SM42

Oh yes John there will be room to turn around without everybody else having to turn around too. Mind you as I haven't had chance to visit now it is not a building site, Derek may have filled it all up by now. There is also a handy little* customer car park at the downhill end of the row of (2) shops. Next to Kim Johnson Designs; Derek's new neighbour Andy *By little I mean it is about 10 or 12 car's worth but it is shared with two other businesses. .

You beat me to it I noticed that the new doors were open when I passed yesterday. Anyone who has been before but not yet had chance to visit the new premises will find them significantly bigger than the old. Andy

Good stuff. I too wondered where the strange paint colour was going. Good to see some balloonage too. Andy

Thank you That explains it Must be the "Dunton Green cream cake four" case she's on then. Andy

Out of interest what time is the last train back from Westerham. Mrs Sm42 has not yet returned and Kipper's case closed announcement seems to indicate her work is done. I suppose another mission in some far flung part of the globe has come up. I was surprised when she turned up in Westerham. I thought she'd gone to Tesco. Andy (out from under the table)

It's your lucky day Lyndonsdad Just catching up here (really should have been warming up the war room) when Mrs SM42 popped in to see how things were going as she prepares for her next mission. Fortunately for you I had a second internet tab open so was able to flick across and look busy. Mrs SM42 would not be impressed by such a slur on her nationality. Brent! I ask you? Brentski perhaps. A word of warnig to all who may feel the need to cross her path in a less than helpful way. Revelations about her training at school (No ordinary comprehensive I can tell you) have revealed things far beyond being a good shot. Andy (a bit more nervous than usual)

It hasn't changed much. Andy

I found that asking the exhibition manager (during the the exhibition of course) if "he was thinking about doing anything useful today" sometimes required a fleetness of foot that would make Usain Bolt jealous. Andy

They were indeed lowfits and somewhere I have some (old school film type) photos. Andy

Sunset at Poznan Wola Andy

Errr, I did say no more naughty engines please Jim. Still, keeps you fit. Great photos by the way. Andy

Ah. So you're the one that was causing me a load of work when I should have been eating my sandwiches. It was shaping up to be an interesting night. Princes Risborough was starting to look a bit like Aylesbury depot. Just glad the one on the back was alright otherwise you could have been there for quite a while. No more naughty engines this week please Jim. Andy

If I recall Canley, Tile Hill and Berkswell were closed to road traffic. The foot crossings at Bickenhill, Wootton Green, Bradnock's Marsh and Mackadown Lane were converted to footbridges (with space for 4 tracks too) Incidentally, the latter is very good for watching planes from. Andy

These were left there after two ballast trains collided near the Chester Rd bridge in either 1998 or 1999 (I think). One ended up inside the other. Two wagons went down the bank too and I'm not sure if they are still there in the undergrowth about 200yds Walsall side of the bridge. Andy

If, just before you jump, she shouts PULL! be afraid, be very afraid Andy

I've been quite lucky really as Mrs Sm42 has tolerated me buying some new trains with the proviso that I build a layout for them. Only snag is she hasn't indicated where in the house this layout can live. I suspect the lounge will not be a good idea. Andy

Many moons ago when I converted some Airfix 21t hoppers into Topes, I used florist's wire for the vacuum pipe along the frame. I found it easier to mould to shape as it is quite soft. I used the (paper?) covered version as it was thicker and something about the paper outer layer made it look right to me. It also takes paint better than bare metal too. Andy

It might be close but she has left out all the exceptions, caveats and small print that exist to eat into valuable modelling time. All you can do is own up and hope for the best. (perhaps not on the first few dates though) If she walks away, she probably wasn't worth it anyway. Andy

Best bet with this is a Parkside underframe kit as CloggyDog said. PA09 or PA36 should suffice I think. May need to check the axleboxes though. (Can't remember the type in the kit off the top of my head. ) At a couple of quid a pop they are always useful to have in stock. Which reminds me. Andy

There are some aerial images in the RMweb archive apparently I hope the link works http://rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=786&start=25 Andy Edit: It does

Roundhouse mentioned services to Harrachov a litlle earlier. Back in 2012 Mrs SM42 and myself made an interesting (I use the term in the tiring sense) excursion to this town from Karpacz in Poland. The station has a cheek to call itself Harrachov as it is at least a 45 minute walk from town. Whilst there and between beers on the 3 hour wait for a train back to Poland, I did take a couple of photos of the units in use. Here they are. I hope they are of interest. This train is from Liberec I believe. Note the umbrella from the convenient bar The single car train to Jelenia Gora (Poland) The two trains face to face Harrachov station a funny little place clinging to a hillside and extremely modelable. Traffic is a bit limited though being railcars as far as I could tell, but the arrival of two trains from opposite directions in quick succession was a surprise. Andy

Some more pictures I hope Across the big door and past the palm Second radius curves fitted nicely around the cill on the corners Andy

Here goes with some pics I hope, after a bit of headscratching. Door bridges were simply constructed from two 21mm battens wider than the door resting on the cill either side and 9mm ply screwed underneath. Crude but effective and much simpler than my original idea of putting the ply on top and notching the battens and screwing to the bottom of the cill overhang to keep the top surface flush with the cills. It can be seen in some of the pics. Andy Edit as managed to add same picture 4 times. Will try again soon

If I could I would but it never seems to work for me. Technology is not my strong point (how many KB in 1 MB? Is the answer that obvious?) and I have checked the help section but I can't get it to work.. Will keep trying though. Luckily the railway only took a couple of hours to build, once I had worked out how to bridge the doors after an unsuccessful (and in hindsight un-necessarily complicated) attempt. So now with the civil engineering pre built, it could be up and running in about 20 minutes. Andy

Yes Mrs SM42 has found out. Hard to hide it really. "Oh sweet man" was the response. Lucky me! Not sure how long I can stretch it out though. Might be able to make it till the end of the week I'll keep it going till she starts asking questions. What I do know is that it will only take about 30 mins to set up now the woodwork has been done. For a brief moment last night I did start to think about scenery, but then that may be taking things too seriously Luckily the conservatory doesn't get much use this time of year. Andy