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Well here we are - it has taken two years of persistant blooging but at last have reached the rarefied heights of 100,000 views which, for such a niche interest as mine is a worthy achievement 'though I say it myself! So a big thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and an even bigger thank you for the 591 comments along the way - all very much appreciated. What is more all all this comes on the momentous day of my half century and just look at the great surprise my lovely wife organised with a bit of help from those nice BRM people; That's right it, it certainly isn't small! Anyway, all this is meant to be about modelling, so here is the recent progress; No, I didn't miss anything out - pretty much nothing! Unfortunately a huge amount of real work has got in the way as well as a windy afternoon on Pendine Sands watching Bluebird do it's stuff 90 years on and an extremely wet Silverstone for a damp but spectacularClassic meeting, oh and the Vulcan and some lovely unrestored WW1 era trucks at Old Warden. And if that is not enough I have a 1st class trip on the WHR (all the way for the first time), lined up for this week. On the actual modelling front there has been a one step forwards and two steps back sort of thing on the Joffre which still hurts too much to write about but on a more adventurous note there has been a certain amount of schemeing with the very kind creator of petrol electric chassis on a slightly more steam based project. Watch this space - but not too closely!

Source www.britainfromabove.org.uk As I get older I am beginning to forget when I started making plans for this layout. I've had a couple of attempts and fate rather than lack of interest has always scuppered progress, mainly house moves. However, now i'm settled in my own property, which is near Frankfurt. I used to live near Helmdon, so as a boy (in the 1970's) I would often walk the old GC trackbed, I recall it being in quite good condition back then. Much different now. I have a lasting memory of Woodford Halse in the late 1970's and loved the blue engineering brick structures along the route, particularly Helmdon viaduct and the culverts and other bridges . This must have set off some slow burning fuse wire in my head as many years later I suddenly had an idea to recreate the Great Central, well not in it's entirety, although some of my previous plans have suggested this was in fact the goal. As i've researched through books, internet and pestering people my interest moved to Leicester as I realised it offers huge potential for keeping the operator busy, plus many regions represented with the London expresses, cross country trains from the south to the NW & NE via the link from Banbury to Culworth junction , local services, the Windcutter express frieghts, general freight, parcels and newspapers and light engine traffic, plus some interesting railtours with Butler Henderson, LMS Compound 1000, City of Truro, Flying Scotsman, and i'm sure I saw Mallard in one of my books. Locos would be replaced at Leicester and might work back on a freight or another passenger. I'm a solitary soul, and remote from the action living in Märklin land where all the clubs are AC and there is more emphasis on model people with not many clothes on and buildings on fire. I know a little about a lot, and not a lot about much but I enjoy it and that keeps me very happy. The last layout was always going to be temporary as it was rented and life plans were a bit in the air, so I decided to lay something relatively simple (for me) and learn the basics of wiring, DCC and the rest. I got trains running by computer and even started to understand some of the Digitrax instructions after 6 months or so. I'm in the fortunate position that when I set about building my first layout I acquried a lot of the kit i'll be using here. So new purchases are quite limited (saving money for more trains!) But this is what I wanted to achieve. DCC control Varying degrees of automation, depending on mood and inclination, everything from full manual control to full automation with several steps in between. Kit i've purchased is Digitrax, Peco 100 in preference to 75 purely as when I made this decision there weren't so many DMUs on the market and I built up a ridiculous collection of about 15x Lima 117s which I intended to bash and wallop around to look a bit like the Class 115 4-car units. They didn't like the code 75 track. In retrospect I should have gone down the other route, not bought so many and waited. Other choices back then i've been happy with are Cobalt point motors, CML, Train Controller Gold from Freiwald and the best investment i've made, Anyrail which is millimeter accurate and invaluable. Late 1950's to 1960's, the GCR didn't close. My interests have expanded quicker than the manufacturers ability to bring out new product, so in moments of need I have creeped right up to Network Southeast territory. Having lived in Russia, Germany and travelled a lot I have developed a rather off tangent interest in Dutch, German and Russian stock. So we'll assume the channel tunnel aspirations of the GCR came to fruition. Unlike the direct Frankfurt to London ICE service. The track plan changes frequently, I did recently post in a different section and had my madcap plans of lines all over the place, helix gradient mayhem brought back down to sober reality, for me the most useful aspect of posting. I also played with the idea of incorporating Leicester West Bridge Terminus and lots of coal sidings. However I knocked this on the head preferring to use the space with a larger fiddle yard and also more space for me. I bought wood yesterday, a costly affair in Germany, however it's all good quality stuff. 8mm Gabun ply, whatever that is, and it's all quite straight. I was recommended "How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork" by Linn Westcott, and use the method he describes with Girders, joists and risers. As Leicester Central is elevated on viaducts and bridges this will enable me to have the trackbed raised with the ground level, being, well on the ground, the River Soar will be river level. I think that makes sense. Anyway the frame has proved pretty tricky to build with only one pair of hands. But it's now sturdy and stable and i'll continue tomorrow. Anyway, that's enough for now. If I make significant changes to the plan i'll delete the old one and repost the new one in this initial post (providing I can edit). Today's update on the trackplan was incorporating the casette storage system I was reading about in BRM on Peterborough! Looking forward to getting this thing done. Trackplan updated 2/08 Teatime, and maybe a Pils.

Well you know how it is, our hobby is supposed to be a relaxing, fun one, but you know how it is you start chatting to people and before you know it you have made a commitment. That's what happened to me, I made a comment to a couple of chaps at the Warrington club one night that I had an LMS layout, they came round to see it, and before you know it the trap had been sprung and I agreed to take the layout to the October exhibition. Of course, none of this was my fault, I was totally innocent, just like when I sent an email to a certain Magazine and one thing led to another and I have a visit from a photographer in the very near future. So faced with this what else could I do but PANIC, PANIC, PANIC So I ran off and hid in the loft, even though it had Spiders, that's when the Domestic Overlord found me, told me to stop whining and actually do some modelling for a change. So where to start and what to do, I thought making a list would be a good start, but as the list got longer, I gave up and just started working the little jobs starting from the left side of the layout working to the right, and I have made quite a bit of progress. Station lighting was added to the down platform, this was recycled from broken street lights, but matches the ones on the up platform (yet to be broken). I managed to finally fit windows and doors to the station buildings, but like most things in N gauge from normal viewing distances you cant see them (that explains why its took so long, that's my excuse anyway ). I need to work on the gap at the bottom of the building but again looking at it without the camera you cant see it. I finally managed to fit a chimney to the down building, but lost my white metal pots so had to improvise. Carried away with chimneys I fitted the final missing ones to the street at the outskirt of the town, and applied a little weathering to the roofs, not sure though? So I was halfway along the layout, and you could actually see the progress, well I could. My attention then turned to creating a new surface for the canal, in an attempt to replicate that dirty look most of them seem to have. Flushed with inspiration I then set about a paintbrush the Domestic Overlord had very kingly procured for me to do some domestic painting, to provide some rushes/weeds (yes I know they need painting). The canal barges that I have been slowly building got a bit of attention, and have finally been painted in a colour I like, had cargo added, their LMS lettering and a bargeman added. I still need to add mooring ropes, paint the capstans on the canal side and maybe add a crane? I even managed to paint the facia, a rather nice shade of green the Domestic Overlord kindly picked out on Saturday for me, OH MY GOD HAVE I FALLEN INTO ANOTHER TRAP, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE HOUSEHOLD PAINTING TO DO???? If I ever survive you can see Foster Street at the Warrington Model Railway Exhibition in October, I will be easy to spot, just look for the downtrodden looking person covered in emulsion. Until the next time Happy Modelling

I gave the blue 08 a second coat of paint, then later touched in the white cab handrails and under-runnng board pipes. I gave it a quick test run on the layout and it completed one circuit before coming to an abrupt halt with one coupling rod detached. To see if I could recover the missing crankpin, I sent another 08, green D3963 around with a neomagnet (intended as a Hornby Dublo ringfield replacement magnet) attached with some Blu-tack. It came back with two track pins and a few bits of magnetic detritus attached! In the absence of the correct crankpin, I quickly ascertained that the thread for the pin is 12BA, so used a short 12BA countersunk head screw to secure the coupling rod. I put a small smear of glue on the thread beforehand to ensure it wouldn't unscrew accidentally. The screw head is a little on the large side but once it is painted it won't be all that obvious. Incidentally, D3963 is also a candidate for possible renumbering. I haven't checked where the original was based at this stage.

hi guys i have lust registered as a newbie, so if this post is in the wrong section then i apologise. my main interest is the old somerset and dorset line and i am currently building the shillingston staion. what i wish to know is, if there is anyone who would be interested in making for my display two whitaker exchange tokens like the one at midford. i have searched the web everywhere and can not find any kits. i am willing to pay someone who may be interested in making just two examples. my model making skills are rubbish. thanks in advance, steve