Captain Kernow

Didn't realise it had been sold. May I ask how long you've owned it, please?

I agree. And I'm very polite, myself.

Fortunately, it is being held on Saturday. So that's two bacon sarnies, then?

Hi Doug, Best of luck with the project! Although the Alan Gibson wheels should be pretty spot-on for the 14XX, it occurs to me that some people may be happier with the Markits type of wheel and the self-quartering features it has on the axle ends. If you're not familiar with the name 'Markits', the design of the wheel and axle is essentially the same as the old 'Romford' type. Markits do a bespoke driving wheel for the 14XX (also billed as suitable for the GWR '517' 0-4-2T). When you speak with Chris Gibbon at High Level, he will no doubt explain the best combination of motor and gearbox. Different motors have different RPMs (and presumably torques, although that shouldn't be too much of an issue in 4mm scale). With the size of the driving wheel fixed, the motor RPM speed and gearing are the two variables that you can control, to ensure that the model runs at the kinds of speeds you want it to. That said, the smaller Mashima motors (eg. the '10' and '12' series) have more than enough power for a plastic-bodied 14XX.

Hi Simon, the scenic section is 4' 6" in length.

The view from the top of the embankment:

The view from the top of the embankment:

A mixture of some Lanarkshire whitemetal buffer stops, a lost wax cast buffer stop and a scratchbuilt sleeper buffer stop, built for the P4 'Balcombe' layout of John Farmer (Re6/6) and Rod Cameron (10800): A bog standard Bachmann sleeper built buffer stop, weathered (by me), also for 'Balcombe': Some GWR buffer stops (Lanarkshire) on 'Bethesda Sidings', also a couple of scratchbuilt sleeper ones:

Yes, it has it's origins in the sewing fraternity, although it's nylon rather than cotton.

This is extremely unfortunate news, although you are wished a successful show at Epsom in the most hearty terms.

I estimate that you could get approximately 40,000 large pasties on that truck, or 9 or 10 big people, assuming they had eaten all 40,000 pasties between them, but I couldn't guarantee on whether the springs would last very long.

PM sent.

Yesterday, I was mostly threading a very fine nylon thread through holes in fence posts.

As the birthplace of so many noble steeds that graced the railways of the South West, it cannot be anything but within the Noble Realm, but beware, it may be within our borders, but it is close to the border with the uncharted and wild lands to the East and the North. Dagworth, in Cheltenham, is our border Watchman in those parts. It is a lonely vigil, but a worthy endeavour. Perhaps we need a Watchman in Wiltshire as well?

Google won't translate from Daftish into English

Are other fragrances available?

This afternoon, CTMK and I took a walk into the village, with the intention of sampling the tea and cake at the recently re-opened emporium, that used to be 'The Royal Oak' pub, but which is now called 'Station House'. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I knew the owner, Richard, who with his family sells a tasty-looking range of savory and sweet meals, wines, bottled beers and hot beverages. The whole place has a gentle railway theme to it, both inside and out. I also found out something that I didn't know before, in that the premises used to be used by the Post Office to sort mail that had arrived at Brent station by train, for onward delivery (also by train) to local destinations such as Kingsbridge. If you are in the vicinity, I can recommend this place.

So that was you helping hold the fence posts as I glued them in just now?

Out of interest, Neil, why is that, please? Most small goods yards kept their crane until closure, even if it was disused. The prototype for Bethesda Sidings, with a crane mounted on a brick plinth, as Barbers Bridge, on the Gloucester to Hereford line.

My railway room currently smells very strongly of hairspray.

Everything is important (to me). Thinking of the Scalefour Society mantra 'Getting it all right' (as opposed to 'getting it, alright?'), I was discussing this with friends the other day. Really (for me, anyway), it's a case of 'getting as much of it right as I can, as much of the time as I can'. Good looking trains moving through a poorly-executed landscape is almost as bad as unrealistic trains running through an exquisitely modelled landscape, but the one thing that never fails to turn me off or fails to float my boat, is poor running (I mean stalling and jerky locos). Unprototypical operation is also a bit of a turn-off, but (as a retired professional railway operations person), some of that you can explain away by 'special working' or 'local instructions'.

I cannot express my pleasure in sufficiently superlative ways!

Might I be correct in being rather inclined to the view that these are two different Pecketts?