Echo

Engineering models are normally of much higher quality than this and to a relatively large scale. Far more likely a home made model by a highly imaginative modeller, in my opinion.

Ahem!!! I wonder where you got that bridge simulation idea from??????????? Seriously, looking very good. Keep up the excellent work!

According to a study done within the Scalefour Society, 2mm scale wheel and flange gap standards are good for sub-3ft gauge lines in the UK. Anything wider and standard gauge standards are best. By adapting 2mm roller gauges, you could build your track to any gauge you like - including 8mmish for near 2ft gauge lines. It has definitely been done. There was at least one model of the Ffestiniog Railway built to scale gauge a few years ago. With steam locos, the number of spokes on 2FS wheels would be a problem, but for diesels with disc wheels, you would be fine.

There is at least 1 Japanese car in the photo. Also the Vauxhall Novas were made in Spain, so not really British. The yellow one you mention is a Talbot Samba, I think.

More or less what I am planning to do with Thistle Foxham. You may well beat me to being the first to get a train running as I have had no time at all for modelling this week. This sort of thing is great for morale!

Buses are fine with me! Looking forward to this with great interest. BTW - With a name like Birch4, I would have thought that the old fleet of Birch Bros would be a good choice of bus company

Agreed on the wheels! For couplings, I want to experiment with adapting the existing couplings within rakes for prototypically close coupling. The newer Farish carriages have a clever mechanism for pushing coaches away from each other on curves, to prevent buffer locking etc. I think it would be worth keeping that if possible. I will put something up on my blog in due course, when I get around to it. Definitely DGs on the ends of rakes though. All those rakes in Euston look fantastic, by the way. I will have to buy some more stock so I can try and do something similar on Thistle Foxham (but only 6 platforms to fill!)

That rake looks very impressive. My longest will have to be about 10 carriages, but with a few maroon ones for a slightly earlier era. What are you doing for coupling the rake together? Also wheels - new, or turned down?

Very interesting idea - and almost parallels one of my own. In my scenario, the Wash area would make a great location for an island. The flat, fenland style is the obvious option, but one built on solid rock is just about believable if you look at the geology of the area. The chalklands of North West Norfolk could easily be part of the belt of chalk uplands found in East Yorkshire (maybe they are?) Part of the missing link could have survived somewhere in The Wash as an island with some fenland marsh around it. A large town based originally on smuggling, but more recently a seaport eclipsing Lynn, Wisbech and Boston. Maybe even the destination for the allegedly lost treasures of King John? England's Venice? Sorry, mustn't get too carried away

I am thinking of buying a Farish Midland Pullman and converting it to 2FS. Could anyone tell me if any of the 2mm conversion wheel sets fit, please. I have tried searching here and the 2mm Yahoo Group but can't find anything relevant.

Sorry, can't resist this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDaLy8-P3r8

This will just about fit my era. I think it is a fantastic initiative. It may not be exactly as I would choose in an ideal situation, but isn't that true of most things we buy? Better a model that is say 2/3 of the way there than nothing at all. If it needs changing in any way to meet my needs, I am happy to have a go myself. I am definitely putting my name down for one. BTW I hope this is very well publicised or many will miss the initiative entirely or at least not realise that they have to register an interest.

GWR Railcar - Dapol are doing it in OO, so why not a tiny version for N in place of the failed class 21/29 project?

I would refer you to the apparently invisible ink in post 25. If you hold your screen over a candle flame, the message should become visible

A fascinating project. I did once consider yet another gauge/scale combination for something like this, which is 3.5mm scale on 18.83mm track - very slightly under gauge but you can use many 4mm scale components and the vast range of HO figures. Each to their own though - not seeking to change your mind! Good luck!

It is March and 'Spring' is in the air, as they say!

Would there be any mileage in only supplying an unpowered version? If it were made like a coach rather than a locomotive, it would not need money spent on developing a drive train etc. The development and production costs ought to be lower, so you might not need to sell so many. There are photos of these running in tandem with other locos - and just parked in sidings, so supplying only an unpowered one might not be as crazy as it sounds. I am sure clever people could make them powered - someone might develop an etched chassis kit, or suggest a way of converting an existing chassis to power them.

From the BBC home page...

Tandem turnouts are not that bad. Best to get a bit of practice first though. Enough people have built trackwork in 2mm scale to prove it is perfectly possible to do. If you want to really go mad, why not try my current 2mm spacesaver project (3 turnouts in the same place!)............. (Sleepers, some crossings and checkrails left off the drawing to improve clarity) I have built enough of it to suggest it will function properly - but will my sanity survive long enough to complete it, I wonder? Maybe I was crazy to even think it up

If you use PVA with ballast and don't wait for it to dry before you try to run trains, the copper will react and turn the ballast green because electricity is flowing through it. If you wait for the ballast/PVA mix to dry, then no problem. Guess how I found out

From memory, some LD&EC drawings are just not fit for purpose. I remember drawings being published in the Model Railway Constructor for the 0-4-4T and some coaches, all of which had glaring errors. A drawing of the 0-6-0T in the Railway Modeller was a bit better, but not much. The Skinley drawing of the 0-4-4T is drawn as if designed by Robinson, even though built to Kitson designs and built well before the GC/LDECmerger. I guess that was true of many drawings in the model railway press in the good old days!

The Great Central took over the LD&EC, not the GER

If the railway experiment doesn't work, you could always have the train static and moving taxis carrying the passengers away................................. Ever an optimist! Why not buy 4 and sell the others on Ebay?

I have come into this discussion rather late, but there were a few other Hardy/FWD vehicles around This one was built for New Zealand http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov03_03Rail-t1-body-d10.htmlThe article includes some useful technical information. Also, the Spurn Head Railway (War Department) had a Hardy railcar. See http://www.skeals.co.uk/Articles/Spurn%20Railway.html. No photo, but a mention. Edit Incidentally, there is now a 1:72 FWD Truck kit by Roden which might be a source of some useful parts.