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A very good find. Thanks!

What site is that can I ask?

Anyone know what this odd freight service from Wembley to Southport is tomorrow ? http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced/SOP/2018/12/07/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=non-passenger&order=wtt See bottom of the page there.

It's kind of non-railway modelling! Been making these for a few people who liked my own that I built. This is the very first I built. 2/3 size of the original.

With the exception of Lime St and Walton on the Hill I'm not aware of any of those other layouts! Aintree Central. I'd like to see that! Who has made that and has it been exhibited?

Great models! I do hope you get around to building a full layout on Ormskirk as it is a part of the world much neglected by railway modellers. For some reason the railways of Liverpool and North Merseyside have been neglected for modelling and I've always been at a loss to understand why. Always thought Rainford Junction would make a great club layout too .I'd actually join a local club on the basis of them building that!

No 2 And there is this at a out of the way location at an old 'Gare' deep in a forest 47 52 55 62 N 1 16 14 61 W Some private preservation going on by the looks of.

A place A place called Vendome , the line east of here goes to Cloyes sur la loire

No 1 ! I came across this on Google Earth. It is a French location. There seems to be a shunt manoeuvre going on past the L.C gates but there is no loco in sight! (Nor was there in the whole area before the picture was cropped) There doesn't seem to be a loco at either end of the train and I'm sure it's a not a very long DMU or EMU unit. They look like freight vehicles to me . It seems odd. Surely it's not being moved by gravity either, not this day and age surely? Any thoughts?

My fascination with closed French lines continues unabated, so thought it would be fun to put the rails back in places. So with the help of TRAINZ and GIMP here we have the area around l' etre aux fourmis with how it looks now i.e the old trackbed is now a cycleway(?) , and how it would have looked when still a railway.

Great layout! Is that John Betjeman walking down your street there? He's probably making a doc for BBC about the delights of travel by train!

There was for many a long year. in the yard at St Helens Shaw St an ex Midland Railway (Midland not LMS) box van of a ridiculous old vintage. Might have it on a pic somewhere. I think it eventually got cut up. There was also some very old freight stock ( can't remember details) in the old BICC sidings at Prescot. Still there in the mid 80's for sure. Len

Thanks to all for the replys

Just started to renumber a Bachman 'Crab' only to realise that the nearest size of the Modelmaster waterslide numbers (G201 set) are actually bigger than the numbers on the loco provided by Bachman. They appear, to my eye, to be the larger cabside Scottish region numbers that I think Scottish region locos ran with for a while . Any thoughts from anyone on this? Len

Fantastic work and I can't believe no one else has said so before me!

I’m a modeller based in Southport. I’m limited in space back at home but I have produced a few small layouts, checkout Gladstone Street and Southport Road Goods on this forum. I miss operating a largeish layout (that isn't just shunting) and wondered if there was anyone in the Southport /West Lancs area who might be looking for another operator for their layout on a regular or semi-regular basis? Perhaps you have a timetabled layout (end to end or otherwise) or a large roundy-roundy, who knows ,that demands or benefits from more than one operator? I’ve got a good amount of DC locos and stock I can contribute (BR steam Era) in running sessions. I know someone might suggest joining a local club but my local club only have smallish premises and aren’t really building the sort of club layouts that excite me .( This isn’t a criticism gents as you seem like nice blokes and it is good stuff you build but not my sort of stuff) Anyone out there? Len

Does anyone use the Kirby system modified so that each wagon has one end with no hook? I ask because this seems to be far more reliable for me in tests . The potential prob of course is that running at speed over less than perfect track might lead to unrequited uncoupling?Isthis the case? I ask because at present I onl6 have a small shunting layout wher this would not occur I have some magnets under ‘sets’ and this seems to cause a problem around how far the staple can fall due to reduced height between ground and staple. I look forward to your replies Cheers Len

I saw a very nice Fawlty Towers 'gag' on Stoke Gabriel recently - It seemed to pass most people by, the gag that is, not the train

Good job the writer Alan Bennett isn't a modeller then...he has the odd 'dig' at a certain northern city !

Almost finished... Quite pleased with the general overall feel of the layout - it's pretty much what I set out to achieve. Just 3 sidings but a ridiculous amount of shunting fun to be had from it all the same! You'll notice that the planned canal turned out as a road in the end. Len

I recently took out a subscription to The British Newspaper Archive, an online digital service in which you can view old Newspapers. It has been a revelation in terms of what you can find , certainly so in terms of finding out about rail accidents that you may never before have heard of. For instance in my local area I came across the following incidents that I had no previous knowledge of:- 1880 Terrible head-on collision at speed between Liverpool and Preston bound trains just south of Burscough with much loss of life due to signalman’s error 1850 Loss of life at Maghull when a number of passengers left a stationary train after a rumour went around that there was a train approaching them at speed from behind (untrue) these passengers then sadly mowed down by a train from Colne as they alighted onto the tracks 185? An excursion train stooped at Kirkby having originated at Tithebarn Street was run into from behind by a ‘Luggage’ train. 18?? High speed derailment with loss of life of a passenger train inside Upholland Tunnel. These are just what I have discovered so far. It seems that Red for Danger sadly had a lot of material to choose from and a lot was left out. (apologies for the lack of dates on some of them. I need to look them up again ) It’s also of interest in terms of details of proposed lines that were never built, e.g a Wavertree to Preston line via Melling and Cunscough and Ormskirk together with a junction with the ELR at Kirkby. Also, a Tramway between Southport and Lytham!

And here are some the right way up! A bike ride along the old Reasau Breton system past St Gelven

So took the layout outside today to take some pics in better light. As you can see, some work done, wire in tubes laid and working , some scenery started. Some ballasting to be completed next and some bridge repairs! The stub of a line far left is supposedly the stub of the running line that once went up to the gasworks. Ballast taking an age to dry out after fixing , probably due to conditions in the shed! Yes the backscene behind the bridge will be replaced by a proper piece!

Good idea, David . Decided against the factory kickback for other reasons to be honest. Have used that myself in the past though - works well.

So, to some history... Perhaps a bit of background as where this layout is supposed to be set Gladstone Street Yard is envisaged to be somewhere in the Liverpool area. It’s at the end a very short branch off perhaps the old L&Y or maybe the CLC system in the vicinity? I envisage that it has always been run as ‘one engine in steam’ as the line is only a 1,000 yards or so length up from the fictional Sandon Road Junction. It is steeply graded and so loco’s actually work the train up the short branch from the back at a maximum of 10mph, the brake van leading. At one point the line continued on past Gladstone Street to a gas works another three or four hundred yards on , but this has long since been defunct but the line there was only recently lifted, hence the remaining stub of a few yards of it leading from the three way point . The rail bridge over the line once carried another single track freight only line which has also been recently closed under some local rationalisation . Still. it’s now at least a good photographic location for the local ‘gricers’ ! Jinty’s , 3F tenders from Walton, and the far less likely Ivatt 2-6-2tanks and 2-6-0 tenders work here . I may purchase a Pug at some point for added geographical realism!