Ken A.

Thanks, SP1, I was Bilston born and bred, but one of my grandmothers came from Dudley. I look forward to seeing reports of your layout as and when. All the best, Ken

I chose the Dudley area as the location for the new layout: the only snag was that the LNWR did not extend to the south-west: (See the first map). Something had to be done, so I split the map east-wast and added another couple of miles to the Dudley area (as if it isn't bad enough as it is!). Next thing was I added another line, a direct link between Dudley and the LNWR at Craven Arms. The rationalization is that this is "a direct link between South Wales and the West Midlands). (See the second map).. The final thing to do was to place stations with Blackcountry-sounding names. This was easier than I thought because Dudley is dotted with -hills, -holes and -ends. The first module, the 4' by 1' will be Shut End, which I hope will be followed by Bears End... Can't wait to get started. If you read, please comment (positive or negative)... You will probably come up with something that I hadn't even considered. Who knows? It might even be something good about the Midland Railway!

Okay, so this is the first (and knowing me) possibly the only entry in this blog! So why am I beginning it in the first place? You may well ask. Well, I plan to use it as a tool to keep myself on track at the start of what will, at 67, probably be the last big project. I have spent the last 30+ years working at American O scale... The first layout had to be abandoned due to a house move while the second one (a mix of standard gauge and On30) was too grandiose to get anywhere with - I'd bitten off more than I could chew and the layout had become moribund. I have a 20' by 8' shed which is to small for American O gauge but is just right for British OO. Sure, I know that any available space is, by definition, too small for the planned layout! Stands to reason! ​So why should the next layout be any different from the string of unfinished layouts that I have previously started? Simple. I'm tackling it as a modular project. I've already built the first baseboard - 4' x 1' - I'm beginning small! The next stage is to dismantle the old layout and dispose of the large accumulation of rolling stock... Shouldn't take too long... Famous last words, no doubt. Okay, so where am I going? What's the new effort going to entail? Well I've always had a great admiration for the LNWR and the GWR plus a degree of contempt for the MR so I needed a location where the three of them rubbed along together and grudgingly co-operated. Well although I have lived in Cornwall since 1984, I am a Blackcountryman born and bred, so I had the ideal location. The era? Having been a soldier and having an interest in military history, the Great War sprung readily to mind, so why not? It is Pre-grouping, so is pre the slow decline of the British railway network which began in 1923 and has the benefit of extra wartime workings. So here we go with "THE LAST GREAT PROJECT"... Coming soon: Planning.

Hi Mike, Thanks for showing me this method of comparing drawings... Never thought of doing it on the computer (Durrr!). I used this method to compare an outside frame 1076 Buffalo with an early version 57xx pannier. Turns out that except for the dome and a slightly different sized cab, they are virtually the same loco... So this is going to be a really easy conversion. I'd have posted a picture but I'm new to this site and haven't worked out how roo yet. All the best, Ken

The sad thing is it was the method of attaching the two trucks that was probably a failure and not the locomotive generally (which was sadly untested), however with such a small proportion of the machine's weight available for traction she would have been as slippery as wet grass!

I've got to have me one of these little monsters........ The only difficulty is justifying it on my proposed Great War era layout... Nice model and description, thanks for sharing.

There are also the Australian Black Beetle 4wh drives that I came across when modeling American railways. I've never used them but have heard a lot of good things about them. They aren't cheap but they are made in a large range of sizes. Here's a link: http://motorbogies.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_24