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Now sold.

Big move from Gretna to El Paso.

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:14 pm Big move from Gretna to El Paso.

Will be joining my Hornby tollgate, sent 2018!!
Ted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpDzLoPMRIg

An invaluable addition to Henley. This sort of thing is simply unheard of on this side of the pond.

You have put a lot of work into your layout since I last saw it Chops!

I was bit by the British railway bug back in '66, and have never recovered. My first was a circle of track and a wind up Wrenn, I believe. For certain I still possess one its wagons, which I run every excuse I can get. You know, Mountain, it's funny, there are days I wished we never left. At the time, at least, it was an organized, sensible country, and always a treat to the eyes. Some people say, "oh, I wish I could go to Las Vegas," never been myself, but have seen its sister cities in Nevada. Anyone is welcome to it, I rather yearn to walk the cobble streets of York or immerse myself in the woodlands of my youth. What drives model railroading, I am convinced, is nostalgia.

Nostalgia. Yes.

It is strange the things we love and the things we miss when they go. Example is some of the fondest memories I ever have of working on the railways were working class 143's as they were so nice and user friendly and thrilling to work. The sound of the raspy exhaust. The thrill of the ride! The speed wobble at the back when exceeding 68mph and the amazing sight in the cab when the thing was touching 85mph and closing in on 90! (They were only "Supposed" to do 75!) There was nothing like it to work and the closest I can say was a 142 though 142's have a softer bouncier ride and are less like a racehorse that the 143's are. 143's make one cling on for life especially when they had the lighter weight floors and the old bus-like lighter weight seats in them! (They had thicker floors put in to take the old revamped seats out of the class 158's and the 158's had brand newly designed seats as Wales and West (Wales and Boarders... Same people) was a very good company and very forward looking who resisted hiring new units because they decided to redesign what they already had so they could make them more reliable and better for the passengers. Example is the W&W 158's had 40 separate redesigned modifications and as these units we worked had been gradually upgraded a bit at a time, we did not realize just how much the units were improved upon until Arriva took over and went on a cost cutting spree and let go of our upgraded 158's and instead took on unmodified ex. Central Train 158's because they were cheaper to get, but they were so aweful with non working air conditioning and sometimes broken or poor dirty seats and broke down so many times! Passengers and traincrew didn't think much of that decision, and the nearly new 175's were a right pain to work. Back pain due to having to continually twist while working them which took 2 years to subside after I left, and the only place one could operate the doors from was the rear cab! When they said they wanted to work them on the Heart of Wales line it was time to leave the company as that line had so much walking back and fore to do and stopped at so many places that one could not even hope to collect and issue tickets AND try to keep the train on time. Was a stupid idea with a 175 as I remembered when (Before they were modified by Wales and West) I used to work the 150's where at the time one could only switch in to operate the doors from inside the cabs and they were a lot easier to walk through then 175's, and one knew one had a tough time when one of them was sent up there, and we were told that the 175's could not be modified.

But I LOVED the 143's! Even worked them on the lower half of the Heart of Wales line and the passengers loved them because they could see out of them. (Sadly they could not be taken round the sharp curves so Crewe traincrew did not sign the 143's back then to avoid anyone forgetting and attempting to take one on the upper half of the line! Nearly got the 143's stuck a few times on the sharp curve heading west coming out of Swansea. Was almost entirely wedged in on the checkrail once and if it wasn't for the drivers persistance in wiggling the thing we would have had to wait an hour to be pushed from behind to get free!

Memories!

What "Hit me" though in the feeling that things would never be the same again was when they retired the HST's. They were jolty things to travel on though, and I didn't really like them as they were slow in accelerating (I would often catch them up at every signal if working with a 143 behind them even though every stop I left to time and they were only calling at the main stops! I was stopping at every stop!) But when they retired the HST's it was like something had snapped inside me and I broke down in tears! I don't know why, but it was the sudden realization that things would never be the same!

Now sold and delivered Thank you

Remarkable memories, Mountain Goat.

It is 3:30 in the morning, and I finally had the chance to open this large box delivered a week earlier from the UK. It was packed with such care and attention, that had it been tossed from the aeroplane and landed in the yard it could not have been more secure and every remarkable item immaculately intact.

I could model something stupid, like the Santa Fe railway in HO, but what would be the fun in that? These structures are simply not to be had at any cost, locally, and it with great thanks to Sandy that I have come across them at all.

This marvelous collection will occupy a large vacant lot to the South of Henley. My next task is to figure out what would be a reasonably appropriate arrangement, for I have no idea what a British collier would really look like. Of course, Henley had no mineral interests, but the thing of it is to attempt an essence of Britannia, and this rather does it. All I need is to liberally apply some of Steve''s jaggy for a better effect.

Henley dates its origins to 1179, where in my residence of El Paso, the aborigines were living in mud and branch wattles. I can't quite a grip on the actual raison d'etre of Henley. From what I read it seems to have grown around being sort of an administrative center. If anyone has better information, please do share. In the meantime, a spur is being laid in to serve coal production, and an additional, dedicated branch line is being laid in to provide adequate transportation to and from the village proper. Generally reminiscent of Mountain Goat's charming recollections of local rail services.

As to the lovely Toll House, it had to be moved to allow for the new double track extension to go through. In preparing the road bed, large quantities of Iron Age asparagus jars were unearthed. Just joking (as the new HST lines are laid in Britain, troves and troves of history are uncovered at a dizzying pace).

The Toll House is again reflective of my childhood sojourn in this astonishing land, as one of father's chief interests was to motor around the navigable canals of Britain. And some years later, Ireland. The Thames River, such as it is, will either be relocated to the Toll House's proximity, or perhaps acquire a sharp bend to accommodate it.

I had rather intended to holiday in Britain three years ago, just as Covid blanketed the world. Thus far, I remain unscathed, but international travel to see some of this stuff in person has been sharply curtailed.