5050

Here's a shot of my 4mm scale model of the Overton/Bangor/Marchwiel style station buildings - made in 1972 for my 'Preesgwyn' layout. Virtually all in card and paper including valances and ridge tiles (no etchings then!). The chimney is (safely?) stored in a box somewhere. I used a set of drawings published in Model Railway Constructor by Mike Lloyd, Harry Leadbetter etc. to build it but had to omit one set of windows to fit my site. I still think it's an OK model and would use it again should I decide to build yet another Glyn valley layout - but with replacement valance and ridge tiles. My modelling skills possibly haven't improved over the years. The goods shed is a slightly later model, dimensions were taken from photos taken at Bangor-on-Dee late 70's/early 80's with Mrs 5050 acting as a height guide, bless her. it's never actually been used on a layout as yet - but you never know for the future. This is planked and corrugated plasticard, I had moved on by then. Oh, and if you've got a sense of deja vu, I originally posted a version of this in the wrong thread. 'Silly me' or words to that effect.................................

Oh dear YES!! It was PGH's thread I meant to put them in This is what happens when you rush full of enthusiasm. Must be an age thing.............................. I'll post there as well. Just view this as a little (totally unconnected!) bonus.

EDIT - WRONG THREAD!!!!!!!!!!! Should be in PGH's. Oh dear.................

Good job I don't waste my money on things only suitable to wrap fish and chips in...................................

We came back from honeymoon on IoW on one of these. My new wife wasn't feeling to good and the sea was very 'choppy' so we took the 'quicker alternative'. Needless to say she was feeling even worse when we got off! The effect that her green face had on the waiting queue is unforgettable Your photos are excellent, can't believe I've only just found this thread. The Leeds etc. ones from the 60's are before my time up here, dating from when Yorkshire and beyond was still a foreign land and the M62 was unthought of. To get to Yorkshire from North Wales by road meant blankets, flasks, sandwiches - and a strong bladder!

Super set of shots in my old stamping ground. I forever kick myself that I didn't go on that last train. Some of my mates did - do you have any shots of the platform etc. before the train departed? They may be on them. I used the line's wooden station building design as a basis for the station building on my original 'Preesgwyn' layout - and I still have it 40+ years later. I based it on drawings in the Model Railway Constructor by Mike Lloyd, Harry Leadbetter etc. I also have a model of the goods shed which was made for a projected layout of a twig off the branch which (as yet?) never got built. Love to see the rest of your photos!

Thanks for the favo(u)rable comments. It won 'Best Railway Structure' award at Wakefield over the weekend. I've now got a pewter tankard to keep clean for the next 12 months. The inside and around the rim might not be a problem though...................... Regarding the 'win', I might actually have been the only entry................................... Someone commented at the show that it is smaller than they thought it was I've had comments like that before but not necessarily about signal towers. Perhaps it was the 'Father Ted' effect? 'Near.' 'Far away'

Latest bulletin! I have completed my model based on MY Tower at Ridgeley using photos from books and the web as my guide. It is not an exact model as its intended site is a bit smaller than the real one but I think it achieves the character of the original. The real MY Tower was finished (I think) in 'Insulbrick' siding in an imitation brick pattern. From what I've been able to deduce from photos this was manufactured in 5 brick x 5 brick sheets with a definite 'pattern' of the darker contrasting 'bricks'. These small sheets were also staggered to avoid adjoining verticals so there is a random but regular arrangement of them which I've tried to duplicate. I used brick plasticard mounted on thick card painted with a base colour and the darker bricks individually added once it had fully dried. I found I could only do about half a wall at a time or I got cross-eyed! Here's some photos of the real thing. You can see whether or not I've managed to capture the character of the building - http://www.wmwestsub.com/marylandjct.htm I'm not sure what the 'edifice' is on the front of the box. Could it have been an exhaust flue for a heating system? There is also a conventional chimney but perhaps the use of this was discontinued when the oil tank at the rear (for a new oil heating system?) was installed. The tank will be added once the building is in place on the layout. The steps are Central Valley, slightly different to the real ones but so much easier to use than scratchbuild! Roof is Wills slate sheet. Everything else (lamps, handrails, chimney, doors, flue etc.) was scratchbuilt mainly from styrene sheet, wire, pins, etc. The real location was in the angle of a wye opposite the entrance to Knobbly Tunnel. Mine is similar but if I have it facing the tunnel all the detail on the front and side will be lost. It will therefore probably be sited facing the overbridge across the entrance to Gordon yard which is how I've positioned it in the photos. This corner of the layout has not yet been scenicked pending the construction of the extension which will incorporate the other 2 sides of the wye. I did include the appropriate points for this when tracklaying. The model will be on show at Wakefield Exhibition this coming weekend.

Yes Jack, I know, I've seen them there. But - even though Hattons may be advertising them - are they actually in the shops? I'll try and find out this coming weekend at the WAKEFIELD EXHIBITION. Shameless plug. Hope Jamie sees it...............................

I asked around at Warley show yesterday about the Oxford US cars but nobody seemed to have any. Some didn't even know about them and another said they haven't been released yet. Have they?

I always liked all the various incarnations of the 'Ashdown and Midport' layouts from the original straight line terminus through the circular versions which included an EM one I think?

The late lamented Chris Matthewman had a beautiful K's Garrett on his various 'Striving' layouts and in EM. It's still running in the hands of the new owners. Another late clubmate had one in OO put together with Evostick. It ran. Sort of. My only succesful K's kit was the ubiquitous 0-4-2 14xx (or is it a 58xx? No top feed on mine). The original K's chassis with the keyhole axle slots was soon dispensed with along with the K's wheels to be replaced by Romfords. The motor became a DS10 with Romford gears. It was also my first compensated chassis with the trailing wheels incorporated in the chassis rather than in a separate pony truck. It became my first loco to be rebuilt to P4 by the expedient of putting spacers between the new Sharman wheels and the frames. In theory, it's still a runner but my P4 stock doesn't get many airings these days. I have also owned a 28xx which I soon realised was a waste of time as there was absolutely no side play in the drivers so would only go in a straight line even with flangeless centre drivers and a 43xx which I'm sure I must still have somewhere in bits. I've also got one side of a Coral wagon and 2 sides of a GWR tender, none of which have ever been built. Where did they come from? Absolutely no idea!

Thanks, that explains a lot. I hadn't noticed that the address was the same either. I thought they might have been some local accountants/solicitors winding the company up.

Thanks for that, the Chevy truck looks useful. I've also checked Oxford and the Plymouth looks like a possibility. EDIT - just realised it's a Mercury, doh!

I know I was!

At Harrogate MANY years ago I was helping operate a Midland layout when a spectator took a great interest in a Midland Horsebox parked in a siding. His praise was effusive for how good it was. He then asked if it was scratchbuilt. I replied (honestly) that it was Jidenco. Spectator gasped, pulled an anguished face and walked off in disgust.

Hopefully these will fill some gaps in my parking lots. I need typical 30's - 50's 'average' cars in muted colo(u)rs that would suit a coal mining area where cash etc. would be in relatively short supply. Any suggestions? I somehow think that a T-Bird wouldn't be a regular sight. And 4 wheel small(ish) trucks for local coal landsale deliveries? Who actually stocks Mini-Metals etc. in the UK? I've looked on several websites but not a lot on offer, if at all.

Here's the advert by Hutchinson Roe selling off 'all remaining stock' of GF. Makes yer wanna weep dunnit! HR don't appear on a Google search so who were they? Oh, BTW, my MN body is actually 'Port Line' now I've looked at it a bit closer. No numbers on the cab side though. Perhaps it came from this source!

Thanks for the photos of the complete locos. I can see instantly that the King drivers are completely different to mine. The 'real' ones have a screw head fixing. Have you ever removed one? I am wondering how they actually locate on the axle. Perhaps on a 'D' shape like the ill-fated 'K's ones? The MN ones though look more like the usual push fit. The name crest on the MN looks to have 'slipped' compared to mine. I was chatting to a guy at Hull Show yesterday who said he has a Prairie and a MN - but he's not sure if they still have the original motors. I asked if he could bring them along to Wakefield Exhibition at the end of this month. As the original motors were nominally 2-pole with a sort of 'trembler' mechanism for the brushes, he reckoned they needed a push to get going.

Ah, well, there you go then. Thanks for putting me right. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Sometimes.

I had a blue King body at one time, in my 'early' adult modelling days (early 70's) when I was full of great ideas about building an extensive GWR network. I soon realised the shortcomings of the body (straight sided firebox for one!) and it got 'passed on' via our exhibition sales stand. It didn't have any fittings on it, not even the chimney copper cap so I reckon it might have been one of the 'factory disposals' that happened around 1957/58 via a company called Hutchinson Roe of Bromley. I'll find an advert in a period magazine (they advertised in MRN and RM I think) and scan it. They had all sorts of GF stuff on offer including the figures. Who were Hutchinson Roe? The MN tender body has the very early BR unicycling lion facing the front on both sides. This was discontinued by BR quite quickly I think due to pressure from the College of Heraldry (??) who said lions should always face to the sinister.

The wheels are Hamblings. I must admit that I hadn't considered this at first - but now it seems quite obvious! Now I have taken the body from the chassis I've found that the previous owner has fitted wire pickups that bear against the tops of the front and rear drivers. It is also become clear that 3 hands are required to ensure that the cylinders and slide bars do not become detached from each other - and 4 hands are needed to put them back together! The cylinders (a one piece moulding) merely rest in a recess in the main chassis casting and the slide bars 'fit' into 'slots' either side of the piston rod hole.

Look what I acquired down the clubrooms last night. They were some left-overs from the estate of one of our late members who passed away several years ago. His wife has been having a sort-out of odd items she doesn't want to keep any more - so I've got 'em now. The King sadly doesn't have a tender. It probably ended up behind another of his extensive GWR loco fleet. It also is short of one steam pipe and I think the chassis has been adapted to fit a 'normal' style motor. However, the pinion wheel and gears are still there. I must say that I am very pleasantly surprised at how fine the driving wheels are. The flanges are quite small and the tyre overall is narrow, at least comparable to EM fine standards I would say. There is no crosshead, the small end of the con-rod merely runs between the slide bars. A bit of a fudge I suppose but probably not so noticeable once the loco is moving with an express train. There is also a moulded number plate 6000 and a representation of the bell and express code lights above the buffer beam. The nameplates have gone however. They probably ended up on his Wills King! The Merchant Navy body is 'Belgian Marine' and seems to be a good colour for early BR Blue. The proportions look good as well. I am surprised to find the tender is a plastic moulding, I always assumed that it too would be diecast. Was the King tender plastic as well or diecast?

In reading the 1950 volume of Model Railway News I came across this feature showing a NG chassis built by Cherry's for a customer. If I'm not mistaken it is for P D Hancock for his L&B loco 'Alistair'.

That's amazing!! And you've now got more??!! Did they send all the surplus GF stock to Oz? I do remember Jennings (I think) selling off bodies and spares in the late 50's.