Jol Wilkinson

Terry, thanks for the invite but had you read my earlier post, would would have seen that I am going to Scaleforum at High Wycombe. Whilst the Stafford show has some excellent layouts of interest, as a modeller/maker of P4 pre-group models the trade at your show has very little of interest to me. On the other hand, shows like Scaleforum and expoEM does attract those traders whose products I buy. As is often the case, while it is possible to buy from online, it is good to meet and support them at a show. It is good that the weekend will be free from rail strikes for travel to Stafford. However, from Felixstowe it is a 10 - 1/2 hour round trip by rail. By car it is about 6 -1/2 hours round trip, making for a rather longer day than I like to contemplate at my age. Jol

It would be a good idea if he deleted sold items from his site. Leaving them on may give a good idea of selling prices but gives the impression he has a lot more stock than he actually does, which can mean searching through the page to find what is actually for sale. Some of his prices for kits that have been absorbed into other ranges (and possibly improved/updated) are simply excessive. E.g. the D&S LNWR 10T Brake van at £55 (he has five in stock). Now available from London Road Models with an updated underframe and additional etched parts at £25.00.

I suggest you add the SHMRC Portsmouth show, held in November, to your list of shows to visit. An excellent one day show.

Another example of a LNWR Coal Engine from the M&L kit. Built to 18.83mm gauge this one had several modifications. The splasher sides were too thick for P4 wheels (Alan Gibson), so I cut them out leaving just the splasher tops and fitted in thin brass segments for the sides. The chassis is scratchbuilt from a set of AG milled frames with a Mashima 1224 motor. The M&L tender was replaced by a Geo. Norton etched version. During LNWR days they weren't vacuum brake fitted (unlike the Coal Tanks) and used solely for goods traffic. This was my third P4 loco build so I was quite pleased with the result. The kit is no longer available but LRM introduced an etched kit to fill the gap.

MV now saying that had the Safety Car and VSC intervened he would have been fighting for the podium. Perhaps if they hadn't happened than Sainz/Ferrari would have adapted their strategy and run faster, so who knows.

I shall be going to High Wycombe to visit Scaleforum. The clash of dates has always precluded a trip to Staffordshire to see what the fuss is all about, although looking at the list of traders I would find very little to put my wallet under strain. Keep the hobby going? I wonder to what extent the internet now plays a bigger role in that than exhibitions? Exhibitions were where you went for inspiration, specialist traders/products not always available locally, demos on how to do/make things, etc. That is lacking at many "local " shows (I can't think of one in East Anglia since the Southwold show stopped). Perhaps that is indicative of where the hobby has gone.

Agree with Mike G about cellulose thinners as a very effective cleaner. AND - do not spray onto your skin. You will force solvent under your skin with potential health issues

Excellent. To which I would add that "exhibition" layouts should be designed, built and operated as such. Designed to be safely transported, readily assembled and erected and properly viewed. Built with robust but light baseboards and support system, a lighting system, redundancy for wiring connections (e.g. multiple droppers) and avoiding an excess of "detail" e.g. cramming every square inch with irrelevant or inaccurate items. Operated to provide entertainment to match the exhibition public's probable interest. Generally that means keep something moving while still maintaining a degree of realistic accuracy. So reliable locos, stock and couplings are important.

Before we moved to our present house three years ago we lived in a Suffolk village with a very popular primary school. 85% of the pupils lived outside the catchment area, 95% were driven to school by car. The nearby village hall car park had to be marked out to avoid parking disputes. Early arrivers parked where they could on the local road and then invariably seemed to spend as much time as possible talking with other "delivery" drivers. There was no designated footpath between the village hall car park and the school, but parents showed little interest in keeping their offspring under control as they walked along the road. The residents successfully lobbied for a 20MPH limit through the village with a 20's Plenty campaign (speeding through the village was common, as it had become part of a "rat run" between Ipswich and places east. The local pub near the school (now closed) allowed parents to use the car park at delivery/pickup times. Until. that is, the publican asked a parent to move their car so he could get into a store at the rear of the car park. He was told to "f*ck off"/ Result, the next morning there was a chain padlocked across the car park entrance. The head of the rather trendy school was totally disinterested when approached by the Parish Council. What does this all show? That people are increasingly selfish, inconsiderate and that parents can be especially so, setting a poor example for their little darlings.

It appears that Dr Marko has said something he shouldn't have done. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/marko-apologises-for-offensive-perez-remarks-/10517830/

F1 and other sporting celebrities. drivers get lots of stuff given, probably the case with Sainz and Leclerc and Richard Mille watches. That means that "normal" customers have to pay through the nose to support RM's promotional budget.

Despite other activities such as building a couple of baseboards for a group project, wiring on the remaining London Road baseboards is underway. There are ten in total, the most complex being the one next to the bridge (see photo), the engine shed and the two storage sidings. The others are mostly just two tracks. This is the board next to the original two from the original layout. It links to the engine shed and the boards around to the storage sidings The PCB unit in the middle is a MERG Servo4 to operate the three doll LNWR LQ bracket signal when it gets built (any volunteers?). Connections between the board is through D-sub connectors. Although the layout is permanently located, boards can be removed for wiring, working on the track or doing the scenic stuff. The wiring and connections are all recorded on an Excel spreadsheet as my memory isn't up to the job! I also have to build several more MERG servo controllers for the two storage siding and one adjacent board.

A date that also clashes with Scaleforum in High Wycombe, where the really top traders will be attending. In response to other comments in this topic, perhaps we were oversubscribed with exhibitions prior to Covid. It seemed every club held an exhibition, partly for reasons of Kudos and partly to make money. Equally visitors expected (and some still do) very low entrance charges. Whilst valid for a small local show where an hour or two is perhaps the most many or us could keep ourselves entertained that is unreasonable for a larger show where better and larger layout owners/operators need accommodation and travel expenses. So perhaps fewer but larger shows jointly arranged by several clubs in a locality or bi-annual events might be worth considering. Sadly we have relatively few dedicated exhibition venues and so have to rely on schools, village halls and sports centres, most of which are often not very suitable. Poor exhibitor/trader access, poor catering (especially sports centres), insufficient parking (taking into account the regular users). Some venues (usually local council run) insist on specific use of their staff for "security" reasons, adding unnecessary cost. All this needs organisation and management which needs people. Sadly, with some exceptions it seems to fall to a few people within a club and, if for a variety of reasons, they are unable to continue year after year, an exhibition will cease unless other members come forward to help/takeover. I have seen this with several otherwise very good and successful exhibitions, as well as other volunteer run/supported activities outside railway modelling.

What makes you think that they haven't been doing all those things already? The Car Wow piece seems to be all about Tesla improving what they think they hadn't got completely right in the first place, but that is just the continuous development that vehicle manufacturers do. Sometimes it appears as a "facelift", sometimes in new models.

Going by BM's pricing for the Finney 2-6-2T, then something around £200. Odd that they have quoted suitable motors that are no longer readily available, but the HL coreless should fit the bill.

Promises to be another excellent show. A super venue with excellent catering. great layouts and demonstrators plus a great selection of 4mm kits and bits supplier - do not resist the temptation. One word of warning though, although there is a large car park on site, on Saturday morning it may have a lot of cars of parents taking there cherished offspring to play football on the school field. Parking over the rest of the weekend last year was okay.

The Peco Track cleaner is far too course and aggressive, leaving score marks that hold dirt. Far better in my experience is this from Hobby Holidays. https://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=TRACKRUBBER On my 4mm exhibition layout a light clean with that, followed by a wipe with cigarette lighter fluid at the beginning of the day, provided trouble free running in what were generally regarded as "dirty" environments. The lighter fluid was applied to cotton cloth (a piece of an old handkerchief ( wrapped around the end of a 1-1/2" foam hairbrush) which could be quickly and safely wiped along the track.

I have only just found this delightful thread. Bringewood is similar to and predates Elan in Iain Rices "Layout Design - Finescale in Small Spaces" book. Elan was in turn inspired by Llanastra by Rodney Hall. The main difference being that a sector plate is used in the hidden run off area and also doubles as a point feeding the two station lines and a feed to the storage area (cassettes). My local S4 Society Areas Group has decided to build a layout based on Elan but in an urban rather than the rural setting of the book. What quickly became apparent that the layout drawing in the book didn't readily translate into a Templot design the points and double slip being far too short and sharp. The same would apply in any of the 4mm gauges but would be a bit easier in OO. Clearly the hand drawn plan was a concept rather than being based upon what could be readily built. However persistence has resulted in a track plan that is buildable in an eight foot length.

If you want to use only one supplier than Megapoints is probably the answer. They are however expensive compared to some other suppliers. MERG kits are very good although you have to be a member to buy. If you need a lot of gear, then the membership fee would soon be amortised. I have built a number of MERG Servo 4 and 77R kits (a single servo controller with built in relay) without any issues, as has a friend. The instructions are excellent. You do need to be able to solder, have a 12v supply and good multi meter to test the kit when building it. The MERG Servo4 setting box is also excellent as you just plug it in and can look at the point or signal servo you are setting to set position/ throw and speed.

Take a look at the S4 Society Forum. There is a lot of information in the Track and Turnouts section, in particular this could be of interest. https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5727 The process and techniques are the same. irrespective of 4mm gauge.

The Pentroller was developed by Stuart Hine to provide a suitable controller for Portescap motors. Portescap coreless motors apparently don't like certain types of feedback controllers and have very delicate brush gear as Mike alludes to. In particular the "frequency" of the feedback controller can cause problems with premature brush wear and failure. I have Pentroller and Modelex controllers and have had no problems but it may be that heavier usage than I have given my models may cause controller "mismatch" to have an impact. The Pictroller from Malcolm's Miniatures is a more recent version of the Pentroller.

Blunt, but I would expect nothing less of you, Clive. The gross exaggeration I didn't expect. Your last paragraph sums it up well. Within the two generations of my wife's family most have degrees but none have what my old physics teacher called "uncommon sense". Fix a dripping tap, sort out a simple electrical problem, etc. and guess who get a call for help? Would word work/metal work lessons at school have helped? Possibly not but some sort of practical based teaching - call them life skills - might have helped to provide some confidence in fixing simple issues around their home or hobby. As Tony W has pointed out, there are many within this hobby who can't/won't undertake a simple repair or alteration such as re-gauging a set of wagon wheels or re-fitting a tension lock coupling. Are they, as Clive suggest, incapable of such things because they didn't do a toolmakers apprenticeship or similar.

Possibly contentious but I believe that in addition to the apparent loss of any practical skill training in schools, successive governments have promoted the need to get a university degree to enter some "service industry/non productive career" rather than recognising that the economy needs people with manual skills. That has produced a society where the idea of doing something practical and constructive appears to be outside most peoples area of confidence. There seems to be a definite unwillingness to "have a go", Perhaps fear of failure has become too ingrained in peoples psyche. In addition, "status" has become more about what you can afford to buy/own than your ability to create/restore/repair something.

Lots of resource saved? Or do we just dump the safety features and keep the other modern conveniences? How else will those younger generations who have learned to drive with ABS, PAS, SatNav, 8 speaker sound systems, multiple cup holders, self levelling headlights, self dimming mirrors, etc. manage? They haven't learned about maintaining safe distances at speed, parking with heavy steering (e.g. Mk2 Cortina), reading the road ahead to maintain steady progress with low powered cars, fuel consumption in the low thirties or worse in a family car. When I drove my MGB (which I sadly had to give up a couple of years ago) I had no difficulty with any of that because that is how I learned to drive. I don't think a lot of drivers would cope safely now.