FPH 603

This merely came from a 'what if' thought if BR continued trialling Double Deck trains through the late 1980's into the 1990's. I come up with stupid ideas like this all the time, but when I drew this one up I was quite happy with it, so I thought I'd post it here. This is Imaginary Locomotives after all.

The image you have attached is indeed helpful, but I have a couple of questions. 1. The platform clearance width is 8' 8'', so wouldn't be as simple as making the entire thing narrower? 2. Despite the incorrect profile of the roof, it still fits the loading gauge when the width is reduced to 8' 8''. I trialled how it would look with a curved roof and it looks UGLY AS! Personally I'd prefer to leave the roof as it is. As for the seating and guard compartment this is being corrected.

They are still in development though. The train I mentioned earlier has one of the Diesel engines swapped for a battery, and is charged before each run. Again the system in that train may change too.

Just while it's on my mind, it might also be good if we saw some of the other trains we haven't seen in photos for a while. I'd personally like to see that Cravens DMU again (because I'm a DMU fanatic!) and maybe some WD's or 9F's too. You don't have to if you don't want to, just thought I may suggest it while it was on my mind. In fact I still have the Cravens unit on PN as my iPad home screen!

Looking good. That first picture looks great in B/W, especially with that 'shining' effect from behind the bridge.

I think how this is working is that we do the one letter on each day - E would be tomorrow's letter.

Still a long time away, but that will be interesting if they can get 'Hydrogen Powered' trains working. A much simpler alternative would be using Solar Powered trains. A heritage NSWGR Diesel Railmotor in Byron Bay has already been converted into a Solar Powered Train, but retaining one diesel engine in case of failure.

Just thought I'd post something I've been working on over the past few days. Basically a modern (late 1980's) replacement for the Bulleid 4DD. This is heavily based on the Sydney Trains Tangaras, but redesigned to be similar in size to the 4DD and also with some more 'British' features, such as reworked marker lights, Mk3 gangways, tightlock couplers, removal of side skirts and relocated guard's compartment. I do think I may need to reprofile the roof and maybe change the 4DD based bogies for more modern ones maybe without 3rd rail collecting shoes. Supposedly this would be a 'Dual Voltage' EMU but I'm also unsure where else other than the Charing Cross to Dartford line these could potentially run on. EDIT: Livery is a work in progress.

There are diagrams on RAILCAR.co.uk for the Wickham 109, although I suspect these aren't the same as what came out of the works in terms of shape and profile. DIAGRAM 606 - 109 DBMS DIAGRAM 607 - 109 DTC(L)

Those are some great points made there. I thought I'd add the idea of also experimenting with new perspectives and maybe look for areas you haven't really photographed before. I agree in particular with The Blue Streak's point about posting unedited pictures with the odd enhanced one. Personally when I take photos on my currently under construction I find that pictures will need little or no editing. If I do edit pictures usually it will simply be putting any old Apple device filter over it and maybe I will make minor adjustments until it looks right, and that only takes me a minute or two to do.

. A Deltic at Doncaster, South Yorkshire, c. 1968.

Or maybe (just for 'something else' to do) bring out another era, whether that be winding the clock back further or even forward. I'm sure whatever you go with will be a good decision.

Thanks guys for your help. What I will probably do is track down a Jib Runner and I'll find an old coach and convert that into the tool coach. I'll probably go for something different from the repainted Gresley that was supposed to come in the set, maybe I'll do a Thompson or a Mk1, or I may even scratchbuild a completely new design. I'll also see about doing some reading up about brakedown trains, as this is a pretty new subject to me.

It might be just the fact that I have an obsession with BR 1st generation DMU's, but those look pretty good together. Who says that virtually the same trains in matching liveries don't look good together?

It's been a while since the last post, but I thought I might do something a little more popular and less 'freelanced'. I decided the 79xxx would be an ideal choice for this. As they the ends are tapered rather than curved I thought I may have a little more success with them than past models. Yesterday I started to erect the bodyshell of the Lead Car, which is already (in my opinion at least) looking like a 79xxx. I am reusing parts from the 64ft South Kingsborough Unit as it is has 64ft underframes and can be easily adapted for the 79xxx. Above: The newly erected shell of the Leading Power Car. The front is almost complete, but the headcode box will need some work before completion. The bodyside (I say bodyside as the other side was removed to make erecting easier) will have the windows finished and will have other details such as door hinges and spots for brass handrails.

Hi all, Recently I aquired a Hornby 'Permanent Way' train set, only with the crane, two small wagons that go either side of the crane, a controller, transformer, one piece of track and a Triang flat wagon. I would like to scratchbuild the front wagon which the crane itself rests on, but I was wondering if anyone had specifications for this. I am looking for a good replacement for the missing tool coach too. Thanks to all that contribute.

Unfortunately the trains on my layout don't have much track to operate on though! The thing only measures about 1200 x 390 mm! And there are no little people on the layout yet. Maybe they sneak out of my cupboard and climb the mountains (the giant stairs, actually!) and somehow get to the layout once I'm in bed directly next to the layout! I have had a spider live on the layout before though...

Or to make it more obvious to those who are dumb enough to try climbing onto the train roof and get killed by touching the overhead wires that IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!

Thanks, I had a look at it and it looks great! Really sets the environment there. I hope to incorporate some of those features from that layout, notably the short (and very green) grass, fencing and possibly the black ballast to go alongside my stone structures currently being made.

Try that now. For some stupid reason the link was stuffed and I had to change it multiple time for it to work. EDIT: I don't want to get too specific on where exactly it is, but it's somewhere in North Yorkshire.

Hi all, I'm getting to the point now where I need to start thinking about the scenery of my current layout. However I am unsure of where to start. The sort of environment I'm going for is of a Rural North Yorkshire town, one that has a somewhat decent (although still low) population. If you need any more details I post them here. See my blog for more (in my signature). Thanks to all that contribute. EDIT: Title Change

Is that spelt correctly? When I clicked on that my screen came up with not found. Just thought I'd let you know!

That makes me wonder how many accidents they have in those areas. I've never seen trains bounce around that much before, or at least in a very long time!

I also have another question: On the image in post #1 the front door is flush with the front but there is also an edge around it, so how can I recreate that? I've tried cutting out the door completely and replacing it with a new one, although this greatly weakened the structure of the front of my last model. Previously I tried just marking around the edge of the door, although my cutting wasn't greatly neat, especially when doing it on a curved front!

We once had 'Railmotors' which were much closer to UK 1st generation DMU's, but most of these were gone by the 1990's, the last ones were withdrawn in 2006, Plenty are preserved and occasionally one will be brought out for a tour. Despite me living in the right era to see them in service (over 10 years ago) I have no memory of seeing them as they worked mainly the Newcastle and Hunter Valley areas of NSW, neither of which I lived near. Although I do plan to go find another preserved unit (unfortunately not operational) in that area soon. There are very few photos of them I've found there and I sometimes wonder if they're still there.