Anotheran

I have to agree with James that getting inside the glass was a privilege that I shall remember for a long time. To be able to capture the incredible modelling without the reflection was a fantastic opportunity, even though I only had my phone to take the pictures. Though even without the reflections there were sometimes objects in the background that sort of spoiled the scene... It was a pleasure to be there, and also a pleasure to meet our host of CA. Kind regards, Neil

A very nice little set of wagons! Could I ask if the storage concept is new or of long standing? The reason for the question is that I have built a similar foam board setup in Really Useful boxes and was considering using craft foam for the cushioning but am concerned that it may break down over time and either stick to, or pull off, paintwork or transfers. So I don't want to jump in with both feet without getting some data on the subject.

And measuring up on the old maps the whole station and goods complex could be done in 10' x 2'6" without compression in 4mm! Oh dear...

I thought military were included in that group. Hence the comment about the oxymoronic military intelligence... I'll now don a military hard hat and retire to a military bunker.

At the moment you have about a quarter width of one row of slabs at the end of this platform section. If you can't have a fence/gate are you able to remove that quarter strip and move the platform section up a bit so that the board break is between slabs instead of through them. Or does that throw your geometry out down the other end because of your subtle curve?

My ditch of the day... It's straight, 60 yards long, and you have to swim there and back. The world record was set last year at 1 min 18.81 seconds! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-28937459 For those of you that don't know, this is the World Bog Snorkelling Championships that have been held near Llanwrtyd Wells, my mother's home town, every year since 1986 except 1995 (due to drought) and 2001 (due to the foot and mouth outbreak). Sorry, nothing railway related at all in this post, but you did ask for a ditch! Kind regards, Neil

Thanks for the link Annie. An interesting article, though it is splashed with pictures of unmotorised scooters as well as the motorised ones. The article also unfortunately labels Lady Florence and her mother as suffragettes when they were in fact leading suffragists. But we've already been over the differences of that on here! Kind regards, Neil

I prefer the name on this one... Neatly written in upper case scrawl typeface. Was the David in question a miner, drive, fireman, or simply a pimply, cheeky lad from the local school? Or maybe it is that other kind of greatness and the loco really is call "Sir David"... but the linesmen affectionately know him as Dai. That bit's important... Sir David can be a bit overawing, but Sir Dai won't even scare the sheep! Kind regards. Neil

I think that cattle dock looks excellent. I know it's a lot of repetitive work on those kits, but you've ended up with something that is different from others and will look quite special with some cows and dung. Kind regards, Neil

I haven't at any point claimed that I know what I am doing! Just thought that I wouldn't know what to do here!

Maybe it would be worth having a crossover between the two bottom sidings to form a look as at the moment there is no way for a loco to bring carriages in and then shunt them into the sheds as there's not enough room to run around more than one via the turntable. Or maybe from the bottom carriage siding to the higher of the two storage roads so that at least one road is always free for... storage as would be the end of the upper one. Don't know how prototypical that is but seems logical to me. I like the overall layout design. Shunting space and a roundy! Kind regards, Neil

If you're worried about the insulated frog you could try what Shaun has done to his shiny new insulated frog points. He replaced the plastic with rail to make them conducting. I've never tried it myself but it looks reasonably straight forward.

I like that. But I would, wouldn't I, as it's very reminiscent of a mirrored Newcastle Emlyn.

I think I knew what he meant... But i think that for the good denizens of Mutton the hustle and bustle in Cardiff would have completely passed them by.

I think that you will find that New Zealand are now the second team with Ireland third and England fourth

I think you'll find that New Zealand are now the second team with Ireland third and England fourth :p

You could have just changed the title of this one... but I'll change channels to follow you

So, a couple of months after bringing DE from my parents garage into my own it's finally up on its own legs. It's on the slope as there is still a long way to go in the garage before I can remodel the space and call it a proper railway room. However, it's nice to see it back up.... I need to find the few bits that I've done as far as scenic work on the top goes now. They're all in boxes somewhere! But at least now, after a bit of a clean, I will be able to get some rolling stock out to see if it still runs. There's a lot still to clear looking the other way... Fortunately a lot of that is two large piles of broken down boxes ready to be picked up by the removals company... that will give me more space to move around a bit!

Thanks Paul! I've just been over to your thread and will follow Heath Town. The idea looks good for operation and for continuous run. Not something I'll get here but I hope to get it into the garage somehow! Kind regards, Neil

Jonathan, You are, of course, correct. How am I so sure... because it fits in with a note I have with the WTTs (written by me 3 years ago) that states "WTTs including speed restrictions and station truck information". I couldn't find the station truck information that I'd mentioned... but I was looking straight at it! So obviously when I first looked at the WTTs I knew what I was looking at. I wonder what else I have subsequently forgotten! Thank you for the excellent reminder. I will go back to the documents later and find the pages that detail 576 and 596. Kind regards, Neil

I have a point of interest and a puzzle for those of you that are still following me here... Over lunch I was looking at the 1911 working timetables and came across the following piece: I've read it before, but didn't really take a huge notice of some of the bits that didn't have an entry against Newcastle Emlyn. But this time I noticed the comments in the columns relating to the morning branch goods. They state: "Worked by Two Engines and Two Guards. S. T. Nos. 576 and 596. To be extended to Newcastle Emlyn for cattle traffic when required." The R at the top of the column shows in the key as "To be made up to a double load." So I've got an interesting train that I can model. But what are S.T. 576 and 596? I assumed that "S.T." was saddle tank and guessed that they were 517 locos. So I looked them up in the RCTS Four-coupled Locomotives book. 576 was indeed a 517, but it was built from new (according to RCTS) with side tanks, not saddle tanks. So I guess "S. T." means side tanks, at least in this case. But what of 596. It's not listed as a 517 in the RCTS book, or indeed as anything else that I could find. I even checked the Absorbed Engines book and found nothing. Can anyone assist in where I go from here? Does the RCTS booklet have a missing block in it's 517 list, or was the timetable inaccurate, or have I got it completely wrong? I'd like to know as it gives me scope to run double headers into NE, which is definitely not something that I was expecting! Kind regards, Neil

Another quick thought... sorry to clog up your thread! A few years back I built the Ratio cattle dock but modified it to fit in a narrow space, instead of the square space it normally consumes, on my Doxey End layout. I documented what I did over a few posts on my DE thread. If you've not already built the dock it may be worth considering as you could then place it against the top of the three roads without taking a whole load of central space and still opening up the yard a little around where the weighbridge is, or adding a couple of extra wagon lengths on the bottom road.

I'd be more inclined to move the sidings closer to the back of the shed (if you look at the picture of Henllan you posted above there's only just enough room for a vehicle to get through there) and then splay out the topmost siding a little so that there's room for vehicles between them (again like Henllan). Like this: Please excuse the quick cut and shut style. I think it would fit fairly well, particularly if you used a curved point in place of the first straight one in the yard roads. That way you have extra really usable mileage space rather than just storage without extending more into the middle of the board. If people say the yard looks cramped just show them the picture of Henllan! Kind regards, Neil

I like that idea! I have a desire to follow NE with Pencader and the junction which would give the other end of the branch as well... but given my progress on NE that would be sometime next century!

My first thought was that the chap sat on the hill had got out as it had broken down so he was waiting for a mate. But if that's the case he left it out of gear and it rolled off down the slope, very dangerous! But in picture three it's rolling itself back up the slope! Fantastic pictures of a really nice model. But it could do with s driver if it's going to do all that moving around Kind regards, Neil