Michael Woolford

Had a great time today, I must of spent most of my time hovering around the layout! It was nice to meet Steve for a second time and thanks for giving me the "back-stage tour" and answering my questions. Was nice to meet Les too and discuss the hotel developments. Many thanks to John for answering my many questions, a great character and someone I could have spent hours talking to! Now that I've finally seen the layout in the flesh, I'm still trying to take everything in. The detail and skill involved is incredible. Seeing Lime Street today has been a privilege and has firmly cemented it as my favourite layout. Steve, I still can't believe how many pages there are in the wiring manual, just for that one board! Looking forward to seeing the hotel develop over the next year or so and eventually seeing the trackwork finished. Terrific stuff. Michael

I'll be in Manchester on Saturday (tomorrow) and it'll be nice to finally be able to see the layout. Can't wait. I'm taking my camera too so I might put some photos up on Sunday or next week. I may also bring along the drawing of the hotel that I posted a few pages back, just incase Les wants to have a look. Be nice to meet Steve again too and see some more of his work. Really looking forward to this, just not the 05:30 wake up call and 3 hour drive there, not to mention the drive home! See you there, Michael

John, The vees are soldered onto some brass strip. The current assembly can be seen in the photo; the brass strip should be visible. As you can see, the two wing rails of the inner vee are yet to be added. Michael

John, I have finally managed to assemble the two crossings on one side. This took three attempts and four or five vees were sacrificed in the process. The reason I had so much trouble was because it was impossible to create a clean joint to the brass strip underneath the crossing with the straight rail of the inner vee attached to the other leg, this is also the wing rail for the outer crossing. The solution was to file both legs of the inner vee and solder the first leg (also the wing rail) to the outer vee, forming the outer crossing. Once this was in position, the straight leg of the inner vee could be soldered to the other leg, forming the inner crossing, leaving just the two wing rails of the inner crossing to attach. I have laid the stock rail on the non-slip road side and once I have added the two wing rails to the current assembly, I can fix this in position before I move on to the other assembly. Michael

Steve, Any updates on the installation of the new ground signals or John's progress with the trackwork? I understand you've all probably been very busy but I was informed that the ballasting was due to take place very soon. I think I recall Michael mentioning it when I spoke to him at Bracknell. Michael

Well done on the trophy, I was speaking to Michael Delamar at the end of the show when he told me that is was going to Diesels in the Duchy. No suprise really, it was my first time seeing it in the flesh and I have to say, I was very impressed. Also, many thanks to Damian and Geoff for taking the time to answer my questions and the conversation that ensued. Damian was kind enough to let me take some photographs and I will share them here. They were taken on my phone so excuse the quality (they are better if you open them up). Michael

I have also found this: See here for details - http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/showthread.php?6144-Lime-Street-Station-turntable Michael

I came across a diagram of Lime Street Station earlier and thought it was worth sharing on here. It was published in a book titled 'Modern Railway Working' which was released in 1912. Looking at the plan, the one thing that I noticed are the additional catch/trap points compared to just the single trap that appears on the model. Perhaps someone could confirm whether they are included in the 1945-47 layout plan and have been omited from the model or were simply not there later on. All in all a very interesting piece of information to come by. I should add that I have taken this image from the following website, which does not credit the image to anyone or the author. In which case I assume the image to be copyright free. http://locodriver.co.uk/Railway_Encyclopedia/Part219/Part03/index.html If you click on the image, it opens up to quite a large version. Michael

Since I am basing my new layout on Birkenhead Woodside, I think this the best place to ask any questions. I will start off by asking about the size of the platforms, both length and width. Since I have already started drawing the plan in Templot, the size of the platforms are quite crucial at this stage. These images show platform 1 and 2 (stunning atmospheric shots too): https://www.flickr.com/photos/96859208@N07/10314108086/in/photolist-4RZMfA-9fMfxE-4MpyWs-4Mpz8Y-6w48Pq-4P9y4t-f5mPL7-atHiLb-dUYV1Q-cbd3Fq-f57xZ6-cwYj7u-8z1d65-a9J7B7-4RZM8o-7f3xfz-djjP2h-794mTn-kQseLt-9yKWZk-akMiQd-bHB4CD-5ZrM9P-ah2Wu4-8q6yUh-aag8Gd-8w78rv-gwd29z-k3579L-gkFbdE-gHrbsa-dqXaCy-f5mP7E-bS1DhK-7DNhom-5Y1pHQ-gHquuY-kZLGGU-hWfo79-gtB39H-gHquZL-94tBTK-6HDUhR-eVQQbV-busLG1-9z5cCF-fghK8q-f5mMvs-gwdKtx-dxt94T/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/96859208@N07/10314106416/in/photolist-4RZMfA-9fMfxE-4MpyWs-4Mpz8Y-6w48Pq-4P9y4t-f5mPL7-atHiLb-dUYV1Q-cbd3Fq-f57xZ6-cwYj7u-8z1d65-a9J7B7-4RZM8o-7f3xfz-djjP2h-794mTn-kQseLt-9yKWZk-akMiQd-bHB4CD-5ZrM9P-ah2Wu4-8q6yUh-aag8Gd-8w78rv-gwd29z-k3579L-gkFbdE-gHrbsa-dqXaCy-f5mP7E-bS1DhK-7DNhom-5Y1pHQ-gHquuY-kZLGGU-hWfo79-gtB39H-gHquZL-94tBTK-6HDUhR-eVQQbV-busLG1-9z5cCF-fghK8q-f5mMvs-gwdKtx-dxt94T/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/96859208@N07/10314240813/in/photolist-4RZMfA-9fMfxE-4MpyWs-4Mpz8Y-6w48Pq-4P9y4t-f5mPL7-atHiLb-dUYV1Q-cbd3Fq-f57xZ6-cwYj7u-8z1d65-a9J7B7-4RZM8o-7f3xfz-djjP2h-794mTn-kQseLt-9yKWZk-akMiQd-bHB4CD-5ZrM9P-ah2Wu4-8q6yUh-aag8Gd-8w78rv-gwd29z-k3579L-gkFbdE-gHrbsa-dqXaCy-f5mP7E-bS1DhK-7DNhom-5Y1pHQ-gHquuY-kZLGGU-hWfo79-gtB39H-gHquZL-94tBTK-6HDUhR-eVQQbV-busLG1-9z5cCF-fghK8q-f5mMvs-gwdKtx-dxt94T Platform 1 and 2 dimensions are what I require the most at the moment as it is where I am with my plan; and just for anyone interested, some of my work so far which still needs tweaking (notice the extra platform). Michael

I stand corrected, San Marino is a sovereign state within Italy. Michael

Back in July, I was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. My photographic interest was focused on the Formula 1 cars although I did manage to photograph some other types of racing/road cars. I will share some of my favorites from the weekend, two of which are probably my all time favorite cars. First up is the lesser known Alfa Romeo 183T in the 1984-1985 Benetton Livery Next is a very good looking McLaren M1A Oldsmobile Here we have another McLaren, this time an M8A Here is arguably the greatest racing car of all time and certainly one of the most famous. Seen here showing some flesh, the McLaren Honda MP4-4. This car was driven by the greatest of them all, the late Ayrton Senna who tragically died while driving his Williams FW16 while leading the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola on the 1st May 1994. It's hard to believe that this year will mark 20 years since his death. Here, another of Ayrton's cars seen among some others - the 1986 Lotus 98T Finally a better shot, showing the 98T Michael

A few shots taken back in January from a footbridge about 2 miles west of Swindon Station; they were taken on a phone so they are a bit blurred. Michael