Pete Thorpe

Here are some more pics of E.A.Hellmuth's distribution depot in Hercules Road. The model is a combination of guesstimation from the original photos and limited space at the front of the layout so the photos don't align with the originals as well as the two above.

During the 1969-1984 period when Caroline was in Blue/Grey, did she work with just SR EMUs and locos with push/pull equipment? I was toying with the idea of running a B/G one in the West Country with a Class 22 or Class 25 circa 1970-72, but I'm guessing that this would be highly unlikely or even possible.

10 hours ago, BlueLightning said:

 

I'd love to answer this but they all look so fantastic.

 

The carriages with their framework showing look just like the ones I have seen in real life, every bit of trap looks real with it's folds and creases, the locos with missing parts have been modelled to an amazing standard, and the rust applied brilliantly.

 

I honestly couldn't pick a favourite, because you have done such a great job on all of them!

 

Gary

What he said...

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

Awe ramps

What's an Awe ramp?

That would explain why I had trouble pinpointing whereabouts at Reading it was; incorrect caption on the website.

3 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

 

L571 and L592 were Gloucester Class 119 sets, not 120s, when they were at Reading. They were used on the Gatwick services with the former buffet area of the centre car converted to extra baggage storage. L426 was a Pressed Steel Class 117 set. As a regular user of the Reading - Redhill line in the 80s I never saw a Class 120 vehicle in any Reading allocated sets.

My mistake, 59282 was the trailer buffet in those sets.

50741+50688, 50738+59299+50693, 50739+50695, 51573+59296+51582, 51574+51583, 51579+51588 were loaned to Reading in the 1960s for short periods.

Class 120 set 503 (presumably 51588 + 51579) at Reading Sept 1968

https://www.railcar.co.uk/data/vehicle/ will give a history of the required vehicle including dates of depot allocations, and Reading had sets L571, L426, L592 and maybe others allocated there.

I intend building one of these units in N, specifically one of the last batch with 4-character headcode panels and in blue with small yellow warning panels, allocated to Laira over the period 1968-1971, and https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-120/ has been an invaluable mine of information, enabling me to pinpoint which vehicles meet all these requirements.

Some nice detail photos of the inner ends Jamiel, and thanks for the heads-up on curtains; I'd forgotten about them!

Pete

so has Pete given up on Camford Junction then?

 

Tim T

Hi Tim,

I'm down the club twice a week now working on Camford Junction on Mondays and the bridge layout on Thursdays, though I was repairing the bridge this evening...

I got the impression that none of the teams had got any trains running by the end of the first day? 

Ian Morgan has set up pages for both Basingstoke Bodgers' layouts, and on the Brunel one he explains our delay as follows

"The reason we were not able to start laying track as early as the judges would have liked was that a considerable amount of carpentry work was required first. The central board was lowered about 4 inches to form the basis of the river that the bridges would cross. Then, the raised level for the N gauge loop had to be constructed."

The Maidenhead Bridge also needed building before we could consider laying the track let alone running trains!

Callum, sorry for the mini hijack of your thread.

One of the commonest comments I hear at exhibitions is "I couldn't do/make that" to which my response is "Why, what happened when you tried?"

Of course, they often haven't tried but when I explain how I've built something or got a certain effect the reaction is usually "Oh, it's as easy as that?", which I think is great because they will now go away and hopefully have a go themselves with a knowledge they didn't have before, and the confidence to have a go at other aspects of the hobby.

The Royal Albert Bridge was Pete's pet project. Drawings were found on the 'net and reduced to N scale, but it was still too big for the layout. The model is actually about 70% of the size it should be for N scale, but it is still very impressive.

 

Following on from the Challenge, Pete is working to complete the bridge and it will be the centrepiece for a new N/2FS layout he is creating.

It's actually only 50% of the length it should be, not sure about the height of the structure but it will be the correct scale 100ft above the river.

I can't claim all the credit for creating the new layout as Rob has done a sterling job using his carpentry skills to adapt the layout baseboards, and I hope to get some assistance from some of the other team members with other aspects of the build.

The Basingstoke team will have build something else for the final though. So they could easily have two GMRC layouts at Warley.

 

In fact you could look at it and say that if they did win, they'd be there with the winner, so bringing the Santa one along as well would just need a van capable of carrying both.

 

 

I'm sure if we ask nicely he'd let us borrow his sleigh and a slack handful of reindeer for the weekend.

Although this is a competition and winning is obviously nice I don't think the programme is really about winning.

I think it may have been mentioned earlier but we felt we were more in competition with the clock than the other teams, shown by the fact that we helped each other out where we could and from what I've read on here that happened in the other heats too.

So Basingstoke can't be the winners then.

Why not? We built two layouts, one of which (our heat winning layout) will be on Peco's stand, and the other...

Whilst they were different gauges, the important aspect was that they were different scales to give forced perspective. I don't think the reason for doing that was really explained.

Robin did say in the narrative when presenting the layout that it was to give the impression the trains were farther away in the distance.

Won't each team be making a completely new model?

 

...R

Yes, but with no pre-building.

I also give full marks to Basingstokes Santa train idea using multiple gauges, and creativity, even if it wasnt authentic, the rendition of both trains across gauges certainly was.

 

 

Unless you've seen Santa's train how do you know if it was authentic or not? You're surely not doubting Santa's existence are you? 

I was quoting both the verbal words and the sub-titles, by the person,

and if I recall correctly the '20' was queried by the person asking the question.

I shall have to iplayer it later.

Yes, I know that, it was her claim of 20 hours I was questioning.

However long they took, having seen those trees in the flesh they were very good.

Well the lady doing the trees (Fawley Flyers?) said she takes about 20 hours to make each one, and there where probably half a dozen there......

PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT - 20 hours seems a bit of an exaggeration as she produced over 50 in the 4 days of the final.

Yup, we've got both of ours though the one we built for the final now looks a bit different from what you'll see in the programme.

There is also Gainsborough MRC's ECML layout http://www.gainsboroughmodelrailway.co.uk/

The rules indicate that there is a "shop" of sorts set up in the 'studio' (it can be seen in some shots) from which competitors are able to purchase any items they may run out of (e.g. ballast), though there is a penalty for doing so.

 

Otherwise the nearest model shop is the Berkshire Dolls House & Model Shop in Twyford.

We had them penciled in "in case of emergencies"

As I understand it, that episode was filmed later in the series, and I presume the production team thought it was the most gripping, so broadcast it first. 

That is correct as it is what we were told by Channel 5.

Also, it was thought that as all 3 layouts in Heat 5 (the one broadcast first) were deemed to be more "conventional", there was less risk of the railway modelling fraternity (i.e. us) switching off immediately if we saw some of the more unconventional layouts in the first show and pre-judged the whole series.

I expect I've missed it somewhere over the last 6 odd pages, a reference re. beach huts in Friday's broadcast, 

but why did that chap, seemingly spend the whole time, in some discomfort, assembling and painting the beach huts?

Could they not have been a 'pre-assemble' item.

I don't think they expected them to take so long, Matt appeared to be having issues with his air brush (he was sat behind me in the workshop area, or "art room" as it become on the telly).

Apparently John of Deluxe Models isn't too happy about not seeing his products on display, though we did leave them in prominent positions on the layouts during the build.