Andy W

Modellers in the USA, where houses and layouts, and trains both model and prototype can be very large indeed, sometimes use graphite as a lubricant for axle bearings.

One thing worth noting is that the pre-Worboys sign for a school changed at some point between the early 1950s and the early 1960s. Both signs can be seen in different posts in this thread. The older one was a red triangle surmounting a black-on-white plate showing a flaming torch, with the word School below. Later the torch was replaced by the the much more logical two children (triangle and wording remained the same). Changeover was very slow, and some torch signs could still be seen right up to the campaign change to install Worboys signs. So if you have a school that needs roadsigns, better to use the torch version if your setting is 1950s or early 1960s unless you have photo evidence showing the school you are modelling or the school is meant to be new-build.

Well of course only a very limited number of porthole coaches ever gained blue/grey livery on the real railway compared to the total built, and not all types ever got the repaint, predominately brake 2nds (by then). Memory, and earlier posts on this thread, suggest that the repainted ones were captive to the southern part of the WCML because they'd also received a conversion to electric heating. So it isn't surprising that Bachmann only produced a small run, there aren't that many people who model the WCML south of Manchester/Liverpool set in the late 1960s.

According to the instructions that came with my model, the DCC lighting functions also work automatically with an ESU LokPilot V5, the much cheaper non-sound equivalent to the LokSound. As metadyneman doesn't want sound anyway, that might work well for him.

But since Brassmasters state very clearly on their website in bold type that they are not an online business "NOTE - we do not operate an online shop and do not have a business telephone number.. " what has this to do with the discussion? And they don't claim to be a limited company either....

Like in so many other areas, the volume of complaints on RMWeb can only be used as a way of measuring quality if you can relate it to the volume sold. As Hornby is still the market leader in UK model railways and sells in large quantities, there are plenty of complaints. But there are also plenty of complaints about some of the smaller "manufacturers". Just look in the Dapol section of RMWeb for wagon wheelsets not to gauge, couplings that don't couple, railcars that run better if you disconnect the drive from one bogie and so on. I'm not singling out Dapol here, you will find other examples, just suggesting that unless a business is small enough to be able to actually inspect product itself before it is shipped to customers instead of just passing it on as received from the far distant contracted actual manufacturer, problems are inevitable, and the more you sell, the more problems. Some of them could be reduced by better inspection procedures in China, but these cost money. If you've beaten down the factory on price and play one factory off against another (which Hornby are known to do), you won't get much pre-delivery inspection.

Now this explains a lot. Hattons do have a shop, in a partitioned off part of their warehouse, in an industrial estate effectively accessible only by car, so presumably they are Band 3'd on the basis that hardly anyone will want visit it. Kernow, who have been mentioned several times as still able to supply to preorder, have not one but two shops, both very presentable and in streets with other shops nearby. Looks like Hornby's version of Bachmann's long standing "no bricks and mortar shop, no account" policy.

What it saved on particularly was time. No need to uncouple loco, run round the train, and recouple loco at terminal points. Given the track layouts at many stations they also avoided the need to propel trains out of bay platforms to where there was space to do the running round. Staff savings - well, less running round might reduce the number of signal lever movements and so drop a signalbox into a lower grade, with lower pay. Where rolling stock was used that allowed the guard to move through the coach, or even the whole train, ticket issue on the train became possible, saving on station staff at some locations for all or part of the day. The GW in particular opened completely new halts specifically served by auto trains that never had anything more than a waiting shelter. Coming back to the original question, on mountain railways it was and is customary to have the loco at the downhill end of the train, the only example I know of in the British Isles is the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Plenty of examples in Switzerland.

Slightly off topic, but New Street's roof varied a lot over the years. As built the LNWR and Midland sides had several separate arched roofs covering the tracks and platforms, to different designs, the Midland side being on a curve as well adding to its distinctiveness. During the Second World War the LNWR side roofs were destroyed by bombing and eventually replaced by canopies covering just the platforms. Finally today's vast concrete slab appeared in the 1960s. So you need to check the dates of photos carefully to make sure they cover the right period. One useful thing about this picture, it includes a Birmingham City Transport doubledecker bus. These were 14ft 6in high so may help with scaling.

They certainly did, in fact if you look at a track plan you'll find some tracks in the station approaches designated as "backing out roads"

Yes there were, a Peco product. with separate designs for each of the Kitmaster Mk1 types. (maybe not for the RFO which I seem to remember had tables etc in the Kitmaster kit).

Yes, you'd certainly need water, either from column or troughs, but heading south coal would probably be OK. There were plenty of tender locos that only carried 3 1/2 tons or even less which made the trip. Depends on the load. Coming back however, there's the climb up the Lickey, or the nearly as hilly line through Redditch and a cautious driver wouldn't want to be running out of coal there. Of course there was a shed at Bromsgrove, plus bankers to lean on!

Surely most pointwork in the UK is actually on wooden sleepers, not concrete, anyway, even if the track either side uses concrete. As far as I know nobody makes a 16.5mm gauge concrete style turnout.

Also depends whereabouts in Yorkshire! For example, there are/were lots of real-life branches in South and West Yorkshire where the surviving railway and general stone buildings are heavily soot-blackened. Head into North Yorkshire and the buildings are much more lightly weathered.

Plenty of time yet - this announcement only covers the next 3 months, not the whole of 2021!

While station pubs/bars are quite widespread nowadays, traditionally at all but the very largest stations they didn't exist as such within the station buildings - instead they were refreshment rooms, which would sell you anything from a cup of tea and a bun to a double brandy and a meat pie. In other words, all things to all travellers. Many were run by the railway itself, others were leased either to individuals or to companies. Even now, they won't pass up the chance of selling you a coffee even if the focus is on real ale.

Disadvantages: Coastal erosion (rare in Leicestershire, for example); Mixed blessings: No mountains. Advantages: Fresh crab.

Ah, finally Hornby does narrow gauge. The modelling world has been waiting far too long for Polar Bear and Sea Lion of the Groudle Glen Railway. And both of them still exist to be scanned!

Now, without knowing who Accurascale or Bachmann bank with, there are banks that exist both in the Irish Republic and the UK (Allied Irish Banks comes to mind). Bachmann Europe is a plc, registered in the UK, and has been around a very long time (since 1989) and the regulations were different then, but in any case there were banks that existed both in Hong Kong (where parent Kader Industries was based in 1989) and the UK - notably HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in long form). Maybe the same applies with Canada, but if it doesn't this may explain some of the delay.

I'd be more concerned about the overloaded UK ports system. There have been several news items recently about ships being diverted to mainland Europe ports because the UK ones, particularly Felixstowe, are clogged up with containers due to slow Customs clearance and importers stocking up before full implementation of Brexit (without investment in port or customs facilities) makes things even worse. The container you want may be on a dockside in Rotterdam...

I have one of the Silver Fox RTR 120s, and very nice it is too, I'm happy with it. But the Silver Fox kits are conversion kits, unlike the ones DCKits have produced which are much closer to complete, there are cabs and side overlays provided to attach to MK1 coaches that you need to buy separately, and you also need to source your own motor bogie(s). The RTR version uses a Hornby motor bogie. DCKits also need you to provide a motor bogie, but they sell rather more sophisticated ones and you could order everything needed from them.

I've never seen the chassis available separately. I've done the swap as a way of getting a new chassis push-pull version. The old split chassis was worn beyond further use, so I do now have a spare body, no doubt I'll get round to selling it some day.

If I remember correctly, there was at least one interregional train from Birmingham Snow Hill to the Southern Region which split into portions for two separate South Coast destinations, so this would be one possible explanation. However it was common for trains that couldn't work out and back in the day to have one set of stock provided by each of the two regions, even if it was a Saturday only service and that meant a set being left at the "wrong" end for a week. But the use of Mark 1s in 1955 really suggests a daily service, these then almost all newly built coaches were kept on frontline workings. Another interesting point is that there must have been a fair few gangway adapters in use, as GW (and LMS) stock used British Standard gangways, whereas Southern, LNER and BR MK1 stock had Pullman gangways. The two types weren't compatible without the use of adapter plates. This tends to make the formation more likely to be one put together in an emergency when part of the train had been taken out of use, or portions had failed to meet up as scheduled. Edited to add - an exception was normally the services from the West Midlands and Paddington to Ilfracombe, which used entirely Western Region stock.

One minor point - the Crewe Tranship Shed data comes from December 1922 and so reflects the final pre-grouping position, except that the LNWR and L&YR had already amalgamated, at the start of 1922, taking the LNWR name. It is reasonable to assume that a greater than previous degree of wagon pooling between the original LNW and L&Y had already started, it would be an easy quick win for the new (mostly ex L&Y) management. What I don't know is whether the figures reflect all new wagons delivered to the merged company as LNWR or there was still some split based on whose design was used, and whether wagons repainted into LNWR livery but coming from the L&Y side appear as LNWR or L&YR in the Tranship Shed data. Maybe the two sets of figures should be taken together in assessing percentages of "home team" wagons passing through the shed?

Just to point out that it is possible to fit the body of a split chassis version to the modern chassis, with a small amount of plastic removal in the area of the bunker floor (an area which can't be seen when the body is refitted). This is handy if you want a DCC-ready push-pull version, or to avoid renumbering/reliverying, or to take advantage of the much better chassis detailing, or simply to replace a worn-out split chassis.