February 2007

February 2007

Welcome to a new month of modelling and news of Barchester. Keep up to date with all that goes on.

Well the Bachmann 56xx has arrived and taken it's place on Barchester's rails. This model also lives up to all the expectations that I have of the latest Bachmann models. Great attention to detail and excellent running qualities. The detail, all applied at the factory, is also robust enough for most general handling purposes. Well done Bachmann. Here's the first picture as the loco waits to back on to a train of empty wagons and vans.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Here we have the 56xx on a train of empty 50 year old Peco Wonderful Wagons built from their kits. The train is rapidly being overhauled by the Class 108.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Finally the locomotive on shed with a couple of it's larger brothers which are also waiting to be replaced.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

After putting pictures of the new locomotive on the Barchester Forum I was asked about the appearance of the coal in the bunker. I had to admit it was pretty poor, and looked exactly what it was, a piece of pressed black plastic, see photograph below.
 Click on image for a larger picture.

Anyway, a couple of minutes sprinkling some crushed charcoal, real coal being impossible to find here, on top of the existing plastic coal produced the following result. Of course the coal/charcoal can be crushed to whatever degree the individual thinks best but the very small effort is well worth while in my opinion.    

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Bit of a dilemma fellow modellers and followers of Barchester. Freewebs, these are the people that host this site, will shortly be coming up with a forum for their web pages. I haven't seen this myself as it is still beta at the moment but I assume it will blend in with existing web pages. If this be the case, it looks good and executes well then I won't be sure what to do. The existing Barchester Forum, hosted elsewhere, is slowly but surely making ground and it might be asking a lot for people to move after all the work they have put in. Part of me hopes that the forum here wont come up to scratch and then I wont have to decide.

Welcome to a new month of modelling and news of Barchester. Keep up to date with all that goes on.

Well the Bachmann 56xx has arrived and taken it's place on Barchester's rails. This model also lives up to all the expectations that I have of the latest Bachmann models. Great attention to detail and excellent running qualities. The detail, all applied at the factory, is also robust enough for most general handling purposes. Well done Bachmann. Here's the first picture as the loco waits to back on to a train of empty wagons and vans.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Here we have the 56xx on a train of empty 50 year old Peco Wonderful Wagons built from their kits. The train is rapidly being overhauled by the Class 108.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Finally the locomotive on shed with a couple of it's larger brothers which are also waiting to be replaced.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

After putting pictures of the new locomotive on the Barchester Forum I was asked about the appearance of the coal in the bunker. I had to admit it was pretty poor, and looked exactly what it was, a piece of pressed black plastic, see photograph below.

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Anyway, a couple of minutes sprinkling some crushed charcoal, real coal being impossible to find here, on top of the existing plastic coal produced the following result. Of course the coal/charcoal can be crushed to whatever degree the individual thinks best but the very small effort is well worth while in my opinion.    

 Click on image for a larger picture.

Bit of a dilemma fellow modellers and followers of Barchester. Freewebs, these are the people that host this site, will shortly be coming up with a forum for their web pages. I haven't seen this myself as it is still beta at the moment but I assume it will blend in with existing web pages. If this be the case, it looks good and executes well then I won't be sure what to do. The existing Barchester Forum, hosted elsewhere, is slowly but surely making ground and it might be asking a lot for people to move after all the work they have put in. Part of me hopes that the forum here wont come up to scratch and then I wont have to decide.