Captain Slough

diodes.. in 1905? this was probably valve controlled.... i really thought it wouldn't sell or would go for a tenner to someone who wanted the bogies. Pretty certain I'm going to end up being asked for a refund now from some buyer who hasnt realised it really is as bad an attempt as I described it as. eBay really is weird. surely whoever linked it from that facebook page that I haven't been able to find must have said "look at this its terrible, don't buy it". if they didn't they should have

that explains why the battery loco and my scratchbuiilt 1938 stock motor car got more views in the last 7 days than my other 30-odd open items have received in their entirety. I assume the comments on the FB group were well-earned.. would be curious to see them...

Another sort of eBay madness... i filed - a few days ago - an unpowered scratchbuilt LT battery locomotive locomotive that I made when I was about 15 out of thick cardboard on RTR bogies for sale. in my opinion its a terrible model entirely lacking in detail and not even fully square, wearing a livery the prototype never saw. I pointed this out in the advert and optimistically filed it with a starting price of £10. Currently at £31 after numerous bids. I'm not pleased to make far more than I expected, as much as worried they aren't reading the advert and will complain on receiving it... Hope the fact of my own slating of it's quality in the advert text protects me...

the model boating fraternity used to have various products available to connect motors with angled propeller shafts, just a possibility

these are the original "Set" Bachmann wagons - bought from the London Transport museum in Covent Garden around 1995 in a boxed set with a standard BR 16T mineral wagon, LT livery pannier, circle of track and a transformer Brake van is B582 not B581 as currently sold, flat wagon is BW.231 not BW.260 as current set

Might be a bit like my Trix Twin diecast brake van though - not proper zinc pest but zinc oxide (the forbidden sherbet) forming a white powdery coating if its been waiting for 30 years without a protective coat of paint

bloody hell that looks rough. I know that Mazak rot was unknown among Wrenn castings but the edges of the solebar don't look *great* to me... its amazing how many Wrenn factory parts are still in the supply chain. I'm trying to sell off a few unpainted Wrenn pullman bodyshells in SR Green on eBay currently, zero interest - they were ten a penny when I picked them up 25 years ago and apparently still are Also got a fully painted up City of Stoke on Trent bodyshell in lined black thats unsaleable as at any given time there are at least 3 others on sale on eBay for a few quid each - havent even tried to shift that yet

Not dissimilar to a Metropolitan Railway E-Class 0-4-4T. Some Met engines ended up in LNER ownership after LT was nationalised but these didnt apparently

Hornby Mk1 bogies have a clip-fit thats compatible with the hole here Original Triang ones use a rivet, unless you happen upon the rare kit version, which has a brass nut & bolt

its still in my parents attic along with a huge collection of other model railway magazines, so probably not any time soon.... sorry!

Model Railway Constructor in the early 80s had an article on extreme penny pinching model railways and included description of a 9F to Britannia conversion on a Princess chassis, as well as hacks like using automotive relays as point motors - the contacts being handy for live-frog switching or driving signals / indicators

Worlds Fair, America, 191x ? I've seen that too.

Airfix Schools class might be a good source for a large parallel boiler on an 0-10-0 banking locomotive, you can splice as many of them as you like together to make it long enough....

that big 2-10-2 definitely needs an Airfix 9F body on it and a touch of black paint

this Maerklin starter-set 0-6-0 '3087' is the shortest wheelbase 0-6-0 on 16.5mm track I've ever seen. if HAMO ever did a variant of it in 2-rail it might be suitable for a variety of tiny locos The letters on the cabside - KLVM -stand for "Tiny Locomotive from Maerklin" From front to rear coupling hook the whole thing is only about 10cm.

And also did a London tramcar, which from my measurements is pretty much spot-on for HO scale. Which was a weird and market-limiting choice....

Does this mean the unmade Dapol Deltic kit in black plastic thats been in my projects box since 1998 is actually worth something? I bought two and built one, easily

in case it were of interest to others, this is what the clockwork mech from a 1950s Triang C/W 0-6-0 looks like. Thought I'd photograph it before packaging up. Fully reversible and the spring is HOOGE! This same mechanism was shipped in both a steam saddle tank and a 350hp shunter bodyshell. It is unrelated to the Trackmaster 0-6-2 clockwork mechanism acquired by Triang a few years earlier - I just tried fitting it in my Trackmaster N2 bodyshell and it doesnt fit. Too high a profile.

I've got a Triang 0-6-0 clockwork mechanism if you want it - ping me. I tried rewheeling it with Jinty wheels to run on code 100 rail and failed on the first axle as the quartering isnt quite right so that needs redoing but it worked prior to that

If you're building a 4-4-2 out of an N2, wouldnt a JVM/Gaiety body be an easier starting place? its longer, so more space for messing around....

In 1997 I bought, new, a boxed set of Trix Twin trackwork. It was unused, and included the track layouts and operation tips book by Henry Greenley, print date 1949 it had been found in a warehouse somewhere. There were dozens of them to be had. Still got it, never unpacked.

Airfix's 1977 LMS suburban coach mouldings are the equal of anything made this century,so it wasn't just Mainline,but their stuff was amazing Your job for now is to find a Hornby motorised GWR tender so you can still continue to run it when the Mainline motor eventually disintegrates or grenades itself... which it will...

Regarding Dapol Deltics, I have one on a Triang 37 chassis that I built around '95, easy conversion to do and very cheap, which was a priority when I was 17 and broke also still got a Triang 37 on Dapol Deltic bogies somewhere too

WAs always a bit sad that G&R Wrenn never put a Met or LT livery on either their N2 0-6-2T or their 4MT, despite selling them with every other unprototypical livery under the sun Would have looked good

Thanks a lot guys, much appreciated. I've stuck them on the Bay of E at £20 on a 10 day auction, and aso filed some HMC Met Bo-Bo parts I had as a separate auction - if they dont go I'll knock a few quid off every time it relists until they do. No idea if theres even an active market for these things so long after the manufacturers shut down so valuing them's a bit of an issue (My other big issue for this year is turning as much as possible of my Spares & Projects box into cash before the fixed rate on the mortgage expires in August...)