GeoffAlan

Some of my locos and rolling stock dates back to about then! To me, the main differences seem to be:- 1. Detail today is so much better. In N gauge we get RTR models with the kind of detail OO models have been showing for over 20 years, and you can, if you wish, run DCC and Sound in N! 2. Price, while we all hate to pay 'over the odds' for our models, in real terms adjusted for inflation, I feel modern locos are the same or maybe little more than I paid when I started N gauge in 1975. 3. Reliability! This is a difficult one in that modern models are more reliable 'from the box' than I remember in the late 1970s. But, if a modern loco doesn't run out of the box, other than wiggling the DCC plug there's little you can do to fix it without potentially voiding the warranty. Back in the 1970s it was a simple enough job to disassemble the loco and test connections and contacts until you found what had failed. I remember re-soldering a few dry joints on GF locos and adjusting quite a few pick ups to get reliable running but I never had to return a new loco as a none runner back then (Out of probably 20 purchases). However recently I have had a bad run of purchases, having returned 4 locos so far this year (out of a dozen purchases) as none runners. Last year I had a slightly lower percentage of returns from a slightly higher number of purchases. I regard this as a run of bad luck, rather than an accurate reflection of new built reliability.

GWR? Doing things different Causing confusion? Really? I think of 7 and 1/4 of 1/12th reasons why that can't be so....... honest guv!

They say beauty is in the mind of the beholder! In this case, only after getting smashed out of your mind on Sake and eating Fugu from the the wrong parts of a Puffer fish.

SPOILER ALERT! Read no further if you want to wait for the official announcement. Hattons are going 100% N gauge from 01/01/2018. Yah! Boo! to all those overscale people.

I assume you are going to paint jingoistic slogans on the sides of some of the locos and rolling stock?

I have read that for every £2500/capita spent in London for infrastructure, £5/capita is spent in the North East of England. For those unfamiliar with this region its the bit on the right of the map, after 'the North' (Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Hull) and before Scotland, some 150+ miles of nowhere on the political map. The comment above about chicken and egg is correct. While electrification North of Birmingham (And in Wales and several other disregarded areas of the mis-named Uniter Kingdom) has been cancelled, several £billions is already earmarked for Cross Rail 2. While the waste of opportunities, and talent, outside of the cosy London centered 'Power house' continues, the United Kingdom will continue to be seen by those in power as 'London and the provinces.' If you want to know why we are seeing protests both at the ballot box and elsewhere then this is one of the many causes and one that could be resolved by a more enlightened investment programme.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, the variety of layouts made for an interesting day. A big shut out for the huge N gauge layout and the many 4'x15" layouts. As an N gauge modeller the 'O' gauge 4'x15" one was particularly impressive! Truly successfully squeezing a quart (Or should that be a gallon?) into a pint pot!

Your layout would benefit from a simulating controller. I have a Gaugemaster Twin DS (I'm pretty sure they make a single version.) with the simulation switched on it gives a decent impression of gradual acceleration and a very good simulation of coasting to a stop. The Brake control does what the name describes. With the simulation switched off, it works as a 'normal' controller.

I'm betting on an N gauge GCR Atlantic and an N gauge Sterling Single wheeler. But then I'm lousy at gambling!

Excellent modelling! I envy your talent, and will continue to play with my 'train-set', knowing others can do much better than I can manage.

At Darlington station in 1959 or 60 I saw a right old mix of stock, a lot of 4 wheel stuff and some GUVs, at least two of the CCTs were green, so were well away fro their home ground Darn Sarf!

As to the utility of the US carriers, two of them turning up off shore in the late 80s/earlier 90s gave the Yanks Air superiority over all but the heaviest armed countries. IIRC that left the Soviet Union/Russia and China, who should have been able to deal with them, while France and the UK had a chance of of not losing control of their Air Space.

Good Moaning, I was pussing by the topic and thought I'd pip on! We had lovely sun and a half gale earlier but then the heavens opened and all is wet in the garden. Looks like I'm condemned to play trains this morning!

Good news! Middlesbrough station is having a lot of 'improvement' money spent on it to make a more pleasant user experience. Next time I go, I expect to be even more depressed given it won't be much better and I'll wonder where the money went!

Over the the 148th scale world of N gauge the same applies. Bargains turn up at a goodly discount on the 'normal' price, which was a bit below the launch price of the item anyway. I suspect part of it is that once the manufacturer has recouped the R&D on the first x hundred units then the price of production, less R&D, allows a much lower price to be charged. I was recently tempted my a Stanier Black 5 in LMS livery at £79, MRP of £129.99, usual price around £100 IIRC. Sadly both the first to arrive, and the second, would not run correctly at all. So I still haven't got an LMS Black 5!

A friend of mine enjoys telling a tale of the York, Sheffield, Leeds triangular steam runs they used to do in the 1970s. Rostered on a nameless Black 5 to pilot 'Leander' a Jubilee on the run. Much competition to get the best turned out loco was fuelled by the rather high handed Leander crew's attitude that a mere mixed traffic locomotive could never be turned out as smartly as their shiny Crimson Lake machine.. This competitive attitude gave much grief to the Black 5 crew who, one day, decided on revenge, in Wolley Tunnel. So as they charged into the tunnel on the run in question, the driver promptly put the Black 5 into almost full gear and opened the throttle wide. Several years of soot heavily impregnated with sticky diesel exhaust fumes, plus a few bricks, were dislodged by the Black 5's exhaust from the tunnel roof, The fireman, my friend gleefully looked back as they came out of the tunnel to see a very dirty Leander complete with a dirty faced crew who were waving fists, and a shovel, in their general direction. THe Black 5 crew including the Inspector riding on the footplate were highly amused. Many heated words and threats were exchanged at the next stop, but from then on the competition calmed down a little and the ribald inter-crew comments were much reduced. The powers that be at British Railways were somewhat upset by the state of the leading carriages of their train, and an inspection of the tunnel was ordered, until the inspector 'had a word' in someone's shell like and the whole thing was quietly dropped, although for some time Leander's boiler cladding had a few dents that 'nobody could explain'.

I'd love one in N gauge! So jealous of our oversized brethren.

Middlesbrough station for me. The fact that the Germans tried to kill my mother there on August Bank Holiday Monday 1942 where she worked for the LNER as a Goods Booking Clerk doesn't help. She was on holiday that day but a couple of her friends died in the raid, and her office was destroyed. One of the friends was an Ex-Railway Policeman whoi was in her office brewing tea, as he usually did, for his Ex-colleagues when he called in, when the lone raider arrived. Had my mother been at work, she would not have survived, a huge steel beam landed across her chair, crushing her desk. Every single time I use the station, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

After a very second hand Hornby O gauge tinplate clockwork I had from being too small to lay track or wind up the 0-4-0 locos (There were two), I got a brand new Dublo set with Dutchess of Montrose, two Blood and Custard carriages and three assorted goods wagons, plus Guard's van for Xmas 1956! Over the next 10 or so years I added a 4MT Standard Tank, a red crane with auxiliary wagons and more goods wagons. I then spent a lot of time slot car racing before returning to model railways, this time in N gauge! Every time I visit Locomotion, Shildon I look at their Dublo layout on display and smile. Yes the third rail and tin plate track was not as accurate as modern two rail track, but it stood up to a five year old's track laying and playing remarkable well. Something no currently available system could survive, IMHO.