nightstar.train

Show me a house or office or any building door where you have to open the window and lean through it to turn the door handle. And a house door where the handle has two latching positions and if it's not firmly slammed onto the second position it can spring open without warning and injure people. It's a simple fact that the vast majority of the public and overseas visitors will never have encountered this type of door and handle arrangement and may not know how to use it correctly. And if you lean against a door in a house and it unexpectedly falls open the risk of injury is far lower than if you're travelling on a train. Your not going to fall off a viaduct or encounter another train travelling at 100mph. And yes maybe trains should have seatbelts, and maybe preserved lines should have CDL. But that's not what's under discussion here. There are no regulations requiring either currently. There ARE regulations requiring WCRC to have CDL fitted to run their trains, which they are refusing to do. That is the start and end of it.

Thanks for this, and earlier posts by yourself and @The Stationmaster. It really is fascinating how the timetable of a very minor branch in the wilds of Scotland affects/is affected by trains all the way to Glasgow and even London!

Indeed WCRC have a rake of Mk2 air-cons fitted with CDL. They could have them up at Fort William and the Jacobite running tomorrow. Would get the service up and running and revenue coming in whilst they fit a rake or two of Mk1s with CDL. But that would require them admitting they're wrong.

The real problem with an electro magnetic system is getting a reliable power source on a Mk1. The alternator and battery system are not reliable enough. You need better batteries, which is easy in 2024. But then they need charging. AAUI the alternator on a Mk1 doesn't work well at low speeds, and indeed can fail completely. So you need better alternators, or a regular shore connection to charge them. It's not insurmountable by any means but a huge problem will be the paper work. Any system like this would need certifying for use on railway. Could certainly be worth it for WCRC with over 100 coaches to fit. But again it comes down to their willingness (or lack thereof) to spend the necessary dinars.

Because they don't want to and it's not fair stamps foot like a petulant 6 year old But seriously I think it's in a large part down to sheer pig headedness of the MD. He's run it this way for decades so why should he have to change now? He's not killed anyone (yet) so it's obviously all fine and the ORR are just being ridiculous. He doesn't want to spend money on the stock, he wants to buy a nice steam engine.

There was a war between Voice Of America/Radio Free Europe/BBC and the Soviets, with the Soviets trying to jam the incoming broadcasts. Might well cause some of the mentioned.

From an email from Accurascale today, mini update on the 37s

I’m just going by the purple deltic. It is much hated and there are many many negative comments about it over on the deltic thread. However it sold out very fast and sold so well it’s the only loco that Accurascale have (so far) ever made an exact re-release of. I get a similar feeling for the sentiment around 50017. It’s a marmite loco, strong feelings either for or against, not so much in the middle ground.

I found it funny that Accurascale chose 301 to model for this reason. 302-4 would maybe be better bets as they’ve had longer working lives. Unless they’ve had more modifications that make them difficult for Accurascale’s tooling suite. Anyway, 301 obviously sold well, as did all the 37s, so it can’t exactly be called a bad call, maybe just slightly odd.

Will the red and gold pseudo LMS Coronation livery ever be made? It might be like the purple deltic, some people hate it but enough people love it to sell out easily. Would make a great exclusive.

I never knew that the modern KUAs were designed to do that. Has it ever actually been done though? I've certainly never seen a photo and you'd think it would've come up when Accurascale/Revolution were making their models. I know that the KUAs have been up to Georgemas junction to collect things from Dounreay/HMS Vulcan. But I'm fairly certain they didn't transform to road mode, rather stuff was brought to them at the loading pad.

This is great. A 91 towing the 89, a Mk2 something barrier, 4 Mk4s and then another Mk2 barrier. Great formation, definitely one to print out and keep for exhibitions to silence the “well akshully” crowd.

Here they are https://railsofsheffield.com/products/Bachmann-37-590-br-45t-ttf-tank-wagon-bp-lubricants-green https://railsofsheffield.com/products/Bachmann-37-590a-br-45t-ttf-tank-wagon-bp-lubricants-green-w Seem to be numbers BPO60365 and BPO60194.

Initially the HST was set to just provide ETS to the coaches. But this meant the engine was running at very low revs and led to carbon build up in the exhausts. ISTR that there was a fire involving one of the HST powercars because of this. So they modified the controls to make the powercar run in full multiple with the 91 to get the revs up and keep the engine clean. It did lead to some very spirited acceleration as you say.

I expect that they are rightfully fearful of Warner Bros army of lawyers and know exactly where the line is and how far they can tread it in regards to Harry Potter. Seems they can't apply the same thinking to the ORR though. I would imagine that IF (and its a big IF) WCRC can show the ORR that they have a costed and timed plan for fitment of CDL then they will get an exemption, just as Belmond, Vintage trains and so on have. But they will have to prove it, not just make vague statements. I'd imagine the ORR would want to see orders for CDL equipment placed and workshop slots booked. They have fitted the Northern Belle, which shows they can do it (although it's easier to fit them than a Mk1), which I would imagine will help their case with the ORR.

Fixed the link for you. On flickr if you click the share button (curved arrow going leftwards) you get a much shorter URL that embeds the photo on this forum if you just paste it in.

The most recent update from Accurascale (from October) says if these dates still hold batch 1 should be on their way. Q1 only has 18 days left!

Is there a list of what was trapped north when the viaduct first collapsed? Could the photo be mislabelled and the coaches actually be being brought south after rescue?

Slightly off topic but one of the photos shows a Mk1 Pullman and a Mk1 Restaurant of some description being moved north. Were these for the summer season for special excursions? Why else would they be moved up North of Inverness?

I had a little look earlier. They are very similar, but not identical. DB99501-4 have a different arrangement of doors and windows on one side, the other side appears identical. Here's DB999504. From the left it has two large windows, very close together, then a door, two small windows, door etc. And here's an original LMS example, DM45026. Large window, door, large window, two small windows, door etc. So very close, but not identical. The Bachmann example is an original LMS example as in the second picture. You could certainly repaint a Bachmann one into Mainline blue and be happy with it. As I say the other side is identical between original LMS/Bachmann and BR built LMS design.

It does indeed seem to be. The LMS 50ft inspection saloon. I am under the impression that the Mainline saloon never saw action, it was painted for a launch or open day, but never ran out on the mainline in that livery. Of course rule 1 can apply on your layout and you can run it. I quite fancy one myself, but don't have the time to paint it just now. BTW I think that I have a magazine with a picture of it in, so DM if you want and I'll photo it for you. Probably can't post it here due to copyright.

I’ve finally got my SRM after retrieving it from parcel purgatory. What an absolutely beautiful model, completely stunning. However, mine is unfortunately a lumpy runner. It seems to be when the left hand cylinder is all the way rearward and starting to move forwards there’s a slight binding. The motor powers through it, but there’s a noticeable jump when it does. Happens both in forward and reverse. I don’t have time right now to trawl back through a few dozen pages, but has anyone else had similar? Is there a simple/easy way to fettle it rather than return to Kernow?

Hope this works. There are a few pictures going around Facebook of the Mk5s with the TPE triangles taken off. Look awfully bland, hope they get another splash of colour to relieve the grey with grey highlights. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=7784633851556380&set=gm.7152757344831383&idorvanity=573173142789869

it’s actually Queen St station, not central. Queen St was the one served by Eastfield, or being entirely the wrong side of Glasgow for central. Pity about the tech problems they seem to be having. Hopefully it’ll be firing on all cylinders the rest of the weekend. I disagree. The curtains are a much more pleasing aspect/ much smarter than blank concrete walls, even if they are black. They also add some much needed sound deadening to such a vast and echoing space. Definitely felt better to my ears/head, don’t feel migrainous after a full day there.

Even better, a muffler for a howitzer! This is on an army firing range in Germany. Apparently it's quite close to some housing, so they have a muffler for the howitzers! Definitely doesn't look like anything else though.