SteveyDee68

Have been catching up on your thread from the start, and it’s been a joyous read, thank you! I used to marvel at the modelling on the (late lamented) Gn15 Gnatterbox website and at one point was going to take the plunge into Gn15 when poof! and it had gone… I know that 7/8ths is not the same as Gn15, but your modelling has the same effect on me and I find myself drawn once more to BIG modelling (crikey - I have a box full of Big Big Train skips and bright red track, and far too many website bookmarks for dolls house supplies for my own good!) - however, marvelling at what you are building shall have to provide the scratch to that particular itch for the time being! Looking forward to further developments! Steve S PS For what it is worth, I like your little people!

Whereas I suspect it’s to make more money on fines. (See what I did there? 😉) All very interesting and informative. Steve S

One of the kids who used to play in my concert band at Bury Music Centre as a teenager is now a guard on the ELR - he only learnt of my interest in railways etc after leaving for university and, last time we spoke, he promised me a footplate ride on a steamer - just let him know and he would organise it! Needless to say, I’ve still not managed to arrange that! My late father did one of their locomotive driving experience days when he was 70 - started the day helping prep a loco, then fireman, then drove the engine, then finished the day with one of their fine dining experiences (and yes, everything was booked a long time in advance to ensure everything dovetailed nearly. Have to say it was a very happy day for him indeed - thanks to the ELR. Needless to say, we used to visit the ELR when it was literally just “Bury Transport Museum” based in the former goods shed at Bolton Street Station. To see it blossom into the railway it is today has been a joy. How preserved lines running steam engines are going to fare with the price of coal rising through having to be imported, or the clamp down on CO2 emissions is a whole new chapter in the preservation story. Have a great day (and take an umbrella!) Steve S

Not surprising - it’s a fantastic layout! Good luck to the new owner - and can’t wait to see what you build next! Steve S

Strangely enough, shortly after posting it did occur to me that such a service would be invaluable for anyone who might struggle to assemble kits. But given how quickly a Metcalfe kit can be put together, I am left wondering what the “hourly rate” might be to do so? Equivalent to that of a dentist or *gasp* a call out plumber?! 🫢😆

Difficult to say - most of their other items are more “sensibly” priced… Maybe the good condition box went to their head?! 😆

Wow. Just … wow! £60?? Metcalfe Municipal Building I mean, okay, someone is building them and selling them ready made, but does that include improving the appearance of bare cardboard edges or simply gluing them together as per kit instructions? The rest of the items this seller has on offer are also thus priced. Think I’ll buy the kits and take my chances building them myself! Steve S

I think the decimal point is out by one place for this listing… LIMA LMS GUV van That, or P K Rail Model Railway is yet another mendacious chiseller? Maybe check out the NEAR identical item on sale from pwd100 before you make your mind up… LIMA BR GUV van Steve S

Enjoy your day at the ELR - happens to be right on my doorstep, but unfortunately I’ll be rehearsing the on-stage kids’ band slap bang in the middle of the day (being a musician/MD/teacher, I often find my weekends are booked out to activities other than railway or modelling related events *sigh*) I was going to say, if you see a chap with a beard and a real ale pint nursing a dirty great big camera taking photos of both trains and people, say hello to one of my old bosses, Laurence - he will talk with (rather than to) anyone, as he is an avid student of human nature… Then I realised that maybe my description might need refining a little! 😆 Steve S

And getting back on topic (🤣) I’ve decided to release my recently captured Hornby Warship loco back into the wild, in the hopes of recouping at least some of what I spent on it (and which I shall continue to pay for the next two months for, thanks to PayPal’s pay-in-3 scheme). I shan’t bother asking if anyone here wants to make me an offer, as everyone with any modelling sense at all has already pointed out the better detail and superior running qualities of the Bachmann model! Steve S

Follow up to my previous post… I contacted the seller to point out their major omission in their description to discover I had previously contacted them… Originally, this was listed as a Heljan model, so I pointed out that Heljan have never produced a Class 71. They replied that this is a class 71 body on a Heljan chassis, and they would update the listing to correct the error. 👍 The thing is, I’m sure last time I saw it that it had things at each of its four corners that allowed it to actually move under its own power. 🫢 The only way it might move right now is vertically, if dropped from a height. Steve S UPDATE It has wheels after all! Having written to them, they have got back to me and upon peering VERY hard at a much enlarged photo the wheels are JUST visible … Which means I doubt they are to scale! In any care case, a pristine version can be had for 50p more than the atrocity available from RAILS!

I see RAILS OF SHEFFIELD have their newest staff member working on their eBay listings again… Class 71 locomotive There’s something about the description that I find … lacking … in detail*… Can you spot what it is? 😉 HOURS OF FUN! * Talk about “a blind man on a running horse”

Aesthetically = 9/10 Practicality = 1/10 Where’s the drawers for stashing modelling tools and unmade kits? Steve S

Seen altogether like that, Rob’s layouts are like a series of exquisitely cut gems on a necklace, each one a different precious stone but obviously fashioned by the same mastermind. In movie terms, I’d also suggest they look like a trailer, building up excitement for a big reveal. And in BOOK terms, I think they make a great teaser as to what a BOOK showcasing Rob’s layouts might look like, although the BOOK itself would have far more photos illustrating each layout, and being a BOOK from Rob would be interspersed with “how I did it” chapters on scenery, rolling stock, weathering etc. I mean, it could be quite a heavy BOOK as it would contain an awful lot of inspirational photos and instructive content, and I’m sure the images inside might even make it feel like a coffee table BOOK to be left out for any visitor to casually flick through, but it’s definitely a BOOK that I - and, I strongly suspect, many others - would wish to add to my library, or BOOK collection as some may call it.* Steve S * Just been reading a BOOK by Derren Brown talking about the power of suggestion - a really interesting BOOK read 😉

See the fella on bass there? He sat in on an interview one of my old college mates had, back in the day… My mate is a Senior Lecturer at LIPA since the day it opened, ‘Professor’ of Bass Guitar! Also happens to be left handed… Coincidence? Steve S

Well, further research and it would appear that the better option for a “cheaper than Bachmann” model would actually be a Mainline version, as that has everything in line with the wheels (like the later Bachmann version). I do wonder why Lima bothered producing their incorrect bogie version when the Mainline model already existed - and why Hornby thought/thinks it a good idea to keep producing it. Mind you, plonkers like me still buy the d*mn things thinking that these must be “better” than the old Mainline loco, so Hornby has done something ‘right’ to make me think that! Guess I shall be returning my model to the Bay of Fleas in the hopes of recouping what I paid. 🙄 Steve S

I’ve searched but to no avail - perhaps nobody has done this before, or maybe it simply isn’t worth the effort? I’ve picked up a Hornby Railroad DCC ready Warship quite cheaply as a surprise present for my best mate*, but upon opening it have realised that the bogie side frames are … well … “impressions” I guess is the kindest description! I checked the more expensive Bachmann model, and the bogies (besides being more detailed) actually have brake blocks that line up with the wheels - the Hornby model’s side frames seem to just “float” in mid air in comparison. Has anybody ever managed to find a way to move the side frames inwards and improve the cosmetic look of the bogies on the Railroad model? (I assume it is more or less the old Lima model, too) I can see that the Hornby motor sticks out and may stop such modifications, but if anyone has managed to do it and can describe their method, I’d be grateful. You can see above that brake blocks and the centre of the bogie side frame are nowhere near the wheels. (Obviously the Bachmann model is far superior in that respect) Otherwise I don’t think it’s too bad a model - and I’m planning on upgrading the bodyshell with new handrails etc. It is the chassis/bogies that are letting the model down! Any help very much appreciated. Steve S * As he has only recently started taking an interest in the hobby again, and has been quite shocked at the prices of locos, he would be horrified if he thought I had bought him an ‘expensive’ Bachmann model, whereas the “Railroad” label will not make the gift seem so extravagant!

Great show, not overly busy* so was easily able to have a good chat with layout operators, trade suppliers and demonstrators alike. We were both particularly taken aback by Shirebrook - neither of us are really interested in N gauge, but that layout seriously swayed us both! Great scenics, fantastic near faultless running and a real sense of ‘standing by the trackside” 👍 The Yorkshire Coast Electric Tramway was enjoyable to watch and fascinating - the interaction between trams and road vehicles was clever, and the whole thing rather spectacular to see. Very glad to have seen it before it is retired, and only sorry my late father never got to see it - as a lifelong tram enthusiast, he would have absolutely loved it especially with the power to the trams being via the overhead wires. My mate used to teach at the secondary school associated with the leisure centre; he said the centre had improved since when he had last visited with a nice cafe and much nicer toilet facilities than before! (Not to mention that the school itself has now been demolished and re-sited on the other side of the centre!) Hoping to pay a return visit to next year’s exhibition. Steve S * Hopefully enough patrons to make it worthwhile for the traders to attend - there were plenty of them, too, with some bargains to be had!

Looking forward to visiting this show with my best mate, who I messaged a week ago about it and has been “scratching the itch” all week in anticipation! Brought over some of my OO stuff for him to take a look at and his mind has been blown at what is now available (like me, a child of the 70s with his experience of OO finishing with the advent of Mainline and Lima!) Steve S

I managed to suppress the urges welling up within me yesterday, and looking at these afresh today I realised that I had overcome my FOMO and desire to add at least one to my collection … I mean, Rapido have done quite well off me through the purchase of four of their Hunslets, so I have done my bit to ensure the company’s continued success, I suppose. I shall watch these models with interest and delight in the joy they will no doubt bring their new owners in due course, but for now the fever has run it’s course and I have emerged unscathed from the other side. I am a shunting loco addict and it has been 123 days since I last purchased one. Steve S

Zooming in on the photo and despite the pixelated image I think we can safely agree that they are! Or was that a rhetorical question? (I always get those type of questions wrong!) Steve S

I think a write up in one of the model railway magazines might be in order before then - absolutely cracking layout, with a real sense of location. Hope you carry on posting about it on this thread. Steve S

It is my considered opinion that what makes or breaks model building kits (card, plastic or lasercut) isn’t whether they are based upon a particular prototype building, but whether the designers have kept them proportionally realistic in size. Even small buildings can be quite “large” when scaled down, but compression must be done with an eye on ‘reality’, so to speak. Too many - and I include many RTP resin buildings - appear undersized. Well designed kits have “integrity” in their overall shape. (All in my opinion, of course!) Steve S

Hmmmmm…. I think that a ‘debranded’ ref 958001 with frames in black might look suitably light railway… I am sore tempted (says he, having already pre-ordered an O1* in BR black late crest) * Actually at one point I nearly accidentally ordered four of them due to a glitch in the order process recording multiple key strokes … it was the total amount being nigh on £700 that made me double take and back track!)

There is a real danger that I might just succumb to one of these in BR black early crest, as I always wanted one of the Hornby versions of this loco as a kid. Don’t really know why - it was something about the shape that I found aesthetically attractive! Did these ever get into Norfolk/Suffolk? Steve S