ba14eagle Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 I have created a small subalbum in my photo gallery of the Swanage gala. Due to the poor weather on the day, I took very few photos and some very poor video footage, which will be uploaded to YouTube tomorrow. My apologies to those who want to see the steam - I didnt get a photo of 34028 only some of the diesels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 2 rest days from work and 2 days of glorious sunshine! Spent a couple of hours yesterday clearing foliage and rubbish off the railway. I have removed a dead conifer which has opened up a couple of new views of the trains and also makes it easier to walk around on the raised bed that the railway is in / on . That was all accomplished in scorching sunshine - as soon as the trains came out last night, dirty great clouds came across, so I only ran for about an hour for fear of getting wet! I wanted to have short running session to try out some new wagons which I had purchased off EBay. I got a bit bored at work on nights recently and managed to land a couple of lots of wagons. Having sorted out the few I wanted, I sold the remainder on Ebay this week! Amongst the wagons I kept were a couple of Bachmann OBA and an OCA open wagon. All have been attacked with paint as an attempt at weathering - these will be toned down a bit and enhanced a bit more subtly Some of the others are Heljan Dogfish and Hornby Sealion ballast wagons. These have been subjected to some quite heavy, but acceptable, weathering. Earlier in the year, I had started buying some Seacows / Sealions with a view to having a ballast working, but then decided I didnt want that after all I have now come full circle and changed my mind again - luckily, I had not sold the 4 wagons I had previously bought, so these will now be used with my 3 recent aquisitions, after they have been weathered Managed a lot longer session this morning, with a friend bringing around a Bachmann A1 "Tornado", which he has just aquired. Ran very nicely, but struggled with 9 coaches on my steady inclines and sharp curves - on the straights, it did literally go like the wind Anyway, there are a couple of new videos on YT for your enjoyment (I hope) and long may we enjoy this great weather we are having!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Sounds fun. Ok, just to clear things up for the Yank; what's an OCA or an OBA? Now to remember what your youtube channel name is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Griff The OCA and OBA wagon are long wheelbase open wagons (behind 33025 in the opening shots of the latest HFR video). OCA is metal bodied, OBA is wooden planked - both are dropside wagons that were used for general merchandise and later found use by the Signalling & Telecoms and civil engineers departments. The OCA I have had for a while is loaded with 1 tonne bags of aggregate, whilst the OBA has lots of bits and pieces from a level crossing. The newly aquired wagons may yet be fitted with tarpaulin's covering a "general" load of something or another. A VDA is the long wheelbase covered van, with sliding metal doors. The very long vans, originally silver in colour, are VGA vans! So many acronyms on our railways Many of these vehicle types have been used to carry Ministry of Defence stores, so I could run a short formation of them, conveying this type of traffic (in this case, the open wagons were sometimes included as "barrier" wagons between vans loaded with munitions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I'll have to look at the images. Pictures really help a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 traingeekboy said: ...Now to remember what your youtube channel name is. No need Griff. Look beneath Iain's profile photo and there's a YouTube link that should take you directly there. In your user control panel you can add the name of your YouTube channel and it will display a link beneath your profile photo too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 WARNING - RIVET COUNTER RANT COMING UP Whilst getting impatient for Hornby and Bachmann to produce their new Mk2E/F coaches, so I could get my cross country passenger train underway, I had been thinking about starting another passenger, sleeper or postal train set. ( Naughty really, as I should really be saving up to pay for all of those and the wagons I have on pre-order and Im quite keen on the new APT-E model too....) I discounted the sleeper, as Mk3 sleeping cars in blue/grey or Inter-City livery seem to be rare as hens teeth unless you want to be ripped off and the postal train still would require kit-built coaches even with the forthcoming stowage van from Bachmann. Whilst perusing EBay, I got interested in the Hornby Pullman Cars - the posh ones with table lamps that work - you know the ones A VSOE Pullman working was just what the HFR needed, or so I thought. A work colleague offered me a Hornby trainpack he wanted to dispose of - it contained IBIS, CYGNUS & MINERVA, 3 vehicles as per the VSOE of the late 1980's (the train was fairly short back then, with more vehicles having been restored and added since). I thought this would be a good start and I could go on from there to build a 8 or 9 coach set, by renaming other Hornby models, so I snapped them up. Disappointingley, I have come home and compared the models to pictures online of the real thing and noted that there are quite a few detail errors on these models Now, I know that Pullman cars were made by many different companies, so there were many differences, but when Hornby cant even use the right body type on IBIS, its a tad frustrating I will do a bit more research, but this could be a complex and expensive rake to put together, correctly, which I am not really up for at the minute. The sleeping car train may be back on the agenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 ba14eagle said: WARNING - RIVET COUNTER RANT COMING UP..... See, this is the dividing line between actual railway modelling and someone like me who just enjoys running trains. I love the Hornby Pullman's just for what they are and wouldn't have a clue whether there were any detail inaccuracies. I'm not even all that bothered whether there are or not - they're just a great looking model. I have shed loads of Hornby Pullman's - 8 wheel and 12-wheel, but have no idea which, if any, would have ever run together but that's not going to stop me running them on Worsley Dale in whatever configuration. It doesn't end with the Hornby Pullman's though. I'm beginning to realise that I'm more a collector rather than a modeller and while I'll spend hours weathering a 16 ton mineral wagon and fitting fiddly instanter couplings, I'm not too bothered what the base colour is, whether they're fitted or non-fitted or even whether they have top doors, end doors or bottom doors. Recurring wagon numbers haunts me and I may change that at some point in the future but I really don't know what numbers would be prototypically applied. I suppose I'm looking at creating an overall impression rather than a totally realistic scene. I spent almost 27 years working on the railway but have no desire to accurately model any particular loco or wagon. I often have a rant when something doesn't feel like or isn't manufactured as well as I had hoped but in the RTR world I understand there have to be compromises. Without compromise we'd never be able to afford any of them. Loved your latest videos by the way - the new viewing angles almost make it appear that you've created a new layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I have to say, I am with Mick on this one. I reserve my Rivet Counting to N scale, and do my toy training in the garden. When I start to count rivets I remind myself to squint. It fixes all my neurosis over prototypical issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 As I cant indulge in too much scenic modelling outside (another reason I developed the garage test track / layout!) I have to get my satisfaction from trying to get my stock nearly right. The previously long months of not running anything in the garden (again before the garage) were filled with stimulating research into trying to make the stock look right and be formed into prototypical trains. As ive said before, it also helps me limit what I buy, as I try to only buy what I need - as you said Mick, you are more of a collector, perhaps rather than modeller. I have been through a stage like that. When I first built the HFR, it was purely somewhere to run the large collection of Lima O gauge rolling stock I had collected. And thats what I was doing - searching out new items of rolling stock, that I didnt have in my collection. Again, this was really satisfying. I know what you mean about wagons all bearing the same numbers - it can be annoying. When I put my HAA set together, I got a sheet from Fox Transfers with something like 40 different number panels on. I am sure they would do something similar for 16 tonners Talking about the HAA's, I am currently working with a supplier of resin wagonloads on a new shape of load for the Hornby HAA - something more akin to the peaked loads Ive seen in photos, as opposed to a load which is flat topped or very well settled in the wagons. No doubt, I will post some photos when they arrive. These will also go into the suppliers existing range for others to purchase. Im in a similar situation to that Grockle mentioned in the APT-E thread - not my particular era or necessarily interest, but an exciting model, which I might just have to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 As a 'collector' I think I'm perhaps in a minority here on the forum - most members seem to have some idea of the type of trains they want to run and which ones fit in with their chosen era and region. Perhaps it's because I was never really all that interested in railways even when I used to work in the industry but I've always liked model trains and I've always had the collecting bug no matter what my other interests have been in the past. Regarding the numbers on my 16t minerals, I do have a sheet of additional numbers but just haven't got round to applying them. Interesting to hear about the HAA resin loads. Are there differences between the original Hornby wagon and the later version in terms of internal measurements? Will the one load fit either early or later versions and what about the HBA, HFA etc type canopied wagons? A realistic load would be of interest to me too so let me know how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Mick No offence or label meant re being a collector Im only too guilty of that in my other interests... The person Im working with on the wagon loads, does do different loads for lots of other types of coal hoppers, amongst others, and retails them on EBay and through his own website - search for Make Your Mark Models. It is not the cheapest way to load your wagons, but having failed in my attempts to produce them myself by various other methods and not having a huge number to purchase, it is the road I have chosen to go down. People often refer to the early or later Hornby HAA, but I thought the only difference's were on the chassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 ba14eagle said: ...No offence or label meant re being a collector Im only too guilty of that in my other interests... Absolutely no offence taken Iain. In fact I was trying my best to word my post so that nothing I said caused any offence to any other member in return so I sincerely hope it didn't. Basing Worsley Dale on a preserved railway theme is my pitiful attempt at limiting the number of products that I buy. I can now justify the purchase of a single coach rather than having the urge to buy a complete rake of them. Unfortunately that theory wasn't applied with the new Porthole coaches I no longer have any earlier examples of the Hornby MGR wagons so can't be entirely sure that the bodies are the same. From what I recall I seem to think that the flat top edge of the wagon is much less prominent on the latest versions so maybe there have been some modifications. For sure the underframes have been upgraded. If you do choose to go down the route of modelling the VSOE Pullman's I would hope that you decide to document it in a Workbench thread. In fact I would even be interested to learn what the differences between model and prototype are. For what it's worth I think the HFR would benefit from a train of prestigious Pullman's. How much work would be involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Mick I have decided to scrap the idea of a VSOE pullman set. Thankfully, my work colleague was happy enough to have them back. I had hoped that it would be a reasonably straight forward case of renaming a few cars, along with a couple of complete repaints being required for the anciliary vehicles. Looking at the 3 coaches I had, MINERVA looked to have the correct body and roof, just needing replacement Gresley bogies - this was going to be the case with all the Pullmans. The bogies under the Bachmann Thompson coaches appeared to be correct, but whether they would have been a straightforward fit, I do not know. (I had not checked the bogies under the Hornby Gresley coaches.) CYGNUS appeared to have the right body, but the wrong roof as well as the wrong bogies. IBIS would have had to be renamed, as the body was wrong for that particular vehicle. Overall, I think I would have needed to aquire a pool of vehicles from which to swap around bodies and roofs to make the correct combinations - something I dont have the funding for unfortunately, as well as the outlay on the replacement bogies. Ok, this could have been done over a period of time, but remember it was impatience that got me looking at new stuff to model in the first place, so this would have made me worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Just realised - as of yesterday, I had completed 24 years service to the railway industry If im lucky enough to still be here next year, I wonder if I could take my long service award in Hattons vouchers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 ba14eagle said: Just realised - as of yesterday, I had completed 24 years service to the railway industry If im lucky enough to still be here next year, I wonder if I could take my long service award in Hattons vouchers And with the way things are heading, there might even be enough vouchers to get a couple of decent wagons! Congratulations on your 24th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 For my twenty-five years service I got a portable CD player, it was 1994 and of some use back then! I also received a small plaque mounted on wood which said "congratulations on your retirement"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 As you may have read in my Hampton Field Railway thread, both of my railways have ceased operation. This is due to an unhappy change in my domestic situation and my house being put up for sale - hopefully an interested buyer will be a train buff too and will once again breath life into my endeavours. I will still be visiting the forum on a regular basis and i hope it wont be too long before I am able to start a new thread for a new garden railway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 I'm so sorry to hear of your unhappy situation Iain. So that's the end of a great layout! I hope you'll still keep your interest and will be able to start another one real soon. If you do I for one will be keen to follow your progress. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Well what do you know. 3 weeks from completion, my so called house buyer, has not even instructed a solicitor to act for them (despite giving the estate agent the solicitors details in December) Looks like that means the sale has fallen through. I think they were blasted time-wasters - thats just over 3 months that the house has been so called sold and off the market - for a low offer I didnt want to take in the first place - and now I am back to square one. This has really set me back, just when I was thinking life might begin again soon I am afraid my modelling mojo has got up and walked off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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