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Hi Jeff After I read through your list of "to dos" , I was wondering why you've chosen brown as the base colour for the fell? Why not a dark/mid green to give depth to the predominantly green grass, heather and scrub that will cover the finished fellside? Humbrol do a handy dark green spray (Humbrol No29?) which does the job quickly, though I'm sure how many cans you'd need to cover that area. Cheers Alan

Hi Andy More lovely photos... especially the weathered Q1 and Bullied pacifics lined up on shed. Cheers Alan

Hi Tom Not sure if it's good news or bad news (for me) about the Q6... Despite telling myself I'm now 99.9% comitted to N Gauge, I'm still hanging on to a small collection of 00. Just enough to put together a small NE based layout set either around 1960-67 or 1979-86. The change over to N hasn't been cheap and now I'm going to find a RTR 00 Q6 irresistable. I envy anyone with the skill to build kits. I was never brave enough to start building one. Over the years I've had two Nu Cast J27s and a Q6 but they never came out of the boxes and I ended up selling them on unbuilt. North Shields was an inspiring layout which I was lucky enough to see at the Newcastle exhibition many years ago. Alan

Hi Tom I was looking again at your plans - Your idea for the curves are similar to my own when building a layout - a gentle transition on the scenic area and then tighter once out of site round into the fiddle yard. However, will the J27 and Q6 kits get round the 30" radius curves? It's a real shame these two classic NE steam locos still aren't available RTR. Alan

There was an original Railways of Sunderland with orange lettering on the cover and a reprint with green. There was also a book of Ians' photos called Railscenes Around Sunderland. I think photos on the branch must be quite rare. The only photos in these books show J27s with 1-2 coal wagons from Crowders coal depot at Roker... probably the last revenue earning traffic on the branch? Another shot shows a J27 alongside some Gresley coaches. Apparently, in the 60s, the branch was used to store redundant stock. One caption mentions a rumour that on one occasion this stock was delivered by an A4. I think it was mentioned in the Railway Magazine.. sadly Ian Carr died in February last year. Alan

Hi Tom This looks like a good idea and an interesting location to model so I'll be following your progress. I was thinking you might be packing a lot of track onto the baseboards but with an area of approx 14ft x 2ft6" it shouldn't be a problem. I'm always interested to see layouts based in the North East and the Sunderland area in particular. My own earliest memories are similar to Brian Ds and although I usually model 1980s-90s, I've always been a big admirer of Ian Carrs' photographs. They're a fantasic record of steam in the NE and particularly around his home town. No problem having a couple of 9Fs on shed. There are plenty of photos of them on minerals working Washington-Brockley Whins etc.... and don't forget the WDs! In reality, in the 1960s, the North Dock branch trip seems to have been a J27 with a few 21t and 16t minerals and occasionally a bolster C/D or maybe plate wagons. Good to see you've been stocking up on 21t hoppers... you can't have too many of them if you're planning to increase traffic levels on the branch. Good luck Regards Alan

Amazing how adding the facia changes the appearance of a layout. Mine are usually cheap plywood painted black...When you've bought quality wood, leaving it unpainted is definitely the right thing to do. Alan

Loved the model of the ISS... I want one! Alan

Plenty of memories for me. These were the services I travelled behind regularly during the 1980s, usually Newcastle-York. Looking back through my spotters books the overall impression is of 47/4s in the early 80s, 45/1s mid 80s until 1987 then 47s again, predominantly the surviving GD 401-420 locos. Mention has been made of named 47s on the route. I'd say although not regular preformers they weren't uncommon...They're the ones I'd look out for for haulage.. 47508 27/03/81 47511 47508 25/08/81 47513 04/05/82 47510 07/06/84 A few oddities given the domination of ETH 45/47s 40068 16/05/81 40029 26/08/81 55009 hauling a dead 47405 16/03/1981 (may not have proceeded beyond York) 45064 46051 07/03/83 47074 26/07/85 45007 11/09/85 47061 13/09/85 47330 21/06/86 47277 19/07/86 ...and some photos.. 45143 York 06-1985 45142 Durham 06-1986 47593 Newcastle 11-1986 45107 Washington Station diverted via Leamside 03-1987 45130 Fence Houses diverted via Leamside 03-1987 47406 Manchester Victoria 07-1987 47407 Newcastle 08-1987 47411 Newcastle 03-1988 47542 Darlington 03-1988 why did this loco have the extra bodyside grills? 47418 Newcastle 05-1988 47434 York 03-1989 47488 Manchester Piccadilly 06-1989 47424 Chester le Street 10-1989 47444 Chester le Street 10-1989 47476 Victoria Bridge Diverted via Leamside 10-1989 47512 Durham 07-1990 A poor quality print copy but a nice combination of liveries on the stock

Meant to post this ages ago when you started work on the fellside. It was an early post for S&C 79-83 and the quality isn't good. These are the gradient profiles for a typical hillside alongside the line - the example/section I used was from Mallerstang. This is the only time I've used a technique I first learned while doing O Level Geography! Of course in 00 the section to be modelled would be much smaller than in N. Cheers Alan

Hi Jeff ...at the risk of making myself unpopular, I'd remove it... unless the Eden Valley branch was going to run through it (I hope Jason was joking) I don't think the Midland Railway would have wasted money building a tunnel for a minor country road. They'd probably have diverted the road to a suitable place and put in a level crossing. I can't think of any road underbridge on the S&C that's wider than the double track line??....(Edit - yes there is, south end of Blea Moor under the mainline and loops. Widened as a result of the wartime addition of the loops. If you get the chance to see it, notice the original MR stonework under the mainline and the concrete extentions under the loops.) However some of the overbridges carrying minor roads, in the CrosbyGarret/Kirby Thore area, are really spectacular. Is the photo of the underbridge the one to the south of KS right at the end of the headshunt, near the southbound home signal? A

I'll start by saying, how have I missed this layout?? This is superb modelling; some of the best I've seen in N/2mm. I've spent a very enjoyable 40 minutes reading through your work on Blueball Summit and have lost count of the number of times I could have hit the "likes" and "craftsmanship" buttons. The viaduct and buildings look fantastic, the weathering on the locos and stock is really well done and the photos of the full scenic length show what a very impressive layout you're building. I'll look forward to seeing progress on the layout - your idea for a large mill/factory should work well. Regards Alan

More fantastic images. I thought they couldn't get much better than the BDA outside the sheds, then saw the one of the Class 26 from the front - fantastic. Even though it hasn't been weathered yet, it doesn't look out of place. Cheers Alan

Hi Jeff I,ve always used fine grade wet and dry paper... very fine for N Gauge. Pros - it's black and usually gives just the right amount of texture. Cons - it can be too black and it isn't easy to tone down or to weather the surface. Happy (belated) New Year to everyone. Alan

Very nice - in fact just one digit short of perfection! A class 60 looking at their best in coal sector livery. and...Thanks again Mike for posting the latest batch of steam/diesel photos. For some reason I always particularly like the ones looking along the length of the layout. Cheers Alan

I've been catching up again tonight and was very interested to see the photos taken inside Melton cement works. With no relevance to any previous posts apart from the 08s at Botanic Gardens.... Does anyone remember this gem which stood beside the turntable for years? Photos taken in 1989 ...and a couple of shots of BGs famous "white" 03s. Paragon 1981? Botanic Gardens 1980 Thanks to everyone for continuing to post your East Yorkshire photographs. Alan

Hi Mike A great collection of photographs. You've created a layout with fantastic atmosphere. I especially like the B/W shot with the POAs reflected in the puddles . The new granary looks really good and it was interesting to read the comments about foamex, which I've never used but am now definitely tempted to try. Regards Alan

Good to catch up with this layout again. Thanks for posting the photos and video... love the head on shots of the 08 standing between the POAs and 26. Regards Alan

Hi Jeff ...or another idea would be to bury the fiddle yard under the fell. Although I'd be the first to admit it doesn't make for the easiest fiddle yard to operate, fully automated yard would certainly be an advantage. As I hate the thought of loosing any valuable scenic space to a fiddle yard it's a solution that works for me... so it's being used again on the new layout. This is the start of the process with the framework for the hillside in place. I've been following on KL2 but haven't commented on your progress, so I'll take this opportunity to say how good the new layout is looking and how quickly you're moving with it. It's always interesting to see your scientific/logical approach to the process of layout building compared to my own "artistic" - lets get it all stuck down, attach a pair of wires and see if it works. The only Track Bus I know about is one of those experimental Leyland Pacer things which ran in the early 80s Regards Alan

Hi Mal You've produced a really lovely looking layout... and in only 2 months! I'm totally comitted to N Gauge now, but seeing those photos of your finished layout makes me start thinking about 00 again! For me, small compact 00 layouts like this one are always a winner. Cheers Alan

Hi Ben Nice work on the signal box and Hangmans Bridge. I searched in vain to find a photograph of it for you. When I was in that area, I was usually standing on the bridge to take the photos. Am I right in thinking that the bridge has been removed now? It's several years since I've walked the line north of Ais Gill but passing on the train I've noticed somewhere near there are the surviving brick supports for a bridge. Alan

Hi Mike So many fantastic photos... difficult to choose my favourites. The beautifully weathered Patriot - The 9F on coal passing the 20s - The 40 on parcels...... Thanks, once again, for taking the time to post them. Alan

Hi Andy I haven't posted here before but wanted to say what a great little layout this is, with some nice detail work. Congratulations on the exhibition invitation.... and a good choice for the motive power. I've come to the conclusion I'm definitely a closet (blue) diesel hydralic fan.... Cheers Alan

Hi Mike Yet more great photos... The Jubilee running under the Coal Road bridge is my favourite from todays collection. Alan

A rare occasion when I didn't have to go chasing locos at York or Doncaster. ... a busy morning at Paragon. The date is 4th May 1985 and either Hull or KR were off to Wembley. We'd heard that there were 8 loco hauled services due to leave for London. This was the only occasion I ever got out of bed to go and take photographs at Paragon. Why did I only take 2 photos on such a busy morning? I'm assuming a couple of others were ruined - no tripod on an overcast morning... For the record.. the locos were 47406 (1st photo alongside the HST) 408, 419, 527, 187 (2nd photo), 414 and 522. The 8th service was an 8 car mixed formation DMU. Alll departed between 6 05 and 8 20am. The two pilots 08 885 and 777. Other services..31 403 to (in my notbook) Bradford???, 31 450 Manchester Piccadilly, 31 447 to Cardiff (2nd photo on AC Mk2s) and 31 438/467 to Carlisle.