Orange Cat

0.75 Mbit for me.

I would go for 14.2mm gauge. It is a lot more realistic and is not a particularly exacting set of standards to work to. Apart from if you want to run Tri-and stock I don't see anything to commend the use of 12mm, unless, like me you are modelling Continental TT to 1:120 scale. The standards are basically the same for 14.2mm and finescale 12mm, just 2.4 mm wider. I don't think there's a better scale to work to than 3mm, especially if you are interested in scratch building, dimensions are readily converted, the models are a size where you can see what you are doing without being so big that the cost of materials and the effort of cutting parts becomes an issue. If it hadn't been for problems with the supply of driving wheels back when I was modelling it, I wouldn't have given it up. I think I probably have the world's largest collection of 3mm locos with no driving wheels I keep thinking I should look them out and stick them on eBay. I would certainly go for it, and if it is by way of a small plank to test the waters give 14.2mm a try too. I think you will be very pleased with the outcome. The 3mm Society are a good bunch too, although they seem to keep themselves to themselves to some extent. Their magazine was well worth the subscription in itself.

There's a splendid photo, I think in one of the LMS Locomotives series of books, showing a brand new Stanier 8f 2-8-0, what must at the time have represented the ultimate in modernity in freight haulage. Next to it, in between the tracks, the blacksmith is shoeing a shunting horse. It makes a wonderful contrast.

Isn't that the whole point of the internet?

If anyone fancies modelling a horse tramway appropriate sound chips are available. I imagine trying to get the horse's legs to move in time to the sound file, or even at all, would be a challenge. That said, I did see a Tamika kit for a working model of a racehorse in Hobbycraft today. They also had ones for dogs, described on the box as Dog (four legged walking type). What other type of dog is there?

Regarding horses and donkeys on the railways I recall reading of a station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway where the water tank was filled by means of a "horse-gin", one of those things where the animal walk round in circles and powers, in this case, a pump. The railway company provided a donkey to power it but he wasn't very good at it. So the station staff used to fill the tank at night when they could "borrow" a farm horse, under cover of darkness, from the neighbouring field.

The mint ones are all right. https://www.pipershoney.com/products/302

There was a tunnel connecting the two shops originally. It was closed off when the shop on The Moor closed down and subsequently changed hands. I remember buying a whole load of Minic Motorway stuff cheap from Redgates after it went out of production. I still have a lot of it.

I have got a bunch of photos of Peterhead. Contact prints I got off ebay.

Or go for a worried lack of animation for the ground crew who have let go of the ropes and stick the unmanned airship to the ceiling.

Why's that then?

Even soot itself can be a lot more brown than black depending on the nature of the coal it comes from.

Did nobody take a camera?

Was it a beer van, or is the brass tap on the side not original either?

The roof isn't original though.

You might want to have look at the track plan of Duncan's Mine before you condemn RANGERS altogether.

From memory I have a feeling they were notionally 1:150 although, like most of their time, I suspect they were probably "adjusted" to fit the proprietary chassis that was intended to power them.

Three pages in and the one that most annoys me has not yet been mentioned. Perhaps it has become so ingrained in common usage no one but me notices it any more. The word "lose" only has one "o" in it. "Loose" is an entirely different word with an equally different meaning.

Anyone with basic whitemetal casting equipment and a plating tank could counterfeit the old pound coin. Most of the fakes were pretty obvious, but most people don't look at them that carefully. No doubt for all their supposed 'advanced features' it will be easy enough to produce equally crude copies of the new ones once they become a familiar sight and nobody really looks at them any more.

I would add two more cross members between the existing ones. 12mm ply is going to work effectively as diagonal bracing and I think the bigger concern would be the top surface sagging in the unsupported spans. You could add diagonals as well if you wanted. After all, the cost of another couple of lengths of 2x1 is next to nothing compared to the cost of what will go on top. I think it a safe bet that every single person who had to scrap a layout because the baseboards warped thought it would be alright when they built it.

There's some in the UK that won't ship to Scotland. I have seen sellers in Lancashire who will happily send goods all the way to Cornwall yet won't send them up the M6 to places north of Carlisle.

I had this situation ordering something from the US. I used a forwarding company and it worked very well. I just did a quick internet search and found this company: https://www.mailboxde.com I have no idea how reliable they are, or anything else, I just found them on Google, but on the face of it they would seem to offer a solution to your problem.

Not a model shop, but if you happen to be up here on the second weekend of the month then the little railway museum at Maud is worth a visit. http://www.friendsofmaud.org.uk

I am a convert to Alex Jacksons now from modelling in larger scales, but I always preferred MBMs to the others. Easy to set up, simple to put together and reliable. If they were still readily available I would choose them now. Anyway, I just thought there might be someone out there using them who would welcome the chance to obtain fresh supplies.

Anyone still using MBM couplings? There's someone with a load of them on ebay at the moment. I'm tempted, but don't want to commit to them and then not be able to get any more.