I have been searching Sunnybank for a photograph taken in 1962 but to no avail.

Why the photograph, well it was of a three rail Duchess of Montrose hauling a 16t coal wagon around an oval of track, my second train set.

You may ask what's so special about that, well it was what was in the wagon, certainly not coal.

Sat in the wagon was a day old poult or chick if you prefer. This chick was part of a small consignment due to catch an early morning train.

My Dad at the time worked for a small hatchery in Luddenden Foot sat between the River Calder and the Rochdale Canal he had brought this box of chicks home on the bus, they were booked on a train from Mytholmroyd in the morning and my dad was to put them on the train on his way to work.

Interestingly Mytholmroyd was home to Thornbers chicks whom distributed chicks all over the country, they even had their own dedicated loading bay at the station.

Mind you it was some 12 years away from entering the world of N gauge.

No chicks were harmed during the writing of this post.

Quote from: Newportnobby on April 07, 2026, 09:26:32 AM

Quote from: GrahamB on April 07, 2026, 08:26:17 AMI cut the Dapol magnets in half. They can tend to splinter so care is needed.

@GrahamB That's my intention. Can I ask what you used, please? Cutting disc? Razor saw?

Razor saw. VERY slow and gentle cuts.

Quote from: GrahamB on April 07, 2026, 08:26:17 AMI cut the Dapol magnets in half. They can tend to splinter so care is needed.

@GrahamB That's my intention. Can I ask what you used, please? Cutting disc? Razor saw?

Following a cardiac scan, the pneumonia is off the table but the diagnosis is severe heart failure. One side of George's heart is not moving, hence the shortness of breath.
The poor lad is being transferred to a cardiac ward. He's really going through the wars

Yes, I have that track on their "Live in LA" release*, haven't heard it for ages!

Tim

* try this Martyn @port perran

I've not come across The Rippingtons before but very nice indeed.
I'll be listening to some more.

Another from the GRP label: Rippingtons Miles Away


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynduhf-c2YI

To answer a couple of  points;
I cut the Dapol magnets in half. They can tend to splinter so care is needed.
With fixed rakes I use a combination of medium/short or short/short couplings to achieve as close coupling as possible. I then use Dapol Easi-shunt couplings at each end, again a mixture of medium or short.
I'm not aware of anyone supplying Easi-shunts already fitted but it's an easy unplug/plug in process.

If anyone thinks using these couplings is a slow, painful process, I volunteer at the Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre (AIMREC) https://aimrec.co.uk/ refers. On the Gresley Beat our longest train is around 82 wagons long – all coupled correctly with three link or screw couplings. We think very hard before varying the rakes!

Here I am, new to the hobby, 8 years later, have spent weeks researching couplings so I can make sure I have the best chance of reliable coupling and auto uncoupling in a ready to run fashion, without modifying anything.

Are there wagon brands that come ready to run with Dapol easi shunts or similar?

Quote from: emjaybee on March 28, 2026, 10:54:05 AMOkay, the flashbacks are happening.

My early model railway experience was the obligatory 'O' tinplate. We had enough track for a oval & a siding. I can remember the builders doing our family extension winding up the loco for me & setting it off. That was 1973.

Then came my first trainset.

My first set too, but about 5 years earlier, with birthday presents over the next few years, some GWR carriages, a hall loco, plus a few other items created my first scenic layout 6ft by 3 ft.. loosely based on the station  my grandfather worked at.. very loosely, in oo gauge that station is 32ft long!!!.
Sadly no photos..

Also Sadly when I went away to work my nephew's and nieces destroyed it,..
I still have the remains of the rolling stock..

Soon after I got my first N gauge rolling stock, but that was left at my parents while I moved again and disappeared..


I now have 2 N gauge layouts and an HOe layout under construction, having worked on club layouts in various places during my previous peripatetic life