Playing Catch-Up (4)

The Revolution Revolution

Not all fbb's readers have any interest in model railways; but developments in the industry have been remarkable over the last few years. One of the more interesting business styles that is growing nowadays is the concept of the crowd-funded model. Here is how it works:-

This is how one company in particular works.

Their latest product is a model of the West Coast Main Line Pendolino.

The next picture is of the model ...

... which, if the overhead gantries were not quite to bulky and over-tall, might be barely indistinguishable from the real thing. This is an "N" scale model running on a track gauge of 9mm or just over ⅓ inch.

The current (February) edition of the Railway Modeller has a review of this model, plus an interview with the Revolution Trains team of Ben Ando and Mike Hale.

The article is a fascinating insight into how this business model works, so buy the Railway Modeller and be educated. fbb was. We may recognise Ben Ando from his work as a BBC corresepondent?

But you will forgive fbb for a further indulgence in the wonder of detail; with working lights at the first class tables ...

... and legible Virgin logos on the windows in each door.

And the price of a nine car train? Don't ask - it's too frightening.

Something Old, Something New

The Pendolino is "manufactured" (in China) by Rapido Trains (from Canada), a company which we have met before as the producers of the Birmingham "New Look" double deck bus. The same gang is creating an OO model of the famous Stirling Single for the National Railway Museum.

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) No. 1 class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. Designed by Patrick Stirling, they are characterised by a single pair of large driving wheels which led to the nickname "eight-footer". Originally the locomotive was designed to haul up to 26 passenger carriages at an average speed of 47 miles per hour (76 km/h).

At the moment Rapido is displaying CAD versions, but they already look good.

But if you go back to 1959 you could have had a non-powered version from Kitmaster.

Of course, if you are not  too fussy about detail or correct scale (or clever enough to fettle it up!), you can get a much cheaper one from Bachmann.; on sale from Amazon at about £80.

The face gives it all away. Emily is one of the many ferroequinological residents of the Island of Sodor where the Fat Controller (played, in his fervid imagination, by your author) and Thomas rule supreme.

At first glance the tender looks taller than the book picture and taller than the Kitmaster model, but compared with the real photo (monochrome above) it looks spot on.  It would appear that the real thing ran with different tenders at different stages of its existence.

Did the real thing ever run with a face?

Sheffield Snow Skid
A bit of bother with the white stuff in Sheffield yesterday.

What the article fails to state is that the bus is the one liveried (by First Bus) as for Sheffield Tramways and Motors, a vehicle which commemorated in 2013 the 100th Anniversary of the first motorbus route in the city. Historically it ran from the bottom of Manchester Road to Lodge Moor Hospital. In doing so it ran along Sandygate Road ...

... the location of the embarrassing slide.

OK, back then the houses weren't there.

For those who weren't reading this blog over four years ago, young Archie Fearnley, son of you-know-who and great grandson of A R Fearnley the General Manager in 1913, rode on the commemorative journey. So did fbb, but he is not so famous.

Yet!

Tomorrow we visit a town, like Kembleford, where a bus station would be an unlikely facility.

White Winter Woodseats Weather
Just received (2130 yesterday evening) a delightful picture from Roy in Sheffield of some weather at Woodseats. First Bus 75 and 24 en route from the southern uplands.

 Next Derbyshire blog : Thursday 18th January