Jondi

Glad to hear there's hope for the etched conversion sides. I'll just have to be patient--and join the 2mm association!

Is there any word on the future of the EP etched brass coach conversion sides? I think I read earlier in this thread Alan saying that the artwork was with PPD. I am looking for Gresley SFO sides, and probably more.

Hello Tom, I presume that you will be photo etching your footbridge. I ask because I have to build a similar (but smaller) bridge for my Welwyn North project and am on the early stages of figuring out how best to do it. The bridge at Welwyn North is partly demolished and has electric lights in place of the original gas lamps at the head of the stairs. Currently it spans two tracks , but originally it extended over a siding to a third flight of steps down to the goods yard.

Thanks Phil--this is the part of the track plan giving me the most trouble too. I think I need to study old OS maps to see if they offer any clues. On my recent visit to a Hertfordshire the library's map collection was locked up and I had no time to get access, or to visit the County Record Office. There is an aerial photo from 1928, but it is not clear enough to discern track details. The crossing is not there on the 1931 signaling diagram shown in Welwyn's Railways. My hunch is that it went before 1930, but I'd ike to be sure!

This is all great stuff Phil. I too am modeling the ECML in this era (Welwyn North), but in N gauge. (How I wish an N gauge C1 was available!) I grew up near Welwy North, was a regular at the Cowper Arms for a while, and commuted from the station in the 1990s. When in the area in July (I live in Massachusetts) I spent most of a day happily photographing and measuring to enable me to draw and build the structures. I had not realised that so much of the coal drops has survived! Currently, I am having a lot of fun researching the beehive works (which I vaguely remember) and reconstructing it on paper. My project is focused on 1930, but stretches to 1925-35 and beyond. I am in the planning stage at present, slowly collecting and building stock and still a long way from actually constructing the layout--or even figuring out where to house it! My research is ongoing, but I wonder if you were able to establish the track plan at Welwyn North in 1930? I have a pretty good idea what it was like at that time, but don't know if the crossover in the down sidings seen in early C20th photographs was still in place at that date. It had gone by the mid-30s, and is a feature I would like to approximate using Peco Code 55 track, but it would be much simpler and cheaper if it were not period appropriate! Many thanks. Jonathan