AyJay

Thank you for the suggestions all. I'm afraid that none of those pieces are close enough. However, when looking for figures on amazon, I came across a picture of my Dapol workmen all painted up and I realised that with some serious mutilation with a scalpel, I might be able to make a passable approximation. Probably not today, as its too cold to leave the lounge. I have also kept articles from back copies of BRM and have organised them in subjects and this is the first time that I have used this, as there are several articles on figures. It's going to be a steep learning curve. I'll keep you informed as to my progress.

This looks like being a long search. I have the Dapol railway workmen, they won't do. I have looked at Dapol, Hornby, Bachmann, Modelu, Preister... Thanks for the suggestion Nick, but I'm not yet willing to spend £17 for just one figure. The Noch skiers looked promising, then I noticed that they were HO. In the meantime, I hope to have a go at painting my railway workmen as they are over the weekend, just to get some practice in.

I have been set a challenge. As a homage to a cycle shop that I used to frequent in my youth, I reproduced the frontage of this shop on my layout. To which my friend replied "Now model the shop owner as he appears in the picture" My only experience with doing figures, is assembling and painting Warhammer figures. Can anyone please advise me as to how to go about doing this? My layout is OO gauge and I have purchased some plastic figures, from Dapol, I think. I also have some laser cut bicycles from Scale Model Scenery. Thank you.

If so constrained, how about an out and back that can be set up to go through the door into the next room. Family permitting, that is. Not ideal, I know.

If you have a pair of stereo headphones, or in any other way are able to play Youtube audio in good quality stereo sound..... Then turn the volume up loud and do a search for "Theme One George Martin". I discovered this in my youth, and it still leaves me awestruck. I think this version sounds the best Then, search for "Johann Sebastian Bach ; Toccata & Fugue in Dm, by Sinfonity" And lastly, search for "Ludwig van Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata ( 3rd Movement ) Tina S Cover" Enjoy!

You make it sound so simple. Thinking about it now, it probably is. My plants are of the 'static grass on blobs of glue and topped off with coloured scatter' variety. As you say, the plants will cover any detail, so I'm thinking that I might experiment by fixing bunches of flowers together with a hot glue gun and see what that looks like. I particularly like the idea of using staples, saves me cutting thin strips of brass. I have a box of big staples in my bits box :-) Thank you for the ideas Johnster.

Afternoon all, does anyone have any suggestion, preferably easy, for how to make window boxes, hanging planters and the brackets that they hang from? OO gauge, using card or plasticard. Possibly brass strip for the brackets. They don't need to pass a close-up inspection, as I will be viewing from about 3ft away. I have just bought a selection of plants and now need to display them. This is the design that I would like to copy. Yes, it is The Queen Vic! Thank you, now "Get outta my Pub!"

Well I purchased this set via my normal outlet and I have various comments/observations to make about it: The packaging is very impressive and I like that very much. Also my first impression of the locomotive and carriages is that they are 'pretty' and certainly eye catching. I think that they are also in keeping with the image of Triang -Hornby, which I suspect is the intention. Looking more closely: I did have 'issues' with fitting the Hornby decoder chip and suspect that the cause was insufficient clearance for the wires between the top of the motor and the underside of the top. I had to squeeze the wires in beside the motor. When I got the engine to run, initially on a rolling road, I found that one of the pickups on a driving wheel had been dislodged and was jamming the wheel when I tried to drive forwards. I found these pickups to be flimsy and since the driving wheels have rubber (?) tyres, then what purpose do pickups on the driving wheels serve? When coupling the first carriage to the tender, I had to use something pointy to hook them on, for there is a difference in height of about 1mm between the couplings, preventing them from joining unaided. When running, I noticed that the leading wheels on the tender would stop turning on bends. I saw that the tender wheels are of the old-fashioned split-axle type that were popular in the Triang-Hornby era. This was strange because all the other wheels were of the more contemporary fixed axle type. I also checked the wheel flange depths and found that whereas everything else had a flange depth around the 0.7mm mark, suitable for finescale track; the tender wheel flanges were 1.4mm, which will no doubt explain the rumbling sound when it runs. The carriages look very pretty on the outside, but there is absolutely nothing on the inside. In summary. I appreciate that this is probably intended to be an attempt to relive the Triang-Hornby era and touch with our childhoods. Also that this is a budget set and you get what you pay for. However... I feel that there should have been some updating to concede to contemporary expectations. The tender wheels in particular, let this set down. I can forgive the lack of carriage interiors, as another contributor has indicated, there are up to date replacements. Would I have bought this set if I had known this? No! I will not be allowing emotion to control my purchases in future. I don't think that I will be running it regularly and will treat it as a novelty to be run infrequently.

Well I did look at the locomotive again and when the top was off, and no doubt stress was released off the chip wires, the locomotive ran. I did find that the green wire had come adrift from the chip, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Looking closely at the locomotive, I do have various criticisms and will be posting them in the Product & trade area of this forum.

Good morning all, I'm left annoyed because my new purchase did not work after fitting a decoder. I submitted the question to Hornby's technical help last night, but their acknowledgement says that I should expect a reply in a week; so I'm hoping that someone here has the answer. On Tuesday, I took delivery of R1284M 'The Victorian Train Set', from my usual dealer. When home, I tested the locomotive and it ran fine. ( I did have to make a change on my layout connections to use a Gaugemaster analoge controller, because I have gone DCC. I have done this before) Yesterday, I called back into the shop and purchased a DCC decoder, the 'R8249 Hornby Locomotive Decoder' and fitted it when I got home. I used some insulation tape to cover the top of the metal chassis and it was a bit of a pinch getting the top to go on. I also messed up my first attempt at programming the long address (have not done it for some time), but my second attempt was successful. The controller is the NCE Powercab. Yet when I tried to run it, at first it juddered forward with a little help from me, which I initially took to be just because of it being new. Then it refused to move at all, it continued to judder and makes a buzzing sound. The set is advertised as being 'DCC Ready'. I am going to try again today with the top off, just in case the wires are being pinched, but am otherwise bemused. Has anyone any experience of seeing this problem? Any other suggestions please?

In a vain attempt to bring this back to modelling related…. For some years now, The Wife and I have bounced around the idea of moving, and that’s as far as it goes. Well it began to get serious when we got interested in a couple of new builds and I wrote down a list of needs. Well that list included a big room suitable for a railway. This met, understandably, with protest “We cannot let your hobby dictate what we buy”. One Agent replied that an outdoor room could not be added into the garden for 5 years. So, for me, the biggest need is the right house in the right place. Am I being unreasonable? “Yes!” I hear you all shouting.

The ability to cope with an increasingly bewildering world.

I found The Banana Splits tune so irritating. If I ever have another cat, I will have to name it Skimbleshanks.

Looks like Rhubarb has landed on his paws then. You realise Jim, that if you take another in, you will have to call it……. Custard!

Then you have not read T.S. Elliot’s ‘Old Possom’s book of practical Cats’. They are creatures of dignity and must be treated as such. 😀

Well this is turning out to be a stimulating discussion and, typically, subject to some scope creep. I’m pleased that Mike ‘Stationmaster’ put his bit in, for that’s where I am. I never set out to model a railway, for if I had, then I would need a timetable, roster, bell codes and who knows what else??? No, I just love running engines, especially big express engines and I have built a picture frame to show them in. As has been pointed out, each of the big 4 is represented; I don’t care, I bought whatever appeals to me. The only constraint, they must have the BR totem; except for one carriage which is from Hogwarts, keep that one to yourself 😉 I wrote this for me; but please adapt and use as you wish.

Ah Railroad! Think I'll give it a wide berth. See you all at The Great Electric Train Show this w/e, I'll be drooling over the Pete Waterman layout.

I think the title says it all... Now £129.98 Ever on the lookout for a bargain, but I am left wondering why? Is it worth having?

Chris, this technique of capturing requirements can be applied to just about anything: Your next home. Your next car. Purchases. Arranging an activity. Prioritising your thinking. Mike, I can recall things that I did 50 years ago like they were yesterday. But sometimes, I don't know what I did last week, so I often rely on notes to self.

I imagine others get deluged with spam for fashion, flash cars, under 30's romantic holidays, or the latest must-have's? I get spam for Over-50's life insurance, Prostate health, Retirement homes and Funeral plan's! Say's it all really! Phil, you cannot take a penny of it with you. So long as you are meeting your financial commitments to your family, then I say go ahead and order whatever you want. I have spent a big chunk of my life having to do without. Now I can enjoy my 'grey pound' and The Wife has instructions that if she outlives me, then if nobody wants my layout, she is to turn to a trader in the magazine. Under no circumstances is she to call in a 'house clearance' vulture. I'd like to think that in 50 years time, my nice model buildings will be featured in 'The Repair Shed'.

Thank you for your encouragement all. As a person who has Aspergers, I have to constantly battle against lack of confidence and following the conviction of my own beliefs. I find writing things down, helps me to 'ground' my thinking. My first adult layout was a good teacher, because I did not have a clue what I was doing and it was truly dreadful. Everything was wrong. Then I got work into user interface testing on Mobile phones and learned how to write test specifications. So, I applied this to writing a construction spec for my next layout. At exhibitions, I would talk to exhibitors about their creations. I wanted to know "why did you do it that way and would you do it again?". Thus I was able to build up a clear picture of how I wanted to build it. There were a few things wrong, but they were the things that I did not look at. Move forward to a new career in handling project work, I learned about Requirements Capture and this led to my current layout. You are probably doing in your head what I have described, without even being aware of it. Sure, it;s not for everyone and you may find this approach too much like hard work. but then if you have ever had to undo something because you forgot something important, then you might want to reconsider that stance. Also, if you are a club considering your next project, then perhaps this approach will show it's worth in helping to keep everyone on the same song sheet. I have experienced one club member who kept everything in his head; a challenge from the club for answers ended with him walking out. So it is important to make sure everyone is 'on-board'.

Yes Mike, I think it has killed this one dead! I go to share the things that I know and just get shot at. Being of a sensitive personality, I think I’ll just keep to myself in future.

Very well then, I’ll continue, but first a word about context that may help you understand it all. The attached file contains a number of documents that are in the correct order. It is not one document, which is why there is repetition. They follow the style used in a previous employment, so they are supposed to look that way. I just tailored the template to fit my need. They were written over a period of about 3 years, so there will be differences. In places, they are incomplete, but that does not matter. The whole direction is to lead the reader to the Requirements Specification and this is intentionally solution independent; that is why you will not find what the end result looks like. It is not supposed to give a final design. Requirements are supposed to provoke you into considering alternative options; what you need, not how to achieve it. So why do it? Well to answer that, have you ever gone straight to the solution that you want, bought it and then within a year found it to be completely useless? Didn’t fit. Can’t upgrade. Can’t get spare parts. Difficult to use. Won’t work with what you have and so on and so on…. So long as your creation only exists on paper, you can rework it as often as you like; but once you start pouring concrete, welding steel, or cutting plywood, then you had better be clear about what you want because rework is expensive. Who will this be of use to? If you are clear in your mind and confident about what you are doing, then this is possibly of little use. But perhaps you are a beginner, unsure which way to turn? Or perhaps you are a club and you want to make sure that all members are in agreement as to what you are doing. Or perhaps in your last layout, you forgot something. Then you may find something useful in my offering. All explanation needed should be within the Strategy document. Please feel free to adapt to your needs. If you wish to pick it apart or criticise, then I politely ask you to move on. If you find any of this helpful in any way, then please let me know. Thank you and “good reading” Model Railway Combined Documents.pdf

P.s. At this year’s Warley, can I expect to see any “There are no trains running today due to industrial action” layouts? Perhaps we will see a proliferation of figures holding “Official Pickett” signs.

I’m all in favour of doing things right. But….. When at an exhibition, I find that the oh-so-slow shunting exhibits where everyone leans in to peer intensely as the loco couples up, bores me to tears and having lost the Will to live in about 60 seconds, I move on in search for something with a little more excitement. You will usually find me hanging around the O gauge live steam exhibits, as they rattle around at breakneck speed, showering me in hot oil fumes. That or the clockwork tinplate exhibits 😎