Kelly

Well she does tend to view almost anything as chewable or edible...

Evening all, I appear to be a late riser today! oops. Anyway, first off, deepest condolences to John. Natalie should be here soonish I expect, as we're off to Newark to do the DEMU stand for the day tomorrow there. Kinda glad it is only one day for us this time, it is getting harder and hard to manage two days it feels. That aside over the last few days I've gotten a lot of work done on UPDate issue 92, which is a relief. Right, best sign off, I should phone my mum for an update on dad.

Blimey! I don't think we'd cope with a dog bigger than Poppy, who is bigger than a normal staffy due to the greyhound in her (so taller rather than wider like a staffy).

Those ears! a real cutie! Here's ours, Poppy

Very true! Poppy I think isn't quite like most SBTs, but if she gets a rain drop on her she bolts for the nearest door. The only time she tolerates it is when she is on her walk with Richard. Natalie's Mum's dog Bracken (a staffie/ridgeback cross) won't even let you put a coat on her and acts like a typical staffie when confronted by rain. Fallen snow however turns her into a snowplow apparently!

Funny things at times aren't they? Poppy (otherwise known by names such as Homing Missile, Rocket, or just Trouble (the first two because she is Staffie/AmStaff/Greyhound cross so loves to run, but hasn't figured out stopping properly, the last because she is a cheeky madam!)) doesn't tend to care how cold, warm or otherwise it is outside as long as Richard is going out with her to, very much a 'if you're getting wet then fine, I'll chase a goose!' (the last time she chased a goose she got very wet as she didn't manage to stop before hitting the lake at almost greyhound speeds and a big splash, needing to be fetched out by the 10m (sometimes 5m, othertimes 15m) lead Richard keeps her on as she loses all sense of recall if she sees another dog!)). If it is raining she won't go outside, even if she is desperate to use the garden for her business. Instead she'll look at Richard or me as if to tell us it is our fault the ground is wet!

Morning all. Thoughts and sympathies to all those who need it, especially John and Sandy. The big C is indeed a right bugrat! My father is currently in ITU following surgery (30th September) to remove most of bowel due to cancer being found. They discharged him, only for him to end up back there with septic shock due to an infection (thankfully not the wound site, which wasn't keyhole). Thankfully he is doing well now after the ambulance got to him in the nick of time, hopefully by the end of the week he should be home again and on the mend properly. Still a long road ahead for him, but thankfully his prognosis is positive and the surgeon is confident he got 99% of it, but won't know util he has recovered enough following the speptic shock. Anyway, that difficult news out of the way, life is ok otherwise at least, though I could do with more canine company as not seen my partner or Poppy the rocket dog for over a week, should hopefully see them next week after my partner's work shifts finish (he's recently returned to work following a detached retina, so it is easier for me to stay away to allow Poppy to readjust to his shift patterns again). Now for a cuppa, bagpuss (hot water bottle) for my back and more work on DEMU UPDate. Nearly done... only 2 pages left to fill! (there were 20 at 4pm yesterday!).

My take on this is, they'll be great for new entrants to the hobby giving affordable small coaches to go with the plethora of small tank engines available. The potential extra interest generated by the GMRC might mean they're a solid marketing idea, as the purists will probably build kits if they really want them to be accurate to a particular diagram of coach for a given period/company, but the various attractive pre-grouping liveries will catch buyers eyes probably.

It has been a while since I last updated this topic, however, some work has been commencing on it in the intervening time period. Over the weekend, Natalie and myself finally got a chance to get some boards and templates out and come up with a workable track plan for the Harton inspired layout we've been working on for the past year or so. I've drawn the plan up roughly in templot (see attached), it needs some refinement and I'm awaiting Natalie getting back to me with her thoughts of the translation of her track drawing to templot in P4. The gap on the plan is due to how templot draws the tandem point as partial templates, hence they don't show up in the sketchboard drawings. The attached also show two variations for discussion with Natalie, one with an A5 base tandem, and the other with a B7 based tandem (probably better, but unsure on the access to the cassettes part as yet). On the left is a viaduct, which will have a small section of the tyneside electric on it, a 2EPB unit will shuttle back and forth on this, and possibly E68000 too. On the right is a short dock line, which will be shunting wagons around, with a wagon turntable giving the harton system access to the dock lines for access to pick up spilled coal from the staithes into flat wagons.The main part of the layout is run round, arrival, departure roads, with a spur for a landsale depot and behind a small wagon works.Stock will mostly be Judith Edge 0-4-0WE kits of No. 2 and 10, and Bo-Bo No. 13-15 Judith Edge kits, with possibly a diesel shunter as well of some kind as well as the aforementioned EPB stock.

Home after another great Scaleforum. Great selection of layouts. The trade met my needs as I didn't particularly buy much (other than yet more books). Thanks to Terry and the team for putting on such a great show. Knackered now. Time for much needed rest and to look forward to the next one as always.

Watched the episode last night. Enjoyable as much as these things aim to be. Perfect for not needing much in terms of attention on my part (insomnia, etc) rather than watching a YouTube video on a particular subject where I'd have to pay more attention. It felt a fairly close run heat really to me, some of the things the new comers came up with were quite good, I liked the 3D backscene and the quality of the water was impressive too, especially when considered only first and second attempts at it (at least so he said on the show).

Unfortunately this year having to give the show a miss due to financial constraints. A shame as it is usually one of the best shows I visit each year, hopefully next year. (missed Bracknell too due to a wedding clashing).

Email the membership secretary if you still haven't heard anything by the end of the week. Both the treasurer and membership secretary might be on holiday atm, but I'm not 100% sure.

Which login page are you trying to use? if the one on the homepage, top left, that isn't the correct one and is currently only I believe for admin usage (the website manager can clarify that better however). The login page you should see at http://www.demu.org.uk/forum if you can't login there, you need to contact the membership secretary (membership@demu.org.uk).

Should be with you next week hopefully. Just making a few last minute corrections that were spotted before it went to printing.

Normally it would be, but due to things out of my control, it slipped a bit, so it seemed pointless calling it a spring issue when it arrives in summer to me. Issue 92 should follow soon after though, but probably won't have a 'season' attached to it.

DEMU members should soon start receiving issue 91 of UPDate. This issue features the AGM items as well as a look back at June's Showcase event.

Branchlines do detail etches and conversion etches for the Kirk 2bil. The Kirk kits now available as individual parts from Phoenix paints.

If I recall correctly the new carriers QE and PoW are electric powered (well technically hybrid), with the turbines generating electricity (and diesel engines too) that then drives the propellers.

Worsley works offer a number of etches for southern units. Those not listed in the 4mm section can be found on their 3mm section and they will likely be able to provide 4mm versions (for instance 3mm dd is offered, will produce 4mm version on request).

Much bigger scope than just the Coventry area as it is Warwickshire County Council who are organising it, so it actually won't touch Coventry itself much (UoW aside). The station plan for UoW would be a good one imo, the traffic around the Uni when it is kick out time is horrendous. Nuneaton would gain two new stations in the plan too, as well as Rugby. CCC would likely approve of it too as anything that has the potential to take more cars off the road will be gladly met by them, as they've recently been forced by the government to implement a Clean Air Zone (CAV), which some estimates say would have to include the entirity of Coventry itself to cover the major NO2 hotspots that are at or above the levels dictated. Better transport links would benefit that, at least one councillor has been calling for more subsidy for the buses to lower the ticket costs to make it more attractive a proposition. There are also plans for a tram-type system between UoW and the City Centre, but it is unknown if they'll ever come to anything yet.

The Southern also revarnished rather than repainted in a lot of cases.

Excellent modelling there. I'll be there on the DEMU stand, feel free to say hello. I should have (if I can find where I put it!) the in progress 2EPB (Tyneside) unit I've been working on (rather slowly unfortunately!) with me as well as a few other items.

I'd not expect Bachmann to touch it, more likely Hornby as they could perhaps use some of the work for the 71, especially in terms of chassis (though think there are differences in detail, the mechanicals would be fine to be the same). But easiest route atm is a Hornby/DJM 71 + SF 74 body and other details.

Congratulations Gareth. Looking forward to seeing what the future brings. I'm sure with your knowledge and enthusiasm we will be in for some great news in the future.