MikeOxon

in fact three of the illustrations in https://www.ourbow.com/the-vanished-north-london-railway-though-bow/ show the bracket - nos. 51, 17, and 37. Close examination of the photo of no.37 shows that the '0' indicator is mounted on a tapered peg, slid into the bracket from above. I assume it is a route indicator, which would appear, from the front, alongside the engine number, also placed on the chimney.

This video shows what 3D pens can (and can't) do : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIuNVow6QNM

I bought one of these 3D pens a few months ago. My idea was to use it make repairs or minor touch-ups to 3D printed models. I didn't find it very easy to use and I'm not sure what you could do with it as a stand alone device. I've written about it on my blog at https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/25409-bodies-components/ It's quite tricky to control the flow of filament and it's also necessary to allow the plastic to harden or raised lines simply droop. No doubt with skill and practice, plus imagination, some interesting things could be created but I've not got there!

I took my existing 3D-modelled GWR Armstrong Goods and re-printed it at 1:120 scale. The only changes were to the thickness of the boiler cladding and the thickness of the outside frames.

As an experiment,` I tried 3D printing a model engine in TT 120 scale from a design I made originally for 4 mm scale. It came out remarkably well, except that I needed to make a few parts a little thicker, to maintain reasonable strength. Rivet detail was retained, .You can see the result in the current (August) Railway Modeller p.588. I must admit that the size difference from the 4mm model was more apparent than I had imagined. I wonder whether 14.12mm gauge track with 3mm scale models might have been a better bet - only time will tell. The main point, commercially, seems to be that TT120 is already established in other countries so it could lead to international harmonisation.. Mike

I describe building a model of 'Aeolus', a sister engine to 'Vulcan' in my blog, starting from https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/25421-creating-a-‘freak’/

Plenty of food for thought at https://www.londonreconnections.com/2021/a-deeper-look-at-the-tubes-spiral-escalator/

You could fit in a double staircase so that people could descend on one side while others are climbing on the other.

I've been otherwise occupied for a while, so I had missed this. Wonderful engineering as always but it's the large dose of imagination that makes your models really special :) Fun Town is beginning to look like one of those amazing automata that fascinated earlier generations.

Way back in this thread, (February 24, 2014) I wrote about the proposal that William Dean should explore the possibility of using electric traction in the Severn Tunnel. In fact, Dean built his 4-6-0, nicknamed the 'crocodile', so I named my imaginary locomotive the 'electric crocodile' Mike

It's much better than the 'fairground' look favoured by many modern companies.

In paint terminology, 'lake' pigments are those produced from organic materials, as opposed to mineral pigments, such as vermilion or ultramarine. Woad was originally a 'lake' pigment although, like most pigments nowadays has been replaced by synthetic substitutes. Crimson 'lake', also known as Carmine, was produced from the cochineal insect. This red pigment was highly prized by artists because of its translucency, which allowed great intensity of colour to be achieved as, for example, in paintings by Titian. Because of this translucency, 'lake' paints can be used as a varnish over mineral based paints. I don't know what happened on the GWR but it is possible that red 'lake' layers were initially placed over brown mineral pigments to produce a 'richer' red appearance. The confusion in reports during the 'experimental' period could have been the result of different ways of layering the translucent varnishes. Mike

I like the steaming radiator! Nowadays, though, they would be unlikely to find a train running!

I'm pleased to report that it's now running - thank you folks for the support/sympathy. I tried loading it onto my old Win7 desktop and that was fine - although it all took a v e r y long time to load. I went back to my Win10 laptop and 🤣 this time it went through - s l o w l y. I've no idea what the initial problem was but it seemed to be something to do with loading the database and nothing to do with an invalid key! As you said, Annie, it seems to be a nice simple place to start and I can mess about with it on my laptop, to get the hang of how things work. The scenics are quite basic but better than I expected - thinking back to early days with the Flight Simulator when there was very little scenery at all, except at airports. Mike

I thought I'd try out that idea and even found TS2009 is offered free on the Auran website. Why is nothing ever simple? I tried downloading and installing - all seemed ok. Then it asked for the CD-key, so I entered the key from their message and ... 'the key you entered is not valid'. I've tried a few things but now given up and uninstalled the thing. M

I found it interesting to read how it all started. Those warehouses remind me of scenes from the dystopic worlds of computer games like 'Doom' - I suppose they were easier to render on the computers of the time. I tried a few sessions with with TaNE but, so far, it hasn't grabbed me. i think that in order to do it justice, I need a more powerful computer/graphics card than mine, which is mostly used for still photography editing. For the time being, my attention is still being held by 3D-printing. Mike

You may be correct but I'll have to escape from my pre-1850 mind-set first 🙂

I can only echo what others have already said. It's always useful to know what goes together easily and where the problems arise - and how to overcome them. Perhaps, one day, I shall replace my old Tri-angs with some of these 🙂 Mike

Great for you! Enjoy them.

I'm impressed by the 'softer' lighting and contrast of the scenery - it greatly improves the appearance of your screen shots. The motortrain in the cutting looks wonderful 😀 Mike

I don't believe that Whyte notation distinguishes between single carrying axles and bogies - it just states "carrying wheels". Hence, yours is a 6-2-0. Some people do use '+' signs for carrying wheels not in a bogie (e..g. 2+2-2-2 for the Gooch 'singles') but I don't think that is formally part of the Whyte scheme Mike

Recently, I wrote in the Imaginary Locomotives thread "a Crampton Dragster - now that would be something" I had no idea that such a thing had existed - the sloped exhaust pipe looks just the thing 🙂 Mike

Traction tyres

Those farm workers need to watch out. Didcot was a tiny hamlet until the GWR built the junction for what was originally the Oxford branch there. One thing leads to another and the place is now quite a major town!

Good to see 'imagination' returning to this thread - a Crampton Dragster - now that would be something :)