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There being no specific thread on RMWeb I could find for this DaFT initiative, I thought I would start one, even if it is closed now to bids for schemes. I have seen @The Stationmaster write about this in another thread, but if anyone 'in the know' would like to share their thoughts here, especially on recent progress of schemes accepted, I would be interested. The web-sites: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/restoring-your-railway-fund A document to read: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-your-railway-fund-programme-update Thanks and best wishes, Neil.

I used Precision paints on an ODA, thus : Brand chosen more because of my late father's devotion, than an expert comparison. Hope this helps.

I forget how long it takes him, but I am beginning to think the only way I will see a OO 4-CIG on my layout before I am quite gaga is by paying Danny Havlik for one of his exquisite models. Alas, approx. £800, I think (but worth it with the time and effort). Seen at D.E.M.U. Showcase 2023. Would a crowd-funded production-line bulk-purchase persuade him to reduce the cost?

Sorry, perhaps I should have posted my comment here. Forgot this thread!

Sorry to clutter this thread with marginal material, but I see from the 'Man in Seat 61' 's web-site, the V.S.O.E. no longer starts from Calais Maritime, but Paris Gare de l'Est in 2024. Bit unromantic, wot?!

I can only commend you for your 'glass half full' attitude. My comparative knowledge of passenger services is scant, let alone off the Southern Region. I was indulging in gloom about the freight services - my greater interest and default attitude. 🙂

Just to add my two-penn'orth, I think the whole network's staff are de-motivated, losing morale, and giving up. My T.M. was reduced to tears last month by the evening peak-time over-crowding and consequent abuse. What is the point in inspecting tickets on the train to get this, even if you could fight your way through? Station ticket barriers are left open, owing to reduced staffing or their indifference. On occasion, at peak time I have seen ticket barriers flung open because the queues are so long and slow feeding through. It is not just Cross-Country. Railway staff are talking about a 'second-Beeching by stealth'.

Shout me down if I am being daft, but it just struck me: could a manufacturer do a Mk. I carriage based E.M.U., using some sort of modular system? Like the convertion kits, clipping different sides and under-frames to a common floor/chassis. Bogies interchangable; cab fronts ditto (although I am thinking of the B.R. (S) family). Could this keep costs down? Alternatively, could @Darius43 be persuaded to set up a production line if we pay him enough...? 😀

At last bought and read my copy. Good spread of interest. Paul Shannon's Steel terminals making up for the delay in his book, and the photo of girders being unloaded at Truro Yard worth the cover price for me: very useful. Mr Rabone's article on 1971 York was a depressing list of 'What we have lost', splendid pics of 'Splott' I found impossible to photograph myself at D.E.M.U. Showcase 2022(?), colour photos of S.R. E.M.U.s. Something for everyone I hope. Many thanks.

I appreciate the economic arguments described above, but how can manufacturers get youngsters interested in the hobby, if they can not buy what they see when they travel by train, or just peer over the fence? Or do young people gain an interest in other ways? I assume rail travel is declining in this demographic group. Are they inspired by visiting preservation venues? I am curious about how the youth start hobbies that do not involve staring at a mobile-phone.

I was surprised to see no mention on RMWeb of Mr Andrew Martin's 2017 book (2018 pbk) Night trains : the rise and fall of the sleeper. Started reading it after my beloved, who enjoyed it greatly, and Martin writes knowledgably about the social and technical side of C.I.W.L., in the guise of following the old trains' routes. He also mentions Geo. Behrend as an authority. Anyone else read it? Enjoyed it?

I was very sorry to read this. I did not know it had ceased, and have many happy memories of pottering round it each year from the 1970's with my father and uncle. Second-hand Lima locos for a tenner, and a daft pre-teen desire to collect the entire T.O.P.S. loco list. Thanks @Redkiterail for all those pictures. Made me realise how much I had missed, and how one should put the effort in if possible to prepare an annotated map before arrival. Thank you all for a most enjoyable day.

I think it is this: https://www.keymodelworld.com/model-world-live-2024

O no! Just as well excerpts (I think) are being published in Traction. Bought the latest issue yester-day, for the steel terminals.

This is just wonderful. "Telex format" - a much loved phrase of mine. On cursory reading the system bares a resemblance to my trade's coding system, Ma.R.C. Thanks for posting.

I, too, am confused about which area you require information, but you might like to get a copy of : Vaughan, John. Modern Branch Line Album. Shepperton: I. Allan, 1980. I had not come across it before, and picked it up for two quid at Warley yester-day. It has photographs from the 1960's to publication date from around Britain. Hope it might be of use to you.

Thanks to all for my first visit. I enjoyed myself, as usual doing no prep. so bouncing around the hall like a pin-ball trying to locate stands. Queued only ten mins. for a ticket, and spent this time marking the map for likely interests. Despite careful spending, I still went over-budget with a copy from the Darjeeling Railway Soc. of The Great Indian Railway Atlas (3d ed.). Got my two Parkside wagon kits as hoped and other stuff, and home on time by train. Thank you all for a splendid day out. I look forward to next year's.

Thanks to the suggestions to be found on RMWeb and a couple of colleagues, I knocked out three Brighton Pavilion-style 'onion domes' in Milliput last week : They need proper masonry bases modelling underneath, but I was pleasantly surprised at the result. Next task is the pitched roof, hidden behind the parapet. Off to B. & Q. next weekend, to use 4mm. sq. wood with 'lead' covering to space out two Wills sheets of slate tiling to match the width. Having discovered the joys of Milliput, I am now churning out sack loads of different sizes for pallets. Such simple pleasures...

Was the gent. in the lower picture present on Saturday in a topper, tail-coat, and strange neck-wear? I missed him later in the day for a discussion on Victorian cravats...

I bought one of these a few months ago : https://shakespeare-fishing.co.uk/products/compact-folding-stool-1368535 and spent ten happy mins resting my lallies with some Zen shunting at Hillport Goods. £27 at Fly Fishing Tackle on the www.

Also have a think about where you will put the camera, and the pictures' composition. Platforms get in the way of showing a loco and stock below the sole-bar.

Yes, I agree. I tried to buy mine fourteen days prior to to-morrow, compared to Gaydon in 2021, I think it was, which was several months in advance (before the strikes began). But compressing many purchases into a fort-night I am sure does not help.

Rail strikes... 😀

Please may I plead for a cassette system or traverser instead, unless you wish to make the Fiddle Yard scenic as well. They appear to work splendidly at exhibitions I have seen, and save much space. If your skills are up to it, I would say go with a traverser (and cheaper than all those turnouts). Just a thought.

Tried again last night, and got the same 'box of doom' thus : Sigh.