Chris M

Careful discussion with children should be all that is required. If the boundaries are carefully and gently explained in very simple terms there should not be a problem. Ok - a one year old will need physical control but a three year old should be able to understand. I’ve had two children and now have four grandchildren and none of them have caused any significant damage. The same can’t be said about a friend’s kids who had not been taught how to behave. The grandchildren are allowed to touch the static grass occasionally. They know not to touch any of the fragile details. The grandchildren know they have a freer hand with the garden railway which can provide some interesting results. One grandson got banned from operating the garden railway at age 6 for a while due to his liking of speed.

I see 50s regularly on the SVR and this model looks like a 50 to me. If I was going to get into TT:120, which I am not, I would most definitely buy both a 50 and a HST. This is based on the models I saw at Gaydon.

The new class 50 looks great without that hideous snow plough. I thought the HST looked great as well. For me the size difference between British N and TT:120 is not sufficient to make me consider a change but then I am not the main target for TT:120 sales.

I will be with my layout at the NEC this year. I can promise that there will be absolutely nothing that anyone has mentioned here (except the odd unintentional slip coach). There will however be a constant procession if different trains, all from the same era, all very slightly weathered and with front end details added. The train formations will be reasonable so far as my research can make out with 10/11 coach express trains and 7+2 HSTs. A few of the trains will be slightly unusual to add interest but nevertheless authentic for the location and era. I accept that most of the visitors won't appreciate this but I know. Operators are not allowed to bring their stock unless it fits into the location, era and slightly weathered rule. The semaphore signals will be in full use. My operators are drilled to do points-signal-manoeuvre-signal but I doubt many visitors will notice. Again I know and that's what makes it important. So nothing special or fancy but hopefully a good, entertaining layout that is also quite authentic. That in itself as actually fairly rare at many exhibitions.

The Warley NEC show is less than a month away! Don't forget that advance tickets will get you into the show a bit earlier than tickets bought on the day. \You can buy advance tickets from The Ticket Factory or the Warley Clubrooms on a Tuesday afternoon/evening. Also its worth carefully considering the BRM subscription offer that includes tickets to the Warley NEC show. I reckon that's a good offer. Here is another fine layout that will be at the Warley NEC show - Freshwater in 2mm scale. I thought my N gauge layout was pretty good until I saw this!

Or the people on the Hornby stand running the TT layout with trains going in the wrong direction for UK tracks. Looks like they have sales people who know nothing about trains again.

And another one - Shillingsford Shillingsford is a fictional branch station, loosely based on Shillingstone on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, set in the early sixties, but as a terminus rather than a through station. The layout is DCC controlled using a Digitrax radio controlled system, and all of the locos are DCC sound fitted. Most have firebox glow and working lights. The layout consists of a three platform station and a goods yard that contains a fairly large cattle dock. The layout is kept very busy with passenger trains, goods trains, and various shunting movements. There is rarely a moment when something isn’t moving! All rolling stock is fitted with Kadee couplings, giving a very pleasing operating and viewing experience. The fiddle yard is a double rotating sector plate that allows locomotives to be uncoupled and run around trains.

While I'm on, here are some photos of Ballyconnel Road which will also be at the exhibition.

And a few more photos of Barnwood

In an attempt to get back on track here is a bit about one of the over 80 layouts that will be at the Warley NEC show on 25th & 26th November. Barnwood is an N gauge layout set in the early 1990's in a fictional location in northwest England on a loop line off the West Coast Mainline between Preston and Lancaster. The town is busy with passing freight as it acts as a second route between Preston and Lancaster relieving pressure on this two track section of West Coast Mainline. Passenger services are worked by Regional Railways trains running to and from Preston and Barrow in Furness. There is a short branch line to Glasson on the estuary of the River Lune. The port features a container terminal, a grain terminal and a steel terminal. Other freight terminals in the town are an oil terminal, cement terminal, a large warehouse, a siding for the transhipment of logs and a Royal Mail terminal. Along side the station is a small loco depot.

I recommend that anyone with issues around the voyager system should go to their exhibition contact who may well be able to help. Such issues certainly can't be solved here. I booked myself in on voyager last year and it worked fine. I will be using voyager again this year but I won't be able to go onto the system until I know the registration number of the van. From what I can recall its about doing things slowly and carefully and fully reading what the screen says. I struggled at first but when I took time to understand the screens it was fine. It is not the easiest of apps to use but its the way the NEC insist on doing things.

Back to the plot. From what I hear everything is sorted and we are ready to go. A latest plan and stand list will be posted here in the next week or so. In the meantime we have made a "family friendly" poster.

By the way, I am not in any way involved in accommodation for the exhibition, but I'm only too happy to help Baz.

Premier Inn, Solihull South, B90 4EP

Barry, you can go to the ball. You should have an email confirming your accommodation.

There a a few Westerns still around today that haven't quite made it into preservation.

I have been going through the emotions with my Victorian footbridge. Contentment pre and during the last exhibition. Distress On getting home from the last exhibition Happiness restored. After buying some etched fencing from N Brass Loco and a bit of work.

Dawlish Warren was at Farnham & District show a couple of weeks ago. This is a very well organised show with high quality layouts. Everything went well but the Victorian footbridge copped a hit on the way home due to bad packing of things into the van. My fault - I should have checked everything more carefully before moving off. I've fixed it and now the next stop is Warley NEC on 25th & 26th November. I'm thinking of running 1980s for this exhibition, just for a change.

Moors View - a brilliant winter scene in N.

Now let me think...... ..... I've taken layouts to 4 exhibitions this year, 6 exhibitions last year and over 30 exhibitions between 2014 and 2019. Oh and I have attended the Warley NEC exhibition as a worker for the last 30 years. I also attended a good number of exhibition in the 1980s with various layouts. I think it is possible that my comment may have been light-hearted and I guess your comment is ion the same vein.

That is a good offer. Helping folk move on from out of the box a loco that is “in use”.

No, but a plan and stand list will be published here and on Facebook a few weeks before the show.

I'm sue there will be a lot of RMWebbers at the show, including some new subscribers.

Very disappointing - James front wheel is off in the bottom photo.

There is no exhibition magazine/guide this year. Nobody was prepared to volunteer to put it together so no guide. Putting the guide together is quite a big job. There will a plan and stand list on sale.