Impressed is too weak a word!

Being allowed to have the "Banana" in my hand was a privilage. That you work without using magnifying aids in doing the work on Highclere is astonishing.

So glad to have had the chance to meet you and see the layout in the flesh.

Thanks for coming North!

Regards

Don

What a day! Meeting Elvis was an undoubted highlight among many...

It was a real pleasure to see the beginnings of the 'little layout' as well, some extremely finely crafted narrow gauge models there.

I also went away wondering what colour of customised controller I would go for... maybe British racing green with a dayglo orange stripe along the lines of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BRM_P83.jpg

The whole Highclere experience gave me a useful boost towards getting my own projects sorted, look out for updates on Victoria Bridge soon!

The lighting problems must have been a real frustration, but maybe one of those odd moments where something useful comes about. A 2mm scale layout half illuminated does give a remarkable impression of an English summer's day when the weather forecast suggests 'changeable'! We got chatting about a layout with moving lights to suggest changing weather, maybe if the impending shower was locked in the same place, the tarmac of the roads and roof tiles of the buildings could be subtly varnished (beneath the 'cloudy' bit) to suggest a bit of rain.

Julia, I'll echo what Jerry said. Sorry to miss the show.

I was torn yesterday between Stafford and a MRS tour around the Old Midland Railway in Kentish Town, a rare opportunity to be shown around by an old driver.

I'm so pleased that it all went so well, clearly HIghclere ( and you) were a real hit.

I'm sorry not to have had the chance to meet some of the other RMpeople too.

Catch you somewhere else soon.

Chris

Nice layout and nice to put a face to the name!

Same time next year?!

It was a pleasure to see Highclere in the flesh Julia and thank you for bringing it along. I know it's a real hit for many and the finesse of your skills including the funkiest control panel I've seen is superb. We've been lucky to see it and I wish you well with what will become a regular exhibition favourite.

A few more pictures in the gallery at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/1630-highclere/

For example:

The new point rodding - use of a flash camera defeated Missy's attempts to hide it at the dark end of the layout.

A sign to mislead the tourists?

David

Thank you guys for the comments, it was great to meet so many people from RMWeb and finally chat face to face. Its still very much in my mind still and I keep on thinking of all the things that happened there.

Nice to see Highclere in the flesh at last, well worth the wait - still convinced you have Superman (sorry,woman) x-ray eyesight though. How you can even see some of the parts you work with is beyond me, amazing. I hope that yesterday has convinced you to get it out on the exhibition circuit.

Hi Phil.

There is nothing on Highclere that no-one else can do. I definately do not have X-Ray vision either!! The layout wil end up on the exhibition circuit sometime, just when I am ready and happy with it (if that wil ever happen?)

Notice you didn't mention jumping the salad queue......

Hahaha! It honestly wasnt deliberate! I just didnt realise there were two queues! Anyway you got your own back on the dessert queue

The whole package that you have created works really well and running the layout in the dark with the lights on looked great.

cheers

Simon

Thank you Simon. I am being pestered by Mark to get the fiddleyard finished off because he didnt enjoy shunting wagons in the dark! It wasnt as easy as it looked. He just wants to run engines around in circles!

The lighting problems must have been a real frustration, but maybe one of those odd moments where something useful comes about. A 2mm scale layout half illuminated does give a remarkable impression of an English summer's day when the weather forecast suggests 'changeable'! We got chatting about a layout with moving lights to suggest changing weather, maybe if the impending shower was locked in the same place, the tarmac of the roads and roof tiles of the buildings could be subtly varnished (beneath the 'cloudy' bit) to suggest a bit of rain.

Hello Will.

I was lucky that I have designed the layout to run 'in the dark' so when the light didnt work I could do that and it looked deliberate! I do think there is a bit of potential in the moving cloud thing though, why dont you give it a go on you little diorama? Is about time we saw a post about that isnt it

Absolutely lovely little railway Julia and really nice to see some of the pieces coming together into what is definitely a layout with a real sense of style which, I think, captures some of the true essence of the DN&S (but what on earth was that pink engine doing on that railway?).

Thats praise indeed, thank you. After all thats kind of what I am trying to achieve. As for the 'pink' engine, I have a photo to proove they occasionally ran on the line

It was a pleasure to see Highclere in the flesh Julia and thank you for bringing it along. I know it's a real hit for many and the finesse of your skills including the funkiest control panel I've seen is superb. We've been lucky to see it and I wish you well with what will become a regular exhibition favourite.

Thank you again for letting me bring it along. As for the control panel, I dont make it easy for myself!

Would I do it again?...

Without a doubt.

A sign to mislead the tourists?

David

Hello David.

It was nice to meet you again. Every time I passed that sign post it was pointing in a different direction! Me thinks someone was having a little bit of fun!

It was great to see it in the flesh and in a less formal atmosphere than an exhibition - thanks for bringing it along!

It was nice to finally meet you Welly. I enjoyed the chat.

M.

Glad to hear this was much more successful than your last outing. Does this mean that once the point rodding is finished you'll be ballasting the track for the final time?

Hi Rich.

Glad to hear this was much more successful than your last outing. Does this mean that once the point rodding is finished you'll be ballasting the track for the final time?

I really hope so!

M.

(P.S. Thank you for the stools and wagon, I owe you one)

You're most welcome. I may call that one in soon. I'll let you know if I need it (Don't worry it'll only be ability time and feedback that is required).