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What's your latest acquisition?

Cowley

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My new bank suggested I test my new debit card/account on an online purchase, so I purchased a preowned Bachmann (not Mainline) Class 46 Peak.

Peaks did run into the Southern on MGR & Derby-Brighton passenger workings, so in my world it's been borrowed to work micro services on my layout :D

Nice. I used have one of those that I picked up from the model shop in Alton. Someone had gone to town on detailing it with white metal replacement bufferbeams and pipe work, a sealed beam headlight and other things. It looked really good.
 
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PeterY

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I went mad and treated myself to a Bachmann class 150.

I like a good problem, I know, I need some more track to make the sidings longer and space for my locos. . The problem is my furniture :D :D :D I'll figure it out. :DIMG_3821.JPG
 

Cowley

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I just won this little beauty on eBay for a fairly decent price (these days) of £32. It’s going to have lights fitted and become part of my mixed mail train.
@reddragon will appreciate this coach I reckon. ;)

11463F57-BFDC-494A-ABA3-2302456F1F19.jpeg
 

Iskra

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Yeah me too. It’s like a whole train in one coach. :lol:
Yeah :D Very useful for allowing first class provision on smaller layouts that can't justify a whole 1st class coach in the formation :)

I suspect they feature disproportionately frequently on model railways compared to their historic use!
 

Cowley

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Yeah :D Very useful for allowing first class provision on smaller layouts that can't justify a whole 1st class coach in the formation :)

I suspect they feature disproportionately frequently on model railways compared to their historic use!

Yes. Might have to have a trolley service though.
 

hexagon789

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Yeah me too. It’s like a whole train in one coach. :lol:
To the point that when smoking was permitted you had:

1 Second Class loo
2 Second Class Non-smoking compartments
1 Second Class Smoking compartment
1 First Class Smoking compartment
1 First Class Non-Smoking compartment
1 First Class loo
Van space

Though, it would seem they were never used as the ultimate 'short train' in this fashion. Their main use originally seems to have been for portion working as a Composite brake and generally with a Second coach rather than alone.

Mind you, how about the early morning Aberystwyth-Shrewsbury train - Class 25, one CK and one BCK. Forget where I've seen that photo, might be a book but it struck me as a good prototype for a two-coach train in the early 1970s.

Or there's the Far North when Wick/Thurso each had a separate portion, BSOT+TSO to Thurso was the norm for a period in the 1980s. Wick got 4 coaches, the height of luxury!

It has often struck me as more interesting than surprising that two coaches seems to have been the minimum length under BR, I've yet to find a booked single coach working prototype. On the continent meanwhile I've found plenty of trains in the same period of the 1980s/90s where you did indeed have single coach loco hauled trains.

Perhaps the UK requirement for a "brake" vehicle robbed too much room for a single brake coach to suffice capacity wise, or that below two coaches a DMU was more economical?

Just some musings, apologies for going off on a bit of a tangent.

Yes. Might have to have a trolley service though.
The Thurso portion of the 1980s provides a prototype for that ;)

Yeah :D Very useful for allowing first class provision on smaller layouts that can't justify a whole 1st class coach in the formation :)

I suspect they feature disproportionately frequently on model railways compared to their historic use!
I would argue so, not to belittle such use - as always Rule 1 applies if desired - but as I outlined above, BCKs don't seen to have been used in such a fashion so far as I can tell.

Wot not WR?
Its an interloper ;)

(Passports at the ready... :lol:)
 

Cowley

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To the point that when smoking was permitted you had:

1 Second Class loo
2 Second Class Non-smoking compartments
1 Second Class Smoking compartment
1 First Class Smoking compartment
1 First Class Non-Smoking compartment
1 First Class loo
Van space

Though, it would seem they were never used as the ultimate 'short train' in this fashion. Their main use originally seems to have been for portion working as a Composite brake and generally with a Second coach rather than alone.

Mind you, how about the early morning Aberystwyth-Shrewsbury train - Class 25, one CK and one BCK. Forget where I've seen that photo, might be a book but it struck me as a good prototype for a two-coach train in the early 1970s.

Or there's the Far North when Wick/Thurso each had a separate portion, BSOT+TSO to Thurso was the norm for a period in the 1980s. Wick got 4 coaches, the height of luxury!

It has often struck me as more interesting than surprising that two coaches seems to have been the minimum length under BR, I've yet to find a booked single coach working prototype. On the continent meanwhile I've found plenty of trains in the same period of the 1980s/90s where you did indeed have single coach loco hauled trains.

Perhaps the UK requirement for a "brake" vehicle robbed too much room for a single brake coach to suffice capacity wise, or that below two coaches a DMU was more economical?

Just some musings, apologies for going off on a bit of a tangent.


The Thurso portion of the 1980s provides a prototype for that ;)


I would argue so, not to belittle such use - as always Rule 1 applies if desired - but as I outlined above, BCKs don't seen to have been used in such a fashion so far as I can tell.


Its an interloper ;)

(Passports at the ready... :lol:)

Interesting stuff. I reckon one of these tucked behind a 33/1 with a load of vans behind would make a pretty good Southern Region night train. It’ll need weathering first though. ;)
@reddragon - I hadn’t noticed that to be honest!
 

hexagon789

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Interesting stuff. I reckon one of these tucked behind a 33/1 with a load of vans behind would make a pretty good Southern Region night train. It’ll need weathering first though. ;)
@reddragon - I hadn’t noticed that to be honest!
I think it will, yes.

I have a BCK myself lined up to form part of an evening Perth-Arbroath stopper - Cl. 26, BCK+BSK based on a photo of said train taken at Perth in 1982, I think standing in for a unit. A neat little two-coach train.
 

Peter C

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I just won this little beauty on eBay for a fairly decent price (these days) of £32. It’s going to have lights fitted and become part of my mixed mail train.
@reddragon will appreciate this coach I reckon. ;)

View attachment 104522
That is a lovely little coach - the idea of a "whole train in one coach" sounds like something you'd see on a tiny little light railway somewhere to save costs. The detailing looks very nice on it.

-Peter
 

Cowley

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That is a lovely little coach - the idea of a "whole train in one coach" sounds like something you'd see on a tiny little light railway somewhere to save costs. The detailing looks very nice on it.

-Peter

I agree Peter. The next thing is to get three sets of coach lighting kits so that I can run a four coach passenger set at night, and hopefully when Bachmann bring their class 101 out with DCC sound and interior lighting next year I can do a proper night running timetable.
Basically now the railway is done I’m just going to concentrate on stuff like that.


I have a BCK myself lined up to form part of an evening Perth-Arbroath stopper - Cl. 26, BCK+BSK based on a photo of said train taken at Perth in 1982, I think standing in for a unit. A neat little two-coach train.

Stop tempting me with this Scottish naughtiness!
Although I wouldn’t mind a look at that photo if you have it to hand? I mean it can’t hurt to look can it..?
 

Peter C

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I agree Peter. The next thing is to get three sets of coach lighting kits so that I can run a four coach passenger set at night, and hopefully when Bachmann bring their class 101 out with DCC sound and interior lighting next year I can do a proper night running timetable.
Basically now the railway is done I’m just going to concentrate on stuff like that.
Ah cool! Night running is always interesting to see on a layout; probably because it's quite difficult to do if the layout's in a big room with other layouts (or people for that matter) which need light so I assume that's why you don't see it all that often at exhibitions?
That Class 101 sounds (accidental pun) very nice. Having a few different trains with lights really makes night running worth it.

-Peter
 

hexagon789

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Stop tempting me with this Scottish naughtiness
Who me? <D


Although I wouldn’t mind a look at that photo if you have it to hand? I mean it can’t hurt to look can it..?
I'll look it up and try and post it tomorrow. Just need to remember which Flickr account it's off of.

Ah cool! Night running is always interesting to see on a layout; probably because it's quite difficult to do if the layout's in a big room with other layouts (or people for that matter) which need light so I assume that's why you don't see it all that often at exhibitions?
I think it requires a fairly dimly lit room to have any noticeable effect, but in a suitable environment I've been impressed by many efforts of a number of layouts. There was one on a DVD I have which was my first introduction to 'nighttime' layouts, can't remember the name but it was set permanently at night, very atmospheric.

Then you have layouts like Waverley West where they look equally stunning day or night.
 

Peter C

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I think it requires a fairly dimly lit room to have any noticeable effect, but in a suitable environment I've been impressed by many efforts of a number of layouts. There was one on a DVD I have which was my first introduction to 'nighttime' layouts, can't remember the name but it was set permanently at night, very atmospheric.
Definitely. The idea of a permanently-night layout does sound interesting; I suppose given people model certain seasons and some people get very specific on modelling on day (I'm fairly sure I've heard of at least one example of that in the past) or a given set of days in a really specific time period, it's not a major leap to model just at night.

Then you have layouts like Waverley West where they look equally stunning day or night.
That does look superb. It's just trying to get the balance right between "too many" and "not enough" in terms of how much lighting you add I guess?

-Peter
 

hexagon789

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That does look superb. It's just trying to get the balance right between "too many" and "not enough" in terms of how much lighting you add I guess?
Like so many things, I think that would be down to trial and error to see how it looks but also personal preference.

Oh Waverley West looks amazing!
I've found the photo, unfortunately I got some things slightly wrong(!) :oops: :

1. A 27 not a 26
2. 1982 not 1983
3. BSO+CK not BCK+TSO
4. The BSO is a Mk2Z not a Mk1 (which actually makes the set more interesting I think)
5. It wasn't the account I was thinking of, but it is the right photo
6. In my defence I did at least get the service correct! (1710 PTH-ARB) 8-)

(Link to photo on Flickr, photo copyright to the KDH Archive):

Funnily enough that's the same account which produced a photo which is now the inspiration for a 47/7 on a non-push pull working which I've added to my "fleet" plans.
 

hexagon789

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Iskra

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It really is the sort of perfect short train. Or even a prototype for bargain basement coaching stock, easy enough to find random coaches like that sometimes at exhibition stands.


I think mine, without looking, is an Eastern (E) coach, with B4 bogies rather than Mk1s.
My Blue/Grey Composite is also an Eastern Region example :)

Speaking of composites, a couple of my latest acquisitions have arrived to add some more variety to my coaching stock. The first is from TMC and is lightly weathered. The second I picked up at a good price from a model shop that is closing down. I feel these pre-Nationalisation coaches offer a little more character than MK1's.

thumbnail_IMG_6320.jpgthumbnail_IMG_6321.jpg
 

Peter C

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Speaking of composites, a couple of my latest acquisitions have arrived to add some more variety to my coaching stock. The first is from TMC and is lightly weathered. The second I picked up at a good price from a model shop that is closing down. I feel these pre-Nationalisation coaches offer a little more character than MK1's.

View attachment 104618View attachment 104619
Those both look very nice. I'm not very good at pre-nationalisation coaches really but at a guess (and looking at the numbers it turns out) is that blood-and-custard one from the LNER, and the maroon one from the LMS? There's something about them which just says "posh" I think.

-Peter
 

Iskra

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Those both look very nice. I'm not very good at pre-nationalisation coaches really but at a guess (and looking at the numbers it turns out) is that blood-and-custard one from the LNER, and the maroon one from the LMS? There's something about them which just says "posh" I think.

-Peter
Yes, you are spot on! The LNER is a Thompson coach and the maroon one was an LMS design, but actually produced by BR. I think the round windows give them the posh look!
 

hexagon789

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My Blue/Grey Composite is also an Eastern Region example :)

Speaking of composites, a couple of my latest acquisitions have arrived to add some more variety to my coaching stock. The first is from TMC and is lightly weathered. The second I picked up at a good price from a model shop that is closing down. I feel these pre-Nationalisation coaches offer a little more character than MK1's.

View attachment 104618View attachment 104619
They are sone lovely coaches, though being an LNER man myself (my great-grandfather was an engine driver for said company) I'm more partial to LNER designs such as like the 1938 'New' Scotsman and the various streamliner designs, and the semi-streamlined Thomsons of the later-1940s.

I've never been taken with LMS designs, they never looked as 'clean'-lined or modern as the LNER's in my opinion, though the "portholes" aren't too bad one of their designs I do like, nice one in your pair of photos.
 

Peter C

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Yes, you are spot on! The LNER is a Thompson coach and the maroon one was an LMS design, but actually produced by BR. I think the round windows give them the posh look!
Ah cool - it's quite interesting how much grouping stock was built under BR really isn't it? I suppose it's to be expected but it's quite funny to see what is quite clearly a pre-nationalisation design which wasn't built by the company it was designed by.
One thing I'd love to see replicated (though not on every model; the prices would be astronomical) is some of the fancy bits (technical term) inside coaches like that. Hornby have their K-type Pullmans IIRC, which have lights which light-up on the tables, so maybe there'd be a market for little 3D-printed bits you could stick into coaches like reading lamps? Not sure I'd want to have to design them and fit them though :lol:

-Peter
 

hexagon789

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Those both look very nice. I'm not very good at pre-nationalisation coaches really but at a guess (and looking at the numbers it turns out) is that blood-and-custard one from the LNER, and the maroon one from the LMS? There's something about them which just says "posh" I think.

-Peter
The LNER one looks to be of the Thompson-design that you can see in the film Elizabethan Express in the formation of said train.

Ah cool - it's quite interesting how much grouping stock was built under BR really isn't it? I suppose it's to be expected but it's quite funny to see what is quite clearly a pre-nationalisation design which wasn't built by the company it was designed by.
One thing I'd love to see replicated (though not on every model; the prices would be astronomical) is some of the fancy bits (technical term) inside coaches like that. Hornby have their K-type Pullmans IIRC, which have lights which light-up on the tables, so maybe there'd be a market for little 3D-printed bits you could stick into coaches like reading lamps? Not sure I'd want to have to design them and fit them though :lol:

-Peter
I don't think anything other than Pullmans had the table lamps. Overhead lights could work or if small enough LEDs could be used to replicate reading lights in compartments?
 

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