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Is the large driving wheel flangeless to help it go round corners? (Alisdair)

Note also that there is someone hanging out the front passenger vehicle so it is assumed the train is stopped. And what is the signal to the right of the middle telegraph pole required for? It is set at danger and too close to be a distant surely? And I cannot see a siding or loop it is protecting. (Alisdair)

One from our latest club layout - yes you are right somewhere on the west coast of Scotland [Alisdair]

Yes will be there. You cannot miss the team. We will be wearing our blue shirts with our names embroidered on the pocket. And wearing our bow ties as well. So you shouldn't miss us! Look forward to meeting you. (Alisdair)

Looking forward to catching up with all the Wigan regulars . Three images of Bewdley courtesy of Andy York. (Alisdair)

Attached are three of my Yellow Bus images. On a visit to Bournemouth - when I took these photoes - I was quite surprised to see that Alexander bodies dominated the bus scene there. Sad to read of their demise. (Alisdair)

And can I give a shout for another minority - Belted Galloways - as photographed by our esteemed moderator Mr A York (Alisdair)

No sign of any exhaust. Is it actually moving? (Alisdair)

I had a J Reg Mini 1000 in that yellow colour. The picture made me think it could have been mine that was being built. (Alisdair)

All still there today in Lisbon including the funicular.

Can I nominate this posting into "One of the top jokes of the year?" category? (Alisdair)

Some more 2004 Singapore images of the terminal station. I have an idea this building has since gone? I do recall walking up the station platform to photograph the stock in the platform and being told off by an official. It seemed that I had unintentionally strolled beyond the Singapore state boundary. Apologies for the quality of some of the images. (Alisdair)

Daniel Finklestein has an interesting article in the Times today. The article sums it all up very well, and how those who support extreme politics - on the left and on the right - are much the same in their dogma. (Alisdair)

Have made listening to O'Brien an important part of my day, he has been my one island of sanity in the sea of madness which has swirled around is all for some time. His verbal dexterity is wonderful (Alisdair)

Views taken in 2004 of the Sentona cable car [Alisdair]

Would I be right in thinking that the designers of the Parkside range in 4mm never built any of their kits? Did they ever test them out initially before they released them into the market place on what the 'Modeller' used to call 'The Average Modeller'? The kits certainly do not 'fall together' naturally as the Airfix wagons of yore. I have spent enough cash on the Parkside kits on stuff that have never run. Maybe they need a warning label 'Suitable for the modeller who wants a challenge'? [Alisdair]

Get a good crowd at the front watching those expert shunting moves. Then have a derailment or a dodgy coupling uncoupling on a wagon and then watch them all melt away like snow in the warmth of the sun. And don't get sucked into long earnest conversations with those who have all day with not much to do while you have a layout to operate. (Alisdair)

And fix the drop valance to the layout front with velcro. (Alisdair)

Audi or Beemer owner?

Going back to Brexit, and as staunch Remainer, I would suggest that any future EU discussion on us rejoining will require us (by us I mean Little England - the Scots Welsh and NI residents having long gone their own ways) will require a ceding to the Euro. The Leavers IMHO will probably have even lost us our own currency in the long run. I am saddened for the future in the UK for my daughter, son in law and grand daughters. (Alisdair)

Simple arrogance in my view. (Alisdair)

In the recent two parter on Crossrail there seemed to be a dearth of advertising posters at the stations. No distractions from adverts giving nice clean wall elevations. Is this because it's all early days and the advert contracts are yet to be finalised or is it a "no advert" policy? (Alisdair)

We just made it up as we went along. (Alisdair)

Interesting comments from Eaton as a show organiser. I agree that in this post Covid world exhibitions have changed, not least that two years of continuity have been lost. Even now we are still not there to life pre-Covid. I am sure traders have reviewed there business model post-Covid. Where are the benefits for them now? If enough income can be generated on line why spend time loading their wares for a weekend away at a show - not least the swingeing increases in fuel costs - if it can all be done from home. And if the show is held in premises which are basically a Faraday Box and WIFI is not guaranteed,why would you bother with the possibility of the uncertainty of taking only reduced cash takings in an ever increasing cashless society. As a member of a group, with two award winning layouts, who love exhibiting layouts at exhibitions, we too have seen a change Post Covid. We are two years on from the start of the Lockdown. Some members of the group have now decided they haven't the stamina to go out on the exhibition trail. And we have yet to have new younger operators appearing over the horizon to take over the heavy lifting and the operating of handsets. Recently I did a cost comparison on travelling each day from home to exhibit our layouts compared with staying over, given that maybe exhibition managers may get a hotel discount in the larger number of guests to accommate us over the weekend. Fuel costs have hardened the economics to stay close by the exhibition in an hotel over the full weekend rather than for us having the daily travel to / from the show. However we have some of our operators who prefer not to have three, or even four nights away, from their homes. Visitors are attracted to shows to see layouts they haven't seen before. The days of trotting the same old local layouts each year at each show have now long gone. Our group have always taken the view that our layouts had to been seen in shows far from our clubroom base. How many layouts livingh at home south of say the M4 do we see north of Birmingham? And how many northern layouts are to be seen in Kent? Maybe a bit of "out of the box" thinking is required. Perhaps exhibition managers could organise a group of exhibitors from various model groups and clubs in say Newcastle, and then hire a large wagon to transport all the layouts to say Exeter, saving multiple van hire. All the exhibitors could travel together in a minibus or coach, saving car transport costs. The fact that Wigan have a number of layouts at the next Wigan Show from East Kilbride which the majority of NW England modellers will never have seen, can be only good. Well done Eaton! Maybe I should have put this rant on another "starter" posting? But Eaton has certainly opened the debate. (Alisdair)

The Train without a doubt has to be No.1. Somehow being filmed in black and white adds to its atmosphere. And how many other films have the stacatto beat of a Westinghouse pump as a sound track? Reminds me must get the DVD off the shelf and watch it again. (Alisdair)