plarailfan

I'm absolutely overjoyed by all this modernisation in my local area. It's like the 1960's modernisation plan all over again ! I wouldn't be surprised if, eventually, (20 years+) they need to start looking at re-opening the "Leeds new line" in some form, but that's another issue ! When is construction work expected to start on the new flyover at Heaton Lodge ?

Good luck and all the best with your new venture, Brian. What happened to Gary, that was previously running 247 ? I haven't seen him for a couple of years, or so. Have you taken over so that he can retire, or has he moved on to a new career path ?

Just waiting for a winning Euromillions lottery ticket to come my way and then I will buy Hornby. I would go back to Lima's marketing ploy - "pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap" concentrating mainly, but not entirely, on the "Railroad" brand and starter sets to appeal to the younger end of the market, also, some Tri-ang style, interactive sets such as the giraffe freight car gimmick. Maybe a girly pink livery 0-4-0 locomotive for the young ladies who, eventually go on to be train drivers, engineers etc, when they progress through university in later life.

I remember a class 120 DMU at Huddersfield around 1980-ish. I think it, or maybe even some, may have been on loan to Neville Hill for a while, as there's a photo on Flickr which shows how far and wide they could roam https://www.flickr.com/photos/54018467@N00/28019408465/in/faves-41294071@N02/

Oh, that's a pity. I was hoping the wires would be erected through "my" patch in Mirfield, around the end of 2016 or early 2017. Do you think it could be around 2020 when the wires go up ? I'm really hoping an 86 hauled railtour, or two, will soon be bowling along the route

When will TPE drivers start training on class 68 locomotives ? and will they run ECS Liverpool to York, or similar, to give the train crew, the "feel" of operating loco hauled stock. Will everything class 68 hauled show up on Realtime Trains, as "ZZ" (freight) ? I guess when the class 88's arrive and the complete route has been wired from Manchester to Colton Junction, that it will potentially mean, that the 68's may only be used on the route, for maybe 2-3 years ? It's great to see loco haulage making a comeback. I felt sad when BR got rid of all the "Peaks" and 47's back in the 1980's and replaced them with Sprinter units. Freight traffic has seen a revival between the Manchester area, across the pennines, to Ravensthorpe / LNW Junction. The 25's 40's and 56's slogging their guts out, are a thing of the past, but the modern day stuff gives out a more professional image, with everything usually smart and well presented, with not much visible in the way of exhaust emissions !

Does anyone recognise if this photo, shows the viaduct at Portwood, where it went into Teviot Dale station (I thought at first, that it might be the LNW, "Leeds New Line" at Holbeck, but now, having seen this thread, the square shaped factory chimney, suddenly looks familiar https://www.flickr.com/photos/37093581@N06/8502368503/

I worked at Huddersfield station during 1979 - 1985. I worked various day and night shifts during my time there and saw quite a variety of interesting Trans-Pennine workings. I posted a few (daytime) pics on Flickr which some of you, might find quite interesting. Deltic https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/3815838992/in/photolist Class 31 https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/5430826898 Scotrail "47" https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/5595545225/in/photolist-9wsCDF-9ws6HF-9bjxej-xVodn9 47 373 https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/3871452855

On a practical note, the folks at Shackerstone would do well to have the asbestos removed and once that's been done, they could allow preservationists to come over and buy the bits that can be re-used, finally, what's left over could be cut up on the spot for scrap. Back of a matchbox guesstimate - how much could / might it cost to have the asbestos stripped out ? Could you be talking £2-3K for example - anyone like to speculate ? Could, or might, the sale of useable spares cover the cost of asbestos removal ? Could the asbestos be removed on site at Shackerstone ? Sorry for all the questions, I was thinking it would be nice to see a line drawn under this sad tale of events and I was wondering if some form, of low key, or small scale fundraising activity, might help bring the issue to a satisfactory conclusion, seeing as the lottery tickets I buy haven't come good (yet) !

I think the folks at Shackerstone are heartily sick of storing 45 015 and would, more than likely, let someone take it away for the princely sum of £1 but where could it go, other than a place that does asbestos removal and how much would the road haulage journey cost ? It would end up costing more to scrap the loco than what it is worth and I really feel sorry for the well intentioned people, that have had it in their care over recent years.

Not ebay, but here's a 1970's vintage, Tri-ang / Hornby 16 tonner, in a Lima HO scale box and the seller clearly doesn't realise, or hasn't checked what they are selling http://www.ehattons.com/106157/Lima_2822Lima_LN_Mineral_Wagon_in_BR_Grey_Pre_owned_Like_new/StockDetail.aspx

I haven't seen this post until now. I reckon these gears would sell quite well on ebay, as there will be quite a few folks who purchased and then, lovingly detailed, Lima 20's, back in the day when the only alternative was Wrenn / Dublo. Well done for your initiative !

It brings back a few happy memories for me, reading this thread ! I went a few times, to Clive Thompson's at Swindon. He had a garage adjoining his house and instead of keeping his car in there, he used the garage, as a mail order business / model shop. This was around 1990 and although the locomotives and stock ran remarkably well, the Berliner track joints were often, lacking in conductivity, so I soldered wire onto the rails but that didn't always help and so, I started using the 3mm society track (Peco HOm, wasn't around at that time) I used Bemo points, but then, I changed jobs and lost interest in modelling for a while and I sold all my TT to Marcway on Attercliffe Road, Sheffield. Marcway seemed quite enthusiastic - he often had varying amounts of s/h Berliner items in stock at that time. I still have a few of my old BTTB, track plan books and catalogues, They are rather quaint, with artists impressions, rather than being illustrated with photo's. Does anyone here, know if Clive is still doing anything, as regards 3mm and TT models these days, or, I guess he might have retired from the business that he had in Swindon ?

They have done the Peak, as 45 022 "Lytham St Annes" and like the original Palitoy / Mainline model, it has the buffers incorrectly fitted to the body.

There's very few of those vintage Tri-ang shorty coaches, that survive in good condition these days, although, now and again, you can find a few nice condition ones, on a collectors layout. In my view, some of the better ones should be "frozen in time" by being immersed and set, in clear resin to preserve them as museum pieces ! The appearance is very dated and I can't imagine future generations queuing up to buy them. They must rank as one of the least durable model railway items, ever produced anywhere in the world, although, at least the buffers have stood the test of time and can be re - used ! To hope for £29.99, on ebay, is never going to happen

Yes, I sold an item on ebay recently, on a Sunday afternoon and printed off the ebay / paypal postage label as soon as the winning bidder paid (almost immediately), but then, to my annoyance, discovered the system had marked the item as "dispatched" when clearly, this was impossible ! Now, I wait until Monday to print off the postage label when I am ready to go to the Post Office. Personally, I like to print off the postage label using the ebay system, as it leaves a useful and convenient "paper trail" to see my yearly postal costs, along with ebay fees.