sem34090

Fairy Nuff.

I didn't have that kind of money!

Hornby? No ES1... Triang? No ES1... ('Primary' Steeplecab Electric bears a slight resemblance to an EE Type 3B) Hornby Dublo? Don't think so?

Good! Carry on...

I thought as much! She can sit on 'Salvington' until I get brave enough to cover over that beautiful bowpen-lined and lettered SR Green and replace it with SECR Wainwright. The latter livery is so much nicer, but the sheer work that has gone into its current livery puts me off!

So I gather... I (thankfully!) have a somewhat limited experience with feline quadrapeds... I prefer Labradors!

I'd be happy to lend a model of 'Primrose' in her 1930's guise as 1027, not in the near future, but should you ever get so far as that period...

I still remember seeing pictures of beautiful green tank engines in my copy of 'Stepney the Bluebell Engine'. Digging it out now, it's No.27 (Your own 'Primrose', no less!) and 'Bluebell' sat together outside Horsted Keynes 'box. Theres also some lovely illustrations of 488, the NLR tank and Captain Baxter (All, interestingly, without faces...) as well as (of course) No.55! You're a braver man than I, but I look forward to watching the first episode! Go on... film it in either black & white or sepia... on film... you know you want to!!!

Ah, the Brighton Railway Series... I knew I was close, but that script is great: a lot, LOT, better than a few others I've seen on Youtube! Best line? "who has ever heard of a "Hailsham"

I did have Germany in mind it seems... Sounds roughly like what I was proposing, but I don't think there's enough freight left that could be steam hauled.

I can't see it happening, except perhaps on the Looe branch (It's been done before... steam can run on it!), Falmouth (Hmmm...) or St Ives (Bit more like it!), but I thought it'd be fun to theorise how it could be made possible and executed. The other, parallel discussion is using alternative, modern, forms of steam traction to displace diesels.

Hello! A thought has been going through my head of late about the practicalities of steam ever returning to regular services in the UK. So, a few of my thoughts. I know they're written as questions, but this is more about starting a discussion than seeking a definitive answer (hence my posting here!). - WCRC and Belmond Run semi-regular steam hauled services throughout the year, and at times I'm sure the number of steam locos at Carlisle can outnumber those of other traction. However, these are not 'service' trains - they are run for enthusiasts and tourists, and charge a premium fare. - Steam as an alternative traction to diesel (not electric, I shouldn't think!) has been floated as an idea in the past (5AT, etc...), so is there any chance of these ideas becoming more widely accepted. - My idea that has been fermenting formulating in my mind is that, on a (very) occassional basis, steam locos and heritage stock could be employed on some service workings that may recieve extra patronage as a result of their being steam-hauled (Much in the same way the Cumbrian Coast Line has seen an increase in patronage due to the use of Class 37's). I suppose the use of heritage DMU's could have a similar effect, but steam would be a major draw for enthusiasts and even non-enthusiasts. I suppose this came about from me seeing an image of a T9, U or M7 sat at Worthing with a rake of green coaches (Presumably MK1's or Mk2's in this day and age...) on a local working from Littlehampton to Brighton. It's unlikely to happen, but it set my mind thinking as to whether there may be a case for using the likes of the railmotor or a few Panniers on some of the smaller Cornish lines (How was 93 run on the Looe Branch? Was it in service use, or specials only?) in between DMU's during the summer, which may increase their profitability. There's a lot of practicalities that would need to be thought out, but it was another mad an idea that came into my head that I thought it may be interesting to hear opinions on. It's probably highly impractical, and I'm not saying it would work, but I like the idea in concept of a regular steam-hauled service on non-heritage lines.

Spotted this at Worthing Yesterday: looks fantastic and a lot better than the Coastway Liveried sets! One complaint though, Mr Upton: Where's the double arrows?! I thought you said Lover's Walk still had some...

We'll stop distracting you, then you get the work done, then post loads of stuff in this thread! Yet to see any sign of Gary's Masterpieces (JUST DON'T!!!) though.

Nah... I'll do that with the spare Triang Bulleid pacific bodies I have at home!

Fantastic!

What have I started... I feel a story opening coming on; keep a watch the literary thread! 313's have not been banned yet! They've even repainted one into 'Heritage' BR Blue-Grey livery now, the newest being 41 years old this year! In fact, last year I contacted Southern about them: Thank you for your email to Govia Thameslink. The class 313/2 units operating on the East and West Coastway services are currently expected to operate on these routes for the length of the GTR franchise. The rational for the replacement of the class 313 fleet operating on Great Northern services in this franchise was the expected (at the time of the franchise bid) installation of ETCS in-cab signalling on the south of the East Coast Mainline and the Northern City Line into Moorgate. The long term value of installing such equipment on a fleet of trains which had a limited lifetime, led to the fleet replacement decision being made. The 170 vehicles being introduced onto the Southern network would have referred to the 377/6 and 377/7 fleets (34 x 5 car units) which predominately work on the Southern Metro routes. The class 387/1 introduced onto the Thameslink network are now cascading to Great Northern as part of the class 700 introduction onto Thameslink, with the class 387/2 fleet operating on the Gatwick Express. It is expected that as part of the Thameslink programme, a number of class 700 units will start to operate more widely on the Southern network. The class 378 units have a number of bespoke features for operation on the London Overground line of route, which would make replacement of these trains on the London Overground network problematic, and it is expected that they will remain on this route for the length of the GTR franchise. The Vivarail class 230 remains an unproven concept as diesel offering, and converting the 4th rail traction system to a 3rd rail traction system would be a different re-engineering problem, in particular for the traction return circuit. I hope the above is useful information and we are hoping to release more information our main website in the near future with updates on the DOO trains and updated Fleet information. Thank you for contacting us. If you wish to contact us further regarding your query, then please contact our Customer Service team directly at www.southernrailway.com/contact-us or by phone on 0345 127 2920 or in writing to Southern Customer Services, PO Box 10240, Ashby-De-La-Zouch, LE65 9EB Kind regards Southern Customer Services Some genuinely interesting information there: I was suprised!

I shall watch with interest: the only pre-NCB colliery layout I've seen so far! My 4mm attempt will be designed with the ability to operate anything from pre-grouping Welsh 0-6-2T's to Austerities and Januses...

For my colliery layout I would be in the market for a Taff Vale O1, both in NCB guise and original Lined TVR livery! I got myself a TVR U1 on Saturday to finish in Lined TVR black to help run my colliery layout in a pre-grouping guise! Anyway, enough about NER, TVR or any other locos: the NER now has its own thread in the Hornby forum: back to terriers please!

The Men in Umber will save their judgement for later... We only have 33 minutes to wait! Then it's tomorrow and Gary's masterpieces (DON'T!) will be revealed for all the world to see!!! The Men in Umber are currently noting your use of the phrase 'LOL' in an earlier posting... Such incidents will not go unrecorded. Be careful, or it's a class 313 to Southampton for you...

That was quick! Didn't think it would take long... Apologies here to Gary... but it could be a nice lead-in to his literary mastepieces that I suspect may be surfacing tomorrow! sem34090: Sat atop St Pancras observing a Johnson Single stuggling to start its train... (Ooops... wrong thread! )

Well, it actually features the GNR and MR, so it's better than my very loose connection the GWR! Sounds like an interesting take on a rather well-known story... I didn't think the GNR used wood-firing?! I'm sure F***** S******* would've benefited from a money tree though!

Probably not best to put this in the literary thread, but it is technically a poem/sonnet (A blatent rip-off: Name the sonnet!) I met a director at the Uckfield show, Who said "One great and inspiring layout Stands in the house. ... Near it, on the workbench, Half-bashed, a broken terrier lies, whose chassis And boiler fittings, and smokebox door handle Tell its owner well those parts removed Which yet survive dumped in the scrap box, The P4'er who mocked them, and the forum who fed; And on the forum, these words appear: My name is Gary, Modeller of Modellers; Look on my works, ye finescalers, and despair! Little beside remains. Round the remains Of that Dapol Terrier, stripped and primed, The boxes of bits stretch far away."

Please excuse the weird formatting on the last piece: I made comments and annotations on it in word, and having copied it directly, it still thinks they're there!

All of them? The first two? The second two? The first one, second one or third one? Specfics man, specifics! Yes, ahem, specifics!