Ducking Giraffe

Why someone bothered, when with a little more effort they could have made one of these I don't know:

Is part of that one of these from the Tri-ang battlespace range?

Yes I know its not eBay but it is madness and therefore qualifies surely? And I was looking for the answer to using Peco diamond crossings and their geometry. =sigh= https://www.vxdeal.com/?product_id=87936438_48 Small medium or large ! PECO CODE 75 AND CODE 100 - DIFFERENCE! Buy now! If that's Peco track I'm a banana, but they do guarantee its authenticity, so that's ok then. Sorry I won't call you Shirley any more.

Thanks for that guys, I didn't know spares were available so have stocked up on two high speed pantographs - for £4 each they're an absolute snip and can only get more expensive. Tried costing a NDM moter upgrade and so far its pretty cheap and woudl be worthwhile - but as you say not all the bits are available.

The Rivet Police have powers to enter your home and check your layout for heinous crimes. Like Train Racing. I know, I was that man, got done and sent down for 7 years hard modelling at Skaledale Model Prison.. Got out in 2 but that is a another story.... Part 1. Early one morning I was rudely awakened to a loud banging on the front door. I went down in my dressing gown and slippers and opened the front door. I was confronted by two swarthy men apparently dressed in in 1970’s British Rail inspector uniforms. They were very polite. Too polite. “Good morning sir we have received reports of less than model behaviour at this address.” “What kind of behaviour?”. “ Well I'd rather not discuss it on the doorstep if that's ok with you.” I looked across the street and saw the curtains twitching. One of the inspectors followed my gaze. “Friend of yours is he sir?” “No that's Eric at number 52, he's an N gauge nutter.” “I’m afraid we don't use the n-word any more now sir, it's now a nutter modelling using a reduced track gauge.” I showed them in. “Yes, we've received Credible and True reports of Tracing at this address.” “Tracing?” I asked, with as much surprise as I could muster. “Yes, very nasty. Train racing. Two trains are on separate tracks. Going in the same direction. And you see which one is faster. ” “I've no idea what you're talking about officer!” I blustered “I think we better see your layout if you don't mind . Is it in the loft, spare room or shed? I think it's in the shed isn't it sir?”. “How do you know that?” “Well it has a rather large green British Rail totem sign saying STEVE’S TRAIN SHED on it so that was a bit of a giveaway. I've been on a course you know.” Grudgingly I led them to the shed and let them in. They both let out a low whistle and scratched their heads. “Does your wife know how much all this cost sir?” I was having none of this. I'd dealt with officious little oiks like him before. I drew myself up to my full height. " I'll have you know Inspector...." ( I looked at his badge.) " ...'Bat Guano', if that really is your name, that it’s all legitimate and paid for. May I point out the parliamentary expenses committee were very understanding and approved the cost IN FULL, so no need to concern yourself there." My smugness was short-lived. “Ah-Ha!” he said , pointing to the controller ”A classic indication of train racing if you ask me. I notice it's an analogue DC layout but the twin track controller has both switches in the forward position where I’d expect one to be in forward, one to be in reverse if the trains to be going round in opposite directions." He looked around. “Well well we have been busy here, so can you explain that?” He jabbed a stubby finger at the track. “Yes that's track underlay” I said “what's the problem?” “Yes but it's foam underlay and it’ll crumble - in 10 years you'll be ripping it off again and doing it properly!” “But it was quicker than cork, glue and granite chippings” “Quicker? Quicker? In some sort of hurry are we sir? On the Great Railway Challenge are we sir? Trying to get the layout done for Christmas are we sir?” “And what have we here, a Blue Pullman 1960 to ‘73 next to a Eurostar 1994 to 2017!” “It looks like we've been mixing our eras haven't we sir.” “And this. An Evening Star resplendent in BR green. So what can you tell me about the Evening Star sir? “It was the last steam engine made for British Rail in 1960?" "Precisely sir, and there was only one of them, so how come you've got two on your layout? I suppose you're going to give me some weak excuse about one being tender driven and the other being loco driven are you?” “Well yes, I was going to sell the slower one on eBay when I got round to it” “That's what they all say.” Another item caught his eye. “A very nice 1970’s HST train in original BR blue sir”. His expression changed to a frown. “Oh dear oh dear the buffet car appears to be next to a power car, not in the middle where it should be, so the passengers have to walk all the way down the train to get something to eat! Also we seem to have mixed Eastern and Western region mk3 coaches. In the same train? "They were a snip on eBay... " I meekly muttered. My heart sank as he uncoupled an HST power car from the rest of the train and deftly removed the body. I knew I should have screwed it down. Having removed the body his expression turned darker. “Oh dear sir we appear to have have a digital DCC sound chip. And a loudspeaker. And it's running on an analogue layout with no chance of the benefits of DCC digital control or getting the sound to work! ” He replaced the loco body and turned to me with a look of fury. “Preverts like you make me sick, you pretend you’re all in with the latest technology and DCC chips and sound and pay lip service to finescale modelling but underneath it all you're just playing trains. You self identify as a model railway enthusiast but you're really not taking this whole modelling thing seriously are you?” He turned to his sergeant. “I think we’re looking at a 5 to 6 stretch here. Worst case I’ve seen this year. Better take him down the station.” “Is that Paddington Green?” I asked. “No he's a light brown bear colour actually, but that's not important right now.” “Can I pack a few things, maybe a R214 gravity ore unloading set, a bag of plastic coal and small oval of track?” “No, you won’t need that where you’re going.. Get yer trousers on sunshine, YOU'RE NICKED!"

Clearly, what the world needs right now is more apt videos....

Ouch! Its only been three years since I bought one (centre motor twin bogie drive) boxed on bay for £160..... Including three mk3 coaches latest spec full length..... And DCC sound chip & speaker. (bit of a shock when I opened the motor body!) Clearly the internet was looking the other way that day. Makes up for hours of looking at absolute tat and buying stuff that wasn't a bargain after all....

Often the make offer is just there because that's ebays default setting, and the buyer forgot to change it - I know I have! My rules of thumb: is to make an offer over the starting price but one that is still a bargain to me. Sometimes it works as it saves the seller hassle. If there's a buy it now price that seems fair, to get a bargain i make an offer about 50% of that in the expectation of a counter offer at 75% of the buy it now. No. 1 rule is of course always be certain of whatever is you're buying and the bargain price you're prepared to pay.

Hornby APT coaches - R40012 (that's the two buffet coaches, not a split coach as per ebay.... Railway model store now down to £79 + £4 postage. Lowest I've seen https://www.railwaymodelstore.co.uk/Hornby-oo-gauge-coach-packs-br-class-370-advanced-passenger-train-2-car-trbs-coach-pack-48403-48404-era-7-r40012/

Bringing the APT into disrepute .. again. So my other half suggested we sit down and watch Married Naked At First Sight Below Decks and I felt my brain begin to dissolve. I swear the last time I watched that lot I forgot all the capitals of South American countries. That and I'm A Celebrity Masterbaker - "Cooking doesn't get any tougher than this!!!" They're chucky chips for goodness sakes, get a grip! And it's not an apricot Jus its Bisto with bits of dried apricot! I quietly sob.... So I stumped off the to shed for a couple of hours. Looked at the world situation and thought "What we need right now is another short APT video. With a Tangerine Dream soundtrack. And smoke. And lasers." I was always taught "If you have something to say, say it. If you have nothing to say , use showmanship."

If I could find a way to log back into my Kindle account I would drop the price, I've got 25,000 unsold virtual copies cluttering up the garage. I really should stop trying to be funny and set up a youtube channel about my railway called UpThe Junction and shoot videos of trains going round in circles....

Yes its in my shed about 20x10", a round the room 4 track layout, so a 60ft run. I totally agree it has a classic shape to it that is just spot on for some reason, although to me it has more of the air of the TSR2 to it, a world beating design that was cancelled due to various reasons...

Goodbye old friend As sad as it is , it's time to say goodbye to the old 1980s black mask APT set, and here it is all packed up and ready to go to its new home where I am sure some kind person will be able to give it all the love and attention that I could not. I realise one day it may come back looking for me to find out why I "gave it away". I'm ready for that, and I'll have to explain that back in the early 2020's attitudes were so very different, and to be born "out of scale" as we used to call it, with huge great chrome wheels and weird couplings was frowned apon and could bring great shame to a family. The fact that it could only get up to a paltry 104MPH scale speed had nothing to do with it. I would also like to emphasise that it also had nothing to do with being the wrong colour; many people prefer a strange grey instead of BR beige. What makes it worse of course, is that I "gave away" his yellow fronted sister too, but we just couldn't cope with THREE APTs in the house. Besides, our new arrival has its own needs of bloated visible capacitors and naff couplings, which will need extensive treatment. Maybe one day it'll understand. Now there's just the thorny problem of what to tell the kids. I think I'll just stick with the traditional "It's gone to live on a farm and is really happy there", that usually works, although as they're 18 and 22 I don't really think they'll really care that much.

Thanks I'm glad you like it, there's a lot of footage that never made it and I've taken over a year to get to a point where the footage is something I'm really proud of and the vision I had : tracking shots train to train, dead sharp and in focus. In the end I had to build my own 4 track controller to get the control I needed to do train passing shots, it's very difficult to shoot one train overtaking another and track them both! watch this space, or rather Youtube channel...

Clearly what the world needs desperately at this moment is yet another video on the Hornby APT. Here are the old and newer versions. And smoke: "If you have something to say, say it. If you have nothing to say, use showmanship"

I broke a hunt magnetic coupling. And then fixed it. So I thought the APT couplings were a bit of a fiddle. So I bought some hunt magnetic couplings. So they were a bit tight, didn't turn very well and obviously weren't going to work as well as they could. So no problem someone said on rmweb apt forum, just drill them out a bit. So I did that and that's fine they all are great except for the last one which BREAKS! (Cue shed full of blue expletives) So here's what I did, just get a bit of plastic packaging carton, stick the bits to it with gorilla glue, let dry overnight and re-drill then cut away surplus plastic. Sorted! My only problem is where on earth are all these iron filings coming from that the magnets are picking up, they seem to be in the loose-laid ballast!

Hi Neil What sort of through wiring were you thinking of? I fitted lights to my Eurostars and use those miniature ebay/amazon connectors (because i couldn't be faffed with wheel pickups ) but I'm always on the lookout for something elegant! Cheers steve

Never raced nor rallied, first to see will buy, from a smoke free and pet free home. (Apart from the 3 cats and the dog but they're part of the family. And the smoke is just a special effect)

So I've put my black mask apt on ebay and as per usual when I list them they suddenly look a lot better than I thought. Starting price £46 in box with partial pantograph, bit of a snip I think.

Yes although I'm sure there will be reruns, when was the last time they were cheaper second time round? That was my concern, thinks bachhy blue pullman, class 411…

Yes I thought the 80s version was good but not quite right when you compare it to photos of the real thing. Close-up model -wise you can see its too square, the "real" APT is quite a delightful rounded classic shape. Which is a pain as I've got some great footage of my 1980s APT overtaking an HST , looks like I'll have to redo all that...!

This has probably been discussed but I've only just seen it. Rocket railway seem to suggest buying the older APT. I'm pretty sure this is not because they're miffed at stoking up demand at their stand and then not being able to sell any sets. In a way I can see what they mean, but to me the old APTs just don't look the right shape, to me they look boxy at the front and I'm really not an expert by any means. And the wheels are weird. And I just couldn't get mine to run smoothly without screeching on start-up from cold despite regearing and lubing. And the pantographs are another £50. Most importantly you'll always be stuck with the same 5 coaches unless you start cutting and shunting.

I don't know if anyone can use this stuff but I've got loads of white 15mm melamine-faced chipboard offcuts that will end up going to landfill. The minimum width I can use is about 52cm wide, so all the offcuts I have are LESS than this, so on average about 45cm wide , but all the same length 81cm. Ideal if you have a project that will need lots of say 40cm x 80cm sheets: shelving units or alcove shelves ? At the moment I have about 10 pieces available, but I'm generating more on a daily basis and have to get rid of it! Collection from Henley On Thames near reading but many be able to deliver locally if you ask very nicely and are prepared to wait a couple of weeks :-)

I have loads of these useless hinges and more arrive every day... They come as part of stuff I install and i usually throw them away as they're so useless. I tape them up or stick them together with black tack for loco weights to give bit of traction. Pullman coaches jumping at points? Stick in hinges. Need a counterbalance for train camera? Reach for the hinges! Roberts ore wagons being a bit skittish? Chuck in a load of hinges! You're welcome to pickup as many as you want from Henley On Thames near reading. May possibly be able to deliver locally if you're willing to wait a week or two!

Lights in one coach not working? Hi Just got my 7 coach set, all ok except for loose pantograph and light not working one coach. Sorry I cant find the post , what was no light in coach caused by? I've tried taking out wheels and tweaking the pickups but it hasn't made any difference. thanks!