Silver Sidelines

The ex GWR 43xx engines were one of my all time favourite locomotive types.   They were disappearing fast when I was collecting engine numbers in 1959 / 1960 but for me they seemed to epitomise trains in rural central Wales – somewhere ‘magical’ that we visited for holidays!   When Mainline introduced their 43xx models in the early 1980s it became one of my must have engines. 37-091 Mainline 5328 43xx on my Bracken Ridge Layout around 1982 I bought my first Mainline 43xx in 1982 from Modellers World Cheltenham (now the Cheltenham Model Shop).   It was turned out in all over BR black livery with an Early Emblem.   It was priced at £19.95.   It ran very well and continued in service until 2010 when it was sold on eBay for £28!   I seem to recollect that there were lots of black 43xx ‘for sale’ in the 1980s   and I did buy a second model for spares.   The Mainline engine was replaced by a Bachmann model which seemed less frantic than the ...

This Blog entry is about making good a Bachmann Manor.   It could equally well apply to an older Bachmann Hall and I dare say might also apply to Dapol / Hornby Counties, not to mention Granges and the new 28xx. This view above is my version of the Cambrian Coast Express.   I have fond memories of the ex GWR Manor Class engines and Dovey Junction.   As mentioned elsewhere on this web site ‘Dad and I’ had a little look round Aberystwyth Shed in the very early 1960s and couldn’t fail to be impressed by all the spotless polished brass and deep green paintwork.   Needless to say I have had to buy a Manor Class. ‘Dad and I’ had a little look round Aberystwyth Shed in the very early 1960s Back to the present, and not all the shiny models for sale on the Internet turn out to be as good as promised. One of my recent purchases had a distinct tight spot.   A little knowledge is dangerous and I checked all the nylon wheel spacers and even cha...