Chamby

. I have had similar results Peter, with one notable exception. As early as #2 in this thread I expressed concern about the location of the railbreaks being very close to the frog, and the potential risk of shorting out. Well I have one loco that persistently does this on just one point that admittedly has been laid slightly curved. The offending loco is a Bachmann deltic - a wheel back in the leading bogie makes a momentary contact with the opposite polarity rail. It is an overcomeable problem, but the message here is that the electrical polarity tolerances are very tight indeed, and tinkering with the point geometry does therefore carry a risk. Phil

If I recall correctly, Dapol have been able to extend the lifespan of the old Airfix mouldings by using a different formulation of plastic that causes less wear. This option must surely be available to the other companies too. Re: Bachmann’s Midland Pullman, if they amortised the moulding costs in the first production run, then why the price increase for the latest version? This just proves that pricing is often set by what they think the market will stand, rather than a simple ‘cost plus’ model.

Hmmm. Sixteen axles on a big rail gun for fifty quid from Oxford Rail. Quite a contrast to ten axles of crane from Bachmann for £250! And Oxford will surely sell lots more big guns than Hornby will manage to sell Maudes. I need at least three for the ‘kids train’ on the exhibition layout... pulled by Thomas of course. I wonder if they’ll fire matchsticks?

. Is it really that big a job????

But it does exist! For example, Dapol 4L-003-005 is a “Lattice type SR Home Platform Starter” and you can buy one right now. Available now on Hattons website and elsewhere. Whether it should be described thus is, as you say, debatable. The important thing however is that the OP knows what is meant.

Chris, pedantry Is a given on this forum - no problem with that! But also explaining what you think is correct would be useful to those of us whom you feel are less well informed? In this case I used the terminology with a purpose, given that the OP is largely building his model with commercially available items. For some reason the commercially available model semaphore signals (Dapol, Hornby etc) all refer to their stop signals as simply Home signals. Using their (albeit debatable) terminology, the OP will need to buy and install a “home” signal as a starter in that position. Phil.

If my memory serves me right, the GC London extension was unusual in the way it described the running lines. On the GC, ‘Up’ normally meant towards Sheffield. So Towards London was the Down line. This only affected the description though, trains running ‘down’ towards London were still running on the left hand side of dual track. Re: signalling, you would expect a home starter on the left side of the line you have labelled ‘up’, beyond the platform end... probably just in front of where you have placed your signal cabin. In the other direction, you would have a signal to protect the station, most likely before the turnout leading to the sidings. This would also have an indication to the approaching driver whether the route was set along the main line or into the sidings. Within the sidings area, ground signals would most likely be used. There would also be a starter for trains travelling in the other direction. Regarding your track plan, I would expect to see a trailing crossover beyond the turnout to the sidings, allowing trains to move quickly over to the line labelled ‘up’ so avoiding wrong way running on the line labelled ‘down’. It may be that you have one installed out of sight round the bend, which is fine. For examples of signal design and more precise practice regarding signal locations you can find many photographs in the various books covering this line. One I would recommend is “Great Central Railway’s London Extension” by Robert Rowbotham. Published by Ian Allan in 1999. ISBN 0 7110 2618 1. I picked one up secondhand on Amazon for a good price: as well as some excellent photographs, it also has track plans for each station on the railway. Phil

I think the standards of accuracy will be not a lot different to today. Many people are modelling stuff they have never seen with their own eyes. It is interesting to note that in war gaming, one of the most popular eras is the Napoleonic war. This still thrives because it was a landmark time in military history, even though it is now well before anyone’s living memory. I think the nationalisation to diesel transition era holds a similar place in railway history. It will always be popular.

That is exactly what I do... I am hanging onto it for platform canopy glazing... scratches and all. But nationally, I bet a lot of it simply ends up in the bin.

oh I have no doubt that there were lots of seemingly sensible reasons behind the change. But these are all very short sighted. You have to follow the thinking all the way through... the life of a plastic pack doesn’t just end when the customer receives their product, it goes on, and on, and on. The peco plactic packaging is made of PET - the same stuff that is used widely for plastic bottles... which despite its suitability for recycling is emerging as one of the worst contributors to plastic pollution. And remember that even when recycled, this doesn’t make the stuff go away... it just becomes another plastic product that also needs recycling. Ad infinitum! Old fashioned cardboard is just so much more sensible. Rant over. Phil.

And why the switch from perfectly good environmentally friendly cardboard packaging to more problematic plastic? Wholly unnecessary.

@ #744: My one and only reservation is the use of equalised timbering rather than the square to the straight road we are used to, will this be continued through the range ? #722 should answer your question for the slips, if the illustrations are accurate representations of the finished article. Yes the timbering looks like it will be equalised, so no different to existing FB streamline crossovers then. I hope any future turnouts are also equalised, it does not make sense to deliberately introduce inconsistencies across the range. Phil

Their website is working for me this morning... it wasn’t last night. (On iPad).

Thought I would post this pic of 34053 Sir Keith Park on the SVR, taken in July 2016. I don't usually wax lyrical about Southern loco's, but this moment caught my imagination. This is just the sort of atmosphere that I would love to capture in model form... shame that some things just don't lend themselves to miniaturisation.

Like others, I have only distant childhood memories of pre-preservation steam, notably of Snow Hill, and the GC in Nottingham. I remember being scared witless when admiring a Castle class at close quarters when the safety valve blew! If familiarity is the trigger of our main interest in the hobby, then I should really be modelling blue diesels. But I don’t have anything at all from that era in my extensive collection. I have found that it is the history behind what I am familiar with that has led me to my main interest. In particular, the post war nationalisation era that was so familiar to my father and his generation has captured my imagination. I think it must have something to do with a fascination for what was, visible to me only mistily through recorded time and others memories. The ability to recreate that is the special ingredient for me. Phil

The older you get, the more you realise that from a partner's perspective there are far worse things that you could be into!

Horse? Good grief I knew they were not the most dynamic of organisations, but a horse???

To the OP, these photo's might help, taken at Zweisimmen in 1996 showing the rollbocks in use. The three standard gauge wagons were transferred via the metre gauge up to Lenk, then used to pick up and take away that community's rubbish. In the first photo, you can see a pole lying on the ground... this was an extended coupling that connected the standard gauge wagons to the metre gauge loco. Phil

Another thing I have noticed is that prices of discounted items do vary hugely over time, with a Rails pricing more volatile than Hattons of late. For example R3356 the Railroad crosti 9F... last year it was discounted to £79... then during the pre-Christmas period it was £89... now it is £109 and they quote ‘hurry now sold out at Hornby’. Looks like they are starting to follow budget airlines policy of charging more as availability dwindles. I dislike this approach intensely and it has deterred a possible purchase from them on a couple of occasions as I baulk at being asked to pay more than they were happy to take before. In contrast, Hattons pricing seems to be more consistent for now. I hope they keep it that way.

Rails seem to be slightly cheaper with new stuff. The slightly older stuff, it pays to compare prices once they start discounting. Hattons are cheaper for some items, Rails for others.

Most of us on this forum are evangelical about model railways.

I have replaced the speaker on a TTS sound fitted Class 40. There’s loads of room inside for a good sized speaker, I used a 28x40mm speaker to good effect. It gives a sound that is both crisper and richer than the original. But as mentioned above, do be careful to get the impedance right.

You never know, when talking to exhibition visitors who linger at your layout. Some you can scare off by trying to open up a conversation, then there are those you end up wishing you hadn’t asked! But most are somewhere in between. I now usually just start off with a smile. It tends to invite a response for those who want to talk, but doesn’t scare off those who don’t. Phil.

Shiny or not, I'm surprised that there are no stripey coaches announced to go with them.

Lol @ 400 users browsing this forum...