The Cat Called Charlie

Click on the photograph and all is revealed. Charlie

Not Really, I think the M3 bridge is the other side of the farm track bridge. Charlie

According to Nigel Burkin in the latest Rail Express Modeller supplement the Midland Pullman stock has been held back so it can be produced with the new tooling and features. Charlie.

Tim Shackleton built it for the Hornby magazine OO layout "Grosvenor Square", the construction and layout appearing in the 2017 Hornby Yearbook (number 9). It looked quite imposing despite, as you say, it being in HO scale. Charlie

I have built three layouts over the last few years which have made use of Peco's large radius curved points. On the first layout I did have problems, particularly with Hornby stock which does seem to suffer from variable back-to-back measurements. However, the next two layouts were more reliable and I felt this was because I took much more care in making sure the flexible track that led into and out of the point was already curving to the same radius as the curved point itself, so that the train wasn't suddenly jolted into or out of the turn. My current layout has four large radius curved points and I've had absolutely no problems, even the pesky Hornby stock will run over them. Charlie.

Hello Bob, I too have used these in my fiddle yard and have fixed them down with just two Peco track pins, one in the 'leg' nearest the operating arm so that the arm is held down as low as possible and will not jump out when operating and one on the other side at the opposite end to hold the motor firmly in place. If this still doesn't work a small dab of superglue on the small point tie-bar spigot coming up through the PL11 operating arm hole will do the trick. Hope this works. Regards, Charlie

I too have built three exhibition layouts and have helped in the building and operation of numerous others, I also go to a fair few exhibitions as a visitor so to answer your questions (and speaking just for myself, I should add): 1. I do want prototypical operation. To me it's the whole point of building a model railway, to be exhibited or otherwise. If there are signals then they should be used properly and trains should obey them, although for a large home layout I built I used Knightwing kits which did not illuminate, but in my mind the trains were still acting upon the aspect I imagined was 'displayed'. 2. There will inevitably be gaps in the train movements, there are gaps on the real railway. Some viewers will walk away, some will look at the detail on the layout. The important things is to try and avoid long gaps because something has gone wrong or because the operators have made a mistake. 3. I do occasionally read additional information and it can be helpful, but I would keep it brief, to the point and in quite a large font so it can be read easily. 4. Having operators discussing the next train movement always seems to me to be rather poor, and often leads to one of those 'gaps' you want to avoid. 5. I like digital sound on the trains themselves and I think they enhance the viewing experience, but beyond that I'm not really bothered. Those layouts that feature birdsong or other ambient sounds always seem rather gimmicky to me. Regards, Charlie

If you're looking for a fictional place name for your layout you could try the following website: http://www.obscurehub.com/english-place-name-generator I'm sure someone else on RMWeb brought this website to my attention, but I can't for the life of me remember who. Charlie.