jacko

Is this willy waving really necessary? Especially when we all know Falkirk is the best show in Scotland.

I have a vivid recollection of watching the Addams family in black and white and Gomez was able to run trains into each other about 4 decades before DCC was ever thought of.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that 'Sir William A Stanier F.R.S.' could have lost four initials and had just as much impact.

cheers. looking forward to that now.

When?

I vividly remember 18th November 1987. I was working for the CEGB in Harrogate at the time and had been called to a meeting at the then Bankside Powerstation (now the Tate modern) and was due to travel back from kings cross sometime in the evening. Luckily for us the meeting was over by lunchtime and we caught the York train mid afternoon but I remember being quite shocked looking at the news footage of melted escalators I'd been up the same day. Quite sobering.

My mistake. That's the trouble with looking at photos on a phone

Tony's photo of the real thing above shows a fence running along the top of the embankment.

Haven't seen any mention of 102 dalmations which I found my self watching a couple of weeks ago with the grandkids. Towards the end of the movie Cruella de'ville is escaping Britain on the Orient Express which leaves the station hauled by a very green 4472. five minutes later, in france of all places it's being hauled by class 5 'camelot' in BR liveried black.

I'm genuinely curious as to what coaches those are? Didn't all the pre-grouping Pullmans stay in Scotland? if not, it would be great to know where else they ran if only to give a bit of variation in my own layout colours

Enjoyed last night's offering but I am a Northumbrian so only to be expected. High point was in the intercity cab - "has Michael Portillo been in here? I thought I could smell Lynx". Shame she went to Barter books - did exactly the same "Keep calm and carry on" interview with Mary and Stuart Manley as Portillo! I was surprised and pleased to see efforts are being made to open a steam excursion on the original Alnwick to Alnmouth branch. Will give me somewhere to take the grandkids in a few years.

Tynemouth. Used to walk through it every day on my way to school and always thought it very atmospheric. It was pretty run down by the time I left but it's since been refurbished and hosts a thriving market.

As far as I can tell, no-one on this thread has suggested that metal is the only material one can build locos out of. What has been stated several times is that if you want to make a loco kit out of brass sheet then soldering is really the only way to go if you expect your model to hold together for more than a handful of running sessions.

I'm a bit confused by the posts I've read so.... Does the Duchess of Atholl come with a pair of replacement flanged trailing bogie wheels?

I blame the stations for charging to use the loo. if they were free, passengers wouldn't feel the need to hold it in till they board the train.

Chaos in the station and on the line and yet at each interval we were invited to enter a competition to win a trip on the same network that was in chaos. Chose not to enter

Having just received a used LMS version of the Fairburn (2691) I have to agree that it's a superb model. Loads of detail and enough weight to haul any load I care to couple. Very smooth runner and really looks the part too. (I still think the 3F is their best though ) Graeme

At a guess it's probably because any short will shut down the DCC controller or ( in the case of my prodigy advance) set the running loco to full power and lock the handset. however, Michael (above) has pointed to a useful method of delaying the short enough to avoid locking up the controller. Graeme

I build buildings much for the same reason and quite aware that I'm never going to produce anything near as detailed and as perfect as ' Ready to plonk ' that's built to perfection in multi-million dollar industries - I'm tempted to just shout B*llocks here Allan. I've seen photos of your work and there's no way any RTP buildings come up to your standard in detail or accuracy. Most RTP offerings look like toys whereas - from what I've seen - your work looks like real buildings only in miniature. . Graeme

I'm going to buck the trend and recommend the LAISDCC offerings - I have several and haven't had any issues. Do the simple things for a very good price. graeme

On the subject of not starting something else till a job's finished, I started my layout 40 years ago but never finished because I kept starting other things - university, marriage, kids, car restorations, house decorating, 4 house moves etc. I'm finally at a stage where I can carry on with my layout - once I put a ceiling and insulation in the garage At least I've managed to half complete a few buldings in the intervening years. For the record, my workbench is used for everything and is never tidy. graeme

Got an Amazon voucher for my birthday so that's Tony's book ordered. Looking forward to a good read with hopefully, loads of useful advice. Graeme

The Silures were fighting the Romans 150 years before the dinosaurs? I call fake news!

Well that brought back a few memories. When I was a nipper, our back garden led up to the crofton pitheap and me and my mate used to sneak up and play on the coal wagons that were marshalled there. We'd sit for hours watching the tankies steam back and forth to the quayside until one of the signalmen would spot us and chase us off. All before I was 7 years old. Can't imagine many kids nowadays being let off the leash that way. I drank at the Blyth and Tyne regularly till I left home in 1983. It's still going strong but visits home are few and far between and I've not been for years. Graeme

One of my major gripes about quite a few supposed exhibition layouts is the inability of the modeller to make buildings look as if they were actually built 'in-stu' and not simply plonked on top of the scenery. The magazines are full of pictures of layouts with gaps showing around the bottom of the station or signalbox or whatever, despite the technique of extending the foundations having been around for decades. Graeme