Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to get off work early and join some friends in an evening visit to the North Norfolk railway for a trip on the line and a tour of the engine shed and works. This was an excellent event and a good time was had by all. We can now all count up to 34 with ease! (you had to be there!). Although the light was fading towards the end I was still able to get a picture of the J15 Y14. What a superb locomotive and HOW COULD Hornby GET THOSE HANDRAIL KNOBS SO WRONG? (sorry for shouting but, I ask you...). I'm working on an etched drilling jig to hold a drill at the right angle to re-drill the holes in the boiler to fit scale knobs at the right angle.

I've also made a start on drawing cutting templates for the first baseboards for the new P4 Stour valley layout and had a go at counting bricks to produce an end elevation of Clare good shed. It never ceases to amaze me what happens when you look at buildings in detail. Take this elevation.

Nothing unusual there, a nice straight forward building, a couple of buttresses all simple and symmetrical.

WRONG

looking in detail and the buttresses on the right hand side are a completely different shape, one side has bricks at an angle, the other side appears to be stone. The one on the right hand side is about 1 1/2 inches wider. Drawing this kind of thing from photographs is so much better than 'making them up'. It is the quirkiness that gives building much of their appear and, if you try to make up the quirks is it so easy to misjudge things and over do it.

Hopefully I should get back to having some stuff to blog about, our house extension work is nearly over (after almost a year). We have finally lost the skip from the front garden. I've still got most of the doors to paint but hopefully can get make a start on layout building.

David