Ben B

I can confirm it was still there, as of last Monday, though probably hasn't turned a wheel in a decade (thanks to the whole skulduggery with Network Rail trying to sell the site out from under CE, and the consequent end of rail traffic). "Venom", the ex-Longmoor shunter, a Sentinel, and the two ancient, battered, R&H 88DS shunters were still on site, all looking very faded and worse for wear. Surprisingly not scrapped though, the management, whilst not running rail-served traffic, must have a soft spot for the locomotives....

Fascinating behind-the-scenes stuff, like the sort of in-depth articles I used to read in Creative review when I was studying Photography at Uni (our library had a subscription, one of the few things I missed after I graduated). I used to really want to work in the advertising field, doing this sort of thing, but I think with all the work and demands from clients and so on, that I wouldn't have the patience these days. I remember trying to explain to a friend on the Fine Art course at another Uni about the complexities of these things... she saw a pic from a fashion shoot I'd done, a lass off the drama course in the park and thought 'that's a nice photo'. I tried to explain the planning, the going round charity shops for three days to get the props and costume bits on a stupidly low budget, the sleepness night before the shoot customising the props, the two attempts at the shoot to get the best weather, the co-ordination of getting a point in time before the deadline where the model, me, and an assistant were all free with transport, the model release forms and legal what-not... and that's before getting into the whole 'photography isn't just setting the camera to Auto and going click'. Sorry, rant over. An impressive amount of work, and the bit with the train is a nice part of the ad- and watching it before reading the rest of the piece, I was trying to spot what model it was, so your efforts disguising it's origin worked! Good that you were able to combine your hobby unobtrusively into the job

Oh, I wish I hadn't seen that... I'm thinking Minitrains Porter chassis, and the GEM England body I have in bits in a toolbox somewhere... just as I think I don't need any more projects

There's a preserved surviving Austerity up at the Aln Valley Railway with one of these rounded cabs; saw it briefly the last time I was camping up that way...

A brilliant thread, this; and a very interesting shot. I reckon this is the bridge which still exists over the Leeds-Liverpool Canal near Thackley Tunnel, Shipley. I spent a bit of time in the summer last year picking around the site, looking for any relics of the trackbed. There's the odd sleeper still in the woods, but the bridge at least is still in very good nick. And at least the locomotives still exist, including the very well-kept (if non-working) tank loco in Bradford Industrial Museum (and a diesel is still at Crossley-Evans Scrappers in Shipley, even if out of use).

Now there's a good film... I know it's only loosely based on the real story, but my word does the film deliver in action! No miniatures, nothing like that, every crash staged with real trains, and the bombing of the marshalling yard done by really setting off high explosives and blasting apart wagons loaded with real tanks and lorries in an actual Paris goods yard. I think the only thing faked in that scene was the Armoured locomotive which gets blown apart, which was a prop built around a real chassis for the film because they couldn't acquire a real one.

Hello- just been reading through this thread, did the project progress? I used to use Stourbridge Town a lot when I was at College in Stourbridge in the early 2000's. This thread brings back happy memories... it was still the class 153 when I was using it, though I did like that such a short line had such a neat, functional little station (manned too, which was a surprise for such a tiny place).

Fascinating video! I went on the Himley one when I was verrrry little, when it was still the Model Village. I know the miniature railway Intercity 125's got rescued just before the bulldozers went in, which would have been 2007-ish, I wonder what happened to the Parry unit? I still kick myself a bit that it was all there, abandoned, and I never realised, I'd have loved to have gotten in to have a poke around and get some pictures...

It seems as if every second house on our estate has at least one cat, and because we're on the end of a street all the cats short cut through our garden, use it as a toilet, and try and catch and eat anything that moves. I put some bird feeders on a post in the front garden, with anti-cat spikes around it. There's some bushes with berries on which the birds like, and since doing this, we get about a dozen birds at a time, mostly blue tits and robins and some blackbirds. There's a couple of pigeons too which appear randomly, and we get the odd oddity like a pied flycatcher. But at least three cats like to sit in the bush underneath and pounce up through the greenery at the birds... I feel a bit guilty having the feeders out, it's almost like I'm concentrating the birds into one handy place for these bloody cats to try and eat them...

I've seen that bit on the DVD- the sequel has them travelling on the DLR too. Does anyone remember another post-apocalyptic story, a series from the late-1990's called "The Last Train"? A bunch of commuters on a train from London to Sheffield miss an apocalyptic meteorite strike by derailing in a tunnel (and sleep through it all with the aid of a canister of cryogenic gas which a Government scientist had hidden in her bag). It's been repeated a couple of times on the scifi channel, but I've got a -probably bootleg, judging by the quality- DVD of it. It's not a bad series, and some good railway scenes early on in an overgrown cutting, and the old Manchester Mayfield (before demolition of the platform awnings) doubling for post-apocalypse Sheffield Station.

Thanks for that info- I suppose that makes sense, it's a shame that they need such secure accommodation for the stock but given the problems they've faced, I can see why. I've been to Middleton for pretty much every gala for the last few years, and I am full of admiration for the Vols there managing to run a railway through an urban area, with all the theft, arson, and trespass risks. It was quite sobering being on a train at the last gala which had to stop as a masked teenager was standing, arms folded, on the track whilst his mates lined up to pelt it. I was amazed by how calm the guard was as he walked past us with a weary smile and just said "here's where the fun starts." I digress; as a fan of industrial locomotives it's so nice to be able to go to a line which embraces the more eccentric end of the railway scene, all those lovely little tank engines and especially the historically-significant diesel shunters. I suppose if they can keep getting the odd Austerity as a visitor, it keeps it special.

It's just "War of the Worlds", came out in about 2005. Some good special effects, but the plot is moved to America, and bares only a passing resemblance to the original story.

I've always thought the train scenes in the original novel of "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells, though brief, caught the imagination. Came to mind again with all the talk of Steampunk by Hornby. The railways are there in the background as it were in the early parts of the novel, as a representation of 'normality' and the Victorian mastery of the world through technology, and descriptions of signal-lamps flickering in the twilight, the soft clank and rattle of trains in the dark carrying on as normal after the landing of the first cylinder. A later chapter mentions 'much excitement' as a normally-closed link line between the routes of rival companies at Waterloo in London is opened for the passage of troop-trains and artillery carriers, with waiting passengers cheerfully calling to the soldiers and teasing them 'not to get eaten' by the mysterious Martians. There's a lovely comparison between the advanced machinery of a Martian tripod under the control of a Martian being, but by comparison how an ironclad warship or locomotive, under the control of a human, would look to a lower animal here on earth. But I think the most memorable bit is the description of the flight of refugees from London after the city falls; trains with people crammed on to every space, even on top of the tender, seen running nose to tail at walking pace later in the chapter "The Exodus from London". But there's this haunting bit at the start of the chapter; "After a fruitless struggle to get aboard a North-Western train at Chalk Farm -the engines of the trains that had loaded in the goods yard there ploughed through the shrieking people, and a dozen stalwart men fought to keep the crowd from crushing the driver against his furnace-..." There is a sort-of nod to this in the (generally mixed quality, in my opinion) American film with Tom Cruise, one of the most haunting bits of visual imagery is when the refugee column, walking on foot to a ferry over the Hudson, stops at a level crossing as the barriers automatically drop. An intercity train races past, on fire from cab to tail, and everyone just watches in silence lit by the flames until it passes, the barriers lift, and they just keep on walking. They're so shell-shocked hardly anyone in the crowd reacts at all by this point. In a similar, though later, post-apocalyptic vein there's "Day of the Triffids" by John Windham. The shonky 60's film has the memorable scene of a steam-hauled train, under the control of blinded loco crew, slamming into the buffers of a London terminus. But for my money there's the wonderfully mysterious little bit in the book where the narrator is recalling being out for a drive in the deserted countryside some time after the initial disaster, looking for other survivors. "Once I saw smoke and went to the source to find a small railway train burnt out on the line- I still do not know how that could be, for there was no one near it". It's just a little moment in the book, but which remains unexplained, and up to the reader to try and work out what has happened, just another little note of disaster in a world which is ending. Finally, this bit in "The Death of Grass", a novel by John Christopher about the collapse of civilisation in Britain following a global crop failure. The realization that trouble is brewing builds horribly through the early chapters, until the point where the protagonists flee north out of London just as the Government is giving up, and civilisation is starting to come apart at the seams (there's descriptions of official contact being lost with places like Leeds, grinding columns of military vehicles being sent to, and disappearing into, rioting cities, etc). By this point the protagonists are camping out for the night somewhere near Hawes, beside the railway line (from description it must be the old route from Northallerton to Garsdale, still open at the time the novel was written) as the world is going to hell around them (mysterious flashes on the horizon the night before being interpreted -correctly- as the Government atom-bombing their own cities to spare them having to deal with a starving population). The main character, John, is relieving his friend Roger who's been keeping look out. 'Anything to report?' 'What would there be, but ghosts?' 'Any ghosts then?' 'A brief trace of one apparition - the corniest of them all.' John looked at him. 'The ghost train. I thought I heard it hooting in the distance, and for about ten minutes afterwards I could have sworn I heard its distant roar.' 'Could be a train' John said. 'If there are any capable of being manned, and anyone capable of manning one, they might try a night journey. But I think it's a bit unlikely, taken all around.' 'I prefer to think of it as a ghost train. Heavily laden with the substantial ghosts of Dalesmen going to market, or trucks of ghostly coal or insubstantial metal ingots, crossing the Pennines. I've been thinking - how long do you think railway lines will be recognizable as railway lines? Twenty years? Thirty? And how long will people remember that there were such things, once upon a time? Shall we tell fairy stories to our great-grandchildren about the metal monsters that ate coal and breathed out smoke?' 'Go to sleep," John said. "There'll be time enough to think about your great-grandchildren.' 'Ghosts,' Roger said. 'I see ghosts all around me tonight. The ghosts of my remote descendants, painted with woad.' I love this passage, as it conveys that moment as the old world the characters knew is slipping irretrievably towards a new, more savage one of survival.

I think you've hit it on the head for me... I applaud Hornby trying to move into a new market, and frankly I'd consider myself a fan of the genre (and have built Steampunk stuff in the garden scales), but I really get uneasy with the 'it's Steampunk if you glue some unnecessary watch parts on anything' attitude. Smacks of exploitation of the genre. As the above poster said, a blinged-up livery for the Single with a rake of vintage-looking, elaborately lined carriages perhaps, something more subtle, might have been better. Still, maybe this is just the attention-grabbing launch and something more advanced or subtle will follow.

My youngest has a train set (I consider it distinct from a model railway; she was 5 when we knocked it together for her, and most proper model railways probably have lower populations of My Little Ponies and Hatchimals towering over the lineside), she loves it and to be fair to her, is very careful with it. But modern models are just unthinkable; I know the perception is that 'kids don't want train sets, sell to adult collectors' but the Hornby Railroad range, and those much-derided older models, has been a godsend. They work, they're basic enough not to fall apart when you pick them up, and the odd derailment doesn't smash them to bits. I bought one of the 48DS loco's last year, and wouldn't think for one minute she'd be able to safely use it on her set. It's also given me a chance to use some of my own childhood stock from the 80's- my Bulleid "Fighter Pilot" must be very late 80's or early 90's at a pinch, as it was my first 'proper' (non-Thomas) loco. It still runs, even if it growls like mad, and I love it. Just the right level of detail and practicality. And whilst the old Triang-Hornby DMU is basic, it has its charms (I have two; my Dad's old 50's original, and my own BR blue one. I also have a Class 110 which to be fair is a marked improvement, detail-wise). Having bought the new Ruston last year, I bought another 00 model over Christmas... a proper, 80's vintage Hornby 08 in Railfreight/ED livery, which I'd coveted since I was 6 and saw it in a catalogue... I finally bought one, aged 35, for the princely sum of £22.50 from a shop in Bridgenorth. Yes, it has a poorly-detailed and proportioned body, incorrect chassis, and is generally a bit naff, but I still really like it, and given how few models I buy nowadays I'm surprisingly as happy with the 08 that's as old as me, as I was with the little Ruston!

Just caught up on this topic, and covers much of what I tend to associate with the locomotives. Personally I really like them, and the design and the ethos behind the class. I'd see pics of them on preserved lines like the KESR in my books, but didn't get to see one for real. My trouble is that when I was growing up, my local line (Severn Valley) had already grown past the point of their Austerity tank and sold it on... in fact I didn't get to properly photograph one until moving to West Yorkshire and seeing "Wimbelbury", looking utterly magnificent in dark blue, on the Middleton ( it slightly surprises me that the Middleton doesn't have one on the strength, if there was ever a steam loco which epitomises the Leeds loco industry, it's an Austerity). Even though my current local line (Worth Valley) used to rely on the class, it only has the one now, the historically-significant "Brussels" but that will probably forever be stuffed and mounted in the exhibition shed. I cannot see the KWVR ever needing to restore it, even though it would be a nice off-season loco for the 3-carriage midweek timetable, and another splash of colour on a line which until recently was dominated by BR black. To my annoyance, I missed the visiting Mech.Navvies in operation during the gala visit a couple of years back (though I at least got to see it in the yard at Ingrow in the sun, waiting to be winched onto the lorry home). I'm assuming with the collapse of DJM, the hopes of a RTR 0-gauge Austerity tank are gone, or would it be the sort of thing Dapol would pick up? Mindyou, I'm still missing the admittedly crude, but very nice N gauge RTR model originally by Farish; I bought two of the re-issues by Bachmann with the better chassis, just after they took over. I know they're out of keeping with the current fashion in N, but it would be nice to see some of the older models released under a similar scheme to the Hornby Railroad range. Wishful thinking I know for a budget, low-detail entry-level tank loco for N for under £40, but hey-ho...

Just been catching up with this, some beautiful and detailed model-making. The prototype has long fascinated me, I really like the semi-modern nature of the line, it's contained little fleet of locomotives and the overgrown track. The mix of revenue-earning diesel shunters, the steam loco, the privately-owned "Churchill" and the elecetic rolling stock make an interesting fleet. Really nice layout, and I particularly like the grass-grown tracks.

Just been catching up on this layout- I was born and raised in Dudley, I can still remember watching from the Zoo the 37-hauled steel trains heading through the site of the old station next door when I was little, just before they mothballed the line. It annoyed me no end that they never did anything with the line, with the formation just sat there, complete with track, for decades. At least they're doing something now, in theory, even if it is just the Metro. As for the model, a fascinating what-if, and nicely nostalgaic with all those Centro sprinters! I really love the bus garage too, I can also just about remember the old brick-built real one which was dropped when they put the bypass in next to the railway. Really nice model, and love all the little details, the working lights and so on with the stock. And the tram in the original Metro colours, very eyecatching too. Have you thought about adding an extra spur into Dudley Central? I know in reality the Black Country Museum is pretty rail-averse (apart from the token MW shunter as gate guard) but your layout is a wonderful exercise in what-if's, and I wonder if you could use it as an excuse to have steam running into the station? A shuttle service to replicate the old pannier-hauled autotrain locals, etc. Or one of those wonderful Judith Edge kits for the wasp-stripe DE2 shunters from Round Oak (or the Hornby Barclay steam locos, as "Lady Honor"/"Lady Morvyth" for the earlier periods), more what-ifs as none of the Round Oak locos made it into preservation. That or a spur of TT track for the 3ft-gauge trams I shall be following this topic with interest to see more from this very interesting layout

This is such a nice little scene, there's so much detail you can peer-into with those backyards. And I love the overgrown tracks, redolent of the old Derwent Valley Light Railway in the 70's.

I really like this scene- you've managed to cram so much detail into a compact space, and I really like the welding effect too

The shot with the Austerity is really evocative of the real place, I was re-reading Gordon Edgar's book on the class and there's some nice shots of the real bridge. Lovely bit of modelling, and the water is very realistic indeed.

Blimey, that loco is a brilliant bit of kit-bashing, especially given the origins in a 60-odd year old plastic kit! And the painted finish is terrific, so realistically battered and work-stained.

Pretty much; it's a USB-powered thing about the size of a jam jar, sold as a humidifier. You fill it up with water and it creates a jet of steam. Handy little device for doing steam effects with models, I'm trying to incorporate one into a G-scale loco at the moment for a pic... Very much so- it was different to the sorts of builds I usually do, and nice to work in 00 for a change. Thanks everyone for the positive comments! Much appreciated Ben

I'm very fond of this Pug model, and I like the prototypes, but it seemed a little out of place for an industrial concern in the early 1980's; at least until I'd read up a bit more through the excellent books by Gordon Edgar, which showed that some places used steam into that period. The NCB did a fair bit, but smaller concerns like the scrappers at Shipley, Crossley-Evans (near where I currently live) had an active tank loco into the 80's. It certainly seemed to fit the scene, just a shame I couldn't get working lights onto it. Another break for the staff; must be a seriously demoralised workforce... More greyscale tests, which seem to work better with the steam loco prototype. So summing up? It's rare that my projects don't suffer some form of mission-creep when I'm building them, but this came out pretty much as I planned it. I'm satisfied with how the build went together, it was a relaxing project to do, generally speaking, and I'm very happy with how the final photographs turned out. All in all, an enjoyable Cakebox.

Boxing Day evening saw me have the first chance to shoot the pictures with the set, with the steam-generator running. A piece of mirrored acrylic came in handy for extending the scene... View from the rooftops, with workers enjoying their snap on the late shift... More workers and driver taking a break... no wonder the works is going bust, nobody does any actual machining... Greyscale experiment... I enjoyed these shots, but the lighting in the diesel packed-in, annoyingly... so I dug out the Pug loco for a few more...