Railpassion

Could you strike out across the lawn swing past the shed and go behind the statue?

I've seen battery radio control in O gauge and was impressed. The wonderful Bodmin layout was a trailblazer. For DCC I think the next developments are in stay alive. Track dirt is our constant enemy and if we can overcome it with stay alive (also in DC) then, for the moment, it's wise to invest in DCC for all the excellent functionality. I don't see phone based control taking off. Gamers of all ages still relish handsets and the railway layour is a similar domain with its own protocols. Both are enhanced by separate dedicated physical controllers. A continuous recharging battery loco using simple powered stretches of plain line, with points left dead, could be a logical next stage?

I love the railbuses Here's a more common type at Lissendorf

In part of the book there's a suggestion West box puts an ex Torrington into the down main platform. This is in quoted dialogue presumably recollected to give a good flavour of operations. The time is 0932 The up WC is at Town and the 2MTT is at Instow. This wrong direction movement has no signalling

Here's the timetable from August 61 shown in the book. The 43xx comes off at Barny and takes over the up train. There's an express Up for Waterloo in between.

My copy arrived yesterday from Booklaw Publications in Nottingham. I feel it gives a good account of the complexity of working the traffic within the restrictions imposed by geography etc. It gives a full timetable for a summer Saturday and then train occupancy diagrams taking you through the day. All seems clear but one movement is not explained. (See pic 2) Trains for Taunton/Torrington and vv are shown crossing but the up Taunton is standing at No2 on the down. There's no signalling for this direct move. Has the train run in on the Up and set back along No2?

Chris Jackson from Northern will replace Matthew Golton as TPE head from the end of this month.

It's a great scale, you can get so much more in. Simon Kohler has done a great job in establishing a new British market and creating a buzz. It's a stunning achievement. He's positioned Hornby to have almost the entire market, as it did in dublo days. There's huge growth potential and it's a great opportunity for another player to enter the field to help expand the market. All to play for.

Will Bachmann enter the market? I think there's rewards if they do.

These delivery schedules seem slow. Maybe an opportunity for a small rival to produce a couple of models

Chiltern benefited from total route modernisation and a very unusual franchise arrangement. No other route has since managed total route modernisation. Virgin West Coast had a shot at it.

Thanks for the enlightening replies. @Innerhome I've ordered a copy of No.14, I was unaware of the series, thanks for drawing it to my attention. Truly, Barnstaple was a railway haven with three stations and the L & B too. It beggars belief that so much was destroyed by savage closures. I remember my family going to Ilfracombe and not thinking it perverse to abandon the train for a coach for the last few miles. How did we come to tolerate such thinking as an acceptable public transport solution? But that's another topic..

Thanks. Very smart work indeed, one more or less impossible on today's railway. I've seen a video of a tank in the down loop spur waiting to run onto the rear coaches once the Ilfracombe has left. There doesn't seem to be a backing signal from the up main for the Up manoeuvre, unless the ground signal applies both ways back along up main and to the Dock.

Thanks for your reply. That's helped to clear a few things up, as I haven't seen the sectional appendix. It would a marvellous model to operate with plenty of variety. Yesterday, I found a Barnstaple A revised drawing from the 60s on sale on ebay. No connection to the seller. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353786486739

Yeehah! Looking quite special. I had an Airfix rebuild with proper bogies and two motors but in a mad moment, I sold it on ebay. Nothing since has come close. But now......

Hello, Barnstaple Junction was a much loved station on its heyday. There's some wonderful photos, particularly of the 60s on the Internet etc. The very cramped conditions at the west end with no less than 5 diamonds in a short space is a challenge to model. The track layout here at srs signal https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/srq/S3517.htm Is intriguing. Two down platforms for the two routes, Torrington and Ilfracombe and one up platform for Exeter and sometimes Victoria Rd or Taunton on the GWR. The unusual feature is the middle siding. Was its original purpose to allow an ex- Torrington goods to layover whilst a passenger used the up platform? When the Atlantic Coast Express combined the Torrington and Ilfracombe portions to go forward, did the Torrington portion run through the middle and platform at the starter end before shunting back onto the stock in the up platform? Does anyone know what the practice was?

I'm looking forward to seeing the layout at York soon. What are the dimensions of the new TT layout? PS, Do you have the original plan A for Bregenbach, please? It no longer shows on page 1

Smrzovka was blazing a trail. I'm sure many who saw it began to think of the advantages of TT. I hope you get an invite soon.

There's a particularly good corrugated engine shed I saw in Monk Bar - it looked terrific.

There's some very nice RTR locos and stock coming through at the moment in OO9. Yesterday I was admiring a little display diorama in Monk Bar Models in York. The engines seemed like jewels with rich colours and glints of brass. There was a magnificent layout exhibited at York show a few years back with a beach scene and harbour. A marvel.

I experimented with TT using HOm track. I found the bttb couplings a bit clumsy but the size of stock seemed very comfortable. Much more room for loops and longer trains on a small layout 9 x 11. The cost of tillig track, to do the job properly, eventually put me off. I'm back with HO using short carriages/umbauwagen building a German layout which I'm really enjoying.

Does anyone know what is in the shed at Filisur these days?

They've weakened an iconic design.

I'm on this with head out of the window in the first carriage! We got on at Filey for some reason and off at Rotherham. First stop after Bridlington was Pontefract Baghill.

My friend has an SUV, great tank of a thing. He drives at 47mph on fuel save, annoying if you're behind him. The interior isn't that roomy, big seats and fittings take up the space. The boot isn't as large as I thought it would be. I have an MPV Vauxhall and it's just as, if not more, roomy. Around £40k cheaper too.