Weekend Medley (2)

Nice Nostalgic Notice
Remember the launch and development of the High Speed Train?

First Great Western are paying homage to the idea with their upcoming timetable promotion.

fbb likes the allusion, but is not at all sure whether your average commuter from Didcot will spot the nostalgic touch!

It really is SO short sighted of Government to lumber tyhe train companies with the unnecessary expense of "bi-mode" trains when everybody knows that the environmental AND commercial solution is full electrification "all the way". Yes, it is expensive but it will be more expensive when it is done in ten/twenty years time. And more difficult because the railway will be fuller and busier.

Dexterous Skills Delivers Thrills

One of the depressing things about attempting to be a railway modeller is the Magazine articles which explain and illustrate other people's splendid layouts.The latest Railway Modeller mag features Sir Rod Stewart's mega layout (he claims that 90% of the scenery has been built by himself!) located across the pond.

Apparently Rod and his chum Jools Holland actually rang into the Jeremy Vine radio show to expand on their modelling interests.

One article in particular caught fbb's eye. It was a layout in "T" gauge.

"T" gauge?

OO gauge is 1:76 scale (pedantically 1:76.2, apparently). "T" is 1:450. It is a scale used widely for architectural modelling and working trains use the same gubbins that causes your phone to vibrate instead or/as well as ringing. This means the trains either go or stop; there is no deceleration for station stops, so pity the poor scale passenger as he/she is thrown about the carriage!

There is a growing range of stuff available on the market ...

... but most of the scenery on this particular layout is hand made.

When fbb considers the bodge and fudge approach to modelling that characterises his efforts, the skill involved in this set-up (just 2 ft 6 inches by 1 foot 6 inches!!) is astounding. The cottage even has a swing in its diminutive garden.

The HST power car will be about the same length as the cottages above.

A Nose Safely Preserved!

Talking of HSTs (High Speed Trains), it is good to know that a power car in the "flying banana" livery is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.

The power car is named after\Sir Kenneth Grange, credited with the design of its front end.

In an interview soon after the naming, Sir Ken revealed that the redesign from the prototype ...

... was a direct result of thee intransigence of the Unions who insisted in having two men in the cab. So the driver was moved from a central chair thus necessitating a wider window. This change turned something which looked a bit ugly into a thing of beauty!

Far From Naff At Nafferton

Nafferton is a station on the railway line between Hull and Scarborough, one stop north of Driffied.

The station is on the southern edge of the village.

Where once stood the signal box ...

... stands one of those mysterious huts that contain some form of clever signalling stuff.

Note that the old crossing gates showed red rectangles to the road rather than the more usual red discs.

The station building cum stationmasters house still stands but now privately owned.

The village is also on East Yorkshire's hourly route 121 between Hull and Bridlington.

fbb was drawn to this fairly "ordinary" station by another example of railway modelling skills, this time in O gauge (7mm to the foot). It is a superbly accurate model of Nafferton!

You can only admire such skills - even the chimney pots are modelled to the correct but varied heights!

fbb wouldn't know where to start - actually he would know where to start, but would make a pigs ear of it!

Tomorrow we will go for a ride on a slide!

 Next Demand Responsive blog : Monday 18th November