rockershovel

I can't work out how to include it as a link, but Google "McMaster university Ypres trench map" for an actual map of trenches and light railways in thus area in 1918! Ypres is a difficult area. I can't imagine steam railways operating East of the ruined town. Photos all show horse, mule and man haulage to the front. The Salient was virtually collapsed within days during the German March Offensive. What about somewhere in the Somme area? The front there remained stable for a long period after the 1916 fighting, and the presence of wide swathes of fought-over ground behind the lines must have led to extensive use of light railways, with transfer points behind the former battlefield? It was also the site of the key breakthrough which marked the beginning of the "Hundred Days" offensive which ended the war, with tanks, artillery and supplies of all sorts flowing through. This isn't my subject, I'm just following a train of thought but it seems like a good location for the sort of layout you describe?

I mentioned the Bachmann 2-8-0 a little while ago. This is a very fine model and it runs as well as it looks. However there seem to be three basic variants of US narrow gauge - 2ft gauge common carrier lines in the New England area, 3ft gauge logging lines using geared locos in the Pacific NW, and large mineral and common carrier lines using 8-coupled locos and bogie stock in the SW ( East Broad Top would fit this category, too). 20" gauge lines in the Nervada area using small four-coupled saddle tanks are a genre, and the portage railways using similar stock are also very American locos for all three types are quite distinctive. SW lines like the D&RGW tend to use outside-framed 2-8-2 types although older 2-8-0 types with inside and outside frames, and inside-framed 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 types were also well established. The outside framed 2-8-2 locos are available in RTR form for the sufficiently resourceful modeller, although they aren't found every day, and the same is true of the older, inside frame 2-8-0 while the Bachmann 2-6-0m is ubiquitous and cheap. this is a loco I bought recently on eBay - an attempt to bridge the gap in the SW types, the larger, outside-framed 2-8-0 and also provide a loco which will negotiate the tighter curves used by Bachmann. Modifications are essentially a shorter smokebox (a Bachmann option), shortened front running plate to suit, silver smokebox, smokebox door and number plate and various minor modifications. I think it is quite a successful model which is not greatly changed from its donor

Why do they DO that? It's like the dross that comes over the PA when you're flying... all I want to know is that we are going to arrive on time. I don't care if we are cruising at 30,000 feet, or wafting along on a sprinkle of pixie dust, that's what the pilot is paid to deal with. My daughter lately travelled First Class from Scotlsnd to Peterborough and her main comment was that the usual continuous supply of tea, coffee and snacks has dried up.

I must admit that I have lost all track of the various liveries infesting the rails. Most European countries have managed to partly privatise while retaining a national identity, after all, AND still steer business to their own companies like Siemens as a result. I'm a lifelong opponent of the political project at the heart of the EU in its present form, but that doesn't mean that we do things better automatically. There's a good deal we could usefully learn from Europe, and this is one if them.

That's a fascinating photograph, because apart from the Cathedral and the Lido, it is almost impossible to relate that photo to the present town centre. The road plan is unrecognisable. The power station is long gone. The open farmland has completely disappeared under a sprawl of housing estates and light industrial units.

Wot, no "Heartbeat"? Goathland is best known in the UK as the home of this interminable mid-60s setting comedy drama. Considering you already have the "Aidensfield Arms" and the garage, you should have the leggy Tricia outside the pub at least, and Greengrass' lorry! Also, a series I've never seen in the US but still very popular here, Del Boy's yellow Reliant... What about The Stig?

http://www.peterboroughimages.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/pnstation-c1939.jpg Surprising view from the Great Northern Hotel in 1939, looks almost rural!

The overall view of the Great Northern Hotel looks much as it does today, but the area East of the Crescent Bridge - what would have been there? The obvious omission is the ramp down to the present roundabout, but the buildings would be completely different. The present Queensgate Centre and Park Inn are quite recent, surviving buildings suggest a crossroads and stone fronted,19th century shops? Photos show a water tower at the Crescent Bridge end of tbe station and a prominent chimney behind Crescent Bridge. The area South of Crescent Bridge, I first remember as a filthy, uneven area on two levels used as a car park so I guess that at this period, it would have been sidings and coal staithes?

Bacon sandwiches with crusty bread, butter and brown sauce. Proper oatmeal porridge. Tea in a pot. Christmas pud with brandy butter. Steak pie, green peas and mash and a bottle of Bulmers in a pub. Fish and chips. Church bells ringing at a wedding. Shipping Forecast on Radio 4. Julia Bradbury and Nigella Lawson on tv. I've seen the world; its big, round and full of foreigners. The beers all fizzy, you can't get proper bangers and the bacon us like a rubber band dipped in lukewarm grease. Half of it is stinking hot, most of the rest is blo*dy freezing for some part of the year. Unreasonable proportions if it appear to consist largely of sand, dust and mossies. I like it here..

The closer tender makes a big difference

No, not so. There is a whole issue about the relationship between On3 and On30. However just as OO9 is used to represent gauges between 2' and 2'6", On30 is often used to represent 3' gauge prototypes for the same reason - availability of track and mechanisms. The 3' gauge 2-8-2 types are very large locos, 85 tons - the size of a 9F. Even the smallest types are 62 tons, comparable with a BR 3MT. Even the Bachmann 2-6-0 represents a 32-ton prototype. The tank cars are mainly older SG types mounted on NG bogies. The EBT hopper cars represent prototypes ranging from 30 to 35 ton capacity. The typical gondolas are 30' long. The small Bachman 4-4-0 seems to be based on a loco weighing somewhere between 6 and 10 tons. Basically, a Colorado or EBT style railroad represents a railroad about the size of a British SG line, the smaller Bachmann prototypes, a line about the size of the Festiniog

Next, rolling stock I'll summarise this by saying that the Bachmann EBT style hopper cars look ok representing 3' gauge stock, as do the 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 locos but otherwise the Bachmann range seems best regarded as 30"-60cm gauge outline AMS flatcars and tank cars are 3' size, negotiate Bachmann radius curves and are value for money. No gondola or frameless tank car, though. The colours are a bit vivid so I foresee learning to weather and detail somewhere in my modelling future! San Juan Car Co models are quite magnificent, bring money! They CAN be made to negotiate Bachmann radii but look ridiculous doing so. There is a bewildering variety of couplers. Essentially, dedicated 3' gauge outline has larger couplers at a higher level. The solution appears to be to use "match cars" or to standardise on one or the other - the Bachmann EBT hoppers are easily converted in either direction, as are the AMS units. Some MMI locos have low, Bachmann style couplers but this can be remedied if it is a problem.

Next, scales and gauges On30 appears to be like OO9; a generic combination originally using proprietary track and mechanisms from another scale, representing a range of gauges between 2' (60cm) and 3' (1m) Acceptability of this, is in the eye if the modeller. I started on the path of US outline 3' gauge in On30 because (1) I didn't know any better and (2) I joined two clubs usung that combination. Two or three years on I'd offer the following conclusions 1) the Bachmann 2-8-0 is a quite exceptional model which is excellent value for money, runs very well, has some very nice detail and will negotiate quite sharp curves without derailing or looking ridiculous. DCC socket in the tender. 2) the Bachmann 2-6-0 is a cheap and very robust model, which will negotiate any half-way sensible radius but has no DCC socket and doesn't have the same level of detail. If you are intending to join in Club activities these are your best starting points 3) the MMI models look quite wonderful but need big curves and lots of room. Allow a budget for fettling and possibly rewiring and/or DCC/sound conversion. 4) the previously mentioned BLI 2-8-0 is a robust model BUT its rather "fine-scale" wheels mean that it is sensitive to deficiencies in track laying, and the flanged 1 and 4 drivers mean the flanged wheelbase is quite long. There is a conversion involving swapping the wheelsets so the 1 and 3 drivers are flanged. No opinion from me in this! I will just say that from experiment, it will negotiate the 15" points at the club fixed test track, with care

So, first things first; control system.... This is a big change from my last venture in the hobby, too long ago to be worth discussing at this point. At that time, DC ruled the roost and most "serious" layouts were divided into blocks and sections, with a maze of under-board wiring. Now, it seems, not so. So, I set out to buy some stock. Like many engineers, I do like technical gadgets.... So, what have I learnt? Firstly, On30 isn't OO9. There is one main supplier, half a dozen secondary sources which may, or may not be actually in production at any given time, and some kits. Then there are the usual second-hand sources, models bought at club or exhibition days of from small ads or eBay. There are certain key differences in the control systems and they are worth knowing; 1) some, but not most Bachmann models are DCC controlled. Most, but not all have sockets for DCC chips ( the ubiquitous 2-6-0 being a particular exception) 2) most Bachmann models so fitted will still run on DC power as well as DCC 3) Bachmann models so fitted are not sound equipped. That's a separate issue. 4) BLI 2-8-0s are robust, ingenious models fitted with a DCC and sound system which also runs and functions on DC. 5) MMI 2-8-2s may have almost any combination of the above, depending on their history. Their original DCC and sound systems are not highly regarded. Paul Martin of EDM Models is the source of much detailed information on this... I'll just say that they look absolutely glorious and are quite huge. 6) owner-converted models, no telling so ask. So far I've acquired one with DCC but no sound which runs on DC as well, and one with DCC and sound which DOESNT run in DC. You need to ask before you buy.

I did have a BLI 2-8-0 on a metre length of track on my desk in Baku last year. Just the sort of toy that engineers love, especially the sound running off DC and the distinctly "hair-trigger" throttle control needed when pulling away. Brought visitors from all over the building! I switched off the radio in disgust today. I'm afraid I find the chronic inability to execute basics by England, beyond frustrating and the shapeless backs and porous defence unbearable. I'd not last long if I turned in that sort of thing...

I do find these very evocative of my personal images of American railroading. Quite a few show that classic American feature, the 90deg or more curve in a wide-open landscape

Coffee stirrers! Just returned from a month offshore, and looked in my car... My three children drove across to Cardiff for the rugby. I'm intrigued and disgusted by turns by the debris these trips leave in my car, and this time it's wooden coffee stirrers. They are much spoken of as a medium for modelling the sort of timber buildings common on US railroads, so I've put them aside for future use!

Most interesting to see this model, as I know the prototype all too well, having been a thoroughly unhappy commuter there during the last days of diesel-hauled carriage stock on the ECML (most of which could charitably be regarded as life-expired) and the early days of the "cattle truck" WAGN service, when ECML made determined attempts to force commuters off the preferred 125s.... definitely a time when my love of rail travel went through a near-death experience! The actual station is unrecognisable now (I never realised it had ever had an overall roof, for one thing) but the two bridges and the Great Northern Hotel are clearly recognisable on the model. It's a very different view of the station compared to my commuters-eye-view. As a commuter I was familiar with the carriage sidings between Crescent Bridge and the river bridge, and being accustomed to arriving from the South the extensive marshalling yards and their subsequent redevelopment was a familiar backdrop. Also the station is largely screened from the town - it has never had the sort of isolated, imposing front view which stations of that era often have. I will follow this with interest!

Love the dragon! The windmill sounds like a good, simple gimmick too.

so, I registered in here as "oilman" and discovered that I was formerly signed in as "rockershovel", and it was still live, so I'll stick to that and let "oilman" lapse, or whatever the mods do to dud screen names. where to start? well, model railways are a problematical hobby in the offshore oil business, for one thing. I started to become interested about six years ago after a very long lapse, because I saw the MMI D&RGW locos and HAD to have one.. I'd intended to be at least, semi-retired by now,with my kids off my hands but despite the late drop in oil prices, and the usual working of anno domini, seems not! So, vintage motorcycle racing (no 1 son does the riding these days) remains very much on the agenda, my loft and indeed, much of the house are still piled with transient heaps of useless clutter, my loft layout project makes no progress.... Next, I do rather find that I seem to be a modeller who happens to be primarily interested in certain types of narrow gauge, rather than a "narrow gauge modeller". This distinction wasn't apparent for a long time but I see it now. My railway background is to some extent, in 12"=1' scale, with particular emphasis on mine and tunnel railway systems, London Underground and the 3' and metre-gauge systems of French-speaking Africa and the USA. It is proving to be an intensely personal thing, with past memories and images inextricably intermingled with modelling, and that produces a very specific view of what I see, and don't see. so, to progress! I've joined a club, having made an unsuccessful attempt with another one (incidentally, am I alone in finding club politics rather off-putting?) and I'm learning to hand-lay track, which is rather therapeutic after the stresses of several weeks offshore or in the beck of beyond. I have learnt, or am learning about DCC. I've discovered, to my great pleasure, the standard of RTR models these days, at least some of them. I've passed through various fora and come to the conclusion that given the very personal nature of my pespective on the hobby, I'll do a blog so that only people who sympathise will bother with it. So, I've taken the plunge and ordered a kit for an oil depot in O scale, and I'm going to start a small (insofar as anything is small in 0 scale layout in my garage..

well, quite so. There are a whole range of possibilities here. I suggest this whole issue be left to those in posession of the facts.

having had experience of the turn-over of small companies and company groups in the construction industry, I don't believe it is useful to speculate on this from the information available. I'd be curious to know what other companies this gentleman owns ( oh all right, no I wouldn't, I really don't care at all ) because the newspaper article gives the impression of someone operating a group of companies - 20 employees and a fleet of machines worth £3m are mentioned - and this is nothing unusual in that sector. I'd hardly be surprised for those same employees to turn up in one of his other companies, or to find that they were self-employed or agency staff, or one of a whole range of things. I also note that the term used is 'administration' not 'receivership' which is rather a different matter. The information simply isn't there.

well, quite so. If a company employing seven goes into administration for the sake of £25,000 it is probably past saving anyway. It's also a general comment on the construction industry that the turn-over of small contractors is pretty hideous, and jobs which disappear under one name have a habit of turning up under another. I also note from one of the other newspaper articles, reference to £3m-worth of plant and 20 jobs under that name. I don't believe it's useful to speculate on this matter

Railways are curious things. Then again, so are local authorities. That said, it's also true that long-dormant minerals rights have been known to be re-activated, to the displeasure of the local farmers; nonetheless, they will have at some point signed a deed incorporating that very provision. Access to gas pipeline, water main or overhead cable routes - a statutory provision, albeit rarely invoked - tends to be highly acrimonious. Just because you have been ignoring something, or deeming it to be irrelevant, it doesn't mean it isn't there. The local authorities put a lot of money into that line, once upon a time, and the requirement to get some kind of return hasn't gone away. one thing which always causes friction with major construction projects is that benefitting the local economy doesn't necessarily mean that the overall structure of the local economy remains the same. It usually doesn't. I saw this in Cornwall in the 70s, when the establishment and expansion of mines like Wheal Jane and Geevor meant that incoming labour ( many of them former lead, flourspar and ironstone miners from the North East ) was preferred over the local labour which didn't have the right skills and at times, appeared intent on attempting to impose local practices. I saw the same thing in Aberdeen when the local unions were frozen out in favour of incoming redundant shipyard workers from Tyneside and the Clyde; the local men takimng the view that the benefits were theirs by right, and the investors feeling otherwise. Generally speaking, the people who have made money in Aberdeen - and there have been some serious profits made - have not been the businesses who were originally there, precisely because they were the least willing to adapt. I've seen coal miners ranting and abusing at contract workers, calling them 'job-selling b*stards' and the rest of it, but simultaneously saying that these men had no 'right' to work at that place or even in that industry... even if it left them excluded from work entirely it's all a matter of your point of view

It was the biggest pipeline project since the early 90s - the Trans-Lincolnshire line from Immingham to Peterborough is longer - but it's quite conventional in construction and come to that, it is a duplication of the existing route, not a completely new route at all, whatever the local press may have printed at the time. There were some wondrous things to be seen over planning permission for 'barn conversions' ... I used to go out and establish the lines, define heavywall pipe or minor variations in the alignment 'according', and there were 'conversions' which were barely visible as grassed-over foundations in places. the main problems tend to revolve around locals who tend to expect 'oil rig' wages for local work practices, which they are almost invariably disappointed in.