Time to stop spending money :D

Picked up a second-hand Dapol/Airfix B-set from Trains4U along with a pack of Bachmann couplings+pockets. just in case I have any more accidents (while James' unofficial Aunty R was buying him some more track).

Also scored a Slaters' Toplight brake 3rd kit on eBay.

Tonight I'll be eBaying a few Wrenn wagons, some Super 4 /and/ HornbyDublo track, and assorted tatty Triang/Hornby stuff, and seriously considering listing the slightly-out-of-period Jubilee to see if I can raise the readies for an unrebuilt Patriot or Royal Scot.

A Happy New Year...

I'm sure there's a reader or two out there :D

Last couple of days small achievements:

• Body swap on the Bachmann Pannier - amusing how all the guides just assume you can get the couplings off. In fact, the mounts have to come off with, and it's surprisingly easy to break one, which I did. Trip to Trains4U tomorrow - Gareth reckons he has one in his spares box.
• Finished the weathering on the Lancashire Coke Co wagon.
• Had a very interesting read of a GWR steam in the 30s book - fascinating to discover just what a mess the average rake of coaches was - things like local passenger trains made up of a clerestory, a B set, two Siphon G's and a NE perishables van, and semi-fasts a huge mix of Colletts, toplights, clerestories... None of these perfect rakes of uniform, pristine coaches!
  
  

Getting my hand back in...

So, I 'found' a bunch of my old wagons to give to James today. He won instant brownie points by agreeing that some of them looked horribly 'plasticky' compared to some of the newer Bachmann ones he has, so we took a trip to Trains4U to pick up some Humbrol acrylic paints to see what we could do about it.

For starters, I grabbed one of a pair of Hornby Silver Seal 'Lancashire' 7 plank coal wagons, and started out by painting the inside an old wood brown, and picking out the outside metal framing in dark grey.

Considering its the first time I've picked up a paintbrush in anger since about 1990, it went well. It already looks miles better, but tomorrow I'm going to paint the underframe and make a start on weathering it.

Time to hit eBay

This is, of course, entirely separate from James' shopping :D

Aviva very kindly dropped a rebate cheque in my lap last week, so I've been trawling eBay for stuff to add to my collection, which can (of course) magically appear later (good job James' doesn't read my blog).

First arrivals today:

• one DCC-fitted Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T in LMS lined black. Lovely model, marred only by the plastic holder on the underside of the coal bunker for the bush for the body-fixing screw having cracked, and thus the body being loose. After five minutes or so of figuring out which bit was supposed to be connected to which, some careful application of superglue seems to have fixed the problem. Note to self - need to check my LMS livery history to see if this requires a repaint.
• a pair of Hornby GWR clerestory coaches (one composite, one brake). Yes, I know they're not entirely prototypical, but they're so damn pretty.
• one DCC-fitted Bachman 56xx 0-6-2T (obligingly reset to the default 03 DCC id by the seller). This is in post-'42 unlined green with the G W R lettering, so I foresee a quick repaint and some HMRS transfers in the offing.

Coming soon:

• one Mainline 43xx Mogul in lovely pre-'35 unlined Brunswick Green with Great Western lettering. This'll need a trip to Trains4U for chipping, along with my 2721 once I've found it a new chimney cap.
• another pair of Hornby clerestory composites.
• a pair of Mainline panelled LMS coaches.

There's a bunch of stuff still on watch, so we'll see what ensues - I have my eye on a Bachmann Jinty or 57xx, possibly both, as well as a bunch of wagons. Further down the line I'm after a Bachmnan LMS G2, a Fowler 4F and 2P, a 28xx 2-8-0 and maybe a Patriot or a parellel-boiler Scot, along with some Colllett GWR coaches and a B-set. Oh, and LOTS of vans and coal wagons.

Christmas Shopping

Some browsing on what my friend Rick calls the 'electric interweb' suggested that what would be ideal was the Hornby GWR Western Pullman DCC set with a Castle and a pannier. Sadly, this seems to be out of stock everywhere, so I went for the next best option - the Cornish Pullman set.

I should at this point probably add that I'm a Great Western fan - always have been. So James was always going to get something in Brunswick Green - gotta start 'em early.

Off to Trains4U, and some discussion later, I came away somewhat poorer. The Cornish Pullman set and a Bachmann Dynamis controller will be ready on Saturday once the (legendary) Gareth has DCC-ed the loco - all at a price that 'er indoors approves of, too. Also (and on MY card) a couple of s/h Airfix wagons, and a couple of catalogues!

Introduction

So, what's Onnybrook Junction?

It's a fictional junction roughly where Craven Arms is in real life, on the LMS/GWR joint line between Shrewsbury and Hereford.

I've been a fan of railway modelling for ages, but never really sat down to do anything serious about it. My dad built a 14'x9' 'roundy roundy' in our sun lounge for me when I was in my early teens, which never got beyond white painted baseboards (I believe Mum insisted on that!) and cardboard platforms, on a mix of Peco Streamline and Triang Super 4 (some of the former may well get reused!). Since then, I've not really had the time or space to do more than cast covetous glances at odd copies of Railway Modeller on the train. Well, that and pick up a Hornby 2721 class pannier which has been sitting in my desk drawer un-run for 7 years.

This year, however, my son (who's coming on 10) wants a train set for Christmas. The wife paid a visit to Trains4U here in Peterborough and came back with loads of information which, bless her, she assumed I didn't know and proceeded to explain to me in great detail for 20 mins. In which, of course, I wasn't allowed to get a word in edgeways! Having (tactfully) explained that yes, I knew most of that (in fact, had forgotten more of it than she knew), it was decided (I was told, in other words) that James was getting a decent DCC train set. It also turned out that Anne's idea of 'decent' was surprisingly, not 'something laid on the carpet for the cats to play with'.

So. Much discussion later, it was agreed that we'd get him one of the Hornby sets and a temporary 6'x4' baseboard for the TrakMat that would sit on the seldom-used dining room table. and IF he showed an interest (pause for behind-the-hand paternal laughter here!) we'd look at something a little more substantial and permanent.

Result, I'd say. Our house is a late-1800s place with an outbuilding, and at least two useable 12'x12' rooms in the main house. There's nowhere really practical for a continuous loop, but I don't see that as a problem. For a while, I toyed with 2 x 6'x2' and 2 x 6'x1' round the walls of one of the 12' square rooms in a U: eventually, though, I think I've settled on the music room. The music room is about 12'x'35' in one of the outbuildings, but about 2' of the width is taken up with amps and speaker cabinets, so I have an eye on a 2' or 2'6" wide run down one long wall and round a corner. Some building work may be necessary first, since one wall is somewhat damp due to a slightly leaky roof.

But that's later. For now... off to Trains4U.