Physicsman

Just an observation and some of you will groan and go "not again".... I dislike the "Likes" system on this Forum, not because of its general usefulness, but because of its unfairness. Some threads, consisting of nothing but people having a "jolly" abound with mutual pats on the back and tons of likes for supposedly "whitty" conversation. When this extends to dozens of pages it wears a bit thin. This page shows a very good example of how stupid the system is. This is SUPPOSED to be a railway MODELLING website, but modelling often goes uncredited at the expense of a quick bit of info or, as cited above, "banter". So, a few posts back I informed people of my plans for the near future. 3 or 4 sentences, 2 minutes typing. 8 likes. I then post a video and pics representing 5 days and about 25 hours MODELLING work. 8 likes. THANK YOU for all the likes, irrespective, but MODELLING, whatever the thread, ought to be given more credit. I used my page as an example. I could have chosen loads of threads where fantastic modelling is virtually ignored, but if you want a bit of banter - go onto, e.g. The Night Mail thread, have a laugh (which is good) and collect your dozens of likes. I'm not trying to be miserable, just highlighting unfairness. I wish the whole likes system was scrapped as there are a few on here (the Forum, not this thread) who do nothing, talk crap or try to be witty and glory in their Likes. This is what I feel. I'm certainly not going to apologise for my viewpoint and if you're offended by this - tough. Go and look at something else. Jeff

Ok, an update. I've included some pics and a short video. Things that have been done in the last week include: Adding a road surface to the rear of the station, walling to the rear of platform one, a grass area adjacent to the main building which links to the underbridge embankment and tidying up/completion of the rear embankment and walling. The station building is in the same state as it was in May 2018 when KL2 came to an abrupt halt. All doors, a ply roof etc have long been readied, it's just a case of a couple of week's work to complete the job. This station area development has been, in a way, a way to coerce me to get the building finished in the not-too-distant future. Should look nice in Midland Crimson/Red. Both platforms will be (re) surfaced in the next couple of days with platform edging painted-in. In keeping with the prototype (see pic), there'll be a tree or two added into the (currently bare) grass area. So that's a few hours of tree-making time....

Well Ade, you ought to check your Inbox, then! You never know what "Father Physicsman" might have delivered to you via his Britannia-powered sleigh!!

Hi Dave. A very pleasant surprise to see you on here. Welcome back to the land of DAS, grass, plastikard, plaster and the S&C landscape. A lot of stuff is missing, of course, from RMweb 's server problems but the last 15 pages have probably given you an overall idea. And yes, business as usual. J.

Anyway, going cold turkey and back to reality.....a brief update. I'm working on the station area. Walls and grass, of course. The station is planned out - lamps, fencing, seats, walls, cattle dock, main building, platform 2 shelter. I'm going to work for another month then take a first break in 18 months as it's heading into Jupiter imaging season. So it's a case of do what I can and see where that leads. I'll put some pics up later in the week.

Well, there's several kilograms of grass on the layout. Pretty colours. I didn't know I was supposed to smoke the stuff. At the prices Noch charge I'm not sure I could afford to do that....

Kalimera, John..... Oh, spliffing good. Immediately brings to mind Roxy Music's song "Love is the drug", for some reason.

No problem with the "hijacking", Shaun. I'm busy with my own area of interest and it's nice to see a bit of variety in here. DAS, grass, tree. DAS, grass, tree. Sound familiar? J.

Looking very luxurious, Jay! Good bit of work! We don't realise how spoilt we are these days.... Jeff

As with anthing, Shaun, practice makes (a little less) imperfect. I've been known to spend an hour or two playing with the stones (DAS, not Rolling)! Keep up the good work.

Very true, so makes them dead easy to make. Caveat emptor..... The pics will show a "properly made" tree. The buyer gets a sprayed armature and a bottle of flock labelled "please re-attach me next March".... For that suggestion I'll give you a discount. You can have the first hand-crafted model for a paltry £50. Owzat sound? Oh, apologies - you'll be skint with the outlay on that layout you plan to buy. Umm....

Thanks Al. I'll make a number of trees (autumn time) so they'll be ready "off the shelf" - and put their pics on here. Of course, nobody may want to buy them as I won't be "giving 'em away"!! If nobody wants them I'm sure I can find a project (Hell Ghyll Sidings) to use them on.... Strong walls and trees that grow in the bare air up here you know. Amazing how the wall was the best vantage point for a quick pic.

Later in the year I'll consider making some trees for sale, as in the one below - this is 16cm tall from base of trunk to top of upper foliage. If anybody is interested - no commitment at this stage - let me know.

I've spent the last week working on the area to the rear of the main station building (which is a future project to complete). Walling is now complete to the rear and in front of the rear embankment and 2 15-16cm trees have been constructed and added in. The positions of the trees aren't fixed - they are spigoted and can easily be moved around/rearranged. Eventually there'll be a few more bushes/hedging in that area. Just part of the (huge) detailing task to be done.

Bit late to the party but those views at Kirkby Stephen look a bit familiar. As do the threatening clouds! That's a good looking modular layout, with an interesting viaduct, you were working on. J.

Neil, good to see you back on the Forum. I don't look on here too often but always keep an eye out to see if you're around. Good work with the image re-posts. Sounds like you're currently well-motivated on the modelling front! Jeff

Well, it's been a long while since LM was mentioned on here, James. One of these days you might stop some of the gazillion projects you have on the go and "complete" LM! Yes, I know it's never going to happen. Good to hear from you. J.

Don't worry Ade. Your personal Gill Head photo supplier will send you a couple of pics in a day or two to give you your fix!

Just popped in to see if there had been any activity on the thread. Needless to say, I'm plodding on with the project. Really, most of what I've built - other than the large cutting and the viaduct path - are "generalities". There's a lot of detailing to be done elsewhere. What that is, we'll think about when we get to each bit! I will aim to put a picture update on here in about a week's time. Just mundane stuff, as previously, but areas are looking a bit more "tidied up". If anyone wishes to post anything on here, please do. You don't just need to discuss my updates. I'll be more than happy to join in anything that's layout or S&C related. Jeff

Thanks John. Nice to hear from you. Are you currently sunning yourself in Piraeus?

With rampant pigs and sheep on the line, maybe it was not a hint of Pork in sight. Apologies for "same old, same old" btw. Next update in a week or two when something new might be shown.

The 15.22 from Applethwaite, delayed by rampant pigs and sheep on the line, retreats through Gill Head cutting. Not a hint of cork in sight.....

A freight with a few empties wallows its way through Gill Head cutting, south of the viaduct.

I've spent most of the day re-organising stuff in the observatory and getting some new kit checked out. I've just put the base coat of static grass onto the area around the tunnel portal (#2). It'll be a couple of days until that area is "complete" - probably Tuesday/Wednesday if I include retaining walls, which I ought to. Here are 3 more very short vids, taken 30 minutes ago. The Sulzer is chugging along nicely. No more vids for quite a while after this, we'll be back to ordinary pics.

I was due to go there last week with Elon Musk's outfit, but TUI double-booked me, so I had to give up my seat. Pity, I could have done with a couple of weeks of non-stop rays.... And the air-fare came out cheaper than all those packs of DAS I've been buying.