richard i

Only issue I can see is it has a grounded body of a coach which would have been considered a top flight coach when the scene is set. richard

What vice does the work mate have? Asking for a friend. richard

My slow modeling. A D7 in LNER language. It is a mr king kit of body parts. A scratch built chassis ( possible now TW showed me how on my 12AT.) Advice from high level on how to get a motor and gear box to fit. Painted lining except the boiler bands and tender sides. I did not fancy trying to successfully do the odd shapes with transfers, and paint is less likely to fall off. Off topic of ECML, but on thread. For that matter everything in the picture has been built. The buildings before the r-t-p ones were available. Poor photography as the iPad didn’t want to use its flash to take the wheels out of shadow. Richard

Finished apart from some weight. the number plates arrived in the post last night. now to get back to the Atlantics. To be honest I have been procrastinating on them. Richard

The sentinel distraction. paddington is for the company’s name, rather than for the GWR. now to get back to more serious things. richard

Modeling here is going the American way. Shows over there are mostly trade stands and second hand sales. The layouts sometimes an after thought. Most on show is rtr buildings included. So modelers can focus on the open scenery on vast layouts in basements. Who wants to build that many boxcars anyway. At one exhibition I saw a demonstrator who was building brass locos. He was treated as some kind of magician. Most who do have brass locos, buy them ready made and do not paint them, to prove they can afford the brass locos. that’s before we get on to layout payments. You take your layout to a show. When profitability of the show is known, the organizers % out the profit. And the % of that profit going to each layout is based on length of scenic section. Hotels / food are not paid for. We paid $200 each to display a layout one weekend! This explains why the layout had scenic all round even above the fiddle yard. Also shows and sales focus on the local railroads. I could pick up Penn/ Lackawanna/ Reading stock if I had wanted but other railroads would have been hard. Imagine shows here where it was only possible to buy GWR/ SR at a West Country show. In summary, it is getting like America as stock is/ will get more expensive, more will be brought than built. There will be fewer shows. ( the cost model might also come over). Preordering is becoming more the norm. Seeing big layouts will be more about visits to club rooms or homes than shows as shows will have smaller layouts. ( keeps costs down if you can bring it in your own cars). smaller it might be. Different it might be, but it will still exist. richard ps some American layouts look really impressive.

I feel bad. Am I the only one who has brought the SRM to cannibalise it for the power bogie to put in a SRM from another company? I had originally opted for 2 but backed of in more recent years. It is a lovely model in its own right and a bit of me feels it is a shame to take it apart…….unless Kernow are doing spare power bogies as an after sales item? Then I would not need to take this one apart. richard

Looks promising I still think a double track line would be better. Sort of what you have here, and then the branch off that. Otherwise it becomes a branch of a branch/ would it look right? just my thoughts, ignore as you wish. richard

D7 update. I took it to club. It was not happy pulling its tender. Tender was fine on its own. have taken it home. It squeaked when moving. I think it is the resin. therefore two birds with one stone. I enlarged the holes and fitted brass bearings. now the tender rolls more easily. we also discussed if the bogie wheels were all the same size as the bogie was playing up too. It was a good spot. I measured them back home. Two were 14mm and two were 13.9mm. I am not sure that is enough to really disrupt running. In the second round of testing I might need to fit a spring to the bogie or weight. Happy to have thoughts of others. The loco is rear heavy, weight sits over the driving wheels. I will post a picture once the loco has had its next round of tests. thanks for looking richard

Play it. Computer games of it? I think the point being made is they cost money to do with little to show at the end. I still have all locos built by me. I am also under sixty, have a family and job which takes a lot of time. Progress is slow but I focus on one project. perhaps the younger generation has a shorter attention span due to social media short clips. It certainly has been a change in the education sector. Lessons need to be in shorter chunks than when I stared 25 years ago. richard

Hartz mountains. Well worth the trip.

Which loco. Which year. That can change lining etc. just take the b4 immingham for example. I have always thought the 2 b1s were black in gcr days. richard

Glaze them too. Or is that another banned word?

In a year. surely the number is much greater. richard

Ooow. Another project.

Tried all those and the cap is not going anywhere. plan C I will look to drill a hole in the lid and then transfer the contents to another jar. My wife is suggesting a glass jar will work. A jam jar? (She is a scientist so is not basing her judgement on random guessing. Or do I need a metal container? Richard

Questions looking to cast some springs. Can get the top off casting resin part a but not the part b. I tried asking nicely I have even gone up to the adjustable spanner- I really was not giving it a choice. still does not move. anyone any solutions to get into the bottle so it is saved rather than just drilling a hole in the top. many thanks richard

I wondered why we had not had a marathon speed build this year. Trip answers that question. Unless it was taken with you to complete in your down time. richard

It depends. like advice so far I would suggest dc. Then convert later if you want like Mike suggests. my only question is do you want sound? If not you can do everything dcc can do on dc and save the price of chips. perhaps someone could do you a wiring diagram which you follow. It gets round electric Luddite mode. Even I could follow wire from dropper 2 to pin 6, ticking off as I went. richard

Back to the D7. chassis mechanically done. I have scraped away the paint off the wheel rims. Some were like this when bulled up and some paint had chipped off and I did not feel like spending years chasing paint scratches. it might look done to a BR era modeler, but it still needs the wheel centre transfers, whistle and numberplates, ( on order). I write this partly as a reminder to myself as I am sure I would forget the whistle if I did not write this. I have weighed the loco and it is 86 grams…….don't laugh. I will look to squeeze in some lead under the motor, but do not hold out too much hope of it getting much heavier. richard

I only had one layer not double decked so that was not the first place I looked. However I have checked even those bridges on the layout and still nothing. I only taught one so can not take responsibility for the progress of the other one. richard

Distraction complete normal service to resume. the fun of an interesting aside. Black tyres came about in 1912 with the inclusion of soot and later carbon into tyres to triple the number of miles they would do from about 5000 to 15000. Prior to that tires were white due to silica being added. They were also cheaper and so the transition was from 1912 to about 1917. Therefore to ring the changes this 1913 car having white tires is possible. However, with two cars, two motor lorries, one steam lorry, (one more to finish), and only 3 horses drawn wagons, the mix is too mechanical for my 1910-1920 main period of depiction. (I must find where I stashed the milkman and Mortimore coal merchants for the move. They will be “safely” stored in one of the boxes.) richard

Forgive me, I got distracted. it is Christmas after all and I needed something which can be picked up and put down easily with all the distractions around. it is a 1913 type K Aquila italiana sports for the geeks amongst you. happy modeling. richard

Do it’s parents know? how did the father take it? richard

Chimney vs dome height? tender does not look quite right, height of transfer throwing the eye? Can you do a test piece on a part which is not seen eg rear drag bar on loco? Varnish on, if it reacts then you know your answer, more easily repaired/ disguised. just my thoughts. Happy yo be corrected by those with greater wisdom than me on this topic. I know some can comment on types of smoke box door. richard