Black Sheep

I'm not always best at keeping to the point am I? I shall try better wipers and better brakes and lights are all good for safety and I am in favour, if I owned a classic car I'd undertake some sympathetic upgrades to both and all three, I think some people see this advancement in safety and don't alter their driving as much as they should for the conditions, on the motorbike I'm out in it, hail stones on the motorway feel like I'm being shot by 12 10 year olds with bb guns at a birthday party after the cake has been finished, do modern cars take the edge off the poor weather in a way that older cars didn't? the wipers on a modern car can clear all but the worst of an Indian monsoon which enables you to continue at pace should you wish to, but is the road surface / your tyres up to dealing with the water flowing across the road? The weak spot in older cars in this example is the vacuum wipers that could only just clear a heavy shower forcing you to slow due to lack of visibility (or worse, crash due to it) and so you were forced to slow down more so than a modern car, your self preservation would kick in before you were doing 70mph over standing water. this is the point I'm attempting to make, some of the creature comforts of modern cars insulate the driver from what's going on relying on greater judgement of what can be seen as less is felt another example, on the way home tonight in lane 1 of the motorway my bike shifts around as it encounters the well worn wheel tracks of many lorries using the M60, I feel it do this, apply a little pressure to the bars to steady it / move away from, my 1980 Fiesta used to dance in the wheel tracks a little bit, the wife's 13 plate Kia hardly notices them - great for comfort but an unimportant example of how modern vehicles insulate from conditions. am I making sense yet or should I give up and go do some modelling?

I fear I am being misunderstood, modern cars isolate the driver from the conditions allowing some to make poor decisions or blindly copy anothers actions eg 2ft off the back bumped of the car in front at 70mph in thick fog that had reduced lanes 1&2 to 40mph due to lack of visibity. Modern lights may pierce the fog better than those of the Minor but does that mean you can continue at normal motorway pace? The same with modern wipers and tyres in heavy rain / spray, in extreme conditions I can feel my motorbike, all 250kg of it is slightly unsettled and there is a wall is spray from each lorry but speed in lane 3 doesn't drop, silver (and other colours) cars emerge from the gloom with no lights on having moments before not been distinguishable from the weather.

I disagree, the skills lost in modern cars is thinking for oneself instead of assuming 'the car will save me' and driving nose to tail in fog at high speed on the motorway. My old fiesta took more distance to stop than a modern golf twice it's weight, it taught me to read the road ahead and to always adjust and adapt to my surroundings based on what's going on. I'll bow out of the debate for the afternoon with this quote: "everyone should learn to drive in a Morris minio, it'd reduce tailgating" -practical classics mag

I prefer driving older cars. I learnt on cars with power steering but no other driving aids (ok, servo assisted brakes, disc on the front) My first car was a mk1 fiesta, had the gear linkage slip one day far from home so quickly learnt to double de clutch which I continued to do so for the rest of the summer until it could be adjusted. I can drive a Morris Minor as easily as I can the wife's Kia Cee'd. I don't count as a young driver anymore (lived through the miners strike but too young to remember) but we're not all innept

Be that as it may, it is not always possible. 9 times out of 10 I am able to park on the side of the road I live on facing with traffic, the neighbours we have will often park across the road (those houses have driveways) to leave space for the residents with children to not need to cross the road at all which we are thankful for. Unfortunately, as I have said earlier in this thread there are occasions the space I have planned to park in has been taken while I am turning in a side street and so I take the available space quickly to not be blocking the road with the entire car while I turn. Some parents have no choice but to unload a child away from the pavement as the other parent is getting the other child out, the bulky design of child seats preventing climbing through the car. I assess the risk and act accordingly and quickly, it takes me no longer to get my daughter in or out than it does myself and I wait until their is no traffic before starting - I can not speak for others nor the school run as daughter is yet to turn 2

Unfortunately Victorian terraces, while being wonderful houses even 100 years on didn't make provision for cars and I have to park on the road. I usuall do so facing with traffic but on occasion I've turned the car to do so on my side of the road but in the time taken to turn the space has been taken and do I take the next available space. In a year or two it may not make a difference as there could be one to be gotten out from each side

I make sure as much distance as I can see is free from traffic before starting strapping my daughter in, if I stop half way through strapping her in there is a high chance, especially when getting her out, that she'll lean forward out of the seat and land in the footwell or at risk of tumbling out of the car. It takes me 2 minutes in or out after which I will quickly close the door and step behind my car out of the way while waving in thanks for waiting. Just thought I'd give the other side of the coin

last time I tried to let someone out cars mounted the pavement to get round me, one of which hit the trailer being towed by the land rover I was letting out - the trailer came off better!

Rider behaviour varies depending on the twisty remote nature of the roads, especially higher limit roads, areas such as Cumbria, snake pass, wood head pass, cat and fiddle and the like attract bikers who want to give their bike a good run out, some of us are happy to pootle others ought to head to brands hatch for the day

How's the quality of finish and content now they're getting going?

Small update: The loft has been decorated and carpeted, been having some help with the layout planning…

As a fellow designer, 10/10 for effort, not sure I could pull that together even given a few days! With regards to flying boats, in 1937 Imperial Airways started their Short Empire Flying boat service, a development of which would become the Short Sunderland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Empire not sure if that's outside your time period? Looking forward to the next broadcast

My Minitrix wagons are a yolk yellow from around the time of Hornby involvement. If aiming at the growing 'toy' market of the time then liveries matching road tankers seen from the back seat of Dad's Cortina on the new motorways makes sense, along with shredded wheat and Birdseye wagons. Another N manufacturer has produced a more buff/stone version

Should barrier wagons be between guards van and tankers also? Where do the yellow benzine with red solebar fit into the mix?

I'm attempting to fit prominade, beach and pier - however I'm working in N so it's a bit easier to fit it all in. I didn't have that much 00 stock but it was heart wrenching to sell two of my locos as they'd been purchased by grandparents who are no longer with us - in the end I decided there was no point in them gathering dust in a box in a cupboard but better trading for other locos that would be seen running on the layout.

Meh, not heard complaints on the east lancs railway, no turntable here. Locos ran tender first more often than photos and books would have us believe as it doesn't make a great photo. As a fellow beach layout builder I'll be following with interest

I need to see this in the flesh, is it coming north at any point?

The old goods yard has been squeezed in to the east of the running line (remember, we're on the west coast, so east is upwards on the plan) So, the original goods yard was constructed north of the station (left on plan) away from the sea front and has gradually been squeezed over the years of platforms being built longer (can't go the other way as we're going over the town itself and can't build) The last expansion resulted in a line of the goods yard being lifted to extend the platform with a larger goods facility being built the other side of town, the small yard simply handles goods traffic for the centre of town / the holiday park. So, looks like my plan is complete

Ours are metal with some plastic parts, aquired via Kellogs in the 90's

Trying to get a sense of scale, printed the plans out full size and laid them out in the loft Slightly confused as to how the printer has set things out as some areas of the page don't print so could be that I've got the size wrong compared to room width, or I might have more space to play with than I realised... I think the station is large enough however

The wheels and track are magnetic to ensure good electrical contact.

Shhhhhh don't tell, we just couldn't afford to pay for artwork! In other news I'm considering DCC to avoid issues with parking locomotives in set spaces and simplify wiring runs (there'll be enough with the points!) I've got the loan of a dynamis to see how I get on but I also need to start working in 3D to get a feel of space so I need to paint the railway room and lay out the track plan and raid the cardboard recycling!

Enjoyed watching at the show, didn't get to say hello as you were busy with other guests chatting and my 16mth old doesn't have a very long attention span before wanting to move on! She did enjoy watching briefly (she enjoyed the show itself)