Glad you had a successful day. I would have loved to have seen Highclere but work got in the way this weekend. Maybe sometime soon. Keep posting updates for those of us far away.

Good to see Highclere again - when are you next showing it?

There seemed to be one set of points giving problems when I saw it - the rest seemed to be working well. It was good to see the new fiddleyard - a simple design, with a single through line providing "roundy-roundy" capability, plus a siding in each direction connecting to cassettes.

I have fond memories of my warship from N gauge days, many years ago - it was by far the most reliable performer, with excellent haulage properties. Looks like the current version is similar.

Choice of stock was good - a few more steam locos would obviously have been better, but the diesels and dmus looked fairly plausible there. Some of the mineral wagons seemed to be lacking couplings - or were they just so ultra-fine that they defeated my poor eyesight?

David

Hello.

Glad you had a successful day. I would have loved to have seen Highclere but work got in the way this weekend. Maybe sometime soon. Keep posting updates for those of us far away.

Im sorry you had to miss the show, it would have been nice to catch up with things. Im sure there will be other oppertunities though.

Wish I could have been there Missy. Its nice to have all the backstage stuff working. I look forward to seeing Highclere in its new guise sometime.Don

I did wonder if you were comming or not. It is a nice feeling knowing that the fiddle yard works now and I can now concentrate on the 'fun' parts of the layout with only a few minor asthetic tweaks left to do to the behind the scenes bits. The 'keep it simple' rule does seem to be true!

Good to see Highclere again - when are you next showing it?

Thank you David, and that is a good question! Although I got 3 potential invites as a result of being at the show I am still reluctant to take it to too many shows as its still not really finished, or at least in a state I am 100% happy with. Saturday was really an experiment to test parts of the layout for me so right now I have no immediate plans to take it out again (unless Andy Y would like it at the next RMWeb @ Stafford show?)

There seemed to be one set of points giving problems when I saw it - the rest seemed to be working well.

I heard this as well although I couldnt find anything really wrong with any of them! There were some random bugs with various bits of rolling stock throughout the day but I am putting this down to things like wheel back-to-backs, badly adjusted couplings, and wagons with next to no weight in them. There wasnt any bit of the layout which really caused problems, all just random stuff.

It was good to see the new fiddleyard - a simple design, with a single through line providing "roundy-roundy" capability, plus a siding in each direction connecting to cassettes.

KISS! Plus in time I can run some decent length trains

I have fond memories of my warship from N gauge days, many years ago - it was by far the most reliable performer, with excellent haulage properties. Looks like the current version is similar.

It did run well but then its a converted Farish diesel! It hasnt even got the detailing bits added to it as to me, its a 'reserve' engine. Fortunately it didnt look too out of place on the layout.

Choice of stock was good - a few more steam locos would obviously have been better, but the diesels and dmus looked fairly plausible there.

I would love to see more steam engines on Highclere but unfortunately as you well know they are a little harder to find in 2mm scale than diesels! My pannier tank engine once again gave a sterling performance throughout the day so it wasnt totally steam free. I am always torn between bulding engines (which I love doing) and working on the layout, if there were only more hours in the day!

Some of the mineral wagons seemed to be lacking couplings - or were they just so ultra-fine that they defeated my poor eyesight?David

I think I will leave Pixie to answer that one!

It looks fantastic Missy, just as I Imagine Highclere looked back then.The egg train is, um, different :-)

Thank you Mikkel, it is starting to feel a bit atmospheric and I am very happy with the way its turning out. The 'egg train' was very 'different' and you can thank Andy for that one! I believe it came about from the fact some of his wagons desperately needed a little more weight to them!

M

Hi. The whole setup looks ecellent. Must be a good feeling after all that hard work; once you've got past the nervous stage, I guess. Congratulations!

Ian

Hello Jerry

Running trains innapropriate to the location - thats shocking, you wouldn't catch me doing a thing like that!!Seriously Julia, if the few niggly little problems you mention were all you had on first time out in its complete format then that is testament to the layouts build quality. Highclere looks stunning and is destined to become one of the real flagship layouts for 2FS. Looking forward to seeing it again soon.Jerry

Thats really nice, thank you. Especially from someone whos modelling is absolutely amazing and a real inspiration. I have always loved the fact that layouts can have visiting engines and rolling stock and I want to keep that tradition up. Some people can be way too picky about what ends up on thier layout but thats not me (if that makes sense?)

I dont agree with you comment on Highclere being a flagship layout though! Compared to some of the 2mm stuff appearing on RMWeb recently I would class it as rather mediocre (but thats just me!)

Hi. The whole setup looks ecellent. Must be a good feeling after all that hard work; once you've got past the nervous stage, I guess. Congratulations!Ian

Hi Ian.

Thank you, it is a BIG relief and to celibrate Im just about to have a full english breakfast!! Seriously though its given me lots of encouragement (along with the desire to do it again sometime soon!)

Excellent job Missy - I was looking forward to seeing it 'in the round' and I wasn't disappointed. the fiddle yard design struck me as an excellent, nay brilliant', idea and looked to be working well. As I said - now you've got a fully workable layout i'm sure it will encourage you to get working on the scenic bit and develop it further to the same high standard with even more original ideas.Talking of original ideas that gearbox was amazing and ought to merit a description on here or in Andy's 'Modelling Inspiration' if only for its size and compactness - great stuff.

Thank you

I am so glad you werent disappointed and it was great to chat too. You give me lots of encouragement which it really appreciated. I dont know if Andy would be interested in the gearbox or not. It does feel like I have 'dropped off the radar' a little bit so maybe something like that would help?

M

Thankyou for the opportunity to help with the layout - it was a really enjoyable day. I was seriously impressed with the ease which we got the layout assembled and dismantled - some good ideas stored away for future use on my own layout!

I'm glad the DMU performed well - it needs a bit of detailing/weathering on it (plus some even less-appropriate destination blinds!). I think Steve (Pixie) will be busy for a while fitting all those mineral wagons with couplings!

Hope you enjoy that 'full english' - you've deserved it!!

Andy

No mention of "Elvis" the GWR Railcar? Does it not meet your standards of reliability for exhibition use? Or just held in reserve?

I dont agree with you comment on Highclere being a flagship layout though! Compared to some of the 2mm stuff appearing on RMWeb recently I would class it as rather mediocre (but thats just me!)

What did you way to me yesterday?

Thanks for the comments, As for the mediocre comment its just how it feels, there is lots of stuff around (not only in 2mm scale) that blows me away and makes my layout look very plain and boring!

No mention of "Elvis" the GWR Railcar? Does it not meet your standards of reliability for exhibition use? Or just held in reserve?

Elvis is unfortunately in bits so couldnt make it to Abingdon. I need to finish it off sometime (like many other things!)

What did you way to me yesterday?

Erm....stop picking fault with all my stuff??

Missy,

Thank you for the chance to come and have a play, it was a pleasure to be part of the team for Highclere's first official show and I'm pleased that performance more than lived up to expectation!

Some of the mineral wagons seemed to be lacking couplings - or were they just so ultra-fine that they defeated my poor eyesight?

I think this was just Pixie's evil plan to make operation that much more difficult! I must admit the challenge of replicating a 40 wagon goods train, top and tailed to hide the fact that most of the wagons had no couplings was strangely enjoyable! Apologies for those watching for the use of the hand of god, this was not testament to the build quality of Highclere, more to the fact that propelling 20-30 wagons of varying weights on finescale flanges was never going to be a good combination!

Hmmm, 'Full English' now that sounds like a plan!!

Enjoy the the relief Missy of passing this major milestone and I look forward to seeing efforts return to the scenic and motive power departments!

Paul

Erm....stop picking fault with all my stuff??

More like something about being too critical.

Julia -

Congratulations on the well-deserved success. IIRC from your earlier blogs, one of it's outings was less successful so your decsion (a brave one) to relay the track and change the format was a) well considered and B) well executed!.

My greatest regret is that work (or rather sleeping) commitments kept me away. However, with retirement less than a month away, there will be more opportunities in the future.

Best Wishes

Ian B

Inspirational

Me again

More like something about being too critical.

Its my train set so I am allowed to be critical about my own work! Anyway its human nature to over critisise your own work more than you would anyone elses, the secret is not to get too critical and not get anything done isnt it?

Missy,Thank you for the chance to come and have a play, it was a pleasure to be part of the team for Highclere's first official show and I'm pleased that performance more than lived up to expectation!

Paul

Im glad you enjoyed yourself Saturday, of course you are more than welcome to help next time if you would like. I think in hindsight Highclere would be too much for just one operator, the minimum would be two, and it would be comfortable with three or more dont you think? One thing for sure is I couldnt have managed it without the help of you, Andy, and Steve so I have my fingers crossed you three will be available next time its out!

Cant wait to see the video footage too!

M.

Hello Bryn.

Inspirational

There was a rumour that you were going to make an appearance so it was a shame you didnt appear. I am guessing work got in the way so its understandable. You will have to let me know where you are next likely to appear so we can arrange to meet up or something.

M