Bill

Big Trouble in Little China? - There seems to have been a similar problem a while ago with back to front assembly with the six wheeled T9 tender ... I've held off getting one for now until the extent of the problems has been fully plummed, I'm not an expert so I thank everyone for their wise input...

Thank you everyone for all your comments...They are very useful... Being a southern modeller I was awaiting the 4VEP with eager anticipation... Just the ticket I thought... Then I heard about the traction tyres... (Hornby simply does not seem to get it where traction tyres are concerned - for example I had to buy a schools class but the other four or five I would have purchased weren't because of this continuing TT madness! - if ever a company loves shooting itself in the financial foot then it seems to be this one!) Things then literally, judging by all the reports, seem to have gone south from there... I am not sure that Hornby are entirely to blame... Some Chinese manufacturers just don't get it where "being true to the prototype" is concerned - its a long story but I think it has something to do with differences in their perception and market appreciation..between "toy collector/user" and "serious modeller"; between "Sort of looks like it and goes" and "Spot on and runs well". There is scope here for Bachmann to make a 4VEP, 4CIG etc or even a decent 73(please) in fact they could probably make a fortune redoing many of Hornby's recent efforts. Having waited so long for the 4 VEP this is a true disappointment... I sure hope they get the Brighton Belle spot on but for now I am no longer banking on it and lowering my expectancy accordingly..

My fathers only interest it seemed was in sharpening knives which always seemed to be blunter after his attempts. A skill that he unfortunately passed on to me.. So be glad to be self taught - you might do it all wrong but you will love doing it, whatever it is and that's what's important. Competition is one of the greatest destructors of human self-worth... It prevents us from being ourselves! I love the anarchical tendencies of the Model Railway community

Don't worry I'm sure she'll like it, for two thousand quid she'll think you got a bargain!

Great work - they'll fit in well on a Southern Region layout circa 1957

If you can spare the time have some fun. The caller is a human just like ourselves he or she might even be a fellow modeller. So i always ask them their name and keep them talking about anything other that the reason they called, which was to use me like a utensil. Then at some appropriate time, simply ring off. The other day a young lady from somewhere in Asia called and I, feeling a bit grumpy said, "What the hell do you want?" She immediately misunderstood the remark and got personally involved and stuttered over and over again getting angrier each time, "You call me 'Hell'?" Unable to continue the dialogue I rang off. About a minute later the phone rang. It was the young lady. "Go to Hell Mr Bill!", shouted she and promptly rang off! It was hilarious.

I have somehow manged to acquire 6 sheds (66952 Freightliner, 66407 x2 DRS, 66412 - DRS & Malcolm, 66152 DB (not bad for someone running a layout exclusively dedicated to 1950's SR). Sofar they so all seem to be running fine with no noticeable problems through some very complex pointwork and reverse curve. However having read this article I may have missed something and will do some extra tests over curved points and see what happens. Also, one of the 66407's arrived dead out of the box - It was returned to the model shop from whence it came - the problem, whatever it was - I never did fully find out - was fixed by Bachmann and is now running exceptionally well. Perhaps some of these wayward model 66's need returning to said manufacturer?

Thanks for your encouraging views...I was raised in the home counties and immersed in all things SR from birth and have a great fondness British Railways in the 50's and odd places like Three Bridges Station...In my school years I travelled each day from Guildford to Woking on the old 2 Bils and 4 Cors - and I wish someone like Bachmann would hurry up and make a model of each soon - I know they can do it! ...And of course many a lunch hour was spent watching the Bournemouth Belle as it thundered through the station, an impressive sight for a young mind, as well as noting and being amazed by the evolution from Spam Cans to rebuilt Bulleids . Other memorable railway times were spent visiting London, travelling to Brighton on the Brighton Belle with my grandfather or going to see relatives in the West country. Now throw in a life time fascination with the London Underground as well as great times as a young adult riding the North London line EPBs or travelling north to Newark and Hull from Kings Cross ( always on a sunday when track maintenace work slowed everything down or diverted the trains through Lincoln on the Sleaford loop) and it kind of explains the feelings and atmospheres I am trying to evoke with one layout. What better way to enjoy one's retirement years?

Welcome to this blog all about the delights and trials of ready to plop modelling in 00 gauge. I live in Canada so this takes on an added dimension to do with the wonders and failings of the existing international postal services. The main focus of my interest is the Southern Region during the 1950's - however from time to time I suffer from strange and uncontrollable enthusiasms which have resulted, for example, in a growing modern fleet class 66's and appropriate rolling stock, as well as a large collection of early(ish) BR Blue. I discovered that the impelling force of nostalgia for the BR that I experienced in my youth needed balancing with something more representative of all that has happened in the British railway system over the seven decades of my life. The current layout is called "Wyvernstoke" - a fanciful place where three railway regions and London Transport are prone to meet. A recent addition is a small Western Region circa 1950's shunting layout in O gauge - which will become the main focus of this blog for the forseeable future...