tomparryharry

Slightly off-topic, but the good old 16 ton mineral wagon kit is still going strong. There are quite a lot still available via e-bah-gum, and as an alternative to the pricier Baccy model, a good bet. They can be worked up accurately, especially if you use things like the Gibson wheels, and Romford top-hat bearings. Some of the stock is quite old, going back from kitmaster to Dapol in the present day. If I had one very minor critism, (no, observation) would change the headstock slot from horizontal, to vertical. That allows you to use a proper 3-link coupling, such as the Brassmasters etch. Still a good quality model pricewise as well. I'd guess that if Dapol made a ventilated van kit, it would be a sure-fire winner. The water tank can be well bashed to make a typical structure. The tank itself is the normal conventional size & shape, with only the uprights scratch built to suit the location. I'd love to chop about the turntable, but I haven't had the heart to open the packet first. Cheers, Ian.

Aaah! So you're the cardboard hoarder! Return that cardboard at once, reclaim your 5p! In all seriousness... Your complaining about 2-6 pence/per on a cost of £175-ish retail. With information like that, I'll wind up my business forthwith. It's clear you've seen all of my overheads. Brand identification is a key marketing ploy, and it's worth millions of pounds every minute, every day. Mars, Nestle, coke, Walkers to name but a few. If you buy it in a brown cardboard box, people will think you're buying a mucky video.... Cheers, Ian.

Ooops! Too far! Never mind, passport to:- PLIMLICO

Youtube is your friend. I'm currently muddling through a rake of 12 & 16 tonners. The tutorials are first rate. Get yourself a cup of tea/coffee/whatever, and spend an very instructive and constructive hour or 4. Cheers, Ian.

I understand your point, but I respectfully suggest a slightly differing view. Sure, Bachmann & Hornby have done to death on a wide range of things, but I'd put money on Hornby having a much larger & varied back catalogue, with a corresponding scope of product to upgrade. Bachmann have long been assumed to be 'the only game in town', and to a certain degree, rested upon their laurels (in truth, rested upon your wallets). If Hornby are prepared to turn out high quality product, on a continuing rolling basis, then the future for modellers is very bright indeed. Quality will sell, the demographic of the hobby makes it so. Price is largely immaterial. When things go wrong, is when the price is high, but the expectations fall short. Get it right, and we're all happy. Get it wrong, and well, you know the rest. Even worse is the lot of the poor Great Western producer. Get a rivet out by a scale 1/32", and your life is hell. You might as well move to foreign lands, somewhere like Doncaster or Darlington..... Cheers, Ian.

IMHO, I'd suggest Hornby would accrue much kudos if they would care to refine their product range. As we know, technology is a fickle thing for a lot of us, but we do know that fidelity does work, and work well. Hornby has a significant back catalogue just dying to be updated, and we know that Hornby can do things like that. Announcing anything from the old catalogue, but updating to say, a 'Platinum Range', would re-enthuse a lot of long time modellers, and reinforce the idea of Hornby making some good quality product. After all, if Airfix models can be dusted down for the 21st century, why not an updated & refined Triang-Hornby? Cheers, Ian.

I've gone down the Mainline-Lima Route, without regrets. I'd guess either the Bachmann or Mainline route is ok, and reasonably cost effective as well. Had Bachmann released the 94xx when they originally intended, my guess that they (Bachmann) would have had a successful model on their hands. Time and a slightly changing market demographic may not exactly help Bachmann this time. The question might be this: Are/is there a surfeit of 64xx panniers about? Are/is there a goodly amount of 57-96xx panniers on the new to secondhand market? You can pick up a pretty good & boxed pannier from about £40, which is where Bachmann are entering. Little wonder that you can get 2 current models for the exiting prospect on one brand new 94xx. I'm sure the new model will sell, and sell well, but is it that much more of a model, given the extra cost? Some might, some not. My gut feeling here is that Bachmann will be sitting on their hands with this for another couple of years just yet. Existing stocks, plus the extra cost will decide their hands. The paying public will need to get comfortable with the £140 locomotive, which I'm fairly sure is where the RRP is going. Anyhow, Bachmann seem quite happy producing wagons, where the real money is to be made. If you're selling wagons with a strictly enforced RRP of £17-20, and a gate price of about £3-8... Wouldn't you? Cheers, Ian

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Amazing, blessed amazing. This week I uncovered my Nu-Cast 2021 pannier kits...

There's a real size roundy-roundy on Jersey. Dom Pallots steam museum? I had a trip on it about 20-odd years ago.... Painful noises....

They're not closed, just resting....

Sorry! I've got on the wrong train. I've been to Bristol Temple Meads! Never mind, with a return ticket, and vivid imagination we're at:- MOORGATE At least, I think we are. Time for a cuppa.

Depending on your (more exact) era, you could use a 8750 pannier. Waterloo used them almost to the end. Of course, you could use an Ivatt prairie tank, either the BR(m) version, or the BR 84xxx version. The pannier is a good starting block: Relatively cheap, good performance, and it will fit most locations down to the west. As an aside, you might consider a military railway, such as Longmoor-Bordon. Austerities and other wondrous things to behold. Of course, if you find Rule 1 in your book, the world is your oyster.... Happy modelling! Ian. Edited because I didn't proof read my post before posting it... One day, I swear I'll get it right.

That sends me off to:- Goldhawk Road

That should allow Hornby enough funds to re-tool the Triang clerestories.... and a nice update on the 27xx pannier....

Each of us will have their own particular reason/want of a layout design. I don't mind if the emphasis is on the BLT, as your track will have to stop somewhere. I personally favour the 'roundy-roundy', because that's what I prefer. That said, the bigger the layout, the bigger the operating scope. You start to get towards the 'social layout', where a train service can only be run when you've got a group of friends over. I can just sit back and watch a rake of wagons trundling past on a 56xx tank. Watching a loose coupled train 'take up' is something I can never tire of. Boredom? No, not really. At least it keeps me off the streets. "Oooh look, another pannier..." Cheers, Ian.

Aaah! That might be the one. I'll need to have a return look. Cheers.

Oooh, I do like that. Conveys all of the mass very nicely. Just needs 40-odd iron ore hoppers to drag it around.

I think Cwm Llantwit got dieselised quite early on. I used to walk up past Tynant landsale yard in the late 60's. The calorific content varies enormously from seam to seam, and district to district, never mind coal mines. Maritime Colliery retained a big laboratory office long after Maritime closed in the early seventies, just to test South Wales coal.

We need to ask Andy York to put a 'jealous' button on the forum. 30-40 foot of double track gets the old brain cells working....

Taff Vale Railway, on the section Llantwit Fardre to Common Branch Junction. There is/was a railmotor platform at Beddau Halt. It was double track width, and still exists today. The single track road passes underneath, and the steel portion of the bridge remains extant. Singled in the 1920s, I believe. The main line was single, with the refuge/mileage siding on the Beddau side (north west). The bridge itself formed the railway boundaries between Llantrisant & Pontypridd. There was a demarcation board affixed to the bridge well into the late 1970's. Cheers, Ian.

Some of the really good exhibition layouts have been oval, or a sort of ovoid. I'm remembered a really good 3mm layout. Damned if I can remember the name though. It just looked 'right'. One of the drawbacks of a really straight run, is that you've got to turn the corner sometimes! With an oval, at least you're about halfway there. Mind you, I'm a sucker for a long straight. My big pipe dream is a long straight, about 50-odd feet long, so you can get an entire train 'in section. Even better, double track, so you get one going the other way. All I need to do is to knock next doors' house down. That will get me off the Xmas card list..... Cheers, Ian.

Well, obviously!

I once had this on a 'new van. "Where's the rear foglight?" I spent hours... "Where's the blasted switch?" Finally, I gave up. I fitted a new foglamp, and proceeded to wire it in. Just at the point of the dashboard, a friend showed up, to see how I was getting on. On hearing my plight, my friend said "What, that one there?" It was placed directly on the lightswitch stalk, in plain view.... Ho Hum Ian.

Barcodes have removed this contentious issue from the process nowadays. Even price ticket labels can be replaced with these as a stick-on addition, as we know. However.. our old watchword is caveat Emptor; let the buyer beware. It's your wallet, and if you don't like it, keep it closed. Retail has largely moved on from the crisp 10/- note prised from your grubby little hand, now its 'bing' with a bit of plastic.... That said, I wonder who knows what 10/- is, and when was the last time you used it? I'm still digging out 16 ton mineral wagons from 50+ years ago, when Granny was a boy..... Back in those days, you could catch the Brighton Belle, lunch at the Grand, catch a show, and get home for a penny three farthings. Those were the days..... Cheers, Ian. Finally, on some of the prices expected for some questionable 'goods' on e-bay, I would expect the items to be delivered in a Rolls-Royce, with a chauffeur, and 2 liveried flunkies riding to attention....