Ashley Bridge

There’s probably not a lot of people on your “small island” who buy MRJ every month. Rich

Up until a couple of weeks ago, when the world panicked and stockpiled it all, my favourite was kitchen roll, laid over shaped polystyrene and liberally dosed with runny PVA. When it gets soft enough all the little bumps/fibre shaping smooth out then you can paint it and static grass after. I too avoid the constant updates otherwise it’s like listening to the mind numbing football scores on a Saturday. I set a warning for 10.25 and fail miserably at popmaster, then switch to Gold turned right down for background. It is probably hideously wasteful as you can only get it on the tv so that runs all day costing the equivalent of an electric fire,I’m told. I will try and post photos of my efforts but find that all a bit 21st century. Rich

Definitely means you’ll need more Locos. Big ones! Might need more storage too, that’s a slippery slope.- - - Rich

Sounds like all three of you need to be careful, hope you collectively feel better soon. I got to grips with that Falcon Models shark, actually fitted the ploughs then got waylaid by the great weather in the garden over the weekend. The fact that the wifi works out there didn’t help! look after yourselves, Rich.

It’s gone very quiet on here. Are you okay, your Duckiness?

They’re all colour coded because he leaves the parts in original livery. Technicolour dream! Rich

I have to say I’m in awe of you ex signals guys. I use dcc wired as a star bus , and can swap feeds to one track to run in analogue locos. But after that I’m lost. I have a mate who was apprenticed up at London Bridge Box , he’s not in the railways anymore but can re-wire any Volkswagen without a diagram. His dcc layout is a work of electrical art as well. keep on working at it and I hope you don’t discover anything too expensive. Rich

Makes more sense that way. Just checked what time zone you’re in but it’s not too late. We’ve been up 41/2 hours because the only delivery we could get from Asda was 6.00-8.00. It was f&#@ing dark! Stay safe Mate. Rich

Ours cringes every time we go out there. They’ve started calling my missus “scissorhands”. Mind you, it was me who pollarded the willow. Rich

I’ve just whiled away half an hour imagining how they made up the whole train. Would no 14 have been at the front and dropped at Taunton while no’s 2 3 4 5 6&7 were hung on the back of no 8 , attached at Truro? My late Father was involved with dispatching the Sunday newspapers from Paddington in the ‘80s, that made for some fun and lots of bad language ( from the printers side) when editions ran late. Rich

I’ve just stumbled upon this thread and to read of the trials and tribulations someone else has encountered encouraged me to have another try at a Falcon ballast plough which I stalled on about a year ago. I too managed to get the W iron etches unevenly spaced, then the sole bars looked dreadful. I’ve managed to dismantle it and am starting again with the benefit of hindsight and having lost the instructions I’ll have one less hindrance. I’ve cut away the brake shoe jokes, shortened the massive w irons and needed to pack the solebars out 0.75 mm to look right. At present I’m working on a way to strengthen the drawbar etch as you can almost see through it. Stay safe, people. Rich

You can see by the witness marks in the weathering. From the left, no2 has moved the top rail and no4 the bottom one. Smashing attention to detail. Rich.

“Clunk & Clonk” - - get it?

Yes, I remember a time when I too wasn’t afraid of being more than two minutes from a toilet.

Fake a large, noisy sneeze. Works a treat. Rich

I have to say how admirably this thread has avoided the inevitable elephant in the room over faggots. I didn’t think we were diagnosed, merely outed. Happy days. Rich

What’s that funny wire thing hanging out of the handset? Rich

Ducky have you sorted out a set of top-hats and wheels for that MN tender yet? I’m still faffing with the resin brake van kit, the painting’s taken ages. Rich.

Mr Duck, I am totally in awe of the progress you made on that tender kit. I have to admit to preferring plastic kits although I have recently tried a Falcon Models SR Shark and a Smallbrook Studio’s Road van . To be honest I think I had more success with not supergluing my fingers together with the latter. The first one only reaffirmed my belief that digits don’t make very good heat sinks. Such fun! Rich

Looking forward to seeing how you go with set 381 , you should be able to find a reasonable donor as that set were 9ft wide. I hacked an old Airfix GW coach to make the 100 seater “Long Ten” but by the time I’d got the wheelbase right and slimmed it down to 8 ft there was very little left of the original! Stay safe Rich

Such splendid use of time on the naughty step! I have to admit having to check such a book actually exists, the Author’s name gave me pause for thought We are so blessed with this wealth of knowledge in our hobby. Rich

If you use the cruising catamaran moored in the Farm creek on google maps as a reference, I would say the bridge would need to be about 160 ft . We must have someone on here who can advise? I personally would replicate Petherick Creek Bridge, but we try to avoid the withered arm on here. Rich

You forgot Gordon and Maggie, a truly inspirational couple who currently do so much for our hobby. Rich

I always assumed it was coming down from Meldon, just before Oakhampton Station. It’s a nice walk up there from the station, they do a reasonable cup of tea when you get back. Rich

Welcome back, your Duckiness. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have some light relief , we’ve been surviving on tales from the “Great Way Round “ for too long. Dont get too cold up in your version of the real main line west. Rich