LNWR18901910

Just another update for Twelfth Night - if music be the food of love, play on.

A couple of Four and Six-Wheels from my local model railway dealer who saved them for me as a Christmas present; the tri-axle one is the kit-bashed one with metal wheels fitted. Couplings will be added onto both of them; however, the Four Wheeled one will be given a lick of paint to match the other as well as a pair of buffers to make up the vintage trains of the time.

Also, I recently asked Corbs on Discord about the right cylinders and valve gear for my Mogul and he suggested the Hornby 28xx/38xx pistons and just to make sure, I asked anyone hereif it's worth using them and possibly the cylinders. I'll also need to find room for the pony truck at the front, too.

I'm planning on a model of a WMR mixed-traffic 2-6-0 Mogul like this drawing:

Using a Hornby Drummond 700 Class (which I own and have not run yet) as the basis, I intend to extend the front running-board, add a pony-truck and add cylinders and pistons. I was reccommended by Corbs to use the GWR 28xx/38xx pistons but need to work out the measurement. So, I was wondering if anyone has the measurement of a GWR 2800 connecting rod, please drop a line, that would be helpful. Also, I need to find the cylinders for it as it's supposed to be an outside-cylinder locomotive.

On 04/01/2021 at 11:31, AY Mod said:

Full range images

Well, that's what I'm getting this year! In fact, I'll pick up a spare set and repaint them into the WMR livery.

What better way to kick-off the New Year with some WMR projects?

I finally got round to lining my 0-6-2T at last. The coaches are for another day...say, tomorrow.

Y'know, I ought to include some of my own tank engines from the WMR here, maybe. An 0-6-2T I already have on my workbench and an 0-4-4T and an 0-6-0ST are in planning stages ATM.

Well, it's been a long time since I last updated this thread, so...here are some more WMR locomotives I have just rendered.

Now, we have a mixed-traffic 2-6-0 Mogul based on the combination of the G&WSR Drummond 403 Class 2-6-0, the LB&SCR K Class 2-6-0 and the LSWR Drummond 700 Class 0-6-0, a heavy freight 2-8-0 Consolidation based on the GCR 8K/ Ex-ROD Class and a shunting tank locomotive based on the L&YR Class 23 0-6-0ST, the GWR 1378 0-6-0ST, the SE&CR S Class 0-6-0ST and the typical Hudswell-Clarke 0-6-0ST.

I already own a Hornby Drummond Black Motor I originally intended to make an LSWR Mogul, but I then decided to make a 2-6-0 counterpart to my WMR 2P 4-4-0. I already have a single pony truck, but I will need to add the outside cylinders. I was thinking either the Bachmann Percy pistons and cylinders or maybe the Bachmann Junior Greg 0-4-0ST pistons and cylinders (they are, after all, similar). I still intend to do that without making the carbon-copy Drummond 'Austrian Goods' or James the Red Engine-wannabe.

For the freight locomotive, a modified Bachmann GWR 3000 Class 2-8-0 would be ideal for it as this was also the first time I managed to draw a GCR 8K 2-8-0 (I prefer the original classification over the LNER O4 classification).

Finally, the 0-6-0 saddle tank would be a Tri-ang 0-6-0 locomotive body fitted onto a modern Hornby or Bachmann chassis along with modifications and handrails added on.

So, what does everybody think? I have yet to also show progress of my WMR 4-Wheel and 6-Wheel coaching stock as well as a potential short bogie coach mounted onto a Bachmann Queen Mary brake van chassis, more on that in the future! In the meantime, Happy Holidays and stay safe and healthy!

2 hours ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

Hopefully not running towards the running line with Flying Scotsman and train on! 
 

And, please stop before running into that M7! 
 

Best Wishes to all, and Nadolig Llawen....

 

Yes, this is the better Advent Calender type thingy! 
 

 

This one I must talk about...

Day 25 !!BONUS!!

Dockmaster - who is the Dockmaster? Are you a Dockmaster? Am I a Dockmaster? Is this steam locomotive without any buffers, valve gear and coupling rods the Dockmaster?

The colourful wagons have that Private Owner look about them or perhaps that RWS feel to them, maybe, I don't know. What do you think? The smoky, grimy and bustling everyday life at Britain's dockyards contrasted by the questionable awakening from the scene by a toy-like model. Is the tank engine freelance, Continental or Private Owner? What is the mystery?

On 23/12/2020 at 23:30, Nearholmer said:

Desmond a.k.a. Smokey Joe is a very fitting successor to Nellie, really, because he is similar enough to an LSWR 0458 class, while she is clearly derived from an LSWR S14.

 

I know they've painted the GWR 101 tank in a weird brown LSWR livery; has this one been seen in LSWR or SR colours?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I challenge anyone to make a Pugbash out of the Caley 0F into this!

On 23/12/2020 at 23:08, Steamport Southport said:

The one that always gets forgotten.....

 

A decent attempt at an industrial Neilson.

 

Photo borrowed from Hattons (can't find another decent one).

 

 

 

Jason

In the 1988 Mr Majeika Xmas special, this model along with a blue SDJR/Caledonian coach along with a curve of track.

Day 24

And with precious time left to go, what better way to end it all off than this?

Yes, the grand-daddy of Post-War train sets and this is among one of the first! The striking image of the (simplified) Princess Royal model! Sure, it was pants and cheap as monkies, but what did you expect? These things are so darn rare.

The following year, they were perfected and run better over the years. However, these things still ran okay even on Peco track nowadays. I have one in my collection and it's a pain to restore and run, So, they're mostly static display things on your collection like mine. Years later, they have been since upgraded, detailed and improved as time went on. Also, legend has it the Reverend Wilbert Awdry used one for his Gordon model (true story - not making it up).

So, shall I leave uo this thread after Christmas? There's just so much to be said about train set box art and catalogue covers! Please let me know.

N.B: Thanks to everyone who liked and agreed with my previous post and thanks again for sharing thoughts and memories! After Christmas, things are back to normal again and more on my WMR post! Merry Christmas and stay safe and healthy!

Day 23

Introducing a familiar locomotive aside from Thomas that needs no introduction whatsoever! Two words:

1. Smokey

2. Joe

After nearly two decades, this li'l guy gets his own official train set and about time, too! A popular favourite among modellers and kids alike, this has to be a celebration of a company mascot from the 1980s along with Inspector Gadget, G.I. Joe or Action Force as we call it in the UK and (dare I say it) Transformers, My Little Pony and Care Bears and not to mention The Smurfs.

A small local freight train hauled by the titular and aptly-named model happily chug-chug-chugs past the Springfield Power Plant against a smoggy background. This image could be a metaphor for escapism in which we are faced with every day which is constantly changing over the years yet it's enough to make us question our existence. That's what the Hornby train set is for - not (just) as a scapegoat for rubbish marriages or a surefire way to put off chores much to the chagrin of parents and legal guardians, but as a a way to relive scenes from the past or just to run trains round and round (which is what I would mostly do, no kidding)!

Hence the purpose of train sets! To think you had half a dozen wagons, then it's down to four or five but now it's down to three probably for cost reasons, but then again, if you wanted and needed more wagons, then you'd save up for wagons either from your local model railway dealer or on the second-hand market (one can only wonder what's to see and find). The train set is only just the beginning and I know it because I started out that way same as every modeller.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed with my thoughts on each set and catalogue. Come tomorrow, Christmas is nearly here and I am equally thrilled as much as everyone! This Advent saga is almost done and I have a special surprise in store! So, Merry Christmas and stay safe and healthy! See you tomorrow one last and final time!

Day 22

Yes, you all saw what was coming - the one model I have avoided getting for so long (not because I have nothing against the LNER, but because of my devotion to Pre-Grouping stuff, but I have considered saving up for a GNR condition A1 in the near-future).

What can I say about Flying Scotsman? This is the most popular steam locomotive we are talking about (next to Thomas the Tank Engine). The improved tender-drive version was released in 1981 and has been continuously released over the last thirty years but nearly approaching forty come next year (as old as Postman Pat, no doubt).

Just like with the Duchess set I talked about, this box art looks totally epic! The model itself rushes along the countryside behind orange Gresley coaching stock, it's supposed to be teak but it looks orange like in the Railway Series books. The motion blur on the valve gear and wheels looks totally dynamic in comparison to Photoshopped box art, this is what we need more often!

But I should point out which version of the famous preserved steam locomotive to get - the now-rare Thomas & Friends version with the same face as Gordon, the LNER green version, the twin-tender version, the NE black version, the BR blue version, the BR green version, the NRM version, the USA Tour version, all kinds of them, the list goes on! It's like there's so much to choose from it's hard to say or tell which either one you like best! Maybe I should've started the New Year wearing a mask of the one thing I put off adding to my collection for so long...this bad boy (or girl, whichever)!

Imagine anybody who asks Santa for this set and then at school these kids would brag about it, it's like this:

"Hands up who owns the Flying Scotsman set?"

"I do!"
"I do, too!"
"I have, like, six of 'em!"

"What about you, mack?"
"Me?"
"Do you...or do you not...ask Santa for a Flying Scotsman set?"

"Uh, um...no, I didn't. Why do you ask?"
"LOSER!"

And then everybody laughs at you, especially the school bully and including your teacher. Oh, how hard school can be...how did we survive childhood?

Anyway, apart from that, the iconic steam locomotive has come a very long way even with DCC compatibility and in the Railroad range which is still equally aimed towards kids like the former Thomas range was.

"What's that, Johnny? Your trains don't have faces on them? Don't worry, you can make your own and stick them on the smokebox door and pass them off as characters! Happy, now?"

When I mentioned about masks earlier on, there are some Flying Scotsman face masks on Redbubble I saw while Googling 'Flying Scotsman mask' (some nice and some kinda weird, they even have A4 Class No. 4468 Mallard on them, I'm not making this up) so they're worth checking out.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed with my last post, I appreciate hearing your thoughts and agreeing with them as well as mine. Also, thanks to BernardTPM for providing me a high-resolution image of Hornby's 1997 catalogue, I will be updating Day 21 with a much better image. Butler Henderson, I agree with you and thanks for sharing trivia. I can't believe we are nearly there to Christmas! A couple more days to go and this Advent thing is done! But one thing bothers me - should I leave it up after Christmas? After all, we all have fun memories and great rare images to share. See you tomorrow with another one, I will be back with something which I will save as a big surprise for Christmas Eve, bye for now!

Day 21

Bit of a foreshadow to the next day, but then again, this is what to expect.

Hornby's Flying Scotsman on the table with some random locomotive drawings (no prizes for guessing what locomotive class it could be). And what's this? "The legend is alive". Like Thomas the Tank Engine or Ivor the Engine or something? Oh, wait, the sole-surviving A3 is the legend...didn't see that one coming! Surprise, surprise!

This is probably when they used the Top Link brand kind of like when NSPCC started their Full Stop Campaign or Hasbro with The Vinatge Collection for their Star Wars line. The models from the 80s and 90s did get detailing already at the sacrifice of the loco-drive moved from chassis to tender so why stop there? Hornby was getting pretty desperate for new toolings, no wonder they resorted to buying Dapol and Airfix toolings. (Not the ones that didn't go up in smoke three years earlier, where was Fireman Sam when you needed him?)

Well, sorry it this was rushed but hopefully it'll be here continuing on into Day 22 and you'll probably wonder why.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and commented on my last post, you guys really do love my stuff! Sorry if this isn't as funny as the last one, but it's nearly midnight. Thanks for sharing memories and facts, so stay tuned for the next one coming shortly! We're nearly there to Christmas already!

Day 20

Industrial Freight...wow, what an exciting name. Yes, while doing my research, I am totally aware that this is not the only time Hornby re-used this name, but we'll get to it later. Right now, let's focus on the box.

What a charming site to behold - on the bottom right, a horse-draw wagon ambling along on a railway platform (which you don't see nowadays except probably in certain parts of the world like India or Africa or New Zealand, maybe) and on the top left, something they took from a cookbook or something, I don't know. The wagons in question are something you may or may not have seen IRL (a 7UP plank wagon, a Pepsi tanker wagon, a Tango box van) - when did they actually exist?

Okay, I get it - It's supposed to appeal to kids and modellers of all ages (some who feel almost like kids again but I'm not gonna judge, I'm not lethious). The locomotive No. 105 is quite nice and is almost a simplified version of the Midland Railway crimson lake but on a GWR locomotive. It's like in Thomas & Friends where Duck's GWR green livery is in a brighter green like in the original illustrations (mainly the Dalby one) and the same was applied to Oliver as well!

Sorry for going off-topic, there, but those are my thoughts on it so far. However, I totally have nothing against this set. To re-introduce the Kit-Kat box van in the range, would that be out of the question? Still, it would be nice for kids to have on their layouts as well as use in double-advertisements (because hey, if they can do it with Yellow Pages, they can do it with Kit-Kat). Also, when I said at the beginning about the set name being re-used, well...this explains it.

Yes, no kidding. Remember how BR thought about red wheels on their locomotives? That's what they didn't go for. Also, the box van is just a generic red van, so chances are maybe they couldn't find a suitable product brand to advertise or just simply left it as is, I guess? The thing about motion-blur on these boxes is that the wagons are hard to make out and read what they say. Unlike this recent incarnation:

Two GWR wagons, a PO Wagon and, what's this? LMMR? What's that stand for, Liverpool, Manchester and Merseyside Railway? No? How about London Midland & Merseyside Railway? I've no idea. If Hornby wanted to make up railway company names, well, congratulations goes out to them - well done!

So, there you have it - the many guises of Industrial Freight. Oh, how we hardly knew thee... I'll leave it off with some other variants I just found. Caley Pug 0F ahoy!

N.B: Special thanks very much to those who liked and agreed with my thoughts as well and enjoying them, I really do enjoy yours, too! Thanks goes out to those who shared memories and fun facts as well as photos and memories and such. Hroth, thanks for sharing the album with us, this would have been the grand-daddy of DCC sound before there was such a thing! Imagine a kid wanting to play it and run trains at the same time unless their poxy, poncy pimply-faced brother or sister was hogging the record player (imagine running trains while rocking out to Elvis, Cliff or The Beatles, that would be interesting yet surreal). So, I hope you enjoy this amusing post, I'll be back with another one tomorrow - I Can't Believe It's Christmas (a great title song for anybody who wishes to try and create another Christmas single even with a slim chance of entering the Top 10 Charts and played over and over every year again along with Slade, Bing Crosby and The Jackson Five, please go ahead and use it anyway). See you all tomorrow, stay safe and healthy and Merry Christmas, y'all!

Day 19

Late again! Sorry isn't good enough...so, let's dive right in.

What can I say about the Blue Pullman? It was one of British Rail's modern train services. However, how can you call it Blue Pullman just because BR has gone all blue and yellow? It's like calling a hornet Green Hornet. This motion blur of the countryside during the 1970s, the speed-effect, the big D coupling, everything!

As well as giving us the contents of the train set, we have the entire track plan featured as well and the name of the train set over the actual train (in case you forgot). The BR Class 47 locomotive has been in production since 1976 over a decade and a half since the Type 4s entered service. This locomotive was occassionally produced just when Hornby had to keep chugging along (pun intended), but nowadays, we have the Bachmann version which is more detailed, runs great and has working lights (I used to own a model of one, once). If any modeller takes the Bachmann Type 47 any day, you DCC-dukes would.

N.B: Thanks to those who liked and agreed with my thoughts, I also agree with yours and special thanks to those who provided enough material and information, please help share more stuff with me I might use, so thanks again and see you tomorrow bang on time!

Day 18

I hope I'm not too late with this one, but here we go!

For those of you who remember Hornby's T9, this was when it was introduced. I was 18 at the time. In my West Midlands Railway thread, you will see and recall how I used one to make into my Freelance 2P. This is the catalogue I once read. This example is seen puffing through the countryside (no huge coupling seen here). The effects of smoke and steam used is to give the illusion of what is real and what is not.

It's like the whole locomotive is coming toward you without you getting run over. Yeah, it shows how times have changed and how more and more RTR Pre-Grouping models are coming into the market. The only setback - the price. Wait a few years and get it for less (I know I did).

N.B: Special thaks to those who liked and commented on my last post and thanks to Steamport Southport, Legend and the rest of you for sharing more memories and facts. Hopefully, I will be on time with another Advent post and I will NOT leave it late like this one. See you tomorrow!

Day 17

This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque with the postal order...you all know how that goes.

This was back in the days when mail trains were a thing, but by the new Millennium, they were already gone and buried in the depths of fiction and history. Nowadays, it's all road haulage and air mail. Is anyone captivated by the romantic image of airline pilots and burly truckers? That's nothing comparedto the engine drivers of yesteryear.

The fast pace of the mail train shows the distance of the aptly-named train rushing by. Is this the early hours of the morning or are we on some alien planet with the lavender sky? It looks like somebody made the artwork but added photgraphs all around it. The Night Mail Express - signed, sealed and delivered by Hornby Railways. You know what else is signed, sealed and delivered? The catalogue cover - maybe that is a teaser for the set in question.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and commented on the last one, ta very much! Thanks to Nearholmer, Legend and Steamport Southport for sharing information, facts and memories. I will be back tomorrow with another in-depth review, bye for now!

Day 16

The way of the future...or the way of the past, more like. This was the early days of photo editing, but it looks pretty impressive for its time, I suppose. Let's travel back to the eighties when you're slapping high-fives with Pee-Wee Herman, travelling in time and space with Doctor Who, jamming to Kylie Minogue, eating a bowlful of Mr T cereal, playing on your NES games console, and - wait, all that's before my time, so let's look at this.

This APT was supposed to be the way of the future and screams "Modern Train, people!" The APT is at an angle because of the curve and it looks very impressive at certain angles. At first impression, it looks like it's going over itself or maybe a railway bridge the other class member is going under. And what's this? 150 MPH Scale Speed? Surely it can't be that insanely faster or you'll need a time machine attachment to it to make it go faster at 88mph! On a model, it's kinda nice (thanks for bringing it back again, Hornby, kudos to you and all), but in real-life, well...from what I heard, it was a failed experiment that tried hard but failed miserably. We all know why...

The BR Class 43 HST was the real way of the future even if it didn't grow in bunches on trees in the jungle nor did they sometimes secretly contain killer spiders when shipped overseas. I'm not what you call a modern diesel expert, but I'll leave you with some 80s colours. Stare at them long enough and you'll grow a mullet.

N/B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed with my last post and special thanks to Nearholmer and Steamport Southport for sharing some facts and research, I agree with you guys. Sorry I didn't have much to say on this one but I will on the next advent post - not long until Christmas! How about that? Anyway, see you tomorrow with another post!

Day 15

Freight Hauler this set does have its charm and this charming little tank engine based on the real-life D Class which was an 0-4-0T later rebuilt into an 0-6-0T. The tank engine chugs at a jolly little speed while hauling a trio of tankers and an LMS brake van in tow (so to speak).

The cheerful blue sky is to simulate what a model railway in someone else's backyard looks like even though it looks life-size. But like with the other examples we looked at, the D couplings are still about so it does give that blend of fantasy and reality once again. I think I saw this one from the 1990s/2000s when I was a kid. That locomotive has become another Railroad stalwart and a long-serving one along with Smokey Joe so it gives the impression of train drivers the same equivalence as lorry drivers. Yeah, there's a delivery to make but let's enjoy the ride.

Here are four more I included as a bonus - the Rural Rambler, the Midland Belle and the Branch Line Freight. Interestingly, the Powergen 0-4-0 was supposed to promote a gas and electricity company in the UK that is now known as E-ON by the year 2002, but the Powergen logo still rings clear like the Coca-Cola logo. The Country Local has a nice Midland/LMS feel to it reminicscent of the Pre-Grouping Era which is very nice and quaint, really. The artwork on these boxes look pretty damn impressive. It would be nice to see more train sets with that type of artwork again, really. There's nothing wrong with photoshopped images, really, but this was the early days back then so it looks a touch primitive by collaging photographs of models into pacakging artwork. If I was a kid in the 1990s and early-2000s again, I would be happy to see this kind of packaging again for old time's sake!

N.B: This one nearly arrived late but at least it's on the right day, I had trouble finding some material, but as it's nearly Christmas, I decided to give a little extra something more. Special thanks to everyone who liked and agreed with my last Advent post and thanks for sharing model histories, information and memories here, I know I would as well. I will be back tomorrow with yet another Advent post, bye for now!

Day 14

Another scene reminiscent of Enid Blyton stories - two children captivated by the express trains of the 1930s; here we have an LMS Jubilee hauling an express train while a boy and a girl (possibly related to one another in some way) wave by to the driver and the fireman.

This is something that you would normally see on picture postcards or railway paintings. It's almost like a step-back in time, but what is the identity of the LMS Jubilee Class? It's a mystery like the Mona Lisa smile (some say it's her contemplating the irony of her situation, I'll be contemplating on the name and number of the locomotive that is totally hard to make out). Normally, smoke on a steam locomotive is white or grey but here, it's black like soot. The locomotive is in need of cleaning out! How can you totally neglect something like that? It could make people's laundry dirty or even suffocate them! That's what might happen to those two children - this image is a metaphor for the phrase; "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!" Yeah, those kids are gonna get it, alright - a good dousing of sooth and coughing fits!

Just when you think they would introduce the Jubilee model into their range, well...they didn't. Only Mainline did what Hornby didn't. That was before Sega did what Nintendon't, introducing more detailed and modern up-to-date loco-drive models! I know because I had those in my collection for years...and sold them off years later for extra money. Oh, well - money can't buy memories, but at least well have something to remember, I suppose.

N.B: Thanks very much to those who enjoy and agree with my thoughts and opinions on the previous piece of artwork and special thanks as always to Ruffnut Thornston for sharing memories as well as images of the Lord Westwood locomotive (I agree that it would make a nice Hogwarts Express locomotive) and Steamport Southport, thanks for sharing memories here as well! Finally, thanks to Nearholmer for sharing memories and thoughts as well as images here in this thread, I will be back with another analysis on some more Hornby Railways artwork (possibly the one Legend has shared on this thread, good on you, matey boy)! See you tomorrow!

Day 13

Green for glory...glory days gone by, that is. This one I saved originally for the previous day but instead opted for the other one. Nevertheless, here we go!

This is the GWR Holden 101 Class 0-4-0T only one which was built and then scrapped years later. It's amazing how Hornby took a model like it and added it to their range for years and years to come like their long-running 'Smokey Joe' locomotive. The artwork looks way detailed than the toy-like model counter-part. If anyone wanting a super-detailed version is clever enough to either kit-bash, modify or even kit-build, be my guest.

This is like something out of a catalogue as well as a railway-themed educational book (even that's more interesting compared to models). Okay, maybe I sound a bit harsh to this veteran model, but in this day and age, modern companies like Dapol, Kernow and Locomotion should attempt this model in super-detail (without the many modifications and/or freelance or various liveries of other companies).

Call me lazy but there's not much to say about it except the introduction of this model, really. It does show how times have changed, really. So, I would consider it the GWR 145th-ish anniversary set...just so I can say something to make it all the more special.

N.B: Special thanks very much to everyone who liked my last post as well as agreeing with the stuff I said and special thanks to Ruffnut Thornston for providing image os the train set in question, thanks to BernardTPM for sharing a bit of trivia and thanks to Steamport Southport for sharing image of Bachmann's Train Pack artwork as well as the humorous image you find, I have a reason to believe that it's a production still from the live-action adaptation of Dudley Do-Right. Overall thanks to those who shared their memories, it really has built up the thread so farbut I may consider what to do with it after Christmas. Perhaps I should put it to a vote or something. Anyway, I will be back tomorrow with another review of some more Hornby artwork, bye for now!

Day 12

'Tis a Christmas miracle! Considering that the 12 Days of Christmas have officially begun on December 12th, thanks to those who help provided me with enough material for the remaining 12 days of this advent thread will soon follow, but right now, let's get started!

Now, I don't know what thistrain set is called, so it's probably Yardmaster or Shunting Special, maybe? Maybe it's the grey sky, I don't know. You may notice the cooling tower, one of many, that was seen all the time up and down the nation. Note the tiny bit of blue sky surrounded by the smog and smoke coming from the factory chimneys. It shows what a Post-War Britain was like. The shunter watches on as the small train rolls on by. What is this diesel shunter based on prototype-wise? It's supposed to be British but guess what's missing obviously? Buffers, of course! That and side-rods.

The more I look at this, the more I feel dreary by the complex of the industrial modern world that still hasn't changed much over the last hundred years or so. I know how that shunter feels about the changing world as would many.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed on my last post, I totally agree with Legend. Also, special thanks to Ruffnut Thornston, Legend and BernardTMP for sharing more material for me and I will indeed be looking at it along with something I found last night which I will share tomorrow in the next post, thanks guys! See you tomorrow with another post!

Day 11

(Quick announcement before I begin - I fear that I'm running out of ideas to work with as well as material so if anybody has anything to share here, please drop me a line, thank you!)

Scotland the braw! Yes, it's The Caledonian set from the 1990s - a renaissance to the company as well as the hobby if you will.

You can tell at a glance that this pays homage (not in a drunken way) to the Tri-ang Hornby era of yesteryear. This is similar to a piece of railwayana or paintings. It reflects on the time when nationalisation was in full-swing until Order 55 (even though many steam locomotives were scrapped before then) but the big give-away is the D tension-lock coupling.

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed with my thoughts on the last one I looked at, sorry if this is shorter. Also, thanks for sharing your memories as well as facts and such, hopefully I will be back tomorrow with yet another analysis on some more model railway art. Until then, bye for now!

Day 10

Another Centenary and a half! This catalogue showcases any potential models YOU wish Hornby would've actually made, but out of the three, only one was made so guess which of the three it was.

You have what appears to be more of an image board like a presentation you do at work or at school (it's what we had) and this ticks all the boxes. The white background gives it a sort of pocket dictionary or Dorling Kindersly feel to it. This is a celebration of how rail transportation has progressed (or in some cases degressed especially in recent times) and continues to this day. You will also notice the description of the locomotives underneath and they are all real-life preserved examples. If you haven't been to the NRM, you ought to! I know I did.

Not much to say on this one, but it does give a touch of educational class (without the school bullies, high-strung and tetchy teachers and school dinners that make us throw up).

N.B: Thanks very much to those who liked the previous advent post, I'm really coming close to the halfway point, I am! Thanks to Legend and Ruffnut Thornston for sharing your thoughts and memories as well as thanks to those for images of the Freightmaster train set (Freightmaster may seem a touch better than Freightliner), well done and thanks again. Another post on time, sorry if it's short but I will be back with another advent post hopefully better and much more in-depth than this one, bye for now!

Day 9

The Freightmaster - sounds like a rewarding promotion or job title you could earn, right? Well, so you would be if you were working in a certain department like Postmaster, Harbourmaster, Headmaster, Quartermaster or Jedi Master. I suppose it could be some sort of job title or maybe, if it was passed to a woman, it would be Freightmistress, maybe? We do have Postmistress as well as Headmistress, don't we? So why not Freightmistress?

Depicted here as an English Electric diesel hauling a freight train through what might be the Alps (it's supposed to be British, but it looks almost like Switzerland or maybe Scotland or Wales, I don't know). The mountains represent the many challenges we have faced at some point in our lives and we are that train itself chugging along until we reach that destination that is our goals and achievements! That's what it could be! The United Dairies tank wagon represents calcium, the livestock wagon represents protein and at the very back is the brake van that represents support and encouragement as well as discouragement judging by the signals in the distance.

This is something that's obviously meant to be taken as realistic as possible but judging by the gaint D tension lock coupling, it's like the entire model was suddenly hit by a powerful ray gun and made life-size! Remember the scene from that Ant-Man film where Thomas the Tank Engine turns gigiantic and destroys a house? This box-art pre-dates that cinematic moment! However, as with most train sets, you still have to get your own darn platforms, signals and spare track. Quite the challenge, huh?

N.B: Special thanks to Brit70053, RyanN91, Ruffnut Thornston, caradoc, BernardTPM, railroadbill, Steamport Southport and Legend for your reactions to the last post, glad you guys enjoy it! Special thanks goes out to Ruffnut Thornston for providing an image of the Freightmaster set for me to analyise and metaphorically define and again, thanks goes out to Ruffnut Thornston, BernardTPM, Steamport Southport, Nearholmer and Mountain Goat for the additional information which I enjoyed and was fascinated by same as everyone! Thanks for your memories as well, Legend!

Well, I honestly can hardly believe another advent post bang on time! However, one thing I should point out is that this thread may be gone by January 6th of this year but seeing as we have so much to talk about in terms of historic nostalgia, might as well leave it up here though I might have to change the title of it and such. Anyway, with all said and done, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I'll be back with another one tomorrow and I might throw another one in for a bonus (a two for one thing, maybe). See you all next time and please leave your thoughts and memories here and I hope to include my own Hornby memories in the next post. See you tomorrow!