Any Briti***rain lovers out there?

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I'd like to know if there is anybody here that likes and/or has any british steam engines or modeled any british railroads. I ask this because I'd like to know how you might have gotten/perchused british engines,(rolling stock, acssories,etc,etc...)? Where I live (Houston Tx.), the only way you can get these sort of trains at hobby shops and trains stores is by speical order. If you can tell me, please let me know, and if you have other ideas about how (or where)to buy some at , i'd like to hear about it too. Thanks, and Happy Raliroading!!

[Anonymous]

Well, one good place to look would be www.ehattons.com - they're one of the big mail-order stores over here and have been in business for decades - they're reliable, fast, and have good prices. They will ship worldwide though the prices may be a bit of a shock at the moment - the exchange rate isn't in your favour. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Yes, that will help. Thank you very much!!!!
All I need now is the funds to buy some of those trains and to know how much american money equals one of your pounds. Pounds are your currencey over there, aren't they Railroading_brit ? Again thank you very much!!!
Michael.

[DSchmitt]

Many British companies have internet sites and will ship to the US. Railway Modeler, published by Peco, has lots of ads.

http://www.peco-uk.com/rm/rm_home.htm

While British RTR does exist, It appears that the most serious steam modelers like to build brass kits which require either a modified RTR mechanism or a mechanism built up from a separate kit or from parts. There appears to be a lot more kit and scratch building there than in the US.

[Anonymous]

The N Guage Society is also great. They have an online shop for members and they keep a pretty large stock of detail parts from small manufacturers and their own line of wagon kits that are only available to members.
http://ngaugesociety.com/index.htm

I do my buying through them and Hattons.

The new Graham Farish (Bachmann) engines and cars are nice, big improvement over the old motors, and use RP-25 wheels!

Cheers,
Maureen

[ukguy]

I bought all of my British railroad equipment at my local Hobby store without any problems in availability, that said, I was living in the UK then and it was 20 yrs ago [:D].
I would concur with the others and shop online, Hornby, Lima are big names that I remember from being a kid in the UK, although I couldnt vouch for quality. Maybe Railroading_Brit or Jon Grant can help, they are both in the UK I believe.

Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

[BR60103]

Check the website of the BRMNA (British Railway Modellers of North America) for their "member dealers" section. There are a couple of dealers in the USA.
Look at your newspaper's financial section under "foreign exchange" for the value of the pound.
Hornby are going strong; they just bought Lima. Bachman seems to be the main rival. If you want anything different, there are etched brass and white metal kits.

[Anonymous]

In southern CA Allied model trains carrys a whole line of Bachmann, Marklin, & who knows what HO, N, & G British & european model trains.
HO models

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry everybody, I forgot to mention that i was specificly into 00 gauge british engines, and thank you BR60103 for that info. :) i'll check out that website!

[Anonymous]

I want the flying scot.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the info everybody. i'll be busy looking into all of this now!

[Anonymous]

You might try ebay. From time to time I see Briti***rain items up for auction and sale there. I don't model Briti***rains, but I have nothing against them. That's why they call me trainluver1...

[Anonymous]

Currency Calculator
Britannia Models in Canada.
US customers do not pay any additional duties or taxes on items shipped by Britannia Models to the United States. Orders over $500 are shipped free of charge. minimum Order value is presently Cdn $20 with the exception of manufacturers catalogues and magazines.

[Anonymous]

I think the current exchange rate is about $2 = £1. I think you can claim back the VAT on non-EU orders (we pay 17.5% sales tax on pretty much everything, but I think orders from outside the EU don't have to pay this - effectively a 17.5% discount).

Hornby and Bachmann are now the main UK RTR manufacturers - Lima went bankrupt and were bought by Hornby (same time as RIvarosssi, Arnold, etc), but there's still a few Lima locos out there. My advice would be to avoid them - the motors aren't great and they are pretty crude, you can find Bachmann locos for the same prices that run far better. The one exception to this would be the Class 67 they offer - the only one they made with a proper central motor and drive to all wheels. As far as rolling stock is concerned Bachmann have some superb models, as do Hornby. If you want to build a fleet of old private owner coal wagons Dapol make decent models at low prices - I have a whole string of these, if you add Hornby's metal wheelsets (spoked type) they also run well and sound just right. Add a suitable loco and brake van (mine are all lettered for North Wales "pits" hence the Bachmann GWR 66xx 0-6-2 tank loco and GWR brake van that haul them - strictly these locos should be in South Wales though it does look the part) What era are you interested in modelling? There's so much out there it's hard to decide what to mention!

P.S. ehattons.com have Hornby "Flying Scotsman" locos split from trainsets at the moment - they're not the latest model but aren't too bad and are pretty good value. There's a new superdetailed loco-drive A3 (old one is tender drive) on the way from Hornby though it's been delayed. Hope this helps!

[ukguy]

I used to have the Flying Scotsman when I was a kid in the UK, it was my favourite loco at the time although I always wanted the Mallard, sleek lines, 'sporty' looking, for me a real eye catcher. This talk of British steam has revived an urge to find the 'Mallard'. I may also replace my Flying Scotsman as it reached an untimely demise when my ex-wife dropped it out of an upstairs bedroom window onto concrete during one of our final 'conversations' <sigh>.


Thanks for the nostalgia.

Have fun and be safe.
Karl.

[Anonymous]

Hornby have a new A4 model just out which is thought to be the best model yet. Not sure if it's available as Mallard yet though it can only be a matter of time. They also have an A3 on the way which will doubtless appear as Flying Scotsman - not sure when it's due though. www.mremag.demon.co.uk is a good source for news on UK models, they have daily updates and also reviews. Hope this is of use!

Edit: Just found the new A4 is available as Mallard with non-corridor tender and full valances - this would be a model of the loco in 1930s (or maybe earlier) condition as the valances were removed during WW2 to make maintainance easier. Hornby reference number is R2339.

[Anonymous]

The era i would probably model would be around the 1920's and 1930's. I'm not planning on modeling any paticualar place. i'm just going to use the 1920's-30's era and make my own world out of that and go from there. Besides, being an american(plus not traviling much), i don't know hardly anything about england or the places around there except for what i've seen on TV. but I would like to vist england sometime.
but like i said i'm going to use the era I mintion and go from there. Cheers!!!! I guess i do know somthing about england after all!!!!

[Anonymous]

Well, for 20s and 30s it would be all-steam. There were a few efforts with diesels and gas turbine pre-nationalisation though they were later. At the time you're looking at there were four main companies - the Great Western (GWR), Southern (SR), London Midland and Scottish (LMS) and London North Eastern (LNER). Model-wise, the LNER is probably best served at the moment - Hornby have their new A4 pacific and matching "Teak" coaches (which are superb models, and can legitimately be fitted with Kadee couplers - the real thing had hinged buckeye couplers). The Southern has a good selection of steam power available but not much in the way of passenger stock - Hornby have Pullman cars (with lighting) and Bachmann have the Bullied stock, though I'm not sure of the era these represent - they could be post-war. All companies disappeared into British Railways (state-owned system) in 1948. Good advice might be to take a look at Hornby's train packs - these are usually a loco and coaches, sometimes with headboards/carriage boards, etc for named trains, and offer reasonable value - no more expensive than buying the items seperately. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

... but I think orders from outside the EU don't have to pay this - effectively a 17.5% discount).

This is true! Only EU countries pay the sales tax.

QUOTE: ... Add a suitable loco and brake van...

Brake van, a.k.a., caboose, hack, crummie, ape cage, van (in Canada)

I like the Hornby Pug 0-4-0T. I bought one for a friend in India. It runs fantastic, has very nice detail and he will not part with it.
It was a challenge to install a decoder in, but a Digitrax DZ-123 did work with a we bit of filing to the boiler weight.

[Anonymous]

There's a couple of really useful books, I found used copies on ABE.com:

Modelling the Steam Age Railway
C.J. Freezer
Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1990
This is a must read for anyone interested in doing British steam.

Railway Operation for the Modeller
Bob Essery
Midland Publishing, 2003
I'd start with Freezer first for a much broader base of details. This is a good follow up with more detailed notes in some areas, particularly signalling. The author gets a little cranky about making things properly 'real', but its a fun read. Actually, Ratio makes a line of working signal semaphores, so it is pretty feasible to add them. Last year, there was a long series of articles on signalling for the layout in British Model Railways that would be worth picking up back issues if you want to get into that.

Cheers,
Maureen