nightstar.train

That's me! I like to think of myself as a modern image modeller, but I'm going to have to have a large railway museum or preserved railway on my future layout to accommodate all the steam engines and things like the APT-E I've accrued.

Well it's been an awfully long time since I did any work on this. House renovations and the general chaos of owning a pair of children have been getting in the way. I have since completed the second board and have now finally made a start on track laying. First four points fixed down. The far point is the crucial one and sets the position of the whole layout up. Station building roughly plonked in position. Made of three sections here, I realised I had room to add another section for the finished article. After a few evenings work the whole town section has been finished. The station building has been glued together and painted. I'm going for a BR Scottish region look. The end of the runround loop on the left needs finishing. I've decided I'm going to add a bit of board back in here and the end of the loop will curve back to a right angle to the backscene and go to a goods shed. Also need the exchange loop at the front and mainline putting in. But they span both boards so I'll put them in when the other board is attached with some alignment pieces to ensure they work well when the boards are taken apart and put back together. Close up of the station. Really pleased with how it's come out. It's from Thingiverse by Mike's Railway. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4727163

I sort of hope not, it looks like a plain black Accurascale box. For a National Collection in Miniature loco I'd hope for a fancy box like exclusives for other companies have had.

A bit off topic but I'm rather curious as to why Accurascale has made so many DRS locos. They obviously sell well but by my count they've made 8 locos in a version of DRS livery, not including the heritage repaints like 37419. Compared to 7 versions in BR blue/large logo (And I think one of those is a DRS loco in heritage livery) and only 4 in BR green. Maybe they've paid DRS a big licence fee and want to get their moneys wroth.

The problem is they're not revenue earning stock for a preserved railway. Most preserved railways operate on very tight funds and have little if any money spare. Unless there's a special fund setup specifically for restoring a sleeper coach they're likely to languish. Unfortunate, but that's the way of things. And they're not 'glamorous' like a steam engine, so don't attract as many people willing to restore them.

It shouldn't be. The Large Englands were 5ft in wheelbase, the Small Englands were 4ft 6in. Additionally the cabs were visibly larger on the larger locos. The artwork on the Rails blog post is clearly based off the Small England. I'm hoping that Peco/Kato are making a whole new chassis and body. I'm going to be holding off on my order until that is confirmed. I have two Small Englands and I want a Welsh Pony, but only if it's right.

https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/ffestiniog-large-england-locomotives

I do! I bought the Xmas train set in 2019 when my kids were 7 and 3, and they love seeing a wee steam train rattling around under the Christmas tree. I might add another wagon if I can find them at a decent price.

A serious answer for you. On my Accurascale class 92 I found a cotton bud with a drop of enamel thinners worked perfectly. Rub gently and the number will come off without damaging the paint.

That would be hilarious if they could find a distribution company in Margate for these models, and get all the packages stamped with a big "From Margate".

The loco is okay Mick, and is toned down by the grey roof, black bogies etc. But the box is LOUD! I can't imagine what the box for the Accurascale Exclusive HNRC orange 37 will be like. Might need eye surgery afterwards!

Good lord, I do hope that 97301 comes with a free pair of Accurasun sunglasses! I'm really kind of hoping that these are on a boat and not a plane. I have a Titfield Thunderbolt pack on order that is also due imminently, and I'll end up owing Rails a lot of money if the 37s come as well. (Although I do kinda sorta really want an original DRS 37/6, so that might end up added to the order).

If you're going that way then the NGG 16 Beyer Garratts of the Welsh Highland Railway look good. One unbuilt kit recently went for £591! And an assembled kit that didn't run and needed both bogies rebuilding went for £621!! Even acknowledging that the price of a Garratt would be high as it has double running gear, valve gear etc, I do believe that demand is there. I'd certainly buy one even at the £400 mark, and if they were more in the range £250-300 I'd buy at least 2.

sigh Alright, you've convinced me. I'm going to have to buy one now (assuming this one is made). Although I'm also enticed by the LMR blue and the plum 2253. I really am going to have to build a large museum on my modern image layout, I have far too many steam engines.

Did a anyone get photos of the next batch of 37s and the 97 at Making Tracks this weekend? I have a Europhoenix 37/6 and the NR 97 on order, so would love to see piccies.

It's a USA tank, as modelled by Bachmann/Model Rail. They were a class of 0-6-0 tanks ordered by the US Army during WW2 for use here and on the continent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USATC_S100_Class More details under this photo too

Click through on this picture to Flickr and it gives a brief description of how it was done, at least in the FGW days.

I'd quite like a 230. I've seen a few photos of the unit GWR are trialling for battery technology, and it is a very attractive unit. Maybe a bit limited in scope though, although a few one off/prototype liveries which always sell well I think.

Maybe in the November announcements? I'm hoping for a Blanche with the cab tender.

Finally got one ordered, took over an hour! Like the bad old days of the internet on a 14.4k modem. Obviously a very good choice by Bachmann seeing how badly the website is getting slammed. Interestingly they still have the Collector's Club Double Fairlie in stock. I expect that is maybe less popular than the Hunslet as it isn't unique, you can buy a red Fairlie from multiple shops at a discount, whereas the blue Hunslet is only Collectors Club.

Hurrah, a GWR 143 that hasn’t been dragged through a muddy puddle. That will be a purchase for me.

It’s generally possible to adjust that and fine tune a decoder to match pretty well with the wheel revolutions. But that needs the user to fiddle it, the factory settings don’t usually match.

You don't have to run your Sealink brake in a Sealink train

Isn't a large part of the problem that the numbers staffing passport control are decided by the French border agency and Eurostar have no control over them? Unlike a flight where you go through French border control over in Paris, and thus those staff can process flights from everywhere. On Eurostar you go through the French border control in London (and vice-versa in Paris), so on arrival you walk straight off the train and into Gare Du Nord with no more checks. I remember last summer when there was chaos at Dover the blame was being placed at the feet of French border service for not providing enough staff to man all the booths at Dover. My takeaway from all this is that the French are reluctant to provide more border staff over here. Another problem is that St Pancras is so poorly designed. This is just my observations from a trip in April. But the space for Eurostar is far too small. The customs hall seemed to be enormous and empty when we returned. The area for queue lanes before you even enter Eurostar seems enormous and was certainly not full of people. The customs/passport area was very cramped. The waiting area is far too small, as is the cafe. It really needs a complete redesign and dare I say getting rid of some shops to provide more room. By contrast Gare Du Nord seemed larger and not as crowded. Probably helped by having windows and not feeling subterranean. Customs area was still crowded, but didn't seem as cramped as London.

The preserved NER railcar has a new, 21st century engine/generator. So even a recording of it wouldn’t be accurate for a 1910s railcar.