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Further to my earlier post, below are some pics of the conversion I have done for the Lima chassis as well as the shattered chassis block: Raw materials: Hornby bits required: Shattered block. This happened removing the motor: Modified Lima chassis Motor bogie mount Complete chassis Test run It is about 3 hours work tops.

I did the same mods as Clive (albeit in a Lima rather than Hornby shell) which has been fine for a few years but the block is still breaking up and eventually I will redo it by putting the mechanism in a Lima chassis. My latest 31 uses the Hornby motor bogies in a Lima shell. When I removed the motor from the Hornby mazac block it literally shattered! The only long term solution is to buy a non affected chassis or put the motor in a Lima chassis.

The last 2 days both the class 800s I have been on have been Diesel powered all the way to/from Pad, just been passed by another one also on diesel power between Reading and Didcot. Is there a problem with the GWR 800s on electric as have seen 387s so presume not infrastructure problem?

Looks a great model although out of my era. It maybe too late to correct but just in case, the size of the headlight and taillight in the light clusters seem out of proportion with each other, the headlight appears too big and tail light too small?

Thanks Mark to save derailing this thread, do you have any photos/thread etc? I have just scratchbuilt a 40' Skelly

Nice model, is the trailer scratchbuild?

I have managed to sell both past layouts for more than the cost of materials, some of the reasons that I think contributed were; - They had been featured in a number of magazine articles - They had been on the exhibition circuit so were known, I did the deal to sell Peafore Yard at an exhibition. _They were equally suited to home and exhibition use. - They were less than 8ft long so could fit in a spare room. - They were both a commercial gauge (00) rather than a more niche gauge. Size wise, smaller layouts command a higher price per length. Of the layouts I have sold, they sold between £500 and £1000 without stock. Offering to deliver is another useful negotiating tool, I delivered one to Manchester (from Bath) but combined with a business trip so 0 cost to me.

Looks good Richard, good luck with the build.

Body yes, Chassis no. Southdown bought Volvo citybus chassis which are higher as they are mid engineed, the model is of the rear engine ex Leyland Olympian chassis.

I agree, even allowing for the predominance of Lima locos, it looks great value...

I found out I needed to reinforce the joins, I broke one of the joins on mine during painting so ended up repairing then reinforcing the joins.

Think of all the spin off projects you can make with the bits Phil!. I used 2 BSK's to make 1 BSO, then used some of the remains to make the first 20% of a coach for part of the backscene on Peafore Yard, while I am now making a Steam Heating van with the spare brake coach offcuts...

Hi Phil, Not done a BFK but as you know I have done a BSO, some tips which maybe useful; -Start with donor carriages in the correct colour for your end model, the window bars are a pain to repaint -Use a Mitre block to get the joins straight, it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. - Be prepared for Hornby or Bachmann to announce a BFK 6 months after you finish your model. Good luck!!

Our house was built in the late 60s and while there is a toilet upstairs in the bathroom, the downstairs toilet required you to go outside as it was behind the garage but not joined to the house. Most of the houses have been extended so the toilet is now part of the house, but a friend's house is still original, our kids are amazed by the idea!

Your last plan is very similar to Pallet Lane which was great fun to operate and should keep you entertained for hours!

That looks good value and much easier to work witg compared to the Faller system. Only question for me is how realistic is the speed?

Same for me, I am up in London tomorrow so will keep an ear out...

Sounds a great concept, good luck with the build.

Good luck with your new job Jim. As somebody who managed (lorry) drivers once I always used to shake hands with the drivers who left for a new job and wish them well, irrespective of if I got on with them or not, it was common decent manners that seems to be missing in so many junior managers these days. The world is quite small and you never know when your paths may cross again.

I am a cassettes fan and used them as you described on Peafore Yard with no problem(link in my signature). The cassettes I made were really simple but reliable, I secured flexi track to plywood base and soldered rail joiners to the ends of the cassettes. I was nicknamed the wood butcher more than once so that tells you all you need to know about my carpentry skills.....

My stock ratio is driven purely by the layout needs. My current layout is based on a carriage siding but only one end of the siding is modelled, the longest siding being only long enough for 3 coaches, the shortest is only long enough for 1. For a full length representation I would have to buy upwards of 100 coaches but I have only 25 which is more than enough and also means I benefited from the over supply of MK2 brake coaches.

Thanks, the MK gritter is based on the Airfix army truck kit. Although not visible it is on it's delivery run so has trade plates on it, one of those things you never see modelled!

Thanks Jo, Yes been a while, I think the last show I did was Calne in January. The trailer was a nice project, I may do a few more Skellys in time, I did think the track plan I have for Parsons Vale would make a great Freightliner terminal as well.

At the time 20'traffic was a lot more prevalent, in the mid 90s I reckon the split was 50/50 so you could get away with loading a 20' trailer, sending it to Felixstowe and getting a 20' box back. Now the split is 80/20 in favour of 40's. We did have a couple of 40' trailers with a flat bed area between the middle and rear pins so you could unload a 20' from the middle but they were rarely used as by then a number of customers were refusing to use them on health and safety grounds

First off an apology to those who may have read some of the below on my layout thread but thought this might be of interest to a wider audience, especially with the Bachmann container flats on the way: My first “real” job was working for a container haulier back in the mid 90’s at the time we operated about 30 tractor units and 80 container trailers of different types. My current layout is set around the corner from where I worked albeit set in the late 1970’s so it was only natural that I wanted to model one of our lorries and found this picture of one of our units Many years before I had built a model of one of the Seddon Atkinson tractor units from a Langley kit and although there were some minor differences I was happy to overlook them (for now at least). The trailer however is a slightly different matter and basically required building from scratch… It is worth giving a quick intro into the different types of container trailers at this point (or “skelly’s” as we called them), as there are a number of types: Combi trailers: For reference the Combi trailers are a trailer that are common now but seemed to appear from nowhere around 2008, the advantage being 2 x 20’ lightweight containers can be carried on the same trailer and then unloaded at the same time at the same or nearby place. Historically the 2 containers would have had to go to a local yard and be lifted onto separate trailers. https://www.flickr.com/photos/36618304@N05/9441562897/in/photolist-o8R4h4-ooiSiQ-oq4rVn-o8R7cm-oq4rH8-os6w5F-oq4qKX-o8FGCN-opUbCr-o7m1vs-nqa2bt-daqC1v-bkYQSr-aazsge-Q3b2r-nVKbcs-nCY5f7-g57urh-fGsHmz-fojtHc-fojnkx-eoRnKz-ekX35Z-ekWp6L-dyr6av-canvCL-bygBAm-bBosfZ-bcM1rP-bcLSvk-aazrMB-a4hcYk-9Yx5gq-9fAL51-9fAKS1-7Wdn6D-7WdmED-7W5Fy4-7mXUzH-7m7mkn-6uiRJA-6sB2is-6sAZBG-64Hidh-63U68i-63U67D-63YjLQ-63YjJE-63U62R-tUVTj https://www.flickr.com/photos/36618304@N05/9441541457/in/photolist-o8R4h4-ooiSiQ-oq4rVn-o8R7cm-oq4rH8-os6w5F-oq4qKX-o8FGCN-opUbCr-o7m1vs-nqa2bt-daqC1v-bkYQSr-aazsge-Q3b2r-nVKbcs-nCY5f7-g57urh-fGsHmz-fojtHc-fojnkx-eoRnKz-ekX35Z-ekWp6L-dyr6av-canvCL-bygBAm-bBosfZ-bcM1rP-bcLSvk-aazrMB-a4hcYk-9Yx5gq-9fAL51-9fAKS1-7Wdn6D-7WdmED-7W5Fy4-7mXUzH-7m7mkn-6uiRJA-6sB2is-6sAZBG-64Hidh-63U68i-63U67D-63YjLQ-63YjJE-63U62R-tUVTj Sliding trailers; Because of weight distribution a fully laden 20’ container cannot be put at the back of a 40’ trailer. You will therefore see 20’ containers in the middle of 40’ trailers to spread the weight but with a fixed length trailer, you needed to take the container off the trailer at a local yard and put it on a 20’ trailer for final delivery. The sliding trailer avoids this as the rear part of the chassis slides forward to allow access to the rear. This type of trailer came into being around the mid to late 80’s and are still widely used and now the most commonplace type of trailer https://www.flickr.com/photos/134227013@N08/25745620624/in/pool-1732997@N21/ Fixed length Skeletal trailers, 20’, 30’ and 40’: When containers transport started, most hauliers used flat bed general trailers with twistlocks fitted but this restricted the weight that could be carried. The skeletal trailer was a simple chassis design without the bed and thus saved weight and also height, the 20’ trailers were in reality 26’ long for weight distribution. The 40’ trailers often (but not always) had 12 sets of twistlocks, so they can carry either 2 x 20" boxes, 1 x 40" or a single 20" box in the middle. This type of trailer became more prevalent from the late 60’s and the 20/40 version were common place until the mid 2000’s but are now virtually extinct. 30’ trailers were a minority in the wider picture but are still used for the bulk 30’ container tanks and most are tipping versions. If you are modelling a modern day scene then Oxford Diecast do a combi trailer while Corgi did a 40’ triaxle “sliding” trailer. My problem came as there were way too new for my layout while the older style trailers from Corgi, EFE, Oxford etc are flat beds and many are too short. By the late 70's most of the trailers on our fleet were skeletal trialers (i.e. just a chassis without a floor) and were either 20" or 40" versions of which there is no rtr version so scratch building was required. I was initially tempted to make a 20" trailer but based on the photos I found from the time I decided to go for a 40" trailer but with a 20" box so I can model some of the chassis detail. The 20" box is fitted on the middle set of twistlocks, the trailer being fitted with 12 in total I purchased an RTI 40" trailer chassis in the hope the bed and chassis would be separate but this proved not to be the case so in the end used the wheels, axles and suspension block with the rest of the trailer being scratch built from H beam and box sections. First off the chassis rails were secured to the suspension: Then the cross members were added for the 12 twistlocks as well as the landing legs to support the trailer when not connected to a Tractor unit. I bought a container from C-Rail to allow me to size the crossmember locations.The RTI legs are not great so I cut the wheels of the bottom and made my own legs. I decided to add a fair bit of detail as it is likely I will keep this trailer and unit for prosperity when the layout gets sold at some point in the future. The rear section came from an old knightwing kit and is broadly accurate. I added a winding handle for the legs as well as the handles for the twistlocks from brass wire: Final job was some mud guards prior to primer and painting, the wheels are only loosely in place as they will be fitted after painting. Fully painted, I tested it on the layout. The trucks were kept very clean but the boxes were often quickly the opposite and as they got older had reasonable panel damage, being bashed while stacked at ports etc. The container is weathered to represent a used but not heavily damage box as I was nervous about my ability to create the damage effective. James Makin has done an excellent job on a Genstar box on his workbench thread which is worth a look.