D1059

Thanks - not everything is ready made - its a combination of ready to plant resin (eg the small oil tanks, bus depot (albeit chopped in 2), office block), plastic kits or kit bashed (large oil tank, signal box), scratchbuilt (goods shed - but made by a friend) and laser cut card (warehouse). Giving everything a wash of acrylic, dilute, gunk helps unify the differing build methods.

Thats good news - thanks

I've tried Wills sheets before - but all I end up with is something that looks like.............................a bunch of Wills sheets glued together, rather than a building I've also tried card/brickpaper and card/plasticard over the years, but it never works. Then all these ready to plant resin castings started coming out and I just gave up as I could never get anything to look as good as that

I love how you say 'a few evenings' work on some Wills sheets' I could spend months trying to get something to look that good and still not manage it - well done

Interesting link about the Ecoplugs - do we know if they are being used ? - or will we just get the usual clearances and 5 years down the line it will be as bad (or worse) than it is now

Hope you enjoyed the show at Abingdon - CIty Basin Goods performed well and I nearly ran out of info sheets, such was the interest. Thanks One for the hydraulic enthusiasts - the only loco problem all day was the failure in traffic of my Class 47 - the only diesel electric I have. For some reason it has a dead short whenever power is applied. A works visit beckons.

City Basin Goods will be at the Abingdon exhibition on the 28th February - the warehouse won't be finished, but it is more advanced than the last pictures Pop by and say hello

This is how it used to look in the 80s Railfreight Grid To The Rescue by D1059, on Flickr

Stop making me feel so OLD

Interesting - a modern twist on a minimal Ian Futers NB layout. Nice that you can run different periods

The early motorway structures are STILL ugly over 50 years later. The only modern bridges that appear to have any grace at all are suspension bridges I don't know about the rest of you - Yes the GWML will be a thoroughly modernised railway when completed and hopefully a hell of a lot more reliable, but on the whole we seem to be losing far more in this country than we are gaining

Just taken delivery of some laser cut buildings to form the parcels depot. In the process of putting them together. Certainly makes that end of the layout look different

City Basin Goods will be at the Abingdon show on Saturday 28th February Drop by and say hello

Look promising - certainly has the feel of a back of the town route into the station past all the local industry (much as Norwich was like until electrification and the elimination of most of the original railway buildings and since then the redevelopment of the whole surrounding area) - just needs a high level car park overlooking the station for all the spotters to gather in I too like the grain siding (maltings ?)

Seek and ye shall find https://flic.kr/p/fQbCiT

An appeal for help please I have just acquired a new Class 04 to shunt the aggregate trains into and out of the private siding after the previous one expired. It runs much better than the old one, but not well enough to avoid some stalling (inevitable I guess with such a short, rigid, wheelbase). I think I'm going to have to resort to using a spare conflat wagon as a runner fitted with extra pickups - has anyone done this and has some photos showing the pickup arrangement on the wagon underframe please Thanks

Wow - how have I missed this thread. Very nice layout - great weathering and really captures that 70s feel

Serious accident on the A34 last night near Oxford involving a rail substitution coach which broke down and was then almost immediately rammed off the road from behind by a lorry. Fortunately no one killed, but some with serious injuries

Every now and then enthusiasts 'luck in' on a really rare working and this was one of them. Travelling down from Birmingham I heard that a 47 had failed at Banbury on an earlier Paddington bound train, and that 40 004 had replaced the failed loco. WR, wanting to get rid of the LMR visitor as soon as possible, let it work back from Paddington on 1M13 the 11:50 to Birmingham New Street which I picked up from Reading. Pretty much the entire first coach was taken up with enthusiasts, and it looked like a railtour with every window having someone leaning out of it all the way to Coventry where I got off. The scene here is at Leamington Spa, by which time the sun had come out. Class 40 Out of Paddington by D1059, on Flickr

That looks fantastic. Have NR cleared the track of weeds down at the southern exit from the yard ? Last time I photographed from there some years ago the track was so bad it looked disused

Thanks - haven't taken much notice of the GEML in many years and couldn't recall the dates

Unfortunately, the only 'workable' economic model we have demands ever increasing growth and demand to sustain itself. The only way successive governments have found of achieving that is a continually increasing population level. That causes all the problems we now see with housing and infrastructure. When was the last time the UK saw a sustained decrease in population ? World War 1 and 2....maybe, but not for long. I think you would have to go back to the Black Death before you found an example of that.

I've been driving up to Norfolk for family reasons for 30 years (having lived there for over 10 years before that as well) and the last 2 years or so (since the dualing work on the A11 started in earnest on the final section south of Thetford) have been the worst for delays and disruption that I can remember since the late 80s. Pretty much whenever I travel there is a huge jam or a diversion somewhere As to the comments on the fact that the GEML only gets cast off traction and rolling stock, consider 1958 - brand new class 40s late 60s - nearly new class 47s and early Mk2 stock 1980 - 10 year old a/c fitted Mk 2's 1986 - 20 year old class 86s 1990s (?) - 10 year old Class 90s Don't think the GEML has had any new stock in my lifetime - class 40s were the last brand new kit deployed out of the box to Norwich services As to the ambition to have Norwich - London in 90 minutes. Dream on. Can't see that anytime soon

Not really - personally, I'd like to see the electrification decision reversed and then the HST's progressively replaced with re-introduced Westerns, Warships and Hymeks

Oh dear - if your lovely clean 37s are to be used on RHTT duties they aint going to stay that way for long !