Geep7

My worst experience was getting the body off a Heljan Class 128 DPU/PMV to fit a decoder. Having taken out the screws, I wrestled for a good 10 minutes or so to get the bodyshell off, during which time most of the underframe detail deposited itself over my workbench. Fitted the decoder, and then had a fight getting the bodyshell back. Finally did, re-fitted the screws and glued all the underframe detail back on, and swore that i'd never take the body off again. It's still not got a driver, and may stay that way, unless I can fathom the courage to go through all that palaver again.

Yes, I agree, the northbound link should be a no brainer..... At least it would make it easier to get to Heathrow from the south and west via Reading.

As has already been commented on social media, there is still the questions around the level crossings between Staines and Egham, which is what, in part, led to the previous ideas being shelved.

3 reasons for getting a 269 in Mil Reyes. All taken by my father on our first trip to Barcelona way back in about 1987. For those that don't recognise it, this is what is now known as Barcelona Estacio de Franca, previously, as per the sign in the last photo, just purely Barcelona Termino. Little did I know at the time, but when we travelled to Barcelona from Blanes, it wouldn't be long before the line through Poble Nou would be closed to turn it into the Olympic Village. The next time I went to Spain, travelling to Barcelona from Blanes, I would be arriving at Estacio Sants. It's surprising to know that the Mil Reyes colour scheme, along with the Estrella scheme and the original green, actually lasted until the mid-90's, so you could see 269's in these and the Taxi livery, all at the same time.

It's been a little while since I've done an update on Punta Brava. After my last update, I did some thinking, took the layout out of the cupboard it's stored in, and taken a look, and basically decided that I will continue with it. So hopefully will have some updates this autumn. I've also had a new arrival which has given a boost to the enthusiasm. The latest 269 by Hornby in Mil Reyes (Thousand Lines). I've fitted it with a 21-pin Dapol Imperium 1, which has given full control of all the lights. The only issue is that the decoder socket it located in the underside of the circuit board, and to fit the chip, I found I had to release the 2 plugs for the cab/front lights, and then unscrew the circuit board. Not a great design decision in my opinion. However, there are no issues with the decoration, but perhaps the blue could have been a little bit darker? Some weathering should sorts that out though.... This now brings my stable of Class 269's up to 5. At the moment, between having the layout erected, they are reside in a display case, but, given the rest of my loco collection, perhaps it might be nice to have a small diorama module/layout depicting a Spanish locomotive depot to display them on. Hopefully some further updates to come as we head into Autumn and towards the winter.....

Finally got a decoder in my Caroline.... Imperium 1.... Will need to get it on decoder pro to enable the search light options, but also agree with @SRman that I will need to find the setting to dim the interior lights a little.....

I'm going to go slightly out there, and suggest maybe it could be a Class 210 DEMU.... 2 variants - 3 and 4 car, 4 car had a Valenta engine and the 3-car an MTU..... Goes well with the 50's and 37's on the Western Region...... Very similar to the Irish DEMU's as well..... Could also be a start for a Class 455 and 317......

I think the biggest hurdle these days (other than the ageing memberships and venue costs) is finding enough people with the spare time on their hands. When I was helping out with the REC exhibition (mostly as chief stewards and marking out), a typical Exhibition weekend would be as follows; I would be at the exhibition venue, from about 12pm on the Friday, and not getting home until somewhere between 9 and 10pm, then be back at the venue again on the Saturday from about 7am until after the show has closed, and the halls all locked up, then back again (slightly later at 8am) on the Sunday, until at least 6-7pm, once all the hall and barriers had been cleared. Even though being a fairly young (mid-40's), fit? and able person, I usually took the following Monday off work, just to get over it. Also, as the show guide editor, the month before the show would be spent drafting, editing and re-editing the guide, before the deadline to send to the publishers. I'd usually be burning the midnight candle the week before the deadline, just to make sure the guide was correct (the odd mistake still crept in). All this whilst bringing up a family and working full time 9-5. I must confess, that i'm probably rather unusual, in that i've been a lifelong modeller, and haven't really taken a break away from it (except whilst at university, where I just didn't have the space), and my wife has been hugely understanding in me spending so much time at exhibitions (especially the REC exhibition, as it always used to fall on or around our wedding anniversary). But I do understand that there are a lot of people out there who can't spare this amount of time, essentially, volunteering, and this is increasingly becoming the case I feel, unfortunately. Even I have felt the squeeze recently, with an almost teenage son, and have a much more important job role than previously, so have to carefully choose when I can be free to help out.

As the title says, i'd like some honest opinions on whose sound file is the most realistic when it comes to the Class 52 Western. I know it can also come down to the chip / speaker combo as well, but i'll be wanting to put one in a Dapol Class 52 or purchasing one with factory installed sound. As i've never heard a Western in real life (only via YouTube), i'm at a disadvantage in this respect. Grateful thanks in advance.

I think my first encounter with a 50 would have been at Hayes in the mid-80's, when my father used to take me and let me stand on the platform edge (public side of the fencing in the car park). I then remember seeing them at Reading, still in LL or early NSE. They are one of my favourite locos, but are out of my modelling time period in my favourite livery (LL), so would love to go for an early-70's Western Region allocated one, but I don't think there are any in this first batch, unless Neptune is a pre-refurbished loco and I can remove the nameplates......

For actual positioning and locations of the conductor rail, this page is probably all you need, and i've found it very useful: http://www.clag.org.uk/3rd-4th.html

It goes through my small radius code 75 Y point and double-slips perfectly fine without the shims.... I think the double-slips are nominally 2ft radius, so obviously quite a bit wider than R2 set-track....

Finally managed to make to the show late this afternoon and spent an hour or so going round the show. Great range of layouts, and some superb modelling in display. Was great to chat with Rob on Ewe and Gordon Gravett about his latest project in French narrow gauge.

Think it's probably about time I got one of these.

That's usually the decoder that I would use for most of my 21-PIN fitted locos, but they've been out of stock pretty much everywhere for quite a while now, so i've been using the Dapol Imperiums instead. Btw, has anyone had any luck programming the decoder whilst in Caroline, or have you had to put it in a loco to program it. I'm looking at using JMRI to program mine, so wonder if that would make a difference?

If I remember rightly, one of the bridges (the one at Barmouth I think) had a pretty severe weight restriction, and for engineers traffic, they had to resort to using a Class 128 DPU hauling a couple of Dogfish wagons.

Ok, so I think I have solved this myself. It appears that for Followed Content I can no longer just have email notifications, but have to enable the notifications list option as well to receive them.

Hi all, Is anyone having any issues with receiving emails notifications for new comments in a followed thread this morning? One of the threads I am following had updates after midnight last night, yet my mailbox was empty this morning, then I received a couple (after fiddling with some settings in my notifications tab) and I haven't had any since. Thanks, Chris

As @newbryford has suggested, Rails still have stock of the Blue & Grey version, which I guess would fit in with your time period on Elbow Lane. It's a shame Faversham is a bit of a way to travel, otherwise you could have borrowed mine.

I intend to give the show a visit on the Sunday, as i'll be down in the area. Looks like a good line-up of exhibits.

They'd best not be thinking of them for the Reading-Gatwick North Downs line.......

It's good to see Colin Park's 4-Cig is in good hands. It inspired me to do some scratch-building myself, and I ended up building a 3-TC set, but it's not a patch on Colin's modelling.

You should see the discussions over on the Revolution Trains "Caroline" inspection saloon thread. There are quibbles about the ride-height.... and it's probably riding high by only 1.6mm. If someone else on the thread hadn't mentioned it, I doubt most of us with one would ever have spotted it. The flip-side of course, is that if it was at scale ride-height, it probably wouldn't negotiate Peco streamline points, let alone R2 "train set" curves.

Would be interested to see how easy / difficult it is to convert it. I know i'm OO now, but you never know in the future......

I think, personally, there are much more important things to loose sleep over than if my model has a height difference of 1.6mm. I mean, it's running on track 2.33mm too narrow for a start..... 😁 The NSE logo error? may have been unavoidable if scaling down from a larger logo provided, or maybe it is the closest typeface that was available? There is always the option of replacing it with a transfer if you're not happy with it, but I can't see any reason for sending the model back just because of a couple of minor things that can be dealt with by doing a little modelling. I'm appreciative of the fact that Revolution have produced Caroline R-T-R, as I was, at the time they announced it, planning on scratchbuilding one. Their model is much better than anything I would have ever produced.