mdh1950

Tony, trust all is well with you and Mo. Yes the “antiquarian piece” is doing well. Regards, Michael

Tony, Congratulations on your first 10 years! Hope to catch up sometime soon. Regards, Michael

A truly wonderful video - no commentary, no subtitles just sit back and watch the trains go by! Well done Tony & Tom. Michael

Andy, I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual exhibition and congratulate you and all involved. I particularly enjoyed your photographic piece - most instructive. Cheers, Michael

Hi, very interesting. Do you have a website? Regards, Michael

Good morning Tony, Great shots. I think that a little blurring can add atmosphere. Very many years ago my photography concentrated on motor racing where panning is most important. It takes practice, one of the challenges being not to forget to press the shutter! In those days cameras, well mine at least, a Practika, did not have continuous shooting capability so it was a one shot process. I have now retired so now I should have time to get on with my layout (Cockfield, Suffolk) and to makeup some kits. Take care, Michael

Happy Birthday Tony! Enjoy the rest of your day. Best regards, Michael

Absolutely superb. Michael

There is an excellent and quite extensive piece on Alloa on the BBC website today entitled 'How to build the perfect model railway'. It presents our hobby in a very positive way with some excellent pictures and video. Its' clear intent is to promote the Glasgow exhibition - well done them! Michael

Tony, Very many thanks for your and Mo’s hospitality today. As always great fun and a privilege to run the trains on LB, also thank you for your help with the footplate. Michael

The difference was in octane levels. Regular was primarily suitable for engines with low compression ratios. Higher performance vehicles, with a higher compression ratio, ran best on higher octane petrol; I.e. Super. The peril of running too low an octane fuel was pre-ignition or ‘pinking’ which had the possibility of damaging pistons. Michael

Brian, you missed a treat. Tony’s lecture included useful tips for making plastic kits as well as views on caravans, mobile homes, tension lock couplings and chemical loos! I always enjoy the Peterborough Show but this year was struck by the number of fine layouts which suffered operational issues. The hand of God, derailments, exaggerated rates of acceleration and deceleration and long periods of inactivity being the main problems. Overall my favorites (not in any particular order) were Launceston (009), Trewithick (EM) and Faringdon (P4). On the question of sound I tend to agree that, at the moment at least, diesel sound is much better than steam. I also agree that for layouts like LB sound would add very little as the unaided sound of movement at speed is quite authentic. However, on small branch line termini I think that the sound of simmering steam locomotives adds a certain atmosphere. Michael

This looks very interesting!ROD-release-2-1.pdf Michael

"Wright writes..." under "Modelling musings & miscellany" page 1009 re magnets. Michael

I suggest magnets from Magnet Expert Ltd (www.first4magnets.com). They are 10 x 5 x 1mm thick N42 Neodymium Magnets with a pull of 0.6kg (North) - reference no. F1051NA-20. They cost £6.64 for 20 including 1st Class P&P. They work successfully with S&W couplings on Tony Wright's Little Bytham. Michael