The Nth Degree

I'm looking forward to the operation videos on this one! The activities of Bradfield was fascinating - I had no idea so much went on to disassemble and reassemble trains! It really did open my eyes up to this area of operation.

You're absolute right, and I've learnt from my mistakes. I have a price in my head to what I think it's worth and I go no higher, even if it means missing out on something I really want. The only possible exception to that is if the item is unique and I won't be able to find it elsewhere. Otherwise, I'm happy to wait. That wasn't the case in the past though, and I've got a few items I regret setting eyes on in the loft...

I agree with both of you, Kenton and Mark, that an item will sell for what somebody is prepared to pay, and that's a fair market. It's just personally galling that those particular coaches, plus the locos since, could have had a proper home by now. To be fair to him (because of the price he paid when he outbid me) he is not making a huge mark-up on the coaches, especially when you factor in the boxes he will ship them in, the postage price that he is including free, etc. He and I were the last people bidding and I don't think it would have mattered to him where I stopped - to the degree that he still has them for sale after quite a few months. His loss, and I live for another day and another deal somewhere else. Unless he gets there first!

Unfortunately he does, some of the time. He outbid me at an auction a few months ago (a proper one with a bloke with a hammer). It was for a few Bachmann/Tower 0 Gauge Mk1 coaches, which I wanted for my layout, and I put in a fair bids - even a little over the going rate just so I could get them all together in one day. Needless to say, he outbid me, determined to have them, or for me not to have them, I don't know which. I'm very happy to report he still has them for sale after all these months for a stupid price nobody in their right mind would pay. I hope he doesn't sell them. He's since bid against me (and won) on a couple other models I've been after for ages. I'll keep what I think of him to myself, but I'm sure you can guess...

I know this wagon carries food but I don't think there is provision for cooking and eating the produce in the "buffets" is there?

This has been for sale for about 2 years. I remember seeing it when I was just starting out. It must have cost him the sale price in listing fees by now! I got all of my Minitrix 27s for between £25 and £30, with boxes.

Sad news but perhaps for the best. Talking of which, a pint of best lies within your grasp as soon as you're settled...

Really outstanding results you're getting, especially in 7mm. I was following your thread in the early days, but as results were a bit sketchy I didn't think anything was going to come of it. It looks like I was wrong. What's even more interesting for me is that you're modelling the locos I want! I'd love a decent early 24 (two or three actually), a 21 and a 30. I have a resin Beattie 24 but it's not worth the effort to bring it up to a proper scale representation but yours looks outstanding, especially the bogies, which are amazing! If there are queues forming for a kit of parts then I'm definitely in it. How about some first generation DMUs? I need a few of those! Steve

I'll echo the good luck wishes, it sounds like an interesting parallel you're trying to draw. I'll also point out a pedantry item: the abbreviation etc. written in full is 'et cetera' (meaning "and so on" or thereabouts) so writing it "ect" has no meaning whatsoever. You have 14 occurrences "ect" in your text.

Only my eyes have given up, my enthusiasm is still there. I still have two etches of my little Fox Walker that I'm keeping just in case!

Your solution, as always, is very neat and your workmanship is superb.

Looks lovely, and very neat too!

That's lovely Ian

That is going to be an incredible project. Are you doing it alone?

I found an old bedframe in my loft... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58760-industrial-freelance-design-idea/page__st__25#entry774547 Manually operated points are a blast to use with some remote mechanism, like wire-in-tube or similar. You can get free boxes and crates from most supermarkets while they're restocking, as I found out when we moved house. Our local corner shop has always got a few wooden crates outside his shop which he gives away. As Katier mentioned, Freecycle and similar sites are a great way to get freebies, not just restricted to wood but paint, tools, just about anything.

It may be possible in O, just. It will be severely limited though, maybe to an Inglenook. As always, the biggest expense and the most difficult acquisition will be the loco and rolling stock. You could get a Lima shunter for about £40 and the 8 (or 5) wagons for about £5 each. Lima turnouts and track for roughly £5 per turnout and per yard of track. For a 5/3/3 Inglenook you're well over your budget already and for a 3/2/2 you're just about on it so you'll have to do everything else with freebies. Should be possible with about £150 to play with though.

Along with everyone else, I'm eagerly anticipating the final reveal, plus everything you've discovered in hindsight. This is a great thread, but no only that, it's truly inspiring. You've made everyone think that they could do what you've done. That is something very special indeed. I can only join everyone else in congratulating you unreservedly. In thinking ahead for a moment, the only thing I can see that will make anyone stop from having a go themselves is possibly the painting/weathering. To top this off with a beginners guide would be the icing on the cake. In fact, I'm sure there are some threads already on this subject here already, it's just that I haven't come across them yet. To attempt this with a budget just about everyone can afford (whether you achieve it or not) is simply brilliant. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's final instalment. Very well done. Steve

Just had a quick look on RIBA, a few senior jobs and partnerships in Devon - that would be a great place to work!

Have you looked on RIBAs site, there is usually quite a few postings over here and in Europe. Plus if you subscribe to AJ they usually have a few postings too. Can certainly put you up for a few days if you need a transition period - but you will be enrolled in the Westerfield project! Steve