simon b

I have often wondered how fast the coronation class could actually go. I'm aware of the 114mph record, but after the modifications to their blastpipes and chimneys in 1939 performance was increased. So much so that two fireman would be required to keep up with the demand for coal. Could one of these given mallard a run for it's money?

Hi all, I'm trying to do a bit of research into which diesel locos could be used on moorgate service's via the widened lines. I'm aware of the GN services using class 31's via King's Cross, but what else was there? Supposedly class 23 baby deltics worked into Moorgate briefly, but I've never seen a pic or any records to back that up. Midland services via Cricklewood were in the hands of class 24's, I've seen a few pics of those. But again what else could turn up? The disused stations site has a couple of pics that show what looks like a class 21, and possibly a 26/27. What services would they have been operating? I also read that 25's might have ventured down there? Any info appreciated. Thanks.

The new build T1 is progressing nicely, and it will be roaming the rails at some point. The question is if there is anywhere suitable to run it at that sort of speed, the track will certainly take a pounding from it.

Hi all. I've got a sizeable fleet of the old Bachmann suburban coaches, and by far the biggest issue is the lack of flush glazing. I heard that the glazing from the replica railways 63ft coach can be used in Bachmann body, has anyone tried this? If it's possible it will make a far better job than the se finecast items, they never seem to fit nicely.

Was the 56 that bad? I know their reliability figure led to the 59, but I didn't think they were any worse than other classes of loco at that time. They are still in use after all...

It is silly to ban extensions to it, the third rail system isnt going to replaced anytime soon. For somewhere like Marylebone which is self contained, a compromise could be a bottom contact system like the DLR use's.

Not sure if it's been mentioned but the new road dive-under is now in use at Calvert, and the old bridge demolished. Not sure if the tracks above are connected up yet, but it does appear the missing link has finally been completed.

Over the last few weeks I've noticed the signals are lit up near the Mursley road bridge.

I don't, but I suspect that is where they will be heading to. I like the MK3 sets as do most people, but they are getting on a bit. There was quite alot of corrosion repairs done at the last major rebuild, and they will be due another at some point. I'm sure I remember the lease on them was due to expire in in May 2024 so we will just have to wait and see.

The mk5 coaches would be a good way for Chiltern to modernise its fleet, I assume there is a solution for the cracking issue they suffer with? The extra driving trailers may just end up being used as spares for the fleet, or could they be stripped and their components used to fit out a few new mk5 coach body shells? I can't see the 68's leaving Chiltern anytime soon, bi mode locos are a good Idea but you need alot of power to drag a train out of Marylebone. There being no easy way to fit OHLE without destroying Lords cricket ground, I doubt the small on board diesel would be up to the job. In the Ideal world Marylebone could be setup for third rail out to Finchley Road, then switch to Diesel or perhaps in time overhead electrification for the onward journey. This setup seems to work quite well in New York's Grand Central Terminal, Siemens having recently supplied new tri mode "Charger" locos to run services.

Walthers now make it but it's rare over here, best thing to do is solder it back on.

I can just see the blue exhaust haze trailing behind it. Is there a thread for your layout anywhere?

Thanks for posting that, the more I look at it the more I like it. I'll have a play around with that, will see what effect bringing the outbound line closer to the inbound has on the pointwork. The loco spur being in that position is begging to be inset into the end of the platform moorgate style.

The blue one seems to be the most popular one, I would imagine because you can run it alongside the other 3rd rail locos of that time. Green with custard will be the same, I'd buy it to run with my blue one. "full custard" not heard that one before but I love it.

Hi Phil, it's funny you suggest that as I had a similar idea for a Lack shelf along those lines. I think it was L49 of this parish who had a layout called "Mount Pleasant" based on the city widened lines, part of that was an enclosed station with a peco overall roof which I thought would be a great micro on it's own. That was before the crash so the pics have gone from his thread, but luckily I saved a few. Hope he wont mind me posting them here.

Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions, some good points there. I think using a cassette based fiddle yard is definitely the way to go, most will only be 2ft long for an emu and a longer one for parcels trains can just hang of the end of the board when needed. The space that opens up will allow me to have at least 2ft of scenic section between station and fiddle yard, which as suggested will be a better use of the space. I should be able to get some point work in that space to get trains routed on the correct line off the layout. This wasn't needed before as the pointwork was assumed to be off-scene, all platform roads being arrivals and departures hence the design of the fiddle yard. Lets say I have 2.5ft hidden section for cassettes, that would give me 7ft to play with. I do want to avoid the platforms being too short, so perhaps I could shrink them down to a little over 3ft thereabouts? I do like the idea of an overall roof to disguise the short length of the station, so will see what I can come up with from that. I used a HO scale kit on another layout that looked rather good so will get the measurements and see how that fits. Victoria park is a good shout for a plan, I'll play around with that idea. I do have a plan for making the parcels depot a kickback siding from one of the platform roads, not an ideal situation but might be the only way to get things to fit without squashing the station up too much. I'll sketch this out and post it up soon. Thanks again.

Can I suggest you take a look at the old matchbox diesel shunter, those would suit the scene perfectly. If your feeling brave the chassis from the underground Ernie inspection car can be used to motorise it....

Happy to be corrected, I was going to use Sle197 for the y points. I thought the setrack ones were different?

I'm going with code 75 bullhead on the scenic part, hence the minimal number of points. Then normal code 75 in the fiddle yard, short y points and medium radius for the others. I actually have enough spare track to build it as shown, so costs could be minimal. I do have one other bullhead righthand point, but thought it might over crowd it? Sticking with 00 for now, allready have the emu's just nowhere to run them.

That's a great idea, I could use that for some atmospheric night shots if I fit lighting.

I'll lay it out and see how it looks, but I can't help thinking with only 1" of platform it will look over crowded?

Now there's something I had always wanted to explore, perhaps start with a super shuttle unit and go from there?

That would be better operationaly, but unfortunately I've only got a 1ft wide board to work with. These were originally going to be fiddle yard boards for another layout, but that got turned into a continuous run so these are now surplus.

Cassettes would make the fiddle yard more flexable, a sector plate might be difficult with the board I'm working with. I'm trying to avoid a board join on the visible section, this layout might be used for photography at a later date.

Hi Andy, thanks for the input. I wanted to keep the crossover so I could run a loco hauled parcel train into the upper platform, running the loco round its train via the "common" siding in the fiddle yard. The platform could be shortened a little, I was taking ideas from "Surrey arms" which has a similar arrangement. Would be interested in the Model rail article if you can find it, all ideas welcome! Cheers.