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What ho! NER hoppers on Little Bytham - wonderful, as I’m rather partial to them. I don’t think we’ve seen them before - presumably they arrived with one of your visitors? Unless, of course, Accurascale have forwarded early samples of their forthcoming NER hopper wagons? I am delighted to see them, even if in real life they are unlikely to have reached as far south as Little Bytham. John S

It strikes me that’s a pretty good essay on why many of us aren’t into kit building. So much can go wrong! And unless you know at exactly any point just what the right thing to do is, you are lost …. John S

Not sure what I saw there, but, goodness, it had that visceral feeling of being beside the line as trains whistled past, close, at speed! Superb effect! John S

Would suggest you charge the full postal cost. You aren’t a charity and have to make a living and return on investment: if we buy a hard copy catalogue, we are prepared to pay the postage. That still leaves you with the preparation and printing costs: even though you put these to your publicity budget, they will be significant. John S

Accurascale had copies of their Spring 2024 catalogue on their stand at Model Rail Scotland over 23-25 February. As folk have said above, it is a very useful reference, though it doesn’t include absolutely everything. There is no mention of OO gauge HUO wagons, for example, presumably because they are completely out of availability. John Storey

Looking through the thread above, I should add that Pop Up Designs have a lot more railway buildings than are shown on the previous page. Small and large Highland stations, the distillery shown in the previous page, even Fort William station with its unique structure and shape. On the distillery, if you are modelling the pagoda roof, how on earth do you work out all the angles to get the roof sections right? Pop Up Designs has worked it for you! I say all this, but don’t have space on my railway for any of their kits - alas! But I was impressed by what I saw at Model Rail Scotland a couple of weeks ago. John S

Pop Up Designs are definitely still active - they had a significant stand at Model Rail Scotland over the weekend of 23-25 February, with an impressive display of their models. The canopy work around some of their railway stations is amazing - very fine and detailed indeed, but also remarkably strong. I was impressed by the Scottish tenement block (shown above on 30 October), in raw assembled form, and in fully finished form. With the latter, looking up at ground level, it was hard to believe it was a model. Stunning! Unfortunately I didn’t take any photographs. it was a pleasure to meet the man behind Pop Up Designs, and Ian Ross, who designs the railway kits - and does it on a voluntary basis. John Storey

How will we cope - no news for a whole week! Welcome to the world of social media, and instant news and updates and reactions! I hope you enjoy your time away - I’m sure you deserve it. John S

And Bob and Gillian Baird of Harburn Hobbies here in Edinburgh have returned from the show with the news that they have been awarded Bachmann Retailer of the Year. Congratulations, and very well deserved! John S

I was there on Friday, and yes, it was a fabulous show. So much to see, and to such a high standard. Lots of trade, and I picked up a number of second hand items I hadn’t expected! Manufacturers, yes, but not Oxford Rail. Plenty of new items on show but apart from the Revolution 320/321 mentioned above by Legend, no new announcements at the show. A couple of folk I spoke to on Friday thought the venue was very busy, almost too busy. I didn’t feel that, but I would be interested to know if visitor numbers were up on the last two years. I hope they were substantially up, for the sake of the hobby and of AMRSS the organisers. There must be a financial risk in setting up something so big, so all power to them. Thank you! John S

It wasn’t clear to me from the photos posted so far if these quad-arts have a rebated guards end, as many had, explained in this article by Steve Banks: https://www.steve-banks.org/modelling/355-lner-quadarts But I saw the model in real life today at Model Rail Scotland and - superb - the guards end is rebated! You can see it here. I had a great explanation from Ellis Clark of the working of the shared bogies of these coaches, and was impressed! John S

Vodka is neither Scottish nor Scotch! I’m sure they will be fully alert on the stand tomorrow. John S

I don’t think this question has been answered. And does anyone know what has happened at DJH? DJH has been on the go for a long time. Is it a case that the current owners/proprietors, whoever they may be, are retiring? Or is there no longer a decent business to be made in it? Or whatever? Preferably not speculation in response to this - I’m hoping we hear from someone who knows a little of the background. John S

I agree. I’ve been on certain threads where John has commented most helpfully on points of full-size and model railway interest. I am happy to accept at face value his statement that he does not advertise, nor do I see it as ‘product placement’. John makes items that are very useful for us railway modellers - that is what matters. Long may that continue. No connection to John, not even I’m afraid as a satisfied customer! John Storey

I was surprised to find that an Oxford Diecast road roller on a Cambrian kit built GWR Loriot fits within the loading gauge. That was how it happened in 1/76 scale, where the road roller, the Loriot and the loading gauge are scale models, so I assume this works at full size. But I still wonder about this! John S