Mikkel

Must be nice to have a father and son weekend like that, you are fortunate that you have a common interest in this great hobby. The Duke looks superb, no doubt it will be quite something once done.

Now that's just brilliant. And a boyhood dream come true as well :-) The video is great too. Were you trying to embed it? I notice you have used this url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DMildSGLXrc ...but I just tried a test entry on my own blog using the following url, and that seemed to embed fine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMildSGLXrc

The pug really has character. I especially like the cab floor and the backhead, they have that robust nature of real things. The backhead could be mistaken for an alien as it sits there outside the loco :-)

There's a photo on ebay (auction ended, so won't link to it here) showing a 64xx at Saltash in 1959 with 4 autocoaches. Bachmann could argue that you'll need 4 of their coaches - I wonder if they'll provide different numbers!

If I'm not mistaken, that would also provide the chassis for a 2021, which - like the much later 16xx - also seems to have had 4' 1½ driving wheels and a 7'4" , 7'4" wheelbase. In fact, you could argue that Bachmann could have done this chassis instead of the 64xx from the beginning, thereby allowing use of the same chassis for a pre-grouping (2021 with saddle tanks), grouping (2021 with panniers) and a BR built (16xx) loco. However, the first and last of these would miss out the GWR grouping modellers, whereas the 64xx addresses this segment plus the BR segment, so market-wise it is probably a wise decision... I'm certainly content with the 64xx and associated 74xx option. This is the first of the "small" panniers we see in RTR form, although it could be argued that it's a hybrid between the small and large pannier classes as it has the body of the former but the wheels of the latter!

Yes I'm sure we are many who can see a slot for this! (I might go for a 74xx non-autto fitted mod for the sidings though). I do wonder though if that 1955 date for no. 6438 is actually correct?

I had a little rummage around the web to find some photos of the 64xxs. Here's a selection of the nicer ones - thought I'd share the links here in case anyone is interested. Both Russell's GWR locomotives and the Wikipedia site for the 64xx notes that one way to tell the difference between a 64xx and a 74xx was the join between the bunker and cab, with the 64xx class having a curved join and the 74xx having a straight join. This seems to be wrong. As quoted by Nick in the main Bachmann announcement thread, the RCTS volume states that no. 6430 was the first 64xx to have a straight cab/bunker join. This seems to fit with the photos found so far, except no. 6412 below, but it may have been modified during an overhaul? This has certainly whetted my appettite - not to mention modifying one into a 74xx! Selected photos on the web: No. 6403 at Snow Hill, 1937, cab/bunker join not clear, busy little engine! http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh1793.htm No. 6407 (the one Bachmann are releasing in GWR livery), curved cab/bunker join, BR early crest: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil-seaford/8208071267/ No. 6412, rusting away at Swindon, 1966 (?), straight cab/bunker join (?!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/60790501@N04/5809232761/ No. 6422 at Snow Hill, 1936, curved cab/bunker join, GWR Shirtbutton http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh1762.htm No. 6430, preserved, straight cab/bunker join, w. auto coach: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabbipx/6306401575/ No. 6435, 1960, BR early crest, - if you don't like this scene you're not human :-) http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/8428258962/ No. 6435, preserved straight cab/bunker join, lovely action shot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/5773103086/ No. 6437, Gloucester, 1963, straight cab/bunker join late crest lined out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16749798@N08/4166048684/in/set-72157617567479618 No. 6438, straight cab/bunker join, GWR shirtbutton: http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/photolib/transport/GWR%2064xx%20Class%20Locomotive%201955.htm Drawings and overviews on the web: 64xx and 74 xx drawings: http://www.champwilde.f9.co.uk/gwdrawings/locoindex.html Jim Champ's "beginner's guide to GWR pannier tanks": http://www.gwr.org.uk/nopanniers.html Edited to add/modify links.

They really are exquisite. Nice to see a kit that seems to have been well thought through (holes for liquid lead etc).

An intriguing map, especially given the period. Also shows the biscuit factory sidings nicely, I see.

Thanks for these thoughts, Rich. What attracted me to this plan was - as you say - the variety of stock that can legitimately be moved on and off the layout (plus the scenic options, more on that later). But in terms of interesting shunting moves it could become a little limited. My solution to this on The depot is to use the fiddle yard for a shunting puzzle. Maybe I could do a sort of combination thing, where the fiddle yard has a couple of sidings for shunting, as well as a cassette siding. Plenty more to think about on the daily commute :-)

Thanks again RobboPetes, I found it in Google maps. A slightly sad sight: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=da&ll=51.864461,-2.23307&spn=0.001027,0.00283&t=h&z=19 "All that is solid melts into air..."

Hi Lisa, that sounds like an interesting prototype. I especially like the trackplan. Small and simple, but with some operating potential. How will you do the stock - scratchbuilt? (I don't know the 2mm kit ranges).

Yes, that is interesting. Came across this one of Didcot, nominally in 1928, on Britain From Above: http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw024646 (if you register you can zoom in) Coaches virtually all have dark/dirty roofs. On extreme left a van and a Toad, both have white roofs. At rear three horseboxes, with clean-ish roofs. At the center one of the longer vans with light grey roof. The three horseboxes on the train at front are variously dark grey, white, light grey, perhaps illustrating the point that we should have a good mix. The balance would then shift increasingly in favour of dark roofs the further we get into the thirties, as per Slinn: "By the early 1930s financial stringency had obviously led to longer intervals between painting" (GW Way, original volume p 108 on wagon liveries). Would that be a correct assumption?

Are you going to heat it and inject it? Seriously though, that is quite impressive. I look forward to the rest.

Hi Pete, I agree, the research for a layout is a big part of the fun. The only problem is that new layout options keep popping up the more you explore!

That looks great Andy. The shade of the water is very good, I think, especially in the last shot. Nice to see your cottages given a bit more justice! The green crazy-paving sounds interesting! I know that sinking feeling when something goes seriously bananas. Maybe we need a "document your disasters" thread

A good example. Some of the stock are sheeted over opens, I think. But still, a maximum of one fourth appear to be white - or even less.

Hi Jaako, just right-click on the original image, then click copy, go here, open a comment and right-click again and click insert. I wonder if the red colour on the sheep needs to be toned down a little? Just a suggestion. I see some of them are playing leap frog :-)

That's a very good point Rich. It would be ridiculous to have a huge fiddle yard for a micro. I was thinking of having a separate cassette for each train (less the loco). I like hassle-free operation, but as the stock would not all be shunted at the same time of day, there would be different sessions, each with a couple of cassettes. Could that not work? I should perhaps stay that the next step in the planning will be to "translate" the Gloucester setting into the one at Farthing. This includes scaling down the volume of things a bit.

What an update! Many thanks for that, Castle. You actually made me feel that I am witnessing someting rare and extraordinary: Not just the loco itself, but also the efforts and devotion you are putting into this heritage. That shot from above really is quite special, and nicely demystifies something I thought was much more complex.

That really is good stuff. It's all crying out to be modelled. Also a bit overwhelming, that place has the potential for 2-3 layouts in itself! A wheelbarrow main line? Surely not?

Mark, yes, I already feel a bit out of my pre-grouping comfort zone :-) Amazing how quickly we get locked in on particular periods. Fortunately there are lots of 1940s afficionados to help, including on here. Yes, pre-grouping lineside industries are still not much modelled I think. Here is a later one from their loading dock, just imagine all those biscuits! http://www.huntleyandpalmers.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=huntley&f=generic_largerimage_postsearch.htm&_IXFIRST_=5&_IXMAXHITS_=1&m=quick_sform&tc1=i&partner=huntley&text=gwr&tc2=e&s=azzx18ABaF6 Yes, I've always liked weighbridge buildings. In Gloucester I imagine there would have been one by the private goods depot alongside the "biscuit siding". Can't spot one in the photos though, but that part of the yard was not well photographed. I agree. I only linked to the photo becaue Huntley & Palmers were brought up. It deserves a model on its own, set in the right period. But the weighbridge etc could be used in a 1947 setting. Although the trackplan for "The sidings" comes from Gloucester, I think the buildings could be lifted from elsewhere. I have in mind also a stable block in the background, adapted to house motor lorries rather than horses... Ah yes, those boxes in the photo might well be empties. I wonder what would have happened if there was a storm! Aha, this sounds interesting. Will you be doing a superdetailed cross-section of a diesel next? :-)

I suppose Farthing has grown a wee bit since I began ;-) And I admit the bay platform and very attendant station master might give the wrong impression! Let's just say it was like Newbury in 1907 - but had grown somewhat by 1947. Anyway, I wonder if the odd sheeted thing is a pile of boxes full of... biscuits?