HahaWe had some Esso & Shell fuel delivered in a couple of wagons last Friday, so we have enough for a couple of weeks!
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"WOOL SHORTAGE INCOMING - MAKE SURE TO STOCK-PILE HERE NOW - WOOL PRICES ABOUT TO SKYROCKET"
Well, dear listeners - I've just been past Mrs Miggins' wool shop and there's a sign of the most incredible curiosity outside - the contents of which I could not wait to impart to you, and so I shall attempt this forthwith.*
It reads:
Seemingly our Maureen has gone completely off the rails (much like the Class 47 going around the layout the other night). Either that or this is some clever marketing technique - which means Mrs Miggins has been replaced with some fake (given that she had the IQ of a marrow) and I assume the real one is already at Dover boarding a ferry to the continent with Mr Miggins with a ticket for the Orient Express leaving Paris Gare du Nord at eleven o' clock this evening as we speak...
I'll be passing the shop again soon so I'll try and get a photo of this most interesting sign.
-Peter
*(I don't really know where this all came from - it sounded funny to me but that's probably the effects of staying awake too long)
I like it. It’s like a cheese dream soap opera.
Watch the Onion News Network on you tube if you like those sort of stories, its very funny.
The stories from Oldmoor are nothing if not predictable and unbelievable...
(Well they make people laugh so that's good enough, surely? )
-Peter
I'll be sure to give them a watch - you'll know if I've seen it because the stories on there might start to, ahem, influence the events in Oldmoor...Watch the Onion News Network on you tube if you like those sort of stories, its very funny.
Just in case you don't get it, these are fully believable news broadcasts, just not real. The 9/11 interviews over the new WTC are hilarious!I'll be sure to give them a watch - you'll know if I've seen it because the stories on there might start to, ahem, influence the events in Oldmoor...
-Peter
Ah cool - thanks. I expect that could've caused a bit of confusion without knowing they're not realJust in case you don't get it, these are fully believable news broadcasts, just not real. The 9/11 interviews over the new WTC are hilarious!
But the train was OK! lol and it was only a plastic passenger . . .I doubt that kind of story will be making its way to Oldmoor anytime soon!
-Peter
That's a good idea - but I'm not sure the Replica Railways models had that feature unfortunately. The pin on the tender is part of the underframe and sticks out and then up from the front of the chassis - there doesn't seem to be a way of removing it.I may have misunderstood the issue, but some steam loco's come packaged with a short drawbar and a long drawbar. Would using a longer one not solve the issue?
There's just something about the Modified Halls I really like - the overall design just works better in my eyes than on the original versions.It is a nice looking loco too btw
Ah OK - here's the underside then (sorry about the poor quality):Hi Peter, I don't think Iskra meant the part attached to the tender but rather what it hooks into on the loco, perhaps we could have an upside down coupled photo for a good look The tender to loco gap looks about right, maybe the original model had alternate footplates. I guess you could always Email replica in the hope someone is still there that remembers the model. Nice looking loco from me too, I like Halls as I had a very good runner in N gauge with a Farish loco.
Yup, I did timed at 23:40 on 6th.
So sorry I didn't respond to this earlier @Cowley - thought I had but completely forgot. That could be a good fix actually. One of the many joys of the forum: there's almost always someone around who can answer your questions!It looks to me like this has been altered to close the tender up to the loco perhaps so that it could be displayed in a case rather than run on a railway?
Could a simple fix be to just make a small tab with a hole in it for the pin and then glue it onto the existing tab so that the gap is extended by a few millimetres?
Again - sorry I didn't see this before. Not sure if I did get a notification but glad that @fourtytwo respondedI’m putting a second post in here Peter to see if you (or anyone else) gets a notification of a new posting when they automatically merge?
Let me know tomorrow please mister.
On the subject of new acquisitions (funny given the thread title), this arrived the other day:
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It's one of Accurascale's MDV wagons, and part of the run by model railway YouTuber Jenny Kirk as a special commission (hence the "JK" logo on the side, which is supposed to be a graffiti tag). It's a lovely model - if not a bit pricey at £30 - and comes with sprung buffers and more detail than you could shake a 1:76 scale stick at. There are a couple of other special bits, those being the "Empty to Wear Yard" text on the ends of the wagon; Jenny Kirk's layout is called Wear Yard so it's a nice thing to put on there.
Apparently the number of the wagon is different to the others in the range so it's more of a special item but I only know that because I heard someone say it! It runs really well, as should be expected for a wagon made now, and is overall a cool addition to Oldmoor.
Thanks! I've not yet tested to see what the town scene will look like with the new buildings but it should look quite nice. The main thing to consider is the path in front; the kit comes with a base to put the building on, and that comes with a stretch of pavement at the front of the building. I might end up cutting that down to allow it to sit flush next to the pre-laid paving slabs or I might remove those and try to squeeze the base in. What a Countdown conundrumThat’s a good bit of progress on the buildings Peter. The town scene must be looking good now,
I like the Castle very much, that’s a really decent looking model. How does the TTS sound work on it?
Finally - something happening in Oldmoor, courtesy of a birthday the other week (well, everyone's entitled to one ).
I've started putting this Metcalfe Coaching Inn kit together and it's coming along nicely. It's currently plonked (technical term) on the layout in a rather unsuitable location because I needed my desk for other things (apparently model trains aren't as important as one might like to assume!):
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Apologies for the rather odd angle on the photo - I've just taken it now and was just trying to get it done quickly
It's an interesting kit, formed of three separate buildings which you then glue together. It forms an L-shape to create a small yard in the back - for which I'm yet to make the brick wall to surround it. The slightly-shiny bit on the edge of the roof closest to the camera is from the paint pen we talked about when it came to road markings a while ago (blimey that must have been a couple of months ago now? Can't be, surely) which I thought might have helped hide a small mistake with the craft knife but it's not worked amazingly well.
There are loads of things which need to be done before the building goes on the layout but hopefully it should be on there within the week (famous last words...).
There's also a church kit to build, to replace the now rather-battered one which was on the layout when I started this thread last year. That kit got dismantled (well it wasn't really held together to begin with) and then put in a series of boxes to then be rebuilt later on but it never happened and the card got more and more squished until it became more effort than it was worth to repair it. The church and the coaching inn should hopefully finish off the buildings for Oldmoor town centre and then work on the roads can continue again!
Another new addition to the layout is this wonderful 'Castle' - 5050 Earl of St Germans from Hornby:
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It's second-hand but to be honest, I really don't mind as it still works really well. The only problem is that it's missing the smokebox door handles but I can replace those I'm sure. It comes fitted with TTS (Twin-Track Sound) from Hornby - one of the things I was looking for in a new engine. I don't always run engines with the sound on (if applicable) but it can be nice. Sometimes this loco seems to be a bit indecisive when it comes to running - it'll slow down occasionally but whether that's just the superelevated curves or not I don't know. It looks quite nice next to the 'King' and having them both sitting around idling with the sound on is very nice indeed!
A couple of other additions to the layout:
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This rail-replacement bus. I'd been looking for a bus to go on the layout at some point and this seemed like the ideal one; I know pretty much nothing about buses but this one looked nice and the livery finished it off I thought. Also just noticed that this shot makes at least a tiny part of the town look somewhat finished!
And a final addition - this MDV wagon. I've already talked about it on the What's your latest acquisition? thread so I'll just quote my original post here.
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Thanks for reading! Hopefully there should be some more posts coming soon given the projects I've to work on now.
-Peter
I'd like to be able to say "they don't operate that often" given they're rail-replacement buses, but given the service provision (or rather lack thereof) of trains in Oldmoor a lot of the time, I fear this bus is going to be rolling through Oldmoor a bit more often than hoped...I didn't realise that Routemasters operated in Oldmoor
Thanks! I've not yet tested to see what the town scene will look like with the new buildings but it should look quite nice. The main thing to consider is the path in front; the kit comes with a base to put the building on, and that comes with a stretch of pavement at the front of the building. I might end up cutting that down to allow it to sit flush next to the pre-laid paving slabs or I might remove those and try to squeeze the base in. What a Countdown conundrum
It really is lovely. It fills a gap in the GWR line-up on the layout - now there's a pair of Halls, a King, a Castle, and a handful of other classes. It's turning into Didcot over here!
The TTS is just a DCC sound decoder but on a budget (the decoders in that range cost ~£40 I believe). The Castle has about fifteen or sixteen different sounds - including the ability to change to "coasting" sounds when running so it stops making "chuff chuff" (technical term) noises. There's also a "fireman's breakfast" sound - guaranteed to make you hungry with the sound of bacon frying on the shovel!
It's called "Twin-Track Sound" because the decoder will play two sounds at the same time - i.e. the idling sound (or the chuff-chuff sound for that matter) and then something else on top, such as a whistle (of which this engine has three or four versions), the fireman's breakfast, or the guard's whistle, etc.
-Peter
You're very welcomeThat’s very helpfully explained, thanks for that.
You've just given me a brilliant idea - a bus service between the two pubs! Pubs are definitely the heart of a lot of small villages and so having another one for the centre of the town was a must. Definitely go for one if you've got the opportunity - great little things to add to a scene because you can do so much with them.That's excellent that you have a pub and a bus now! Two model railway cliches that must be indulged I nearly bought a (model) pub myself recently, but I must have been feeling particularly sensible at the time and didn't bother- I'm sure one will be along soon enough! 10/10 for doing the Metcalfe kits, I find them a bit too faffy to be honest.
The sound quality is alright - nothing to write home about but nothing bad to comment on either. I'm not sure it needs any more bass because else it can be too deep. There's not a lot of space in the tender for the sound to reverberate but it seems to work.The Castle looks excellent- how do you find the sound quality on it?