Moxy

I think that might be an old link, try this one http://narrowplanet.myshopify.com/ I don't think the Skarloey conversion set has been released yet, they are still working on it, as far as I know. HTH Moxy

I have been looking on the wiganworld website for more details of the derailment Apollo mentioned above, I didn't find it but I did find quite a few photos relating to Wigan Central, so in (roughly) route order, they are listed below: http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=10597&gallery=Railways&offset=360 All change at the Great Central - this is a 1970's shot of the lifted ex GC line into Wigan Central. We are looking roughly SE here, Darlington Street runs left-right and Warrington Road snakes away into the distance. This is the A573 Warrington Road which runs through Ince, not the A49 Warrington Road which runs through Goose Green and Marus Bridge. There is nothing left at this road junction today to indicate there was ever a railway line crossing it. The bottom right hand corner with the pub, the sheds behind it and the disused trackbed are all now under a Lidl supermarket. The bus stop bottom left and the chapel behind it are still there, that is the base for Wigan Sea Cadets. Wigan Central was behind the photographer. http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=10598&gallery=Railways&offset=360 Darlington Street Bridge - a slightly earlier shot looking east along Darlington Street. The Silverwell is a pub about 200 yds up on the left, that is still there, but no trace of this bridge. http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=17933&gallery=Railways&offset=560 Central Station then and now - This is looking north sometime prior to 1965, note the comments about the ex LMS & ex SR parcels vans. http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=10250&gallery=Central+Station&offset=0 Central Station early 1960's (sic) - Despite the caption, this can't be early 60's as the station didn't close until 1965 and as the track has clearly been lifted I'm going to guess at late 1960's. The platform has been fenced off for storage. The River Douglas is in the foreground and there are far more trees on that embankment nowadays. The buses in the top left are on Station Road, a short stretch of which still exists - leading into a multi storey car park! And finally.... http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=10302&gallery=Railways&offset=360 Wigan Central demolition - this view is unrecognisable today, where the cars are parked against the fence is the southbound carriageway of Riverway, the northbound carriageway runs roughly through where the canopies are and the site of the station building is under the multi storey car park for the Grand Arcade shopping centre. Moxy

Westonmouth is on the current RMWeb, here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/104828-westonmouth-central/ along with a few more photos.

I agree the articles could do with better captions, but looking at the picture under a magnifying glass, I think that black & white picture is Halifax St Pauls, taken from the Queens Road/ Park Lane junction, although again it doesn't quite match up with the published track plan. If you look at this site, http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/halifax_st_pauls/ and compare the article photo to the 1931 aerial view the bridge and the water tower are the same and under magnification you can make out another siding round the back of the water tower which is shown leading to a small turntable, around the length of two open wagons. The start of the station platform is just visible to the left of the photo. There is no goods shed as such, unless it is that collection of huts bottom left of the photo, although I suspect they are more likely to be coal merchants offices, the station building being out of shot to the left. Moxy

Is this one of the lions? http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3442249 The caption suggests it may have come from another estate in Leigh, but also mentions the gasworks. Moxy

Officially no it won't, and Bachmann themselves won't supply to UK addresses, as you say due to licensing issues. The Bachmann UK site does list stockists that will supply their American outline goods here http://www.Bachmann.co.uk/uk.php?prod_selected=american which in theory includes the American Thomas range, so there's no harm in asking one of those retailers. HTH Moxy

I agree Wigan's railway history deserves more attention that it seems to get. Although I have lived here for about 7 years, I have only recently started to investigate where the old railways ran, and there are far more than you would ever imagine! There is a fantastic resource available from the National Library of Scotland where you can show old maps alongside the current Bing/Google aerial views which demonstrate how many lines have been lost, yet are still visible from the air as green lines through the landscape. If I have copied the right link, this http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=13&lat=53.5478&lon=-2.6393&layers=1&right=BingHyb should show the same area as your RCH map. I would be interested to know the date of that RCH document, as the 1885-1900 OS map doesn't show either Goose Green Junction to Norley Colliery or 'End of Springs Branch.' Regards Moxy

I agree Liverpool Central High Level is very inspiring, here's some more pictures of it from the disused stations website. Some steam, but quite a few DMU shots, plus some demolition shots showing details of the inside of the trainshed. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/liverpool_central_hl/index100.shtml http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/liverpool_central_hl/index20.shtml HTH Moxy

It wasn't very straight! I had a 'starter kit' to make a small waiting shelter and it ended up looking pretty derelict. The idea behind these was the bricks had holes in and that you threaded them on to microrod, but there was no interlocking, they were scale flat sided bricks, so any slight misalignment by the full size builder (me) was magnified by a factor of 76. I think that's probably why the product fell by the wayside. Anyway, we're drifting away from Ruston Quay project layout. As soon as I saw Paul Lunn's artist's impression I immediately thought that could be any number of small run down wharves in Lancashire in the 1950's/60's and it reminded me of a picture I have seen in a book, which I can't of course find online to illustrate the point, of Church Wharf in Bolton with Burnden Viaduct in the background. Bolton Great Moor Street station was on a viaduct too. I know that in real life Church Wharf and Great Moor Street are a couple of miles apart on either side of Bolton Trinity Street station, but invoking modellers licence, if we extend the canal a bit further north & west and move Great Moor Street station a bit further east, the result could look like Ruston Quays. How about a version based around Wigan Central? The CLC line crossed the Leeds Liverpool canal on its way into Central station, so again with a bit of rearrangement, perhaps with a fictitious canal basin serving a former cotton mill, it would fit. I think that is the beauty of this design - it could be built with almost any regional 'signature' building style and be believable. Moxy

Nothing in Wigan today, despite trying both Asda & WH Smith. I appreciate this is already a day late, but does anyone know what time magazines are usually delivered? I'm just wondering whether it's worth trying the supermarkets early tomorrow before I go to work. i can't be bothered with WH Smith again during lunch hour, that will have to wait until weekend before I get back there.

They did, the clockwork version was R151 http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/saddleC.html I think the clockwork version came out first, then the electric version, but I can't find the exact introduction dates at the moment.

It was done, not with bus doors, it had proper coach type doors, but here is a link to it. http://www.semgonline.com/coach/leyland.html

I think when you have replied quoting the post, you have typed inside the quoted box, rather than underneath it. If you are quoting a long post, because you only get a small box to type your reply, it only shows the top of the post - you have to scroll down to the space at the bottom. HTH Moxy

If I were building this, I would go the other way and make the siding disused, perhaps with a few permanent way wagons on it, and use Platform 3 for the parcels traffic. Given that this a run down urban terminus in a 1980's Northern town, the siding is likely to be part of a former siding network leading to a coal yard or goods yard that has long since closed and is more likely to be redundant than in use by this date. I also think it unlikely there would a refuelling point there at all. I can't think of any urban termini that had such facilities, the only terminus with a refuelling point that springs to mind is Buxton, but that is hardly urban and that facility was to support freight traffic, not passenger. (I'm happy to be proved wrong on that point if anyone knows of termini with refuelling points). Most locos and units would be refuelled at their home depot and have enough fuel to get there and back. Building a refuelling point would have cost money and BR wouldn't spend money unless it was absolutely necessary, so unless the terminus is a very long way from a major depot, it wouldn't have a refuelling point.

Hi Ed, It is a Warrington registration, issued 1960 onwards, see link http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/registrations/ed.htm HTH Moxy

Apologies for veering slightly off topic, but mention of Romford wheels reminded me etched replacement chassis are available for the J72 from Mainly Trains http://www.mainlytrains.co.uk/acatalog/exp_mt248.htm or Perseverance Kits http://www.perseverancekits.co.uk/ . I realise these are a bit more involved than the Peter's Spares axles & gears option, but it might be useful to those of us whose original split frame chassis is beyond redemption, or as in my case, missing. HTH Moxy

You reminded me someone has already done photoshopped versions of a Class 52 in BTC Black, here http://www.fictitiousliveries.co.uk/photo.php?52075bk1.jpg, which does look rather nice. In response to earlier comments about NSE, http://www.fictitiousliveries.co.uk/photo.php?52075nse1.jpg Not for the faint hearted! regards Moxy

I've just found this thread, didn't realise Highfield had released such a wide range of kits. If anyone is interested in the GE Tram & the Sentinel, they are still available from Frizinghall Model Railways, link here http://www.modelrailshop.co.uk/category/508/FMR_KITS HTH thanks Moxy

Thanks for the heads up on this Apollo, I will have to try to get in there & see if they have any left this morning. I don't get chance to go into central Wigan during the week. I'll echo what you say about patchy distribution, GBL seems to have disappeared from Sainsburys (my nearest supplier until recently) and even Asda hasn't had any since the Standard 4. Regards Moxy

Of course you are not hogging the thread. I have an interest in NCC steam as well, but the later UTA period when they were mostly running 4-4-0's, 2-6-0's and the WT Geeps, so when you said you were converting the 'C' class to an NCC engine I was intrigued and tried to work out which one. I have to admit I had never heard of a 'PG' class - there doesn't seem to be much online about them and I can't find anything in my limited library of Irish books. The only photo I have found is this one from the Mike Morant Collection http://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Irish-railways/Irish-railways-1953/i-KxBNrF4/A I think it is wonderful that people can look at a GBL models and see a different prototype in them, so please carry on posting your pictures, I am really looking forward to the finished item. Thanks Moxy

In addition to the tram depot in Horwich which has been mentioned earlier in this thread, the main depot in Shiffnall Street Bolton still stands, seen here looking rather the worse for wear. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7144/6771144631_bcdbaf4a83.jpg Whilst searching for that picture, I also found this at the junction of St Helens Road & Hulton Lane, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ingythewingy/5071452092/ past which I used to drive every day when I lived in Bolton without even realising it has been a tram depot! I believe it is still there, although no longer a Renault garage. To round off this post about local tram depots, here is a link to the Wikipedia page on the Wigan tram depot at Platt Bridge, still in use by a haulage firm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigan_Corporation_Tramways, Regards Moxy

Thanks for the info. I wasn't planning on motorising my GBL 45xx, just keeping it as a static model, but even to a non-Great Western fan like me, the Lima/GBL version is obviously too tall, so if a bit of gentle plastic bashing, a repaint and perhaps some new brass plates makes it look at bit more like a real 45xx, then I'll be happy with that. Cheers Moxy

Thanks for that, I haven't seen the article to which you refer, but the same sort of 'cut & shut' had occurred to me. Does anybody know how wide the strip of plastic removed needs to be? Thanks in advance Moxy

Whilst I sympathise with the OP over the Class 114 kit issue, the reason DC may be a little late with their orders at the moment is I believe they have had a small fire at their premises recently, as reported on another forum. That also may be why they are not able to reply to e-mails at present. They are obviously very busy at the moment trying to recover from this setback, so the advice is to ring them to see where your order is. I know it is frustrating not to have a reply to an e-mail, but I know from my experience of work in a large multinational insurance company that just because you have sent an e-mail doesn't mean it has been read! Thanks & regards Paul