What’s your modelling inspiration?

[81F]

Some of my earliest memories is being sat looking out of a window at a railway bridge at the bottom of our road which carried the single track line between Kennington Junction (south of Oxford) to Prince's Risborough (then truncated as far as the car factory in Cowley and seeing the occasional train of car transporters waiting at the bridge pulled by some blue diesel or another.

Sadly we moved away shortly after I started school as a "rising five" so this must have been circa  1971. A little later my father started tio help with my Great grandfather and great Aunts Allotments at Cripley Meadow, Oxford which was right next to the sidings just north of the former GWR loco sheds (by then demolished). However, I found little to be inspired by the incesent stream of class 47s and soul-less DMUs. However, the inspiration did come from a trip to the GWS at Didcot and seeing Pendennis Castle on its last trip before it went to Australia and my first electric train set (the 1975/76 GWR freight set) and a visit to Pendon.

I was fortunate to witness some of the last vestiges of the GWR before they disappeared at varous places particularly when on trips out and I think it was this coupled with several old films and the memoirs of the Fireman Harold Gasson that fueled my interest in all things GWR. However, My interest in the Glyn Valley Tramway came about as a desire to create as much of a complete railway as possible (not difficult with around a dosen coaches and only four locos!

Oddly old age has brought about a certain level of nostalgia about those blue boxes I found so boring at Cripley Meadow hence my growing collection of second-hand Lima Diesels (I'm not that nostalgic to fork out on any of the new ones!).

[Rana Temporia]

81F those Lima diesels were the best available at the time. The Mainline Peak may have had better detail but the pick ups were rubbish and the Jouef 40 was a bit too wide. The Lima ones will basically go on forever with a bit of TLC which is easy as they were designed to be simple to maintain. They also have a distinctive smell when running. You can even replace the motors with one of the CD motor kits off eBay if you want something that runs a bit smoother and quieter. Personally I’m happy with the Lima ones. 

[81F]

Hi Rana,

 

They are also so easy to hard wire DCC and although noisy I do like the way they growl, although not quite the right sound for any particular diesel it is a t least a bit better than the steam equivalent chuff-chuff fitted to the Triang B12 and Hall and presumably not really intended!