wainwright1

That sounds good Tony, should look good. Look forward to seeing it. All the best Ray

Nice to see that you are still working on it Tony. Looking at the traverser, are you intending to cover the sleepers ? I think that I can see planking underneath them, so I assume that the answer is no. An alternatively possibility might have been to solder the rails on to a piece of copper-clad Paxolin. This would have needed to be scored down the centre to electrically isolate the rails, but could also have the planking scribed onto it. I think that Gary did the same for the turntable bridge on Crystal Palace, or may have etched it. Happy modelling. All the best Ray P.S. Glad to hear that Colin is recovering.

I wonder if Oxford may now do this variation ? All the best Ray

How often does he have to be re-shod ? Looks very good. All the best Ray

Is that on the H website ? Perhaps they have reinstated it ? All the best Ray

Yes.

Hi All. Plenty of useful information to scrutinise there. With regard to square as apposed to diamond stone sleeper blocks. Our club used to own a layout that showed different time periods for the London and Greenwich Railway. This was primarily an overhead railway carried entirely on a viaduct and initially had track carried on stone sleeper blocks. It did no last very long due to the noise and vibration caused by trains running over this track and was replaced by timber sleeper track. I thought of incorporating one section with the original stone sleepers. This would just have been straight plain track, so I did not have to worry about point work. The way I thought of doing it was by using copper clad sleeper strip, cutting pieces the required overall length of sleeper, then scribing the inside width of the stone sleeper blocks. These could then be attached to appropriate rail by perhaps using some PECO Steamline of similar, cutting the web between the plastic sleepers and soldering the copper clad to the under side of the rail. You would need to do this using track gauges and gradually moving the plastic sleepers along to get the spacing of the stone blocks right. You would also need to put some packing under the copper clad sleepers as they would be slightly shallower than the plastic sleepers. Once the track was complete, the ends of the strips (Under the blocks) could be glued down on the baseboard, probably using something like Evostik or epoxy to get a good grip, then when it was dry, cutting through the score marks and removing the centre bits just leaving the blocks themselves on the rails. Once ballasted I think that this would give a fairly good basic representation. Obviously, some additional chair detail could also be added to finish off. There was only one problem. The copper clad sleeper strips were as far as I am aware only available in up to 7mm width, whereas ideally you would need 8mm to obtain the correct 2ft x 2ft sleeper blocks. But perhaps one of the manufacturers might be willing to cut some slightly wider ones. Diamond sleeper blocks would be another game altogether, perhaps a job for the 3D printers ? All the best Ray Now just need to time to consider perhaps making a small demonstration layout. Don't hold your breath.

Can't see a separate blog for this. Does anyone know if the Port of London Authority had any of these ? All the best Ray

Awaiting my order eagerly from my local dealer. Like the bus rally in the background. Now all we need is a Rapido London RT. Pretty please. All the best Ray

I prefer the plain chocolate version of the wafer. Available from Sainsburys in the blue wrapper. I think that they may have done the teacakes in plain at one time as well, but not now. All the best Ray

Many thanks Edwardian. Not sure how you would represent the diamond shaped stone blocks on a model display. Would we know if the parallel rail was bullhead, flat bottom or other type ? I wonder what the points would have looked like, if there are any images or records. All the best Ray

Do we know what type of stone block sleepers were used. Were they laid out square to the track or in diamond fashion with the rail laid from corner to corner ? The London and Greenwich Railway (1836) used stone blocks 2ft x 2ft square with the rails laid across the centre. I think that I seen images of rails used on other railways where the diamond format was used. All the best Ray

Hi All. Just had a phone call from the Bluebell Railway to confirm what is going on. The two people who will be involved are Charlotte Parkinson and Sarah Moss. Charlotte is currently back from maternity leave, but only working 50% of the time. They can be contacted on the main Bluebell number 01825 720800 on weekdays. As previously noted, this years event will be on 2nd and 3rd July. I hope that this is of assistance. All the best Ray P.S. Apparently, there is an ice skating rink in the loco running shed for the half term fortnight !

Hi All. Now that we have manufacturers producing ready to run locos and rolling stock for the L & M R, has anyone given any thought to the other aspects of modelling this railway, such as the track ? All the best Ray

Might some of these limited restriction coaches be used for excursions, say at weekends, when they were not needed for the City services. We were wondering if they could have worked through the widened lines to Crystal Palace and therefore appeared on our High Level layout. All the best Ray

I think that at least one of the grey ones is preserved and do I recall a later variation of the grey livery with an LT roundel on the ducket ? All the best Ray

It is confirmed that Joe Jenner has left the railway. I spoke to someone during the week with regard to the Model Railway Weekend and they are supposed to get somebody to call me back to confirm who will be doing the arrangements. So far nothing received. All the best Ray

Its so you can see the fireman in his string vest sweating his whatsits off !!! All the best Ray

Hi Dave. I spoke to Joe before Christmas and he said that they would be making a decision whether to proceed in January. I have subsequently seen it shown as being on the first weekend in July. Our club are provisionally invited to attend with one of our layouts, but we have not received a formal invite yet. All the best Ray

We did the same with our Hornby 2 Bill and 2 Hals. It is not noticeable unless you specifically look for it. Ray

Hi Tom. Very nice, but you got the livery wrong. It should be maroon, with either Metropolitan or London Transport on the side ! More temptations. All the best Ray

Hi Rob. You do not seem to have got around to printing the Dancehall brake van yet. I note that yours is a Southern built one. Here's my take on that using the Cambrian kit and adding the half plank to the bottom of the sides.. All the best Ray

Hi Rob. On your various cattle wagons, did you consider putting grooves in the back of the upright timbers to take the safety bars rather than printing them as part of the side. That way some brass or nickel silver wire can be inserted which can be more scale thickness and stronger than if printed. Looking forward to those 4mm kits. All the best Ray

That looks very nice.. I believe that the first few R1 rebuilds were carried out in the Wainwright period, so can legitimately carry the full livery. I was not aware that Mr Snail had done the artwork for the paper prints of the livery panels. Must have a word with him. By the way, what type of paper did you print them onto, or was it transfer paper ? Many thanks All the best Ray

One of these would be nice ! All the best Ray