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I can also see that you are working on your stash of wagon kits. Brian

Absolutely superb videos! Thanks for posting, it reminds me that we have all missed seeing moving trains at exhibitions. Brian

It is always a good idea to make mock ups, in the long run it saves time because you don’t make a detailed building that you can’t use. Brian

In a recent running session I have put the suburban rake into service, the weathering certainly helps the appearance and I still need to do something with the roofs. You may notice that the engine is now showing a lamp. I don't know where the lamp came from, it is whitemetal and needed a hole drilling to fit over the irons. Easy enough at the front but not an easy fit on the bunker. In the past I have only fixed lamps on engines which will always be on the same type of train, Castles for example, however I am looking to be more flexible on mixed traffic locos and of course many of my tank engines will be running bunker first. Any suggestions will be welcome. One thing I have noticed on a lot of layouts where lamps are used is that they show up really clearly whereas in reality they are often barely visible and no longer pristine white, a touch of weathering is needed there as well. Best wishes to all and keep modelling, it certainly is helping me get through these trying times. Sorry my photos are not as good as many that are posted, I am not a photographer and I can't usually be bothered to use the tripod for a few quick shots, also the garage lighting was not designed for a model railway, improvement is on my to do list. Brian

I’m sure you mean 5070 having two 5080s just isn’t right. Brian

Thanks for the tip, back to zero stock now, I just ordered the last one. Mine will become 5082 Swordfish. Brian

Progress looks quick to me, coming on nicely. Brian

Having decided that I will do a bit more BR modelling it is clear to me that I will have to weather all stock, previously I have only done wagons. A lot of advice suggests an airbrush, but to do this I would need to get out into the garage and although it is fairly well insulated to house the layout in the winter months the atmosphere is not conducive to spraying. Apart from that setting up the airbrush does get in the way of the layout. Dry brushing on the 56xx worked quite well at normal viewing distances so I have now tried some coaches. Many years ago I bought some Mk1 suburbans, I can't think why perhaps they were cheap. Anyway I have had a go, concentrating on the underframes and experimenting with washes on the lower body sides. Before. After. The coach ends also needed painting black as did the wheels. I think that the roofs would also benefit from a coat of roof dirt. Not too happy with the sides but this is a learning curve and again the coach looks worse in a close up photo. At some point I would like to see how I get on with weathering powders, Rob Gunstone's locos are an inspiration. There has been a lot of discussion about the Dapol mogul, well I decided to go for a black one, and after a brief run on the test track it has now gone of to Santa. First brief impressions were very good. Brian

You are going to need a lot more vans as well as an O4. Brian

I agree that the engine shed is unlikely but I do like the curved approach to the station. Looking forward to seeing the progress. Brian

I forgot to mention this on the topic of models reminding me of what I remember seeing in my train spotting days and earlier, that I long ago purchased the following. A Hornby Hymek, it runs as well as ever but could do with it's wheels cleaning. A Lima Western, same comments as the Hymek. A Bachmann Warship, sadly this has started to succumb to mazak rot so now a non runner, oh well. Brian

With the new Dapol mogul now appearing I will have to decide which one I want to buy. My future modelling is looking towards the circa 1960 period with the emphasis on things I can remember, however I am not thinking of building a new layout. On the subject of moguls, I gave my old Mainline model a spin. It works, but there is no fine control. The same can be said of 7813 Freshford Manor Back to some more wagon kits now and further thoughts about the things that I would like to add to my collection. I know that I have too much stock for the size of my layout but I do get pleasure in building kits etc. Best wishes Brian

Which one am I going to buy? Robin is correct that 247 do have outside steampipes listed, small, medium and large. Brian

The World’s End, although it is by a tree. Brian

I have to admit to being rather inactive of late, too much time reading and not enough doing. The virtual show at the weekend was most enjoyable and a South Wales engine announced in the form of the Kerr Stuart Victory. Will I be buying one, err no. A rather indifferent photo of my CSP kit. There are a lot of new locos arriving at about the same time, I don't need them but can you ever have too many. The funds put aside from the sale of some 7mm narrow gauge locos is going to come in handy. After finishing the Barry D class I have been thinking about my future plans and it looks like I will be doing more British Railways modelling, a 94xx and a 16xx help to make that decision. I am also thinking of how I can fit a small 8' long portable layout in the spare bedroom, but those thoughts are at a very early stage. In the meantime I have more wagons to build plus a 2021 pannier. Best wishes, Brian

As with most things in this hobby there are different ways of doing things, finding one that suits you is the important thing. Try different ways of covering the trunk, I use a hot glue gun, but a different method that you're not so happy with can still find a place on your layout. The same goes for the foliage, my trees are a mixture of Woodland Scenics fibre matting and their foliage clumps, often depending on what I have available but the end result is variety. Thanks for all of your posts. Brian

Hello Solli, you will get lots of useful advice on here, some you will want to take on board, some yo won't. You have a lot of space to use so my advice would be not to try and fill it all with track and avoid straight lines. Trains look much nicer snaking through gentle curves. Best wishes with the project and keep posting. Brian

Rob, your mention of Visions of Steam reminded me that I also have a copy. It is a long time since I have looked at it so now is the time to put that right and a copy of BRM has just arrived so I have plenty of reading to keep me busy. I have followed the sheep for a while and I like the overall appearance you get from your weathering, it is something that can be done without setting up the airbrush. Must give it a try. Thanks fo all of your posts, always inspiring. Brian

Robin, have you tried Squires for paint, a minimum order for free postage but these days it doesn’t take much to reach it. Humbrol and Railmatch stocked. Brian

For anyone interested in the railways of South Wales I have recently bought this new book and can thoroughly recommend it. It is the usual Pen and Sword format, plenty of photos, background information and weight diagrams. Pre grouping locos and their GWR rebuilds also feature and one photo was a particular bonus for me. One of my recent builds, a rebuilt Barry B1, has never looked quite right at the front end but a photo of a member from the same batch has made me feel a lot better. Even better, the photo was taken with the loco in the cutting outside of my grandparent's house. For some reason I haven't taken a photo of the completed model so I have had to make do with the one above. Brian

Great Western Album by R. C. Riley. 6023 on Hemerdon bank on a Plymouth to Paddington train. Dated 26 March 1937. The photo is attributed to W N Lockett. What is more surprising is that I knew where to look an found it straight away. Brian

Having built several mineral wagon kits over the last few months I have some spare parts and for some reason a Parrkside chassis. It would be silly not to use them so this is what I did. There is always plastic sheet and sections in the draw to use them with. I do not claim that the result represents any particular prototype but in amongst a train of similar 16t minerals it will take a real expert to pick it out. Ready for painting posed along side a Cambrian ex LMS wagon, this kit provided some of the spares. Best wishes Brian

I seem to remember using a wood stain when I did mine. Brian

First of all my attempt at photographing from a different position. By taking off part of the backscene, which I have to do when the boiler is serviced, I could place the camera on the track and get this shot. On another matter I have now got a working 47xx again. I don't know why it didn't work before but when I tried the Dapol dummy plug again I had movement, hurray. More details on the Heljan thread. Put to work in South Wales(!) on a van train. Now back to a wagon project. Brian

I am very pleased to say that I now have a working 47xx. I managed to contact Ben Jones and although he could only direct me back to Gaugemaster he did mention that he regularly mixes and matches PCBs from different manufacturers. So taking this on board I thought that I may as well try the Dapol dummy plug again and it worked. Needless to say, I cannot explain why. Maybe I hadn't put it in correctly before, there was a loose contact somewhere who knows but it works now. Thanks to all of you who made suggestions, they certainly helped. Brian