RJS1977

Yes, not sure how it got in here!

Personally I enjoyed both HAMW and GMRC in different ways. Whilst I think the ideas on GMRC got a bit too outlandish towards the end of the second series, I think a series of "Let's make a model of Little Snoring as it was in 1927" would have lasted for precisely one episode. What GMRC set out to do was to show that a hobby that is often perceived as "anoraky" doesn't have to be seen that way, and for the most part it did it well. I'm sure we've all seen layouts at shows with Thunderbirds vehicles, dinosaurs, etc which have been built to be of interest to younger would-be modellers. And if we take away the outlandish themes, the actual quality of the modelling on those layouts (at least on those I've been fortunate to see at shows) has been pretty good Whilst I do enjoy HAMW as well, I think to a degree its emphasis on detail and accuracy is almost reinforcing the "anorak" stereotype - and Simon's repeated blanket statement of "Modellers demand accuracy" almost has me wanting to throw something at the screen. Yes, it's a popular view, and possibly a majority view, but certainly not a unanimous consensus. Fortunately it does find time for some more light-hearted items like the Mr Bean Mini to provide a bit of balance.

And apparently Hornby made Minic Motorways too .... :-(

I would have thought by using the New North Main Line (i.e. the ex GWR main line to Birmigham via High Wycombe)

I'm getting rid of mine. It's only gathering dust.

Certainly having two such centres seems a more resilient idea than say having the whole main line from Paddington to Bristol and beyond controlled from one building with no backup. But nobody would do that, would they.....?

Worthington East also featured a cathedral that had been made from no fewer than 16 Triang church kits!

Also - Hornby needs a presence outside the usual channels if it is to attract new customers (although I'm not sure a display consisting of boxed "end of line" items is necessarily the best way of doing that). Perhaps surprisingly, what we didn't see on the stand was any Corgi or Oxford Diecast traction engines. An in-person presence at an event like GDSF also gives Simon and Montana the opportunity to meet people, which they don't do if they send everything to the box shifters.

Seeing the disused International part of Ashford station made me think - if Eurostar decide not to call at Ashford in future, it would be an ideal location for AIMREC!

If you could bring the branch line forwards a couple of inches, you could put the platform behind it, so that you have three tracks between the two platforms, with the centre one being the goods line. Also, with the platforms that way round (and no physical connection between the branch and main lines here), the tracks/platforms don't even need to be at the same level, so you could maintain the original gradient profile.

Thinking about the idea of a railcar(*) or autocoach with tail load working into/out of the bay platform, I realised that any push-pull workings from that platform need to go somewhere where they can reverse for their next run into the station. It occurs to me that there looks to be space in this corner of the fiddle yard for one or more reversing sidings, if you can work in another point just off the bottom left of this photo (or possibly a 3-way point instead of the one under the teak coach). (*) It appears that only the later razor-edged GWR railcars (like the one you tried to sell me!) were fitted for tail traffic, the earlier streamlined ones (as per the Dapol model) were not.

Sounds like you took a route that involved more changes than necessary though - as you say, you deliberately avoided doing the all stops to Paddington, which whilst slower, would have reduced the number of changes. (I wasn't expecting the 387 and the fast to Paddington would be running as it was a strike day). In theory (if you were prepared to get the stopper), you could have done Elizabeth Line to TCR, Central to Holborn, and Piccadilly Line to Wood Green, or Elizabeth Line to Farringdon, H&C/Circle/Met to King's Cross and thence to Ally Pally (if trains were running from King's Cross). One time, when the early 21st-century terrorism situation was at its highest, my parents made me promise them I wouldn't go into the centre of London, or on the Underground. But I wanted to go to Ally Pally, so I went from Reading via Richmond, Gospel Oak and Crouch Hill, then W7 bus - and the same to go home!

Has the dairy moved? Your original plans and the photos above had it in the top left corner, off the bay platform, however the more recent plans have it in the top right corner. Personally, I think top left works better, as a loaded milk tank/van can arrive in the bay platform as tail traffic on an autocoach or railcar and be shunted back into the siding directly.

Personally I would think it better for the two tracks to remain parallel for as long as possible, so that they can be visible as another stretch of double track main line (otherwise you just have a single track line that trains only go along one way). You might even be able to have a set of low-level platforms (or an island platform) as an adjunct to the higher station above. If you start the tunnel at the point (or a little before) the two tracks of the reversing loop diverge, you would have room for two trains to be hidden in the reversing loop and two more stopped in the station platforms. My father's layout has a hidden reversing loop on a 3' x 4' baseboard, which is capable of completely concealing two trains, each up to four coaches plus loco. In automatic mode, one train is always kept just inside the exit tunnel mouth (Section 13) by a MERG HECTOR (infra red detector) unit which operates a relay to isolate the section when the front of the train reaches HECTOR. When the front of the second train enters the tunnel (Section 12), it activates a reed switch, which in turn energises a relay bistable, bypassing the Section 13 relay, and causing the train in Section 13 to set off. When the second train is about to enter Section 13, it trips another reed switch, de-energising the bistable and putting HECTOR back in charge of controlling Section 13. If the first train fails to leave Section 13 for some reason, HECTOR continues to detect it, isolating a short length of track at the end of Section 12, preventing the second train from rearending the first.

I believe one of the reasons Hornby stopped using the warehousing space was the difficulty of getting modern lorries to it. However Allelly's don't seem to have much difficulty getting their big lorries with full-size locos on them there!

You can't exactly hang warships from the ceiling... ;-)

Yes, Jimmy Perry (one of the writers of Dad's Army) has recounted how Arnold would often give him words of encouragement during filming, based on his own experiences of writing and producing plays. Apparently after "The Ghost Train", Arnold made an unwise investment in another play which closed after a few days, leaving Arnold to pay off all the debts. Arnold sold the amateur rights to "The Ghost Train", something which he always regretted, and told Jimmy to make sure he never did that. Another play written by Arnold was "Who Killed the Cat", which was made into a film (sometimes shown on Talking Pictures TV) starring Amy Dalby, who would go on to play one of Godfrey's sisters in the Dad's Army episode "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage" but sadly passed away before the episode was aired.

My "Aberystwyth" layout is 3' wide and I can (just) reach across to the Carmarthen bay for track cleaning - I certainly wouldn't want it any wider! My boyhood train set was also 3' wide (usually set up on the spare bed so the only access to the rear was by leaning over, however it was lower down (but I was smaller!). However I certainly think reaching across there to uncouple wouldn't be easy, and it may be preferable to align the terminus on the diagonal where the carriage shed is. If you wanted to, you could probably put a loco depot where the terminus currently is, as there would be little need to uncouple there (other than perhaps the odd coal or ash wagon). I'd be tempted to get rid of all the water and boats and finish the front of the baseboard as the quayside. The point on the reversing loop is going to be very difficult to get at. If the reversing loop is intended for goods traffic only, I'd make it join into the dock line.

Perhaps the phrasing there should have been "Some modellers" or "Many modellers".

Took me a moment to recognise Simon on Saturday as I'm so used to seeing him with a red shirt on....

That then raises the question - what are the longest coaches you anticipate running? I think the Bachmann coaches are the longest RTR GWR coaches, certainly longer than the Hornby Colletts (I can get four Hornby coaches and a Manor into my fiddle yard, but an equivalent rake of Bachmann coaches needs to be hauled by a Dukedog or 0-6-0 tender loco!). So if you only intend to run RTR GWR coaches (and not build yourself a rake of Dreadnoughts or Super Saloons) you can probably get away with it. However BR stock is longer and gets longer with each consecutive Mark. A rake of four Mark 1s will only fit in my fiddle yard if it has a Small Prairie or BR Standard Tank at its head, and I suspect a rake of Mark 3s would fill it entirely....

Which side of the gauge did you use? One side is for Streamline track, the other is for Setrack. It looks to me as if you've got track at Streamline spacing leading into Setrack-radius curves. The important thing to check is whether two of your longest coaches (i.e. in this case, the Bachmann ones) come into contact with each other when passing on the curve.

To me, that was one of the disappointments of the "Live Steam" sets - the water vapour condensed out collected on the roofs of the coaches, where it just didn't look right.

Yes, I remember a layout at Warley some years ago where not only were the locos fitted with smoke units, but so were several factory chimseys and a narrow boat. Nice layout, but I couldn't stand in front of it for more than about 30 seconds before I needed to go and get some fresh(er) air!