TravisM

I heard today that DRS might be wanting to trial a Class 93 as they are possibly looking to becoming an all Vossloh/Stadler fleet. The guy I spoke to genuinely seemed to know what he was talking about as DRS are wanting to have a single ‘common’ fleet, but you know what the jungle drums are like, so let’s wait and see

I thought I'd ask, mainly on behalf of @class26, I'm sure I've seen a picture on Flickr of the Green & Cream tourist set on the far north line, as far as Wick. I know they were mainly used on the Kyle line but did they go up to Wick/Thurso only when there was possibly an equipment failure of the booked set, so it was a quick swop to make sure the service ran?

As I'm building a highly compressed version of Sellafield railway system set between 2017 and 2020 and I was wondering when BNFL started withdrawing their FNA nuclear flask wagons, as per the Bachmann model and which went first, the flat floored or the sloped ended versions? I already have several of the later numbered sloped ended vehicles but I'd like to get a few earlier flat floored examples if they still existed. I know they were slowly withdrawn as the new FNA-D's started to arrive but did the older flat floored versions go first, or was it a case of when a individual FNA was due for a exam, it went? It would be really helpful if anyone has the individual withdrawal dates so I can work out my fleet.

I just want to congratulate @TEAMYAKIMA over their awesome layout, far, far better than I expected and pleased to see the large crowds around it. I especially enjoyed the animation of Paul jumping out of a taxi to take a photograph. I've included a few photographs of the layout.

I pretty much thought that, costs as well as being certified to run on NR rails make travelling by road a no brainer. Nice to have seen them being dragged up behind a DRS Class 37 though 😜

I do have a ulterior motive lol, I might pick your brains or ask you for pictures of some of the details you've done as RMWeb seem to have lost quite a number of your earlier pictures.

As I've ordered Class 18/CBD 18 BNFL 1 from Rails, seriously tempted to order number 2 as well for my Sellafield layout, I was wondering if anyone knows if these two came in via road from Clayton's or were they dragged in? I'm pretty sure they came in by road but it would be nice on a future layout have one behind a Class 37 or 68.

Yup, you spotted my deliberate mistake 😂. I also think it would make a interesting model but probably highly unlikely to be ever produced.

With the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the XP64 set, it would be nice if that was produced and I believe that individual coaches had quite long service lives.

I gave in and bought a set of Accurascale KUA's, which I got at a reasonable price. They would be a great addition to the fleet and even though I thought they would be too big, they seem to fit in nicely. Also, given the size of the buildings, even they would look small against them.

Just found this thread and reading with interest as it’s got very useful content for my Sellafield layout. Definitely following this for inspiration, keep up the good work

I've ordered to two extensions from Tim Horn and they should be with me early next month. I'm making a start on the fuel handling and processing buildings using foamboard, and as they real buildings dominate the railway, do you think I should leave foamboard at the height shown or cut them down a little? Because I'm 'guestimating' the size of the buildings using the pictures I have, I'd welcome any sensible suggestions.

I went out today to my local art/stationary shop and bought 4 sheets of foam board, which I'm pleased to say didn't cost me as much and I was given a load of advice about sticking plastic sheet to it (she drummed into me PVA, PVA and more PVA 😄). As her father used to build structures for his model railway, she suggested that I use wooden batons at the base and tops to keep everything straight, as foamboard has a tendency to warp if left to it's own devises. My question now is, as the fuel handling and processing buildings on site absolutely dominate the railway, do you think I should keep the sheets as they are, or maybe cut them down a little. Obviously, given the sensitive nature and probably the official secrets act, BNFL are highly unlikely to give me dimensions of the buildings even for a innocent project like this, so I'm having to 'guestimate' using the few photographs I have.

Awesome project and can't wait to see the end result. There's just one thing I'd like to critique and that's the pantographs, I think you have to many. On the cab or 'A' units, I think you would have probably just the one and the middle or 'B' unit, it would most likely be fed from a bus bar from both the 'A' units, and therefore a pantograph would be redundant. I know this is all fictional, but a real railway would be looking to keep maintenance costs down, so four extra pantographs would probably be seen as a unnecessary expense. Just my thought's, but keep up the great work.

I have a Britannia Pacific, Overhead Line Equipment 975091 'Mentor' which I'm very happy about, but unfortunately they used a Replica Railways Mk1 coach as the chassis and though bogies (BR B4's) are correct, they have those awful large 'Triang' style couplers. The bogies themselves are easy to remove, but I was wondering if anyone can recommend suitable replacements without a lot of surgery as I'd like to fit those with NEM pockets, so I can fit either Hunt or Kadee couplings.

It was hardly a scam and I think there were very good intentions to build the Class 22, but as documented elsewhere, ill heath (I believe the 'Big C') overtook the owner. I believe he tried to sell the company as a going concern, but there were no takers. As a previous cancer sufferer, I can assure you, the last thing on your mind is trying to sort out business dealings when your potentially fighting for your life, so those with the barbed comments, put yourself in their shoes and see how well you do.

I think I'll make the trip and attend, probably Sunday. Be nice to meet up with @TEAMYAKIMA again and chat with @Modelrailwayquest

Thanks for the heads up but without sounding dense (not that difficult), build the carcass and then stick the plasticard brick and steel cladding sheets to the foamboard with PVA?

I've managed to order 37422 from Great Eastern Models in Norwich, and I will slightly backdate mine by removing the nameplate and small BR logo, so it fits in with my 2017-18 Cumbrian Coast layout

I have 37116 on order and I wish I had ordered 37422 at the same time for my Cumbrian Coast layout.

Being unable to find a suitable 'realistic' dockside crane without either overwhelming the layout or prohibitively expensive, made me decide to abandon the docks layout and base it at Sellafield on the Cumbrian coast.

I'm finally going to attempt to scratch build some buildings for my Sellafield layout, which absolutely dominate the area, especially the fuel processing plant and need some tips on building these mammoth's. It has been suggested that I use 'foamboard' for the carcasses as it comes in large sheets and relatively cheap. Does anyone know anything about this product as I've never heard of it before and where I can buy it? I've attached several pictures of mock ups that I've done using cereal packets but look 'too' small, they need to be much, much bigger. I had planned on using thick plasticard for the carcass and then laminate using plasticard brick and steel sheeting for the outside walls, but I was told that's a expensive way of doing it and use foamboard for the main structure as it was stronger, lighter and cheaper the plasticard. Any suggestions would be very helpful. After looking at the few pictures I have of the site, the main building need to reach close to the top of the back scene

This might be of some help; https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ Then click on identification of trees

We’ve spoken before regarding my Cumbrian Coast layout and I’m following your Greenford project. As my Cumbrian layout is probably at least 2 years away, hence building the Sellafield layout as a stop gap, which could possibly be exhibited. I hope your project is going well

I've decided to order 1ftx30ins extensions to each end to give me a total length of the layout as 8ft, and going by @Chris116 suggestion, I've started using cereal boxes to create mock ups of the fuel handling plant, and eventually the two processing buildings. As Ben Jones of Rail magazine and Heljan fame did a recent article on the BNFL CBD18/Class 18's at Sellafield, hopefully I can collar him at DEMU and ask him if he would consider sending me any other useful photographs of the rail system used within the site. I'm also seriously considering making the buildings the full height of the backscene because having read Ben's article, and seen the few pictures, the buildings seem to tower over the railway. I've also decided to put the track back at the front of the layout, as a scenic part of the Cumbrian Coast line and include a security fence between it and the Sellafield site.