islandbridgejct

2nd train on line before 1st had given up the staff? Couldn't the freight have been put into the goods loop for the passenger to pass? Alan

Gilbert, My father, at 77, is upset because he's not getting better at his golf. I suspect it's just a feature of golf. Now model railways, on the other hand.... Alan

Hello Tony. I just caught up on 20 pages of this thread over 2 days in hospital and for the most part I really enjoyed it. Pictures and discussions of actual modelling, and reminiscences on the great days of steam, are a delight to read. There are a few topics that generate low grade heat and very little light. I had to skip over the last few pages about small producers and their use of the internet. I can see merit to both sides of the argument, but not to the rather tetchy tone of the exchanges. I generally take my cue from the wartime poster and, before I post, ask, "Is your post really necessary?" Often, on reconsideration, it really isn't. 24 hours reflection before replying has saved me from many embarrassing letters in my work, and I try not to send a letter until I'm ready to laugh at my opponent. In this case, throwing caution to the wind, I wonder might I suggest that others whose modelling talents far exceed mine might consider adopting the same approach? We all tend to become more dogmatic as we grow older, and less tolerant, and it is all too easy to fire off a cross expression of our own views. (This may even qualify as one, alas.) I like the D9 and the B16. (Have I got the class number right?) Alan

Fly ash - Presumably if the ash is wetted down, it won't fly away as the train speeds along, so maybe you ought to aim for a wet, but not sludgy, look. And if it's too dry, and some ash blows off the top along the way, well sure, isn't that cheaper than paying to put a full load into a landfill at the far end? I wonder how much lighter the train would have been by the end of its journey. Alan

There you go again. Just when I'm trying to figure out whether I prefer a B17 of a 9F (the perfect 4-6-0 versus high running plates and loads of lovely wheels), you go and post a J6. No A2 fest required, thanks: those will do nicely. Alan

hip?

250 boy scouts on a jamboree crossing the fell?

John, Just looking at your tiebar arrangement, and the location of the blades in a neutral position (with none of them acting against their respective stock rails), is there a risk that, when the tiebars are worked in opposition to one another, that the respective blades within the crossing area may come into contact? That is to say, if you pull A and push B, or vice versa, do the blades make contact? They seem quite close. (You're probably way ahead of me on this, and have already checked.) Best wishes, Alan

If it has the camera lens in the corner, it can be used to get excellent low level shots. "I was just lying in the cess, as you do, when this Mallard thing came past, and this is the shot I got." Cue photo of draincocks, cylinders and wheels with a running board on top and nothing above it but sky. You don't want to risk a photo of the underside of any other type of mallard. Alan

Sorry Del, it was the A2/3 and A2/1 that I couldn't tell apart, because in most cases I can't see the pointed cab. I'm afraid I didn't say what I was thinking. My definitive crib sheet is: Low running boards and splashers: Raven. Fluted running boards and cylinders at mid-bogie: Gresley. Gap between low and high running boards: Peppercorn. Stepped running boards and cylinders aft: Thompson. Thompson sub-divided: Full smoke deflectors and streamlined cab - A2/1 Full deflectors and straight cab - A2/3 Extra long smokebox - A2/2. I now have an unfortunate mental image of the poor driver slipping on the wrapper of a Hales Individual Fruit pie as he hurries forward to reverse the nameboard.

Now let's not get hasty there! I can recognise the ones that used to be P2s from their long smoke box (and their nameplates - good names!) and I know enough to go off to the LNER forum to find out. ... A little later: OK, so the A2/1s are a V2 that got an extra wheel to increase slipping. The A2/2 is a P2 that lost a driver. And the A2/3 is its own man. I can't tell the 3 from the 2, and they all have their cylinders too far back. Have I got that right? Alan ... Edit to say, oh no! There are two other A2s that I missed altogether, one by Raven and one by Peppercorn, which is an A2/3 that got fixed up. I'm off to the dunce's corner. I'm clearly not progressing as far as I thought. On the plus side, I recognise the Raven one: I've seen it on Grantham. Is there an LNER loco recognition guide like 2manyspams' diesel one?

Thank you. When I began reading this thread, I couldn't tell an A2 from an A3 or A1, so my education is progressing nicely, I think. I'll shut up now and wait for more pearls of wisdom. Alan

Gilbert, I wonder could I return to your reply to my tongue in cheek comment about locos heading off with nameboards? Did each shed really have its own nameboard for named trains, and how did that work if the loco that took over at Peterborough, and was taken off at Grantham / York / wherever, did not immediately return with the same train? Who was responsible for the nameboard - attaching it, removing it, and making sure nobody made off with it? Or were you just winding me up with your reply? If so, very well done - you got me. Alan

I know a lot of people wax lyrical about the railway in the landscape, but that is a beautiful section of just railway. I love that crowded, intensive, urban terminal look. Alan

I always enjoy seeing what you're up to. I suspect 106 other followers do too. So that's a thumbs up from me. Another Alan :good:

Did Gannet just run off with the name board for the "Heart of Midlothian" there?

Just adding my best wishes for your operation and recovery. Alan

(Following a link from PN) If you build it in OO, you could be 'OO Severn'. Alan

I don't usually have anything useful to contribute, but I can help on what a 'Fingall' is. It's a fair haired foreigner, usually a Norseman, as distinct from a Dougal / Doyle / Dowell which is a dark haired foreigner, a Dane. Fingal's Cave is on the Isle of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides, while the Fingal Plain is north of Dublin city. On second thoughts, of absolutely no use to a railway modeller, but it is what it is. Latter day Vikings, arriving at Newcastle, have better transport options for reaching London. I like the little Ivatt tank. Alan

Good justifications as ever Jeff. As a side thought, if you were the farmer, I'm sure you'd build the actual wall the same way. I did notice that you wanted the Landrover for its tyre tracks, not itself. That makes a lot of sense - the ruts will be there long after the smell of diesel has faded. And a fair point, Ben, based on the photos - and being in the background, it's not like you turned the camera on the Landrover because it was "one of those little cameos that help bring a layout to life." Alan

May I raise a few quibbles about the walling at the junction between the lane and the path over the fell? Would a farmer have taken the time to build right out to the corner below the gate, with extensive amounts of stone required on either side, narrowing to a point? Wouldn't he just have cut across at a certain point when the cost of the stone and the work exceeded the extra grass he could enclose? The only case I could see where he might build to a point would be if the wall along the roadway existed first, and the road beside the path was added later. But in that case, he wouldn't have stopped the wall at the gate. Maybe the fence should go right down to the road. I had wondered if the road was built first, and if the lane belonged to the farmer who owned the fields on either side of it, but if so, I think he would have come up with a gate arrangement that didn't require so much walling: not all farmers enjoy their walling as much as you do. Third point. Is the laneway narrower than the gate at the road junction and further up on the fell (or is that my fading eyesight)? Why widen it just to fit a bigger gate? Apart from that, stunning work as always. - But a Landrover on the laneway? It's almost as much of a cliche as a bus on a bridge. I love the laneway being empty, which is how it would be 99.9%* of the time. Don't do it! Alan *Figures are rounded estimates and should not be taken as scientifically accurate or verifiable.

Place to visit? My first thought was Sallins, County Kildare, June 1949, just before the arrival of the first AEC railcars, when steam was still king. Then I thought no, if I want to see steam, Horseshoe Curve, Altoona, on the PRR in June 1941, just before the US entered the war. That would be the show of shows. What happened to the bucket beside the water crane? Alan

Looks like a fun plan. Be sure to post a link here if you start a new thread: I don't want to miss developments. Alan

Aww! We're train fans: we enjoy the journey.

Well, when I suggested you do something similar and run the Midland trains through on North Eastern metals, I got very short shrift. It's discrimination against red engines, so it is.* * The fact that I was only joking is neither here nor there. You're showing clear favouritism in terms of what imaginary interlopers you'll allow. (I'm prepared to forgive all for another nice 4MT or B17 shot, though.) Alan