mike knowles

Thanks John. As the signals I built for our previous layout were ER that's probably where I got the idea they were black. The ones I'm currently building for our new layout are a mix of ex Highland Railway and LMS so probably looks like I need to repaint them!

I notice the back blinders on these signals are painted white. I always assumed they were black but some photos of prototype signals I've looked at recently also show white ones. Any idea whether white was always used or could they be either colour.

I'll be there with Boston Frodsham. A couple of photos below to hopefully tempt you even more!

So if manual handling regulations restrict a person to lifting a maximum of 25kg then you'll need five people just to carry the ballast when you're setting up the layout at a show!

If it was loaded with concrete we'd ring the fire brigade to come and flush it out before it went hard!

Cheers Steve. On behalf of Hessle MRG I'd like to offer our sincere thanks to all the exhibitors and traders who turned out to support us. Also to the people who visited the show, in numbers far greater than we had hoped, particularly given the weather conditions early in the day. The day was a great success which everyone appeared to enjoy immensly. Thank you all again.

Cheers Steve. As he says it's tomorrow from 10.00 to 16.00. Don't miss it!

100% O gauge. 100% modern image. It doesn't get any better than that!

Look forward to meeting you. Please ask as many questions as you like. You may even get the odd sensible answer!

Also please note that as far as I am aware none of the layouts at the show will feature erupting volcanos, landslides or dinosaurs etc!

In preparation for the exhibition we hired one of the large rooms at the town hall last Sunday so we could fully set up all three of the club layouts and give them a good test. To hopefully whet your appetities further here are some photos. Firstly Invermire Cayton Bay Cottingham Note all the layouts are still, works in progress

No worries, just thought you may have saved me a job! Nice to see they will be included with the wagon though.

Ha, beaten me to it! I was just about to show details of the conversion I've done. Having tried fitting the P4 wheelsets initially I was unsure whether they were binding on the backs of the W irons or on the brake gear. So after removing the wheels again I gently prised off the brake gear with a scalpel blade. Although glued in place, with a gentle bit of leverage it was possible to break the bond and remove the brakes without damage. Reinserting the wheels showed they now turned freely so no work was needed on the W irons. I reckoned the tops of the wheel treads were fouling on the bit of plastic sprue which joined the pair of brake shoes together so I just removed this and reattached each brake shoe individually, securing them with a touch of cyano glue and repositioning them to suit the wider gauge. The brake cross shafts were then replaced using slightly longer lengths of 0.31mm wire, sprung into place and secured with more cyano. I've just today received delivery of some Accurascale PCA cement wagons and whilst not wanting to get drawn into the debate over which is the better model it does look like a similar amount of work will be required to convert them to P4.

Will the wagons be supplied with the screw couplings ready fitted?