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Always nice to see the Nottingham Victoria photos even though I wasn’t old enough to remember much about the early 50s. Brian.

I decided to go for a basic repair, yes I could have taken it completely to pieces but there other projects that I would rather be doing. The roof was still firmly attached which helped me make the decision. When the end was off I also managed to reattach the glazing strip before re fixing the end with MEK, yes I did clean off the old glue. The other end also came away without a fight so that end was strengthened as well. I must admit that I have more stock than I could ever need, not surprising since I have been modelling since I was in my teens and I’m now mid 70s and rarely sell anything on. Coaches are sometimes taken up to the club to give them a run but since the club layouts are based on lesser railways than the GWR they are not used for exhibitions. Wagons on the other hand are useful. Brian

Oh dear! An attempt to improve what must be a 60 year old coach and this is what happened. I was replacing the anchor chain coupling with a better Smiths version and I ended up removing more than the old one. It looks like the kit was assembled with contact adhesive which has failed. How far to go with the upgrade is yet to be decided. Another part built kit of my cousin's has now been completed. Looking forward to getting Bradley Manor sometime next week, hopefully. Ham fisted Brian

Whilst waiting ‘patiently ‘ for Bradley Manor to arrive I have been trying to remember seeing the real things. Most of my western region spotting was done when on holiday at Barry, with the odd trip from there to Cardiff or occasionally Bristol. Not counting the locos in Woodham’s, I saw 9 others but sadly I can’t recall where. Perhaps the odd one came on a special but all my records have long since gone, only the ABC remains. My memory of Bradley is from seeing it alongside Barry goods shed awaiting its fate, I posted a photo much earlier in this thread. Brian

The annual exhibition presented by the Elizabethan Railway Society will take place on the 7th/8th October 2023 at the usual venue, The Summit Centre, off Lowmoor Road, Kirkby in Ashfield, Notts, NG17 7LL. Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, Sunday 10:00 to 16:00 Adults £5, accompanied children free. Refreshments and free parking. Entrance and refreshments are cash only. Layouts Trade Radford Mill 00 ERS Shawbridge N ERS (New) Sherwood Models Oakenham 00 Dave Raynor ERS (New) Trackside Videos Barden 0 Andy Bonsor ERS Pete Abbott (used) Burdock N Dave Westwood Brickyard Models Doe Lea N Derek Gelsthorpe Fourgig East 0 Ian Mellors Demos etc The Hot Track 00 Kevin Williamson HMRS Martini N Colin Head RCTS +Crazie Maisie's Junior Modelling Club MERG DEMU Cardboard Works 3D printing Brian

Must check my emails ! Brian

Another piece of dismantled rolling stock from my cousin has now been reassembled. I had to replace one of the hand wheels and make some new handrails, fortunately there was one to use as a pattern. Looking at the picture, I must have taken the photo before painting the handrails. This wagon doesn't really fit into my plans but it has been fun putting it back together. Brian

Castles never offend. Brian

A couple of photos of the Beetle. Not very good I'm afraid, still trying to get to grips with a different camera. Waiting for the next 'passengers' Now on a short livestock train. I would like to know what type of trains these vehicles would be used on, attached to a passenger working or what? Any suggestions welcome. Brian

Not much modelling recently although I have just finished a Beetle kit started by my late cousin Chris, no photo at present. We have not been back home long after a holiday in Tenby. On the way down we had a ride on the Gwili Railway from their new station at Abergwili, they still have a lot of work to do there but a very pleasant ride none the less. We also did the walk along the course of the Saundersfoot Railway to Wisemans Bridge, well worth it if you are down in that part of the country. Although we didn't do it this year there is an interesting extension to the walk if you follow the trackbed from Wisemans Bridge to Stepaside. The first time we did that we were amazed to see the remains of the old iron works and mine. Hopefully will get some more modelling done soon. Brian

I would be interested especially since I couldn’t make it last year. Brian

All this talk about Heralds brings back memories of LVH528E, the one we had when we got married 51 years ago. A lovely car to drive with superb visibility and what a turning circle. It did break a few universal joints and had some rust problems when we sold it on but we have a real pang of nostalgia whenever we see one. Brian

Not a lot happening at the moment, I am currently trying to reassemble a Hornby Collett coach which my cousin had taken apart only to find some bits missing and others damaged, it doesn't help when I get glue on the paintwork. More recently I have been adding rain ware to buildings. First up the cottages on the main layout, the Ratio pack was enough to do the front and the back can't be seen. Still much to do to the surroundings. Next the factory, using what plastic I had in stock I made the hoppers and the downpipes are just squre strip. Finally today, some improvement on the mogul. Like many people I have a crew waiting for a Manor!! Brian

I have been making slow progress on a couple of projects. First of all the factory building. The windows from the Scalescenes factory kit have now been fitted, although don't show up clearly but another step forward. Weathering the mogul has gone a step further using powders. Generally I am quite pleased but there are improvements to make. The tender certainly needs attention, photos do show up faults. I'm slowly getting used to the powders, however I don't find it easy to manipulate them, more practice needed. The wheels and underframe have been done by dry brushing enamels. Brian

A bit of a frustrating running session this afternoon. Coaches were regularly derailing at one of the baseboard joints, they have been going over for years without a problem but a touch from the soldering iron seems to have cured the problem. I’ve also had to adjust a couple of micro switches. All part of the fun. Brian

I usually have several projects on the go and work on whichever I feel in the mood to tackle, nothing gets done quickly. In the past I have always weathered wagons but never locos apart from using a dirty black on smokeboxes and cab roofs but since I have been buying British Railways locos as well all over shiny black just looks wrong. So far I have tried washes and dry brushing with reasonable results and the latest learning curve has been powders. Fortunately I have some old bodies to practice on. I have used Humbrol smoke, rust and very sparingly, white and this is where I have got to so far but as yet I don't think I've got it right so any suggestions would be welcome. Would another colour in the mix help? I have also started work on the Dapol mogul, the first job was to renumber it using the excellent Railtec 3D transfers, great to get the number I wanted. There is a photo of 6365 on an excursion at Barry Island so I went for that number, thinking the loco was black I bought a black model but looking closer at the photo the is a hint of lining, I should have gone for a green one, oh well it's not that important. So far only weathered black applied. That's it for now, the grass needs cutting. Brian

Well after spending a lot of time sorting out cousin Chris's modelling projects, most has been sold to a trader, and decorating the modelling room I have now got back to doing some modelling for myself. A few of the kits that I rescued are at the painting stage almost ready to go into service. The bedroom layout is seeing some building work. I did start a Scalescenes factory, but it didn't look right so I have designed my own. I haven't used card and brick paper for a long time so some re-learning to do but the factory pieces are coming in useful. Still some way to go and it certainly won't be up to Little Muddle standard. Brian

I've been watching this threat and thinking how things have changed, so here are some photos of how things used to be. I don't remember when I built the kit or why I bought it but by todays standards it is very basic. It does work. Brian

I really like these low angle shots, just like train spotting used to be. Brian

This is one meeting that I would love to attend, but living 170 miles away makes it impossible with other commitments. Sadly someone else who won’t be there is my cousin Chris Foren, I am sure he would have bought something from the bring and buy and of course, some cake. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to have a good time. Brian

A bit more positive for this post. I have recently managed to get a friend's Railroad 9F back into working order after the tender chassis suffered the dreaded rot. This particular model held sentimental value. Looking at the tender I thought that the best way forward was to replace the chassis with a Comet brass one from Wizard. The tender frames needed a fair amount of plastic cutting away to get the new chassis in, this was done bit by bit so as not to weaken the frame too much. A bit of packing was needed at on end to level things up and some alterations to the brass chassis. With all the necessary plastic cut away the new chassis was fitted and held in place using the original screws. Overall this repair turned out much easier than I had expected. Although it looked like I would have to arrange pickups this was not necessary as the loco has enough to do the job. I was also lucky as the original axles were 2mm diameter so no modification or new wheels needed. A very pleasing result all round. Brian

On the subject of hand built point work, I recently took some stock to run on the club’s Ambleside layout which uses such point work. We have very few problems with modern models but on this occasion my loco, a Dapol 63xx, derailed every time on one particular point. Back to backs checked and were OK so took a closer look at the point and noticed that there was a check rail missing and by the look of things it never had one, it has now. The engine now runs through without a problem. Make of that what you will. Brian

Sadly I have had little time to work on or run Llanforen. I have managed to do some ballasting on the bedroom layout and have made a start on a factory. Many of you will know that my cousin, Chris Foren, died in December and has left my sister and myself a big mess to sort out, this has been taking up an enormous amount of our time, not to mention a lot of upfront costs. I have managed to salvage a lot of his modelling projects. He aspired to be a finescale modeller but I have not found anything completed just lots of started projects which mainly involved taking RTR models to pieces. There are countless P4 wheels, c&w, and unbuilt wagon kits and brass coach sides. Some items will be kept, the rest moved on but I will not be putting anything on eBay, I will try and find a trader, I want my life back. If you think there might be anything amongst the kits that you could make use of please send a PM. A bit of a moan really, sorry for that but hopefully I can get back to normal soon. Best wishes Brian.

Mr Duck, 247 developments do whitemetal outside steam pipes in three different lengths. I believe they are at Doncaster this weekend, Brian Moseby is very helpful. Over the years I have had plenty of bits from him, a satisfied customer. Brian

Thanks for the suggestions about the hessian bag, it was not in his car but there were a few CDs. I have found a photo of the bag which was on his computer, so here it is. I will be at Doncaster on Saturday if anyone wants a chat, I'm not so easily recognised as Chris but if I remember I'll wear my RMWeb badge, if I can find it. Brian