Moxy

2 hours ago, LNERW1 said:

I have seen a video of something that is either a HST or an XPT being tested in a South or Central American country- any info on that either? (In another topic please)

Yes, Angel Trains have sold some former British HST's to Mexico.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/more-british-high-speed-trains-head-to-mexico/

On 9/1/2024 at 7:40 AM, David Holman said:

 As a builder, rather than a buyer of rtr, the loss of folk selling components is just as worrying. Maplin was the easy go to for electrical bits and pieces, while the gap left by Eileen's still hasn't been filled. As for getting hold of fine metal strip, it is becoming almost impossible without going on line.

 

Cambrian Model Rail bought a lot of Eileen's metal stock from the liquidators and have started to sell it. 

https://www.cambrianmodelrail.co.uk/store/Brass-Micro-section-c151558586

According to this post from the other thread

It appears one was repainted as early as 1964.

3 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Quite a few Leyland LD looking vans. Nobody seems to do them in 1:76, only 1:43.

Corgi do a Morris LD in 1:76

https://uk.corgi.co.uk/products/morris-ld-van-devon-general-dg201017

Pagefield would appear to apply only to the plot of land where the iron works was built, but where the name originally came from I don't know.  It wasn't a separate district, it is almost in the centre of Wigan, not far from Wigan Wallgate station.  The sidings serving the iron works were off the Wigan-Southport line.

Glad I could help.

Walker Bros were based in Wigan, where I now live so I have always had an interest in what they produced.  It's not really surprising there is not much info about, it's over 80 years since those railcars were built, and 60 years since Walker Bros shut down.

Don't know if this is the same one, but Grace's Guide https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Walker_Brothers_(Wigan)

gives the following. '1936 Made a light railcar for the Paita-Pauira section of the Peruvian Corporation Railway, with a Gardner 6LW engine. A similar pair of railcars was supplied to the Sao Paulo Railway of Brazil. The design was based on that of railcars supplied to Ireland.'

Could the above railcar be a Brazilian one, rather than Argentinian?  If it is sat on LMS lines, that makes it standard gauge, so likely to be one of the Brazilian railcars.

Walker Bros archives apparently went to Wigan Library, but don't appear to be available online.

Yes, they do come with optional lower footboards, original specifications here

https://www.hattons.co.uk/directory/versiondetails/article?id=599

12 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Is that an old Gresley coach away over to the left? If so, it's well away from home.....

And, indeed, what's the vehicle beyond it?

 

That's Kyle of Lochalsh.  It could be a Gresley coach, likely to be in Departmental use, it looks like it is painted in olive green.  No idea what the coach beyond is.

On 19/10/2022 at 11:01 PM, jhb171achill said:

I have to say I like this one....

Cheshire Lines Committee* goods warehouse, Warrington Central

Here is an earlier picture, before it lost the wooden goods hoists off the front:

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6497795

It still survives, but it's posh flats nowadays.

*The Cheshire Lines Committee was a joint line, owned by Great Central, Great Northern & Midland Railways. It remained nominally independent at the 1923 grouping, but it was run by the LNER & LMS from that date.

Excellent stuff.  A question for those of us who live on the wrong side of the Irish sea, in the UK.  Is the 6 month installment option available to UK residents?  I couldn't see it on the checkout page.

Thanks

Hi Mike

I'm no expert on Irish buses, but this is what I have been able to find so far.

Bus manufacturers made the chassis, and with a very few exceptions, the bodies were usually built by separate coachbuilding firms who gave the bodies their own 'style.'

The Guy Arab II did run in Belfast. HERE is a link to MZ7421.  Belfast also had the later Guy Arab III chassis.  I'm not familiar enough with the Farish model to tell if the bodywork is similar to the Belfast version.

The Leyland Atlantean.  Arguably Leyland's most successful bus with over 8000 built.  As you would expect, there have been many different body styles built on that chassis over the 38 years it was in production.

The Farish model appears to be based on an Eastern Coach Works (ECW) body, with the separate engine bustle at the rear.  Similar bodies were available on the big island from Northern Counties and from Alexander.  As far as I can tell, all of CIE's Atlanteans were bodied by Van Hool McArdle, who designed a body without the distinctive rear engine bustle.  The answer to your question whether an Atlantean matching Farish's body style ran in Ireland I am 99% sure is no, unless anyone else knows differently.

If you want to find details of a specific bus, Bus Lists on the Web is a useful starting point, although not all the photo links from that site to Flickr work.

https://www.buslistsontheweb.co.uk/

Hope this helps.

Moxy

On 2/4/2022 at 3:43 PM, spudfan said:

Don't forget that British Rail were very impressed with the 071 class and were precluded from buying them by politicians. If BR had been able to purchase 071 locos we would have had the 071s in rail blue, large logo, wrap around yellow ends etc not to mention sectorisation liveries. Would be nice to see some photo shopped images of the above.

Here you go

https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/5602911737/

(not mine I hasten to add)

Have a look through Northernblue109's Flickr stream, he has done hundreds of different liveries on trains, buses and trucks.

These are the Irish ones:

Here's everything

18 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Slater's Plasticard do 7mm scale corrugated sheets, so worth checking their website to see if 4mm available.

They do indeed, it's Slaters reference 0436.

Slater's own website is not the easiest to navigate, but their products are widely stocked by other retailers, it should be fairly easy to find.

1 hour ago, WRENNEIRE said:

I picked up some old Hornby locos over the weekend
On checking them I found this inside one
Anyone ever see or use one, I have never seen one before
Airfix Locomotive Receiving Module

 

I haven't seen or used one, but it looks like a loco chip for the Airfix Multiple Train Control system, an early version of DCC from 40 years ago.

http://www.airfixrailways.co.uk/MTC.htm

You could drive up to 4 trains (out of 16) at once.

I don't think they ever got very far with this MTC, I think they went bust only a couple of years after it was introduced, and I don't remember Mainline/Palitoy reintroducing it after they took Airfix over.

An interesting piece of model railway history, but unless you already have an Airfix MTC, not much use for anything.

I like that, nice job on the kit, and you can't go wrong with a Kato chassis.  I have one of those Worsley Works railcars in my stash of kits to build one day.

I have always thought TTn3 is ideal for Irish narrow gauge, and not perhaps as popular as it could be.

He's not on this forum, but one of my mates built a TTn3 Irish layout called 'Caher Patrick' about 25 years ago.  He was using Graham Farish Compound 4-4-0 chassis for Cavan & Leitrim & Cork, Blackrock & Passage tanks, & Minitrix 2-6-2 chassis for Tralee & Dingle 2-6-0 tanks.

I think it appeared in Railway Modeller sometime around 2002-2004 (sorry can't find my copies of RM to confirm exact dates).

He was using things like the smaller Dundas Models Festiniog 'style' 009 coaches like DM59, DM61 & DM64 as Irish coaches in 3mm scale (without the end balconies), they were surprisingly effective.

There aren't many photos online of his layout and stock, there are some on the NGRM Online forum, but there's no point in me posting links to that forum as you need to sign up to it in order to see the photos.

10 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

Holywell Town ex LNWR always struck me as an ideal minimal space prototype. Only 4 points but a large 2 arch road bridge went across the station which would act as an ideal scenic break . The goods yard was the other side of the bridge alongside the running line which descended at 1 in 27 to the main line. Because the yard points faced the dead end rather than more conventionally (no doubt because of the topography) it meant that all the shunting of the yard took place at the 'dead end' and restricted to 1 or 2 wagons at a time.

Photos on this site

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/holywell_town/index.shtml

Theres a link here to a thread on RMWeb https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119708-holywell-town-oo-scale-blt/

where someone has built a model of it in 00.  There are also some prototype photos on there and details of how the branch was worked.

I'm not sure Foster Yeoman had any Alco's, as far as I know they only had two EMD/General Motors switchers of SW1001 type imported.

Do you mean the Steel Company of Wales Alco's?  There are about 3 of those preserved.

https://www.philt.org.uk/Industrial/PT/i-fb37mtz/

GM switcher demonstrating what happens when it meets a smaller loading gauge.

https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=116509#p116509

This was after a runaway and meeting a tunnel it wasn't designed to fit through.

1 hour ago, mmie353 said:

Is there anyone doing a model of a Volvo F12? I remember the Shannon Transport F12 and I thought it was a nice color scheme. 

Knightwing do a kit of a Volvo F12 tractor, although that might be 1/72 scale, rather than 1/76.

Hope this helps