New Railway Modellers Forums

I've just had a look at your layout thread Paul (very nice btw !). I should have done that first I suppose ! I'm guessing your Widget Factory is producing maybe a few van loads a day rather than block trains of 30 vehicles at a time all to the same destination. In that case it is unlikely that the t...

Ah thanks; insulated vans, I forgot all about them. They're fitted ( I think) so treat as goods vans just like the bauxite ones. They might even have been in general merchandise use by the 1970s as their traffic was lost to refrigerated lorries but that's a bit outside my era. I was thinking of the ...

As a general observation from my interest in this period, in the '70s even fully (vac) fitted trains used brake vans although technically not neccessary. That's interesting. It's possible that the train was booked to run as a Class 8 or 9 (partly fitted or unfitted) in which case a van would be dia...

So bauxite and blue 12 tonners in mid 70s would not have required a brake van then? If the whole train was fully fitted then the bauxite ones would not require a brake van, the guard would be in the back cab of the locomotive. A limited number of piped-only vehicles would be allowed. If there were ...

6C wrote:Not sure - but weren't grey vehicles un piped - i.e. no vacuum...?

Whilst Brown/bauxite/maroon vehicles were fitted...

Correct (generally). Sorry, I've re-worded that third paragraph slightly as it was potentially confusing.

Very (very) generally - Up to about 1968/9 (I forget the exact date) all goods trains had to have a brake van. After that agreement was reached that on fully fitted trains the guard could ride in the back cab except for certain classes of dangerous goods. 'Fully fitted' meant that every vehicle on t...

If you really want to use plaster (or polyfilla, Das or any other sort of clay/filler type stuff) then I can't add much to the advice already given. But it's possibly the messiest way of building a level crossing or inset track. Also, very few real crossings are/were made by tarmacing up to the rail...

can any tel me why there a half demolished shark ballast van there I can't pick out the Shark on Bing or Google Maps but depending on how long it's been there, either it's going to be scrapped but nobody has got around to it yet, or it was 'forgotten' on privatisation and never claimed by the FOCs....

1). Good Suppliers? Stores or internet ? I live near wigan (no local model shop or arts n craft shops) tried staples but search gives no results A nice man in our advertising department supplies me with as much as I can carry once they've finished with it. If you work anywhere vaguely corporate you...

Many thanks for that, I felt that the top one was perhaps a bit off. I read on the Signal Box website that two main arms on a single post indicated a junction; the top arm applying to the left hand side (in which case my diagram would be wrong anyway, the small arm and the main arm should be the ot...

Unless there's some regional variation of which I'm not aware, the bottom one is correct for a loop diverging to the left. I'm not even sure the top option is a permitted combination as drawn. If the minature arm had a horizontal white stripe it would be correct for a subsidiary signal, i.e. one all...

It was largely down to the preference of the building/operating companies, each of the pre-grouping companies had their own designs. The Big Four either perpetuated these or designed their own, and BR introduced a couple more designs. Several different designs could be found in the same place if odd...

Hi. Two methods I have used: 1. Mix the ballast with Cascamite powdered woodworkers glue, spread it on dry, tamp it with your finger or a small brush until satisfied with the appearance and then spray with water with a couple of drops of washing up liquid in it. It sets like concrete but you may str...

PC board is usually soldered direct to the underside of the rail. It is strong (comparatively) and easy to adjust if something needs 'tweaking' at a later date - you just apply heat and adjust. Disadvantages are that almost every prototype track fastening system involves the rail sitting on a basepl...

Hmm...maybe its just me but theyre a bit too toy like.... Id prefer this version...though admittedly its a fair bit more pricey! http://www.caley.com/class812.php Oh yes. :D 57572b.jpg One day I'll get round to fitting the handrails. For those who don't already know, 'The Twins' was the name by whi...