Once again we start in the mountains….
But quickly settle down for a little train spotting….
I continue to be impressed by the variety in loco-hauled trains compared with the UK. Returning home on the tram….
Another quiet day mountain train spotting…..
We’re off on holiday this week, so whilst we’re away, here are a few more Swiss photographs from Allan; 2015 this time….
Today it’s trains and boats and planes. But why not start with some awesome scenery?
And this could be an ‘N’ gauge layout – especially the very smooth, uniformly green, grass.
If you don’t take the cable car, you’ll take the narrow gauge rack railway.
It isn’t always sunny in Switzerland – especially when the bus reaches the clouds….
An afternoon on the lake…
And a passing airship (did you spot it in the picture above?)
Finally, today, some preserved steam….
A second boiling hot day in Earlswood, and even with the hall windows and doors open, setting up a circuit brought a sweat on. The Cha(I)rman was back from Switzerland, and in total nine members got to the meeting. We soon had the layout set up and trains running.
Simon had an excellent Santa Fe works train on show, headed by a Mallet with analogue sound. Even this monster locomotive struggled occasionally with the white metal flat cars in the train behind, but it looks most impressive once on the move.
I’ve been wasting my money again, with a second-hand Graham Farish ‘Warship’ diesel-hydraulic. And of course, then I had to invest in a train for it to pull – a mixture of Hawksworth, Bullied and BR Mk1 coaches. It ran very well, and looked good! Having more or less retired on Tuesday, impulse purchases like this will have to be cut down….
And of course, Paul had a few bullet trains on the go.
The Surrey Mirror told me…..
Trains in East Surrey cancelled as work continues to fix hole under tracks
Can’t blame the beleaguered Southern for this one – looks to be Railtrack’s fault. There seems to be a rash of sinkholes appearing in the UK, and indeed worldwide. Perhaps it is because they have become ‘news’, but here in London, I suspect the problem is that our wonderful Victorian sewer network is beginning to give up.
So information like this has appeared for the last couple of days….
And here’s the culprit…..
Looking at this, I realise that this isn’t a sinkhole at all – it’s the hole for the point motor spindle to operate the points. My layout has too many of them. Perhaps there are Tortoise point motors under Forest Hill????? At least we all have a prototype for our holes in the baseboard – even if we don’t cancel all running above.
We’ve seen too much of this on the news recently after all the cancellations of Southern trains to the south coast.
From BBC News
But how about this?
Actually in Osaka…..
Comment on N Gauge Forum…..
Mass trespass at Osaka station
And this is the real reason why trains in Japan are so b****y crowded, because of all the Pikachus who try to squeeze on board 😉
I think I saw this on the news here earlier, but whatever was going on is not all that unusual for Japan so paid it little heed.
It would make something a little different for your platform!
Update: Comment on N Gauge Forum….
Station Master: How do you suppose we’ll get all these Pikachu’s on the next train?
Station Porter: I dunno – Pokemon?
So bad….
I was delighted to receive my long ordered Rapido Osgood-Bradley coaches. I was less delighted that they chose to take the money from my account just as the pound tanked after Brexit!
The Rapido models are delightful, and full of detail. Lighting is included….
Photos: Rapido
They are also not quite right for the Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh ones had a straight, rather than domed, roof at the ends, and were 11, rather than 10, window models. But do I have the nerve to carve up a model like this? I think the Rapido ones are close enough – and I can always invoke Rule 1 – surely you heard about that extra batch of coaches that the Lehigh bought second-hand…..
Rapido certainly show the way as to how to present an undecorated model. Opening the box we see the coach – but where are the windows?
Very sensibly, in a packet under the coach, along with plastic and etched details, and full instructions, so you can fit them after painting. That’s how it should be done.
From the Surrey Mirror, written by John Capon, who knows all there is to know about Redhill and its railways. Read more there….
A new era for local travellers dawned exactly 175 years ago next Tuesday. For on that day – July 12, 1841 – the first passenger-carrying trains started running on the partially completed London to Brighton railway line, writes John Capon.
Just how many passengers were waiting for the first trains to arrive that morning at the station with the rather over-long – but strictly accurate – name, “Red-Hill and Reigate-Road”, is not known. And how many of them, one wonders, were aware how fortunate they were to have a station there at all?
And were they more reliable than Redhill in 2016? Perhaps open to question! The original station was close to our house, and lasted all of two years, before being relocated in Redhill itself. It was a handsome building and would make a good model.
What did it look like? The locomotive was not much more than a steam boiler on wheels, with little if any protection for the driver. The coaches were all four-wheelers, first and second class ones looking a bit like three stage coaches welded together.
Train guards sat uncomfortably on top of the coaches. The fare to London Bridge (Victoria station was not opened until 1860) was 5s 0d (25p) first class and 3s 6d (17½p) second class, which today would be the equivalent of £18 and £12.70, and the train was due to arrive in the capital at 11am, a journey time of one hour and five minutes.
The fares to Brighton were twice what they were to London.There were three more trains daily in both directions, and such was the popularity of the line that at the end of the first week 2,483 passengers had travelled on it, which was surprising, considering that there were still many concerns about safety and security on this new-fangled invention…..
Passengers wanting to travel to Brighton would have had to wait another half hour before the first train out of London Bridge arrived at 10.36am. Because the line had only been completed to Haywards Heath, passengers had to leave the train there and transfer to a horse-drawn coach to take them on to their destination, arriving at 1.30pm.
After a slow start to the afternoon, I had to slip out of the meeting to go and see the venue for my son’s wedding in August. After this visit, I came back to find the hall heaving! There were about 15 members and visitors….
It was good to see Nick Falconer, Nigel Arnold and Richard Oliver who dropped in to discuss linking up their Koenighafen layout with our N-club and N-mod at Stuttgart. they brought their end boards to link to N-club….
Good too to see Sean (and Sean jnr.) along with his new layout Forrestone. It’s coming along very well, and should be ready to exhibit at next year’s ESNG show….
Meanwhile, on the small N-mod circuit we put together, Tommy was trying out his bullet train, Paul was running the usual Japanese goods trains, and Derek was testing an old Graham Farish DMU from Martin’s stock….
One puzzle remained at the end of the afternoon. What was this piece of plastic found on the hall floor. Neil suggests a piece from an old Graham Farish Pullman car?
And of course the evening ended with a curry. A poorly attended curry, I must say, with just the four of us – and three of them were me, my wife and my daughter!
Thanks, Simon, for this link to YouTube, after our discussions about the state of the ESNG modules….
We were worrying yesterday about the state of some of the layout. Take a look at some of the prototype!
Normally, it’s long perspective shots that appear to show really bad trackwork, whilst in reality it’s perfectly laid. This video, however, seems to have track as bad as it looks. Look at those waggons tilting all over the place. It would take real skill to model this and keep the train on the rails!
Nice graffiti on the train as well. And even Switzerland has the attention of the spray-can vandals. Allan reports….
Just goes to show it happens out here as well. Two coaches of a class 500 ICN got well and truly raged. This was at Bellinzona today. We waited for the next ICN back to Luzern and was treated to a smashed window in the restaurant car. What is Switzerland coming to?
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