Re6/6

What was the rule in steam days for mixing coaching stock, with regards to the corridor connectors?..i.e. Stanier/Collett/Gresley/BR etc... Thanks John

You're right to be pleased with the 2BIL Pete, looks excellent. Could you put up a few more pics of it please?

A couple of new arrivals. A Bachmann 150 in Regional Railways livery to be adapted with 'Wessex' decals over th RR ones. (As seen in Exeter in 2004) There will also be an 'Arriva Trains' blue 150 set shortly. Cornish liveried Hornby 153 will compliment (when finished!) the Hurst 153 conversion in pretty pink. ...Both still to be P4ed.

Thank you for all the kind words. Much appreciated.

Same stuff. Canadian I believe.

Don't ask!

New sand drag in the bay platform. Brambles need trimming! The little bit of vertical rail in the ballast is a stop in case a unit overruns..or an operator not paying attention! It will be incorporated in the framework for the double red stop lamp, based on the one at St Ives. New replacement fencing made from brass square tube and fine dressmakers mesh fabric. The grass along the bottom of the fence was done with the 'Grassmaster' using the cone accessory. Anti vermine netting fitted. As at Cam and Dursley Station

A few more images of Matford, taken at the Exeter show on 5/6 June 2010: General view looking towards buffer stops, Class 158 is ready to depart towards Exeter St Davids and Cardiff, the Class 170 waits it's turn in the carriage siding before working a service to Waterloo: Looking through the 'rat hole' under Mutton Lane towards the station area, some shunting is in progress, the Captain's favourite shunting area for playing with 3 links! Scrap, oil and bitumen traffic are handled in the sidings behind the photographer's location:

Thanks for those very useful pics Dave. I've been looking forward to the Colin Craig 4mm versions, but they're on hold ATM since Colin has been unwell. These shots will be a good aid to building some clamplock mechs.

Gordon, that is top stuff! Excellent.

My bin men come today. I can give all these lovely models a good home...As for the 'unusual' lots, the seller can't be much of a 'dealer' buying such exquisite items!

New backscene will be needed. Much 'squaring up' and 'bedding-in' to do. It was all thrown back together in a hurry for the show. The photos were taken by David Brandreth of the Scalefour Society at the 2010 Exeter show a few weeks ago. A couple of general views of layout from buffer stops, looking towards fiddle yard (aka Exeter City Basin Jct): View of the station area, with Class 170 and 159 in evidence, clearly SWT are holding sway at the moment! The Class 170s were seen at St Davids for a short while on Waterloo services - that's all the excuse we need to run one on Matford! Class 08 passes evidence of disused oil depot and a folorn PW hut, which is unlikely to see much use by Network Rail anymore. The brambles and hut are a new addition to the layout, the brambles were created using fine horsehair and some Noch scenics purchased in Holland. The ex-Central Trains Class 158 waits to come off depot and join the main line, whilst the 08 shunts the scrap metal siding (although the wagons behind the brake van appear to be unusually early from the period and were loaned by a certain Captain of this parish!):

A quiet time in the bay platform.

A politician is someone who, on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, orders more tunnel..... Ctsy Simon Drew, artist.

£19.26 new on Amazon!

Another interesting changeover is at Chiasso in southern Switzerland. Northbound trains from the Italian direction (3000V DC) roll into the station with the pans down and come to a halt. A small Swiss electric shunter (15000V AC) collects the Italian engine and pushes it back across the border at the changeover point. Then the Swiss engine comes on..etc.. I haven't observed how it works in the southbound direction. I would imagine that there would be a short length of switchable OHLE. Map here Typical shunter here

Heard about at our DRAG meeting last night. A friend of one of one of the members had put a bet on for Chelsea to win 7-0...you can imagine the rest! (Cole scored the eighth goal in the 89th minute!)

Praise The Lord! We (Leeds Utd) beat the Gasheads 2-1 and finally got (automatic) promotion to the Championship! Must have aged 20 years listening to it, totally drained. All that heartache over the last six years! Anyone else out there who has/is suffered/suffering the same sort of despair with their club, over the years?

Quite the best 2BIL that I've ever seen. Well done Pete. You've transformed a 'skinny looking' kit into something with a very substantial look to it. Just as I remember them when travelling to school! Will you be doing a 2HAL next?

Hi Martyn. I'm glad that we've taken the plunge. It's working out as well as I'd hoped. Using pre-cut ply side pieces and ends, gluing and screwing for each of this size takes about 45mins. Obviously the longer ones (1800mm x 500mm) will take a little more time. But seeing as we will need 20+ a pretty quick assembly line is required. The beauty of the accidental discovery that the foam will take sufficiently to hold long coarse thread screws, has proved invaluable. I've added a pic above.

The first baseboard has now been built for one of the 'generic' scenery sections. It has worked out very well indeed. Pink 50mm polyfoam insulation board was used, (available from B&Q at about £20 for a pack of four [1200mm x 500mm]). 100mm deep 4mm thick birch-faced ply was glued to the long sides with 'No More Nails' type solvent free grab adhesive and 9mm marine ply was used for the 'FREMO' style ends, with patternmakers dowels fitted. Underneath transverse bracing was fitted (6mm thick x 50mm deep) to stop any torsional twisting The polyfoam is dense enough to take 4" x no12 screws which would grip sufficiently to allow the side/end panels to be screwed tight enough whilst the adhesive takes. This saves a lot of clamping up. The bonus with this type of construction is its lightness. Upper scenery, embankments, contours will be made from the conventional white polystyrene, the sort available from builders merchants in 50/100mm thickness 2440x1220mm size sheets as it's a lot cheaper. The next one that will be made will built allowing for an 'under rail' type bridge. Not quite worked that out yet! All in all, I'm very pleased with the final thing. I got the idea from an old issue of MRJ, which showed the construction of the baseboards for Gordon Gravett's 'Pempoul'.

Where did these particular coaches run?

Storage won't be a problem! ..but it will mean rearranging the storage of all the other layout stuff!

I've started to post some more images in the gallery.

You've hit the nail right on the head there Martyn. That would be exactly what we'd be aiming at. I do agree that FREMO style layouts are very much overdue over here.