Dave John

Oh, I expect you all know the old "stealing wheelbarrows" tale.  Many versions abound, but I think it might make a nice basis for one of Mikkels wonderful cameo stories..... 

Ah , the same guitar strings I use for couplings and springs. I too leave them loose and bend the ends up . 

I'm following all this with interest, as I suspect most pre grouping modellers are. 

Though you got me addicted to the silhouette, and I haven't recovered from that yet ..... 

Hmm, panniers. 

Some nice pics there which sent me off on one of my late night odd trains of thought. Numbers 1646 and 1649 were transferred to work the Dornoch branch in the mid 1950s. Now, Dornoch is in Sutherland. Not quite as far North as you can get by rail, but nearly. Which begs the obvious question, how did they get there ?  Ok, drop the rods and run them as part of a goods train, but there is no modelling fun in that. So drive them there ? Out of Wales, up the WCML , then through central Scotland , via Inverness, quite a trip. I don't know what the operating range of a pannier would be between stops for water and coal, but not all that far at a guess.

I reckon thats not far off a 600 mile trip, so anyone modelling anywhere on the way in the 50s could justify a pannier passing through on the way. Just for fun.... 

I think you could do that on an inkjet with white transfer paper.

Bear in mind that its not the white that is printed, its the black part which is printed round the natural white of the transfer paper. When you cut the transfer out you tend to get a white edge which will need touched in to match the headcode box. 

If you are using this technique  it does need a few goes to get the colour matched to the background, but short of buying an alps printer it is probably the simplest diy method. 

These transfers were made using white transfer paper, Not perfect, but try getting 1mm letraset these days ....

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-18917-cr-diagram-3-wagon-build-painted-and-in-service/ 

With regard to printers I treated myself to an Epson ET - 2650 which uses liquid inks. So far, touch wood ( Disclaimers and things ) it seems to be efficient in its ink usage. I have been printing a lot of photo quality images for making a station building, seems to be making a decent job of it all. 

I had the same issue laminating sections for a station building. After some messing about I ended up using tiny dots of Revell contacta . Some parts of the walls are 5 sections of 10 thou pre painted and laminated. 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-20647-walls-and-magnets/

I also had a go at making a viaduct last year, foamboard structure, clad in styrene. The only thing I found that would really stick styrene to foamboard was superglue. 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-20017-some-viaduct-pictures/

I'm no help, but good to see Reeves is still going.  I had a happy hour wandering about the catalogue, wishful thinking .............. 

Ah, I had missed that design aspect. 

That said its something to take into consideration for smaller layouts too. My previous layout ended up with the fiddle yards on an incline as the wall they were fixed to sank a bit. 

I do look forward to seeing the whole thing in operation, inspiration indeed. 

It is indeed very impressive. 

One thought does strike me though, levelling. Because the layout is so huge might you encounter problems with finding an exhibition hall where the floor is level enough over that kind of distance ? Perhaps adjustable screw jacks on the legs, a benchmark on every board and a laser levelling device or similar ? 

These might already be built into your overall design and I have missed it while enjoying the scenery .... 

All a bit southern so far. One could always choose Coketown for a location set in the industrial Victorian north. Just the facts..... 

yep . bang on. 

Very neat work with the downpipes. 

The whole thing is getting to look very impressive. 

I have vague memories of a model railway set on the moon way back. Just for fun. Late 70s in a magazine. 

If you really want to build some rule 1 stuff have a look at these;

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/fictional/fictional.htm#rg

Ok, I have pre - orded 2 of them. Frightening really, first rtr engines I have bought since the early 1980s. 

I expect folk will talk about details for ages till we see them, but for anyone interested these 3 books will help with the many variations in livery and fittings seen throughout the lives of these engines. 

Caley  828 , Jim Macintosh , ( published by CRA ) 

Caledonian Railway Livery , Jim Macintosh , (Lightmoor Press and the CRA) 

The Caledonian Railway Jumbos, H.J.C. Cornwell , (Lightmoor Press and the CRA) 

I just hope they run as well as my tatty old black liveried one, a rough video of which can be seen here as a wee taster. 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-19965-shunting-part-2-look-no-hands/

Hmm, RTR caley ? 

Mind you , conversion to EM and goods black ..... 

Still, if it gets folk into pre group modelling its a good thing, and then there is the excellent caley coaches kit for anyone that wants one in the meantime . 

Anyway , sorry to wander off topic a bit , back to enjoying Bens conversions. 

Well, being self employed or running a small business is damn hard work. I have had good service from modelmaster over many years. Actually the same goes for most of the other small businesses that cater for the specialist end of modelmaking. 

If any of the small businesses in that trade decide to slow down a bit and deal with stuff on a bit slower basis then thats fine with me, I do in some ways look back to the days when you sent a letter with a list ( cheque enclosed, with some firms I would trust even an open cheque ) and then a small parcel arrived a few weeks later. 

So if anyone in the trade decides to just potter on and work at their speed rather than the one click instant world we now live in I for one am fully in support of that. 

Those look very good, much clearer than the commercial offerings. 

Its a real building ? 

Honestly, I always thought it was a model by Allan Downes...... 

If you are visiting the museum walk out from the city centre and along the edge of the exhibition centre. The big stone wall supporting the railway is worth a look for its sheer scale. To the north of the museum the railway crosses the Kelvin. Nice girder bridge. The Kelvin was effectively culverted by the construction of Partick Central for the L&D in the 1890s. As a very early mass concrete structure it is worthy of examination. 

As to the museum itself. Hmm. If I start commenting I will say something which would be thought of as distinctly politically incorrect. Really, probably one of the best model ship collections in the world and most of it is in storage? 

I must shut up before I say something like " its naff and laid out by folk who have never worked on a railway locomotive or a ship and would phone the AA to change a wheel on a car" No honestly I didn't say that ......... 

A couple of pannier tanks even ended up in Scotland. 

I notice that you have "Revell contacta " on the bench. So thats two of us that use it a lot. Odd stuff, but smells of lemons and tastes sweet. Which leads me to think its a limonene compound in a gel. I really like it as a plastic glue, it is slow and gives enough time to adjust stuff. Unlike the liquid solvents it stays put, MEK like things just flow all over and set too fast.  

Anyway, enough of glue tasting, good to see you chopping stuff up Corbs.

Well, stuff on the traverser stays there, but I am very careful about shutting out direct sunlight. I have had bleaching problems with all sorts in the past. 

As a wise man once said " If it wasn't for Venetian blinds it would be curtains for all of us ............. "

Sorry.

Heh, I bet there are bits of the tramway still buried under the tarmac on South Street Ian. Certainly feels like it when you drive down it though officially the rails have been lifted.  The CR lines along the embankment are now a walkway / cycle path, come the good weather the Caledonian pup and I will walk it with a camera and do a blog. 

There is a good burger van just along from where the photo was taken. Satisfied customer etc ....... 

I keep popping in, my blog shows what I am doing with the silhouette. Really I wouldn't be without it now. I have done stuff which I could not possibly do by hand, so thanks all for the research. 

Reading with interest. I have tried focus stacking and so far I have failed. So keep discussing it, I might find out what I'm doing wrong ....

I find IPA is fine. 

Years ago I looked at rtr track cleaning stuff. Custom pads, special liquids, cost. So I knocked this up from junk box bits. 

The pads are roll up filter tips dipped in IPA

Place the finger on the manual traction and force adjustment device ( ok, the drawing pin on top ) and push it round the track, easy since the wheels guide it . The pads are cheap enough to be disposable. 

google "wellington statue glasgow pics" for a veritable archive of examples. 

Just a thought off the top of my head.........