MarshLane

David, That is looking superb. The level of detail your getting into the model is wonderful. Sorry if this has been asked before, but whose trees/bushes are you using - or if home made, how are you making them? They are some of the best I have seen in N gauge (in my view!) .. really impressed with your scenics.

Hope this is the right place to ask, and apologies if its been asked before and I have missed it, but what kind/brand of paints do people/ModelU suggest for painting these 3D figures? Rich

Evening guys, I am trying to help a friend out with this one. We know that Mallard was involved in the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges, working on 8th June 1948, on the London Waterloo to Exeter - Southern Railway route. The loco was declared a failure at Exeter and did not undertake any more runs. The question is, is there any documented evidence of how it got back to the Eastern? The reason for asking is that I am struggling through my books and web sources to find an answer to this question. We have a photograph of it at Taunton - captioned on the back as 'June 1948 on speed trials'. Well it obviously wasn't speed trials on the Western, but I am wondering if the issue that failed it at Exeter was fixed, and rather than returning by the Southern, it worked back to London via the Western? Can anyone help us out with any dates or known workings? Any help would be much appreciated. Rich

Well I am delighted I asked how things were progressing, and that you responded so positively! So much so that we are spoiled with the amount of work you have done. Welcome back and a cracking set of updates. The weathering on the 20 looks great, hope to see some updates on the cut and shut DMU, and that RailFreight Metals pairing looks superb!

One hopes that staff sickness nor vastly over-running engineering works are not the cause of the lack of updates on Waverley! Hope things are still progressing and you've had a productive year Dave (@Waverley West) ... we're all dying for an update when you have chance! Rich

Hi Jeff, Sorry to hear your interest level has ebbed, I am sure it will return tho. I haven't been on rmWeb much recently, other things making calls on time unfortunately. Still we plod on as and when we can dont we! Enjoy the astroturf .. no thats different stuff .. astro photography - Thats what I meant! Rich

Are you sure its only ONCE a week .. Friday's (like Monday's) seem to come round a lot quicker!

Hi Andy, Haven't had time to get on to rmWeb much lately, so been catching up with a couple of your videos. Sorry to hear about the leg, its a pain in the wotsit when things like that happen. My mother is 72, she happen to slip on one step of the stairs about 3 months ago, didn't fall, or twist or bang her knee, just slipped off the edge of the step onto the next one. Was very painful but adamant no hospital - next day changed her mind as she couldn't bare any weight on that leg at all .. 90 minutes in A&E (during which time she was assessed, x-rayed and reviewed by the doctor) revealled a hairline fracture of her knee! Thats been a right pain in the knee for her for 3 months now, just about starting to get back to some normality. So you have my sympathies. Moral of the story is done mess about at band practice!! Seriously, hope your feeling better soon. Enjoying your updates with the layout it is coming on more and more now. Keep smiling! Rich

I forgot to ask Tony, but I presume from the feel of the levers that the signalling and pointwork on Buckingham is all rod operated - there's no electrics? Rich

Tony has given the official answer .. the unofficial version is that Grandborough Junction is so named because its grand - a bit like Brigadoon tho - not everyone sees the third junction, to which this signal is reflecting .... the branch to Leighton Buzzard is currently on Engineers Possession due to an earth fault on the branch so is locked out of use! :) I must admit, I only noticed it when downloading the images this afternoon - fortunately I wasn't the one that set the route .. was I @Laurie2mil 😂 Doesn't it just. It really is inspirational and has given food for thought .. which with me is never a good thing!!!

Thanks for that Howard, they looked different to those on the panel. Funny how things change when you can only see a small part of it! Thanks for the link. Rich

Lovely kit builds there. Following along with interest. I am considering purchasing a LRM model of an NER tank, so your progress with these has been helpful as some idea how they go together. I presume the rivet details all needs pushing out from a half-etched hole? Rich

@Richard Mawer How are you progressing with Buckingham West? Rich

Evening all, Given the extent that Buckingham has been mentioned on here, this seemed the logical place to post some pictures! Through a mutual friend, I was very pleased to accept an invitation to not only go and see Buckingham, but also have a running evening. For a 70-year-old plus layout, I have to say it is a pleasure and privilege to operate and @t-b-g, @Laurie2mil and myself had a very enjoyable few hours attempting to run the timetable. I can see why Tony has such pride in owning the layout - it is an historic and superb example of a model railway done right, everything is there for a reason, the electronics (while maybe temperamental at times) are ahead of their years, and its also jolly good fun! Tony, was happy for some images to be taken, and equally happy for them to be posted in the public domain, so thanks to him for that. I took quite a few, so may show some more in time if people want to see them (although Buckingham is well documented anyway!) but hopefully it gives people a glimpse in to a wonderful model world. My thanks to Tony for the invite, and yes I'd love to come back! Rich

Hi Howard, Could you advise where you have got the clear perspex push-buttons for (like on the 'Want 128' and 'Reverse 127' options) please? I have been looking for ages, but haven't found anything like that. Rich

Your making good progress on the new layout Andy. Looking forward to the videos! Rich

Hi Peter, Do you know what decoders are in them, as that may have a bearing on advice? Rich

Martin, You are a star, thank you! Thanks Martin - its showing they haven't been online since May 2021, over 12 months and the website says something about taking a break, so maybe they are not producing any longer. But thanks for your help - my friend is impressed! Rich

Guys, Trying to help a friend of mine, who is trying to track down one of these kits in OO gauge. It is an older kit, believed to be a model of a 1940s concrete section prefab house built by a company called Tarran? But we dont know who produced the it. It was featured in one of the modeller’s mag in an article describing construction, but unfortunately we cannot remember which one or when! Does it look familiar to anyone and if so, can anyone point us in the right direction if its still available - or does anyone have one in a gloat box they would be willing to sell? Alternatively, does anyone know of a similar kit? Sorry its such a small pic! Any help Rich

Stunning work Tim. Like previous comments in awe of somebody who knows what they are doing and can get such a wonderful outcome. Its a shame to hide it all behind the engine! As a matter of interest are you using (driving) wheels from the 2mm shop or are these specially made/produced for the project? Rich

Have to say the track work and detail in the chairs etc, in this image looks superb, did not actually recognise it as Peco to start with! Rich

With respect can I suggest that this this the worst thing to do. Yes, if your not getting anywhere the ICO is an option - but please use a bit of common sense, click the unsubscribe option again, and if it still does not work, call the retailer concerned, an politely suggest there is a fault on their system as you have tried unsubscribing from the emails and they are still coming through. You'll most likely find they will remove you there and then (and report the issue internally) - of course if the emails still come through or they won't remove you then yes the ICO is probably your next port of call. This isn't aimed at the OP or anyone who has posted here, but there seems to be a growing trend these days that when a little thing goes wrong, people have no respect left and just go full nuclear, personally I dont see that it benefits anyone. I would encourage everyone to stand back, take a breath (or even better sleep on it overnight!) and say what is the logical, sensible thing to do, then do it calmly and politely. In the case of the original OP, I would suggest a polite email to the company (preferably the MD) explaining your situation, telling them what you like and dont like about the emails and suggest there should be an option to select a, b or c instead. I am in a different area totally at work, but the same thing applies if nobody tells you there is a problem (for example they just unsubscribe in this case) then the company does not necessarily know. Feedback (and preferably polite constructive feedback) is good for everyone!

Just a quick update chaps. The trackwork stuck well, having left it for three days to dry and I am delighted to say most of the remaining 'kinks' in the Flexi track have come out. Those that are left (very few) actually seem to add to the realism from my point of view. I have spent a few hours this afternoon putting the electrical feeds in to the two tracks. I believe in having a back-up feed to each track piece, so as there are four track pieces, there are eight separate feeds - and two connections on each feed makes 16 in total! I have adopted a different approach with his layout. Historically, I have always soldered the wire feeds to the rail between sleepers, which has been somewhat visible when completed. For this project I adopted the concept of copper droppers - by cutting off the rail chair off a sleeper, and hand drilling a small hole through the sleeper and track base, a piece of pre-tinned 1mm copper wire is then pushed through, which when soldered to the track once again resembles the rail chair from normal viewing height. It is only close up that it becomes more visible. The wire feeds are then soldered to the copper wire underneath the board. Why? Well two reasons, one I am hoping the stiffness of the copper wire will mean that the connections are less likely to come unsoldered from the track. Secondly, it is easier to deal with the wiring underneath, and thirdly (and finally!) it hopefully looks better once the track is ballasted. Once again I forgot to take some photos - I'll try and do some on the proper dSLR tomorrow. However, having successfully run a loco up and down, the connectors appear to have soldered and connected fine! So another step forward. Track ballasting next, then to start on some landscaping. Thanks to those who are following the thread. I promise I'll try and include photos and make it more interesting asap! Rich

Hi Andrew, That is a superbly built model and will look nice potting around your works! I continue to debate whether to repaint the sides of my N Gauge Society Hunslet 0-6-0 diesel shunters into a white panel with the BSC blue stripes. Nerve does not kick in and I sway away from it! But I do continue to think about it, just feel it would finish things off somehow. Keep up the good work! Rich

Hi Luke, Coming on well - that street scene is going to look very good when your done. Rich