Chas Levin

Fabulous!

That's fascinating, many thanks for posting! Some extra details of what went on in the cab are visible there, apart form the general interest. And are those frames actually Sentinel Shunters?

Late to the party, but another vote here for CR Signals. I use them with Heathcote sensor boards, great system!

Superb looking addition to the model Rob! I'd say well worth the effort (though I know it's much easier for me to say that perhaps than for you!).

There's also the thick black band inside the thinner white surrounding the spectacles, which I'd suggest is even more noticeable.

Thanks, Tony! And although I model more slowly than you, I share the intention never to waste a future minute.

Sorry to hear of this difficulty Denys; glad to hear you're persevering with things that are easier to deal with, as in glueing instead of soldering. Life and health can be a bit of a lottery. I've seen my dad and my aunt's physical - and mental - capabilities deteriorate through Parkinsons; so far, I have escaped anything similar, but far from taking it for granted, I think every day how lucky I am. Should I develop anything similar, I too would try to continue as far as I could. If it isn't too outspoken, I sometimes think that if there were more 'glass is half full' people in the world, it would be a considerably happier place. Apologies @Tony Wright if this is a little inappropriate or maudlin; it's something I think about a lot - as I know many of us do - and something in DenysW's post caught my thoughts. We are very lucky to have such an absorbing and engaging hobby and to have this way of maintaining a community! Time for a nightcap... 🥃

Lovely vehicles and lovely photos Mike - I particularly like that first one, of the two coaches with the rear one less sharply focussed: it makes a very attractive composition.

I'm the opposite: for me, stepping up close to a layout is sufficient to blur the detail. All in all though, age brings more benefits than drawbacks I think. Well, so far, at any rate; we'll see whether I still feel that way in another decade... 😑

Yes, absolutely: it looked very attractive in real life (the photos don't do it justice) and I certainly enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether it was intended as an accurate historical model or not; I didn't stay and chat as we were going on from the show to meet a friend for lunch just outside the town. And I'd say the same Graeme as I said to Stephen above: with soft-focus specs on, it was very pretty! Actually Graeme, I seem to recall from something you said once that your line of business was optical - is that right? If so, you could attend shows wearing one of those multi-lens contraptions (google tells me they are called Optometry Trial Frames) and pop some extra lenses in for layouts whose detail is best kept indistinct but whose overall impression is very pleasant... 😉

Well gents, fair comments all, but I only said it was my 'favourite' layout, I didn't make any claims for its authenticity! To put things in context a little, almost all the other layouts were less interesting to me personally either because they were not my geographical area, or they were too modern or because they were too small in scale (I tend to prefer 4mm and up), so this one appealed because it was rather closer to my tastes. Yes, I've wondered before now why certain vehicles are chosen as grounded body kits and assumed they must be aimed at the presumably large section of the modelling public who are not especially choosy as to railway company. I wonder what the sales figures are for those kits? I guess anyone aiming at a more consistently authentic look would make their on grounded bodies from kits of correct rolling stock for ther era and area: that's certainly what I have in mind for one in due course...

Don't count your chickens P4 they're hatched... 🤣 (Sorry...)

Interesting point Richard - my Midland knowledge isn't sufficient to have spotted that; I'd have spotted it on a GNR or LNER layout - at least, I hope I would have done!

The bloke at the back in the flat cap is saying "Have you got anything by Black Slate?" (100% reggae fan) and the bloke in the apron at the front is haggling with the one standing in the wagon over a rare bootleg he's just found of - wait for it... ...The Quarrymen! 🤣 (Sorry - time for bed...)

Ah... the dream. Aim for the stars and you might hit a chimney-pot, as one of my school teachers used to say... 🙂

A very enjoyable visit yesterday to RISEX at Princes Risborough, where my favourite layout was Loughborough Road: I also very much liked the HO Polish layout Tamzynowo Wlk, but forgot to take photos of it! 🙄

Ah - thank you, the penny is slowly dropping! There's a thread on here aboutline nicknames which I shall have to read...

Edited because I realised I must have misunderstood your meaning Stephen: was the Caledonian nicknamed the 'Premier Line' then?

I forgot to say, another thing I found interesting was that these etched sides curved very evenly in spite of the half-etched panelling and beading. I was concerned there might be some odd artefacts from those features and from forces against the beading being different from those across the half-etched panels - I thought perhaps the panels might buckle inwards towards their centres, for instance, but nothing like that happened, which is something useful to know about the rolling bars.

That's an interesting idea David, de-bending on a mouse mat; I'll try that at some point, as I can see the advantages. I have to say though that in this case I found using an unyielding surface seemed to make the flattening of the bend easier to control. And yes, I know of the effects of work-hardening but that shouldn't be a problem here, as I'm currently happy with the shape as it now is. That being said, I inserted the word 'currently' there as I know myself well enough to be fairly sure I'll want to tweak the shape a tiny bit more when I come to assemble the body, so: do you know if work-hardening of metals like brass and NS is something that persists over time, something that accumulates over successive sessions, even when they're weeks apart? Or do the effects of a session die away over time, so that another session a while later starts 'from zero' as it were? I should have thought it similar to metal fatigue, where it fractures if you bend it repeatedly in quick succession, but you can bend it once or twice, then leave it a good long time and bend it again... 🤔

Hm; this is where I should say something to the effect that statistics can be made to prove anything (Mark Twain or Homer Simpson, depending on your cultural preferences). When I described the GNR as Britain's premier line, I was of course not speaking in terms of cold, hard figures but rather, in terms of style, prestige and those ineffable qualities that distinguish the great from the many... 🍻 🥇 🔝

That's a form of built-in obsolescence, isn't it, if we exert ourselves to attract those who will eventually succeed us. As you say though Stephen, it is - or should be - part of the natural cycle of renewal. Yes, I'd certainly agree that we have a wealth of material - it was after all one of the major national trunk lines (some would argue that "The GNR was Britain's premier main line from 1870 to 1923": discuss, in less than 5000 words, to be handed in on Monday). Now, in much the same way that you pointed out to me at Warley that just because I'm a GNR and LNER man, that shouldn't stop me from joining the Midland Railway Society (which I subsequently did), I feel I can put to you the same argument, that your "confirmed Midland enthusia(m)" shouldn't stop you from joining the GNRS! 😉

Oh damn: making a terrible mess and influential enemies were near the top of my to-do list after being confirmed in post! I'll have to think of something else now... 🤔 I would hope too that the post will be approved, but it doesn't do to take things for granted so I didn't want to write on here that it's all confirmed when it isn't. But yes, I think it is exciting to be involved in something like this! I hope there isn't too much of a volunteer dearth at present; there does seem to be one to a certain degree, going by the reports of more than one society. Hopefully new recruits - some of them towards the younger end of the model railway age range - will step into the gaps in due course. This subject comes up quite regularly on RM Web (on Tony Wright's 'Wright Writes' thread for instance) and on there, it usually generates some very optimistic replies, some of them from younger modellers pointing out that all is not lost - I felt very optimistic myself after the last airing there of this topic, which was of course triggered by the recent national press stories about the perceived unhealthy state of the hobby following the closure of both the Warley show and Hattons. Time will tell...

Thanks David and yes, you're right about the subtlety of the prototype: You may have missed my most recent post though, at the foot of the previous page, where I said "I took another look at the curvatures last night and flattened a couple of areas out ever so slightly, where I think I'd been a tiny bit too enthusiastic..." and I did exactly as you suggest, putting the curved pieces onto the flat desktop and very gently going over them with a rounded metal shape (actually the extra lens frame from my LED mag lamp). The nickel-silver seems easily workable without having done any annealing and it easily and consistently de-curved. I was definitely too excited about using the new toy! I'll be making partitions and door frames in due course, with edges made to conform as accurately as possible to the prototype side curvature and I can then match the turnunder to them.

Yes, I found you do need to see from different angles and that the posable ball-joint vice was good for that. Also fully agree that a little at a time and frequent checking is very good. I took another look at the curvatures last night and flattened a couple of areas out ever so slightly, where I think I'd been a tiny bit too enthusiastic: overall I think these rollers are a terrific piece of equipment - they give a real sense of control over the material!