BlueLightning

I like the sound of that recipe, I've got a few boxcars 3D printed, but I think I'll have to give that a try, I'll have to see what sizes of wood we have in stock at the shop tomorrow. The layout will definitely find itself being inter-continental in the future, probably not both sides at once though! Gary

Currently all the info I have is on the thread here, we are in the hands of Rapido for any more details, but I will be sure to share anything I receive here as soon as I can. Gary

Good to see the brake van made it across the channel to you! Looks fantastic on your layout! Gary

Good to see this thread pop up again, although I haven't done any more work to the layout (still working up the nerve to make my own trees) it has been my most used layout recently, because my modelling has had a brief move over the pond I don't think any of my American modelling has been seen on RMWeb before, but having been inspired by some online play sessions of Railroads Online I got an H0n30 model of a Porter 0-4-0 to model the starting loco from the game, and the collection has expanded from there, this is the loco collection I now have, but I also have quite a bit of 3D printed rolling stock for them to pull. Modelling is moving back to the UK with the progress on Oak Hill 2 now though, so back on with the layout again soon, hopefully. Gary

As Gary says, hopefully just like the one on Plumpton Green, but I haven't had any artwork mock ups from Rapido yet. Gary

All packed up to ship tomorrow, I've chucked in a couple of bodies from failed prints so you can chop those about without worrying about breaking them. Gary

Ah go on James, you know you want too. I've got plenty just sat around, these are just the ones I had within reach to take the picture. https://www.oakhillworks.co.uk/product/0-4-0-borrows-tank-engine-kit Designed for the Dapol/Hornby pug, I'm honestly not sure a Peckett chassis could be made to fit, but I don't think it would be a million miles off if it was tried. Gary

It's designed for, and I have used Peco Bullhead, my 3 way point is made with C&L and that happily fits in the Peco fishplates, so I expect the profile is close enough that either could be used Gary

Thanks James, It will be added to the range, and will be £12 for a 195mm long pit, and yes they are ash pits and there should be an inspection pit inside the shed, I suppose now that I can produce them myself I have no excuse not to do it! This is the prototype I copied, I made the steps in the side of the brickwork smaller to give the pit a wider floor compensating for narrower 00 gauge, but I think I've managed to produce a reasonable likeness. (Full picture, Southern Sheds in Camera by Roger Griffiths, page 56) Gary

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I wrote an update, and when I left you last, I had not quite finished laying the platform roads. Well, as well as getting lots of break vans, I've done a bit more track laying! The platform road is done, as is the run around, and the goods yard (incorporating my hand made point) has appeared! and I must say, I'm rather happy with this end of the layout and until this morning, this was all there was, because I was stuck needing ash pits for in front of the shed, the main problem here being that Peco haven't introduced a pit for their bullhead rail yet. So finally this morning I wanted to see what I could do about that, and armed with a photo of the pits at Epsom shed, and some known dimensions, I fired up Fusion 360 and started drawing, until I had something that looked like this Which doesn't look like much, until you star cloning it, and adding steps at the end And then a few hours later, I had a section of inspection pit that I could test with actual rails, I wasn't sure the chairs would print, and was fully expecting to have to glue some C&L chairs onto the final model, but everything went better than expected and so I printed another section, cut a hole in the basebord top (slightly off from the original placement as there is a support under the layout there) and sunk the pit into the board The second pit is printed, however it was too late to cut the hole by the time it was done, so fitting that will have to wait until tomorrow, but now the shed area is down, it means that the last bit of track to lay is the turntable, suppose I'd best get an order into London Road Models at some point! Although that might be a while as I have my daughters birthday, and a car to MOT in the near future! It's really feeling like it is there now! Trains will be running before we know it!! Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed, Gary

I'll see what I can do 😁 Gary

Thanks for the purchase! Glad the shameless advertising worked, I did wonder if the post had encouraged a purchase when I saw your name pop up on an order, the first batch (Clearly we need more staff on days we do this!) went in the post yesterday, first class, yours may have been one of them! Gary

I can confirm, all our stock have arrived in Eastbourne, along with our exclusive K&ESR version Rapido have done a great job on these, and they look stunning in all the liveries. Gary

No update on the layout yet, but after taking a bit of a drive today, I have put a few boxes on it! These are the first of my exclusive models that the shop has commissioned! the SE&CR 6 wheel brake van I had to have a look at one on the layout, so the first one came out the box (and will be staying with me obviously) Rapido have done a great job once again. The shop has a few left, but not many, these should start shipping tomorrow!! It's all a bit exciting!! Sorry for the shameless advert, but it's my thread, and I'm very excited! Hope you enjoyed, Gary

Hi Jeff, Health wise, I feel OK, but never got a diagnoses, I was still being prodded and poked when Covid came along and everything got cancelled, nothing has happened post pandemic, but generally my heath has returned, so I have left the NHS alone rather than adding to its crisis trying to find what is going on under the hood. As for the Mallard, I keep meaning to work on it, it's sat next to my workbench to remind me to do something with it every time I sit down, which is quite a lot these days actually. My modelling skills have come on quite substantially (That's a bit of an understatement) since I last worked on it, so I have been planning on stripping it back to kit for and starting again with solder. The biggest thing that really prevents work on it is that lockdown craziness made me give up my gainful employment, and I now find myself being a railway modeller full time, in fact I own a model shop in Eastbourne these days, quite different to when I was working in IT, or running a medium sized courier firm, but a change I'm very glad I made. It does however mean that after a day running the shop and repairing other peoples models, a lot of the time I get home and don't want to do any modelling for myself! I have recently built myself a new display for my models in my living room, and have the perfect place for Mallard in in though, so hopefully not too long until it can perch proudly in place. Gary

Track laying has commenced! I started off with the fiddle yard, because, well why not? From there I started to make my way out of the fiddle yard, starting with the modified points/double slip combination, this section also contains a transition from the code 100 of the fiddle yard, through standard code 75, and onto the code 75 bullhead of the scenic section. and then onto the platform area but that's enough for tonight, the kids are off to bed, so no more using the drill to put the droppers through the baseboard. More to come later in the week hopefully! Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed, Gary

Just in case Ian doesn't see his notifications to reply, my photo is of the 4mm version, they will be £50 per coach, he's just got a bit of a redesign to do on the bogies. It was a very last minute trip for me too, the girlfriend unexpectedly decided I should choose our day out, and despite not looking overly impressed, she didn't object, and even got herself a couple of trains! Gary

Coming soon from @ianmaccormac LBSC American Pullman cars, more details on his blog http://ianmaccormacmodels.blogspot.com/ Same, shame I didn't know you were there, would have been good to have met you! Gary

It's been busy recently, not much work on the layout, but I have managed to modify the points for the station area, so now all the track is ready to be laid! Cutting into the double slip was rather scary, but it seems to have come out OK Gary

I can mention that to Tom, I can't recall the as designed setup and how it differs from his open A's off hand, and all my bits are currently packed away and out of easy reach having not yet unpacked from showing off most of the range (including a few unannounced upcoming bits) at the Brighton Circles Spring Meeting over the weekend. Wouldn't that be wonderful 😉 Oxford Dean Goods rather than Bachmann C Class Gary

You're not the only one that prefers multimedia, when finally building one for myself I will roll a new roof out of brass for example, but requiring that in the kit would defeat the point of them being able to be made by anyone with any skill level. Love the mods you've made so far, looking forward to seeing it finished. Gary PS. Glad you liked and found a use for the box, they were quite expensive (as far as boxes go)

What a fantastic idea! Gary

That's been used as well, although much less notably 😛 Gary EDIT: This doesn't mean don't use it, I would not object to a layout of a station having the same name as my loco works

Always puts a smile on my face to see my kits out in the wild! Gary

I rather like the look of the carriage roof like that, but don't forget to remove the bits over the top of the lamps! Gary