This is the direction my railway is headed, mostly Southern Railway(UK) style

[emdmike]

Classic Aster Schools class 4-4-0 from the Southern Railway(UK). This was Asters very first model along with the JNR 2-6-0 back in 1975.  I was but a very little boy back then.  Alcohol fired Smithies type boiler, very smooth running and very basic compared to what Aster is making today.  But based on solid 1930's Gauge one designs with internally fired boiler and classic almost tinplate styling.   I have coaches on order for delivery this spring and I found some bits of the original Aster coaches of which I think I can build up atleast one complete car and hopefully the 2nd one with some repair work and replacing some missing bits.   Enjoy!     

[emdmike]

As my railway is mostly closed for the winter as the ground around it is quite muddy, atleast till we get even colder weather, I am busy fitting RC control to this speed queen.  Like most Asters, she likes to run fast, after all it was an express train locomotive, pulling trains like the "boat trains" to Southhampton taking travelers to board trans atlantic ocean liners like Olympic(sister to Titanic). 

The RC control helps me with my anxiety of a very expensive engine going wild and derailing or rolling over on the curves on my raised railway.  Since the tender only carries alcohol in the forward tank, and no water in the rear, plenty of room for RC receiver and battery pack, with two micro servos in the cab, one for throttle and one for the steam blower to draw the fire when stopped.  A quick connect under the cab on one side allows topping up of the boiler water whilst under steam.     Mike the Aspie 

 

[Postwar Paul]

Hi Mike !

I am familiar with the " Schools" class, nice engines! It is nice to have a direction for your railway to aim for. I am going European from here, mostly. The older LGB engines without decoders are turning up cheap, and I will try to capitalize on that. My wants:

20400 Krokodil

20471 Ballenberg rack engine

20841 Sachsen 

more passenger cars

we'll see what happens this year.

Best,

Paul

[PVT Kanaka]

Mike,

What a beautiful locomotive!  The lines are so clean!  It must be a joy to behold when she runs!  She'll look great with the "proper" coaches you've in mind for her!

 

     To Paul's point, yes, having a theme is a must!  Just deciding "make it look like Hawaii" has allowed me to pass on lots of cool things!  I still have some Euro items (like the LGB Zillertalbier coach) I would like "just because," but my efforts and acquistions are largely aimed at  bringing the railroad into a set place and time.

 

     Paul, good luck on your hunt!  The Krokodil really seems to hold its value!  I saw the Sachsen availably locally once when a hotel ditched its Christams layout.  They had everything on a POLA or LGB Euro wish list and multiple Bridgewerks power packs and throttles to boot.  Too bad it was on a different island, or I would've sprung for the collection, parted it out, and still made a killing.  There is no local market for this stuff, and I always wondered what happened to that collection...

Happy modeling Mike and loco hunting Paul, and Happy New Years to all!

 

Eric