Black Marlin

Taking 'Pegasus' as the class pathfinder, and knowing the LNER's fondness for an equestrian theme, why not name the others after other mythical horses? Llamrei and Hengroen were King Arthur's; Sleipnir was Odin's; Balius and Xanthus in Greek mythology; Tulpar, a winged horse in Turkish mythology; Bayard in French legend...

Yes, I know; that's why I keep hoping every year at announcement time!

A W1 in original battleship grey for me, please, Hornby. And much though I love the Coronation Scot coaching announcement... still no Stanier CK?

A very short train on the Down Slow, passing the waterfall.

Thanks all! Tomorrow it's back to hardware mode. The next task is going to be a whole load of woodworking as I start to prepare the left-hand shelf to take the mainlines into the tunnels into which they shall disappear (this board is at the far left-hand side of the layout) before they reach the fiddleyard. Given that the fiddleyard will be 20' from the tunnel mouths, the trains will disappear for a considerable length of time! But, because I'm not helplessly enamoured of my woodworking skills, the tunnel will not be enclosed - I intend to be able to access every inch of it in the event of derailments and other disasters!

Morning all, and hello to Jason Isaacs. The final coat of varnish is still wet (hence its aerated look) but the big news is the addition of the waterfall that connects the river at the top of the baseboard to the inlet at the bottom. I thought I had wrecked the left-hand side of the waterfall by glue staining the top of it white (aargh!) so I chopped that bit off - which left me with it sitting about an inch too short. However, I was able to disguise the shortfall ( no pun intended!) with some white polyfibre that looks like the mist you would expect at the base of a waterfall like this. This more-or-less finishes the scenic work between the two major upright formers on this board. Next will be the woodwork on the left-hand side - the tunnel portals that will take the mainlines under the upper branchline. This is going to involve a lot of cutting and measuring - there are three levels of trackwork plus a river to consider - but the results will, I hope, be worth it.

And now with the central fast-lines-carrying bowstring girder bridge restored:

Hello Tony. In the spirit of show and tell, I've just spent 5 hours painting the sea (it was quite a small brush!). This was my first effort - ever, in any capacity - with artist's acrylics, and I'm pleased at how it's come out. (Obviously I haven't added a gloss finish yet - I will do that over the next few days). There will, in time, be a lot more painting to do - do you have any hints or tips for a complete novice such as I? Regards, Gavin

A couple of days later than planned, but after spending four and half hours with my paintbrush, using the techniques described by "Marklin of Sweden's" youtube video on making waves, I have a painted sea! It's not varnished yet - that won't happen until next week - but I am pleased at how it turned out. I've never attempted anything like this before, not even in art class at school - in fact I've never even attempt to blend colours in this way! Feeling really quite chuffed :-)

Today's progress: finishing the static grassing. Next on the list: painting the water. A task I've never attempted before. I've watched the video; let's see how it goes... Just waiting for the paintbrushes to arrive from Ebay! That's probably going to happen on Wednesday, so tomorrow I'll tidy up some of the patchier areas of static grass with some strategic flocking. Once that's done, I'll share pictures. Cheers!

And after several hours with PVA and toilet paper (which will now take days to dry properly)... water! In texture, at least, if not in colour or finish.