No pictures today

Jealous, officially
 
But of course ...
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YES!!! I got one! A very rudimental kit by Apocopa of the Billard A80D 4. Where the 4 stands for a specific version which was slightly larger ( 1,2 meter) and 20 cm smaller than the regular A80D. So I’ve been told. This specific version was in use exclusively by the RTM in the Netherlands.

I knew Apocopa made these kits but i did not succeed getting in touch by Max, the owner, until a few weeks ago. I had a friend who speaks French fluently call him to get all the details and order the Billard.

And today it arrived! In a wooden custom made box, very well packaged.

Now it only needs a few bits here and there... ;-)

I am SO happy to have this kit!!!! Hope to start it soon, but i first have to finish the Backer & Rueb.

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All the bits ‘n’ pieces

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Very desirable Kit, go nicely with a Corpet of two. So similar to the French ones that it would match nicely.
 
Next step is along the road into the village under the viaduct. In front of the wearhouse.
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I don't see another thread covering this line, so I thought I would share these snaps from my visit on Saturday. They normally run diesel railcars, but on summer Sats alternate between steam and vintage diesel specials. Their diesels are prototypes of popular LGB models. HQ is Gmund, right on the Czech border, which has a direct connection to Vienna, while Prague (from where I travelled) takes 3 - 3.5 hours. Gmund is a pleasant little town for an overnight stay. Do not on any account be tempted to stay on the Czech side in Ceske Velenice. If you are perhaps tempted by the thought of superior Czech beer then book into Ceske Budejovice, which is less than an hour onward by train from C. Velenice.

Attachments
 
ic today is a scene from Coal Valley Mining, the indoor layout of the G Scale Society North West Region, at the West Midland's Group's annual exhibition, Solihull, 11.2.2017.

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Earlier this year took a ride on a Hastings Diesel from Tonbridge to Lowestoft where the unit was parked-up in the station for three hours or so:

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My grand parents lived on the approach to Lowestoft Central (as it was known those days) and I spent many an hour watching the trains from the top bedroom window of the house second from the left:

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Back in those days (late 50s/early 60s) there were allotments where the bushes now are. In those days you could see the front door of the house from the train!
 
Morning world, I must be getting older... Getting excited about using oil. On my furniture...
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Bright, cool morning :cool:, so forth I sallied ...

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... and by 0820 EDT I had levelled the trestle deck on the bent, screwed them together and aimed the assemblage northwest towards the back fence ...

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... and ready for the next stage, the curve to take the line from northwest to west(ish). This will take some time: the ground is definitely not level.
 
ince the weekend, I've been messing about with some Bachmann coaches .....

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I can see the pictures but i think we need to make a determined effort to help Rhino if he is still having problems.

Paul
They come and go - I'm waiting until I've re-negotiated my broadband service - and it won't be with BT or Sky which, in our area limits things somewhat. According to U-Switch, many providers won't work with the ancient Openreach (BT) kit in this area, despite the fact that our cabinets were 'upgraded' a couple of years ago.

I need to get on to it now, as my current contract runs out in 2 or 3 weeks' time :rock::rock::rock:
 
ould this be the prototype for R1 radius track and LGB 10000 straights....


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irst up was to set things down and do a little measuring. All the bits on the workbench with the inevitable Schweers and Wall book of the Harz Drawing as a starting point. Plus my rough sketch of what could be possible. I have a need to keep this to the 60cm around max length. You can see that the bottom sketch blew this some, but the revision on top was near enough so time to get cutting.
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But first some destruction and as with all things PM this was not quite so easy. On the Loco however there are some screws to undo as shown in the pic below, my felt tip lines show where they are. The Bogies popped off with a little brutal shove from below with a good large screwdriver. All of the Lighting Electrics were also taken out at this stage for possible future use.
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But before any cutting I marked up the Chassis and Body to set the parts as the Chassis is ended!
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Time to start cutting so careful lines were added using a Pencil and trusty Metal Tool as shown later. Here can be seen the Body with the lines of cut marked up.
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Cutting was done with a trusty Razor Saw using the deepest blade possible and brand new one at that. Here you can see the result of around 30 minutes work and the Tools used.
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The underneath of the Chassis will have some of the mouldings left over from the Bogie Holding Tabs, these and the buffer Heads have all been removed and sanded clean as were the cut area’s of the body etc.
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Next up the Coach demolition. The Bogies on these are a tougher nut to release due to the lack of access for the same big screwdriver. So a smaller one below and one to press one of the Tabs in below with a lot of grunt soon had the 4 Bogies removed. Then as per the Loco. Marking up and cutting. The Chassis part of the Coaches has some pretty deep plastic that the Razor cannot get through due to the depth, the trusty Mini Drill with a Round Saw Blade soon saw to this and the unwanted parts were removed. A sort of Corridor Connection is at each end and this pops out easily with the application of the screwdriver. Again the Buffer Casting and unwanted mouldings are removed from the end with the Razor Saw and some serious Sanding.
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Next up underneath there is the Bogie Moulding and another to remove, another job for the MiniDrill and it’s saw blade.
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Finally having done the devilish deeds of trashing 3 perfectly good PM Models it was then time for a rough to see how it would all hang together. Pretty well meets the needs though somewhat longer than wanted as the ruler will show. However it may still fit the run-around at Harzegerode, time will tell.

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