Thos

with imponderable haste

The plan is coming along well. One question: what minimum radius do I need for my hidden area in 2mmFS with close coupling? It will be level, fully accessible, grouping era. My current plan is 60cm radius, but if necessary I could increase it at the expense of the visible area.

Yikes, a nearly a year has passed. Harry now has a County and a pug running on his trackmat, with a few extra wagons. I have completely revised my plan. The helices have gone. My current idea is 2mm. Top level double track mainline with an external circuit and lines from south and west (appearing from cuttings, so no tunnels) going to the town station and then a cut & cover where the tracks join the circuit out of sight. Before the station, the lines split to go to the goods yard through another cut & cover. On the North side of the circuit two lines descend to the mid level. At mid level, a single track line with passing places also does a circuit. Three lines come from the circuit on the East, one through gates to a wharf, one from downriver behind (actually through) a factory/warehouse and one from a quarry behind other warehouses. This runs through a dockside with station and either goes on towards Town 2 (offboard) upriver under a bridge with the top level lines, or crosses over the river where it meets a line from Town 2 (again under a bridge)and proceeds towards the town. Again, a line runs to the goods yard and the other terminates at the station. The North side of the circuit has lines climbing to the top level and descending to the bottom level. The bottom level has two reversing loops. Both top and mid levels have hidden sidings. This is 50cm wide, to be shared by the two levels. The climbs are about 1 in 60 and straight. They are only used to get access to the reversing loops, so few trains will use them. Minimum radius is 60cm, all turnouts B9 Versaline, plaintrack Easitrac. I will post an XtrkCad plan once I have drawn it. I should be able to have quite a busy layout, with lots of entrances and exits, subject to being able to make enough rolling stock. I will be able to start playing trains with sixteen turnouts and two loops, and then add the rest of the track later. Software will be Freiwald, hardware either LDT or ESU with Cobalt and NCE Switch-8 To this end I will first be constructing a test track about 150 cm long with a single turnout and curve.

Thanks for the answers, Don and Chris. I have completely reworked my plan so it is all on the level with 20" minimum curves and a hidden siding. Not quite as interesting, but more manageable. I am left with descents of 1.7% on a straight line going to reverse loops under the layout to turn around those trains that can take it. Those that can't will stay on the level and operate one way. The hidden siding will be straight, 8'10" long and 16" wide, so that should be more than ample. The only problem with the plan is that the control area is 10'6" by 2'4" and to get access one will need to duck under a 16" wide bridge.

Will the Jinty chassis fit the Farish GP body? These seem dirt cheap on ebay.

I was afraid of that. Time to file away my current plan as Peco-55 and dig out my old 00 plan as a basis for the 2mm option.

If I go for 2mm, will I have problems with radii and gradients? - I presume these are more restrictive than with 9mm. My main area will have a helix with 18 inch radius. With 4.5cm between levels (which is what I reckon I can get away with) that gives me a gradient of 1.5%. The rest of it will have sweeping curves. I intend to have the odd long train (say 40 PO wagons or ten carriages). Setting is 1934. Is this practical? My secondary route, for a few small wagons and 0-6-0 only, will have a tight radius but will be level. What minimum radius will I be able to get away with?

I'm surprised that noone's mentioned the wonderful 'OstÅ™e sledované vlaky' (Closely Observed Trains).

Perhaps with a 'type your own railway name' for pre-grouping. Purists would probably object that the colours aren't right, but the same colours as the BR Regions/Big Four would be a good start.

OFFTOPIC In a similar vein: If firefighters fight fires and crimefighters fight crime ... what do freedomfighters do? END OFFTOPIC Two further hates come to mind (my what a grumpy lot we are)! 1. The reason why. The only reason why is that my Lords Cardigan and Lucan did not get on. Otherwise 'the reason that' is correct. I correct my francophone colleagues by asking them if they would say 'la raison pourquoi' or 'la raison que' (although in fact neither is correct). 2. BBC pronunciation. A property program was discussing 'the prestigious Dorb Hill region of Bolton. It took me a bit to realise they meant Daubhill (Dobble) which I remember as a totally unsavoury area. The NorthWest news frequently refers to Berry, which is down south. The Lancashire town is pronounced with a schwa. Similarly SkeLmersdale. Also used is 'Newcastle which is under-Lyme instead of New'Castle which is upon Tyne. Whatever happened to Slowit and Pumfry, now Slaithwaite and Pontefract. I'm sure other areas of the country are equally affected - I heard reference to Hollbourne in London, presumably Holborn (Ho-bn) (railway link at last)! Linked indirectly was a reference recently to the Salford area of Manchester. Not too long ago that would really have stirred up the locals as Salford was a city in its own right (although noone objects to Westminster being part of London I suppose.

There is a case for that. Students needing to learn English for travel, academic needs, engineering, medicine and general business need to use different register and different vocabulary. Teaching English to young children, teenagers and adults needs to be done in different ways.

Thank you, that was just what I was wanting to hear. I am still at the planning stage. First I have to paint the spare bedroom, then give my son a proper 00 layout. Then I can clear and paint one of the cellar rooms and put an N-gauge in there for me. By that time I should have learnt how to make turnouts to an acceptable quality.

We also crawled through culverts under the road. Going through one particular one involved climbing out of the other side up a near-vertical slope, pulling ourselves up by grass roots. The streambed where we played changed frequently because the area was riddled with coal workings and it kept collapsing. When a new hole appeared near the stream we would go down each day to see what had changed. A chap near us built a garage next to his house - the next morning it was six feet underground because he had disturbed the mine workings. We just accepted that the ground could give way at any moment.

We also played with mercury and phosphorus.

But we did dissect frogs in Biology.

I'm coming to the conclusion that Easitrac straights and curves with N turnouts is the best option. The only thing putting me off complete 2mm is the conversion of steam locos. I know of the wheel re-profiling service, but this or replacing the driving wheels seems to be a major undertaking. Am I correct? If I go for the mixed solution, can I use Association jigs and construct Easitrac using an N roller gauge?

I object to the growing use of Australian intonation?

"Literally" when used for emphasis rather than, well, literally.

1. The reason why. 2. The use of billion for the perfectly good Anglo-French 'milliard'.

Two contradictory references here: British Friesian Breeders Club: 'http://www.britishfriesian.co.uk/content/history.shtml' "During the 1800s, black and white cattle were imported into the east coast ports of England and Scotland from the Low Countries, until live cattle importations were stopped in 1892 as a precaution against endemic Foot and Mouth disease on the continent. ... The Friesian enjoyed a dramatic expansion in the 1950s through to the 1980s until the North Americanisation of the national herd in the 1990s." 'http://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/dairy/24/friesian' "Production levels of this breed declined during the 1950's when excessive emphasis was placed on correct colour pattern. During the 1970's Holsteins were imported from the United States and used to improved the milk production." The Breeders Club is a more credible reference. The cattle around Bolton in the 1960s were all Friesians. 'http://farmingfriends.com/differences-between-holstein-and-friesian-cattle/' "Differences Between Holstein And Friesian Cattle Some people can’t tell the friesian and holstein cattle breeds apart but the holsteins have more white and the friesians more black traditionally and the holsteins are smaller I believe than the friesians. Friesians are a bonnier animal than an Holstein, which is bred for as much milk as possible and is a thinner leggier animal than the friesian. What is ironical is that we spent years breeding to improve the butterfat of our friesian herd from 3.2% to 4.0% and now Skimmed milk (that we used to feed to the pigs!) is in as much demand as is full cream milk and is also just as expensive Kind Regards John." So it would appear that Friesians (more black than white) may be used for the 1950s to 1990s. That then begs the question - what breed should I be using for 1930s Lancashire? Sorry about the format - the hypertext doesn't seem to be working properly. Probably because I'm at work and using IE6.

I'm not listening to anything at the moment because I'm on the computer and the wireless is turned off. On the car USB, however, there is mainly Finzi (on the Lyrita label), but also Holst, Bax, Dowland, Purcell, Havergall Brian, Perry, and Rawsthorne.

My wife ordered the usual thing wives order from Gap/Banana Republic over the internet. When I arrived home yesterday she told me she had had a nice lady with an American accent call her about her order. This nice lady had asked her to confirm her address (at which point I became suspicious) and her order (very suspicious). I knew what was coming next - the nice lady had asked her to confirm her credit card details. However, my fears were groundless, the call had ended at that point with a 'have a nice day' and the goods arrived without any spurious charges on my credit card. Nevertheless I will log on every few days to ensure that no funny charges have been made.

If you don't mind my asking, what was the cost?

Non-railway again I'm afraid. The Granada series Family at War had a section set in North Africa, deep in the desert. The half-track was chasing across the sands on what was obviously Formby Sands with the sea in the background. O the subject of Ross Kemp's sand quarry, was it perchance the same one used for nearly every planet in both Doctor Who and Blake's Seven?

In one famous Hollywood aeroplane film, whose name escapes me for the moment, the stewardess has a famous line "Don't you know this is a Jumbo Jet." You can't get the staff nowadays - she didn't know she was on a 777.