Orinoco

As I understand things, the goods lines through Victoria were retained for iron ore workings. These stopped shortly after the demolition of Victoria, so the tracks through Victoria were no longer needed. A connection was required through Trent Lane until 1969 for empty DMUs going to and from Arkwright Street to run the service betweenArkwright Street and Rugby. These reversed at Weekday Cross.

Two young girls are chatting. One tells the other "I heard that the man just shoves his thing in - and next thing you know, a baby pops out" The other replied. "When mum had my little brother, they just used forceps"

You don't say which is which I also wish Wayne could do concrete track - even if it is just the plain variety. The only snag is - as with the 2mmSA variety - the plastic blobs holding the rail in place look a bit out of place - though I have been told they couldn't make them any finer without compromising the strength of the track. Another option is 2mm Scale Association copper clad concrete sleepers, but the jig they sell would not give the correct gauge for N gauge. Careful soldering might give a better appearance than EasitraK but would take longer.

The reference to Trowell Moor sidings might relate to the old Trowell Moor Colliery, which was located just east of where the M1 now runs.

If you know the area now, it is at the end of the lane leading straight on from Annesley Cutting, past where the new houses are. See http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/a/annesley/

Definitely GN! I guessed where it was and what it was immediately, so never even read the caption carefully - it must be taken from the GC line though?

Omsk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omsk

Just back from a walk along the Chesterfield Canal from West Stockwith on the Trent to Worksop. It is teeming with bird life - and not just the floating variety either. This is one of my favourite shots Just wondered what this little beauty was? Apologies fr the quality, but the camera is a cheap pocket digital camera with poor zoom

I think at one time Nottingham had a through coach via the GN&LNW Joint line to Euston too. That's 4 London termini in total - not bad for a railway backwater

The wedding party in Scan-130526-0012 is intriguing - all that posh clothing about to be smothered in soot

The closer crop of the original version gives the most dramatic effect, in my humble opinion

That really is the best steam railway photo of all time for me - brilliant!

Should have gone for a class 40 instead ;) Seriously, could the coupler boxes not be made detachable, so people can make their own choice?

Looks really good. What are you planning on doing for windscreen wipers? (just out of curiosity - not a criticism)

Paddock Wood Bay sounds like it is at the seaside Looking very good!

What I like so much about these images is that they show the everyday, the ordinary and the mundane, rather than just top link stuff. If only more photographers of the period had done the same!

First class again - what is the coach behind the engine in the first shot though JVol5045? No toilets - I hope they weren't going too far!

Personal experience with track is that it takes far less time to handbuild than almost anything else - unless, of course, you are building a very complex layout with lots of points. Easitrac and Finetrax plain track are very quick and simple to assemble - hardly worth worrying about how little extra time it takes.

Proper check rails ought to make a noticeable difference to the running - especially in something like N gauge, where the relationship between wheel and track standards is rather vague. Testing the track without them is unlikely to give a true impression of what it will be like when finished. I agree with Stu though - a single crossing with curved turnouts either side would be a far more elegant solution. The best result would probably be to make hand-built, curved turnouts designed in Templot to suit the site. Peco code 55 rail is not very nice to work with, so you would find it easier with bullhead rail. If you find that check rails don't improve matters much, then do give the alternative idea serious consideration. If you need any help, I (or others, I am sure) would be only too pleased to assist.

Barrow's kick-off was delayed by 90 minutes last night as the Ebbsfleet coach was delayed by spillage of baked beans on the M6

Only just seen this. Dundee is a very neglected area for models, yet very interesting. In former times, East and West stations and the dock railways were also fascinating. Looking forward to seeing more of your plans and modelling.

Very nice work, but I notice there are no check rails at all. They might help a little with smooth running? Just a suggestion

Either way, the fact that they may well have been designed and built by contractors means we now have an excuse to run the Bo-Bos on any line in any part of the world.

Ah, but we all know the only reason people model in 7mm scale is because their eyesight is fading, so is that really a reliable opinion?

See here http://www.Bachmann.co.uk/pdfs/GF_Cl_24.pdf The underframe moulding is plastic, but there is part of the split-frame metal core holding the motor and transmission inside it.