SteveyDee68

I’ve visited Beer*, but never been to Cider! Steve S * Three times with my family to visit Pecorama and once, memorably, aged 17 when I went on my own travelling from Tipton St John using public transport - that turned out to be a long day out!

I’ve bought one short wheelbase Bachmann wagon at £31 - a cement wagon, to use as a “template” to ‘upgrade’ cheaper wagons that come into my hands! And it was the cheapest version I could find in my local model shop (not eBay), the next cheapest being £35! Likewise I have bought one Rapido ferry van, to act as a template to improve all those Triang Hornby examples I’ve picked up cheaply off eBay. I found myself a Bachmann ‘standard’ mineral wagon for £13 a couple of weeks ago at The Locoshed - that will be my template when building Airfix/Dapol kits of the same. I feel extremely itchy about paying £40 for a short wheelbase OO wagon - £5 more and I could buy the same in O gauge, and that seems better value for money in terms of what’s in your hands in exchange for the same number of cake tokens! Which was the argument my friend put forward when we attended the Barnsley Model Show and he looked at retail prices for models for the first time in around 10 years. Food for thought - if only O gauge didn’t take up so much room! Steve S

Looking for Bachmann FGA wagons on a general Google search, and ending up hitting these on eBay… Now, is it me or is that a touch overpriced? Steve S

Took my Bachmann Midland Pullman along to The Locoshed this afternoon in order to test run it (it is chipped, and I don’t have DCC - yet!) and Jim kindly let me run it around his test track. Assembly is a b*tch - not only are the connectors awkward, but the coaches must be connected the right way around or (a) they won’t light and (b) they cause an error on the controller! Beautiful smooth running, and the lighting functions respond exactly as expected. Disassembly and boxing up was as difficult as assembling it in the first place! Definitely one to store “on the layout”, so to speak. Also took along my new EFE Bulleid “Booster” loco for Jim to take a look at - ran sweet as a nut straight out of the box, and contrary to several reviews talking about dim lights I thought they were perfectly fine (under DC). The wand turned the can lights on and off as promised - although the DC controller had to have juice flowing for that to happen. Changing direction (with the Gaugemaster controller) turned the cab lights off. I assume this is expected behaviour. Meanwhile I have some images to restore to the thread, perhaps over the weekend. Steve S

Will No 34 be named at some point? She’s a handsome beast (all praise to her builder) and so seems eminently worthy of an appropriate name! Steve S

Many years ago, was driven over to Holmfirth (of Last of the Summer Wine fame) by a mate for a (late) Xmas Concert (in January!) at his church, taking “the scenic route” out via Greenfield. It was snowing, lightly, and his Volvo wasn’t exactly the fastest machine on the road, so we were passed at some speed by a red car* just literally outside of Greenfield as the road started upwards. A few minutes later and the “light snowfall” had become “way thicker snowfall” and as we climbed higher rapidly became “should we be taking this route in this kind of snowfall?” But Mike had arranged the concert, it had been postponed twice, and myself and three other friends from University had agreed to play for the concert and so he was determined to get us there. Just towards the top where there was a sharp turn to the left to negotiate, the snow had got ridiculously heavy and Mike was peering through the windscreen wipers as we continued forwards at about 10mph, when I spotted a red car lying upside down in the ditch at the side of the road. Moments later, it was lost in the flurries of snow, but I saw it long enough to see (imagine?) one of the wheels still turning. I remember saying to Mike that I thought I’d just seen a car on its roof but he was intent on (a) negotiating the road in almost zero visibility and (b) not have his car demand “a rest” - all of his vehicles were notorious for this “feature” and neither he nor I really fancied it doing so on the top of the moor with thick snow falling! Never found out if the red car that had flown past us ended up in that ditch. Got to the concert to find exactly three people present - the vicar, the church warden (who had opened up) and his wife. One of our members was stuck in snow somewhere in West Yorkshire and the concert never happened! Spent the night at my mate’s house near our old college before setting off at sparrow fart again with Mike as I needed to be back at 8am on Sunday morning to play in a brass band contest (of all things!) West Yorkshire was a winter wonderland so he decided it would be a bad idea to go over the hills again (phew) and instead headed north up the M1 joining near Barnsley and then the M62 to head back to Manchester. Conditions were ideal for skiers, probably less so for cars. We made our way in the slow lane of a deserted M1 and then an equally deserted M62. The snow started again and then the inevitable … Mike’s car needed a rest! We pulled onto the hard shoulder (how could we know?!) and sat for around 15 minutes whilst snow gradually piled up on the car, and I prayed nothing rear ended us! Setting off again in the snow, I couldn’t work out how Mike could tell where he was driving until he said he could just make out the white line at the edge of the motorway. Honestly, as I write this I can hear how ludicrous it sounds, but it’s all true! With snow falling really heavily again, I was trusting Mike’s driving abilities (I’d yet to learn to drive) but nevertheless sensed that we were veering left and downwards (even though I couldn’t see anything in the snow), before suddenly starting to rise up again, still veering left. Totally disorientated, I was about to say something when we suddenly pulled under the entrance canopy of a hotel! ”Oh” said Mike. Mike notoriously could fall asleep mid sentence. We’d worried about him in the first year, but as he didn’t seem too worried we just put it down to one of his idiosyncrasies! His reaction to this situation was typically laid back. Pulling out his AA roadmap, he worked out that he must have taken a slip road off the M62, then the first exit of a(n unseen) roundabout to end up at the hotel. He pulled the car into the car park, let it have another rest, the snow thinned a little and we resumed our journey over the Pennines. He dropped me home (just off the M66) just before 8am, declined breakfast and said he needed to get on his way as he was playing organ for a church service in Wolverhampton at 11am! He drove off, and I went in the opposite direction back to Rochdale to the band contest. In retrospect and from a distance of 33 years I think I can acknowledge (a) the foolhardiness of us both in undertaking either journey across the Pennines and (b) a lack of general citizenship in not checking that (what I thought was) a red car in a ditch did not contain injured persons. Of course, back then there was no internet, so finding out if there had been an accident would have meant scouring the local newspapers or hearing it on the local news (radio or TV) - neither of those things happened, and so to this day I have to ask myself “Did I really see a red car upside down in a ditch** with a wheel slowly turning through the falling snow, or did I imagine it?” Steve S * Couldn’t tell the make, it passed by so fast. ** If it was the red car that overtook us at stupid miles an hour … well, it served the driver right for being a silly @rse!

Some more photos (so I don’t forget I have them!): Blackford Bridge station building, which I think is modelled on plans of a station from the Settle & Carlisle. I remember him making the gas lamps - they are metal tube, with the heads assembled from pieces of clear plasticard and Mepak (?), assembled with much fumbling and cursing over many, many evenings. I seem to remember him finishing them and an article appearing shortly after in the Railway Modeller where somebody had done the same and put grain of wheat bulbs in them to light them up; I asked him whether he planned to do that and him replying “B*gger that for a game of soldiers” 🤣 Another view of the goods yard - office of the same era as the railway station, and his coal staithes can just be made out behind the wagons. The water tower at the rear is the only building I don’t recognise and think he may have bought that at an exhibition, as it is made of plaster. The bauxite van is one of four which I also think he bought, as I never knew him paint any of his kit built wagons in bauxite! In this view can be seen the weighbridge office (same age as the station building), the signal box and a provender store. The latter I knew he built after he retired, and if I build a diorama as mentioned earlier, that will be included (together with the weighbridge and office, the coal staithes and possibly the yard crane (not shown). The signal box was also built for his original layout, and I remember being intrigued by it as it was placed with its back towards the viewer! All that detail, and the only way to see it was to remove the roof! You can see there’s damage to the uprights on the stairs and a couple of the stanchions around the walkway need fixing, but the signalman is still at his post inside. I used to marvel at the little shed for the “facilities” too - hopefully that is in one of the boxes of “bits” to help complete the cameo. I hope that gives a gist of why I feel the urge to “show off” my dad’s modelling in his memory. Steve S

Just realised I took some photos of my dad’s layout before dismantling it, posing stock on it to get a flavour of what he wanted to achieve. Two coach local passenger service at the station, pulled by a 2-6-2 tank loco. Overbridge over the platform just out of shot to the right. Overview - the end of the passenger platform can be seen under the bridge. He had started a river in the last foot before the fiddle yard, but wasn’t happy with it scenically. Overview of the goods yard. The only building in position before I took this photo was the goods shed - I had to hazard a guess for the others, as he had them all lined up in order of size along the front edge of the baseboard, in front of the long siding. I placed the buildings where I thought they looked natural. In retrospect, I guess the front siding would most likely be for coal - he just needed more coal staithes to match those he built for his original layout. Closer view of his goods shed - which has 5mm thick ABS plastic at its core! The basic shape for the main body of the building was vacuum formed as a favour from the lads on the shop floor where he worked - he drew up the design for the mould, they built the mould, cast his building and disposed of the evidence without the bosses knowing anything about it! It is so strong you can stand on it (which I remember him doing when he first brought it home and before any holes were cut into it). It then has layers of plasticard glued on to form the relief, the whole lot then covered in brick paper. It used to have a basic platform inside but over the years he added more detail - the poor photo shows the interior I realise now that he must have worked on it upside down with it cradled somehow, as the roof was part of the ABS plastic moulding. It may not be perfect or hyper-detailed, but to me it is special because he spent time and effort on it, and he cared about modelling it to the best of his abilities. Steve S

Have just finished reading through the Osney Town Wharf and Osney Town thread by @rcf - what inspiring modelling in O gauge. It has made me step back a little and reevaluate what I should be doing in so much that I have never done anything in 7mm scale, so perhaps should build a simple diorama using the smaller buildings my dad made with either one or two tracks at most - if there is room to include a point, then a simple fork at most. Food for thought (not much else I can do at the moment - not even got to my main computer yet to search for missing images for my threads!) Steve S

Many thanks, Rob, for taking the time to restore your photographs to your thread, as I have just re-read it in its entirety whilst laid up in bed - the photos of your modelling are inspiring, to say the least. I remember looking at your original quayside layout several years ago and saving the photos on my computer in my folder of inspiring ideas! Elsewhere (on one of my many threads) I have mentioned about creating an O gauge layout in homage to my late father, using the buildings and stock he made before dementia stopped his modelling. I’ve even put up an idea for a plan, using the station building and goods shed etc. However, looking at your dioramas has got my grey cells buzzing, to create something simple using his smaller buildings (weighbridge, coal states, office, provender’s store etc). Thank you for creating such inspiring, evocative and atmosphere filled layouts - I’ve made sure to “follow” to keep up with developments here! Steve S

I suddenly feel so much better! Having said that, I am curiously drawn to both class 03 and 04 diesels. And I suddenly - embarrassingly - realise I have no idea how many I have accumulated! 🫢 To think, I currently have another 3 examples on watch in My eBay!! (Note to self - cancel those now) Steve S

Thanks, John, I have done random searches over time for them but never with any success. I’ve never mastered the art of the saved search - is that something that runs automatically? Sadly no, but it’s a terrific idea (although I think Bachmann might think it a bit iffy in terms of intellectual copyright of their own model?) Personally, it would be a whole new learning curve to master cold cure resin casting or 3D scanning/printing - I’m sure there are others who already have the necessary know how to do that (wonder if Modelu have ever thought of applying their 3D scanners to the cab of a Kitmaster Blue Pullman, for example?!) I assume, of course, that Kitmaster copyrights have long ago expired (with the company) Steve S

Okay, I feel like a panel member on QI but I simply have to ask the question even if the whole room starts flashing it around me to the sound of klaxons… In the first photo, why is there a pink fighter plane? HOURS OF CONFUSION!

After all this time, Silver Fox on eBay are again producing side frames for the Blue Pullman, after telling me their next batch would be released once they had improved them. Blue Pullman Power Bogies Blue Pullman Non Power Bogies* * These are currently showing as “out of stock” - might be worth messaging Silver Fox and requesting when the next batch will be available On a personal note, I succumbed a few days ago and purchased the Bachmann model. Need to decide what to do about the stock of parts I’ve acquired to upgrade the Triang version! (If I could just get hold of the correct profile front, think I’d still like to have a go!) Steve S

Still available on preorder on the Hattons website until (I believe) 12 noon today - just checked now and the webpage is still active but haven’t tried ordering as I preordered two a few days ago!! If they do still produce this second batch, now is the time to throw you hat (and cash) in the ring and get an order in! Steve S (Two ABs and a P please, Bob)

Well, the Hattons website is going offline today so I guess this is when we collectively cross fingers and hope that Hattons fulfills its P class preorders. I put in for one on Monday - certain liveries were ‘sold out on pre-order’ but the website accepted my ‘early BR crest’ livery order. Also accepted two other preorders for Andrew Barclay 0-4-0s - so now I have three locos on preorder. (Noticeably not a single version of any of their Genesis coaches was available to preorder - all were flagged as sold out on preorder.) For now, goodbye, farewell and thank you, Hattons Steve S 🤞

@41516 I applaud you 👏 Due to enforced “rest”, I might (might) just get around to doing some further hacking. It’s a “might”, though - I’m sleeping an awful lot (‘Post viral exhaustion’, don’t you know?) which means odd waking times (note the time of this post!) and also means that I can suddenly run out of juice (let alone mojo) at a moment’s notice! But very much liking what you have done there! Steve S

Well, neither of these boxes will include a Port of Par Bagnall in NCB livery*, so that itch will continue to irritate me… I already have (accidental) repeats of certain liveries of their wonderful Hunslet 0-6-0s … dare I risk a third example, should the £100 box happen to contain suchlike? 🤔 Trust me to have just purchased a Bachmann Midland Pullman off eBay a few minutes ago! 🙄 HOURS OF FUN! * Still seeing those adverts, gnnrrrh!

Having “acted” on an episode of “Houdini & Doyle” (yes, that Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle) I can testify that catering is first class and plentiful… Breakfast (cooked!) ✅ Elevenses ✅ Lunch ✅ Tea ✅ Dinner ✅ Filming over-ran and I had to leave (in order to catch the last train home!) but even as I was leaving they were breaking for “Supper” and encouraging me to partake! I was booked as a “conductor” of the theatre orchestra but due to miscommunication ended up as a “rich gent” in the audience. It was a very interesting and eye opening experience into how filming TV programmes goes. And so @The Johnster’s point about the “creatives” having complete control over the environment makes sense. I realised pretty quickly from the rolling stock that it must be a heritage railway - actually finding it quite fun to try to identify the (many) different locos: so far, I think I’ve seen Class 20, 50, 56 and 58 locos plus a couple of pacer units. I will have to watch again* and keep a closer ear on the station announcements - I hadn’t noticed they weren’t real places. Steve S * Nothing better to do - on enforced “rest”

And the mystery is solved! It was odd seeing a Class 50 pulling passenger stock on what purported to be a ‘contemporary’ setting - even more so to see a couple of Pacer units! Just watched the second episode and spotted a Class 58 on an engineering train (same wagons as in the previous episode but with a different loco!), so it appears K&WVR have access to more “modern” locos and stock - if by “modern” we mean “recently retired”! Thanks to everyone who has settled my mind on this. Steve S

Wow! Never thought to look there! Stangely enough, I did think “Keighley” myself based upon nothing other than having visited it when I was about 8 years old!! Steve S

ITV recently did a short series called “Platform Seven” - genre wise it’s a mixture of murder/mystery/ghost story. My question is, it is based around Platform Seven of “Central Station” - and there’s been a Class 50 (with passenger stock) and what looked like a class 56 with engineering wagons. In another shot, a pacer unit passed through! So, my guess this was filmed on a heritage line! But can anyone tell me which? Steve S

Just to say what a great layout thread about a lovely layout. I do hope that was just in reference to the End of Show, and not anything more ominous for Sandy Bay’s future! Steve S

Note to self: Weymouth = street running of passenger trains to serve passenger ferries plus goods etc Dover = train ferry alongside passenger terminus serving other ships Newhaven = multiple stations to serve town and ferries Having calculated (roughly) the space required for track to serve a train ferry efficiently, it seems unreasonable to then suppose that access to that is via street running (5mph flagman etc). Therefore previous thoughts of incorporating Weymouth style street running is redundant. The other (huge) consideration is to have a double track link span as per Dover … this may need rethinking. Steve S (laid up in bed, and thinking too much!)

Some hefty big ‘Z’ class side tanks on that and it could easily pass as a ‘big’ shunting loco for hump yard work etc! HOURS OF FUN!