RJS1977

Now you just need a couple of block instruments (can be converted from voltmeters!) to complement the bells....

Though actually I'm of the opinion that collieries are better off not modelled (unless the loading screens are used as a scenic break to a fiddle yard) as modelling a colliery usually means that either (a) trains of loaded wagons have to be taken to the colliery so that they can be taken away again or (b) coal wagons have to be loaded by the "big hand in the sky".

No idea! Strangely, Triang persisted with cellulose acetate in the Minic Motorways range long after it had been superseded in the railway range - hence almost every Minic double decker bus or petrol tanker shows some signs of warping!

There have been two different types of Triang shorty Mk 1s. The originals were about 6" long and were made of cellulose acetate. These are the ones which tend to go "banana" shape. Later Triang Mark 1s (from the early/mid 50s onwards) were 9" long and made of polystyrene, which didn't warp and still turn up quite frequently second (or third or fourth) hand. Eventually Triang started making scale length Mark 1s.

Of course in 10 years' time, the potholes will be back and we still won't have HS2...

Yes, storage is a big problem. I was just running out of places to store mine when I inherited another 20 years' worth from my father! (Between us there is every issue since the move to the larger format in 1966 and many before that going back to at least 1959).

There's also division and rejoining now on the summer Saturdays only Paddington-Pembroke Dock service at Swansea, but you can't get "shorty" coaches for that! ;-)

Another factor to bear in mind is if trains are being run from which coaches are attached and/or detached. One example would be the Atlantic Coast Express at Exeter Central, where the westbound train was split into two for different destinations and the restaurant cars taken off. The front portion was 4 coaches - three for Ilfracombe and one for Bideford and Torrington, the second portion was three coaches for Plymouth, Padstow and Bude, plus the restaurant/buffet cars - 9 coaches all told. Whilst this could be shrunk a little by reducing the number of coaches for Ilfracombe and only having one restaurant car, it would probably be more satisfying operationally in this instance to have a train with the correct number of underscale coaches than to have one that had fewer coaches of the correct length.

And of course there will be steam there again later this month when Waverley commences her Thames cruises.

There was also an incident on Croydon Tramlink some years ago where a pedestrian collided with the rearmost vehicle of a tram.

We are living in an era where new houses are often much smaller than those built in previous generations and may not have usable lofts. So the space available for layouts is getting smaller and there is increased interest in "micro layouts". There may well be spaces where say a branch terminus layout designed around a train of two scale-length Mark 1s will not fit (bear in mind that not only does the platform length have to accommodate the train but so does the fiddle yard), but a train of two Triang "shorty" Mark 1s will. I know that on my own "Aberystwyth" layout, whilst I can get four Hornby GWR coaches into the fiddle yard, four scale length Mark 1s will not fit. Also we need to bear in mind curvatures. Many of us have curves on our layouts that are sharper than we might like because of space constraints. The longer coaches are, the greater the clearances around curves need to be, particularly where double track is involved.

It depends a little on the width of the new layout and the height of the existing one. I'd say at least a foot between layouts but if your bottom layout is low down, you might need a bigger spacing otherwise the top layout will obscure the bottom one. Probably the easiest way to mount one above the other is by fitting shelf brackets to the walls and building the layout on those.

What highway authorities do of course insist on is that where two or more utilities companies want to carry on work on the same stretch of road, the second company will not be allowed to commence work until the first company have filled the hole in. Highways authorities will often also insist that no such work is carried out until the road has been resurfaced. ;-)

I'm thinking of coming on the "Painting and Lining" course in October as I have several "bashed" Triang clerestories and Ratio 4-wheelers I'd like to learn how to line (and looking at the Missenden web page has given me an idea for another "bash").... However I'm slightly confused by the format of the weekend. I had assumed that the tutor would have opened with a demonstration, and the attendees would then have a go, with the tutor providing advice as to what they're doing wrong/could do better, and this pattern would repeat itself over the course of the weekend (e.g. one demonstration after each mealtime), each exploring a different stage or aspect. However the "Format" page seems to suggest the format of the weekend is mostly free "modelling time" with "advice" and "optional demonstrations". Now, this may be what I'm thinking of, worded a different way... or it may not! As someone who hasn't really done any lining before, until I've seen it demonstrated I wouldn't have a clue what to do!

Having been given an Ipad for my birthday, I have installed the RM App on it and logged in with my subscription details. However I only seem to be able to see the current issue, whereas on the RM app on my Android phone, I can see every issue going back to 1949! Is there a setting in the Apple app that I've missed somewhere?

And 803 was for some years at the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway as it belonged to one of our (then) board members. It never got used on the line, as it would have been too big to go under Church Bridge, and an attempt to jump start its engine burnt out the electrics on one of the 08s! Sadly, when its owner died, his sons offered it for sale to the highest bidder, who was a scrap merchant who cut it up on site. In understand NVR/Railworld had expressed an interest but were outbid.

I would say Newbury as well when the Lambourn branch was extant, although of course it had the DN&S passing through as well.

I've long wondered if there is a way of making working token exchange apparatus, much in the manner of the old TPO sets. Whilst I can see how it could be theoretically possible to have a model fireman lean out at the correct moment to pick the token up with his arm, trying to get the fireman to let go of it when travelling in the opposite direction is somewhat more challenging! However, I doubt that a terminus like Ffarquhar would have exchange equipment - that's more likely to be used at a location where not all trains stop (Llanbadarn outside Aberystwyth being a former example I'm particularly familiar with). If trains are stopping, it's usually just as easy for the signalman to give the token to the driver/fireman directly.

On the subject of "spoiling the view", but relating it to level crossings: I know of a heritage railway which has a farm track that crosses the railway line (user worked crossing) at 45 degrees before cutting off the corner of an adjacent field and terminating at a farmhouse. A few years ago (pre pandemic), the farmer got some funding to plant part of his farmland with trees, so he planted out the corner of the field between the farm track and the railway with trees. Now train crew can't see him (or delivery drivers going to/from the house) approaching the crossing, and they can't see the trains....

Actually 500 yards (over a quarter of a mile) is quite a lengthy detour for a pedestrian, especially if said pedestrian is not quite as mobile as they used to be.

That doesn't look like Corbiere to me - Corbiere has (or had as recently as 2021) a glass construction on top as it was at one time a control point for shipping, then a radio station, and more recently a holiday let - and consequently had a flat top to the concrete rather than the stepped top shown.

Not just Alderney of course, Jersey and Guernsey also have similar structures. I think something like 10% (may have been more) of the concrete used in the Atlantic Wall was used in the Channel Islands!

There was an incident in Eastern Europe some years ago where a bridge was stolen on a line that was still active! Fortunately the driver of the once-a-week freight train, who discovered that the bridge had gone, was able to stop in time...

Blazingsmoke? Sounds like you've been talking to my friends Tim and Myles! Don't suppose you went anywhere near Leatherbonce or Heffalump & Castle?

My thinking was that if Andy didn't want any posts at all over the weekend, he would have locked the thread. Therefore I interpreted it as not wanting anything controversial.