CKPR

Which is within walking distance of said antique emporium. Downhill as well.

If anyone is interested, there are several copies of this very book for sale in an innominate antique shop in Ludlow - it's two or three doors down from Artisan Ales on Old Street.

I agree re Ayrshire being the breeding ground for Locomotive engineers. Robert Urie, Hugh Smellie and Andrew Barclay can be added to the list.Nice NB Wagons but then the NB was never a threat to the Sou'West! In fact didn't the Sou West propose an amalgamation?Ian Not forgetting that the far north west of Cumberland was something of a pre-group feifdom of the NBR and the Caley back in the day- we (i.e the M&CR) even had a junction with the latter.

"...wooden brake blocks on the Maryport & Carlisle railway." At last, now this thread is starting to get interesting !

Yes, that's the one - IIRC, our Gallic cousins were none too impressed with these engines from NBL.

I have a vague memory of a Dennis Allenden article in MR about the, ermm, French version of the Jones Goods...

A couple of Cumbrian possibilities which were actually contemplated and quickly shelved: - A Maryport & Carlisle branch to Caldbeck - A LNWR line from Windermere to Keswick via / under Dunmail Raise

Last time I heard, about 3-4 years ago, the Macclefield club was looking to sell or give away the succesor to 'Longacre'

I think it represents an ex-PO wagon. With a 9' w/b, it's relatively more accurate than the ex-Mainline version with it's 10' f/b.

Although the old Ratio 24t iron ore hopper would be worth reintroducing if the moulds still exist.

Pretty much defines optimistic...also, how can a signal box be EM/P4 ?! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EM-Gauge-P4-4mm-Finescale-Signal-Box-Birchdale-Full-Interior-Main-GSP-/132216746910?hash=item1ec8bb739e:g:lZgAAOSwJH1ZNXNx

This is fantastic proper modelling - more please !

IRRC , the Ratio MR clerestories represent the coaches as modified by the LMS.

Please tell me you'll do a test piece first - I would hate to have given you duff advice !

I was musing on your problems with solvents as I had similar problems the last time I was using plasticard to build a M&CR horsebox. My problem was that the brand of plasticard I was using, Jarvis, seemed immune to most solvents bar Revell 'Contacta', which was a major problem in itself but was exacerbated when I tried to attach parts made from Evergreen or older material from Slaters and Kenline (I told you it was old !). My impression was that the composition of styrene may have changed over the years and also probably varies between manufacturers. Our basic techniques for working with styrene are essentially developed over 50 years for the original Slaters plasticard and Mek-Pak but these probably need a re-think given the multiplicity of possibly incompatible materials and solvents.

Just a thought but how about cutting a groove for the end beading with a 'scrawker' or Olfa cutter rather than just relying on the lightly scribed pencil line ? The rod should centre in the groove, making it much easier to apply solvent without it moving out of position.

As far as model railway shops go, the ones I remember from growing up in Cumbria in the 1970s were Minitrains in Kendal (before they went 16mm live steam and decamped to Wales) and The Locomotive Model Shop in Workington near to the railway station and owned by the Jenkins family. LMS was unbelievably cluttered and untidy but always very friendly and you could spend hours in there (I did !) rummaging though boxes of stuff - how they ever made a living from that shop is beyond me ! Minitrains, on the one hand, was a lot more serious and pricey but stocked all of the fine-scale items I'd only ever read about in the Railway Modeller - I also recall exchanging a nearly new Hornby Black Five for an old Tri-ang B12 - they definitely got the better of that deal !

Thank you - everything is up in Cumbria at the moment but I'm hoping to bring 'Mealsgate' down soon (I'm working on the soon-to-be Mrs CKPR...) and to get working on the scenery and proper buildings for Mealsgate. I'd love to bring it along to the local show and Ludlow racecourse is much nearer than it's debut outing in Workington (still on the LNWR though !).

Kirdon controller included in this mixed lot of Tri-ang and Trix: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tri-ang-Railways-R3-Set-With-R-52-Loco-Twix-Loco-Job-Lot/232272185520?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107083358%26meid%3D98b1b0f88c934cac859e060bd4961852%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D172506228887

Regarding the gap on cooper clad sleepers, this can be filled with 'Greenstuff' filler and then sanded - much less messy than using epoxy !

Definitely worth keeping - the tag line of 'the world's finest controllers' sums them up !

Still no new modelling to report but I've been to my 'new' local model railway show at Ludlow where there was nowt of a pre-grouping nature to report, unless you count the excellent 'Up the line', a well modelled and very atmospheric WW1 7mm narrow gauge model. However, I did exchange £25 for this beauty to add to my collection of Codar control equipment and which will no doubt be used on 'Mealsgate' at some point.

Has anyone ever modelled any of the stations of Trollope's fictional Barsetshire, such as Winter Overcotes or Shearing Junction (change for Worsted and Fleece) ?

It's very difficult, if not impossible, to 'prove' a negative but it's very straightforward to demonstrate that any given hypothesis (e.g. All railway modellers are autistic) is false. It's known as the 'black swan argument', in that it's easier to disprove the assertion that all swans are white, as all you need to do is to find a single black swan to disprove ('falsify) the assertion / hypothesis, rather than it is to check all the swans in the world to prove that they are all white. I wouldn't advise the latter course of action anyway, as they're horrible creatures (says someone who was attacked by a swan in 1967 when it bit me AND stole my ice cream cornet).