Chamby

I would keep the PW train for now, Tony, for the reasons others have given above. But it could be flagged as a future candidate for ‘continuous improvement’, in much the same way as you approached the girder bridge. I don’t think a model railway can ever be ‘finished’. There’s always something that can be improved... it’s just that these things tend to become less profound over time!

The fishplates are easy enough to use, but you need to open them up a bit first. I push a Stanley knife blade down into the top slot, this seems to open them up just the right amount to slip on easily but still grip the rail. Hold the fishplates in a small pair of taper-nose pliers when pushing them onto the rail. Agree with others comments above about ‘fragility’: yes it is finer than ‘bullet proof’ Code 100 but there’s absolutely no problem if it is handled with reasonable care. I used four boxes of the stuff and didn’t lose or break any. The track is strong and durable once laid and ballasted. if you want fine-looking trackwork that looks the part, it’s great. If you want something more chunky that can take some abuse, or kids are going to be running their stuff on it, then stick with code 100. It depends on your modelling priorities.

Hi Martin, I have used the woodland scenics foam track bed rolls, and can highly recommend it. It is a nice product to use. I have used it as supplied on single track, and in combination with the sheet version for double track. Below, shows the chamfered foam split down the middle, with a section of sheet cut to shape in-between to give the required width. Track-laying in progress: the foam is easy to trim to shape as required. I split the foam roll down the middle, and use the proposed track centre line as a guide to laying. I used neat PVA glue, and map pins to keep it in place whilst drying. In summary... not cheap, but an excellent product. Phil

Good afternoon, Andrew. You are absolutely right of course, though perhaps I should have pointed out that this particular train does most of its running on our club layout, depicting the WR in west London. So it is not photographed in its usual habitat!

Re: Items of questionable origin but 'looking the part', I have a modified RTR breakdown train, posted here for comparison. In need of weathering, but repainted and lettered using a set of transfers available from Fox's. This is probably the 'lazy man's' equivalent! These are otherwise unmodified models, comprising Bachmann's Ransome & Rapier crane, bogie well wagon, Hornby's generic 4-wheel brake, and Hornby's GWR clerestory brake. An open wagon and box van have since completed the train. Phil.

Looking good, Trevor! Re: dropping the backscene an inch, I’m probably with you on this. Alternatively, you could perhaps achieve the same result if you increase the height of the hedgerow to the left of the cottages, so that it blends into the tree line on the backscene behind it. There’s a thin sliver of light green fields running across the view, that stands out to my eye... hiding this behind the hedge would get rid.

And these days, that output is so often generated online. The first thing many bored people tend to do now is dive into the Internet, rather than do real stuff. At a time when I was made redundant, about twelve years ago, I spent a great deal of time mooching around on the Internet, simply because it was there: readily accessible and full of weird and wonderful content. It became an escape from the reality I was facing in the real world. Amongst other things, I was drawn into the world of online gaming, assuming a fictitious character, but quickly joining a team of players, gaining respect from others who lived all around the globe, and building assets and achieving things in a totally made up world. Initially this was immensely absorbing and fascinating. This is where many imaginative people live today, where they now generate their output arising from boredom. It served its purpose at the time, but after too long immersed in an artificial world, I realised that instead of being a fulfilling activity, it was in fact simply a time-stealer. Living in a virtual environment Is very stimulating, immersive and appears to be rewarding, but ultimately it achieves diddly squat in the real world. The more time spent indulging yourself online, the less tangible, real output you have! That was the point at which I decided to return to the hobby of my youth, railway modelling. There are millions of people out there, especially in generations younger than ours, that will have to go through a similar epiphany and start seeing the internet as a real-world time-stealer rather than an escape from the pressure of working and living in the real world. The problem is, they won’t have a foundation of hobbies like we had, in our pre-Internet childhood. It is, of course, a moot point whether our hobby is just another kind of time stealer, albeit one with physical substance rather than existing virtually. I wonder how many of us would be railway modellers now, had the Internet been around in our youth and the railway scene been as amputated as it is today. Not many, I suspect. My apologies if this is all a bit deep for a Friday morning on RMWeb. Writing this post has stolen enough of my time already today, it’s time I get back to the modelling bench!

I can vouch that cats on layouts and overhead catenary are definitely not compatible! The overhead on my former Swiss loft layout required several rebuilds, after the cat learned how to access my loft via an open velux window. Our family pet is now a medium sized dog and my layout is out of reach at 40” above floor level. Having switched to modelling post war Eastern Region, neither pet trespass or catenary are now an issue. But instead, I am plagued by crinkly ginger dog hairs that seem to get everywhere, I keep finding them on the layout, on the workbench... they even turn up in the clubroom, having hitched a ride on my stock boxes. And yes, now any photography requires meticulous cleaning beforehand.

Buses do lean...

Most people would keep that sort of thing private...

WFH can be a great thing for all the reasons given. Yes, it does depend on the job. But more than anything else, it depends on the person and unfortunately there will always always a minority who abuse the system and spoil it for everyone. @Regularity, you don’t always recruit the team you have to manage... often you inherit them, especially after a promotion.

As a manager, as well as sorting your own life out when working from home, it’s much harder when your staff are working from home too. Your mindset has to shift from the hours someone is working, to what they producing. (Output as opposed to input). That favours those who work more quickly. You also can’t insist on working hours, unless someone is doing customer service telephone calls during the working day, for example. Some homeworkers will work best in the evenings, so you can’t query when you call them during daytime hours and find them walking the dog, out shopping, washing the car or even doing hobbies! You may have your suspicions about those who are slacking, but managing it becomes a nightmare. When I worked from home, the biggest problem was my dog. By mid-morning I’d end up with a collection of balls and soft toys around my feet and a very frustrated animal complaining loudly at me! Nowadays, companies are expected to do a full assessment of home working space for suitability, and provide the right equipment - including the ergonomics of desk, chair etc, as well as the IT. More admin stuff to detract from actually doing work... It’s all so much easier within the disciplines of a workplace, for everyone concerned.

Hi Tony, I too am currently disposing of a GWR collection, on behalf of a widow of a former enthusiast, but in my case the collection is all RTR. This collection also has a 45xx, Hall and Dean goods. Plus a Star, County (both 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 types), large prairie, 42xx, 4700 2-8-0, King, Grange, Castle, a couple of panniers and a saddle tank. There can’t be many GWR prototypes that have not been produced by the manufacturers now?

It also depends upon your main modelling focus. Is your model railway simply the environment through which your prized locomotives haul trains through, or conversely are the trains simply a moving component in your carefully modelled landscape? If the latter, then modern RTR offerings will more than meet the modellers need. Of course, it’s not an ‘either/or’ scenario, some like it all to be built to perfection. But the ‘broad church’ that is often referred to, is why both RTR and kit construction will continue to have a place in our hobby. One modeller I know sees his (superb) model railway as a way to showcase his hobby of architectural modelling: including a railway in the model townscape adds interest, but also gives him an exhibition outlet to both showcase his work and receive wider critical acclaim than he would otherwise get. As we so often say, each to his own!

Work out what percentage of the road length on your layout is on a bridge. Place a similar percentage of your buses on a bridge, to the nearest whole bus. Invoke the laws of probability!

I use both Peco and C&L joiners. The tiny Peco metal bullhead ones (SL-114) are discreet when painted, durable and excellent for running lengths of track. I use the C&L version specifically when I need insulated joiners, which Peco don’t do. Though the C&L joiners look even smaller and finer, I have also found them to be more fragile and prone to breaking over time.

Makes sense, as the furniture shop is named after its founders, the Rosevear family.

Rosevears is the name of the furniture shop on the corner of the main crossroads in Bugle, opposite The Bugle Inn. A bit closer to your chosen location than Tas!

C&L used to say that the thicker sleepers are to match other proprietary brands of track, including Peco. The thinner sleepers are more economical on ballast. I have used the thicker sleepered C&L track in conjunction with Peco, they go together well. You can use the Peco rail joiners to join both tracks together, but may need to open the gap very slightly to fit C&L. C&L is easier to lay for straight track, Peco easiest on curves. They have different webbing between the sleepers, C&L webbing needs to be cut to curve.

The Devon Great Consols mine was the world’s largest copper mine in its day. It comprised a number of Wheals including Maria, Anna Maria, Josiah, Emma, and.... Fanny. So how about Great Fanny Consols? And you can justify the name!

John beat me to it... clearly I am the one confused with TV channels! I believe the episode is repeated on Thursday evening at 8pm? This was the second episode, the first is available on catch-up.

Hi Jol, Did you perchance see the programme on Yesterday (Freeview channel 26) last night about Hornby? It showed the modern method of model making... all done with scanning technology and computers. It made me realise that there is much less of an art in model design now, it being rather more about the use of technology. Perhaps this is why we're seeing the emergence of new RTR suppliers, now the process is becoming less of a dark art and more openly available? Phil

They be ‘n Emmet?

Peco Code 100 streamline is still the most popular system because it is cheaper, sturdy and reliable - even modellers using bullhead trackwork on their models mostly stick with code 100 in their fiddle yards, which is often over 50% of the trackwork! I agree with positive comments about the bullhead track, I have used it extensively but I still wish Peco had stuck with their already proven electrofrog design for the turnouts.

They have announced a diamond crossing, single and double slips... showed samples at Warley 2019 but they are still awaited. Covid and lockdown had a big impact on the availability of Peco stuff, it seems to be taking them a while to get back on track...