Oscale

Much of the discussion on Radio 4 this morning seemed to be bemoaning the fact that rail passengers will probably have to pay through higher rail fares for an improved rail service. That seems fair to me, user pays. I don't see why taxpayers should foot the bill for increased speed on trains that the majority of them will never see, let alone use.

If you can't get hold of a suitable GE coach kit Bachmann do a balcony style carriage for use with Toby which is similar in appearance. It is a four wheeler but pair of them could be cut and shut then mounted on a bogie underframe if you want a bogie version.

That'll be the influence of the Lancashire Derbyshire And East Coast Railway, which failed to reach two out of the three locations in its name, though it did make it to Chesterfield.

To return them to their former status? No. If you want to return most of them to their former status that would involve closing them to all traffic.

You can still buy curly sandwiches, and worse. What you cannot get now is a decent meal in a comfortable restaurant car. For all its faults BR was, at least, a unified system where trains were held at junctions so that connections could be made with fear of financial penalties for providing customer convenience. While not wishing to bring politics into the discussion renationalisation is, by the longest possible stretch of the imagination, not going to happen under the current regime. Sorry Mod6, was typing as you posted.

It's a spillway on the Bruton Flood Storage Reservoir. http://www.cpm-group.com/environmental/case_studies/Spillways-blocks-dam-tiles-at-Bruton-Flood-Storage-Reservoir.pdf

Regarding the points raised about access between the modules for connecting the layout together,. I watched the CRM layout being assembled at the Middleton Railway. Their links are only about 4 inches long but the On30 loading gauge allowed the operators to get their hands between the modules through the same holes in the backscenes that the trains pass through, instead of from the sides, to line the fishplates up when putting it all together.

So are "Brew Ten (same again)" and "Toby Light (just right)" but I don't think either would be welcomed back. I'd like to nominate Virgin Trains' luggage racks as another item for the list of things that are not gone but won't be missed, simply because they are afforded a better view out of the window than seated passengers are.

With regard to the six inch joining links between modules, are these to be on bases the same thickness as the modules? If so they will not act as compensation for any slight inaccuracies in height between adjoining sections because they will be sitting on the table instead of free to find their own level. If they were on thinner bases, suspended by the fishplates, they could provided allowance for possible inaccuracies but they would then be subjected to quite some strain when a heavy (eg white metal kit) loco is on them. If they were then shortened, say to three inches, they would still act as compensating links but would not bear the full weight of locos due to the wheelbases spanning the gap and being partly supported by the adjacent modules instead of bearing their full weight on the links.

1. "Off-roading" by Chelsea Tractors... Who's drivers seem to think the purpose of four wheel drive is to enable them to mount the pavement when parking. 2. Sports commentators and interviews with footballers who are unable to string together a coherent sentence. 3. Chelsea Tractors in general. 4. Fizzy beer, all it does is makes you belch and fart. Try the real thing instead. Much more effective (both ends). 5. "Me Me Me" mentality, usually displayed by drivers of posh German cars, especially posh German Chelsea Tractors. 6. Lists like thi.....