Barry Ten

I used to see it a lot in the Netherlands, hanging over fields - and I've also seen it near Severn Tunnel Junction, driving to the bridge, and on the M4 in Wiltshire. Not always early morning either, sometimes late in the day. Must be one of those inversion layer thingies.

The effect is clearly intended to be low lying mist, the kind that hugs the ground, often seen on early mornings and near sea level.

I don't own a Castle yet but if it's at all like any of the recent Hornby tender models, I'd imagine it's fairly easy to insert the loco-tender connector the wrong way around and thereby create a short?

Tom Petty. Lots of Tom Petty.

Golly gosh, I was also listening to this one this week - first time in years. I was a bit underwhelmed with Park Life when it came out but it's starting to look like some kind of classic album, very much a snapshot of the times. And This is a Low is indeed lovely...

Buffalo - I did have the bucket hanging off the rear fire iron loops before I stripped this model down for repainting - maybe I should put it back there? I agree that they'd be in trouble for knicking a fire bucket, but it's a nice touch of red to counter-balance the red lamp stored on the other side of the engine (in additon to the running lamp on the front). I'd best paint the splasher tops as well... Sylvian: the brake rodding's dead easy to do, if you've got some spare brake etches. I believe mine were left over from my Branchlines City of Truro kit. The only tricky bit is that the pull-rods jog down in the middle of each wheel to allow clearance for the coupling rods - this is as necessary on the model as on the prototype, although later panniers - as far as I can see - had straight rods. Ideally it would be nice to have the whole thing done as an etched component but I made do with plastikard.

Thanks, David - I did wonder about that; I'll get the paints out...

Hornby 2721, followed by a Parkside horse box:

Here's the finished 2721: HMRS transfers, Fox numberplates, Springside vacuum pipes and lamps and some light weathering with Tamiya powders. I also added lamp irons and some footplate details such as a bucket and fire irons.

Couple of blasts from the past: I'll be exhibiting Cogirep at Trainwest 2010 in Melksham on the 10th and 11th April, and at the Taunton RMweb members day a fortnight later. Hopefully there will be a few more bits and bobs to look at for those that have seen the layout before. Oh, and while I'm plugging it, there's an article in the current (April) issue of Continental Modeller B).

Couple of recent ones from my Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern: That's a new Bachmann 44-tonner in the upper photo: an exquisite little model and DCC onboard as well.

Here's one of several projects that I'm trying to get finished and off my workbench. I haven't posted anything in ages so I thought an interim report would be better than waiting for one of these albatrosses to reach completion. The 2721 is an old-stager in the Hornby range and by no means up to the standard of recent RTR but it's a characterful model that offers a bit of Edwardian charm with its delightful open cab. The main problem, aside from the usual issue of ride height and (I think) wheel spacing - is the sparse chassis detail, which completely lacks outside pull rods. One option is to swap the Hornby one for a Bachmann pannier chassis: http://www.gwr.org.uk/pro2721.html but I decided to see what could be done with the model "as is". The chassis under this model isn't the one it came with, which was the very old version with open frame motor, unflanged centre drivers and pickup off only two axles, but rather a newer version with a can motor and three axle pickup that nonetheless still fits the old tooling. I got it off ebay for less than twenty pounds including postage. The main job was to add the outside brake gear - this is the third attempt. I glued etched brake shoes to the plastic versions moulded as part of the keeper plate, then added cross-rods and outside pull rods from plastikard. My first effort was too fragile, but the cross-rods make the whole thing more than strong enough to withstand normal handling. In addition I have added separate handrails all round and am now in the process of additional detailing and finishing. The spectacle plates are from the Mainly Trains etch. The model has been resprayed with Precision GWR green and will carry "Great Western" lettering, I think.

I??m in a bit of a quandary really - it??s clearly a really nice model, and it??s the kind of initiative I??d like to support, but since I??ve already got a Truro, do I really need another one? I suppose I could rename one of them for another City and ignore the detail differences, or just accept having two models of the same engine at different points in its career... or ... hmm... where??s my credit card?

Me too - I thought "now there??s an example of out of the box thinking with regard to wagon weighting"... and readily available under the workbench, too - simples! Re: Ratio kits - made most of them, and agree with some of the other posters that given the age of the mouldings, they are very good.

Thanks all. Just had a look at the pics of the Bachmann one and it appears to be superb! I must say I'm astonished that it will be released so quickly. I probably won't have finished this one by then, knowing me. The other loco project on my workbench (well, one of them) is an unrebuilt Patriot that I started way before the Bachmann one was announced, let alone released. It uses a Bachmann chasss, Hornby body and Comet tender. It's nearly ready for paint so maybe I'll get some pics of that up before too long. In Germany right now, though, so modelling on hold...

Very nice! I am working on a Restaurant Open First and a Restaurant Third at the moment, using the Comet sides on Airfix coach bodies. There's also been a lot of filling and spraying and sanding...

In light of recent developments, I thought it was about time I got my act together and actually did something with my own City of Truro. I finished painting it earlier this year, but (as is typical of me) it's sat on the workbench waiting for the last few bits to be done while I got sidetracked with other projects. I had never attached a coupling to the tender, and the model still lacks crew, lamp irons and brake handles on the tender, as well as a touch of weathering. I wasn't in any great hurry, though - after all, what were the chances of anyone announcing an RTR Truro? Anyway, I've added a coupling to the tender and established that, as she stands, three coaches is about her limit. She pulls three very well mind, but four induces quite a bit of slipping. There is still room for a bit more weight, and adding crew will help, but she's never going to be a haulage monster. I'm sure the RTR Truro will be a bit better in this respect, since there'll undoubtedly be more metal in the body and perhaps traction tyres. The original thread is here: http://www.rmweb.co....=+truro#p570744 and for anyone interested in owning a City before the RTR one appears, the model is built from the Branchlines kit, using the Dapol mouldings as a basis. It's a great little project which I thoroughly enjoyed.

A new one from me:

Thanks chaps. Had a brainwave last night - I hadn't switched off the main room light, so that might have been contributing to the shadows. Unfortunately when I went back up to check my brilliant theory, I found that the fluorescent tube wasn't working. Very puzzling but I will have to disassemble the lighting rig and examine it on my bench now. Went to bed in a grumpy mood!

I've added some Springside swans and cygnets to the brook, and some water for them to swim around in. I've also got around to putting in the 5 foot fluorescent lighting fixture, which is attached to an L-shaped beam running across the entire 7 foot module frontage. I'm generally pleased with the way it's brightened the scene, but I haven't eliminated shadows on the backscene from the big tree. They're softer than before, as you'd expect, but I still need to do a bit of work to make them less obtrusive. I think I can probably do so by adding background trees directly against the backscene to absorb the shadows, rather than have the big tree standing stark against the sky, as nice as that looks. I've also begun adding some details to this little crossing gate scene around the concrete bunker - note S&D warning sign (from a Roger Smith sheet), picked up at the Cardiff show - just the ticket! There's also a proper S&D sign on the gate. Ultimately I'd like to make region-specific details such as this easily removable (maybe by having them plug into receivers in the scenery) so that I can change the location as when I like.

Mikkel, absolutely - and I'm not very good at it! By the way the curved backscene is embarrassingly low-tech. The main layout backing consists of sheets of 2mm mdf joining at right angles. In order to create the curved sky I simply added a top layer of blue card and allowed it to bend in the corners. It works fine for a home layout (and the card seems to be happy being oversprayed provided it is done in light passes) but would be too flimsy for an exhibition design.

I've finished the two tracks that run through the Shillingstone module. They're lightly tacked down since I want to tweak the alignment a bit but the wiring is done and tested. Since I don't envisage ever wanting to operate two locomotives at once, I've only used on-off switches, so a train can be parked in the station while another passes. I do want to run DCC-equipped locos on the layout occasionally, though, so there's a DPDT switch to select between analog and digital. Screwed to the underside of the boards is an ancient Meccano controller which supplies 18V AC for the Gaugemaster handheld, and will also supply 9-12 V for the Tortoise motors (which are in situ, but not operational yet). I knew it'd come in handy one day! View looking down the layout. The two yard sidings will be on the right, and the board will be extended out to create a little more width. I'll only do that when I've finished work on the sky, though, as otherwise the reach-over will be unworkable. Looking the other way, with the tracks coming off the non-scenic board connecting the country scene to this one. Another view of the country scene. Once I accepted that this was going to be essence-of-Shillingstone, rather than an accurate portrayal of the real station, I started having all sorts of naughty ideas about maybe adding another siding off the rear loop, kicking back to serve a milk depot or something as at Bailey Gate. But I keep reminding myself that this all started as a test track with maybe a bit of scenery and a point or two - it wasn't ever meant to be a big, complicated layout with loads of operating scope. So I'll do my best to resist the temptation...

It would have to 72006 on the Pines for me as well - turns out I have some McKenzie ancestry (something I didn't know during the three years I actually lived in Scotland).