HerbertHopkins

Or if Hugh Smellie had a problem with personal hygiene?

I knew you would know the answer!

Thank you m'lud! (definitely not learned).

Surely a practising solicitor, being unqualified, wouldn't be allowed to call him or her self a solicitor in the first place! I'm sure Gilbert (great northern) would know the answer.

Very nice Tony, I look forward to seeing it painted. Will you be painting it yourself or shipping it out to Mr Rathbone?

Quite agree, although some of the names that the LNER bestowed on A3's didn't work quite as well IMO. 'Pretty Polly' and 'Blink Bonny' have never seemed like appropriate names for top of the range express loco's to me.

It's called old age mate! Lovely photos though, particularly the one with 'Mons Meg' passing the running in board.

I remember The Model Shop well. In fact I remember that, originally, it was situated in the shop next door which was basically the front room of a house! It was very small in there but John, Chris's father, seemed to stock everything you were ever likely to need. He used to advertise in the model press saying 'If I haven't got it I'll get it. If I can't get they don't make it!' It was probably the best stocked model railway shop that I've ever seen. Shame it's no longer there.

Blocked in? If it's a Jowett Javelin it's probably broken down!

Well done Gilbert, I bet you never expected this thread to generate so much interest when you started it! Just goes to show that, if something's done well, people will sit up and take notice. I suppose the next landmark will be 4,000 posts. If we all keep bashing away at our keyboards this might be achieved sooner that you think!

Not only that, but think of the ridiculously sharp curves you'd have to put in to negotiate the 180 degree turn on your staircase!

Happy New Year Gilbert, things have certainly come along in leaps and bounds in the last twelve months. Nice to see that the dodgy tracklaying in the fiddle yard seems to holding up!

Definitely, you can clearly see Spital Bridge in the background. Nice shot of Little Bytham at the beginning, the station building still survives but the goods shed, the subject of the Prototype Models kit, was demolished about four years ago. I was very sad about that although it was in a very poor state of repair by then.

If you are going to do that make sure you don't invite our friend from the other side of Sleaford. He might try to eat it!

I'm sure that nice Mr Wright is quite right and, hopefully, you will find that you have much more modelling ability than you realise. I'm really pleased that TW is now feeling well enough to undertake such a task - let's hope that the experience will be mutually beneficial to both of you. Almost 2,500 posts now!

Not only have we managed to get to page 100 (almost) but there are now nearly 2,500 posts on the thread which is great testament to your foresight and the great skill of many of the people you have drafted in to help you. Nice new loco - now, where's my cheque book? Ah, there it is - oh dear I seem to have used them all up! Still can't get over Peter's buildings, I was mightily impressed when I first saw them, but now the roof is on I'm lost for words. Giving him the commission was an inspired choice.

Gilbert, That is just stunning, Peter has done a fantastic job! Rob

Hi Gilbert, Can't say that I know the origins of this, but I might be able to throw a little light on it. Mark Lane is a street in the City of London, close to the Tower and not far from Fenchurch Street station. In fact, the old Tower Hill tube station, replaced by the present one c.1967, was originally known as Mark Lane. As this train would have probably got to Kings Cross at around 10:00 am it would probably have been popular with local businessmen travelling to London for meetings with their bankers, accountants or, who knows, their legal advisors! I doubt that many people commuted to the capital from Nottingham, or any of the other stations this service stopped at, in those days. In any case, 10:00 would have been a bit late to arrive for work. Why it was called 'The Mark Lane Flyer' specifically I have no idea. Maybe someone else can enlighten us. Hope this helps. Regards Rob

Hi Gilbert, I haven't logged on for a couple of days, so I'm sorry that I missed your birthday - belated happy returns. Funnily enough, I spent Sunday afternoon down the pub with my mate Paul who models LBSCR in EM gauge: it was his birthday as well. I notice that a couple of other posters also had birthdays on the same day so I'm wondering if there is any correlation between when you were born and where your interests lie. The layouts certainly coming along now isn't it? Regards

There's a couple of reasons why I chose that particular motto. First, it always seems, to me at least, as something of a cliche to always have a bus on a layout. I've seen a good number of beautifully modelled small, wayside stations that, in reality, probably only had a few passengers each day, yet there is always a bus conveniently waiting on the forecourt to take these passengers further. To illustrate the point, I often get off the tube (I think that qualifies as a railway - and it does have stations!) at Elephant & Castle, from where I have a choice of about eight different routes for my onward journey. It is not unusual to wait several minutes for one of them to arrive. Secondly, I used to belong to a local club, along with Richard Wilson, where we had a member who was absolutely obsessed with buses, both real and in model form. He would come to the club with his latest EFE or whatever and proudly show it off to all and sundry, despite the fact that most other people were not the slightest bit interested. If you told him you were contemplating building a layout based on a certain place or area he would instantly be able to tell you who the local bus operator was and what sort of buses they used during the period of your proposed layout. When we were building a layout, that subsequently appeared at a number of shows over several years, he was constantly telling us what buses we needed, despite us politely pointing out that this did not figure in our plans. Eventually, when he was going on about it for the umpteenth time I said, more in desperation than anger 'We are not having buses on this layout. Got that?' He seemed rather upset by this and our relationship was never the same again!

Hi Terry, I recall talking to you about Hest Bank, several years ago now, at some exhibition or other when you were a regular member of the Stoke team. It's nice to see the progress you are making - it's looking good, particularly your arrangement with the storage sidings. I'll look forward to further posts as development continues. On a different point, i noticed Gilbert (great northern) commenting that you probably have more locos than him. I know Gilbert well, take that with a pinch of salt, nobody has more locos that Gilbert!

Actually Jeff, Gilbert and I have a little in joke about this loco's name, when pronounced in the southern way, as it perfectly describes a mutual friend!

I remember reading somewhere that, on occasions, a B16 from York worked all the way through to King's Cross - so there would be an excuse to have one running through Peterborough North. Oops, sorry Gilbert, have I just given you a reason to acquire yet another loco?

I've been watching the debate re hiding the bookshelves with interest then, while looking at some of Gilbert's recent pictures, particularly those of Ladas and Gannet, I had an idea. Why not get young Wilson over to explain the delights of photoshop to you? IIRC it was he who actually showed TW how it worked, so learning it can't be that difficult!