devonseasider

Well, what a surprise! Good morning ducky (and everyone else). You could knock me down with a tail feather - it's been such a long time that I thought you must have ended up in someone's stir-fry! Does this mean you're back in the land of the living? Will I have to go & take some more photos/measurements? Couldn't sleep 'cos of the noise of the wind (I'll have to buy Mrs DS a box of those anti-flatulence tablets next time I can get out of the village) & just stumbled across this by accident. I see I've now got dozens of pages to catch up so I hope I can keep awake & find out what I've missed. I'm also worried about what's left of the corrugated iron roof of the barn on the other side of the field behind us. Last time I saw it it was waving vigorously at me but it's now too dark to see what it's got planned. I think I might be picking it out of the garden in the morning . . . .

Try the Aidan Campbell range. Bare metal so need painting, but quite nicely sculpted. Much cheaper than ModelU but probably not as detailed. http://www.aidan-campbell.co.uk/43catalogue.htm Also, the Monty's Models range from Dart Castings.

Would you let the rest of us have the new one, please. I, for one, would like to contact him about some new boards.

Alan Gibson used to sell a set of etched sides, along with details of the locos to which they were fitted over the years.

So what's happened to the layout now? Seems to have been pulled from ebay long before the week was up - surely you haven't done anything silly like put the chainsaw through it . . . . . . . . you haven't, have you?

So what's happened to the layout now? Seems to have been pulled from ebay long before the week was up - surely you haven't done anything silly like put the chainsaw through it . . . . . . . . you haven't, have you?

My attempt on Tormouth Quay uses the Wills sheets cut to fit in & around the track. I also used the "brass rubbing" technique mentioned above to get a cutting template. Not the easiest of jobs 'cos they're a bit tough to cut but they're just the right thickness to sit on top of the sleepers & leave the railhead very slightly proud (which, obviously, is important whatever method you use). Photo courtesy Chris Nevard / Model Rail

Ignoring the Masons for a moment (at my own peril), will any of you good Warley people have advance tickets for sale at Taunton at the end of October, as in previous years?

A couple of photos of part of the harbourside on "Tormouth Quay". In the first one, the mooring lines on the fishing boat are, effectively, the waxed cotton cord mentioned above although my coil was actually sold as "whipping thread". It was stained (sparingly) with Colron Wood Dye which also stiffens it a bit as it dries and allows you to put a reasonably prototypical sag into it. The bow line on the dinghy on the slip, seen more clearly in the second photo, is plain & simple button thread straight from the sewing box. Both photos Chris Nevard, courtesy Model Rail

Hang on chaps. Don't encourage him too much or he might actually try to turn up. Think carefully - do you really want a bird loose in the room? Just think what they do . . . . Last time I left the velux window open in the railway room loft a sparrow flew in & crapped incessantly all over the layouts up there. I'm still trying to clear up after it. Also, ducks in particular (along with gulls, of course) are notorious for eating anything/everything they can get their beaks into, including your lunch and, indeed, yourself if necessary. If the place is going to be packed with cake like it usually is it'll be chaos. Is that what we really want?

Be careful - I've had that threat too! In fact, even more to the point, be afraid, be very afraid . . . .

And take a look one division up. How times change.

I always laugh at that as well - I suspect you find it as funny as I do. Whatever happened to that phrase from our youth - "just a little prick" ? Much more descriptive of what's heading your way (how can shoving a needle in your arm be described as a little scratch?) and probably much more accurate on a number of levels . . . . Where's that nursey bloke when you need him? Don't think my camera will give you the quality you'll need, but I know a man who might be able to help, as long as I can catch him in the right mood. Leave it with me.

Someone's got to.