john new

I am not quite as anti DCC as some as I am trying to modernise my 71 year old brain to master it. I have three diesels bought with sound as I wanted to try it out. Not finding them to be what I wanted. Horn sound on two of them is not right to my ear and for two of the others so many options that if you haven’t passed out as driver on the real thing you’ve no idea when to use them or for things like flange squeal have forgotten the button sequence to activate them at an appropriate spot on the track! As for steam sounds most of what I have heard on other people’s examples is no better generally than Hornby’s old sand paper tricks. Won’t bother in future with sound if there is a plain DCC option at purchase. I’m sure DCC must have more advantages than the number of disadvantages I am finding but if they are then I’m missing them. At present it (DCC) does work for me and I am persevering. As of today though I am still finding that analogue controls are a better overall experience than DCC. When the club test track rewire is complete and we have a DCC oval it might get better but I’m disappointed with DCC on my small end to end set up.

A promotional video for the show narrated by Steve Flint is now live on YouTube. It is also in a blog post on the website and our other social media platforms (Facebook, Linkedin & X). If you are able to forward it to other like minded contacts that will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Hoping the OP ( @Regularity ) doesn't mind me re-opening this thread again but it seems pointless to start a new one when a lot of useful info is already in here. Step 1 - in improving my garage to make it more useable as a hobby and workshop space will be completed by the roofers on the next dry day. (Just the top GRP finishing coat left to add) This step has been replacing the original, uninsulated, flat felt/GRP roof from when the house was first built in 1974. It was recoated IIRC in the early 1990s but had split the felt and begun to leak, we have now had it upgraded and replaced with a "warm", i.e. insulated, new covering. Now there is more point to having it I will look again this summer at the options for window open/closers. Step 2 - I know from research like the posters above it is about controlling the internal dew-point to stop condensation and resultant mould. There already is a properly wired power socket installed and for the interim I will start up the oil-fired Dimplex style radiator I have used previously. The easy bit would just be to fit a socket timer/adaptor, as I have at least one (and probably more) in stock. Would one of the similar type of plug into the wall socket devices, but with a built in thermostat be better? Any advice on makes and options would be very helpful as a Google search gives several types and prices. Step 3 - for the longer term, when/if cash is available it will be additional power outlets and a temperature controlled extractor fan. Further down the line too, upgrades to the smaller secondary hinged door and for the really longer time ahead - a new insulated floor and perhaps insulation for the breeze block walls. Thanks in advance for any help provided.

As an occasionally published writer and the SLS Journal Editor for three years (plus a subsequent spell as Acting Editor last year) I quickly decided as a working practice that whenever either the grammar or apostrophe placement supplied to me as Editor/proof reader was a bit dodgy, or my knowledge of the rules was insufficient when writing, if possible tweak the sentence to avoid the issue!

So are the pair I know personally. Won't see them again now before Easter, trouble is do you ask for an update or only wait to see if they say anything about it? Was up home a couple of weeks ago though and nothing said about the NYMR.

Pre-ordered in 2021, cancelled IIRC by Hattons and then re-pre-ordered from TMC. I would still like this version for nostalgic reasons of passing the Rowntrees railway facility regularly during my time living near and then in York in the 1970s and 80s; one of these days it might actually turn up - https://uk.Hornby.com/products/rowntree-co-ruston-hornsby-88ds-0-4-0-no-3-era-6-r3895 Update (26 Feb) - invoiced today and now paid for, one week over three years since the second pre-order was placed!

Works well as a technique. This lot of code 75 from a bought in set of boards in an old dustbin full of water soaking off the last of the ballast. (Last summer), obviuosly reverse the soaked ends after a while if long lengths.. I lost some of the webbing getting it back up but at least 3/4s reusable and even from what got damaged I have the spare rails to re-use with PCB sleepers. The boards were bought for stripping and reusing from a downsizing modeller the fact they had some track and points still on them was an unexpected bonus.

Valid point and I think there was a sea-change in the 1950s and 60s; magazine trends acting as influencers in the same way YouTubers are supposedly contributing today. The crowds watching test tracks and the fiddle yards at exhibitions (me often included) suggests scenery isn't necessarily a key draw.

With the countdown to the show getting closer to the opening day a full review of the show website is commencing today. This includes my cross check that the exhibitors page details agree with the latest list from the Show Manager i.e., the status as at 23rd Feb. Pre-paid tickets are still available from Eventbrite via the on-line link. (The Box Office closes on Good Friday) No extra charges over the pre-pid ticket rate. The Travel to page is to be revised - reminder that the car park for Saturday differs from that on Sunday & Monday. Also, to forestall the question we are always asked, is the bus running? Yes, we can confirm York Pullman will be running the link bus from the station, seniors pass holders though need to note it is classed as a special and not a service bus therefore fares are payable for riders irrespective of age. The other update will be to the information regarding photography and video to match that which will be in the 2024 Show Guide. Photographs , Videos and Live Streaming If you want to use a dedicated camera or mobile phone to capture still or video footage you are reminded that it is only polite to ask permission from the owners of exhibits before filming. All photography MUST BE FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY - No commercial filming or live internet streaming is allowed to take place without the permission of both the owners and the Show Organisers. Hoping to see you all over the Easter weekend.

Unless you are called Sam. His call obviously, but for someone with the skill set he has for researching and building the 3D model of Gladstone that carpet base loft layout of his seems oddly out of place. Going back to the OP I think some of the distinction just comes down to a form of snobbery by some viewers/users of the phrase, especially in the group of non-railway interested, never do any crafting of any sort people who also automatically see us as boring, nerdy anoraks.

A slight negative for foam board is longevity. Some time ago I made some 1:1 copies of the SLS nameplate on 66 957 and three replica tour headboards all to go on our display stand at shows. Why a negative, after a bit the paper began to delaminate from the foam core. I suspect in smaller panel sections that might not occur, are others able to add any observations on this issue?

West of London? My 2nd, and last guess, is therefore Eames in Reading. It was up near the railway station, visited twice on day trips to the town.

King Charles Model Shop (Later Beatties) in Leeds? Vaguely remember that having an alley to go through on the way in.

Summer of 1968 (1) realising on a post O-levels school trip that German trains ran the opposite way round and (2) on the same trip coming back being behind an o/h electric but being steam banked out of Aachen. Looking back that must have been the last time I was on a (partially) steam hauled service train. Local SR steam had gone the year before and I didn’t get up to the NW for riding the last steam flings up there.

This is the dichotomy of the hobby - different trigger points for different people. There is no correct answer. If you are heavily in to operation then two classic layouts from the past (Norman Eagles' Sherwood Section and the Gainsborough Club's ECML layout) are model railways as is the former L&Y signal training school layout in the NRM. I guess to a scenery is the key , or closeness in accuracy to a specific location is crucial modeller these are just large train-sets/training tools as the scenery is minimalist and none of them represent the track layouts of actual places. I think @MarkSG 's point of permanence by pinning down to a board is as good a definition as any for the transition point - beyond that laying down of a marker the question becomes (for the builder) have I got satisfaction from building it/did it achieve the purpose of the build. For the observer it is simply one of scoring for quality how you perceive it to be rated against your own personal scale of values. There are an awful lot of very entertaining, extremely well built layouts that are undoubtedly model railways and currently on the exhibition circuit, but at their core is the underlying and inescapable beating heart of the roundy-roundy train set oval. What sets them apart from the American Flyer set is the design and build quality. I think this equates to the difference between a Sunday League team and a Premier League team, both are playing the same sport of football but only one of them will ever get the massive attendances. Both skill levels of player can be applauded for actually participating, we need to do the same in the craft skill arena - a bodger and runner of r-t-r may not have the skills of the super-expert but they are participating, hopefully, with a desire to improve over time. I have emboldened this last phrase too as I think this desire to improve your layout is also a key to it making the step progression from just running a train-set towards creating a model railway. The creation may not be great, as in the Sunday League player comparison above, but the quality pyramid will always have the widest bit at the bottom. However much a modeller wants to be the Stan Beeson of the 21st Century there will only be a few that can achieve that pinnacle. There are a few here on RMWeb so it is obtainable but not by everybody.

And we wonder why the use of non r-t-r is falling. Turning it around and look at it from the supplier perspective what do you stock to cover small demands across a wide spectrum. No, or limited, supply of the bits then making it harder.

Hope it is OK to post this link to on-line news images from the plaques that have gone in at Bridlington Station. The two men deserve to be honoured and known about by enthusiasts. https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/24130545.bridlington-plaques-george-whitehurst-arthur-harrison/

Given that in order to work the curved bits either side of the joint must be slightly proud of the edge how are you avoiding damage? Have you had to cut a small slot into your board end protector pieces or similar?

The lineside grass of former times at scythe length would be a binder and hold some water back too. I also think the value of lengthmen on both the railway and in County highway teams has been seriously underestimated.

Link to Stuart Morris' video of the Weymouth trial - see YouTube

Interestingly this came up in conversation at the club this afternoon as a discussion had arisen about shortage of wheels. Is there a case for thinking part of the shortage is perhaps that in 4mm there are three gauges/wheel standards rather than just the predominant BRMSB as was the case a few decades back? Two/three versions per diameter plus different axle lengths to make and/or stock rather than one being part of the cause of the shortages? Unsustainable to do so with a concurrent drift from kits to r-t-r reducing overall demand and trader turnover.

Saturday: Magnets put in for future use with Sprat & Winkle couplings. Ballast now down and drying; remembering to put the magnets in first. Numpties error avoided. Taking advantage of the two working days at the club rooms so that the ballast dries overnight and hopefully I can also paint the track etc., during tomorrow. Sunday: Layout now back home. In testing this morning whilst it was still over at the club rooms I tried it on DC and it ran fine. The Heljan Class 33 test loco traversing all tracks nice and smooth. The test wagons propel through all the track with no problems of jammed bits of ballast etc. I then tried a bit of DCC running. Very jittery with the two test locos I had with me and therefore it needs further testing. In the light of the jittery running on DCC no further track painting is to be done until I get smooth running in both power modes.

Agree. What I have read and heard hasn’t inspired confidence. They (whose idea?) have also messed up what was an informative Moorsline members journal into a glossy waste of paper. I have to say they as I have no knowledge of where the idea for the change came from but as a member since the 1970s* it is a retrograde change. * now a life member.

Thanks for this. Big help.

Are the flush hub wheel sets for tenders a push on stiff or spline fit? The sub-chassis idea makes sense. Just thinking it through before ordering wheels. A very quick look on line at brass kit images suggests you have to have the wheels off the axles. More to research on the steep learning curve.