Lack of Update

I have started working in April and I have been busy since. The plus side is the increase in funds I can use on the Model railway.

Currently I am collecting Intercity liveried coaches and locomotives, unfortunately Graham Farish and Dapol have no Intercity branded locomotives, unless one looks for second hand. I am still collecting steam era locomotives and coaches, but I also want to run some more modern coaches and locomotives on my heritage rail. Of which I am still in the design phase, I keep on getting interesting ideas that start off good, but then take up too much room.

Anyhow a list of my recent purchases:

Locomotives:

• Class 86 Bo-Bo Electric 86415 Triple Grey 'Distribution Sector'
• Class 5700 Pannier 0-6-0 4 in BR black with early crest

Coaches Locomotive Hauled:

• Mk3 - 1st class Intercity Executive ( x2)
• Mk3 - Buffet Intercity Swallow
• Mk3 - 1st class Intercity Swallow
• Mk3 - 2nd class Intercity Swallow (x3)

Wagons:

• 20t EX-LMS Brake Van BR Grey
• Conflats BR Bauxite with AF containers BR light blue (triple pack)

and I have on order:

• Class 43 HST Book Set in Intercity Swallow
• Mk3 TGS Intercity Swallow (x2, HST)
• Class 3F Fowler Jinty 0-6-0 tank in BR black with early emblem
• BR Mk1 57ft Suburban Second Open in crimson (x2)
• BR Mk1 57ft Suburban Brake End in crimson (x2)

In regards to the HST, it is a better deal to buy the bookset than to buy the spare part unpainted motorised power car. At least with the bookset you get in addition to the motorised power car,  two coaches and dummy power car. My plan is to have a full HST rake with both power cars motorised, which means transplanting the frame from one motorised power car to a dummy power cars shell. From there I plan to have one of the dummy cars sit in my maintenance depot as apart of the scenery.

As for the suburban coaches, I have a Class 2MT Ivatt 2-6-2 tank locomotive that is push pull fitted, and thus want to convert one of the brake end coaches into a push-pull fitted driving unit. I plan to have a push pull rake of four coaches.

And of course my planning is still an ongoing journey as shown below. The biggest issue is keeping the length down to 3-4 metres.