Caledonian Railway Association Forum

Not only great to see the loco at work, Dave, but it was a delight to see all the work on your layout. Thanks,
JimS

Four minutes well spent by your lineside, Ross.
A wonderful variety of stock to behold. I didn't expect the Birdcage ones, though.
Many thanks,

JImS

Instantly, it exudes the Caledonian look all right.

JImS

Thanks for those, Ross. Very nice work, and such important vehicles for atmosphere.
JimS

The inquiry into the whistle or two of Cardean was inspired by Donald Yule as an aspect of the story of his family. He eventually published the account and sent us a copy. He has asked me to greet all members once more and to draw your attention to a new small book of little tales based on historica...

Tony asked what I use myself for lining. I have two Swiss Kern bow pens, which are no longer available. The first must be about 40+ years old, and was expensive in those days. The second came from a batch which the Scalefour Stores came by a few years ago and sold off very reasonably. Both are an ab...

And now for something completely different . . . . During the lockdown I have been doing quite a lot of lining models using bow pens and compasses. In my collection thereof I had forgotten that I have two examples of instruments which are alleged to have been liberated from St Rollox. Some pictures ...

On the Fairfield engine, I thought I would mention, in case anyone is not aware that it now resides in the Museum of Scottish Railways at Bo'ness. In the last year it acquired the livery and signwriting of an earlier era than that quoted as being in the book. Incidentally, it reverted to the bow tra...

This may interest those staying at home. It's a bird's eye view of the old Caley routes to Leith and Granton superimposed on today's scene.

https://youtu.be/xYZ4cfJDTHE

And if you want to go by the other railway, then look at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EHRQYC ... e=youtu.be


JimS

I always thought these wee pugs had delusions of grandeur, Steve.
But what value for money!

JimS

That's really coming to life in the late sunshine, Paul.

JimS

Thank you, David and Michael. That seems conclusive. Nice that we have been able to help Hamish Stevenson whose photographs and talks have entertained us so often. For myself, I only ever saw Dumbarton Goods from the train but remember thinking that the location had attractive modelling possibilitie...

Can any of the sleuths identify this picture of a goods shed, please?
Hamish Stevenson took it, but unusually for him did not record the details.

JimS

As Lindsay has already said, thank you Dave for a splendid and useful picture of a 670. And thank you for the remarks on point rodding and stools. I say that with feeling, having spent much of yesterday wrestling with making up some etches thereof. You alarmed me however that I might need many more ...

P113 of Operating the Caledonian Railway Vol.Two mentions Villa tickets and describes in the following pages how the Caledonian set about developing residential services.

JimS

Tony, To my mind, the notable thing was that whereas most of us would have one example of a class of locomotives, John had proper fleets of various classes. One lovely scene was where he took the roof off the main station to reveal Kippendavie at a Boardroom table ruling that the Caley should not be...

Just for the record, I can confirm that John's artwork was shot down to 4mm, by John, along with 0-4-0ST no.140 of 1853 and 0-4-0T no. 583A . Together they formed a fine jigsaw on one etched sheet, and I had to enlist the assistance of the late Peter Johnson and his 7mm versions to understand what w...

Jim, Just a warning before anyone wastes too much time, for the last three or so years, current versions of Microsoft have not included the useful "Picture Manager", but have the too-clever-by-half "Photos". I haven't so far found it handy for downsizing, and use Photoshop. But Picture Manager was s...

Here are the photos of the original which Michael has but the pictures of which he was unable to upload to the Forum.


Very useful, and thank you Michael

Glad to hear you are back in business, Jim.
I echo the others who have expressed admiration for that quality work.

And Alan's bespoke holder for his model is definitely worth the time taken.

JimS

Carina, Dear old John Boyle did an etch under his Decent Models brand. I cannot recall where or when I got it, and indeed only rediscovered it the other day. Picture attached, I hope. The arms are fractionally over 3mm in 4mm scale. I only have the one etch, it is not enough to equip your fleet, but...

That's an interesting one, Graham, and I don't have the answer. I can say that they were not specified in the BoT Requirements and Recommendations.

As a guess, I'd say the width of a platform barrow plus half as much again, but I hope someone might know better.

JimS

Just a word of appreciation for your efforts, Neil.

I am rather pleased at how many of these I have accumulated over the years, but now I know just what my gaps are.

JimS

Regarding the termination of communication cords, Nick Holliday has pointed out that the picture of the fish truck on p164 my "Operating the Caledonian Railway Vol. Two" shows the cords on a low-sided truck and how they were tied back when not in use. And so it does, very usefully. The sentence in t...

Thanks Alan. You have quite cheered my day, not just by the skill displayed in the completed model, but by the discovery that it is not just me who forgets things until they become awkward. You can guess that I have just done so on the scratchbuild I have in hand. I remember Chris Pendlenton once re...