RJS1977

Which is why the challenge for Hornby (and the hobby more widely) is to encourage the 7,8,9 year olds to carry on in the hobby, expand their train sets into layouts and eventually become the next generation of serious modellers.

Do I understand from that that they would wind back to the beginning again and then forwards each time, even if the next destination was further down the list than the previous one?

Agreed - I just don't think the range is big enough, particularly when it comes to the sort of trains young people today are likely to see on the main line.

Two-dimensional, surely? In 4mm scale I think any form of mechanical indicator would be out of the question.

The difference is that when we started out, most items in the Hornby and Lima ranges could be purchased with a few weeks' pocket money so it was easy to expand the set. Those ranges also incorporated a lot of contemporary items (31s, 37s, 47s, HSTs, Mk1/2/3 coaches, 86s, 87s, 90s, Pacers etc) so it was easy to recreate a lot of what I could see going past school every day. Now there are relatively few budget models available and no budget models of contemporary trains.

One idea I had for creating a working model Solari panel was to use a cheap smartphone running a Remote Desktop app or similar, which could interface with a laptop running the display. The smartphone could be mounted in a surround designed to simulate the Solari frame.

Did someone say Marx & Spencer?

Or worse still, 4 elephants....

One was mentioned in the first episode of Only Fools and Horses to feature Uncle Albert: "But I've nowhere to sleep, Del Boy." "Go back to the Seaman's Mission and sleep there like you used to." "I can't Del. They've knocked it down. There's a marina there now." "Well, sleep on the back seat of that, then..."

We've (Cholsey & Wallingford Railway) hired 6430 three times so compared to us, Traws is "Just down the road" from Llangollen!

I'm not quite sure where the crane is/was but when I visited Traws earlier this year, the area round the lake appeared to be being developed as some sort of country park so maybe that would be a good southern terminus. As for rolling stock, I know the Llangollen railway hire out 6430 and an autocoach from time to time - just down the road!

I suppose the difference with the parapet heights is that with a low parapet, an idiot can pick up a tree branch and try to poke the wires. With a high parapet, the "better idiot" has to find a stepladder and a longer branch.

The raised parapets that people are talking about are on bridges *over* 25kV overhead electrified lines (living close to the Styal loop of the WCML as a boy I was always disappointed I couldn't see over any of the bridges there!) - the parapets being raised to discourage people from attempting to poke the live wires with tree branches etc. Parapets on bridges under low-voltage 3rd rail lines are not relevant to the discussion.

I know one preserved railway was offered Dawlish box and turned it down, so NR did at least consider alternatives to demolition.

I was wondering who'd be the first to spot that... ;-)

If there's no run-round facilities at the Traws end, there's little point in running round at Blaenau either so top-n-tail or push-pull working would be the order of the day, which would mean ATW could use one SG platform at Blaenau and the Blaenau and Traws the other, with the only enroachment coming when charter trains come to Blaenau and need to run round. Apart from the issue of the reservoir (apparently someone from the Ffestiniog did a survey some years ago and concluded it would be much easier to deviate round that than the Llyn Ystradau was!), one problem is the lack of intermediate stops between Blaenau and Bala. The rebuildings of both the FR and WHR benefited from there being stations at regular intervals which could act as temporary termini and as destinations in their own right. Blaenau-Bala isn't so well blessed - it's an 'all or nothing' route.

Of course, there are still some established heritage railways around which haven't yet turned into multi-million pound businesses and still have 'can we do it' projects in the offing :-)

Infill electrification Wokingham- Ash and Shalford Jn - Reigate for through trains from Oxford/Newbury to Gatwick? Or GWR venturing onto the Wokingham - Waterloo line?

My understanding is that the sidings were wired up as a practice exercise, though no doubt there is some intention to use them for a practical purpose at some stage.

G-nor am I in the least like that dreadful wildebeest Oh g-no g-no g-no, I'm a gnu!

It's even less apparent on a model of a broad gauge steam loco....

As my sister's first dog lost an eye to a cat, I guess that evens things up....

What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison? You can't wash your hands in a buffalo!