simonmcp

Very impressive, some stunning modelling. Is that the Faller Bietschtal bridge? I have the kit and intend trying to make it with the curved deck like the prototype, do you think that would be possible? Simon

I believe the Captain is referring to the end of Nick Park's "The Wrong Trousers" , where said Gromit manages to make a box of six pieces of track go much further than any mere railway modeller ever has.

Going back to the question of siting the Weighbridge and office, Mortenhampstead Station had the signal box attached to the Engine shed. So not much of a leap to have the Weighbridge office as part of the goods shed with the Weighbridge deck just alongside. I feel a 3d print coming. Simon

There is one photo here I just found it doing a G**"*e search with the words GWR goods yard entrance.

As you've probably worked out the second photo or first ariel shot has been very badly cobbled together/photoshped and I wouldn't trust it for any dimensions or even basic layout. Fantastic modelling on the office building, as usual up to your very high standard, I just wish I could do as well in HO an

Doesn't matter how many times I see that I still laugh so much I cry .

Driving Test Hazard Perception test - "Do I brake yet?" No not until you see the whites of their eyes!

Your figure painting is superb. Loving all the little details. Simon

Yes, seen in Cornwall back in the late 90's. Most of the buildings were make with individual plasticard stones. Don't recall seeing after that though so sorry no idea where it is now. S

I think the so called Architect's that 'designed' the house I rent used the same plans. Gaps between door frame and wall vary by an alarming amount throughout their height. Lounge floor creaks alarmingly as well.

That's one way of explaining away the latest purchase of 'essential' railway items - " I didn't order them, and unfortunately they can't be returned, honestly dear"

Or when YouTube pause in the middle of their advert exhorting you to pay them to listen to it and ask if you'd like to continue?!?

Apparently if you have a 'Smart Phone', it listens in ALL the time, even when supposedly switched off. Apple actually apologized for listening in whilst people were 'in bed' having 'an early night' - I dread to think what adverts they got. Similar thing that happened to Malcolm 0-6-0, happened to a friend of a friend, they mentioned a specific trainer/footwear and when they went on their phone up popped an advert for that exact same thing. Malcolm 0-6-0, you may now find a lot of 'get rich quick' schemes on all your connected devices.

Regarding the ballast, you could do what is done on some bridges and put in a trough , if you have a few millimetres height spare, and then the ballast would not touch the base. I realise the shape might be complex. You'd have to stop the ballast from going down the fixing holes but that's easily solvable.

Has anybody noticed the size of the gatepost on the left by the children? I estimate that to be well over 10 feet and pretty thick as well.

Having lived near Telford I think that Sem may have "got a touch of the sun" by including that almost literally God forsaken place in a list of desirable destinations, unless he is thinking of the industrial archeology. I have to confess that now living in Cornwall I am mercifully far away from the worst of the Covid19 insanity and able to see both a stunning sunrise and also a beautiful sunset over the sea on my way to and from work today. I do though need something to keep me cheerful as I work somewhere where we only see our 'clients', for want of a better word, just the once and they are very quiet by the time they get to us. Stay safe and keep as sane as possible everyone.

Apparently my family line was traced all the way back to William's right hand man, Fido (faithful) that's why so many dogs were called it. Remember there's " Lies, damn lies and statistics" and I think it may be pertinent that the office for National Statistics pulled their graphs of death rates a while ago.

In Germany and Switzerland I have seen similar machines or Combine Harvesters loaded onto wagons where the cab is obviously detachable and this gives the necessary clearance. There are examples in one of the German MIBA guides on loads for wagons https://shop.vgbahn.info/miba/shop/modellbahn+ladegüter+2-_3552.html, great booklets even if you can't read German. That edition also includes German tank wagons. Simon

Ahh, the obligatory ski accident victim. Very nice work, I am trying hard to resist buying any more Swiss stock until I have room for a layout but the electric shunter looks very tempting. Simon

Excellent tutorial there Corbs. The 'trick' I used to check if the clear was really blank was a background colour on the base layer and therefore it was possible to see any stray 'white'. I think the fault is a dodgy drum on the printer, is normally a consumable but if you only just bought it they should replace it for free. Sounds like the TMT software is a waste of time. It is possible to set up illustrator to do reverse prints, not in front of it at the moment but think it's under image flip horizontal - don't do both vertical and horizontal as you will be back to 'normal' don't ask how I know. Simon

Hi Corns, I have found the article where they interviewed Fox Transfers it's in Model Railway Journal 140 and it explains the process very well. It is 6 pages long. The 12 colour one is a full sized Caledonian Railway crest. I seem to recall that Alps also did a dye sublimation printer that used a waxy type of ink but that was a while back. The other thing you're up against is that even if you use a Vector illustration package, most if not all photo manipulation software is also raster/bitmap and so subject to jagged edges, to draw your transfers the print file generated for the printer will usually be a raster or bitmap/pixelated file, which will give you jagged edges. Some printers can handle postscript files, PS for short but not to be confused with Photoshop PS files, but you would have to dig deep into the settings to find out. This is also why it makes a difference how high the resolution of the printer is. Magazines etc in the UK are printed to 2500 LINES per inch- the output of the laser imagesetter or now more likely digital plate maker, not dots per inch as usually misquoted (newspapers used to be 80 or 100 dots per inch, easily seen on the pictures with a cheap loupe) and magazine images are usually at 300 dots per inch or sometimes 400 for high quality ones. As you're probably gathering it is a minefield of conflicting terms so if any of the above is confusing just ask, I have probably gotten so used to in-house terms that I don't realise which terms need explaining further. Simon

Hi Corbs, Just a quick note before I start work. I have worked in Print since 1982. My college specialism was Typography (lettering). If you want to print Just 4 "spot" colours then you can but with the following reservations:- you will only be able to print the colours of the toners in the machine. So if you swap the black for the white, and your printer has separate colour toners, then you can print solid White, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Red should be 100%, 100% - that is solid Yellow and Magenta so no need for 'dots' usually referred to as "dots per inch", not to be confused with "lines per inch" which is the resolution of the printer. You could also print solid Yellow, Magenta or Cyan. If you have Abode programs they will let you print Spot Colours and hopefully override your printer software. IF you could get special colours of toner made you could also print that colour but you will always be limited to a maximum of 4 colours in one pass and as you say the printer does not have the ability to print in exact 'register' if you reload the paper. Fox Transfers use "Screen printing" and some of their transfers are around 12 separate colours, there is an article where they interviewed Fox Transfers in one of the fairly early Model Railway Journal's 125, or there about, which explains the process better. Feel free to ask any questions and I will try my best to answer. Simon

There's quite a bit of Swiss vintage Electric locos in videos but not aware of any audio files.

Check out Pendon, their mainline in the Vale Scene uses a similar trick that makes it look like the line gently curves one way when in fact it sharply curves the other way. I still believed it even when I was staring at it and knew about it. To help the illusion make the line of trees on either side of the steep sided cutting go in a straight line or gentle curve. If necessary make the actual line go under the trees, another layout, Swiss, called I think Rapperswill, used the trick of a hollow coach and engine shed to hide the true path of the line. I have complete confidence in your ability to come up with a brilliant solution as you have to every other challenge you have set yourself.

I should have known it couldn't be you, far too modern a style of dressing. I like to imagine you dressed like your Avatar in the very latest fashion of the 80s or 90s, 1880s of course. On another note I have just come back from a visit to Dawlish and it's new sea wall, a concrete monstrosity, and apparently they are going to destroy the Grade II listed plate girder bridge (having already replaced the footbridge with a fiberglass one with metal fake rivets which are very realistically rusting!) and seaward platforms. I can hear IKB spinning in his grave. Simon