RJS1977

TBH I'm not even too worried about dimensional accuracy (within reason). If Hornby can save design and tooling costs by re-using a chassis that's a scale 6" too short, I have no problem with that.

It was interesting to read an article from the Telegraph (via MSN) yesterday, about Londoners who are switching to classic cars , because cars registered before 1979 are exempt from the ULEZ charge! However I have also read that this year's London-Brighton Mini run is likely to be the last owing to ULEZ :-(

CJF originally postulated 20' x 12' (for a 00 layout) as being "The Desirable Maximum", but later trimmed it down to 16' x 8'. I think his reasoning for both limits was that whilst it might be possible for someone to build and maintain a layout larger than that, it would only really be by increasing the distance between stations, platform lengths, curve radii etc rather than by increasing complexity, so, from an operational point of view there would be little advantage in doing so. On the flip side, most people wanting a layout room 20' x 12' or larger would need to build one specially, with all the planning and construction costs etc, and extra heating and maintenance of the building. He could see little sense in going to all that effort and expense if the layout was no more effective than one built in a smaller space. IIRC he finally settled on 16' x 8' as many houses had garages, but few had rooms bigger than that.

Like this?

Not impossible - CJF drew up a plan (P18 in "Track Plans") for a simplified Exeter Central in 15' x 8' (i.e. a standard garage, although the car would have to remain outside).

I think a number of my colleagues (based in Horizon House, just below College Green) would be quite happy if that station actually existed!

That's true - having barely driven in the last 20+ years (apart from hiring a few cars for work purposes in the last 6 months or so), I'm a little behind on automotive technology. And yes, most of the cars that I've hired have had switches - but I for one would still much prefer a proper handbrake, a proper ignition key, and a proper engine and gearbox!

Reminds me of the story of the sheep farmer in Crymych (Preseli Mountains, Pembrokeshire - on the erstwhile Whitland to Cardigan line) who was thinking of easing his workload, so put an advertisement in the Western Telegraph for someone to look after his 1,000 sheep. He received three replies - one from a man in Tenby, one from a man in Carmarthen, and one from a man in Cardigan. However, when they visited the farm, it was readily apparent that none of them had any experience looking after sheep. So he got the three applicants together and spoke to them. "Sheep are smelly creatures," he explained. "As you're not used to sheep, I do wonder if before long you might get so fed up of the smell and give up. But I want to give you all a chance. So I'm going to send all three of you up the mountain with my 1,000 sheep and I'll see who lasts the longest. After three days, the man from Tenby came back down, saying he couldn't stand the smell any longer. Three days later, the man from Carmarthen came down, saying he couldn't stand the smell any longer. The next day, the thousand sheep came down;

With regards to using a phone in a stationary vehicle - it is quite easy for a police officer to see (and hear) that the engine is running. However they need to look inside the car in order to ascertain whether it is in neutral and the handbrake is on - indeed they may even need to waggle (or ask the driver to waggle) the lever in order to check. With regards to parking on pavements, AIUI, it is not (outside London) illegal to park on pavements, however it is illegal to drive on them (other than to access property), which of course most motorists do when parking on the pavement and driving off. However, a car parked on the pavement does not necessarily imply that it was driven there, it could have broken down and been pushed. Quite apart from the issue of obstruction, another issue with vehicles parking on the pavement is that their weight can break and disarrange paving stones, potentially causing trip hazards.

Light clusters etc are/were often made by third party suppliers and it's not unusual to see one manufacturer re-using light clusters that were originally made for a different one. (I think one of the TVRs had Mark 3 Fiesta rear light clusters turned upside down!)

I'm not sure how Sold As Seen can be applied to an online purchase. Fair enough in a bricks-and-mortar shop or a trade stand at a show where you can pick it up, feel its weight, turn it over, and examine it closely, but from an online store, the first time you actually see it is when the parcel arrives!

It was probably the cold winter of 1963 that did it!

Of course who's to say what improvements might have been made to the ECML in the 1940s had Hitler not invaded Poland. A natural progression from building locos capable of higher speeds is to upgrade the tracks for them to run on.

Indeed, I used to work at the Met Office in Bracknell and each Monday morning was punctuated by the testing of the Broadmoor escape alarm.

Which in turn was another of my "inspirational" classic layouts. Prior to TLGP, Ken had a four-track largely outdoor layout (until it was attacked by cows!), which was a different concept, I suspect largely to avoid complicated pointwork and electrics out of doors.

That's something I'm considering with "Aberystwyth" as the fiddle yard (containing four trains) can easily be swapped out for another one.

That's a question that's always puzzled me as well!

I don't think locos on engine shed layouts need any couplings.... (Apart from maybe an odd shunter to shunt coal wagons around).

I think a spokesperson for the NRM summed it up beautifully when FS was purchased for the museum. "We now know we have the first steam locomotive to do 100mph. We just don't know which one it is!"

Agreed. It's clear from how little time has elapsed between Hornby's announcement and the first models becoming available that this is something Hornby had been working on for a considerable time prior to the announcement. Hornby didn't make their announcement to "spike" Heljan, they announced projects that were already well-advanced. If anything, as you suggest, Hornby's announcement probably did Heljan a favour. Hornby could have waited until the first models were in the country and made the announcement at Warley. However (possibly) bringing the announcement forwards a couple of months will have saved Heljan two months' development costs which could be put towards something else.

Pre-pandemic, it was quite common for open-air concerts at Knebworth to include a Spitfire flypast.

Also what happens to Formula One factories during the mandated two week summer break.

ISTR there was an article about moving Buckingham in RM in about 1986 in which Peter mentioned that there had been a milk dock recessed into a bay window behind Grandborough Junction (i.e. off the LB branch) which had to be sawn off to fit into the new residence.

I'm not sure that it has "died out". Yes, there are probably more "short term" layouts that maybe do 20-30 shows and disappear rather than there used to be, but I'm sure there are still plenty of "lifetime layouts" about. My father's layout "Templebar Junction" was rebuilt into its current form when my parents moved house in 1997 (having had its roots in a layout of a different format that dates back to the late 1970s). Even now there is still plenty to do on it, and sitting on my dining table at the moment under construction is a building for it that I've been meaning to make since the 1997 rebuild! Buckingham I would say is a rather special case (in more ways than one) in that it is now essentially a "preserved model railway." Whilst many of Peter's rearrangements were of his own volition, later changes such as the removal of the milk dock at Grandborough Junction and the scenifying of the Leighton Buzzard branch came about as a result of house moves. I believe that the shed it is currently housed in was specifically built to house it, so no further alterations or amendments were necessary.

There is more than one Bembridge layout as Mark Pretious of the Alton Club has one.