4railsman

anyone know when and where was this photo taken? Was this the only tube carriage on site and if so are there any other photos

Are these just "walk-in" clearance items or is there an on-line webstore for people that are not local to Hinkley?

Looked very interesting, especially as it is a proper 7-car train, but so many decoders installed was overkill imho. But it didn't attract a single bid. Would probably have sold if it hadn't been converted for DCC as that knocked out all those people that still run conventional 12vDC as they couldn't run the train on their layouts. BTW, has anyone seen any of the original BRASS Metromodels tubestock for sale anywhere recently? Thanks 4railsman

The fitted couplings on the ends of both my Lionheart B-set St.Ives coaches appear to be part of the actual coach and not a replaceable 3-link style coupling. The Dapol 0-6-0 loco which came as part of the set also needs a more suitable coupling and I am hoping that it may be possible to fix a magnetic coupling of some sort to both loco and coaches. Have any O-gauge forum members successfully managed to implement these changes, and if so, which magnetic couplings were used and how were they fitted? Photos showing the result would be particularly useful, if you have any. 4Railsman

I have bought from this supplier for many years ~ not regularly, but when a title comes up that I want. Best to get on their monthly mailing list and you will then receive a printed copy of the titles they are promoting. However they have many more titles to choose from if you go onto their website. The orders come well packed. I can fully recommend Psbooks and am just an ordinary customer without any connection to the company. Should you be looking for specific cheap books, and are happy to consider "Pre-Loved" books (aka secondhand or used), one place to look is World of Books which is now known as WOB.com. I have bought from them a few times but the packing was poor and I have had some books suffer transit damage as a result. Possibly worth a look as they have a wide selection of genres including fiction.

Me too. Always walked to HW when going to school. But I did also use the 232 and 110 double-deck buses on non-school days. Both started/terminated at Hounslow Bus Garage in Kingsley Road which was an old totally enclosed garage, not the one there today! It was at the end of Hounslow High Street, a long fairly straight road with The Bell pub at the other end. Those were the days!

Used the forum earlier today to post and everything normal, but when I just went back on I noticed my avatar has gone and it seems that RMWeb have installed a new Ad Version. Can't see any mention of this update being implemented on the forum. Have I missed something? Does this now mean that our profile data including the avatar have not been transferred to this new version yet? Do I need to do anything to get back to the way things were? Please advise. Thanks

My schoolday trips were only a short ride of 2-stations but I occasionally was able to travel to Central London on my own, mainly to Leicester Square. Hounslow West at that time was a three track terminus which also had District Line stock running, certainly at Peak Times. At this time, to get to London Airport (now renamed Heathrow) you exited Hounslow West and took a No. 91 bus from opposite the station. Subsequently, when the line was extended, the terminus platforms were demolished and a tube-size tunnel built with new Underground Platforms, to take tube stock forward to Heathrow (in two stages). At that time, the District sub-surface stock was withdrawn from the Westbound Piccadilly Line. I never did understand why they decided to limit the tunnel size so only tubestock could be used, as it would seem much better to have full sub-surface stock running to Heathrow in order to cater for the large amounts of luggage that people take on holiday.

Thanks for uploading the photos and info. Are these models actually made in brass or are they a resin print job? The last I heard from John was the models he brought back from Sri Lanka were not up to the standard he expected and were also unpainted. He said he planned to get them finished in UK and would get back to me, but alas, nothing further was heard even after a bit of prodding from me over the years!. In the end I just gave up and contented myself with getting the new motorised EFE Rail 38-stock (E99939 and E99940). The last time I met John was at the LT Museum Depot where he was exhibiting and where I was able to see the quality of his latest resin prints, which for me, lacked the quality of paint finish I was looking for and so never placed any further orders.

Yes, that's true, but with modern technology enabling tooling changes to be made today that were previously an uneconomic proposition, one can only hope that Bachman/EFE Rail or another of the new breed of manufacturers sees a marketing opportunity and is prepared to go all out for it! The nearest we ever came to seeing a RTR standard stock motorised model was with Metromodels (John Polley) who was having it made in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, part way through the manufacturing process, Sri Lanka suffered devastating floods which destroyed the etching facility of his manufacturer who then decided they were unable to replace the lost production facility. The models were being produced in brass and I had placed a pre-order which never materialised even though a few pre-production models survived and were brought back to UK for eventual finishing. I have since lost touch with John Polley and presume that Metromodels has stopped trading after an attempt to offer alternative LT tubestock using the early resin printing method. My memories on the standard stock go right back to when I traveled to my secondary school from Hounslow West to Hounslow East on the Piccadilly Line for about four years in the late 1950's. Those were the times!!

The real missing tube stock must surely be the original versions of Pre-1938 standard stock which ran over the whole LT system for many years. This covers a number of batches from 1921-1934 which provides opportunities to market a different batch each time rather than repeating the exact same models but with different numbered carriages and set number. I think its most endearing feature is the upswept bogie frame at the driving ends which make it stand out against all the later bland designs. It would fit very nicely with their art-deco range of tube buildings.

Thanks for that link. That photo shows exactly the type of working I was thinking about but unfortunately Kier Hardy doesn't show or explain how he managed to couple the match wagon to the old Gilbow/EFE tubestock. IIRC the Driving Motor A&D ends on these earlier models didn't have a NEM box fitted, so it would be interesting to know what conversion work was needed in order to get the coupling fitted. 4railsman

Anyone built or modified an oil tank or guards van as a barrier wagon to fit between this newly released EFE tubestock and the Heljan Metropolitan Bo-Bo locos?

After waiting for new stocks to arrive in UK, I now have received these fishplates from Gaugemaster and I can wholeheartedly recommend them. Well worth the wait and now recommencing my foray into 0-gauge with renewed vigour! Many many thanks to daifly for posting the details of the Atlas #170 rail joiners (see post of 23 January 2021.

Anyone have any updated information as to when the EFERail tubestock will be in the shops. The Bachmann website has been showing the ETA as "Awaiting" for the last few months?

Thanks Dave for taking the trouble to elaborate and also illustrate how the Atlas rail joiners fit this bullhead rail. They look superb and just what I need ~ I certainly didn't want cosmetic rail joiners. Much appreciated. Brian (aka 4railsman)

No, John, as this is posted in the 7mm forum it is clearly O-gauge Bullhead Rail flexible track I was referring to. The Peco SL-E791BH point I originally quoted is also an O-gauge product, so I can't see how you thought I was referring to OO-gauge. My box of O-gauge flexible track was made/distributed by the original (ie not the current owner) of C&L who were then based in Bristol and which I bought from them at a stand at a local model railway exhibition (remember them?) some while ago. 4railsman

I used Peco code 75 fishplates on my 4mm trackwork and still have some in my spares box. These are far too small and certainly will never be suitable for use with O-gauge C&L flexible track. I did try them after reading your post, in case they could be the answer, but unfortunately not so. 4railsman

I have already tried opening the Peco SL10 with small screwdrivers including those in a jewelers set. The metal is very hard to adjust by this method, hence the need to find a practical alternative. The C&L flexible track I have was from the Bristol C&L that I obtained at a local exhibition, so current stock on sale might possibly be of a different rail section. I have tried to look at the current C&L website but it is very poorly designed and have not been able to see details or indeed, any dimensional information of the rail sections they are using. 4railsman

Thanks for this suggestion. When I can find a uk stockist of these rail joiners, I'll give them a try. Besides Ebay which you mentioned, Gaugemaster also distribute them, but they too are also out of stock at present.

I'm having extreme difficulty in finding suitable fishplates (aka rail joiners) to suit C&L Finescale bullhead rail flexible track. Have tried to use the Peco SL10 but these are too tight despite trying to open them out slightly; although they do fit the Peco SL-E791BH Medium Radius, Right Hand Bullhead Turnouts that I have bought. What do other forum members use to join their bullhead section flexible track? 4railsman

After this 4mm range of point kits is finally on the market, will it be possible for O-gauge Finescale point kits to be produced from the same designs by just adjusting the image sizes in a similar way to when we print out on our home printers?

I'd love to have an effective 00-gauge track cleaning wagon. But my problem is that on my layout, over 90% of my track is 4-rail (London Underground style) with the two power rails raised 1mm above running rail height, i.e. similar to prototype. If anyone knows of a 00-gauge track cleaning wagon that will work on my layout, please post the details in this thread. 4railsman

I can recall instances in previous threads that discussed the issues concerning credit cards being charged immediately for items that are Pre-Ordered or Out-of-stock, especially if using Paypal (either Paypal or a credit card payment through their facility). The other issue with making payment through Paypal's facility for purchases over £100, is that they are 3rd party and not covered by the Credit Card Section 75 Protection under the Consumer Credit Act. You may have heard of Martin Lewis, of the Money Saving Expert website who also regularly appears on ITV discussing peoples financial matters. He explains the issue on his website at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/PayPal-Section75 I get the impression that only if the retailer/supplier has a direct facility with their own bank's credit card facility, that they have the capability to delay process of the payment until the goods are ready to be despatched. If in any doubt about when the supplier will take payment, a quick email to them should get a quick reply and if not, do further research on them in this and other forums before placing an order. I hope this info helps clarify the situation. 4railsman

oooohh ~ I like the sound of that suggestion. Has anyone else on here got any feedback after using that product in this type of environment? Not really, as they will be tight to the backscene board which I'm currently in the process of fitting. 4railsman