[Grifter_Guru]

Tony,

I am liking the B12/3 No. 61565, but where are the three maroon Gresley coaches that came with it in the Certified Limited Edition set (1500 L/E Sets worldwide) hiding??

That A2 is a beauty too!

 

[10001]

Hi there Grifter .That is a very good question . This is an example of 'Pick n' mix' I'm afraid , And at this time in the Antipodes I can't find the answer. I know that I bought several B12 s for use as chassis for other models, and that the British Railways body was surplus to my immediate requirements , so it was cobbled to one of the spare chassis as you see in the above post . All very confusing but I do intend to post more details in the future so please bear with me in the meanwhile. I'm sure I have the Maroon Gresley somewhere. When I find them I'll post some pictures .
Thank you for asking the question.
Regards

 

[rb277170]

Hi Tony.

Despite being on this forum for years , just came across the GVR. What a nice layout! Now intend reading back to see what I've missed!

Russell

 

[10001]

Thanks for your reply Russell . I hope you enjoy your ramble through the GVR Journals.
Fred Phflange and all his cobbers and cuzzy-bros down-under wish all forum members and guests a very happy festive season and a good modelling New Year.
Cheers , Tony

 

[Chinahand]

And a Very Merry Christmas to you too Tony. Hope you had a great day.

Did the Santa Special run this year b y the way ?

 

[10001]

Thanks Trevor .The Santa Specials did run as the pics below will show. Firstly BR ex GWR Hall class No5960 Saint Edmund Hall leaving Eccles Junction. The Hall shared this roster with rebuilt Merchant Navy 35012 United States Line.

The Hall again taken during a Crew familiarization trip. Rumour has it that there will be different Locos for the New Years Day trips

Hi Grifter. The B12 train pack (R2134 M ) was not hiding at all , but was in its box together with its coaches ( 2xbrake ends , E10058E and E10064, plus the compo E1000E. Here they are just leaving Bluebottle tunnel. Still lurking somewhere under the baseboards at Greenslade station are tree more maroon Greasley coaches 2x compos R4065 + brakeend R448.

Here are both B12s at Eccles .One of them is due a new running number

Another shot of LNER A2 Sugar Palm . Hopefully this better shot does justice to such a beautiful locomotive.

And because it is so handsome here is a close-up of it at Eccles.

One more stalwart - LMS Ex Midland Railway 4F 0-6-0 No 3851 on a short freight passing beneath the " Birdcage " at Eccles .

Happy New Year to all .

 

[cvr1865]

Good day to you Tony,
A wonderfully happy and fulfilling New Year to you. Firstly may I send my condolences, you are far to close to Australia and you must be copping an additional level of flack after some imposters turned up to try and hold onto the Ashes, fear not we have men out everywhere looking for the real England cricket team and hope to have them restored soon and certainly by the time the season starts in March. If you see them please send them back.

Back to the models indeed, what a wonderful selection of images. The Peppercorn A2 is a real looker and bedecked in the full LNER lined apple green she does cut the mustard and I am sure she flies around the GVR with a great aplomb.

have you seen the Hornby announcements? some lovely locos, Book law? A J15, they would certainly look right amongst the bluebells, or is the the 700 class. Never the matter.

thank you as ever for inviting us into your railway room and please do keep the pictures and adventures coming.

Best wishes
Simon and Norm (wherever he is).

 

[10001]

Thank you Simon for your good wishes . I'm afraid there has not been much done on the GVR recently mainly due to the excellent weather we have been having this Spring and Summer. Although some parts of NZ have had gales, heavy rain and flooding we have hardly had an egg-cup of rain since before Christmas. That means spending lots of time watering the garden. Also I've not been so good, health-wise . However the GVR did have a young visitor from Brisbane last week .On checking out the trainset I found that it wasn't running as good as usual. This was because the track was dirty due to it not being used much recently.So with the valuable help from my wife we managed to get every thing ship-shape and Bristol fashion ,( even if there were no Great Western trains running .

)
We managed to get a couple of hours perfect running ,at times with 4 trains running at once ,some at high speed . It's funny how the youngsters like speed. Anyway we had no derailments , and our guests enjoyed themselves.
Yes I have seen Hornby's announcements. Could be all " pie in the sky ".Mind you I doubt if I can afford all that I would like . I still have some pre-orders to pay for if they ever come .
I'll try to bribe my Lady Photographer to take a few pictures to post shortly .
Regards

 

[10001]

Here is the latest addition to the Goon Valley Railway stock After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity the Duke of Gloucester eventually arrived , but what a disappointment. Placing it on the track ready to run-in I noticed that the left front oval buffer head was missing but worse than that it would do nothing more than jerk 1/2 cm forwards then 1/2 cm back. After a complete inspection I could find nothing wrong. Quartering was OK Nothing wrong with the valve gear ( what there is of it ). Then,even with the help of a magnifying glass I could not find any trace of any lubrication of any sort -- It was bone dry. So I poured in far more than the proverbial drop ,and at last it moved a little, then more oil especially in the area of the gears and it started to move as it should have done in the first place. Now it is fully run -in and hauls quite smoothly, the 8 coach trains asked of it .
It is not worth the postage to send it back to Hornby for the buffer . I have in fact found a replacement
. ( from a Kitmaster Duchess of Gloucester kit )

If you have never seen inside a Duke ,-- here it is

THe Duke hauling a train of BR mk 1 coaches crosses the Goon River bridge

Another new purchase is the Ex Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Aspinal designed 2-4-2T

The Dukedogs were associated with the ex Cambrian metals But a handful was sheded in the Midlands and I remember seeing a few at Banbury. Hence the nostalgia for me. Shown at the head of a B- set in GWR livery , I have not got a BR set

Mainline Royal Scot class 6127 Old Contemptibles can still put in some good service irrespective of its age

I hope you can find something of interest to you .
Cheers

 

[cvr1865]

Hi there Tony,
What a smashing line up, down there. I havn't seen a duke in the flesh before, glad to hear that it does work when coerced. I imagine with more weight in that massive boiler you might manage 10 or more on the flat.

Good to see those older locos, have you tried neo-dymium magnets?

I trust the bachmann locos have arrived in good order and already putting in the turns on the GVR?

Thank you for the update and great to see it.
Hope you are well
Simon.

 

[Chinahand]

All the wrong colour for me Tony but I can still appreciate them for what they are. The Duchess, in particular, is a beatutiful model and reminds me of the first loco I ever had which was a 3 rail Hornby Dublo Duchess of Montrose.

 

[10001]

What Duchess is that Trevor.

I do have a green Duchess of Buccleugh though . Will that do ??

I take that you were not impressed With the Black Dukedog ??

Thanks for your reply . Regards

 

[Alan D]

You have a lovely selection of trains there.

I also noticed your covered bridge which looks very nice. Is it kit or scratchbuilt?

 

[10001]

Thank you Alan . The footbridge is made from 3 x Metcalfe Kits cobbled together.

 

[10001]

QUOTE (Alan D @ 1 Mar 2014, 09:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You have a lovely selection of trains there.

I also noticed your covered bridge which looks very nice. Is it kit or scratchbuilt?

Hi there Alan . You may or may not have noticed this :- there is a bird's-eye view of the footbridge , showing how the kits went together, on post no.526.
Thanks for your interest in the GVR.
Regards ,

 

[10001]

Here is a further episode from the Goon Valley Journals , I hope you find something to interest you.

The first part was made for our youngest Grandson when he visited us some time ago . Needless to say he thoroughly enjoyed his visit. The rest was stitched together from older clips some of which have not been seen before. All done by my fav photographer using Windows Movie Maker.We apologize for the jerkiness.in some places , we are working on it . Any ideas will be appreciated.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/WTdHWObp4Mk?rel=0

Regards

 

[Chinahand]

Great video Tony. Really enjoyed seeing all those different locos in action. Was that a Coronation Scot I saw very briefly ?

 

[Alan D]

Good stuff mate. Nice to hear the kid asking questions.

 

[TidzaBoy]

Tony, thanks for posting a great video of your 'extensive' layout..... loved the double header expresses, most impressive! I really like the use of the layout being on different levels and all the cuttings, bridges and tunnels that go with it..... excellent!
joe

 

[10001]

My thanks to Simon, Trevor,and Alan,for your comments.
Joe thank you for your generous remarks, very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Alan, yes , my grandson is a sharp little fellow. He does ask the questions and so far I've been able to come up with the answers. No doubt he will catch me out one of these days.
Trevor you did see 6220 Coronation hauling the Hornby Coronation Scot seven coach train. I've got two Kitchen Cars to modify and lengthen this train. All I need is another "lifetime" of time.!!!
Thank you all for your participation and thanks to our guests for visiting the Goon Valley Railway.