Clive Mark

Different rules apply for anywhere remotely near Salcombe, which is so posh and so up it's own rear end, that you can see the light at both ends of the tunnel at the same time. I did not have enough money for Salcombe. And there is no pointwork in Salcombe.

Just remembered a good place to look at old original bullhead points and you can walk all over them as its an open area of the site is Didcot Railway Centre. Apart from the short running track areas (such a shame they are so restricted in length and scope) the approach roads into the old steam shed are an open area. I'm quite sure this pointwork has not changed since working BR steam days and may well be the same as when the shed was rebuilt and redeveloped back in the 1930's with the help a government grant to create work etc.

Mmmm! Yes....I'm not 100% sure if I want to go back. I was in Ivybridge 5 years, Malborough (just outside Salcombe) 1 year and Honiton 1 year. It's the coastline...that's the draw. And South Devon Railway and Bodmin and Wenford. I love the North Yorks so much it might just have to be North Yorkshire...cold in winter though. I do a lot of staring at pointwork at all these excellent places. You know....when the trains disappeared and you've finished your coffee. What do you do next. Stare at the points and count the sleepers !

I used to live in Honiton until four years ago. I've lived in three parts of Devon for a total of seven years. Peco's corner in Beer is an area where any job advert is extremely good news. They are building a new town "Cranbrook", 6500 houses between Exeter and the Airport. Exeter is growing with new houses right up to the M5. Every new house or flat is another two cars on the roads. More houses are to be built at Exmouth, Budleigh and Sidmouth. So you have been warned ! Anyway back to happy railways. I sometimes visit Pecorama and Ratio House when I'm down there. The Peco staff tell me Peco have always sold huge amounts of the "Streamline" range to the North American market which makes Peco a good exporter. One of the best advances in the new point are the switch blades. Although the points are hand assembled I assume the blades are machined. They are so much nicer than the stamped pressed blades we have had for many years. Next time I'm in the shop I'm going to request they be made available as parts for building, perhaps in the individulay range. I've not seen the point out of the packet but I could see the Bullhead rail was nicely shaped.....presumably through an extrusion process. Peco used to make Code 75 Bullhead upto about 25 years ago. I've just found the pack (6 one yard lengths) I bought then at OPC books Headington (long since gone) and kept almost as a trophy. The part number is/was IL2X. Why they discontinued it, I have no idea. Perhaps they broke their machine. Again it would be nice if they made this bullhead available again and I will plug for it next time I visit. It would make life easy to be able to buy it in any model shop that stocks Peco. ( I do not know of a shop that does not keep Peco of some kind).

I agree completely....and lets have more convincing sleepering. I've not done any measuring but perhaps the checkrails on Peco's new point are correct length but only cover four sleepers because the sleepers are too far apart. I have stared at many real bullhead points and it can be difficult to work out the frog angle without getting on to them with a ruler. What I do is count the number of sleepers starting from the tip of the switch rail going up to the tip of the frog. There is no obvious consistency on the real thing. Even siding points will have 28 to 30 plus sleepers from switch tip to the point of the frog. Over the years or even from when they were first put down many years ago the sleepering shows a variance between points which otherwise seem the same in overall dimension. At key parts of the points where structural strength and stability is crucial the sleepers can be more intensely laid close together. But it seems to be ad hoc. I therefore do not expect Peco to produce a rocket science precision copy of the prototype because the prototype never seems to be exactly the same. (Not to mention differences between the old private companies before grouping and nationalisation.) The sleeper spacing on Peco's new Bullhead point does bug me though. I hope for a larger radius point in the future from Peco with more convincing sleepering. I suspect they would sell enough to justify the effort. It would be a big bonus for OO finescale modelling even if they just did straight Left and Right hand turnouts and left more complicated units like slips to be built by hand. The use of lots of ordinary large radius turnouts without any other type of point would enable the building of a very satisfying OO finescale layout.

Bachmann's 16 tonner is finely moulded despite its age and is undoubtedly still the best option if you want that wagon. Best to hope they do not sell well and hope they get dumped cheap via Hattons or some other big retailer.

Dear Godfrey, If the prospect of modelling for a whole week is filling you with fear.....then you could spend the week working at Alton Models providing your usual excellent service ! I'm sure Paul would be most pleased ! You should know by now that the model railway industry relish being cruel to their customers.

Got mine at Alton Model Centre several days ago! And its a nice edition.

Nice new book about Little Bytham and other layouts describing techniques used. Good clear pictures. Just like those Tony has already given you on RMWEB. Tony Wright takes you through from baseboard construction and planning to scenery, buildings, locos and rolling stock. All sensible pragmatic common sense stuff with pleasing results. It hinges mostly around OO/4mm modelling as that is Tony Wright's own area of work but there are interesting references to 2mm and 7mm. The book shows how OO can be made to look less OO using fine track (by Norman Soloman) and replacing Steam loco bogie wheels. Great for reading in front of the TV or bedtime. Price £19.99

Although we all hope PECO will push on and expand the range, I hope there will be amendments to compensate for some immediate observations I noted this afternoon. I have studied bullhead pointwork on many heritage railways. I have yet to see a point where the checkrails straddle less than five sleepers. The PECO checkrails only cover four giving a mickey mouse appearance. The sleeper spacing is far too wide, especially in the area of the frog. On the prototype sleeper spacing is closer than on ordinary track to create greater stability for the pointwork as a whole unit. Also the sleepers are not at 90 degree rightangles to the straight stock rail creating an odd appearance. My understanding from years ago is that PECO's large radius points roughly correspond to the sharpest pointwork in real life i.e. sharp siding points. Personally I will continue to build my own pointwork. But hopefully PECO might develop a super turnout for OO finescale affecionados....perhaps representing a C10 in real life with tighter sleeper spacing and checkrails covering at least five sleepers. Its always exciting when a big name like PECO launch a new range or concept. The new point is nicely put together but personally I am disappointed at what seems to be lack of prototypical realism.

Thanks Pete. I think it might be worth the work to enhance what is a good model and get the best out of it.

At the risk of being the party pooper on this thread....and I emphasise I am happy overall....otherwise I would not have bought it.....I do not like the thickness of the tender sides both at the front cab part and at the rear. Very like the old ( ancient ? ) tooling of the Stanier 4000 tenders with the Black 5's and Scots/Patriots. I may just put up with it or thin them down. Easier said than done !

I suspect this may apply to many. I rejected the first Sir William I was shown as the cylinders seemed too angled on both sides. Lots of studying the pictures in my Irwell book suggests the Coronations had the cylinders angled very slightly ....say 2 degrees. It all depends on the impact of light from the sky on a clean cylinder or a mucky one. I have resigned myself to adjusting the cylinders on my Stanier FRS when I am sure how they should really be. On another matter, despite being pleased overall, I do not like the slidebars. Too thin and I strongly suspect the same product used on Hornby's last edition. Also the crosshead piece of valve gear ( can someone offer the proper name !) also seems to be from the old model. The giveaway is that it should be fluted and like the old model it is not. Anyone got any ideas about sorting that ? Do Comet or Alan Gibson do etched valve gear for the Coronation ?

Alton Model Centre stock the full Parkside range in both scales.

Poor old DJH....I wonder if they will sell any more?

Having read the recent posts on this thread, I am reminded of what I saw last year when visiting Gaugemaster's shop at Ford near Arundel and looking in their Continental showcases for both 4mm and 2mm scale products by Fleishmann, Roco and the rest. Most locos seemed to be well over £300 AND they have not progressed in quality or finesse for thirty years? Loco driving wheel flanges and spokes are no finer than what we get now on British outline and a lot of boiler piping is moulded instead of separately added. Remember thirty to twenty years ago when we ALL whinged....."why can't we have steam locos like that German stuff?" Well we do now and in fact we are getting products that are vastly superior to that continental stuff! .......AND at half the price (including some of the amazing latest increases). I think putting it in that perspective we really are moaning for the sheer enjoyment of it. You only live once ! If you like it .....get yer money out and enjoy the best RTR products we have ever had. I think I might exclude Hornby's Seaforth Highlander (£189.99) from that though ! Looked at the box today at AC Models. Hornby seem to think they can stick an extra £20 on over "The Ranger" priced at a mere £169 by presenting it in "The Final Day" mode. Very cheeky. Will it backfire ? Will we see "Seaforth Highlander" dumped....oops....I mean discounted by 50% in a years time ?

Just checked the Class 40 Owners Information leaflet. The 40 does have speaker fitted as a standard fitting. Leaflet states that all you need is next 18 DCC or DCC sound decoder ! Well done Graham Farish.

Purchased green Mauretania yesterday at Alton Models. Test ran nicely. Lovely model. It seems Graham Farish are installing speakers in all their 40's so you just need to add a sound chip, or if you buy the sound fitted blue version you can switch the chip to one of the other three versions. Assuming this to be the case, the model is well priced.

Absolutely ! Because some of us have already been there ! Twenty years back and I have no regrets at all about returning to 4mm. I'm now delving into 2mm as it has become so good. Despite our constant moaning (remember the Auzzies call us the "whinging poms"!) Hornby have given us some stunning products in recent times .....Maunsell and Bulleid Cattle wagons and AA15 Toad Brake vans. Also some outstanding steam locos such as B12. When the product is tip top quality I am happy to pay. Yesterday I bought the Graham Farish Class 40 which have speakers fitted as standard even if it is not chipped making it good value. It really looks like a forty and is a massive advance on the old model. Again happy to pay for a pleasing product. The new Dapol O gauge Jinty looks the part but has no more detail than Bachmann's OO Jinty. In fact it has less....how many people have spotted the little rivets around the cab front spectacle windows on Bachmann's Jinty. I suspect a lot of people do not realise just how good that model is. And people rave about Dapols 08 but it is not without faults....see Brian Daniel's post on RM Web. I do not know if Hornby's 08 is completely fault free...perhaps it is....but it is such a fine model I cannot see the point of spending £180-£200 on Dapols.

And what about £190 for Rebuilt Scot Seaforth Highlander....or £170 for Black Five. I think they really are pushing their luck this time....But we've all said that before and they seem to get away with it.

Very smart. Scary price though !

Steve Bank's website has very useful info and tells the stark truth about just how bad the Oxford Cattle wagon is. Also MRJ issue 87 of 1996 has a very comprehensive article about 9' and 10' wheelbase developments.

Geoff Kent's excellent book The 4mm Wagon part 2 shows pictures and history of the LNER Cattle. He states that few of the 9' wheelbase made it to the early 1950's. Many 9' were rebuilt to 10' and vacuum braked so they would have lasted longer. I believe some of the later builds that were built 10' from the start lasted until the early sixties. Geoff shows E153516 built 9' from the Parkside kit and in BR livery.

There were two Parkside LNER Cattle builds in BR bauxite on display in the showcase at Scaleforum. They had been put on Dave Bradwell's etched 10' underframe and had the appropriate bracing brackets that were added to the 10 foot AVB wagons. They looked superb. A pricey way to do it but the fine brakegear really did it for them. They were with a LMS Cattle built from a David Geen kit which also looked nice.

There's a horrible rumour that the metal sheeting on Oxford's toad is only on the sides and not the ends.