Trainboy and company

GNR-Gordon-4, I liked Arthur, and yes it is a shame that a Hornby model of him will unfortunately never be created. I just hope that Bachmann will someday create an Arthur model. I wouldn't have minded having a Hornby Fergus the traction engine either, but I could imagine that Hornby would have had a hard time trying to make him. I do have an ERTL Fergus the traction engine, and I either put him on a flat bed so that he can be pulled along by a Hornby locomotive, or I sometimes put him on the track as a non-moving locomotive with some wagons behind him to make it look like he is pulling a line of trucks.

ThomasTankEngine, I couldn't agree more. I liked Ringo Starr's narration the best, and even now I still like to watch Thomas the tank engine episodes as a guilty pleasure of mine. I personally view the old-style Thomas as suitable for all ages and a prorgamme you can never be too old or too young for, wether you are one year old or 103 years old. 😀 I haven't seen any of the new CGI episodes and I know absolutely nothing about the new characters, but I have purchased a couple of the newer battery powered trains so that I could use the shells to make custom models.

GNR-Gordon-4, I personally thought it was rubbish after series 5, but that is my own personal opinion. I did watch a couple of series 7 episodes on Youtube. Fergus and Emily got on my nerves a bit, but I quite liked the look of that big red LMS Ivatt Class 2MT called Arthur.

I was quite into Thomas the tank engine when I was a young boy. I read all of the Railway Series books, and I watched the older episodes narrated by Ringo Starr and a couple narrated by Michael Angelis on the television. I think Thomas the tank engine is what inspired me to take up my Model Railway hobby. I only watched episodes from series 1 to series 5 as a young boy. I have quite recently watched a couple of series 7 and series 8 episodes on YouTube, but I personally wasn't too keen on them, because they seemed too modern for my liking. I didn't like the look of the new characters like Fergus the traction engine, Harvey the crane engine, Salty the dockyard diesel etc, and I hated how they got rid of the original opening title and changed it to the "They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight" as heard today. I prefer Ringo Starr's narration, to be honest, because I grew up watching the series 1 and series 2 episodes narrated by him.

GNR-GORDON-4, Will I need to have a word with Adam?

GNR-GORDON-4, Please don't be disappointed when it arrives. It is used, and it does have some wear. I will have a look for it tonight. If I do find it, I will send you a picture of it to give you an idea of what it looks like.

GNR-GORDON-4, What is the administrator?

GNR-GORDON-4, I would give it to you for free as well. It is my way of saying thank you for making me feel happy in this forum. 😀 If I can find it, I will give it a good clean, I will repaint the worn areas and I will send it to you in the post.

GNR-Gordon-4, If I can find it, I will send it to you in the post.

GNR-Gordon-4, I bought my Ertl Lady Hatt around 2003, when the Ertl range was relatively new and you could get them in places like toy shops, post offices, newsagents etc. It did come in a double pack with an Ertl Fat Controller figure. If you really want the Lady Hatt figure only and don't want to buy The fat controller as well, it may be worth looking at different car boot sales across the UK (assuming you live in the UK), because I have seen quite a few Ertl trains and figurines knocking about in quite a few car boot sales. Or, I would be more than happy to give you mine, though mine is in quite bad condition and smells quite musty. If necessary, you could always repaint it.

GNR-Gordon-4, I just use a standard 1:76 Hornby flat bed, and that can carry my Ertl scrap Trevor. I also use some of the Ertl people figurines for layout as well. For instance, I have Ertl figurines of The fat controller (Also known as Sir Topham Hatt in the USA for political correctness) Lady Hatt, Dowager Hatt, Mrs Kyndley and a driver. I use all of those in my layout, and they have a lot of detail and are quite robust to say they are considered toys.

For example, I have put my Ertl scrap Trevor on a flat bed and had the Hornby Thomas pull him along, so as to recreate the Ringo Starr episode "Saved from scrap".

One thing I do with Ertl vehicles and some of the smaller Ertl trains is that I put them on a flat bed that is being pulled along by a Hornby loco with their goods train, which makes the Ertl train/vehicle seem like a non-moving locomotive that is being taken for repairs.

GNR-Gordon-4, I go there every Saturday. It is just five minutes from where I live. It is a shame you live too far away from it, because yourself and the other forum members would probably like it there. The man who owns it is lovely, and all of the stock is reasonably priced, hence why I got the clockwork Thomas passenger set for just a tenner! 😆 Also, if you are saving up for a certain locomotive or other model that is in there, the man willingly keeps it at the back of the shop for you to collect when you have enough money.

GNR-Gordon-4, It is called JRS Models in a town in the North West called Ashton Under Lyne.

GNR-Gordon-4, I know. It is a great model shop, and I am good friends with the man who owns it. He has all kinds of different models in there. There are Hornby trains, rolling stock, Corgi cars, occasionally the odd train set, diggers and much more. It is my favourite place to go to.

GNR-Gordon-4, I like the clockwork models, and I couldn't recommend them enough. I was quite lucky to get a second hand Clockwork Thomas train set from my local model shop that came with the clockwork Thomas, Annie and Clarabel, and a circle of 00 gauge track one time for just a tenner. All of the parts were there and in good working order, so it was excellent value for money if I say so myself. The only disadvantage I had with that set was that I couldn't add the track that came with it to my railway layout, because it seemed to be a different type of metal to that of the nickel silver track that you run the electric locomotives on, and there was no power flow from the track included in the set whatsoever. The electric locomotives ran on the nickel silver track fine, but their power cut out as they went over the track included in the set. It couldn't have been that the said track was dirty, because I oil the track regularly and I particularly gave the track included in the set a good clean before using it.

GNR-Gordon-4, I think the track pieces just clip together? I personally haven't owned any Ertl track pieces myself, so I wouldn't know how they connect. But, yes, it definitely doesn't beat a Hornby or Bachmann collection of Thomas locomotives. I only have Hornby Thomas locomotives, but that won't stop me investing in Bachmann locomotives in the future. For my Hornby Thomas locomotives, I currently have an R9283 Thomas, a clockwork Thomas, an R9290 James, an R383 Gordon and an R9284 Percy. I hope to invest in Devious Diesel, Oliver and Bill and Ben.

GNR-Gordon-4, I prefer Hornby as well. In comparison to Hornby locomotives, you can't really do much with Ertl locomotives. Ertl never made any track or sets for them from what I know of. The only things you could do with them are to push them along on your floor (Unless you did what I did and created your own track for them out of pieces of cardboard. 😉), or keep them on a shelf for display purposes.

@Carltonf. Yes. I think that car was called Caroline. I did have an Ertl Bertie the bus, but I think I sold it on a car boot sale a long time ago when I got rid of all of the old ones I had when I was a boy. I had quite a few of the original paper face trains, which are now quite expensive to buy on Amazon or Ebay. Most of the model shops I have been to have a box full of miscellaneous die cast cars and so on, and I have found a couple of Ertl trains for 50p each in there. I personally think the Ertl trains were the best Thomas the tank engine toys out there, because they were durable and were of great play value.

@Howbiman. Yes, I know this is the Hornby model railway forum...I can read. I was merely asking wether the other forum members use Ertl trains and vehicles in the background of their layouts, like I do. I put this in the Thomas the tank engine section, where anything Thomas related can be posted. I wasn't asking for knowledge and facts about Ertl models. I was only asking if any of you use them as background models for your layouts.

I have an Ertl George the steamroller, an Ertl Sodor taxi and an Ertl Butch the breakdown vehicle in the background of my 00 gauge layout. I quite like the Ertl die-cast trains and vehicles, even if they are more considered "toys" rather than scale models. They are almost indestructible (Unless you set them on fire or smash them with a mallet) and they have a lot of detail for children's toys.