phil_sutters

China, China, China! frequent chant from 45.

He's got a new job. He is a surgeon fitting gastric bands. I think I could have done that. I used to reconnect the rubber bands inside my little sisters' plastic dolls, when they got dislodged and an arm or leg or even the head fell off.

Seeing 'God Save The King' on the 66, what do atheists sing when the National Anthem is played?

I think that he is just trying to attract attention to his sales pages, we have all looked now haven't we? But he does seem to have a thing about writing implements. There are several other sets of pens and pencils with similar prices, but other types of item seem much nearer to reality pricewise.

Looking for soccer figures to go on a birthday cake for footy fan grandson I came across this - very reasonable at first glance - then I saw 'lead' - definitely not child-friendly, especially on a cake, then I looked a bit closer at the picture. Clearly American football, not soccer, but the final shocker was the postage - from the US https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325820802919?hash=item4bdc6ee767:g:I0QAAOSwXWhkqEer&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0C%2BMYzJThqtmKSlzan5HVOGrkArVcA0iG2rS2Cl7ROb0iG4OxUEOCTtrWBxfardON5OlX3vsZ6LEUzwB2vYlSGR3NxbfuECiEvOn1uOxr2oCYWLHCEcH0A2MXlb%2BR5XyV7yiaMZtg57yRs%2FYnt8rkgcp1feL0ajb0aFp1xwLlfhU%2FRg5dZ3av4QlKe5wpnArmGcthqAzv5IU3wEInsW7jChqxMtx%2Fdg813%2Be1tRCFYF0SMBTvxxNQAmp1L1bci4AleWru1ekEAXrrgQKRNTugcg%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-7a46faYg

Thanks very much, Stephen. The refurb. is progressing. The brake lever, that was on, is a bit too long so that needs attention, now I have seen yours. I now remember how much I hate footboards! Have a good week.

Having got the rather dusty trio out of the garage, where they were badly photographed, I had a closer look at them and took the 24ft milk van indoors for a better look. I then realised that I had made it more or less from scratch. I am still puzzled by where the axle guard & springs came from and why there is a short brake lever on one side. Does the Roxey kit have a brake lever on one side - the other side from the one shown in their advert?*** Or indeed is there prototype photo information available? The windows, which had been from a thin bit of plastic packing, I suspect, had buckled and two had fallen in. To replace them the Plasticard roof had to be hacked off. In the process the brittle foot boards have suffered to the extent that the whole lot need replacing. However I am quite impressed with the panelling done by 20-something me. OK it is lined in gold and black, rather than yellow and black, but with the thinness of the lines and the varnish over the top, it don't look bad. Once I have finished its refurb and upgrade I will upload a picture. It will be the first of my old stock to have such a treat. The next will be the little open carriage truck No.4, which took a dive off the bench when I was exhuming the three in the picture. 60 year-old Plasticard is not a resilient material when abused like that. Of course that does mean my LSWR engineers' bogie rail wagon and 40ft bogie bolster wagon still haven't had their load chains fixed on, but that's the way I muddle through. Those two were seen on the Wharf being loaded with rails shipped over from South Wales. The Derby milk van was also scratch built with rather heavy panelling. The passenger break van is one of my Triang clerestory hacks. Thinking about seeing if the S&DJR liveried 4 & 6 wheel stock now produced would be worth a small investment, I found that the only ones still available from a couple of retailers were the brake vans with the lookouts and associated windows at the end. Clearly that degree of inauthenticity won't wash with S&DJR fans. *** Looking at Stephen's unpainted kit above I can see a very short brake lever. Is that a single-sided lever arrangement or was there one on both sides? It is so small that the advert view doesn't really shew it, lurking in the shadows.

Highbridge built circa 1969 - rather showing their age and not photographed in the best light.

Here's an example of a station facing along the tracks at right angles to the platforms. It has a nice flat facade with a canopy in front.

What about the workers?! Newhaven has regular visits from dredgers, partly to maintain the waterway for the ferry to Dieppe and partly to feed the rail-served South Quay Aggregates Terminal. Sospan Dau and Britannia Beaver have been frequent visitors, but there are at least four or five more, that have docked there over the last few years.

What period is your layout? What style of building do you want to use? How do the station buildings relate to the platform(s)? Is the building to be at the back of the layout, with the platform in front, or across the end, with the platforms at right angles to it, parallel with the back of the layout? Are the platforms going to have canopies? Modern buildings with flat roofs are easier to make low relief, than those with sloping roofs. Art deco ones like some of the Southern Railway or London Underground ones are also good from that point of view.

Why don't you try to adapt a downloadable station kit? There are several makes around. Scalescenes has a good reputation and has kits scaled down to N. This is one small station example https://scalescenes.com/product/r003-small-station-building/

Perhaps they forgot to uncouple two trains heading in opposite directions. Still in the goods yard here but apparently Witham and Yatton trains were marshalled by the Witham train loco.

The Scale3D bull is a magnificent beast. He comes with 10 cows for £7.99. Some of the cows are lying down which ain't much good for cattle docks and loaded wagons, but even so I think that it is a good deal. I haven't currently got a photo of mine painted, as a South Devon Red, but here is one with him awaiting painting, along with other beasts and folk with somewhat painful looking painting supports! https://www.scale3d.co.uk/products/cows?variant=43517378625756

They also do sets of cart wheels and springs which are handy if you want to make your own. One thing about that era was that many vehicles were made locally, some to 'county' designs and some just by local carriage and cart makers, so you can get away with fairly freelance designs. There are series of books of old photos with titles like 'Weston-super-Mare in Old Photographs'. They turn up in boot sales and charity shops* and are a useful source of reference, for the kinds of vehicles around in your layouts area. *..or in the local history section of bookshops - if you are lucky enough to have one near you. The Shire Albums series is also a good source of that sort of information.

A few snaps taken on a trip to Otford for a family event in 2021. The two 375s were probably the ends of the same train, as were the bits of the 465.

Got a few excess greenery tufts, preferably of the Buddleia variety, not needed around your sidings. This end of platform 1 at Hove probably is underused as the other end usually hosts the half-hourly shuttle to Brighton. Perhaps they need a new stencil -TRIP HAZARD-. Buddleia is a beast to get rid of once it gets its roots into crevices. Hopefully they are just making themselves cosy under the yellow stud sheets.

Osborn's sells a really nice hay wagon - https://www.osbornsmodels.com/arch-laseraloo-009--oo-scale-devon-farm-cart--draught-horse-38986-p.asp There are other horse drawn wagons in the range. The best looking horses are in the Dart Castings range, but everyone else appreciates that and you see them all over the place.

To get the thread back on track, waiting for the Mayflower special's passes each way through Hove, last Sunday, there was the predictable procession of 377s. There was a GatEx set parked up behind the station, but I couldn't see its number - probably the one shown above.

I have given your Waverley a bit of a go in Photoshop to overcome some of the mucky window's effect. I hope that's OK with you. The Hovercraft photo is very nice. I took one from the top of a bus as I left Ryde for Newport, but it only captured a small bit of the Japanese craft. Have you ever been to the Hovercraft Museum at Lee-on-the-Solent? I was round that way last year, but at that time it was only open on Saturdays, I think.

I went down to the island on Wednesday on the trail of an older vessel - PS Waverley - but also snapped Island Liners and a few others - The Hovercraft included one destined for Japan, undergoing sea trials out of Ryde.

I guess that the tank locos may well had had to pick up coal from smaller manual coaling stages and perhaps more frequently. Maybe they needed longer handled shovels for that purpose and had shorter ones, inside, for use while firing in the more cramped confines of their cabs. Tender engines obviously had plenty of space on their tenders.

Here's a bunch of tools stowed on tank tops or bunker hooks - don't forget the trailing hoses.

I trust that you are going to fill it with Sussex Reds.

Scratching around the net, this suggestion came up. It seems to be a series of descriptions and/or reviews of the available kits of German loco depot and servicing facilities. Whether that is any help or not I don't know, but nothing else seemed to turn up. Of course you may need to read German to get the most out of them! https://www.vgbahn.shop/bahnbetriebswerke-teil-1