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C.A.T.Ford

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Posts posted by C.A.T.Ford

    Help required returning Thomas to look something like an E2 with extended tanks.

    in Modifying & Detailing RTR stock

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, cypherman said:

    Hi C.A.T.

    Was that used for heating the carriages ?.

    The Brighton was almost paranoid about burning too much coal. Not surprising as they paid more for their coal than almost all other companies. This led to all sorts of heat recovery systems most of which led to heating the feed water in tanks and tenders, Normal injectors will not work with hot water so Brighton locos were often fitted with a feed water pump to get hot water into the boiler. E2s were so fitted and when they passed you and the pump was working there would be a distinct "clonk" with each stroke of the pump. Combined with the song of the Westinghouse pump on the other side a Brighton loco could be quite "musical".

    Hope this explains everything if not come back.

     

    CAT

     

    • Informative/Useful 1

    Exotic place names in the UK

    in Wheeltappers

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

    And the nearby country-park is called Trosley. 

     

    But a positive shout-out for Woolfardisworthy, on the A39, where a thoughtful LA have appended the local pronunciation "Woolsery" to the village sign to inform us grockles.

     

    I was informed at the Leamington show that Godmanchester is pronounced "Gumster" I found it hard to believe but you never know!

     

    CAT

    • Like 1

    Liveries on SR Schools Class in BR days

    in Modelling Questions, Help and Tips

    Posted · Edited by C.A.T.Ford
    Only one Richard Maunsell. Pronounced Mansel!

    38 minutes ago, 21C1 said:

    Also Locomotives in Detail Book 6 -Maunsell 4-4-0 Schools class by Peter Swift.
    This lists Changes to liveries and other modifications at the back of the book.
    BTW Maunsell is pronounced Mansel. So many people get it wrong :)

    Yes on the first part an excellent book.

    The second part (in bold). OH yes, yes yes. yes. Being half Irish and knowing the correct spelling and pronunciation of Poor Richard's name. I grind my teeth when ever I speak with someone who pronounces it Mawnsell! Mansell the wheel guy was English and so is spelt the English way.

     

    CAT

    Modelling Ash Ballast

    in Modelling Questions, Help and Tips

    Posted

    I needed ash ballast so I went to my local preserved railway and asked for a bag of smoke box char. They were very happy to allow me to take as much as I needed. I sieved this down and used the finest to ballast the track. Spray the ballast with water with washing up liquid and get it wet through then set it with dilute PVA or Copydex.

     

    CAT

    Shortest journey on National Rail

    in UK Prototype Questions

    Posted

    Sundridge Park to Bromley North while probably not the shortest trip, £2.50 book in advance, does have the distinction of have the Bromley North home signal on the end of Sundridge Park's down platform.

    In the old days you could stand on the up end of Blackfriars through platform and see Holborn Viaduct station with Ludgate hill in between and had you been able to see through the smoke Snow Hill as well. The area seems to have a thing about close stations.

     

    CAT

    • Like 1

    Featuring my dad's collection of SR locomotives

    in Kitbuilding & Scratchbuilding

    Posted

    On 25/08/2019 at 15:11, mikesndbs said:

    Guys a question, I am now on video 8 in this series, its a lot of work despite being short films but I have been very disheartened at the low view count.

    Are kit and scratch built locos of little interest these days or am I doing something wrong?

     

    Genuinely perplexed.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6K2NC5c4iU&list=PLlCB0QttYAPoNF5umgBjLuQuH2crD31oH

     

     

    Possibly easy to explain, I for one didn't know about your videos until I saw this thread. Now I do know about them I'll be passing the word among my friends and others. Please continue your work which I thought excellent, I'm already thinking T9 into L12 and S11 now I know it can be done.

    Although it is possible to buy some important Southern classes RTR the variety seen from the platform end is not possible without kits or conversions. So your videos are valuable for those of us who model the Southern.

     

    CAT

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    BBC Four - James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain

    in Hornby

    Posted

    As various accusations about my operating team and my layout have been aired on this thread I thought I'd tell you all how we happened to arrive on this program.

     

    The story starts two weeks before the Great Electric Train Show (GETS). I was at a show with my other layout and my son and my friend Paul were at a factory sale at Hornby's Margate site. While Phil, my son, was on the phone to me and surrounded by boxes he was approached by the film crew and asked if he was a collector, followed by, was he on the phone to a collector. It rapidly became apparent that the production company thought all Hornby products were bought by collectors and squirreled away. It took rather a long time for Paul and Phil to explain that they were buying equipment to use on a model railway, the  film crew seemed to have no concept of this.

     

     As a result Paul and Phil were interviewed and filmed checking out. It also came out that my layout was due to go GETS and so were the film crew. They wanted to film the layout before and at GETS and asked if they could do this.

    Up until this point the production company had planned for no model railway content at all other than as a back drop to the Hornby stand at GETS. So the choice was Say yes and let them film warts and all, or say No and they would have gone back into the sale and kept on asking until they found a collector. If I said no the model railway community would have been represented to the public by a person opening cupboards to show stacks of unopened boxes. If I said yes at least some vestige of what the modelling community could do would get through. I said yes and I stand by that decision, although if I knew what it would unleash I might have thought again.

    In due course the crew turned up at my home where the layout was part set up while we did some work. Five hours later they left after grilling us each for 20 minutes about what we would do when Hornby went under. We kept telling them that that wasn't going to happen and my comment on it being like the Queen dying was in answer to the modified question, "What would it be like if Hornby ceased to make model railways for any reason?"

     

    At the show they filmed us arriving (I had to drive in and out of the car park three times). They filmed us setting up. Yes I had forgotten the buildings  but a quick there and back sorted that. No Gerard didn't save the day it was a team effort and Paul worked out that we didn't need those sections, but it was edited to seem that way. Editing can turn anything which ever way the Editor wants. 

     

    The Ale Bar in New Cross has a monthly Railway Modeller's night. The film crew filmed that as well, so that was another four hours or so along with interviews. They wanted Paul and me to go to Warley (at our own expense) and walk them round the show to give the Railway Modeller's perspective on new developments. We did this and drew attention to various new items. All this ended on the cutting room floor.

     

    All in all they must have had over 30 hours of footage of us let alone Gerard. I feel I should point out that the film crew didn't know Gerard until GETS But they contacted him and spent well over five hours at his home. I know he appeared first, remember what I said about editing!

     

    So there you go it was go for it, or let the collectors speak for the community what would you do in that split second?

     

    Oh! and one thing if you start and offensive sentence " I don't mean to be offensive" you are about to be offensive and that phrase doesn't make it right. The end result is I have to spend hours calming an offended person who wants to smash years of  modelling work up.

    • Like 4
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    James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain. - Hornby's decline and struggle to survive.

    in Hornby

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Pete Darton said:

    Going to be interesting to see how many children will be in the program. Will give a clue who Hornby are really aim there trains at. For Hornby to be successful in the future they need to attract children to get into the hobby.

     

    only 2 hours to go.....

    ALL children are either cut out or redacted unless parental permission is obtained to use their image. Although the reason the program gives is different.

     

    CAT 

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