Del

Thanks for all the answers so far. Ray's photo confirms that Newcastle Haymarket is the layout I was thinking of. Uxbridge High Street seems to be closest to what I'm thinking of, rather than the bigger stations where the passenger access into the station building seems to be at ground level.

That's almost certainly the one. That terminates within the building itself though and is a bit grand for what I have in mind. I need a branch, really...

Some time ago (by which I mean well over ten years), there was a layout in the Railway Modeller of an urban terminus up on arches, where the buffer stops were hard up against a neighbouring building, and pedestrian access from street level was via internal staircases. I think this model was based in Newcastle? I'm trying to think of a prototypical example, and I'm struggling! Any ideas?

It was originally in RM in about 1984. It's an LNWR terminus though, so the 2P & 4F might not fit.

Millport Victoria? http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/165/entry-368-millport-victoria-lnwr-layout-work-in-progress/

What about Maidstone West? [Google Maps link] https://goo.gl/maps/u1FipYtotYo

Ah-ha! The head isn't retracted, so is blocking the cassette when the door closes. That was quite difficult to see with the way the deck is designed. Time to get the screwdrivers out!

Tried it with three different cassettes, so I don't think it's that, but the idea of misalignment has given me an idea that maybe the door might be a bit wonky.

I scored a rather nice mid/late-80s Ferguson stereo on eBay for a great price, and although I only really wanted it for the turntable (which works pretty well), everything else works as well except the cassette deck. It has a soft elect, which is a bit stiff, but the cassette door closes quite easily without a tape in it. Unfortunately, when you do put a tape in, it won't close as if something is jamming it. I can't see anything obvious, so any ideas what might be causing it?

My dog only responds to commands in Spanish. He's español...

In a restaurant, perusing the menu. Waiter: Would you like to hear the specials? Me: Oh, yes please. Waiter: This town...aah-aah...is coming like a ghost town...

Aren't they the ones that would give you a clump with a solid brass back-to-back gauge?

A13 eastbound this morning, in the 50mph section around Thurrock. A Ford Ka is doing 45-ish in the middle lane, so I pull out into the outside lane, just touching 50. A Citroen Picasso comes haring up behind, right on my rear bumper and flashing the headlights. God knows how far back he was when I pulled out because he certainly wasn't in my mirror! Now, when I'm overtaking and there's not yet space to pull back in, then you're going to just have to wait. When I'm far enough in front of the Ka, I move back to the middle lane. The Picasso then passes me, pulls right across in front, and slows down to about 47 or so. So of course, I pull out to overtake him again He then realises that his junction is coming up, and has to then cut across the inside lane and the hatched line to make the slip road. What's really annoying is that I haven't replaced my knackered dashcam and I can't prove what a complete and utter (expletive deleted) he was.

A bit more from the OP (c & p from his other forum thread):

We have such a wide range of experience and knowledge on here, that I'm hoping someone might know the answer here! Someone on a classic/retro car forum that I'm a member of has 'inherited' this unusual item, but is having real problems identifying exactly what it is. It appears to be some kind of 1970s kids toboggan/sledge for dry slopes. Basically, you sit in it at the top of a big hill, release the brake, steer the front 'wheel' with the handles and try not to die before you reach the bottom... The wheels seem to be from (or closely related to) James Dyson's ballbarrow, and there's a similar modern thing called a Ball Rider, but we're no closer to identifying this particular one.

There is a new Nokia 3310 (it does have a camera though): https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-3310 Or there's Doro: https://www.doro.co.uk/mobile-devices/easy-phones.html

The unit involved in this terrible incident was still stored at Victoria depot, when I joined the railway in 1988. It still had the fingerprint powder in various areas, and I always felt a little uncomfortable when I had to walk past it.

Hmmm? Oh, it's all done. Just need to get a bit of stock, that's all... On a (semi-)serious note, this is all good, as it's intended to be not too far out of London, so there could be all sorts of services passing through to far-flung destinations (if I can get enough room for the fiddleyards).

This is all excellent stuff, and very much grist to my mill! Thank you all for your contributions so far.

So we're in the South-East London suburbs, that bit where you're never quite sure if it's London or Kent (Erith, Welling, Sidcup, Bexley, that sort of area). Would any of the DEMUs have made it up that far, maybe on through services to London from their usual stomping grounds, or would they have been kept in their regular neck of the woods? I'm guessing diesel-operated Hastings services wouldn't be seen that far east?

Thanks for all the info so far, everyone. So my EMU fleet should mainly be EPBs and HAPs, with BEP/CEPs in a supporting role. ^^^ This is especially handy, seeing as I was born on a Sunday!

I always wanted my 'big' layout to be set in 1986-90-ish, with NSE and Jaffa Cake with blue-and-grey EMUs. But the cost and rarity of RTR models in these liveries has led me to look further back to the blue and green 'crossover' period, and more specifically to August 1969, when I was born. I know that there are BILs, HALs, VEPs, CEPs and EPBs all available in these liveries, but I don't think I'd have seen too many of these, except EPBs, on the SE Division (if I'd been old enough!). So what was around? Was it mainly HAPs and SUBs? Locos I guess would have been 24s, 33s and 73s? And would the Corporate Image have started to take hold, with 'double arrow' station signs and black-on-white nameboards?

I can't remember how I stumbled across that site, but there's some interesting stuff in there.

Actually in Ealing - http://www.doctorwholocations.net/stories/spearheadfromspace

The story where we discover that UNIT had a base in the Undercroft of St Pancras station: