checkrail

I just cut some off at the van end where there's plenty of blank space. Only the experts will be able to tell. (Though I think the Bachmann C77 donor coach should also be 61 foot rather than 60)

Dead right Mike - a D121 it is! And yes, I had to shorten the sides a bit to fit. Think I lost a few from the lines of roof rivets when I got rid of the surplus water tank, but not noticeable after several coats of Lifecolor roof dirt from the airbrush. Same goes for the revised arrangement of shell vents. Thanks for the tip re the D124. Must look that one up.

While I'm watching paint dry here's another video of passing trains at Stroke Courtenay. Sorry about the wobble at start & finish. The video button on the camera is very small and quite recessed - difficult to keep everything steady while jumping out of the way to grab the controller. Looks like that shunting pannier has decided to run away at the end! John C.

Here's something on the workbench at the moment, to complete my Paddington-Penzance rake of 60 footers. More about this when I manage to finish it. Have since sprayed the sides brown & cream, but on removing the masking tape I found a waist stripe of grey primer where my positioning of the tape was less than perfect. And it's probably a little bit too wide to be covered by the lining. So back to the 'spray booth', aka large cardboard box. John C.

Very nicely done Sir.

Heartfelt commiserations. I did the same thing a couple of years ago with a Grange. Model was a write-off. I subsequently made push-in padded barriers to go across tracks at each side of lift-out hatch at end of operations. They work well if I remember to put them in!

Here's 8709 shunting the yard at Stoke Courtenay. The arrival of the pick up goods makes the yard look a bit busier than normal, with a number of coal, cattle and general merchandise wagons of various companies and vintages being dropped off or picked up. These were taken without the auxiliary lighting I often use. Don't think I always need it. John C.

I'm afraid I didn't, so it remains a mystery to me too. Nothing in my old edition of 'Great Western Way'. Perhaps Miss Prism of this parish might be able to help? Thanks for kind comments, and if you do find out more please let us know. These things are fast receding into history, and it's notoriously hard to interpret colour from old b & w photos. Regards, John.

Thanks for nice comments about the videos. Here's another. Got my choreography together a bit more now, but it's like an obstacle course, with two sets of tripod legs in the way (one for a photo lamp), trains running all over the place, and me trying to manipulate the Prodigy handheld and the video control on the camera at the same time! Good fun though. Wait for it …. there's a third train to appear before the end (and it's not the pannier you can see shunting the yard). John C.

… and two of them together. To me the Castles were the most handsome of engines - especially when not defaced by double chimneys, flat sided tenders, smokebox number plates, cycling lions etc. John C.

Here are a couple of cropped versions. Not sure which I like best. Edging towards the cropped ones. Think they give those superb Hornby Castles a bit more 'presence'. John C.

Think I've found another new angle - with the camera on the road just in front of the overbridge, angled upwards with a track rubber. Here are a pair of Castles - Launceston on the Wolverhampton - Penzance express and Tiverton on a Plymouth- Paddington train. John C.

There are three Ocean wagons in that train. One is indeed from POWsides - transfer only which I applied to a Bachmann 7-planker (but didn't get absolutely straight!). The others have bodies from old Trix/Lilliput wagons, with 9ft wb wooden chassis from Cambrian Kits. I had one of these Trix wagons 50 years ago and was impressed with the printing for that time, so I looked for some on eBay and eventually got four (but not cheaply). Trix models were made to a strange hybrid scale - something like 3.8mm to the foot IIRC. But lengthwise they're spot on for a 4mm scale 9ft u/f. (The u/f they came with was an anachronistic monstrosity.) And I have read in the past of coal being delivered to West Country towns in Ocean wagons. Have a look at the vid again and you might spot all three. The POWsides version is the second to appear. It made me smile to get a S. Welsh coal wagon marked 'Return to Treorchy' in a swish plastic box stamped 'Made in Austria'. Saga's not over - I've also acquired a 00 Graham Farish Ocean wagon. Don't know quite what I'm going to do with it yet. Once again the u/f is totally incorrect, but it's the free-est running model I've ever known - a quick flip with a finger and it glides round the whole layout.

Symmetry, geometry, harmony. Coach brown and cream, light and dark stone, hazy green, blue and grey elsewhere. Just what I had in my mind's eye as I started building. (Oh, and some green engines as well.) John C.

Yeah - thanks! Looking forward to more trying more simultaneous multi-tasking railway operation, movie making and choreographics!

Thanks Connor. Water tower is a Bachmann Scenecraft special commission for Kernow Model Railways, based on the one at St Ives, though there are plenty of pics of near identical ones across the GW system. From what I remember it's a sort of CKD kit in that you have to add the latticed girders and ladder (both supplied). I repainted it in Railmatch GW dark & light stone to tone with my other buildings. I also found I had to discreetly cut through the diagonal braces in one or two places to get it standing level with all 6 legs vertical. But it was just what I wanted for Stoke C.

Sorry about that! Had changed on YouTube from 'private' to 'unlisted' but hadn't clicked on 'DONE'. Just finding my way round YouTube. Link works now. John.

And here's another video. The signalman was pretty nifty in returning the branch home to danger, considering how fast that prairie was going! I now remember Andy York telling me that models need to be driven more slowly for videoing or they'll seem unrealistically fast. You'll have to wait a few seconds for the third train to appear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poasub0bP2o A bit to learn re video editing, not to mention the juggling and running around trying to harmonise locos, camera shutter, all at once! John C.

Mind you, the signalman wasn't too happy. He's about to put in a complaint. "It's about the roof - I want one". John C.

Thought I'd run out of fresh angles for photography, but found one this morning - with the camera resting on the top of the signal box. A Castle on an up express hustles through as a Newton Abbot - Plymouth train pulls away from its station stop at Stoke C. Meanwhile the branch loco runs round its train. John C.

Well, now that I've got the hang of it there very well might be!

Has it worked, after delving into the labyrinthine recesses of YouTube? Perhaps! John C.

YouTube, of course. Doh! I should have thunk of that. Thanks v much guys - now on the case. John

Thought it was about time we had a goods train or two. You'll also find a plea for help below. Spent a pleasant time this morning making a video of some action at Stoke Courtenay, and need some advice as to how to upload it to RMweb. My camera (Panasonic TZ100) shoots video in MP4 format, which RMweb doesn't support. I've tried quite a few free online conversion sites. Most have a size limit, which I've shortened the video to fit (again using an online tool). But I can't find a suitable format that will download successfully to enable upload to RMweb. Have seen some nice videos of some of my favourites on here recently so would be grateful to learn how you go about it. John C.

That's a superb modellers' photo Mike. Which book is it from (if any)?