C.A.T.Ford

Alan Parsons Eve.

CAT

Kraftwork and why not?

After all that palaver, just how many extra kits do you think I'd be able to sell?

Bill

     As many as you can sell,  a difficulty rating will neither improve nor destroy your kits (my conflat Ls draw attention at shows, much more so since I weighted the containers to give the springs a working load). Having said that people will always buy what they think they want and regard a kit even if it has a difficulty rating as being an Airfix Spitfire.

Unfortunately model railway kits started  either before or at the same time as the Airfix kits and with the insistence of the time, that weight equaled haulage went for White metal, a somewhat imprecise casting material but heavy and so obeying the rule.

Some casters improved, others didn't but in the early days we became used to hack and slash and fill. This style seemed to follow us onwards, if you couldn't do a kit it was you not us!( I notice TW has not mentioned a try at a Q kits cast kit, I've seen one it's challenging on the wrong side of challenging!).

We have developed a culture which seems to say if you cannot do an imprecise kit with piss poor instructions you are less of a modeller than someone with years of experience of same.

Well sorry people! You will never have a correctly balanced loco stud (in my experience) unless you build kits, and if you need to build a kit then you should be able to do that kit if you are forewarned of some of the pitfalls and you have good instructions.

Oh and Bill I still think you're wrong over Ironclad windows!

CAT

My Father was a wholesale butcher in Smithfield. He was a firm believer in "Satan makes mischief for idle hands" and so every school holiday I had to work for him at the shop.

I can assure you that no buyer would be dim enough to buy large quantities of meat from a sample hung in the shop. If we left meat in the wagons we were charged demurrage and storing it cost storage so it was all in and out Apart from which the "Lord mayors man" a public health inspector could descend and examine your stock at any time and he would want to see the lot.

The depot was a gloomy place particularly in the early hours of the morning, with rats as big as cats and cats of a sabre toothed disposition. Most fresh meat came in in ventilated meat vans which had hook rails inside on which the meat was hung (we are talking sides and quarters of beef not joints) I think they may well have had asphalt floors. Vans without hook rails were useless for this traffic, would you buy meat off the floor of a van which could have been used for anything before?

In Winter the super cooling caused by the draught in a ventilated van meant the meat was often covered in ice and after dealing with a ten ton wagon load hands ,shoulders and arms were numb.In Summer you worked very quickly if it was hot. Of course being the bosses son it was considered fair game for a disgruntled Humper to drop a hind quarter on me and leave me pinned under it. Not pleasant in Winter as you froze. 

Our containers were delivered to us on drawbar trailers by I think Union Cartage.

CAT

Back in the 1960's there was an article in, I think, Model Railway Constructor, on creating a SR push-pull set from Tri-ang clerestories.  I distinctly remember it as it was my first attempt at modifying something.   I think i still have them somewhere!

 

Jim

Railway modeller 1966 a series of articles by Terry Gough. I used them to build the Brighton push pull set in the picture.

CAT

I've never understood the idea that barriers aren't provided so people can get a closer look. Most are no more than a foot away from the front of the layout. Lean on them and you can rub your nose on the layout.

 

How much closer does anyone need to get?

I once had a chap lean over Batcombe and get hit in the side of the head by an incoming train. Fortunately it was a heavy cast metal kit loco and he must have seen stars. My experience is that older males are much worse than children and that the only thing that will keep them off a layout is a 10 inch R.S.J.

Very much my thoughts on Havergal  Brian, he was a noted self taught composer, but if you listen to any of his symphonies it is near impossible to tell which it is at times. He started big with the Gothic, and the work haunted him for the rest of his long career.

Stephen

I think the word haunted is not quite right, perhaps possessed might be better. He never got the idea less is more ( Like more clichés means better layout) However, he is still remembered and all his work is about. Which is more than can be said for people like York Bowen and John Foulds where a chunk of their work disappeared after their deaths despite them being acclaimed while alive in a much stronger way than Brian.

Poor Flo et al they do come under the headline of "Delibes won Florence didn't"

CAT  

The mention of Bantock highlights the sort of "back burner" British composers. Brian was a contemporary of Bantock and wrote 32 symphonies etc. but turns up very occasionally on the Beeb and is never going to be on classic. Through Hamish McCunn(did he compose anything other than land of the mountain and flood?) via George Lloyd (who wrote tonally when everybody else didn't and paid the price) to Grace Jones (Oh a woman!  and that goes for most women composers). If it wasn't for Lyrita CDs a whole tranche of British music would never see the light of day. Having said that I've got  George Lloyd's 8th symphony on Youtube playing now and it's very good indeed.

CAT

The Lark Ascending - Vaughan Williams.

As much for its Britishness as the music or the bird.

Not so much at this time of year because you can go outside and listen to the real thing.

The English countryside is a lovely place at this time of year.

Ah! English music or at least music evoking the English countryside. Might I offer George Butterworth, Ivor Gurney, John Ireland, Holst and Britten's interludes from Peter Grimes (Particularly Dawn which inspired me to build a section of seaside layout) As well as V-W all capable of crystallising that essential English country in the mind. Please feel free to add. Mind you for urban landscape images John Ireland's  "London overture" for an image of 20s/30s  and the self assurance of the Edwardian era with Elgar's "Cockaigne".

CAT

 While totally agreeing about the inspiration to 'make it yourself' either by copying the author's method directly, or by seeing how the technique might be redeployed to a different starting point with a different end product in view; I do feel compelled to mention the slight 'economy with the truth' present in so many such articles. It seemed that the authors could obtain with no difficulty a RTR mechanism of this type, a body from here, a tender from there; and then let the bashing commence to produce the desired end product. But this impoverished teen got laughed out of the 1960s model shop when requesting such pieces as individual purchases (the shop name was of course 'Blunt' and that covered their mode of expression on this matter quite adequately). Complete RTR models were what was on offer, nothing else. That delayed my getting started quite significantly!

If that was H.A.Blunt I once wrote to them with a query enclosing an SAE They screwed up my letter and sent it back in the SAE. Nice people it seems. Most of my local Model shops had a rummage box in which you could find bits you wanted and even bits you didn't know you wanted.

My favourite shop the late great Hobbytime were always ready to help. Dennis would peruse the article puff his pipe and pronounce, he was usually right and would want to see the results of your work.

CAT

Do you hit them with it?

 

Mike.

 

Edit cos I forgets me name.

No, but if I find anyone reaching across the layout with a vernier to measure the stock they tend to meet Billy the baseball bat:-)

The point is that late 50s, 60s early Seventies if it wasn't available someone would work out how to make, kitbash, cut and shut the article and tell you. Over the years over the layout at exhibitions the questions have changed from, how do you do that? To, where can I buy that?

Everything is not going to be available at some point you may need to do it yourself and the magnificent cache of information that the OP suggested are an excellent start point. 

CAT

R.M. 1966 Terry gough's articles on building S.R. stock from Triang short clerestories. Do it or there was very little you could afford. My Brighton pull-push set still stuns people on my layout today.

CAT

The Necropolis station was initially on the south side under where the approach track to platforms 1 to 4 are now but was moved to the North side alongside the stabling sidings and the track that lead to the Waterloo and City lift. The bombed out building was still there until it was demolished and the site is now underneath the end of the Eurostar platforms.

 

Jamie

I think you will find that the Necropolis station was moved to the West side of Westminster Bridge Road where it still stands almost facing Lower Marsh. Or at least it was standing yesterday.

CAT

Philip Glass Low Symphony

Spending the day clearing up the workshop and listening to Arnold Bax started with Tintagel and have moved on to his symphonies. Ah well ! Tea break over back to work and Bax.

CAT

The Romford wheels on my shunter are in fact Bonds wheels. When my Father was teaching me scratch building he bought a couple of Bonds chassis and they were fitted with the same wheels. They look very similar to Romfords but the square on the axle is a slightly different size, I discovered this when converting  my first two scratchers from outside third to two rail.

CAT

The top of the Ebay sample is original Kirdon but the chassis isn't. It may be supplied by another manufacturer clearing left over castings. The model I posted is entirely original because I was standing by my Father when he bought it from Kirdon at Central Hall. He would never let me any where near his layout and so it remained until he sold it all to start his business. It was only when clearing stuff after his death that I discovered odd bits in boxes one of which was the shunter.

CAT

By popular request shunter with top removed. I added the flywheel but the rest is origional

I thought you might be interested in this loco. The only Kirdon 0-4-0 I've ever seen complete to band drive and Kirdon couplings. It runs quite well, however The paint is not original.

CAT

Are the 2 derailed flatrols still sat next to the Up Catford loop near Bellingham ??

 

That'll be 20 years ish if they are...............

Yes walk my Spaniel past them in Beckenham place park regularly. What is the story of these wagons?

CAT

When I can't get my butt in gear, John Adams, short ride in a fast machine does the galvanising!

CAT

I'll be pleased when my E4 arrives.  As long as it looks right, and more importantly runs OK i'll be please.  From my point of view it will be a three role loco:  Passenger trains, goods trains and shunter.  I just need the Birdcage set....

 

From a critical point of view, not aimed at the E4, but a general comment.  With regard detail, I'd rather have less than more if it's of a unique nature.  Such things being of an easily added on nature.  I tend to leave most detail parts in the plastic bag.

 Can I refer you to post #119 which seems to have disappeared in the squabbles about track and other things. Having seen, handled and operated the production model I can say you will not be disappointed.

CAT

The production E4 I operated at the Doncaster show ran well (right down to a crawl) and traversed points easily. The finish was well up to the Bachmann standard (although this model was in early crest plain black). If the splashers were over size it was not glaringly obvious in this livery, perhaps lining might show this up more. The smoke box door was about a half degree off square on this model emphasised by the numberplate. I thought the model caught the prototype well and I'd certainly be pleased to run the one I've ordered on my layout. If the smoke box door problem is a common one I'll knock the door out and square it up before weathering.

CAT

 

 When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones,

 

So That's the cause of the RTR problems.

 

 

CAT

Mickey,

            It is totally brilliant fun and for those not used to operational model railways a completely new experience.

CAT