Dava

Like.....just back from ER after breaking wrist on ice So Setrack. Points look good to plan round Dava

Ah, the Dapol 08, will that be out before the Peco points? I fear not but place no bets! Dava

Of course you can build your own, but there is a group of us who are variously too busy, lazy, cack-handed or just who prefer to buy ready-to-play. I've built 0-9 & 0-12 points in the past but the appeal of point-building these days is limited/zero. Knowing what the geometry of these will be means I can plan the track layout and build baseboards or boxes in advance. Dava

Skytrex & Springside both do signal box detailing kits. Skytrex is cheaper. You get what you pay for! Dava

With a continuous run, what goes around, comes around...... Dava

I remember buying one of these from Mr Kirk in his St Monans workshop, aged 17 (me, that was). I never built it and sold it as I didn't have any wheels and was doing TT in those days. Wish I hadn't sold it now! Dava

Is that the next Ixion loco on the track? Looks rather like a Y7....

Great. This will democratise Gauge 0. Ideal for Compact industrial layouts. I don't need to build points. Bring them on. When will they be ready? I guess not for my next trip to the UK in May! Dava

The SHG is a really attractive, useful light railway vehicle. The UK did not have short bogie vehicles like this on SG lines and tended to use mainline castoffs in 4, 6 wheel or long bogie types. This is much better. Dava

Useful to have a Guards van with a passenger compartment as you can run a minimal mixed train, I have a SLNCR Drovers van (Alpha graphics kit) for the same reason. Good to see 0 gauge modeling is happening faster in Sydney NSW than Sydney Cape Breton at present. I completed a box van over the holiday but yet to paint it. Dava

Very useful, I do like Skeims Hill. It shows what buyers of the Dapol terrier can aspire to! Dava

Drinking a growler of excellent 'Spruce Bringstein' from Big Spruce, Cape Breton! Dava

Latest on CB&NSCR Sydney subdivision: the Utliities Review Board has allowed the operator Genesee Wyoming to discontinue the rail service from 1 Oct 2015 though in effect they have already stopped it. They can then apply to abandon the line from 1 April 2016. Our campaign to retain the line starts here with my interview on CBC Information Morning in Cape Breton on 16 Jan! This story continues to run. Dava

Parked station was fascinating right up until before reopening with the grass-covered track & platforms kept cropped by the free-range sheep. Add in the Forest atmosphere, the pub & more, evocative & unique. Martin Wynne's photos capture it well. I recall the other NB loco at Barry was a ScR class 29, which was also sadly scrapped. There was minimal interets at the time, the last baby deltic went about the same time (sans engine) Dava

The wikipedia info on the Windsor Junction to Windsor/Hantsport line is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_and_Hantsport_Railway A book published in 2014 on the Dominion Atlantic Railway (Gary Ness, Nimbus Publishing) said that the line was mothballed, the gypsum mines which were the source of traffic were not producing & the lease had expired but WHRC owner Bob Schmitt was still in talks with CN over future operations. Frankly no CN line in Nova Scotia looks completely safe. Even services to Halifax are not guaranteed. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/94008-interview-with-head-of-via-rail/ Dava

Update from the Cape Breton & Nova Scotia Central - Sydney subdivision. There was a 'withdrawal of service' for the line hearing on 8-9 Dec. The operator, Genesee Wyoming, announced that the last date for rail traffic would be 31-12-2014 but the last 3 rail customers who had not been driven off the line by a 550% rate increase would have their freight delivered by truck instead. 'No railcars would move after 31-12-14'. In effect it is already closed. Most of the parked stock has been cleared except for a few remains such as these derelict CN cabooses in the abandoned Sydney yards, seen on a windy day as sub-zero gusts whipped in from the sea. And yet...we held a public meeting in which there was strong support to form a rail society to campaign for the line and seek a transfer of ownership from Genesee Wyoming. They want to scrap and abandon the line. There will be counter-proposals from our local group and possibly others. There are examples of community-based shortlines in the US (Vermont Rail) and Canada (Battle River Railway). We'll see what happens, there must be scope for organising some rail awareness events, so 2015 will be interesting! Dava

Our hero brewer Jeremy from Big Spruce made it to the local Farmers Market on Saturday with a vanload of selected organic fine ales. Queues of up to 40 minutes for growlers! Amazing. Craft brewers (he is the only one in Cape Breton) can sell direct to escape the Nova Scotia Socialist Republic monopoly on liquor sales. The system is broke. Now quaffing a very fine Crazy Ivan IPA, The Whole 9 Yards is yet to come. Merry Xmas, it still is here. Dava

I really like this, looks like the Maine coastline. Among many interesting features, how do you get the distressed paint effect on the timber buildings? Dava

Please....questioning the environmental & economic sustainability of long-distance biomass transport, when there may be insufficient to meet demand, is not the same as climate change denial. Scrubbing emissions from coal fired power stations with good life expectancy makes sense and anhydrite (gypsum) into the bargain, as the rail freight to Rushcliffe on the GCR(N) shows. Dava

If you join after November then your fee covers the following year so you should be OK till 2016 - bargain! Dava

Just wonder how importing biomass from Canada or wherever to Drax is more environmentally sustainable than burning coal? Which is what kept Healey Mills in business. Dava

This thread is really interesting & thanks to David for the old photos & maps, esp the aerial view. The area today is modern Telford with hardly a trace of the iron & colliery sites. Priorslee is the Wolverhampton Uni campus there. Look forward to seeing more! Dava

Since last post, I have got involved in the campaign to save the Cape Breton rail line. Closure hearing at Sydney on 8 Dec so big media day as I will be speaking at it, appearing on CBC Information Morning Cape Breton at 740am & at our public meeting at 6pm. If interested follow twitter @Capebretonrail Trying to get the Capers to understand that closing rail lines is a bad idea as within 10 years you need them again. Sensible folk get it. Dave

Martin, Hope the layout idea works out. I am hoping for a quiet patch to finish unpacking boxes & build a little layout next year. But work, books & a campaign to save our local rail line here in Cape Breton get in the way! Dava

How did Thompson 'improve' the loco, exactly? There was a previous thread about this so being provocative! Dava