The Repair Shop (1)

Bill Paterson : First into the Repair Shop today with an intriguing object of immense historical significance is the fat bus bloke.

Jay Blades : Hi, I am Jay and you must be fbb. What have you brought us today?

fbb : It is a Triang Transcontinental range Shell tank wagon, dating from 1955.

Jay : Wow, that must be really special for you. What's the problem?

fbb : I bought it on EBay for my world famous collection of OO gauge tank wagons through the ages;  and it looked in really good condition for an old model.

The lettering was all intact ...

... because it has been stamped into the plastic and filled with paint - so no rubbing. The whole wagon looked just like it had on the EBay photograph.

Jay : Not bad for a 64 year old toy that has been played with a lot?

fbb : But when I turned it round, the other side was in very poor condition.

Jay : No wonder you were upset!

fbb : the Shell logo had big bits missing and the access ladder was badly broken.

The end stanchions had also been broken off.

The cross piece should be the full width of the tank. It was in a sorry state.

Jay : So what would you like us to do?

fbb : I would like to have it put back to what it was in the late 1950s; not brand new but complete and looked after.

Jay : We have just the person to tackle this, she is one of the top model railway conservators in the country; I'll get it across to Kathy's bench straight away and she can make a start.

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If only ...

Sadly, it was all a dream.

If fbb were to sort out his dodgy model, he would have to do it himself. More from this emotional tale tomorrow; expect a few tears and some screaming frustration, plus, possibly, an injury or two!

Historic note. Child fbb's first model railway (more a toy train) included a Transcontinental freight train with loco ...

... a gondola car, a box car and a caboose - but NO tank wagon.

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From An Old Model To Very New

News via Tweeterings that Hull Trains (First Rail) has just run its first new class 800 unit into Hull station.

Named "Paragon", appropriately as the station used to be called Hull Paragon ...

... the new bi-modes will replace the company's whole fleet.

Also, beginning to operate between Paddington and Reading in advance of the December timetable change are class 345 Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) units.

One day, possibly before fbb's funeral (?), these will operate through the new tunnels and out to the East. One day? Possibly?

One Twit writer comments that it is, indeed, strange to have Transport for London trains running 36 miles to Reading whilst another comments, "I don't fancy sitting sideways all the way!"

fbb doubts whether many Reading residents would travel all the way, it being much quicker to take First GWR t o Paddington and change there.

And sideways?

Much of the train does have "sideways" seating as on the Underground (and the Overground) but the 345s also have blocks of "normal front/back facing seats.

If, in due course, you are thinking of riding all the way from Reading to Shenfield, please be aware that there are no on-board toilets (and precious few at any Underground station!) so make sure you go before you go.

An Unsolved Mystery For fbb.

Although his desire to purchase stuff for his model railway now needs to be curtailed as he has too much stock, fbb still scans the "pre-owned" pages on Hatton's of Widnes web site. There might be just a few cheapo items that suddenly become desirable.

But the old man was baffled by this offer.

Whilst fbb is happy to buy his distributor plates with bushings already fitted (it saves time when installing same) he really would not appreciator having them ready submerged. Even for £6.

What on earth is this advert about?

Due To The Exigencies Of The Situation ...

... it is not finished yet. But a start has been made with the green!?!

 Next "Repair Shop" blog : Sunday 1st December