Do you remember when.......

I remember my first train set - 1946. Sigh ...

- Tension lock couplings were all the same size, shape and height as each other.

- There was a magazine called Model Railway News.

- You could get loco wheels from Romford and Hamblings.

- You could get coach and wagon wheels by Jackson and...er...

- Astrac was the control system of the future.

- Ready to run locos were available in one livery - only.

- You could buy new H&M point motors.

- You could buy Peco Wonderful coal, mineral and salt wagons.

- Railway Modeller cost 2/6.

- Every town or suburb had a model shop.

- There was an Easter exhibition every year at Central Hall.

- You had to cut etched name and number plates to shape yourself.

And how many will be honest enough to say that they still have kits/projects started in that era but whose metamorphism into models/layouts dreamt through teenage eyes is unlikely ever to happen,The disruption of the grand plan caused by Girls ,marriage, career,house moves ,financial crisis and all the other things that life throws at people.

G.Harman

If you buy Kings Cross plates you still have to do that!

I know - back in the 60s they were the only ones you could get! I still have some in the spares box but they are unlikely to see the light of day.

They've been around for that long? They must count as one of the longest standing brands still around, surely!

I got a copy of the 1954/55 Gem cataloge today.

Cheers, Simon

The message from "Lobby Dosser" contains these words:

AoL. Dad brought it back from Belgium when the war ended... O gauge tinplate, 3-rail "oval", a very modern looking EMU with interior lighting, white light at the front, red at the rear. 20 volt supply (the controller ran my Meccano motors long after the train had died) which gave one of my Dad's mates a shock when he used his tongue* to check if the controller was working after the train stalled... When it worked it looked fantastic to my young eyes.

[* using the tongue to short out the terminals was a standard method of checking to see if a bike lamp battery was still working]

Remember when if the RTR model wasn't exactly what you wanted, you'd repaint/detail/convert it into whatever you wanted [1], rather than complain that the manufacturer got it wrong/wait for the manufacturer to produce what you want.

[1] e.g. convert a (diesel) class 37 into a 23 and mount it on a modified 29 chassis. Someone from De Haviland club used to do regular Railway Modeller articles about these sort of conversions.

PhilD

Those bike lamps were heavy. Must have been the equivalent of 4 D cells. I was using the same style lamp as late as 1958. Seems like I had something smaller when I cycled through Ireland in 1963.

Postal problems?

Railway Modeller articles about these sort of conversions.

Monty Wells, 'though more detailing jobs than conversions.

Just hadnt thought to order it - hadnt even thought till mid 1955.

Prices?

Graham Farish made far better OO points and track than Peco, in a better range and with live frogs? Ordinary points 10/6

Paul

Prices will look lower than they really are. In real terms (ie, the amount of time it takes to earn the moolah required to buy the model), today's prices are lower, and the product is better. Much better price/quality ratio.

Prices have risen approximately 40-fold since the late 1940s (house prices have risen more than that.) According to an advert reproduced in the The Hornby Companion, Vol 3, a goods train set (EDG7) cost 135/- in

1947, 6 pounds 15 shillings, or 6.75GBP. It comprised an 0-6-2T, two wagons, and a brake van. It's not clear whether that included track and a controller, although the ad states that "complete sets only will be sold for now." In today's money, that would be about 270 pounds....

cheers, wolf k.

I remember assembling a vast rail line in the back garden using our uncles' clockwork Hornby train sets and track, along with the set of our friend across the street. The line was so long that most engines wouldn't traverse it on a single wind-up. Grandpa didn't mind until we decided that the flower bed, which was raised above the level of the lawn, would be ideal for building a cutting.

cheers, wolf k.

Yep, there were 4 UK locos (presume OO) that could be bought complete or as diecast body with chassis kit and wheels/motor etc. Complete fully painted with X5 motor was GBP7 8s and 8p plus GBP1 6s and 4p postage. Catalogue 1s. Gem established in 1929 !

they even did track and points - perhaps theyre own !

Got catalogue for GBP1 along with some excellent photos of Claughtons in LNWR livery from GCR at Loughborough.

Cheers, Simon

plus presumably as this is a luxury niche market it wont necessarily follow the prices of a basket of required goods

Cheers, Simon