60027Merlin

Another year just about over but the year(s) on the layout stay the same. Teddy boys to the fore and rock 'n roll still hammering it out.

John, The photo of Golden Plover you refer to may be the one in an LNER Pacific book in colour. It was taken in 1961 when things were changing with the diesels. I recall seeing class 26/27s on this working to Edinburgh from Queen Street in 1962/63 in the western suburbs of Edinburgh . Eric

A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year Gilbert. It is a time consuming task to put things on the site every day and it is very much appreciated, especially when viewing all those rare Pacifics from the deep south! Eric

John, The A2 would have come off at The Waverley and an Eastfield loco took it on to Queen Street. The Up service was the same, with the Eastfield loco off at The Waverley and a Haymarket turn south to Newcastle. The Eastfield locos were either a B1 or later on a Standard Class 5. All the best for 2024. Eric

Regarding these steps, they are not included by Hornby as mentioned in the last few postings. Here is photo of the DJH one out and about which now has company!

I used a suitable thickness of a spare piece of whitemetal from a loco kit. There are quite a number in the box! From photographs of 78047 I judged the size and slightly champhered the edge which was to be glued to the running plate. I used a fast setting Araldite for this then painted them during the weathering stage. Eric

To follow on from the previous photo I forgot to mention that the steps on the front running plate were added as some of the class were fitted with them. Not too sure if this was a local thing or not.

Same name but two different locos. Of course, a few decades separate them unless there was a time warp at Haymarket. The GEM North British Railway Atlantic purchased when released in the mid 70s and built then. The loco and tender were painted a year or so later then the loco was partially lined a few years after that. The loco lining was then finished a couple of years ago and then the tender lining was finished last month. Back then I had many other things to do and could not face the lining which would have taken quite a while (which it did) No doubt there are still odd bits missed out but that is it for now or perhaps ever! or it in black and white.

Now done up and working well on the layout. It was a bit of a novelty not to have to change the number and shed plate!

Malcolm, I am still bashing on and keeping well. Good to read that you are going to tackle some outstanding kits. The K4 has the Dave Alexander chassis supplied with the kit. In these last photos, Glen Falloch is a GEM kit on a Triang L1 chassis with Romford wheels and gears. I built it when it was released in the early/mid 70s along with the other N. B. R. kits from GEM, even the Atlantic! Amazingly enough I only got round to finishing the Atlantic last month as the tender lining still had to be completed. Only about 48 years later! Glen Arklet is a PDK kit built about 10 years ago. it comes with a set of frames etc. Of course the main difference is in the chassis wheelbase as the correct 9 foot 6 inches wheelbase for the driving wheels is where the PDK kit scores. The Triang L1 chassis has a wheelbase of 10 feet. If both locos stand side by side it can be noticeable, perhaps because we know the difference? However, the Glen and the Scott by GEM still look fine. Hopefully one of the ready to run manufacturers will release them soon. It is certainly not for the want of bringing this omission to their notice, especially at the AMRSS Show in Glasgow over the last decade or more! Regards, Eric

After running through some earlier photos which were lost on here at the system changeover, here is a selection from the December 2018 posting. Five years on, how time flies.

Not in the LP charts for 1970 but that doesn't matter. Courtesy of John Menzies, Princes Street for £3.75.

As you write, Peter Handford's recordings are superb. One of his greatest LPs is The Railway to Riccarton. He had the gift to be able to deliver the wonderful natural sounds of the environment together with sounds of the complete trains bringing them all together as one on an atmospheric railway, pure magic! An enjoyable hour or so can be had sitting near the speakers with the record player on a high volume accompanied with a glass of the amber nectar to hand. The Waverley Route, sorely missed.

Regarding Garratts here are some photos of the Heljan LMS one taken in 2015 when a friend gave it to me for weathering. A few years later he sold a lot of his collection and I have no idea where this model is now.

Regarding the A2 on a fish train running through Princes Street Gardens. The notation accompanying the photo is misleading as it is heading south and not going to Millerhill. Waverley Station was too busy with passenger workings and all freight in both directions was diagrammed to go round the Sub. The exception being the express fish trains which worked into the Waverley from Aberdeen. On arrival in the Waverley a quick change of loco took place then continued south to Newcastle. If it was heading for Millerhill from the north it would have crossed over from the Aberdeen line to the Glasgow line at Saughton Junction in the west of the city then entering the Sub. just before Haymarket Shed.

This was the Deltic travelling light engine, north to Haymarket Shed for trials in the area. English Electric staff travelled with it and on reaching Gala they alighted from the loco which was crawling along and proceeded to walk along the platform edge checking for clearance after which they hopped back on it (it did not stop). This was witnessed by two local lads on the platform trainspotting, one being the photographer, who on hearing the loud engine roar from afar, ran back to his parents house not far away to get his camera. He just made it back in time!

Quite a few Waverley Route workings now and again on the layout with the Pacifics from Haymarket and Carlisle Canal. Always good to have the memories as we were lucky to see the real thing. Great railway days!

Another mixture of workings around and about Auld Reekie.

Another suggestion for new locomotive models. North British Scott (D30) and Glen (D34) Both ran in Pre-Grouping, Grouping and B.R. days plus the Glen is preserved. They therefore cover a wide time scale plus were also spread over a large geographic area. Main difference is in the driving wheel size (Scott, 6 foot 6 inches and Glen, 6 foot). Other differences are internal and not seen therefore two models for the cost of one and a small fraction. They are well requested to manufacturers and with attractive names are sure to be commercially viable with the advantage of repeat sales with such a variety of names available.

Gilbert, On my screen it is a bit on the off white side, so the sky it is not too severe. Perhaps you had some dull days in summer back then down your way? (Plenty of them up here!) Therefore I would suggest using this from time to time for variety and of course being more realistic. Eric

In addition Tony, the badge should not be there, as it was fitted later when the livery was B. R. green! Eric

When a person who may not know too much about the hobby walks in to a Model Railway shop and views the Hornby and Bachmann loco products there is a marked difference to be seen in the colour of the boxes distinguishing each of these two manufacturers. In addition, for the person who is au fait with the set up, Bachmann Blue Riband is all there is from them and is in the super detail end of the market thus they then know what the brand standard is. When it comes to Hornby that is different as Super Detail and Railroad are in the same colour and style. Therefore for the person with his/her youngster looking to purchase something from Hornby they have no indication what it is they are looking for until they ask the price. At an exhibition about 5years ago on a box shifter stand, there was a Hornby A4 which had noted in the facing underneath the clear plastic “Super Detail”. When I remarked to the chap behind the table that I did not realize that they had released that particular A4 in Super Detail he replied that it was a Railroad version. I mentioned the front facing description to him and he was totally confused as would prospective purchasers be. It was pointed out many times to those at the Hornby stand at various exhibitions that there should be a clear differential in the Super Detail and Railroad ranges by having a different colour/style of box so that the two distinct markets were immediately apparent but to no avail. Of course there is the range for the quite young market as well which is quite different from the other two brands. No doubt Hornby are looking at their different markets just now and deciding how to manage and market them regarding the level of detail etc. A starting point is to ensure the various brand ranges are immediately apparent to prospective purchasers.

Continuing the A3 model varieties, although not Flying Scotsman, here is an HO model. One of my railway pals visited the layout about 10 years ago and brought with him an A3 model he purchased some years earlier. The difference being it is modelled in HO scale. The model was produced about 30 years ago by Samhongsa of Korea. 150 were produced of Flying Scotsman in LNER livery plus 25 in BR livery. In addition, a further 5 of each were produced for Knight of Thistle, Robert the Devil, Melton, Galtee More and Papyrus. An interesting comparison with the OO model. Needless to say I much prefer the OO one!

The second arrangement is the better of the two. Much cleaner/tidier.

Short and sweet. ---- K4 ----