so that you miss your turning. At least in England if you take a wrong turn you don't have to drive far before you find a road to get you back to where you want to go. Here you can drive 60 miles before find a connection road to get you on the right road. Such a pity that so many abandoned stations are knocked down as here many are just boarded up and left. I suppose that's the problem of a small country with a large population and where space is at a premium.

I did hear of a couple who lived at Stratford-upon-Avon and had to lock their front door all of the time otherwise tourists would open it and walk in thinking it was all part of the "Shakespeare Experience". I myself would have left the door unlocked but only if I intended to give the other half a good "rooting" on the sofa. It would certainly give the tourists a totally new perspective on the "Shakespeare Experience". I would also have a hat out for them to leave a donation if they enjoyed the "performance". Clovelly would be another place to do it too.

An update on 3801's new boiler can be foundhttp://www.3801.com.au

Can anyone familiar with Victorian Railways broad gauge locomotives explain to me why the buffers have a chunk missing out of them. They seem to be the only locos with this feature as no other railway which has buffers seems to break the metal.

You're right about Bourton being hectic in the season which is why I headed to Lower Slaughter which was much calmer and welcoming to people who don't like the maddening crowds at Bourton. If the station has gone other than the model shop why would one go to Bourton.

I often find places like Bourton on the Water and Haworth is another are great places very early in the morning before the hoards arrive. They really have a lovely tranquil atmosphere about them. It's so nice to look into the shop windows when you 're the only one about. Being an early riser helps.

I have two 57xx panniers but THIS oh yes. It'll sell like "hotcakes" not to mention the Hawksworth auto coach which I've wanted for years.

I too have a BG and no problems yet but if I do have problems then back to the manufacturer it goes. I wouldn't be taking it apart as the manufacturer could say my unqualified attempts to fix the problem have rendered the warranty given by them (Heljan) null and void. I'm surprised at the many on here who attempt to fix the loco themselves. I've only had one other loco from Heljan which didn't work properly and that was Lion and I sent it to Denmark and they fixed it free of charge and it's been right ever since. So if my BG conks out I'll send it to Heljan in Denmark as Hattons is just the retailer and any faults in the loco are Heljans responsibility not Hattons. Also the possible binding valve gear is a thing to watch out for and could save a headache or two.