One type of shop that always appears to keep going is the 'charityshop'. What with MIND, SCOPE, PDSA, RSPCA, OXFAM, British HeartFoundation ( we have two in our town ... one for small items the otherfor electrical goods and furniture ), Age Concern, CancerResearch .... the list goes on and I might just add all mostly run byvolunteers and going a great job.I always try and take a 'look see' and occasionally get somethingworth the visit.The other day was no exception .... an open top vintage bus by Lledoand a book entitled 'How to go Railway Modelling' by Norman Simmons.Its 216 pages contain a wealth of information with illustrations andblack & white photographs. The book in question was presumablydonated by a G.T.E. Eastwood ( or one of the family ) and was awardedas 'The Junior Prize For Pottery' on the schools speech day in 1979and still had the original price sticker of =A34.50 !The other day members of the forum were advising on scale speeds oflooo's, well it's all here. N Gauge plus HO and O and OO / EM ? /Protofour ? all grouped together. So for my sons OO layout hisshunter will need to travel at 46 feet per minute for a scale speed to40 mph.A detailed list of gauges Z, OOO, N, TT, HO, OO, EM, S, O & 1.Something I had not seen before was a photo of a PECO catch point usedfor deliberately derailing runaway loco's.It even had a photo of a Austrian Lilliput HO-9 1st / 2nd composite 4-wheel coach which would be an ideal substitute Henrietta for my son'sToby Tram.At the back it has a list of manufacturers, suppliers, stockists plusloco's kits & models. A quick look shows many of the county listedstockists are no longer in business.It is a bit of a history book and an ideal '1st step' as many of hispoints are still valid today !Chris

Yesterday, I visted my parents for a barbecue. During the afternoon, Iwent for a poke around the sheds to see if there was anythinginteresting there that had arrived since my last visit - I'veinherited my dad's magpie tendency and often find myselfcongratulating him on some new item of junk that he's acquired from ahouse clearance, auction or whatver, much to the annoyance of both mywife and mother who have to put up with all the stuff hanging around.Anyway, I didn't find anything new yesterday, but in the course ofchecking a corner of the shed that I hadn't previously investigatedclosely I found something of mine that had been left behind when Ileft home - a large box of Railway Modeller magazines, mostly datedaround the late 70s and early 80s. My second task, having locatedthem, was to smuggle them out of the shed and into the car without mywife noticing :-)I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time reading them - a lot ofthose magazines were where I learned most of the hobby...

How to go Railway Modelling by Norman Simmons

Aug 18, 2007 23 Replies

Rate this thread:

Christopher A.Lee 18 years ago

Crertonford and Maig?

Vote

Jane Sullivan 18 years ago

In message , Paul Boyd writes

P D Hancock's Craig and Mertonford

Vote

estarriol 18 years ago

Heeeeheeeee I fear we might be. Its good memories to relive though. Sometimes reading through the likes of MRJ its so po faced and technical I forget its supposed to be fun sometimes.

Vote

MartinS 18 years ago

If you can live on macaroni cheese.

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required