Annie

Having once had aspirations to be an author something I learned very quickly was to take backups of all original self written material and take backups of the backups. It only took me the total loss of two thirds of a manuscript to drive that lesson home. I know it's not much use handing out advice once the horse has bolted, but in the future it might save you future heartbreak.

All good fun and certainly thought provoking in the 'what-if' department

My only concern if you excuse me saying so Marc is that I might have to sell a kidney to buy one.

All these lovely pictures of single driver tank engines A trick with single driver locomotives is to drive the two outer axles and leave the big wheel to idle along. Or set the chassis up so it has a pony truck at the front and the model rests on the centre and rear axles. I remember Mike Sharman discussing such things in RM hundreds of years ago when I was but a young slip of a girl. A gratuitous drawing of a Sharpie well tank just because.

That will be something that I'll very much bear in mind for the future. I won't make any requests until I know exactly what I want and I have the money to pay for it as I don't believe in messing folk around. And concerning the debate that seems to endlessly go on about WSF and FUD (or at least on NGRM it seems to) I'm a big fan of WSF simply because with my poor co-ordination and fumble fingers due to this illness I live with I can't break it. FUB FUD would be in bits all over the floor in my clumbsy hands and since it seems to have both the price and fragility of fine porcelain I wouldn't consider it for a moment no matter how glowingly perfect its surface might mythically be according to its supporters. Just as an aside note WSF is great for things like 16mm scale fittings and parts as the surface finish on anything I purchased in this material in the past was really excellent. WSF is also a lot cheaper than buying the same fittings in whitemetal and the parts are often crisper and cleaner and of course lacking in casting flash.

Cabs are generally not too hard to build when it comes to locomotives, so a cabless version of Seaforth makes a lot of sense.

Seaforth in 'O' would certainly keep me happy. Otherwise a Sharpie single driver well tank with options for alternative cabs would be a taste of heaven itself.

A random screenie taken on the little twiglet of a branch line on my HUGE UK layout. My 'what-if' railway uses slotted post McKenzie & Holland signals and in remote corners of the line some 1870's signals survive too. The two ex-NER tank engines are in the background because they're still carrying 'cat on a mangle' totems because I haven't altered their textures yet. The ancient teak brake/luggage van is from Paulz Trainz and the two six wheelers are of my own devising.

I have to say though as a piece of fantasy stitching all those elements together really does work and it looks very plausible. And of course I'm a keen fan of Sharpies and since they seem to have gone just about everywhere they're a good choice for a a 'what-if' railway.

That is such a great image, - what's the source?

My apologies Kevin, I didn't want to start any wars and I do agree that moderation is the key. Having been exposed to rabid and fanatical P4 modellers during my tender youth may have left a too lasting impression on me

Those LNWR coaches are seriously nice. I have got a copy of MSTS somewhere around the place and I did give it a bit of a run on my computer before I did the last upgrade and it certainly was interesting and a bit different. The problem I have though is that with the mental confusion and sleepiness that's always hanging around due to narcolepsy the control interfaces for both TS and MSTS end up totally frustrating me. Despite its sometimes occasional faults and shortcomings Trainz TS2009's simple DCC control interface is what I'm able to successfully manage to use. I know that's not considered to be the 'proper' way to run train simulator software, but it works for me. If I go back to having a go at the Looe Branch again that's very much how I'd like to do it. Trying to do it any other way just ends up with a frustrating mess. I spent dozens of hours on the Moorswater area trying to fix the major errors built into the original layout and even then it still looked completely wrong.

That is a very nice G5 and as for the purists they can all go hang themselves. Failing to appreciate a nice in-the-spirit-of-tinplate's-golden-era 'O' gauge locomotive is indicative of having lost their soul and what might have remained of their imagination.

That's what I really needed with the Looe branch Sem. The landscape on the downloaded layout I started with was just so wrong that it made it just about impossible to build the railway in any kind of accurate form. It's not always possible to get things like buildings and other details completely correct, but the landscape and the track layout has to be right or else it just turns into a huge mess. The LBSC electrified lines would be a fascinating subject for a model and I'm fairly sure the catenary and some of the rolling stock is available on the Auran Download Station.

Just as a little feedback it's only 'O' gauge I'm interested in as I gave up watch making in the smaller scales a good while ago. I like to be able to see my models and I like the size and weight of 'O' gauge models as well. I used to do some modelling in narrow gauge to 1/16th scale as well, but I've decided to set that aside in favour of 'O' gauge modelling. Your BASIC FR and/or Cambrian bodyshell https://www.shapeways.com/product/VZKEUQ92S/7mm-fr-e1-cambrian-spc-basic?optionId=63090775 definitely caught my eye as it could easily be the stepping off point for a good many pre-group locomotives by the fact of its 'Sharpie' origins. The price isn't too bad and is affordable for me if I save my pocket money, but the big thing about the BASIC bodyshell is that it can be immediately used to sort out the chassis arrangements and the motor, gearing & etc with detailing following on afterwards. All the detailing bits you're offering for the 'Sharpies' are a scratchbuilder's dream and the great thing is that none of them are expensive. I hope that you will continue with the BASIC bodyshell format for other models because I think it would be a winner. As to the future I'd like to see a good go anywhere do most things type of 0-6-0 tank engine. I know you have the E2, but it's not really my kind of thing. Sem's doing his G6 in 'O' which I'll be all over like a rash, but something like the Furness J1, but as an 0-6-0 would certainly catch my interest and have me saving up my pocket money

Very nice work with Burgess Hill Sem. I had a go at creating the Looe Branch in the late 1920s which was interesting both with the research as well as the actual building work. Trouble was though I used someone's dismal era interpretation as a starting point and it was full of mistakes with the landscape itself never mind anything else so I ended up giving up on it. Engine shed at Moorswater. Liskerad station at a WIP stage.. Liskerad goods yard detail shot. I may come back to it again later as the Liskeard & Looe Railway has a fascinating history and as an independent railway absorbed by the GWR in 1917 it's not a typical GWR branchline by any means. I haven't seen the ipad version of Trainz before Nile, so definitely an interesting screenshot. I'm at the stage where I'm going to have to upgrade my computer again and since I've pushed my current motherboard as far as it can go the next upgrade might be a little more expensive. Trouble is I keep adding more details and that certainly makes my computer sweat and work hard. At least I know how to build up a computer from parts so upgrades aren't as expensive as they could be. The wagon workshops on my imaginary railway, - the 'Grand Navigation Joint Railway'. The Railway Co is part of the Grand Navigation Shipping Co and the railway has a joint arrangement with the NER. The layout is actually set in the Big 4 era, but I'm gradually working on winding it back to the immediate pre-grouping period. Behind the camera is a total scene of devastation as the MPD and coal yards are being rebuilt.

Thank you very much Marly and gobbler for your supportive comments. The modelling ply and card I ordered have arrived, but I'm having a bit of a struggle at the moment with not being very well so I haven't done anything much at all.

50ft Ex-GER coaches in GNJt.R livery await their next turn of duty. I make my own coach sides the same way I make coach lithos for my old 'O' gauge trains. Not high detail by any means, but it suits this clockwork tinplate girl. The old green 4 wheeler is painted in an older company livery of which there are several as digital trainsets make it relatively easy to try out different colour schemes.

R1 on the wharf at the end of my 'what-if' imaginary railway's branchline. The 'G' and the 'N' do not stand for 'Great Northern' by the way. I like R1's, - especially the ones that had the reduced height cab and boiler fittings.

Good old aluminium 'U' channel. I've got some of that so if all else fails I'll be doing the same.

I think a slender instrument motor with a gearhead would fit. For some reason I have a tendency to collect such things and I have a particular one in mind that should fit between the frames. Of course all this is academic until I can get hold of a 3D print myself and can have a look at it.

Love that blue Mamod powered one with the Rocket wheels. Many years ago when I still had good eyesight and steady hands I had a go at making a Clayton & Shuttleworth loco like the one in the Engineer article. I was working in finescale 'S' so that gave me a little more room to play with. Unfortunately it never got finished due to too much 'life' happening all at once and I think the bits are still rattling around in a box somewhere.

Beautiful LNWR coaches and whatever the politics of them ending up standing in the platform road of your layout it's always nice to see coaches in pre-group liveries. And thank for the stunning snowy landscape pictures. We've just had an awful very hot and humid Summer so it took me a moment or two to get head around the fact that on the other side of the world it's cold and covered with snow.

Nice locomotive, - shame about the colour. I suppose someone might go that colour if they're being strangled