[...] I'm not quite sure why one would need two NBR Glens, should someone produce a model, or did they often work in tandem? The 1959 (?) Railway Roundabout film Two Glens to Fort William was a special one-off, I think.
And here is the film, silent unfortunately. Further details on the film are here.
I wonder if a version with audio is available for watching somewhere!
Thanks for posting that, Wesley J. So many familiar shots and good memories of that route! Rannoch Moor is one of my favourite places in Scotland, and the two Glens look just right taking their place in it. A lovely railway. (There is a K1 on my shelf waiting to be transmogrified into something close to the K1/1).
Yes they are, under (at least) "Random Railways". I haven't looked for everything, but there's stuff on both Greece and the Yugoslav narrow-gauge (which was an amazing operation). Somewhere you also ought to find the Reseau Breton and other French narrow gauge.
Yes they are, under (at least) "Random Railways". I haven't looked for everything, but there's stuff on both Greece and the Yugoslav narrow-gauge (which was an amazing operation). Somewhere you also ought to find the Reseau Breton and other French narrow gauge.
Thanks for that! I'll have a look - I actually have the two videotapes, but nothing to play them on these days...
One of the loveliest films of the West Highland: https://youtu.be/pa8-Frhk5-E (hoping I haven't posted it here before). I was too late to see it like this - the steam had evaporated by the time I got there.
One of the best episodes of 1987’s The Train Now Departing covered the run to Mallaig in the days when the summer steam trips were still crewed by BR crew who had once been BR steam crew (IYSWIM). I expect they’re mostly dead now, although I do regularly see someone who is ex *LNER* steam crew…
My only trips on the West Highland, and on the Kyle of Lochalsh - Dingwall line, were on the same day one very grey November in 1973!
IIRC, the scenery was not seen at its best. The morning train to Mallaig connected with a small steamer, which in turn connected with the afternoon train from Kyle to Inverness.
Sonic Models seem to be one of those firms which don't feature all that often on YouTube etc., though Rails of Sheffield have a lovely video ad showing various 00 gauge A5s in action.
I see from the Sonic website that an N gauge A5 can be pre-ordered, along with an 00 gauge LBSCR K class 2-6-0. The K looks great, in various liveries, and will make a fine addition to the growing range of LBSCR locomotives. I hope someone will produce a C2X 0-6-0 one day, as these, like the Ks, lasted well into the BR era.
Just off the top of my head (as it were), I can't think of any major pre-grouping railway which does not so far feature in manufacturers' forthcoming or current releases.
No doubt there are some!
Meanwhile, it's interesting to note that models are available (or in the pipeline) of many types of locomotive - main line and/or industrial - which have been preserved, and which can be seen today on heritage lines, or in museums.
There are obvious exceptions, of course - the A5s, Leader, and GT3 mentioned earlier, for instance, and the forthcoming LBSC K!
Just off the top of my head (as it were), I can't think of any major pre-grouping railway which does not so far feature in manufacturers' forthcoming or current releases.
No doubt there are some!
Meanwhile, it's interesting to note that models are available (or in the pipeline) of many types of locomotive - main line and/or industrial - which have been preserved, and which can be seen today on heritage lines, or in museums.
There are obvious exceptions, of course - the A5s, Leader, and GT3 mentioned earlier, for instance, and the forthcoming LBSC K!
Defends how you define ‘major’ I suppose, but one that probably counts as a gap (and I would count as major) is the North Staffs.
Also, M&GN? Though I might have dreamed something coming on that front…?
Yes, agreed on all three. Thanks for reminding this Southron that there were Other Railways! The North Staffs was small in mileage, I suppose, but a major player in its bailiwick.
IIRC, I think Rapido are including M&GN liveries in their *Evolution* coach range, but I haven't checked.
Should we perhaps add the Furness Railway to the list? Gorgeous scenery, and beautiful liveries...
There are some odd imbalances though, even with the larger companies. It is odd that people should produce Ready-to-Run models of obscure prototypes that were unique or that the average enthusiast was never going to see, like the Leader, the LNER P2, or not just one version of the W1 but both of its manifestations, in preference to engines that if you were around at the right time and place one might have seen quite often.
I am not up to date on what is available at the moment, but because they were mechanically a bit rough and did not wear very well, fewer LNWR engines lasted into the BR period in comparison with those of other comparably sized companies. So, there is a model of the Super D, which lasted till surprisingly late, though anyone who has ever had the misfortune to drive or fire one seems to speak very ill of the experience. There is also a model of a LNWR 2-4-0, withdrawn in a 1930s but preserved. As far as I know, though, if you want a model of either an original Claughton or an LMS one rebuilt with a larger boiler, a Precursor, a George the Fifth, or a Prince of Wales, you have either got to find a kit or make it yourself. I think the same goes for their two classes of 0-6-0 that lasted into the early 1950s, and the tank versions of those.
There is also not that much from the bigger lines that were less familiar to people in London and the South East, like the Caledonian, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the North-Eastern or the North British. There were some rather neat Caledonian 4-4-0s that lasted well into BR but as far as I know, no model of those has ever appeared. They would look nice in blue, red or lined black. I do not think anybody has produced a L&Y Dreadnought 4-6-0, in either red or black, or a North-Eastern or a North British Atlantic, or for that matter the North Eastern mixed traffic 4-6-0 which lasted well into BR days in both original and rebuilt form.
Very good point. That gets a big 👍. Almost everybody seems to forget about it. Only one of their engines, an 0-6-2 tank just reached BR in. 1948. The LMS's standardisation policy did for the rest.
They had some rather nice 2-6-0 goods engines that lasted I think until the middle of the Second World War. They had inside cylinders and unlike the GWR's with inside cylinders, inside frames, rather an Irish configuration.
I don't think that the Hull & Barnsley would really count as a major company, nor the Tilbury
Oi! I grew up amongst people who spent a lot of their lives going up and down to Fenchurch St, (though I was lucky to get a ride on the push-and-pull - sorry, Liberty - to Romford ). Only this Wed I was down there changing off the Goblin (sorry, Suffragette) at Barking. Railway nostalgia for that line when I was young, would involve slam-door coaches with torn up seats and, if you were unlucky, closed-in compartments with no way out between stations and someone scary lurking in yours!
The Hull & Barnsley and the Tilbury lines were both fairly modest in terms of mileage, but carried heavy traffic.
I can't offhand think of any particularly notable H&BR locomotives, but a big Tilbury Tank would indeed make a fine model. Some lasted into BR days, with one working the little Uppingham branch, so there's scope for several livery variations.
There are some odd imbalances though, even with the larger companies. It is odd that people should produce Ready-to-Run models of obscure prototypes that were unique or that the average enthusiast was never going to see, like the Leader, the LNER P2, or not just one version of the W1 but both of its manifestations, in preference to engines that if you were around at the right time and place one might have seen quite often.
I am not up to date on what is available at the moment, but because they were mechanically a bit rough and did not wear very well, fewer LNWR engines lasted into the BR period in comparison with those of other comparably sized companies. So, there is a model of the Super D, which lasted till surprisingly late, though anyone who has ever had the misfortune to drive or fire one seems to speak very ill of the experience. There is also a model of a LNWR 2-4-0, withdrawn in a 1930s but preserved. As far as I know, though, if you want a model of either an original Claughton or an LMS one rebuilt with a larger boiler, a Precursor, a George the Fifth, or a Prince of Wales, you have either got to find a kit or make it yourself. I think the same goes for their two classes of 0-6-0 that lasted into the early 1950s, and the tank versions of those.
There is also not that much from the bigger lines that were less familiar to people in London and the South East, like the Caledonian, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the North-Eastern or the North British. There were some rather neat Caledonian 4-4-0s that lasted well into BR but as far as I know, no model of those has ever appeared. They would look nice in blue, red or lined black. I do not think anybody has produced a L&Y Dreadnought 4-6-0, in either red or black, or a North-Eastern or a North British Atlantic, or for that matter the North Eastern mixed traffic 4-6-0 which lasted well into BR days in both original and rebuilt form.
Strong agree (as the owner of 2 kit built B16s).
Re the LNWR, you can also get a Coal Tank in addition to the Precedent and Super D.
The GC has four in ready to run - D11/1, O4, J11 and A5
Those of us in the 2mm world lament the passing of Union Mills as a ready to run manufacturer. I think through them there was far more pre-grouping available RTR in N than there ever has been in OO. Including from the LNWR a Prince of Wales and a Cauliflower.
@Enoch makes an interesting point about the apparent popularity of models of unique or experimental locomotives, even though one of the manufacturers of such models often fails to deliver anything without multiple failings.
There must be some sort of curiosity value in (say) the Southern's double-deck units, which were confined to Charing Cross - Dartford for most of their life, though a locomotive like the Leader, which might have been successful (yes, a big might) would probably have appeared in BR black, if not green. Therefore, with a bit of imagination, one could justify a production Leader on a 1950s/60s Southern layout.
GT3 is just a lovely-looking locomotive, and IIRC it did get about a bit on the main line. Sheer elegance...
Do manufacturers take a kind of straw poll before deciding on what to make next? I know that Rapido take suggestions seriously (I hope they make a Beyer, Peacock Metropolitan 4-4-0T before I die), but what about the others?
I presume they do a lot of market research. But modellers are very odd people, which explains why a RTR 2-8-8-2 Garratt is a thing and a J10 isn't.
For most of us, a P2 or the aforementioned Garratt is ornamental at best. Few have big enough layouts to run them properly and neither was much of a triumph in real life. But it's what buyers seem to want.
I presume they do a lot of market research. But modellers are very odd people, which explains why a RTR 2-8-8-2 Garratt is a thing and a J10 isn't.
For most of us, a P2 or the aforementioned Garratt is ornamental at best. Few have big enough layouts to run them properly and neither was much of a triumph in real life. But it's what buyers seem to want.
From an early age I've believed that the P2 was one of the finest looking locomotives ever built (my father saw the Cock O'the North working Aberdeen trains when he worked in Cupar). I haven't space or time or money for the huge railway the model needs, but last year drove one on a friend's 00 railway for an open house. The sight of it at the head of a train of varnished teak was very pleasant indeed. For myself, I have made do with a mounted copy of Richard Green's excellent print.
GT3 is just a lovely-looking locomotive, and IIRC it did get about a bit on the main line. Sheer elegance...
Do manufacturers take a kind of straw poll before deciding on what to make next? I know that Rapido take suggestions seriously (I hope they make a Beyer, Peacock Metropolitan 4-4-0T before I die), but what about the others?
AIUI we’re approaching ‘watch this space’ territory on the Met 4-4-0. Ditto the Isle of Man 2-4-0s which are a no-brainer given the resurrected TT scale is bang on for 3’ gauge in 4mm…
GT3 is indeed a good one for a couple of locations; heavy testing on the GC London Extension (shedded at Leicester I think with multiple periods at Woodford Halse), then the WCML over Shap for a few months.
The Manx 2-4-0Ts are certainly excellent prototypes (there are several variations on the theme), though the same was true some 60 years ago, when Triang TT track and chassis provided the basis for more than one 00n3 layout!
George Mellor (GEM models) produced a white-metal kit for an IoMR locomotive - I never had one, but I did manage to assemble one of GEM's bogie coach kits...motive power on my rather primitive layout was provided by a butchered Triang TT Jinty with side skirts to hide the lack of outside cylinders.
I am not sure if it was just among the teenage 'experts' or if there was more to it, but at the time it was said that this was the prototype for large scale steam > gas turbine conversions, as there were many standard chassis in service due for scrapping with low mileages. How's that for a 'What if'? But why was the cab at the back? Surely it could easily have been at the leading end.
I am not sure if it was just among the teenage 'experts' or if there was more to it, but at the time it was said that this was the prototype for large scale steam > gas turbine conversions, as there were many standard chassis in service due for scrapping with low mileages. How's that for a 'What if'? But why was the cab at the back? Surely it could easily have been at the leading end.
false I’m afraid - English Electric basically (via Vulcan Foundry) just didn’t want to take too many risks, so stuck with what they knew in terms of chassis and layout.
Despite the rumours of ‘conversion’ possibility, extensive investigations suggest that if it was similar to anything, it was a GWR manor by measurement rather than something less niche!
The frames were also bespoke steel, specifically designed to be very heavy and provide adhesion (what with the locomotive lacking an enormous boiler full of water over the driving wheels.
In light of this thread - is it just me and my PC, or does the highlight blue colour on this website look rather more BR-inspired, than (following the site's nautical theme) RN?
(I ask, knowing there are people on this thread who might be expected to take a view )
Thank you! Yes, the green one looks fine - not too keen on the blue, though I had in mind the experimental blue (which was quite dark) of the early BR era.
@mark_in_manchester has a good point. The BR blue we seem to be seeing is, I think, the post-1964 colour, whereas the earlier shade might well have been rather more Navy Blue (or perhaps Royal Blue) in appearance.
The Western Region did their best with the Class 52s, with some weird results. Looking back, it all seems so much better than the kind of supermarket packaging that passes for liveries these days (with the exception of Scotrail).
The Western Region did their best with the Class 52s, with some weird results. Looking back, it all seems so much better than the kind of supermarket packaging that passes for liveries these days (with the exception of Scotrail).
I quite like GWR. Avanti West Coast (aside from the logo) isn’t bad either.
Comments
You may be right, and yes - I remember them from those dear dead days beyond recall, too.
Thanks for posting that, Wesley J. So many familiar shots and good memories of that route! Rannoch Moor is one of my favourite places in Scotland, and the two Glens look just right taking their place in it. A lovely railway. (There is a K1 on my shelf waiting to be transmogrified into something close to the K1/1).
I say *nearly*, because they also did a couple of videos on Southern Europe and Northern Europe, but AFAIK these are not on YouTube.
Thanks for that! I'll have a look - I actually have the two videotapes, but nothing to play them on these days...
IIRC, the scenery was not seen at its best. The morning train to Mallaig connected with a small steamer, which in turn connected with the afternoon train from Kyle to Inverness.
I still have hopes of an RTR Valour or Sam Fay. Somehow, this does not seem as absurdly unrealistic a hope as it was a few years back.
Lovely model.
I see from the Sonic website that an N gauge A5 can be pre-ordered, along with an 00 gauge LBSCR K class 2-6-0. The K looks great, in various liveries, and will make a fine addition to the growing range of LBSCR locomotives. I hope someone will produce a C2X 0-6-0 one day, as these, like the Ks, lasted well into the BR era.
No doubt there are some!
Meanwhile, it's interesting to note that models are available (or in the pipeline) of many types of locomotive - main line and/or industrial - which have been preserved, and which can be seen today on heritage lines, or in museums.
There are obvious exceptions, of course - the A5s, Leader, and GT3 mentioned earlier, for instance, and the forthcoming LBSC K!
Defends how you define ‘major’ I suppose, but one that probably counts as a gap (and I would count as major) is the North Staffs.
Also, M&GN? Though I might have dreamed something coming on that front…?
IIRC, I think Rapido are including M&GN liveries in their *Evolution* coach range, but I haven't checked.
Should we perhaps add the Furness Railway to the list? Gorgeous scenery, and beautiful liveries...
I am not up to date on what is available at the moment, but because they were mechanically a bit rough and did not wear very well, fewer LNWR engines lasted into the BR period in comparison with those of other comparably sized companies. So, there is a model of the Super D, which lasted till surprisingly late, though anyone who has ever had the misfortune to drive or fire one seems to speak very ill of the experience. There is also a model of a LNWR 2-4-0, withdrawn in a 1930s but preserved. As far as I know, though, if you want a model of either an original Claughton or an LMS one rebuilt with a larger boiler, a Precursor, a George the Fifth, or a Prince of Wales, you have either got to find a kit or make it yourself. I think the same goes for their two classes of 0-6-0 that lasted into the early 1950s, and the tank versions of those.
There is also not that much from the bigger lines that were less familiar to people in London and the South East, like the Caledonian, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the North-Eastern or the North British. There were some rather neat Caledonian 4-4-0s that lasted well into BR but as far as I know, no model of those has ever appeared. They would look nice in blue, red or lined black. I do not think anybody has produced a L&Y Dreadnought 4-6-0, in either red or black, or a North-Eastern or a North British Atlantic, or for that matter the North Eastern mixed traffic 4-6-0 which lasted well into BR days in both original and rebuilt form.
They had some rather nice 2-6-0 goods engines that lasted I think until the middle of the Second World War. They had inside cylinders and unlike the GWR's with inside cylinders, inside frames, rather an Irish configuration.
The Manson 4-6-0 express locos were very elegant.
An 0-6-0 tank was sold into industrial service in the 1930s but bought back by BR for preservation in 1963 and is now in the Riverside Museum.
Oi! I grew up amongst people who spent a lot of their lives going up and down to Fenchurch St, (though I was lucky to get a ride on the push-and-pull - sorry, Liberty - to Romford
I can't offhand think of any particularly notable H&BR locomotives, but a big Tilbury Tank would indeed make a fine model. Some lasted into BR days, with one working the little Uppingham branch, so there's scope for several livery variations.
Strong agree (as the owner of 2 kit built B16s).
Re the LNWR, you can also get a Coal Tank in addition to the Precedent and Super D.
The GC has four in ready to run - D11/1, O4, J11 and A5
I had to build my own N5, L3 and C13!
True, but my Union Mills Dukedog will pull my entire carriage and wagon fleet uphill on oiled rails (I have tried!)
Bombproof little engineering gems.
There must be some sort of curiosity value in (say) the Southern's double-deck units, which were confined to Charing Cross - Dartford for most of their life, though a locomotive like the Leader, which might have been successful (yes, a big might) would probably have appeared in BR black, if not green. Therefore, with a bit of imagination, one could justify a production Leader on a 1950s/60s Southern layout.
GT3 is just a lovely-looking locomotive, and IIRC it did get about a bit on the main line. Sheer elegance...
Do manufacturers take a kind of straw poll before deciding on what to make next? I know that Rapido take suggestions seriously (I hope they make a Beyer, Peacock Metropolitan 4-4-0T before I die), but what about the others?
For most of us, a P2 or the aforementioned Garratt is ornamental at best. Few have big enough layouts to run them properly and neither was much of a triumph in real life. But it's what buyers seem to want.
From an early age I've believed that the P2 was one of the finest looking locomotives ever built (my father saw the Cock O'the North working Aberdeen trains when he worked in Cupar). I haven't space or time or money for the huge railway the model needs, but last year drove one on a friend's 00 railway for an open house. The sight of it at the head of a train of varnished teak was very pleasant indeed. For myself, I have made do with a mounted copy of Richard Green's excellent print.
AIUI we’re approaching ‘watch this space’ territory on the Met 4-4-0. Ditto the Isle of Man 2-4-0s which are a no-brainer given the resurrected TT scale is bang on for 3’ gauge in 4mm…
GT3 is indeed a good one for a couple of locations; heavy testing on the GC London Extension (shedded at Leicester I think with multiple periods at Woodford Halse), then the WCML over Shap for a few months.
George Mellor (GEM models) produced a white-metal kit for an IoMR locomotive - I never had one, but I did manage to assemble one of GEM's bogie coach kits...motive power on my rather primitive layout was provided by a butchered Triang TT Jinty with side skirts to hide the lack of outside cylinders.
But by the time the tests were complete, it was seen as an (exceptionally good) evolutionary dead end.
One of the great what-ifs IMO.
false I’m afraid - English Electric basically (via Vulcan Foundry) just didn’t want to take too many risks, so stuck with what they knew in terms of chassis and layout.
Despite the rumours of ‘conversion’ possibility, extensive investigations suggest that if it was similar to anything, it was a GWR manor by measurement rather than something less niche!
A nice *what if?* livery would be BR lined green, or even the earlier blue...
O - I missed that! Thanks - I'll have a look at the KR website.
The KR website doesn't show any actual photos of the model in green (or blue), so one has to use one's imagination...
(I ask, knowing there are people on this thread who might be expected to take a view
Google on the other hand…
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&sca_esv=b9187f4daeb51a28&hl=en-gb&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHyTFN8BbSyNXQ3oA-fn7H5N0_alFIlVM3Dsmdj_aHzoLxwxLLLCfPzthQs1CuDx_B8WamW5o1wd-yypcJ6bwqaJjTHwbmyr06K2lODYy1AigqGjDs4RwGE6djvM3g8BdBA8K4ZO_Hq2oGJiH41tspkAk41rjAWCuIz7r0kjAUL_OzFyhYNuN-z594Gsun1iL7wKatVYOEhhlQZ4M04f9oBTWyyr4rxxWTm1cyICWJtOJiBoHB8&q=kr+models+gt3+model&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1jZiinL2OAxUMZ0EAHR3fGF4QtKgLegQIDxAB&biw=390&bih=663&dpr=3
Thank you! Yes, the green one looks fine - not too keen on the blue, though I had in mind the experimental blue (which was quite dark) of the early BR era.
@mark_in_manchester has a good point. The BR blue we seem to be seeing is, I think, the post-1964 colour, whereas the earlier shade might well have been rather more Navy Blue (or perhaps Royal Blue) in appearance.
Horrible! Would have been Outrage of Huge Proportions!
I quite like GWR. Avanti West Coast (aside from the logo) isn’t bad either.
https://railsofsheffield.com/products/sonic-models-s4103-09-class-d34-glen-twin-pack-bbc-film-special-may-1959
That’s a link to the twin pack. They’re doing 8 different Glens individually. And a twin pack.
Thanks - I should have looked more carefully. My bad.
A welcome addition to the range of pre-grouping 00 models, though.