Wow, lovely! I looked at the "Seaside" one - what an amazing (and valuable) collection of rolling stock.
Mostly Bassett-Lowke, Marklin, and Bing, AFAIK, with possibly some other long-forgotten makes, such as Carette. As you say, worth a £££ or several - and still in working order at well over a hundred years old!
The *Duck End* films made a great impression on those of us in the garden railway fraternity (I was one of them) some 20 or more years ago.
Although Peter Strange's line was Gauge 1, and we were modelling narrow-gauge on 32mm (or 45mm) gauge track, he achieved the sort of atmosphere - without rigid attention to detail or minutiae - which we, too, were aiming for.
I do wish Cyril could have afforded something more becoming than that awful brown checked suit, though...
I’m currently planning a couple of exciting train trips. The most exciting is the arctic circle train from Stockholm to Narvik in Norway. Then also trains from Stockholm to Copenhagen and back. And perhaps a Shinkansen or two on a different trip.
I’m currently planning a couple of exciting train trips. The most exciting is the arctic circle train from Stockholm to Narvik in Norway. Then also trains from Stockholm to Copenhagen and back. And perhaps a Shinkansen or two on a different trip.
Has anyone been on the train to Narvik?
Not yet... One of these days. For many years I have admired the great 3-unit Dm3 locomotives built for the Luleå-Narvik iron ore railway, and had a large print of a set of them over my drawing board when I was a summer student at the Nohab locomotive works in Trollhättan. There some good videos of the line on Youtube.
Unfortunate typo on the Midland Railway (Butterley) website re. their half-term "Winter Warmer" DMU service: "These headed trains have large windows and so there is an excellent view all round".
I've have joined the dark side and bought my first N gauge trainset from Graham Farish - just to see how I get on with it before possibly doing an 8x5' layout
I dabbled in American N gauge many lustra ago, but have never tried British products. From what I read and see, Graham Farish models these days are excellent quality, so do please let us know how you get on!
A small *trial* layout seems a good idea, as 8 feet x 5 feet is a fair-sized space for N gauge.
A small *trial* layout seems a good idea, as 8 feet x 5 feet is a fair-sized space for N gauge.
Definitely no running before learning to walk, I've got an oval of track and some points basically at the moment - but I have seen a Peco Setrack plan of those dimensions which helpfully a) would fit in a space I could make available, and b) represents Goodrington Sands down to Kingswear, which I know well of old and suddenly had an intense emotional hankering, rather like Anton Walbrook in the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, to come back to in some way!
I shouldn't boast ... but my father was a doctor who seemed to have an amazing list of friends and contacts. Through him I (very briefly) once met Walbrook.
The layout sounds great. Having not model-railwayed for many years, I'm nervous about doing it again. I had continental N gauge in the late 60s - so much better quality then than British models (and, looking at present-day Fleischmann etc, probably still is).
Continental N gauge models certainly used to be a lot better than British offerings, but I'm not sure that that is so much the case nowadays.
Alas! I find N gauge far too fiddly for my Aged Eyes and Clumsy Fingers, though I do have a small number of European HOe items (Eggerbahn/Minitrains), which run on 9mm gauge track.
A modest European terminus, somewhere in Ruritania, is being idly dreamt of - it will (would) fit on one of the ready-made MDF shelves which I use for the various very small English 00 gauge *light railway* stations (think *Inglenook Shunting Layouts*) built in the last year or two.
They depict various stations on the Suffix Border Railway, which, as enny fule kno, serves the bit added onto England (sometime during the Dark Ages, when no-one could see what was happening) between Kent and Sussex, down near Rye...
Tidying some booklets etc. today, I came across my copy of Gamage's Catalogue for 1956 - some of you of a Certain Age may remember this wonderful toy emporium in Holborn, London (not to be confused with Bassett-Lowke's place further up the road...).
Prices of model railway items today seem high - as indeed they are - but back in the mid-50s a Hornby-Dublo 3-rail train set including an oval of track, the Duchess of Montrose Pacific, and two coaches, would set you back no less than £6/17/6d. No power unit was included - that was extra at £2/7/6d - so just a very basic outfit would cost over £9...
By contrast, Gamages were selling a Triang set, produced especially for the store, consisting of a Jinty 060T, four goods wagons, an oval of track and a control unit for 79/11d - just south of £4. The ad is a little ambiguous, as it seems to indicate that a separate transformer/rectifier (39/6d) was required...but, if you were happy to run the train by means of dry batteries, the set (with battery case instead of the special control unit) was only £3/13-
Postage was free, BTW.
Happy days - if you (or your parents) could afford it!
...but, if you were happy to run the train by means of dry batteries, the set (with battery case instead of the special control unit) was only £3/13-
That was exactly where I started out! I still have some remnants of that set. The battery box was awful - just plus or minus 12 volts. It took a lot of saving up to get the variable speed controller.
No, although that set is part of Hornby's allegedly cheaper Railroad range. The loco alone sells for £134.49 although there are various iterations of the A1/A3 including diecast footplate and diecast body retailing at up to £362.99!
To put it into perspective, tickets for tomorrow's Wales vs Scotland rugby match sell at between £87 and £206.
Well, it's a sign of how well they were made that so many of the tinplate Hornby-Dublo 3-rail models of the 1950s are still to be seen running at exhibitions, or on YouTube videos...yes, I need to get out more...
Some early Triang items suffered from severe warping of the plastic from which they were made, but there are plenty of 1960s models still running, too!
BTW, my Gamages catalogue tells me that a Trix-Twin 00 gauge Flying Scotsman cost no less than £10 in 1956 - an immense sum
Yes, though I think it mostly affected parts like the wheels. Some old Dinky Toys also suffered from it.
It's a b*gger. Although the wiki article says post 1960 it is not such a problem, it certainly can affect die-cast bits in radios and tape recorders from the 70s and later, as well as things like sound boxes on 1920s gramophones. (No matter that my materialism focusses on other people's unwanted old sh*te; Matt 6 19-20 sadly pertains.)
Edit-to-get-back-on-topic - it is remarkable how much a simple PSU / speed controller for a model railway once cost, when you think about how such things (or scrap with which to make them) are now more-or-less free on ebay. On which subject if anyone needs a stabilised laboratory power supply for model railway or other purposes (for a donation to Christian Aid) feel free to PM me.
Given the generally high quality of whatever Binns Road produced, it seems that Hornby (or their suppliers?) slipped up somewhere.
However, the longevity of many of the models may mean that they simply had no idea at the time of what problems might arise in the far distant future.
I have on display on one of my bookshelves a Hornby O gauge clockwork 040T (in LNER green) and three matching 4-wheel teak-liveried coaches (two composites and a brake). All are as old as me, and are yet in rather better condition...
BTW, the locomotive's clockwork mechanism is also in full working order - alas! I have no space for even a small layout (though I have a quantity of track stored away in boxes).
Mr Gamage would have charged me £1/5/6d for the engine in 1956, by which time Hornby had caught up with the standard British Railways post-1948 liveries, but my green one looks fine.
Pleased to report back that my new 64xx pannier, couple of wagons, Toad, and B Set in N are lovely, and I think I might stand at the beginning of a new departure in modelling
Presumably the loco and wagons are Farish, the coaches Dapol. How do the qualities compare?
Not much to choose between them - all the stock is fine. The loco (Farish) was hesitant but once it had run in an hour (seriously) in each direction it has been as good as gold
I see the Cathedrals Express is coming down from Birmingham to Salisbury on 2 March and will pass through but probably not stop at Oxford. What the site doesn't seem to say is when it will be coming back. I'd like to be able to tip off a train-loving friend so he gets the chance to see it at Oxford, either morning or evening. Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of a detailed path timetable somewhere that would give us some times?
As you say, there doesn't seem to be any indication of when the return journey takes place, but I daresay another Shipmate may be able to find out - one can only assume that it's sometime in the afternoon or early evening!
The so-called *Overground* railway system around London (not to be confused with the *Underground*, much of which is above ground) has had its various lines named in what IMHO is a most imaginative way:
They needed to be differentiated, and will no doubt be informally renamed anyway. The names are too 'worthy' to stick.
Regret to say, I agree with you, particularly as two of them could just as well go on being called the Watford Line, the North London Line and another appears to add together the East London and South London Lines. I believe the Gospel Oak to Barking has been colloquially referred to as the Goblin Line, from its initial letters.
My niece, who is very much into sport for women (she plays rugby, and is a community sports coach by profession) is delighted at The Lioness Line!
Maybe they are a bit worthy, but I still think they're imaginative, and say some interesting things about the history of London. The colloquial names may be even more interesting (and perhaps funnier)!
I am convinced that Mr Khan had his tongue firmly in his cheek when promoting these new names, knowing full well that they would annoy the right-wing Meeja...
The so-called *Overground* railway system around London (not to be confused with the *Underground*, much of which is above ground) has had its various lines named in what IMHO is a most imaginative way:
The photo at the top of this article shows Sadiq Khan with a rather mischievous look on his face...
The 'Liberty' line is a neat swerve by the (gammon-flavoured) culture-warriors of Havering, to my mind (I grew up there). It sounds woke, until you realise it also has a kind-of MAGA feel about it, but the word has a historic association with Romford as well as hinting about the preference in Havering for Ratepayer (or whatever they are called now) independent councillors.
Everyone will continue to call it the 'push-and-pull', which I guess dates from steam times when it operated with no run-around or turntable. That pre-dates my lifetime by a few years, but the name has stuck.
Comments
Mostly Bassett-Lowke, Marklin, and Bing, AFAIK, with possibly some other long-forgotten makes, such as Carette. As you say, worth a £££ or several - and still in working order at well over a hundred years old!
The *Duck End* films made a great impression on those of us in the garden railway fraternity (I was one of them) some 20 or more years ago.
Although Peter Strange's line was Gauge 1, and we were modelling narrow-gauge on 32mm (or 45mm) gauge track, he achieved the sort of atmosphere - without rigid attention to detail or minutiae - which we, too, were aiming for.
I do wish Cyril could have afforded something more becoming than that awful brown checked suit, though...
Wikipedia is your friend:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSR_Class_800
There are various other articles and photos online, of course.
Here's a short video, looking at Maebh in retirement in the Museum at Cultra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xthuvPJtfe4
Has anyone been on the train to Narvik?
Not yet... One of these days. For many years I have admired the great 3-unit Dm3 locomotives built for the Luleå-Narvik iron ore railway, and had a large print of a set of them over my drawing board when I was a summer student at the Nohab locomotive works in Trollhättan. There some good videos of the line on Youtube.
A small *trial* layout seems a good idea, as 8 feet x 5 feet is a fair-sized space for N gauge.
Definitely no running before learning to walk, I've got an oval of track and some points basically at the moment - but I have seen a Peco Setrack plan of those dimensions which helpfully a) would fit in a space I could make available, and b) represents Goodrington Sands down to Kingswear, which I know well of old and suddenly had an intense emotional hankering, rather like Anton Walbrook in the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, to come back to in some way!
The layout sounds great. Having not model-railwayed for many years, I'm nervous about doing it again. I had continental N gauge in the late 60s - so much better quality then than British models (and, looking at present-day Fleischmann etc, probably still is).
Alas! I find N gauge far too fiddly for my Aged Eyes and Clumsy Fingers, though I do have a small number of European HOe items (Eggerbahn/Minitrains), which run on 9mm gauge track.
A modest European terminus, somewhere in Ruritania, is being idly dreamt of - it will (would) fit on one of the ready-made MDF shelves which I use for the various very small English 00 gauge *light railway* stations (think *Inglenook Shunting Layouts*) built in the last year or two.
They depict various stations on the Suffix Border Railway, which, as enny fule kno, serves the bit added onto England (sometime during the Dark Ages, when no-one could see what was happening) between Kent and Sussex, down near Rye...
No, that's real. It must be. It's got a bishop.
Exactly so.
Well, half a bishop.
Tidying some booklets etc. today, I came across my copy of Gamage's Catalogue for 1956 - some of you of a Certain Age may remember this wonderful toy emporium in Holborn, London (not to be confused with Bassett-Lowke's place further up the road...).
Prices of model railway items today seem high - as indeed they are - but back in the mid-50s a Hornby-Dublo 3-rail train set including an oval of track, the Duchess of Montrose Pacific, and two coaches, would set you back no less than £6/17/6d. No power unit was included - that was extra at £2/7/6d - so just a very basic outfit would cost over £9...
By contrast, Gamages were selling a Triang set, produced especially for the store, consisting of a Jinty 060T, four goods wagons, an oval of track and a control unit for 79/11d - just south of £4. The ad is a little ambiguous, as it seems to indicate that a separate transformer/rectifier (39/6d) was required...but, if you were happy to run the train by means of dry batteries, the set (with battery case instead of the special control unit) was only £3/13-
Postage was free, BTW.
Happy days - if you (or your parents) could afford it!
That was exactly where I started out! I still have some remnants of that set. The battery box was awful - just plus or minus 12 volts. It took a lot of saving up to get the variable speed controller.
A Hornby "Flying Scotsman" set (at full price) is £249.99 - but you do get more from your money: https://uk.hornby.com/products/flying-scotsman-train-set-r1255m. It can be got a bit cheaper from a well-known retailer in Yorkshire.
To put it into perspective, tickets for tomorrow's Wales vs Scotland rugby match sell at between £87 and £206.
Some early Triang items suffered from severe warping of the plastic from which they were made, but there are plenty of 1960s models still running, too!
BTW, my Gamages catalogue tells me that a Trix-Twin 00 gauge Flying Scotsman cost no less than £10 in 1956 - an immense sum
It's a b*gger. Although the wiki article says post 1960 it is not such a problem, it certainly can affect die-cast bits in radios and tape recorders from the 70s and later, as well as things like sound boxes on 1920s gramophones. (No matter that my materialism focusses on other people's unwanted old sh*te; Matt 6 19-20 sadly pertains.)
Edit-to-get-back-on-topic - it is remarkable how much a simple PSU / speed controller for a model railway once cost, when you think about how such things (or scrap with which to make them) are now more-or-less free on ebay. On which subject if anyone needs a stabilised laboratory power supply for model railway or other purposes (for a donation to Christian Aid) feel free to PM me.
I had no idea that the problem was so widespread - a feature of the technology of the times, no doubt.
However, the longevity of many of the models may mean that they simply had no idea at the time of what problems might arise in the far distant future.
I have on display on one of my bookshelves a Hornby O gauge clockwork 040T (in LNER green) and three matching 4-wheel teak-liveried coaches (two composites and a brake). All are as old as me, and are yet in rather better condition...
BTW, the locomotive's clockwork mechanism is also in full working order - alas! I have no space for even a small layout (though I have a quantity of track stored away in boxes).
Mr Gamage would have charged me £1/5/6d for the engine in 1956, by which time Hornby had caught up with the standard British Railways post-1948 liveries, but my green one looks fine.
Not much to choose between them - all the stock is fine. The loco (Farish) was hesitant but once it had run in an hour (seriously) in each direction it has been as good as gold
https://vintagetrains.co.uk/the-cathedrals-express-to-salisbury/
As you say, there doesn't seem to be any indication of when the return journey takes place, but I daresay another Shipmate may be able to find out - one can only assume that it's sometime in the afternoon or early evening!
Well done! I guessed you might be able to find the detailed timings...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/15/angry-tories-windrush-line-woke-rail-routes-suffragette
The photo at the top of this article shows Sadiq Khan with a rather mischievous look on his face...
Maybe they are a bit worthy, but I still think they're imaginative, and say some interesting things about the history of London. The colloquial names may be even more interesting (and perhaps funnier)!
I am convinced that Mr Khan had his tongue firmly in his cheek when promoting these new names, knowing full well that they would annoy the right-wing Meeja...
I still think Mr Khan is laughing to himself...
The 'Liberty' line is a neat swerve by the (gammon-flavoured) culture-warriors of Havering, to my mind (I grew up there). It sounds woke, until you realise it also has a kind-of MAGA feel about it, but the word has a historic association with Romford as well as hinting about the preference in Havering for Ratepayer (or whatever they are called now) independent councillors.
Everyone will continue to call it the 'push-and-pull', which I guess dates from steam times when it operated with no run-around or turntable. That pre-dates my lifetime by a few years, but the name has stuck.