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Snow on the hills too - where's Julie Andrews when you need her! Paul R

Who makes your rivet press? Paul R

The new Oxford Die Cast 1:43 Weymann Fanfare in South Wales livery would be suitable for your layout - yes? See the photo on Black Notley. 1:43 buses are as rare as hens teeth and it is hoped that they will expand their range - there are several Bristol buses that carried a multitude of liveries which would be a pre-requisite. regards Paul R

He's been waiting for that train all day! Paul R

OK I have decided its about time that I finished off some stuff I have had on the shelf for some time. I seem to get most of the way through a project and never quite finish it off as something more shiny and new comes along. Most of my models have something still not done even if they are largely complete. The B2 for example still lacks a crew and I have one ready to install. The signal boxes still have some missing glazing bars - they fell off! In fairness I did used to batch build wagons so I only needed to have one spraying session for each coat. I also have the BR MK1 coach to finish off which was waiting lining which I now have. So I am now going to make a concerted effort to finish some stuff starting with this LMS brake van. Its a Parkside kit and it requires some paint touch up, transfers, couplings and buffers. Then I have to weather it, varnish it and glaze it. The black paint has flaked off for some reason and it may be because the base cote is cellulose primer, the body coat is enamel and the black is acrylic! Not a good combination but the time between coats was quite long. I'll need some lamps as well. I have some brake van lamps somewhere I am going to scrape out the faked black and recoat. This is the third brake van on Black Notley. I have another LMS one - etched Connoisseur kit, a BR from Slaters and this. I have kit for a Southern van and another BR brakes somewhere so at some point I can put the O4 on a brake van special! So watch this space - I hope to make some progress this weekend. Paul R

Hattons are offering the base model for £276. Heljan 56 expected at £560. I would imagine Dapol are testing the water with this one as the model has not been produced before in this scale, there are numerous livery variations making it an excellent first choice for a big diesel. Personally I won't be buying as its out of era for me and would have preferred a 58 but as a debut model the financial case probably would not have stacked up. I wish them well with this - if it comes off at this price it bodes well for the future. Heljan need some serious competition to get prices down. The centre code 40 is overpriced. They have little retooling to recover, the chassis unaltered - yes I would like one but have to think twice at this price whereas if it were at a £300 price point in line with Dapol I would not hesitate to pre-order. Paul R

just let me know Andy! I’ll be there!

NIce Crab too Paul R

You'll not be that far from Uckfield either! Paul R

Rod Please to see the layout in the latest GoG Gazette which dropped on the mat this morning. Looks the bees knees - well done Paul R

Pesky souvenir hunters! Just don't park a Deltic there - it will be stripped in minutes! Paul R

I have now finished the tablet exchange platform and this is shown below. The tablet pouch is made out of brass wire and plastikard. As mentioned before this is designed to stop the need for the driver to cross the cab of his DMU to pick up the tablet. As far as I know Cressing never had one but Black Notley does. Given in my version of history the Dunmow line never closed the route through here is now much busier with more freight that ever before. It is assumed that DMU's would have run through to Bishops Stortford; some would have been through trains from WItham, others would commence at Braintree. All for now Paul R

S and D models do them I think https://www.sanddmodels.co.uk/products_43_accessories.htm number 56 down the page Paul R

My excuse is that they are on a tour of Essex villages! Paul R

Thank Rod One of my Health and Safety Managers has been driving back from Bradford to Manchester and says its bucketing down and almost too dangerous to drive on the motorway! I think we get it down here tomorrow. Paul R