Lovemymodelling

It’s not the VAT I’m trying to avoid it’s getting around the fact most US eBay sellers enrolled in the global shipping program won’t combine shipping or quote high rates like this for example £49 postage for a small HO truck that costs £23,,,,,landed that would be nearly £90, I pay all my duty when I get my parcel force love letter of a email from UPS, I admit I did take delivery last week of 2 atlas Dash 9 fully filled out customs declaration for $210 merchandise and the postie knocked the door and just handed it to me

I did a google search for the address of the shipping agent a pretty large modern warehouse in Hawthorne CA

Not sure to be honest I have my own West Yorkshire address and my parents West Wales address already on here so just added it, surely if you can do this then eBay may not object bit like having parcels posted to work, it’s useful for the cheaper items that normally command a standard price like this for example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOLEY-INTERNATIONAL-TRUCK-4174-88-NIP/184143806871?hash=item2adfd38197:g:YssAAOSwrfVZQZkH

Very true after all it’s not a service not it’s a business, if you go on the USPS web site the U.K. is quite and expensive band yet probably one of the nearest non American Continent neighbours , but also probably one of the busiest thus lucrative so can charge more! , my laptop is down at the moment so can only access eBay on my tablet and mobile , you can’t ask for a combined invoice on this page only the desktop page anyhow we shall see how it goes and I will report back all my expenses v of bought via global shipping

http://shipito.com but there are several ones

I’ve purchased 2 of these you can see the shipping price difference now , under eBay they would have cost me £55.00 shipping so far just £10.20 to my Shipto US address then they charge me $3 process fee and shipping if my choice to here.

As you would on eBay there’s a intermountain tank car with $48 shipping then the pre paid vat ontop so should still work our cheaper it’s just the shipping costs for multiple purchases that’s the problem

Hi I don’t know if this should be here or the eBay filed but it’s aimed at the US modeller, I’ve seen a few of the EEL river beer cars on eBay (I like these cars for the value) but they are priced at $30ea shipping on contacting the vendor he says it’s difficult to combine as eBay sets the rules and if I pay he can refunds me the difference but he’s not sure how much this could be , so with ebays upfront customs (no objection to paying but the 20% is on the extortionate shipping too) they work out at a ridiculous £76 a wagon (and I thought the Hattons Drax were pricey). Im going to have ago at using a handling agent (Shipto) who have given me an address in California and the shipping price to here is £10 for the pair much cheaper,,,,they then charge me $3 per box to transact then arrange shipping of my choice to me,,,,keep you informed of how this goes as long as cheaper than £154 for the 2 wagons in a winner , so far with state tax they have cost me £77,,,

Watching the cams and rail news recently I get the impression that unloaded centre beams cars seem so much hassle , the recent Tehachapi and horse shoe curve were both unloaded centrebeams they seem a very unstable freight car,,,,there’s even a HO scale derailment on YouTube caused by centrebeams,

While watching the cams today saw this , an Amish family are waiting at La Plate for the 30 minute late Chicago bound Southwest Chief so what to do while waiting certainly not this,,,,encouraging a little one to walk on the rails

I thought the details East were a refreshing change to athearn and roundhouse, I used to work weekends for a model train shop called “Just Continental” in Birmingham when I was at college in the 80s to aid my college life and staff discount models, remember some other RTR stuff very toy like from PEMCO and IHC Mehanotecnica stuff as well, I also have my first Walters bible back then too rivalled my mums Kay’s catalogue in size, are they still available? As for shops again was amazed to see how many have gone now, the ones you mentioned as well as Victors, Macs at Helensborough, Totally Trains at Ross , I’m trying various North American shops, TrainWorld pretty good shipping and after sales 3 days for a loco to me and a replacement sunshade for my GP60M for a cheaper rate than USPS via other shops, I’ve got 4 various GEVOs floating about the postal system in 2 separate parcels both left Spring Creek 4 and 3 weeks respectively ago and have just reached the Chicago international postal hub,,, UPS 10/10 from Trainworld , also trying otter valley in Canada

I’ve taken a long break from model railways and it must be 20 years away from US modelling , I’ve been to a few exhibitions and enjoyed the one that used to be in Handsacre Staffs in the summer, I remember being in MG Sharp about 20+ years ago just on a browse to see if any old blue box freight caught my eye when I was asked if I needed and help by the sales guy, I asked if there were any more kits due in the next few days as I would be passing going south on the M1. He said some new well detailed kits had just come in that morning by a new concern Eel River Models, when he showed me what was in the box I couldn’t resist as all id only ever ran blue box and Roundhouse, the basis of the basic, all you have to glue on was a brake wheel and air tank, so to see this kit with a lot more detail Like brake lines and ladders all fine wire, and not that much more in cost than athearn it was a new beginning in detail introduced to me, at that time I modelled the BN and the relevant car was a 64ft beer car. He also had some box car kits by Details West again more detail than Athearn so I also walked out with a couple of these one being in Wisconsin Central livery,When I’d constructed the cars a week or so later I gave Sharps a call to buy a couple more Eel River and Details West but all had sold. Now starting modelling again I’ve done a few internet searches for the ERM beer cars to find there no longer trading and they also released them ready to run at later date and I’ve bought a couple of these for my upcoming layout, I think the Details West box cars are long gone now? Like any industry manufacturers come and go but when your offering models above the bar (at the time) you’d think they would still be in business , I’ve also a few HO Fox Valley GP60Ms and again Fox Valley HO seemed to have vanished with some examples being dumped at low prices by some stores (A sound GP60 for $140) I’ve not tested mine yet and hope there not a bag of nails! Mr postman delivered my latest Eel river today and I’d thought I’d share this detail for a 20yr old model.

While doing some home work on my laptop and watching some of the live cams on YouTube via sky apps I thought I’d rekindle my youth of collecting loco numbers starting with BNSF over a couple of days , seen a couple of locos twice many miles apart , my only rule is got to be a live stream as if I was trackside myself , cabbing them might be difficult lol

Yes very pleased only problem was when opening the loco one of the sunshades is missing not sure if they are factory fitted or not some photos show them on some off not going to complain as got a $160 loco for $89 just need to find a brass replacement one and airbrush it orange

I ordered a Fox Valley GP from Trainworld last Thursday evening (UK time) it’s just been delivered at my door, (paid the customs yesterday) 5 days very quick service I didn’t think they were processing orders until after lockdown and also a good shipping rate of $40 for a HO loco I have paid as much as $75 all in all a nice surprise in lockdown

Hi all, ive decided to covert our spare room 23x11 to a two level modern CSX layout, its not strictly two level i.e. baseboards just the outer two tracks will be 4 inches higher than the inner circuit , the inner circuit will cross over a crossing and using 3% risers will raise to the higher track as the outside track pass through a yard then around once more where it then becomes the inner upper (hard to explain!!) down risers back to the lower track and round again this gives a run length of about 120feet via the 3 circuits, I’m including one 6 track yard and 2 passing loops around the circuit and a couple of switching areas. My track proposal is going to be PECO 83 and a few shinohara I have too. i haven’t modelled US HO for several years last time most locos were Blue Box athearn (remember those handrails!) with some off Roco made Atlas too, of course a cheap way to configure a consist was to buy the old blue box dummy locos very cheap from the likes of Macs of Helensburgh Victors and LSWR and renumbered after adding a few other details like flush glazing, wipers etc etc , now if you want a consist it’s not cheap with another £100+ loco, so do many run more than one loco now? Modeller choice? Financial decider? At the most I will run no more than 13 50ft cars and that would not in theory need 2 locos , at present the only 2 loco consist that I need to operate as a pair (and this is only as I like the real locos) is a Fox Valley BNSF GP60M and B set up and that cost me a pretty penny! So does a single loco look fine or are two locos more prototypical? i will keep updated on my layouts progresses in due postings thanks

HI During my “furlough” time from work and no model railway to work on I have spent more than my average time watching my subscriber Railstream on my iPad and also some live YouTube web cams, I’ve noticed since my last long time viewing there seems to be more manifest mixed freight than entire double stack trains at the present time, just been watching Tehachapi for a while and three manifest albeit with a few TOFC in them and no intermodals trains , anyone else notice this?

Hi all, I’m looking at a Helix for my upcoming loft room HO layout I know Proses made a plastic acrylic helix a few years ago but this was about £600 however I’ve just looked at their webpage and now they offer one for double track HO for about £225 and can be assembled in a little over an hour, has anyone purchased and assembled one? Thanks Brad

Hi all, I thought this may be of some interest to some modellers on here of a new manufacturer in Brazil, I know if Frateschi but there models are more on par with 1970s UK outline where the new manufacturer is on a scale of what’s expected today, not totally sure if these locos also used to operate in New Zealand? http://premamodels.com.br/index.htm

Following on from my box cab electrics we have the type EF66 as modelled by TOMIX in JR freight livery , mostly used on fast freight and passenger services including the last motive power for most of Japans overnight blue trains that operated to the West of Tokyo by Japan Railways west (16 locos), upon privatisation 39 locos we’re transferred to the freight company and several received the new livery, and some modifications like new suspension and modern traction motors ,most however after the refurbishment just gained a simple painting of the cab doors into yellow to denote 1500 DC loco. A small number of a very similar design and some constructed under licence in Spain were sold to RENFE for use on heavy steel trains a number survive in the Mercancias freight section today mostly in use in the north of Spain, incidentally when these locos were new they were delivered in a very similar blue livery to the siblings in Japan as most Spanish electric locomotives at the time we’re green, they are much wider than the Japanese locos with a substantial difference of gauge of nearly 2 feet. The first new locomotive into service in the new Privatised JR Freight operator we’re a more modern updated locomotive of the type EF66-100 not as angular in shape as the original series , originally put onto container services on the 1500DC network they were delivered from 1989 in the new two tone blue livery, All of the EF66-100 and a majority of the earlier series were constructed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the model here is once again made by TOMIX in two variants the early round headlights as seen here and later square chrome frames units.

The first venture into 1/80 HO by TOMY owned TOMIX was the BO-BO-BO class EF81 about 20 years ago, a very popular dual voltage loco mostly used on container freight but a small number of the class were used on some long overnight sleeper services notably the Twilight Express between Sapporo on Hokkaido Island to Osaka a journey of nearly 24 hours this luxurious train formed of dark green sleeper coaches and lounges used a similar liveried EF81 this loco the coaching stock and loco have been available from TOMIX in 1/80 together with the Cassiopeia set , the last set of dedicated sleeping coaches introduced in Japan between Tokyo and Sapporo again with an EF81 to match the stock. My EF81!model pictured here is in Hokutosei sleeper livery with the shooting star motif on the side this service also ran between Tokyo and Sapporo but did not have the luxury of the Cassiopeia service, incidentally the EF81 on both these services were replaced by more modern EF510 locomotives just before both services were withdrawn after the introduction of a Shinkansen high speed service between Tokyo and Hokkaido. The only AC electric locomotive I have is a single BO-BO type ED79 by TOMIX in AC red livery at present. This loco would be out of place on my DC overhead layout but modellers license enables it to be “visiting” for some rectification work as the model was at an attractive price i couldn’t say no, the model is not staying in AC red in due course it’s going to be professionally airbrushed into the present JR Freight 2 tone blue and grey. These powerful little BO-BO locos often operate in pairs on container freight. I also have plans for another TOMIX red EF81 locomotive that I have acquired to also be airbrushed into the same JR Freight 2 tone blue livery series EF81-45X this also will involve some bodywork to remove the chrome strips below the cab window and add some icicle cutters above the cab windows, these have been purchased from Japan and are etched brass, it’s strange to have such a feature as the depot where this series of locos are based have very little ice! I have a photograph of a converted model from a fellow modeller in Japan

Continuing from my second post we have an early type EF64 these locos are 70cm shorter than the series 1000 and slightly different body sides, my model represents EF64-60 in a single blue and grey livery different to the series 1000 two tone blue, this model made by Japanese manufacturer A Class is plastic ready to run introduced 7 years ago. The other loco here is by KATO and is a class EF65-2000 the latest series after refurbishment, I have yet to number the loco from the sheet provided in the box, a little bit like BR when a series of locomotives get a refurbishment or modernisation they become a sub class within the class, the EF65 class has 4 sub classes the first series EF65-0 were predominantly freight locomotives with two piece windscreen and no connecting doors, EF65-500 were also used on passenger services mostly overnight sleepers and had a small cream band along side the loco body , the series 1000 feature the centre cab end doors and we’re both freight and passenger and the series 2000 as the model here are capable of high speed running for freight use these are noticeable as they have the loco number board on a red background,a noticeable feature is the colour of the cab doors, like a few countries Japan uses 2 voltage systems if the loco in JR Freight ownership and is in the blue/grey based livery like the models here and has yellow cab doors it’s for 1500V DC operation, if the loco features red cab doors this is either dual voltage as in the class EF81 or the ED79 for use on the 20KV AC network. More modern locos constructed post privatisation with the exception of type EF66-100 have unique liveries per class and don’t feature the coloured doors.

Thought I’d start by giving a taste rig some of my locomotives starting with the EF64-1000 by TOMIX when these locos were new they were delivered in the then standard Japan National Rail blue with cream end panels, upon privatisation only this single loco EF64-1015 was painted into the new JR Freight two tone blue livery the others of the class received just some minor modifications to the blue livery even this loco was repainted into one of the simplified liveries from this attractive scheme. The EF64-1000 is a freight loco mostly used on heavy container traffic until they were replaced by more modern traction. As you can see Japan uses the odd BO-BO-BO bogie design I’m not sure but I’ve only ever seen this in Italian, Swiss And some Spanish locomotives that were constructed to a Japanese design, can anyone else add more? Ive a passion for this two tone blue livery but this loco is my particular favourite, a rare limited edition by TOMIX

I’ve had a large collection of modern image Japanese 1/80 locomotives and a little rolling stock for a number of years but no time to look at a layout. I started collecting these after working in Japan for a year 19 years ago, now living in West Yorkshire near the mouth of Standedge tunnel it’s time to start a layout. Circumstances have changed like for many over the last few weeks so now I find 3 weeks to hand to have a look at what I’ve got and start a plan. Part of the reason the modelling was shelved was a mid life crisis of a now 3yr old boy and one month old girl , they still need time but I’ve plenty to hand. My plan was to make a small depot layout what we could call an TMD here in the UK but enabling an EMU and DMU set to run across the front on the main line. I have a rosta of 13 electric locomotives and 2 diesel (there’s only 3 classes of diesel loco used in Japan today) I will add some photos of the locos later. My track of choice originally was going to be PECO code 75 but since this date the Bullhead track has become available and with more points etc that are going to be added to the range in due course I’ve decided to settle on this as the sleeper spacing looks a little better as Japan (former National Rail system) uses cape 3ft 6 gauge. The Japanese for HO mostly use 1/80 but 1/87 is also used by a few modellers but all 1/87 are hand built brass mostly from the IMON company and your looking at £900 a loco and £600 for a 2 car DMU running on Bemo HOm track. The 1/80 market is catered by the two manufacturers we know in the UK KATO and Tomix and via mail order from Japan there are a few other plastic ready to run manufacturers available to me as well as a plethora of smaller suppliers for scenic items such as road vehicles,signals, catenary etc. I do have some 1/76 OO items as the scale difference is minimal. So hopefully i will keep you all updates on the layout and the locos stock I have.

I’ve only recently found this live stream on YouTube just outside Kyoto station plenty of modern JR West units and odd freight too. https://youtu.be/2-b2SGMj0Es