G-DIMB

Thats the look I'm trying to go for which is why I'm spending longer planning it so i model whats likely to be there and not what you think might be there. The era i chose which is the late 90s has a good range of information available thanks to like of Flickr. In fact its threads like this which are a great source of inspiration as you can see how other people are approaching it as there are no real wrong answers but you can pick and choose what you want to do. Which reminds me i really must start a thread and stop hijacking this one!

The loco Inspection point look is what I'm going after which is what most layouts are on the exhibition circuit. I have lost count the amount of layouts with two road sheds with lifting jacks in an area that can only fit maybe 4 or 5 locos. Its a stupid thing i know but just something that gets me a little.

I'm currently doing something similar using two of the Hornby fueling points that have been around donkeys years. Ive kit bashed them together and added brickwork, glazing and ventilators and other details to so while you can see the base, the look different to pretty much every other shed ive seen modelled. With the addition of a Knightwing gate office to one side it further sets it apart. The other reason apart from their low price secondhand is that my layout is only a Loco Inspection/Fueling Point so i didn't think there would be anything more substantial than that. In fact thats one thing that ive never really been able to pin down. Whats the difference between a Stabling Point, Loco Inspection Point and Traction Maintenance depot as the lines are quite often blurred between where one starts and finishes.

I get that all the time. Normally just refreshing the page sorts it. If not shut the browser down and start again. Flaming annoying when youve just spent ages doing something. Hence i now copy it before clicking go.

Haven't seen "da management" for a while!

By that basis i would be included because i have a feedback rating of 1100ish but i have been on there since 2003. While things like rare do annoy me i just go to what I'm prepared to pay and that's it. As i said i don't really care whether someone is a dealer or a private seller. If the price is right and deal is right then its a deal. If its too much or there's stuff I'm not happy with i move on to the next one. For me the best bargains are still at toyfairs as you can barter, inspect the items for sale and generally also have a little bit of chat with friends. Certainly the big toyfair organizers are looking to restart May/June/July dependent on restrictions and i know i will be back in the queue for the first one reasonably local to me.

There are one two big eBay dealers who buy all their stock from toyfairs. One in particular is well known round the big ones and is usually first in at early entry time. Traders to a certain extent don't care who they sell to be it trade or public. They have put their price on it which they are happy with and if they sell it great, if not it waits to fight another day where they get that price or their drop it and it sells. For me the best toyfairs i attend are Exeter Matford Centre and Newton Abbot Racecourse run by Ray Heard. Being a railway dealer its very good for railways as a lot of other railway dealers tend to appear some of which travel 200 or so miles to trade there however alot of the big eBay dealers dont go there to buy so sometimes items get past the dealers. They also do a flaming good farmers breakfast at the Matford Centre which is something i miss! Of the others diecast is mainly taking over the tables as Ebay costs make it un-viable to sell much of it on there so toyfairs with the lower overheads are the only place to do it. The NEC is a good one which has very very few railways buyers going as there were more an more diecast retailers there. Because of the lack of buyers the remaining railway traders stopped going so the buyers who do still go don't see much in the way of railway so don't bother to go again hence it gets worse. In terms of HMRC and toyfairs then yes there are lots of dealers masquerading as private sellers. I was once at a toyfair where HMRC did a spot check and was told by a friend to stand back and watch as word got round. Strangely at least half left their stands and disappeared. The same thing happens on eBay though, i know of a few people who sell on ebay with private accounts who are in fact dealers. Saying that eBay to a certain extent doesn't care but obviously there is a line between the two for HMRC. The internet has also made it much easier for people to become "private" dealers who don't tell HMRC. Facebook groups also needs to take a fair share of the blame here as effectively they are cost free so are very attractive. One wonders if HMRC caught up with those trading without declaration what would happen then as i thought the rules now stated that if you bought something with the intention of selling it on for a profit, it would be classed as trading and not included in your personal allowances. But i might be wrong on that!

While i hate to be ever so slightly negative as i cant wait to get back to shows, but is that not the weekend that Taunton would normally have their show? Oh and the show in Cheltenham is normally the same weekend assuming they both run. Perhaps a move a week forward might get more interest?

I would agree with this statement. The only thing of tangible value is the stock itself. And even then at what cost. Current trade rates, trade rates when the stock was bought in or a much lower figure based on there being alot of slow selling stuff someone buying might not want. Most of the time the stock doesnt sell and then gets sent to auction for virtually nothing compared to what they would have got had they been more realistic with pricing. The goodwill aspect is virtually impossible to value as there is no guarantee that customers will transfer over to a new owner. Mike Bravo

On my current layout i have a small single road shed with a small coaling stage planned. Trouble is i'm not sure about a few things. Ive seen some sheds have inspection pits and others not, was there a general rule relating to this or was it just location dependent? Also i'm aware that when ash would be removed it would generally be removed well away from a shed, would this be routinely done in a small WR BLT station or would they wait till a bigger shed was visited. While i appreciate some of these questions appear dumb i thought it better to ask for a more informed answer rather than use my own guesswork and research. Thanks Mike Bravo

It depends. Ours let us by pass the queue and take them direct to the drop off door and someone takes it from there. But i think it depends upon your local postmaster and how they work.

Have you thought of drop and go? Its what my wife uses through a much smaller post office (the crown ones are much much busier) and we never have to wait. Or you can do collect from your door, it will cost versus drop and go but again reduces contact further. I have to say round this way (South Bristol) deliveries are fine from royal mail or DPD (i always use them as quite frankly they are easily the best out there given you get hour delivery slots and full driver tracking). Even 2nd class seems to be getting through fairly quickly even next day in many cases. I suppose however in the middle of cities the situation may be different.

The shop selling said rail joiners doesn't actually have them in stock. If you read the description they are taking orders for when they are available again. Given Peco said to retailers not to do that as they couldn't guarantee how much stock they would get it really gets interesting especially when ebay states you should only sell what you physically have in stock even as a business seller. Also in terms of the costs the fees on that would be around £1.90 including listing fees, add in the price of a 6x4 envelope and a stamp means its works out about £3.00 costs not including the VAT and initial purchase cost of course. For those wanting them at a lower price and that actually have them in stock Railroom Electronics have all the joiners in stock at £3.00 and have pretty much next day service along with Sherwood models who also had them in stock (i actually ordered some of the retaining walls but enquired about joiners). Both of these shops Ive ordered from in the last week and have sent items very efficiently otherwise i have no connection to either. The stuff is out there, you just need to look.

Again ordered some stuff from Mark and it turned up next day standard royal mail. Again for me its only about 5 miles as the crow flies and as i work in Portishead i would never normally it get posted (usually use click and collect) those sales do tempt me in more times than they should.

Indeed i was just making people aware that there are conditions attached to that £10,000. For me my local model shop is Model Railways Direct and from what i understand they have been fairly busy with online business but i can certainly see some of the concerns some shops have as it would seem deliveries have arrived in some cases from different suppliers and it sounds like more is on the way. Of course if the public and trade cant pay it feeds back up the chain to the manufacturers. There simply isn't an easy answer and as we don't have a target for which is day 0 (IE the light at the end of the tunnel) then its impossible to work out, but if you do know then please let me have this weeks lottery numbers.

Indeed thats probably the expectation but some may find they have a bigger bill then than expected. I suspect however many claimants aren't aware of that and may be working on the belief its tax free. I think the only thing we can be certain on is we cant be certain on anything!

One thing to point out though about the grants is that they are classed as income according to my accountant and HMRC so therefore you need to pay tax on them by Jan 2022. Of course this isnt widely known yet and the information is still a little sketchy so if anyone can prove different please say.

Even though i resist this is one of the few threads i keep coming back to. My problem is i only have a space of 7x2 for the scenic section and i'm not really sure i could do it justice. Then again there is just something about it that i cant get away from!

Can i just say you guys are really nasty people . Just when i make my mind up on what i want to do i keep coming back to this. I keep visualizing something set about 1987 and keep watching various WHL 37s on eBay. Heck some of the VI trains ones came up the other night for a good price, It took so much resolve not to press the buy now button! Must stay strong!!!!!

Its been a bit quiet here recently in terms of the layout. Ive decided to move it indoors as while the shed was OK and pretty good temperature wise there wasn't much of a desire to go out there in the wind and the rain. Therefore with a little bit of cunning i have managed to find a space indoors. The only trouble is that space is a little tighter than it was outside so Ive had to shorten the front boards by 2ft. This in itself is not a bad thing as it makes the layout more practical to move as i have reduce each board length by a foot. I have also had to reduce the fiddle yard from being an L shape to being straight. Again this has also allowed me to make this the same size for easy of transport. Anyway i will upload some pictures later on for you all to look at. Mike Bravo

Hi Just spent an enjoyable couple of hours reading this thread through. Ive always had the temptation to do the WHL in some form around 1987/1988 as the train formations really intrigue me. Only thing that has put me off is having to scratch build the station buildings as i'm not a bad kitbasher but will admit at the moment scratch building i think is a little beyond me. In fact i'm looking at my own layout which i was going to do as a WR BLT but yours and the Meanach thread have made me think otherwise. Only thing is i have already wired up a DC panel but i know if i was to go down the WHL road i would go DCC. I think i just need to perhaps be a little braver and give myself a kick.

Been doing a little more work to this. Indeed Ive had to trim a siding a bit as the goods shed i got wouldn't fit in the space right so a little trimming became necessary to make it all fit. I've also cut a little bit more out and will be moving one or two of the roads to remove some of the regimented nature of it as the more i look at it i think that it just isnt right. I am also at the stage where i have to solder all the droppers on. Its not a job i enjoy very much but its a means to an end. I know that once Ive got it done i can then focus on the scenic side which is the bit i enjoy most of all. Once Ive got some of the building shells built up i will do some photos or even do a small video as i think that might show what i want to do better. Mike Bravo

HI I know what you mean and it something in the past ive been torn in which way to look at it, in terms of the end i am adding a small board for the scenic section to give a little extra bit but as i don't have the space when set up at home (at the present time) i have to leave it off. In terms of the parallel nature of the plan i came to conclusion that many lines are simply like that and that many small WR termini are fairly linear. I did consider going a little different in some areas with this but in the end decided that id rather leave it as it is as i wanted something enjoyable to operate, to that extent i think this track plan was number 30 or 31 of about 40 or so and i believe every layout is a compromise of space, practicality etc. I do concede however that the points are not ideal however the board joint kind of forced my hand on this one.

Thanks for your kind comments. With this one I'm going for something that i can actually use an learn some skills for my ultimate aim. Ive always wanted to model Devizes station in OO and have now got enough information (including building drawings which are in the Wiltshire Archive) to do this but i want to have something a little more generic to hone up my modelling skills first so i;'m planning to use mainly propriety kits from ratio with a little kit-bashing to break me in before i need to go down the wholesale. To that end Ive got a large parcel on the way containing many of the scenic bits and electrical bits i need to continue. Then i can begin doing the electrics. I am probably going to do it DC which although will be more complicated, i cant convince myself DCC would be of any benefit for this especially as i would still be using conventional point control. Anyway a few more busy days beckon before i can get out there and start work again but i did receive some books though the post, The Devizes branch by N Bray (of which ive had a copy but lost) and also Steam Around Bristol, the final years which is an Amberley book. Both of which are very useful tools. I also received a Bachmann pannier in black late crest i won off ebay which will be renumbered to something more suitable from a photo and then weathered to suit.

Right Ive been here as a lurker for many years but i really suppose I'd better get my finger out and show what i am currently working on. Its called Crapstone (which is a real place on Dartmoor) and is a 9x2 scenic section WR BLT line set in 1963/64. Its set somewhere in the Bristol, Gloucester and Swindon Triangle so i can run a number of different things. Since i took the photos as shown on the Flickr album https://www.flickr.com/photos/fatherjacksphotos/albums/72157711211842206 Ive extended the freight headshunt so i can run a small industrial line for some vans to somewhere as yet off scene. A small engine shed, goods shed and small coal unloading point are also planned. The platform has been designed to take up to 4 coach trains (3 will be more normal) so i can be flexible with what i do. I am now at the stage of wiring and i really cant decide whether to go DC or DCC. A few of the locos i own aren't DCC ready and are in fact quite difficult to do. I did consider going the whole hog and doing it all DCC but everything else i have decided will be DC so i suspect given i already have all the parts to make it DC i suspect that is the way it will go. It will be exhibitable except for that the fiddle yard will be straight rather than being in a U, the U shaped one will remain in the workshop. Oh and yes i do plan to have a rather unremarkable stone placed somewhere so that the place actually has some basis for its name. Anyway Enjoy.