APOLLO

"Urgent job Mr Brunel, on your railway line over at Steventon" Brit15

Many things (including skills) have changed over the years. On the Sunday shop I bought the December "Railway Modeller" mag (tempted by the free kit !!), and this morning the postman delivered the November 1965 issue of the same mag (bought off ebay for the Lydney TT article - see separate thread). Anyway, a dull wet and miserable afternoon had me sat down with a cuppa and these two mags - 52 years apart. What instantly is noticed is the skill and workmanship to make layouts in both issues - and haven't these skills multiplied / changed / morphed / improved / etc over the years, not to mention the current availability of almost everything in multiple scales. (though I was surprised to re-discover what was actually available back in '65). The layout of the month back in November 1965 was "Leeds Corn Exchange", an O gauge layout by Leeds MRC, the opening sentence harking back to 1947, just after WW2, "When the ready made model locomotive was virtually unknown and conversation would centre around the latest cocoa-tin fabrication or how to make a Great Northern chimney out of a cartridge case and two overall buttons" !! Both mags are interesting reads from differing eras. Brit15

Look in your bin - you just might be lucky !!!!!!!! Brit15

I'm no lover of pacers, and will be glad to see them go, but they are not all that bad in reality. I remember a recent journey to Manchester via Bolton on one, on the downhill bit past Kearsley the speed was well up into the 70's / 80's, and on straight CWR track the ride was smooth(ish) though very noisy. A failure they were not (still plenty running), very unpopular - YES. preserve one or two if you wish, but I won't pay to ride on one again. Brit15

Nice find. I once had a Rokal TT German pacific & 4 coaches. It wouldn't run on Tri-ang TT (type B) track, but was fine on GEM track & turnouts. I seem to remember having to move the frog guard rails out a little. Sold it when I went OO Brit15

I used Dapol station canopies for my Leicester Central layout (dismantled in 1993). The (unglazed) canopies still exist on my "generic" loft layout. Not exactly the same as leicester GC but they were near enough for me. My photos of this layout are non digital, I need to scan them one day. Brit15

Nice photos. 'Twill be a sad day when the last Network Rail semaphore clanks back "on". Brit15

I've never been on a British sleeper train. I have however been on two in Thailand, Bangkok to Chiang Mai "up north" with its beautiful mountain scenery on the last leg, and Bangkok to some little station in the middle of nowhere "down south" where we caught a bus at 6.00 am to the nearby harbour, and ferry across to Koh Samui island. The only way to travel (for me) over in Thailand. I understand they have a new fleet of sleeping cars - must try them next time. As to other modern trains etc to preserve - well nothing other than a HST springs immediately to mind. Brit15

Hence the term "Rock & Roll" !!! Michael's method works, especially on long and tall O gauge freight cars. A quick tweak with a screwdriver on the bogie mount screws works wonders (one fairly tight, one loose), plus sometimes a washer or two as required. Brit15

Difficult with twins - what you do for one you have to do for the other !!!!!! I speak with experience (twin girls) Brit15

Preserving "modern" stuff will / would be expensive, especially if you consider complete train sets (HST) and rakes (MGR's) etc. Good luck though to those who try, my only comment is to pick carefully. A fully running HST would make a good "go anywhere" charter train, it's speed capability means it would slot right into most main line timetables. I'm sure one or two sets could be made to pay if marketed correctly. May be a daft or un workable idea but have a HST with 3 or 4 first coaches, a kitchen / diner and 3 or 4 MK 3 sleepers (being replaced on the Caledonian Sleeper soon). market it for American / Chinese / Japanese, London / York / S&C to Edinburgh / Inverness / Fort William - Oban / Stratford on Avon / etc. Out of season re arrange the itinerary for us Railfans, replacing the sleepers with 2nd class opens. It would be of little use for our preserved lines though, too fast, too long. Yes, to me the HST is indeed a beautiful train. Brit15

The British Army marched on its stomach. British Railways and the North Western Gas Board ran on Tea. Nuf said !!! Brit15

An Irish doctor wanted to get off work and go golfing, so he approached his young assistant. “Seamus, I am going golfing tomorrow. I don’t want to close the clinic. I want you to take care of the clinic and take care of my patients.” “Yes, sir!” answers Seamus. The doctor went golfing and returned the following day and asks: ”So, Seamus, how was your day?” Seamus told him that he took care of three patients. “The first one had a headache so I gave him Tylenol.” “Bravo, and the second one?” asked the doctor. “The second one had stomach burning and I gave him Maalox, sir.” said Seamus. “Bravo, bravo! You’re good at this and what about the third one?” asked the doctor. “Sir, I was sitting here and suddenly the door opened and a woman entered. Like a flame, she undressed herself, taking off everything and lied down on the table and shouted: “HELP ME! For five years I have not seen any man!” “Good Lord, Seamus, what did you do?!” asked the doctor. “I put drops in her eyes.” Brit15

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder It certainly is - and we are all different !! Had a day out in Manchester today with the Mrs. The 09.59 (ex Wigan) Glasgow to Manchester Airport was ram jam full, and a 4 car diseasel instead of the more usual EMU - still "it" got us in Oxford Rd station just 5 minutes late. The ride across Chat Moss is still bumpy, no doubt the line still "floats" on the reeds laid down on the bog by George Stephenson !! Still a bit "wild" on the Moss !! Anyway the purpose of the visit was to use a voucher given to me as a birthday present by a friend for a Champagne afternoon tea for two at the Sculpture hall cafe within Manchester town hall. Sounds naff - BUT - naff it ain't And the cafe The food and drink were very good - (excellent actually as we weren't paying !!!) Then it was a quick walk around the Christmas Market (first day of - but busy) - and a walk down Deansgate to Victoria station (past lots of awful 60's & 70's yuk buildings). Victoria station is now like the Curates egg - excellent in parts !! - A crazy mix of Victorian, 90's and 21st century - take your pick. Ohh for the Black 5's & Sulzer type 2 banking engines, sizzling and throbbing between platforms 11 & 12 !! Home to sunny Wigan on a DMU via Bolton - what a mess this line is in as they electrify it - ballast and bits everywhere, new stations with no masts up yet, do they have a plan ?? Ahh well I suppose it will all work one day. All in all a good day out - but ooohh for the old days !!! Brit15

I used to like Sapporo, a Japanese lager in an unusual shaped silver can. We bought it at the Chinese supermarket in Manchester. I don't buy it anymore as it is now brewed in the UK and tastes like any old lager - still expensive though. There are many such beers & lagers, just the same old shyte in a fancy can / bottle. Look carefully at the label !! Supping now a can of John Smith's, to be followed by a Guinness or two. Guinness in cans - still a decent drink BUT (and it might be me) it's just not the same as it was years ago. Then again, is anything ?? Cheers !! Brit15

And I thought American trains had no "buffers" !!!!!! Brit15

NORTH KOREA TO SEND MAN TO THE SUN BY 2028 Kim Jong-un announced that North Korea would be sending a man to the sun within ten years! Reporter - "But the sun is very hot. How can your man land on it?" There was a stunned silence. Nobody knew how to react. Then Kim Jong-un quietly answered "We will land at night". The entire audience broke out in thunderous applause Donald Trump heard what Kim had said and sneered - "What an idiot. There is no sun at night time!" And his people responded with thunderous applause Brit15

Thanks Garry - I've just found one on Ebay for £1.50 + postage. Worth it just for the TT nostalgia !!! I remember Grandsmoor Central and the earlier Drylesthwaite & Wealdsend layouts at the Manchester exhibition. I saw Longacre at an exhibition many moons ago. Wrenbury & Longacre I already have the mags. If I come across any other interesting TT layouts in my old (but incomplete) mag collection I'll post details. Brit15

Lots of interesting points in this thread. I like the point about having a "strategic reserve" of locomotives. I have quite a few old Lima diesels, I will now know these as my "strategic reserve" - Lima diesels - NEVER had one fault other than a couple of replacement traction tyres. Brit15

I agree Brack - It's "The big boys at the top" who REALLY need sorting out wages wise, and in all companies / leadership / government concerns also. Driverless Trains (etc etc) - no thanks, just another way for the above mentioned to award themselves more for cutting the number of employees. Not nice is the future, not for the average guy / gal anyway. Brit15

Interesting layouts above. I have a few dog eared 1960's modelling mags from when I modeled in TT. They were fonts of knowledge and inspiration to me back then, and many still are. I find the current model railway magazines a tad boring, too much advertising and twee "perfect" layouts, still, each to their own. I changed to OO in 1972 when we moved house all my TT was virtually worn out so a good time to start anew. Just started work also so I had a bit more money !!. I agree regard the "system" layouts, Edward Beals West Midland was another, and he wrote a couple of interesting books about it. It was originally OO but he later converted to TT, opposite to what I did !! As to model railway "atmosphere" this old O gauge layout is 100% http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/44856-day-trip-to-diggle/ By the way Garry what issue is the larger Lydney Junction plan from ? - As you can see i'm a bit of a Lydney fan !! Interesting thread is this, I pop in often to watch progress !! Brit15

You can blame Alexa !! Brit15

There is an interesting Rmweb thread about the Lydney layouts here. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/43203-1971-lydney-tt-layout/ And some affordable TT for sale from Elaine's Trains. I buy the odd (OO) item from Elaine - a very good postal service and items are reasonably priced and always as described. https://elaines-trains.co.uk/index.php I agree re the "sameness" of modern layouts, especially at exhibitions and I also miss the "simple" 60's 70's layouts as exhibited at the Manchester show, which I attended yearly back then. My own loft layout is a bit of a throwback - It's more of a collection of model railway items than a scale layout. I especially like the old Hornby Dublo, Crescent Ratio and Trix illuminated semaphore signals, none of which you see today at exhibitions. I also run my old tri-ang & 2 rail Hornby Dublo along with my new stuff. Too much emphasis (for me) is based on ever more expensive "super detail" these days. Hornby Railroad is fine for me !! Brit15

Free pies at Wigan exhibition next year so the rumor goes - bring your own Gravy !! Those French layouts and the exhibition organisation are excellent, Brit15

Whats done is done. COULD a solution be found / would it be viable (both cost and production wise) for an entrepreneurial modelling / light engineering firm to re-manufacture the chassis affected - at least the worst / most numerous ones ? Thinking either castings (with careful materials quality control) / machined steel / brass etc, or is there a better method ? May be an absolute non starter - I don't know. Brit15