stivesnick

Tom Thanks for the information - I have used the Dapol magnets on several layouts with Peco Code 55 and found they uncouple well, but the pre-uncoupling is not so good. Have also used Neodymium magnets located in the cork track bed, a group of 4 on a metal plate works OK but can also expand to 6 magnets if a larger "uncoupling zone" is needed. My current and past layouts use longer ( and heavier) stock so magnet length is less of an issue. The next layout is likely to have a lot of 10 foot wheelbase wagons so will need to decide if I want to shunt individually or in groups of 2 /3 wagons. Thanks again for the quick response. Nick

Tom The scenic work looks great, the layout is coming along nicely. A question about the Dapol magnets - how easy do they fit within the finetrax? Did you have to dig out the baseboard to get the top of the magnet below track level? Regards Nick

Do people think that if enough Devon and Cornwall modellers buy this loco and use of their layouts that people might start to think that they actually did run in the area and railway history will get rewritten? Or will the GWR modelling mafia stamp out such an uprising with great force? Nick

Hi Ian Welcome to RMWeb . A few thoughts on your proposed layout. As a keep it simple and watching the trains go by no problem with the design if that is what you want to do. As you note, at present you can only change trains on the outer loop, so a crossover (on the left hand end would allow trains to reach the next track. There are many layouts around where there are no points in the storage area, and trains and just stacked up one behind the other. There are options for some sort of automatic control which would send a train out into the "viewing area" and then move the trains behind up a little and then dispatch the next train after a suitable delay once the first train has returned. This is not something I have done, but there are others on RMweb who can help. Hope this helps Nick

Was not intending to go this year as I had seen a large number of the layouts before ( some several times already this year) but went anyway. Agree with previous comments about the free bus from the station and the lack of layouts set in the present day. Some overseas layouts would also have been nice. I enjoyed the cameo layouts, not normally a fan of very small layouts, but there were good ideas on show as well as excellent modelling. Newhurst was the best layout, combining good running and an excellent town scene, something not often seen on an O Gauge layout. Regards Nick

Class 66 with what looked like 2 x class 385 units passing through Stevenage on Wednesday around 06.45 with a collection of barrier wagons. Realtime trains says train from Dollands Moor to the Hitachi factory. Did not see unit numbers, but could they be the units noted above? Nick

Enjoyed seeing the layout at Ely on Saturday - look forward to seeing how the layout develops. Nick

To clarify my previous comment about small shunting planks - I have no problem with such layouts as they are very often highly detailed and well presented. It is having 4-5 of them at one show. This is down to the show management to consider what each particular layout adds to the mixture. So unless the exhibition has a theme, I would not be keen to see 4 similar double track mainline layouts in OO all running the same stock through similar scenery. Nick

As a regular visitor to one of my "local shows" it is one that I always enjoy. Arrived late morning and there was parking available. Good to see a couple of new "roundy-roundy" layouts in Aviemore and Wickham Market - some of smaller shunting layouts although well done, were a bit too similar. There was a good range of trade stands and the cake was excellent. Nick

Great to see this layout in the flesh at the Ely show today - excellent stuff and good to watch a steady flow of trains passing through. Nick

On some branch services, there will be opportunities to run with the pan up. For example the Cambridge to Norwich run under the wires between Cambridge and Ely, and those from Ipswich to Cambridge / Peterborough can run on the juice up to Stowmarket. My understanding is that branch trains from Noriwch would still depart as electrics even if for less than a 1 mile as there would still be benefits for passengers in terms of less noise and fumes at the station. Nick

There is a requirement in the franchise for some through services from London to Lowestoft - likely to be 2 x 4 car units from London with one unit splitting at Ipswich to run to Lowestoft - what happens to the other unit is not clear - could run to Norwich as the third London-Norwich service each hour. Nick

Thanks for this Very impressive locos designed for a Class 1 railroad - I was trying to find something smaller, but I could always assume that this loco had transferred from a larger railroad. Nick

Been 6 months since the last post... I have repainted one of the interurban car sets into an orange livery, which was much more common that the brown livery of the original Japanese model. Also much easier to photograph - compare this with photos on previous post. A new locomotive arrival at the SRTC, this is a Microace JR 41-1 box cab. Have spent ages looking for pictures of American interurban box cabs with coupling rods, with nothing found to date, so this is very much going to be a Rule 1 loco. (like the rest of the layout) It appears to be a very good slow runner so ideal for shunting. Pictures below: Nick

As others have already said, sad to see the end of the very impressive layout. Best wishes for whatever you decide to do in the future modelling wise. Regards Nick

Agree with others regarding the quality of the layouts, even if the operating was a bit sparse on some. Millsbridge (2mm/N) was my favorite, top modelling and plenty of movement. Nick

The Wissington Branch is included in the Middleton Press Book - Ely to Kings Lynn. The book has a number of photos and track plans. Nick

Dave The overhead line, greenery and rolling stock look great. I am just not so sure about the bridge/ tunnel in the background. With the scenery on top it looks more like a tunnel and 4 track tunnels are quite rare due to the method on construction - the inside of tunnels are generally circular to support the weight of the ground above. Wider road tunnels are generally built cut and cover with big concrete slabs often with buildings on top. There are examples of road tunnels which are landscaped above but I can not think of any rail examples at present but maybe other people can. Perhaps the original tunnel collapsed and it was rebuilt cut and cover with landscaping on top to maintain the countryside? Regards Nick

John You haven't mentioned a time period that you would want to model As noted above, there were many former passenger lines where passenger service ended before WWII but were kept open for freight until the Beeching period of the 1960s. The Ian Allen Rail Atlas of "The Beeching Era" shows these lines and there are many of them. In more modern times from about 1980s, the various editions of the Baker Rail Atlas show freight only lines and associated freight terminals - the lines that would be suitable for a modest sized model based on today's railway would be those serving nuclear power plants or MOD facilities where short trains are used. Nick

Jools1959 - Class 700/0s appear at Peterborough during the weekends as trains do not run through the Thameslink tunnel but to Kings Cross where Network Rail do not have enough 12 car paltforms so trains limited to 8 cars. 8 car 700/0 run on the GN routes on the stoppers to Cambridge and Welywn Garden City - these trains run to Kings Cross. Nick

Thanks for this - most helpful Spotted removed track sections from the train this morning. Also passed loaded train heading up the ECML, so looks like is now departing Peterborough earlier to maintain same time arrival at Biggleswade. Nick

Hopefully in a few years time, there will be a new bridge over the railway to take photos from when the new Lake Lothing Crossing is built. The bridge is around 100m from the buffer stops than the old footbridge. Nick

As a daily commuter on the southern end of the ECML I see the Heck to Biggleswade / Bow Plasmor building block train most days. For as many years that I can remember the train left Peterborough Yard around 05.30 and headed south to Biggleswade. It then reversed over the crossovers to then shunt the sidings by the down slow line. After the morning peak, it continued south to Bow Goods Yard in east London. This week, the train has been top and tailed by DBS Class 66 locos and I noticed it stabled in Welwyn Garden City Yard - it appears it then reverses here goes back up to Biggleswade, before heading south again. I can understand why reversing over 4 tracks on the ECML might not be ideal but the train still has to crossover the much busier 2 track section. The data on Realtime trains still has the old schedule so not much help. Anyone why the operation has changed? Are there other examples of top and tailed freight trains rather than PW trains? Regards Nick

All People visiting exhibitions, will usually welcome signs on the road to help find the venue. Cambridgeshire County Council have just introduced a new policy on fixing signs to lamp posts and a new set of fees that may be charged. If model railway shows are considered community events, then fees may not apply. Other councils are likely to follow with similar rules. Details of the CCC scheme on the link below: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/roads-and-pathways/streetlighting/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery Hope this is useful Regards Nick

I had a great day out to this show, so thank you to the club for putting this one. Travelling by public transport from London has the added bonus of the travelling from either Paddington or Marylebone creating a circular trip ( comments on the merits of seating in a IEP or Turbostar on another forum please). The X3 bus runs every 10 minutes from Oxford to Abingdon and then a short walk to the venue. Some direction signs would be nice and more importantly, some signs showing where the exhibition entrance was would also be useful. The exhibition itself was what you would expect from a medium sized show. There was a good range of layouts, although a large OO roundy-roundy layout would have improved the mix. I have noticed however that many model railway clubs are now replacing their 16 x 8 foot layouts with 30 x 16 foot layouts that are more expensive to invite and more difficult to accommodate in shows like this. There were also many small layouts, although well done do lack the staying power of larger layouts. I can see where Roy in the post above is coming from. Nick