SteveyDee68

Thanks @Darius43 for pointing me to the other thread (sadly devoid of photos) which explains a lot about bullion flats and their usage. Nice short train - class 31, 2 x FXAs and a bullion van for the armed police - to pass by at speed on any through station*! Steve S * Using Rule #1, of course!

Okay, time for a really stupid question (or three) for @Darius43 (1) Is a Bullion Flat wagon for the transportation of gold bullion? (2) Are the containers shown on said flat wagon effectively “portable vaults” for said gold bullion? (3) Is it me, or wouldn’t the use of said containers on such wagons be as conspicuous as, say, a nuclear flask wagon? In which case (a) where are the photos and (b) doesn’t that make them obvious targets for the criminally inclined? I mean, absolutely fascinating and totally perplexing at the same time! Steve S

Recently re-invigorated my best mate’s interest in modelling; he has half built a “watching the trains go by” layout in the loft for American outline stock, but has had a change of heart and is resurrecting his BR Western Region stock. As a surprise, I have picked up a Warship class 42/43 in green from eBay, to be renumbered and named “Benbow” (three guesses why!) together with a selection of Triang Mk1s in chocolate and cream finish (2 x BSKs, 3 x composites and a restaurant car) so he can have a six coach “passing through” train to supplement the branch line formations he has planned. This thread was the first that appeared when searching how to improve Triang Mk1s and is inspiring (would be even better if all the contributors reposted their missing images - curse the RMWeb outage!) and informative - straight away I can see roofs should be grey (I have a mixture of grey, white and black!) It is mentioned about altering the bogie ride height to get the buffers to the right height, but nobody says how - any advice? (I plan to upgrade the coaches before presenting them to him - also an excuse to finally make use of the airbrush I bought about four years ago!) Steve S

As others have already said, you have created many interesting and realistic cameos in the space you have available. I must say that I am particularly taken by your large industrial buildings - there’s something about suchlike towering over trains that simply looks “right” Steve S

For some reason I missed this explanatory post from @HExpressD! But now - yes! I see it! Hattons used a prototype photo of a different yellow six wheel Sentinel rather than do their homework properly! Feels like they should receive some (belated) teacher feedback … Hattons - see me - must do better Steve S

How lovely that this thread has resurrected itself just as I find myself ready to ask a really stupid question… Were any of these square tanks ever repurposed to carry water, as was done on the C&HPR with old locomotive tenders? I acquired a couple of “unfinished” Dalol versions and wondered about simply labelling them “water” for my C&HPR inspired layout! Steve S

Thanks for the heads-up - just ordered myself a copy plus a similar volume called “London’s Riverscape: Lost and Found” (Panorama of the river from 1937 and today) to add to my library! Mind you, the foreword to the second book is by Ken Livingstone MP so that might not be quite as up to date as the title might imply! Steve S

What a smashing bit of kit to get as a Christmas pressie - she’s a keeper! 😁 My pre-Christmas present to myself was a(nother) Victory tank loco. (Like I don’t have enough of them already!) And I have just a few more days left to resist buying another for £99 before their promotion code runs out!! Enjoy Christmas, and looking forward to seeing your layout develop further in the new year! Steve S

I’m no experience of being aboard a ship other than as a passenger (usually cross channel ferries, although back in 1986 as a 17 year old I did travel through a Force 10 storm on the way from Newcastle to Denmark* which reduced half the crew and laid most passengers low with sea sickness, but which I simply found exhilarating!) but I read that and simply wonder why they don’t put into safe port and wait whilst the worst of the storm has passed? I am sure that is a very naive position as I’m not thinking about future schedules etc but surely that’s cheaper than repairing damage to a ship and possibly having to pay out compensation to unhappy passengers? Steve S * Can’t remember where we actually sailed to - there was a disembarkation (and that’s fun with 90 kids, luggage and musical instruments!) and a long railway journey (including a train ferry if I remember right) before reaching Copenhagen Central Station!

Previously…

Crikey! You’re not wrong! 🤣

Well, I just got a list of football managers… Are you sure you didn’t google “Swedish models”? 🤣 Steve S

Further exploration of his other items reveals this In his description he reveals that “The loco's one connecting rod piece is broken, it is an easy repair however as-is the loco will not run.” [sic] If it is an easy repair, why not do it? However, the statement that further justifies awarding him the accolade of MC of the Day is … “It has been priced accordingly for the faults.” He wants £260 for it … wonder how much he would have wanted if it had been complete and working?! Steve S

Searching eBay for “Rivarossi 0-4-0”, I came across one in semi-dismantled state and, in usual nosy fashion, I took a look at the seller’s other items to see what else he might have (it’s how I found my Triang Swedish coaches!) Now, I understand that Bachmann On30 Shay locomotives are desirable pieces of kit, but my first thought on seeing this item was “that valve gear looks way too low” … The description says it is in great condition but won’t run and includes the line “the motor smoked”! So, basically b*ggered although the seller states “Just needs a new motor, or clean?” In which case, why not do just that and figure in the extra cost into your selling price?! Or is it that the necessary new motor is not readily available? Whatever the case, does £150 for a dead loco mean this seller wins the Mendacious Chiseller Award of the Day? Steve S

Looking at the state of the roads around Trafford Park due to being pounded by heavy goods vehicles, it does in retrospect seem short sighted to have abandoned an extensive rail network which could/should have been better exploited. It’s just a shame that the political will* and foresight weren’t around in the past to recognise that rail transportation is environmentally more friendly than HGVs. Steve S * Not helped by the Road Transport Lobbyists and (no doubt) many lucrative post MP positions offered on the boards of various major players as “incentives” to sway the aforementioned political will!

Hi John In the hopes that I am not “teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs”, I have two distinct strategies for bidding for things on eBay… 1) I see something that I like then I put a maximum bid on it that I am prepared to pay, and then ignore it. If I win, I win, happy days; if I get outbid, that’s life! 2) I see something that I want then I watch it, and put an alarm on my phone for a few minutes before the auction finishes. I’ll keep a regular check on bids - if it goes above what I am prepared to pay, then I stop watching it and start again. If not, I work out my maximum bid, submit my bid and then wait at the CONFIRM page until the final few seconds of the auction before confirming (and submitting) the bid. Usually I bid around the 6 second mark to allow it to register before the auction ends. That’s a late enough bid to not allow anyone else to outbid me, or if unsuccessful I don’t have time to be caught up in “auction fever” and put another bid in!! Most recently I stumbled across two Triang “Swedish” four wheel coaches, which I have been wanting for several years after seeing Kevin Wyberd’s upgrading of his own on his “Little Narrow”. I’ve been outbid again and again in the past - they’ve sold for up to £35 (!) and Gosturd has a set of four available for £99.99 (!); I understand that they are relatively rare, but I wasn’t going to pay silly money for a “starter set” coach. The bid was at £1.99 … at 6 seconds before the end of the auction, I submitted a bid of £32.30 for the pair (or £16.15 each) which I was prepared to go up to. I won - for £3.20 (a tenth of my max bid) Patience pays off. Some canny bidding also. Good luck getting your coach chassis! Steve S

‘No good deed goes unpunished’ Or so the saying goes! 😉 Steve S

How is that in terms of loading gauge? Have to say that I really like it! It looks … right! Steve S (self confessed shunting loco addict)

Oh look - what a bargain! 🙄 Perhaps it’s actually gold plated beneath the big standard factory applied finish?! Steve S

Pick up four Bachmann VBA/VDA van bodies* off eBay for a song… Compare against the “tanker” chassis under an UDV … Take a ruler and make a few pertinent measurements … 1) Remove one centre door from the sides and shorten the roof, and the shortened body is more or less the same length as the chassis! 2) Remove buffers and bufferstocks (buffers to be glued into the bufferstocks moulded on the van ends) … 3) Glue body together (and provide suitable strengthening inside) and make body good with filler, before fitting a false floor to fasten the underframe to … 4) (Possibly) Shorten underframe slightly to fit between headstocks … 5) Fasten chain anchor points along chassis appropriately 6) Repaint as fictional European train ferry van I’m up to step (2) … pictures to follow! HOURS OF FUN! * It’s not cheating - it’s doing something with the underframes!

Maths Update Well, that made for an interesting read in that from page 2 onwards I was scratching my head and rereading what I’d just read in the hopes that it would make sense if I looked at it again… It didn’t! Despite teaching Functional Maths to trainee hairdressers, car mechanics, painters & decorators and computer programmers (amongst other subjects) and several years experience teaching Foundation GCSE to secondary age children, my own maths training ended with my O Level back in 1984 and so that academic paper very quickly started talking in a language wot I dunno much about… My own formula has one stipulation in order to work - the two shorter sidings must hold the same number of wagons and the assembled train is the sum of those sidings minus one wagon and fits into the longer siding exactly. The headshunt must be equal in length to a short siding plus the length of the loco (L). Maximum number of wagons is equal to the train length (TL) aka the length of the siding the train is assembled upon, plus the length of one shorter siding: INGLENOOK Siding A = 3 Siding B = 3 Siding C = 5 (A+B-1 = 3+3-1 = 6-1 = 5) Headshunt = A+L Max No of Wagons = A+C = 5+3 = 8 MIN INGLENOOK Siding A = 2 Siding B = 2 Siding C = 3 (A+B-1 = 2+2-1 = 4-1 = 3) Headshunt = A+L Max No of Wagons = A+C = 3+2 = 5 INGLENOOK expanded +1 Siding A = 4 Siding B = 4 Siding C = 7 (A+B-1 = 4+4-1 = 8-1 = 7) Headshunt = A+L Max No of Wagons = A+C = 4+7 = 11 INGLENOOK expanded +2 Siding A = 5 Siding B = 5 Siding C = 9 (A+B-1 = 5+5-1 = 10-1 = 9) Headshunt = A+L Max No of Wagons = A+C = 5+9 = 14) Let’s go a bit daft for a moment … INGLENOOK expanded +6 Siding A = 9 Siding B = 9 Siding C = 17 (A+B-1 = 9+9-1 = 18-1 = 17) Headshunt = A+L Max No of Wagons = A+C = 9+17 = 26 HOURS OF FUN!

I spent an evening simply working out how to increase the Inglenook puzzle ensuring the headshunt remained correct etc, but all that work pertained only to the Inglenook! I shall read the link with great interest - many thanks for providing it @BroadLeaves Steve S

I found it! For anyone interested in expanding the traditional 5-3-3 Inglenook formula, DM me for some geeky fascinating maths explaining how adding wagons proportionately (to retain the Inglenook formula) rapidly expands the possible moves into the thousands of millions! Reduced Inglenook requires 5 wagons Inglenook requires 8 wagons total Inglenook+1 = 11 wagons total Inglenook+2 = 14 wagons total Inglenook+3 = 17 wagons total Inglenook+4 = 20 wagons total etc Steve S

This thread is proving very informative for my eventual reimagining of Newhaven as Broadhaven; I won’t be sticking to historical accuracy (I’m going to put a train ferry terminal there, for instance!) but I suppose I could ask a theoretical questions and get a considered answer - 1) Could the Co-Co “Booster” locos have handled the Night Ferry service (to Dover)? 2) Did they ever do so? (I can only find reference to Class 71 electric locos). 3) Being able to handle the heavy Newhaven boat trains*, would they have been able to cope with the Night Ferry formation to Newhaven? If the answer is “yes” (even theoretically) then a pre-order for the new EFE model may be required! Steve S * Didn’t the Newhaven boat trains use 6 axle Pullman cars?

Well, it is certainly a splendiferous addition to the loco, and will be a head-turner on the finished loco! I reckon your 4mm crew will take great pride in their charge, and keep that dome well polished! Steve S