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If you have set images such as thumbnails as hyperlinks (for example, in an illustrated index on a blog post), then the hyperlinks have been lost as well as the images. I doubt if this will affect many users, but I mention it because I have just rebuilt an index page on my own blog. For the record, I am so glad I never tried to rename images I posted on RMweb. The placeholders for the lost images show me the name of the file I need to find in my photo libraries. - Richard.

There is a merit in outsourcing IT, in that it lets you get only what you need. If you do it in house then the employees make unwanted "improvements" to create work to justify their existence. - Richard.

I started my blog in March 2015 and images are missing going back to the first post. Efforts spread over seven years seem to be ruined. I wonder ... can I expect to see any of my missing photos restored during the next month or so? So I can decide whether to accept my losses, or try to rebuild the blog, or abandon the project altogether. - Richard.

I have made a blog post to try to explain where I think the whole "Shelf Island" system is going: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/25415-breaking-through-the-layouts-mid-life-crisis/ Looking over my shoulder at "Shelf Marshes" in its new home, it does look good in the daylight here. - Richard.

Looking at my locomotives which don't really fit in a 2010s setting I have these: Matchbox MB-24 motorised (k) English Electric class 11 in privatised livery Warship 'Glory' (the Ultrascale wheels on this run badly on the Setrack point) (k) Ex-Isle of Wight E1 (now unpowered, works well for topped and tailed operations) (k) USATC S100 USATC S160 "Class 34 D6400" (fictional prototype for the class 33) (k) AEI class 81 (k) The ones marked (k) have Kadee couplers. The others have a mixture of NEM sockets and wedgy slots. If I ignore the class 81, everything else has or can reasonably have a slightly Southern region character. How about moving the layout to the English mainland and calling it the Mid-Wessex Railway? Or perhaps a better name? Such a project could be quite a good showcase for British H0 if I can take it to shows. - Richard.

I hadn't, but you have certainly got me thinking again about them ... I began my British H0 experience with Kadees and these were fine until I realise most of my stock had close-coupling mechanisms (NEM sockets on cams) and I would get a much better appearance if I used suitable close-coupling heads. I then added cams wherever I could to the rolling stock I had built myself and settled on the Roco "Universal" head and "decided" this was my choice of coupler. I have collected up British outline H0 models from all sorts of periods and told myself these belong to the Shelf Island Railway Preservation Society. The Society runs passenger trains at weekends and hires out some of its locomotives to the main railway. Some of these models still have Kadees because I cannot convert them to anything else. Most of the preseved stock is shorter and will look a lot better on the 18-inch curve. How about re-purposing "Shelf Marshes" as the home of the Society? There is nothing in the scenery to put a date on the layout except for the low platform and its OLED display intended for the tram. The model could be present-day or set back in the 1970s or 80s. The locos can give brake van rides and haul short freight trains for photographic purposes. The space for the chemical plant can hold my collection of classic sports cars, this will reinforce the unfamiliar scale for exhibition use and I can claim this is a car club meet. The two exchange sidings at the front can hold stock being restored. The rolling stock can have Kadees throughout, these will plug into the NEM sockets where they aren't already fitted in the draught gear boxes. The layout would work with no fiddle yard at all, and work better with a short stub strack to allow access to the passenger platform. There ought to be relatively little coupling and uncoupling in such a scene. - Richard.

"Shelf Marshes" has problems. In particular, the chemical plant makes it nigh impossible to reach trains on the 90-degree curve - the plant hides the curve too well. In addition, the installation of the layout in my hobby room puts the lighting rig and top of the fascia right in my line of view. The visual effect of a train passing behind the open steelwork of the chemical plant is good, but I am finding it really difficult to couple and uncouple trains on the curve, exactly where many coupling operations need to take place. There are a couple of factors causing problems here – the difficulty of manipulating close couplers on a tight curve as well as the difficult access. This layout really needs access from above to make it work, as at an exhibition, but few exhibition visitors are going to tolerate the difficulty of coupling and uncoupling for very long. I have tried running the layout without the chemical plant. This makes access a lot easier, but the sight of my mainline diesel locomotives and bogie wagons on the curve just makes a mockery of the whole project. The layout would look a whole lot better moved back to the 1970s or so and using smaller locomotives and rolling stock. I have some British outline H0 models to do this, but the period doesn’t fit in at all with the 2010s setting of my “Shelf Island” project. In engineering terms I think of verification and validation. Verification here being making sure the design meets my technical requirements (it does) and validation being the confirmation I have done the right thing (it doesn’t). I like the track plan and the concept of exchange sidings with access from from both ends of the module, but I don’t like the cramped nature of this layout. At least with modern rolling stock. A part of me wants to build “Shelf Marshes” again but on much larger baseboards, perhaps around 2.4m x 0.8m and with a minimum radius around 800-900mm instead of 450mm. Such a model could actually become my complete home layout, tucked into a corner with a fiddle yard to the right and a connection to a small terminus at the left. Another part of me wants to develop what I have built, to add a small oil storage depot in place of the chemical plant (something I can reach over) and maybe a second Magnorail system. This would make the layout pleasing to look at, keep a good visual balance and make for some activity between movements of the trains. For the time being, I have decided to mothball the layout. I have had 3+ months of looking at it in the hobby room, but it is just that bit too cramped to make operations enjoyable. - Richard.

Harry rolls around on the driveway when I get home, he always loves the sunshine. And he knows he will get fed 🙂 - Richard.

To wrap this topic up: "Wellwood" made no progress during the last five months. The module still looks okay in photographs but the aesthetic in real life was wrong to me. There wasn't enough room for the scenic development I wanted to try, the fascia jarred against the front of "Shelf Marshes", and the track was too close to the backscene board. And above all, the module only existed to connect Shelf Marshes to the rest of my layout. So today I removed the Wellwood module and dismantled it. The backscene board is good for another project. The timber was pine stripwood from B&Q and despite my best efforts I never hauled it quite straight enough. The track bed section was okay for Unitrack but not flat enough for a P4 test track (which was the only new use I could think of) so I have disposed of the rest of the module. So, the end of Wellwood, and free space in the room for something better. - Richard.

PM sent. - Richard.

Just about all of my photos of Harry are of him asleep. This is because, apart from eating, sleeping is pretty much all he does here. He doesn't really know how to play, which is a great pity. I have just about trained him to merely nip me and not bite me, but in truth sleeping is his main activity. His own household brought a new baby home a week ago and I think my house is a bit of a sanctuary. He is getting a window sill habit. I think this started because he can watch his own household and soak up the sun. The one in the kitchen is a new place for him, I think he is exhausted by the new arrival. - Richard.

This is Harry after his eviction from the hobby room. - Richard.

Harry is not allowed in the hobby room and he knows this. But I took a long soak in the tub and left the door wide open and temptation was too great. This window sill has both sunlight and a heating radiator. I had to clear off most of the bench to get him out. - Richard.

Welcome to the RMweb and I do hope you enjoy your time here. I have learnt so much here over the years, especially on subjects at the level between the 'how to' articles in the popular magazines and finished models they put into their layout features. - Richard.

These comments are most helpful. A whitemetal superstructure is usually straightforward to understand how the model is supposed to go together, even if some parts need alterations and filler. Given the coffee pot is an attractive model and perfect for a compact industrial setting, I might just phone Springside and ask them about special tools or techniques needed to complete the model, especially the chassis. - Richard.

I pretty much dread the thought of soldering up an etched brass kit, I would rather choose a different hobby but thanks for the thought. - Richard.

PS. I edited my expired listing before posting it. So after eBay automtically relisted it, I could see which listing to keep and which to delete. I must confess I have never gained much from the eBay listing offers. They seem to wait for me to list a few things (and I can go for months without listing anything), and then send me an offer ... - Richard.

Sorry - I hadn't read back far enough. - Richard.

I am contemplating my first 7mm loco kit. At the moment I have a short list of two Springside kits, their Neilson 'Coffee Pot' and their Manning Wardle saddle tank, both small 0-4-0 designs. Both appeal to me because they are whitemetal and I am much more confident with this material than brass; and either would suit my layout project. I wonder whether we know, is one of these kits noticeably easier than the other; or indeed does one have a fiendish detail not really suitable for a beginner? Yes I know I'm not an outright beginner but some loco kits do rather fill me with a sense of dread. If they are evenly matched then I might choose the coffee pot because there is always a tiny chance I will find an Ixion MW to buy one day. - Richard.

I managed to achieve this five minutes ago! The trick seems to be, if a listing expires then wait for eBay to automatically relist it. Then edit this version if you want to revise the listing. If you click the "relist" button, you end up with a duplicate. Well this is what happened to me. - Richard.

Tenshodo have released a range of motor bogies using a coreless motor, including a version with a wheelbase of 31mm and 11.5 or 14mm diameter wheels. There are some on eBay at the moment but shipping is from Japan: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/165237598612 I have had very mixed results with the running of older Tenshodo motor bogies, maybe these coreless ones are better. - Richard.

Following on from discussions in the commercial items topic I have put some minor updates into the tables in the first post: For a LSWR G6, a J72 is a far better starting point then a Terrier I've added the Lima GWR 45xx prairie as a way to build a 61xx large prairie I have omitted the Ivatt 2MT and the classes 40/44/45/46 (above) for the time being simply because I hope they turn out to be a success but at the moment I am not quite sure whether they are suitable. The most recent posts here do show how much the tables reflect my own preferences for small locomotives without leading or trailing wheels ... I am sure there are are other RTR donors for large steam locomotives especially the BR standard designs with a high running plate. I can put them into the tables if I find out what they are. - Richard.

Like all these things it is easy enough after you know but not remotely intuitive. Copy the address from the web page you want to link to (put the address into the clipboard). Then find the button fifth from the left in the RMweb reply box: The button with the chain. A pop-up box opens; paste the address into the box labelled "URL". HTH. - Richard.

Thinking about only the wheels of the two prototypes and staying with Mike Sharman's book: Standard class 3 2-6-2T: Leading and trailing wheels 3' scale up to 36 * 87/76 = 41", which is overscale for the 3' of the class 4 prototype Driving wheels 5'3" scale up to 63* 87/76 = 72", which is underscale for the 5'8" of the prototype I would not be terribly worried about wheels being 1mm too big or too small, but a conversion might look a bit odd if some wheels are 1mm too big and some are 1mm too small. Then again, the class 3 model is so old we might want to fit new wheels all round. - Richard.

I have dug out Mike Sharman's book on wheel specifications for the modeller for the two larger locos. I don't have either of the donor models, but supposing the wheels are accurate for 4mm scale this is how they work out for H0: Lima GWR 45xx Prairie in 00 scale Leading wheels 3'2" scale up to 38 * 87/76 = 44", which is overscale for the 3'2" of the 61xx prototype 10 spokes on a 45xx and 61xx Driving wheels 4'7" scale up to 55 * 87/76 = 63", which is underscale for the 5'8" of the 61xx prototype 14 spokes on a 45xx but 18 spokes on a 61xx Trailing wheels 3'2" scale up to 38 * 87/76 = 44", which is good for the 43" of the prototype 10 spokes on a 45xx and 61xx Airfix/Dapol kit for a Standard Class 4MT 2-6-0 in 00 scale I guess this is suggested as a model for static display Leading wheels 3' scale up to 36 * 87/76 = 41", which is overscale for the 3' of the 5MT prototype 9 spokes on a 4MT and 5MT Driving wheels 5'3" scale up to 63 * 87/76 = 72", which is good for the 6'2" of the 5MT prototype 16 spokes on a 4MT and 20 spokes on a 5MT -- I don't really know anything about outside-cylindered steam locos - to be honest, I wouldn't choose H0 if I wanted to have very many of them. On the positive side, Rapido have shown us with their J70 tram how slender such outside cylinders can be made, just 29mm outside width. I am not really fussed about the number of spokes on wheels in H0 scale either, but maybe these notes can be useful to someone. It is the overall effect that counts, and most any H0 wagon, coach or diesel loco looks more convincing to me than an 00 one unless the 00 model is sat in a display cabinet. This was a useful and encouraging article. - Richard.