Ben Alder

11 hours ago, Steven B said:

Unless I'm mistaken, two Rapido and one Hornby van could be found in Whitby yard 60 years ago:

(Ernies Railway Archive on Flickr)

 

Steven B

We present day detail modellers have so much to thank John Boyes for.......

I use single ended 3mm S&W's on my 00 layout and once the loop and couplings are painted black they are very unobtrusive, to the eye at least.. and have found the advantage of these couplings compared to others , having tried most of them over the years, is their relative simplicity and ease of tweaking to local conditions - usually a bend of either the loop or bar  to  do a slight adjustment. I also add a last magnetic 3 link chain to the dropper for remote uncoupling.

Couple of pics showing them.

It isn't opening ATM on the link further up the page but I'm getting it by Googling the site. Here is another link that opened just now.

https://www.popupdesigns.co.uk/product-category/railway-scale-models/

Didn't work for me this morning, so phoned Pop Up this afternoon. Andy said  the site was down a few days ago for a while but apparently sorted now. He opened up both home and railway pages  while on the phone with me to check all was OK. I have just tried opening it from the link above and in a fresh search, and both work, including the railway section. Using Firefox and DuckDuckgo. HTH.

2 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

SOs were also formed from downgraded FOs

Yes, and a far better journey experience. There were some on the HR main line in the eighties, and a delight to travel in compared to the SO's.

1 hour ago, tractionman said:

I plumped for one of these, good value for twenty quid

 

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/24480/44-004-Bachmann-Scenecraft-Provender-Store

I had one of those as an interim, and it it a good rendition of the provendor store if not too fussed about location, but for my purposes I had to to it the hard way...

Built one years ago as the basic kit, and remember struggling with it then. Some five years back did another, based on the Thurso one, using two kits, and was a frustrating experience, getting all the panel pieces in the right order and matching up. After it was done, I decided that it would have been better to scratchbuild the superstructure and use the kits as a source of parts such as the pillars and roof ridges. Certainly a prototype that could do with another look at as a kit as they were widely scattered  and of varying sizes. Here is mine after all that - the pillars were indeed another sore point and ended up being sunk into place to hide discrepancies. The LMS shed beside it was from  scratch and a lot easier...

1 minute ago, PeterStiles said:

Yes, it is the 2mm Scale version I'm crying over. 

 

I can see how it'd be a lot more manageable in 4mm...

 

Maybe it's time to go Senior Scale, if only I had the room.

Yes, mine is 4mm. I chickened out of any 2mm thoughts a long time ago.....Best of luck....

Built one when it came out, more or less OOB, if I recall, adding a shelter for the coaler as per the Wick and Oban  examples. Don't recall many problems with the kit, but it was a couple of decades ago. I've still got it and can take a look to see if I did use any add ons, but don't recall doing so.

A member of the HRS is doing a 3D print of this, IIR.

4 hours ago, markwilson said:

It’s a Lone Star and now you can see why I said it’s pretty old! 

I’ve disconnected it and put my old Gaugemaster D on (technically not an O gauge controller, but these Dapol units don’t pull as much current as my Heljan stock). Seemed to be running fine, but still a slight whiff from the DMU after 10 minutes running in each direction, so I may just need to accept these models are not made to run continuously.

 

My layout is end to end, so that shouldn’t be a challenge…

TBH, I know nothing about this type of controller, but Lone Star is something from the past. I am unashamedly retro with DC, using H&M 30000 and Walkabouts as my go to's along with an 80's Orbit and a Morley for the few coreless locos I have, but surely a club can stretch to a more modern controller. Gaugemaster provide a good selection of options, alongside others.

What make is the club controller?

I have used these sheets - for a random embossing pattern they work really well,  but fade to a bilious shade of green very quickly. I tried various exposure tests using varnish and UV sprays but all failed. A pity as it was an excellent product - seems to have vanished from ebay now - I do have a couple of sheets left, along with some others of differing finishes but don't want to waste time on using them. What I did with your sheet was scan it  and intend to try printing it out  on a light fast print printer  using 90lb water colour paper to see if I can replicate  a pseudo embossed effect, and if that doesn't work  do it on a normal, heavier, paper. One of many things waiting their turn in the queue, but I can send you a sheet to experiment with or else my scans - I played around with colours  but haven't done anything with them yet. PM me if this is of any use. I don't think it is worth going to the bother of using them as they although.

Here is a link to my blog entry  re Tracklay. The photos have vanished but I have added those I could find at the bottom, which should explain things.

1 hour ago, Buckfire said:

Is there anyway to find the images people have posted of imaginary locos? I’ve looked at earlier pages and the links to the images show up as either a blue square with a question mark or a white page with Access Denied repeated twice and a series of letters and numbers. 

Back up disaster a couple of years ago.. they are all gone  bar those few individuals who reloaded lost images, I'm afraid.

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

As is typical with these things , that which I want in 4 mm is only available in 2 mm and in this case what is available in 4mm but not in 2mm, at least it wasn't. Now pop up designs are reducing 4mm designs to 2mm. But they may require additional work .

 

The problem I find with the 2mm designs are the laser cut handrails and similar thin real items, are way too thick. To make a truly accurate model they'll have to be replaced.

 

My HR, layout under construction is below.

 

https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=38780.0

Link wouldn't open I'm afraid - seems you have to be a member to view it.

Found a couple I'd taken earlier in the year when searching for something else.

Based on the Forsinard cabin. I saw it on a FB post of his,IIR, and contacted him to ask about it. Give me a while and I'll dig it out and photo it.

I have one stashed away to build out of curiosity, and reached the same conclusion as yourself about its complexities when I examined it - hence the lack of progress. Intentio did a HR cabin for a customer and sold me one, which again is lying waiting but it seems a better kit than the Helmsdale one. If you are interested in any more HR buildings Pop Up Designs have a good selection.

Nice work, and a definite thumbs up for the GW paint range. I sell them in my shop, and seeing what the fantasy modellers achieve with them is an eye opener. Railway modellers should make a point of taking a look at their paints and some of the many videos and You Tubes  that are posted demonstrating  them. Nuln Oil is probably the single most versatile  quick improver - adding shades and depth to figures  and features in a moment.Their range of tools etc tend to be overpriced though when packaged in a GW blister and the same ones can usually be found in the Modelcraft or Expo offerings a good bit cheaper.

On 23/12/2023 at 20:25, Paul Tollett said:

I didn't know Pop up did the station kiosk!  (And I've just bought a Slaters one to adapt!).

 

I saw a photo of it, with John Menzies sign above it, but can't find it now.

 

 

There you go - one of a series I did earlier in the year, including one for Pop Up.

Pop Up supply as good as a ready to build  selection of buildings for Dornoch as I suspect no other UK station has - I stand to be corrected though - there is also the loco shed, water tower, goods shed and station kiosk, with only a few assorted sheds and huts to do oneself, but which could be omitted without loss of credibility to a layout. They take most of the effort out of tackling a to date, obscure prototype, and are similar to the ones at Fort George and Lybster, and can be applied to an  imaginary HR branch line somewhere.

If you are interested, I have amassed a gathering of available photos of Dornoch and the branch - drop me a PM and I can arrange a file transfer if you want.

I'll send you some of the HR shed at Brora which has a hipped roof.

Did mine, as part of a rolling replacement, with wired frogs at first, but found that everything, including small tank locos passed through the dead frog without any problems. Admittedly DC, but they do seem to do what it says on the packet.....

Iain's latest - a model of Macduff  engine shed - should have appeal beyond the GNOS area, I would think....