stivesnick

Passing through Liverpool Street Station yesterday lunchtime - 2 x 754s present. 010 on the 13.30 departure and 002 on the 14.00 train to Norwich. Hopefully no more Class 321s on London-Norwich. Nick

Appears to be a typical modern station - with no shelter on the platform! Is there a shop of some sort to buy a coffee/paper? - Not obvious from the photos. Nick

Many thanks to the show team for putting on a great show. Hopefully the weather and another show not so far away, didn't put people off. Will be a few years before I have another layout to exhibit. Nick

I was referring to the western section - Bicester to Bedford works. In the section between Bedford and Cambridge, now the route corridor has been selected, further design work can take place to decide the actual route and to establish what work is actually required. This will then be subject to further consultation and review. If government is still happy, then an outline design will be produced that would be subject to further consultation and some sort of planning inquiry. At a rapid pace, this is still 3 years work. Nick

The approval given last week by Government, allows the construction phase work to start and more importantly allows E-W Rail to acquire land to be used during construction on either a temporary or permanent basis. The Planning Inquiry was based on an outline design which helps determine how much land is needed and what other works are required such as diverting footpaths, rebuilding bridges etc. The approval comes with a number of conditions that have to be met before and/or during construction. This will require the detailed design work to be completed and the chosen contractors to work out details on how the line will be built, how important structures and wildlife will be protected etc. These items generally get signed off by the local authority rather than the Government. On many projects, the detailed design work continues while the planning process in underway, so it is likely that the first stages of the work have been designed so work on these elements can start soon including the setting up of work sites and access roads. Hope this helps Nick

Looking forward to bringing 7th Street Terminal - here is a taster photo. Nick

All 7th Street Terminal will be at the East Beds MRS show in Biggleswade on Saturday 15th February. The show is at the Stratton School, Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, SG18 8JB. Show open 10.00 to 16.00 Nick

The Government has approved the Transport and Works Act for the Bicester to Bedford section works. Not too many conditions when compared with the Oxford to Bicester upgrade. Serious construction work can now start! Nick

Dave My understanding is that the E-W platforms would be on the east side so the station building and car park will be affected along with the carriage sidings south of the station. I agree that dedicated tracks north of the station would be very difficult. Hopefully more will be revealed in the next few weeks. Nick

The current editions tend to end up in larger branches of WH Smith but often a few months after publication. Nick

The 14.40 bus was full by around 14.30 so left early along with the second bus also busy. Hopefully they got back in time for the 15.10 bus. Nick

Now that a certain Mr Grayling is no longer involved - electrification is much more likely. The intention is also to have dedicated platforms at Bedford so that the route is more independent from the Midland Main Line. It would be worth people contacting both the East West Rail Company (who are delivering the scheme) and the East West Rail Consortium (the Local Authority group that provide input) to ensure that the route is electrified and there are decent length platforms, goods loops etc built in the next stage of the project. Nick

I did the later part of the journey (Naples to Sicily) as part of a Ffestiniog Travel escorted trip many years ago. It was an interesting journey. The company web-site has this trip as one of their un-escorted, we can arrange whatever you want trips. Would be interesting to hear how their prices compare with an arrange it yourself trip. Nick

Steve Fame at last! If you didn't see it, there was a picture of you and the layout in the Observer newspaper yesterday. Regards Nick

Hi Nick If the backscene is displayed as mid-winter, are you going to create your trees to match? Just a thought. Nick

Hi Looks like an interesting choice of prototype from what I have read and pictures found on the internet. I think you will struggle to fit this onto a 4 x 2 board as a continuous run. The route through the loop has six points in a row, add in a 2-3 coach platform and curves at the end - more like a 6 foot layout. Nick

There are a number of small layouts in the layout thread, based on a modern theme that allow a bit of shunting. Here are some details of a prototype location that might inspire someone to use it as a basis of a layout. Lincoln Terrance sidings are located to the east of Lincoln station between the current lines to Grimsby and Sleaford. The sidings are what is is left of the former Washingborough Branch and adjacent to the former Lincoln motive power depot. (now a Stagecoach bus depot) The yard is connected to the Sleaford Line and has three tracks. Tracks 1 and 2 have a crossover to create a runround loop. The third track is for scrap metal loading run by European Metal Recycling. The Freghtmaster book 84 for early 2017 indicated there was a weekly Saturday only train of scrap for Cardiff Tidal. Passing the site yesterday on the train, there was a track machine stabled there. To develop the use of the site, the second siding could be used for other traffic or for PW use. The sidings could also be used for DMU stabling between passenger trips. To model the sidings full size would be around 6 foot in N but can the plan can be shortened to suit the space available. Extract from google map below: Nick

Richard I did not spend a great deal of time adjacent to the railway so difficult to judge. The freight yard at Trier was empty. There appeared to be a daily general freight in each direction, Class 143 hauled with between 10-20 wagons. The two coal trains heading west through Cochem passed through within an hour of each other. In contrast, during an hour and half trip down the Rhine from Boppard, I saw freight trains every 5-10 minutes. Nick

Some of the best model photos I have seen - great stuff! Nick

Some more pictures taken this week around Lof and from the top of valley overlooking Hatzenport Nick

Some pictures taken along the Mosel Valley Christmas 2019. The Class 442 units are still there and a mix of 4 car and 2 car sets work the hourly stopping service between Trier and Koblenz. There is also an hourly regional limited stop service usually formed of a DB Class 429 coupled to a CFL 3 car double deck unit. The train splits at Trier with the CFL unit going to Luxembourg and the 429 going to Saarbruken. No obvious freight terminals along the line - but some coal trains both DB and privately operated and some general freight trains with a mix of high sided open wagons, steel flats and long wheel vans. First lot of pictures taken at Cochem -showing station, old goods shed and trains (with my usual just coming up the stairs when the freight train arrives!) Nick

Hi I have traveled on some of the lines in Peru many years ago (2001) , and also considered building a layout (in N). From that visit I was given a set of hand drawn track plans for the Peru railway system and have a copy of a english magazine called Latin Lines which had some good articles about the current railways in South America. Again from many years ago, visits to Motor Books in London did reveal a number of books on South American subjects. The layout, if built, would have ended up as a fictitious country and based around a zig-zag as a reason to keep train lengths short. American style diesels and a mix of American/ Japanese freight cars. The main problem was finding some coaching stock - the Peru railways coaches are much shorter than those found in America or Europe. I would say go for it. It the layout makes it to an exhibition, those with an real interest will be delighted and happy to talk and provide useful information. Others will not know if its totally correct or not. Nick

Really enjoyed watching this layout at Warley over the weekend. A layout that looks different, some excellent modelling and plenty of trains moving ! If only all exhibition layouts were like this. Nick

To meet the requirements of the original brief: Why not assume that the line between Lincoln and Doncaster was reduced to single track, something that was likely considered in the past. Perhaps somewhere around Saxilby area. You could have the Northern service, plus if you move some junctions around Lincoln, run some East Midlands Trains. The route is used by freight, including intermodals avoiding the East Coast Main Line. Regards Nick

Thanks Dave The elephants are popular with the children at exhibitions - the houses are at the front of the layout so easier for children to see into, they start with the garden with the bouncy castle, then the house extension, caravan and then ... mummy/daddy why are there elephants in the garden! Hope you also spotted the alien. Nick