trefin

There is certainly lots of variation in size and/or scale of the buildings and accessories, as the largish water tower and the small goods shed in the picture show. However rolling stock sizes normally seem to stay fairly constant throughout a particular maker's range. I knew the 'Baby Ruth' boxcar was smaller but didn't realise how much smaller until I put the two together. Trevor.

Hi, long time no posts but I'm still here! I was wondering why the two pictured Lionel boxcars seem to be so different in size? Do any of you Lionel experts know? Trevor.

A quick note to say that I will be exhibiting my O gauge live steam layout on Easter Sat 4th April at the Toy Steam Rally, Tilford Rural Life Museum, near Farnham, Surrey GU10 2DL. Trevor.

Hi. We have just returned from a visit to Australia. While there I spotted a couple of Australian-made O gauge trains from the 1950s, namely a "Maurlyn" loco, tender & carriages and a "Ferris" set modelled on a suburban electric train. After WW2 there was a severe shortage of European model railway items coming into Australia so several local firms stepped in to supply the demand. There is an interesting book called "Spring, Spark & Steam" which details this period, the makers, and their products. To this day there is more than one gauge in operation on the full sized railways, but that is another story! Cheers, Trevor.

As a tinplate fan it has got to be the A4 for me. It is always useful to have a battery or clockwork loco on hand at live steam exhibitions to cover breaks in steaming, and a regular exhibitor has a Triang Big Big loco for such purpose. Trevor.

Here are a couple of pictures of my own-build live steam O gauge locomotive, made with a Mamod boiler and pistons/cylinders and Meccano gears on my own design 'Garratt' type frame. It is a consistent & reliable performer, going at a steady speed for about 10 mins on 1 fill of meths. It took a fair bit of tweaking to get it to achieve its present level of performance, however that was part of the fun. A regular turn at exhibitions, it attracts a lot of attention with its unique appearance, its 'snaking' action and all its working parts on display. A spectator has posted a clip of it on youtube. To find it put in "not a Shay", his words not mine, but I am happy with the Shay reference as it does look like a logging loco and it is geared! Regards, Trevor.

Why the sudden rush of photos? My son has just shown me how to do it! More to come. Regards, Trevor. PS. I googled 'images' of 'sugar cane on railway wagons' and the resulting pictures look remarkably like the Hornby Fibre Wagon.

Here is the previously mentioned Marklin level crossing with a clockwork Marx M10000 approaching. Also featuring an Ives Freight Station and an unknown, possibly Bing, signal. You can see that the crossing booms won't lower until the nose of the streamliner is practically half-way across, but never mind, that is the charm of it for me! Trevor.

A photo of my Bowman 234 taken by Mike Newton at the Exeter Garden Railway Show.

Thanks for the prompt replies. I enjoy the 'toy' i.e. non-realistic side of this hobby & actively seek out the off-beat and unusual. Some of my recent finds are a Marklin treadle-operated level crossing (the barriers don't close until the train is right on top of them!) and some wonderful JEP bogie goods wagons. However no matter how whimsical these items are, they are usually based on real life prototypes, which brings me back to wondering what the 'fibre' depicts. Hay? Straw? Sugar cane? Maybe the answer is "whatever one wants it to be". Cheers, Trevor.

Here's a question. What real life rolling stock is the Hornby O gauge 'fibre wagon' meant to represent, or is it not based on real life? The books have much to say about it's history and variations etc but never about what it's actually for. Hope this isn't a silly question but, as a London policeman once told me "Sir, there is no such thing as a silly question". Trevor.

To further clarify the above post I mean that the rough & tumble of exhibition conditions may deter owners of expensive items, new or old, from operating them at exhibitions. Trevor.

Maybe the price of the modern tinplate items puts owners off publicly exhibiting them, as 'bumps' often happen at shows either while running or handling. It's not such an issue with vintage trains. My live steam trains may look scruffy, as live steam tends to do, but at least I can relax and enjoy using them and the public don't seem to mind what they look like. Trevor.

Hi. Thank you for that. I had not heard of this show before. Unfortunately it is the opposite end of the country from me but you never know... I will be running my live steam trains at the Tilford Rural Life Museum 'Toy Steam Rally' just south of Farnham, Surrey on Easter Saturday 4th April. On the weekend of June 27th & 28th I will be running them at the Gartell Light Railway 'Vintage and Steam Show' near Templecombe, Somerset. The GLR, a 2ft gauge railway with steam & diesel running partly on the old S&D trackbed, is well worth a visit anyway - check their website for details and opening days. Cheers, Trevor.

Hi. I enjoy reading these posts very much. I have always liked old toys, maybe because I never had too many as a kid (yes I know start the violins)! A work colleague introduced me to Bowman live steam O gauge a few years ago & since then I have got all 4 locos that Bowman made, plus others, and have had a lot of fun getting them to run well and buying and making suitable rolling stock for them. They need to pull rolling stock as there is no form of speed control other than more/less wagons or reducing the number of working wicks (flames). Lionel 3ft radius track is ideal for the largest Bowman loco and it is compatible with Hornby which is very useful. Yes new Lionel track is available in the UK at Tennents Trains but I prefer to get the older, better made track from the States on eBay. (Rusty track is not a problem for me). I also like the between-wars era American 8 wheel (bogie) rolling stock made by Lionel & American Flyer as well as Hornby. Live steam is not often seen at exhibitions for a variety of reasons but mainly, I suspect, the "fear factor" on the part of organisers which they explain away by stating insurance or health & safety issues. I built my own demountable exhibition layout and take it to various events, mainly full-size steam shows, toy steam shows and model railway shows run by enlightened organisers. These are 60%/ 40% outside/inside. Needless to say, I am very conscious of running a responsible and safe display and I dress the layout up with tinplate buildings, bridges and tunnels for added interest. Visitors are always entranced to see live steam actually working and it is always worth doing these exhibitions just for the reactions and conversations I have. Apart from messy layouts,it annoys me as a spectator at exhibitions when the person/s running the display totally ignore you. I will be part of the team running Bowman locos at the Exeter Garden Railway show on the 18th Oct (this month) and the day after I will be operating my layout at the Wimborne O gauge event. A busy Weekend then! Cheers, Trevor.