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Colijn You might want to have a look at this for your next project http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette-cameo-cutter/page-17 regards Paul

Right I promised some photos of the signal boxes with the roofs fitted. I am quite pleased with these as the roofs really start to make the model prototypical. These first two show the station/crossing box in its proper location. The roof is not sitting down correctly which you never notice until you see the photos. There is nothing actually wrong here! This next one shows the smaller box placed in the same place to get a half decent photo Looking at these I am left with the impression that the smaller box fits the location better. This next one is of the rear And one of both of them side by side Having studied a photo of Lavenham box today which is the same as the Cressing box but in wood, I am now thinking that the planking here will be clapboard as it will be closest to prototype. Next job here will be the bargeboards and facias. The planking is to be left to nearly the last thing as I continue to ponder planking. I also need to make a start on the steps and verandah. Glazing will be the last job after painting. I would like to use real glass from microscope slides but this is dependent on me being able to cut them effectively. Has anyone out there on RM Web any previous experience of using real glass in models? All for now Paul R

I always thought these were impressive wagons Paul R

I think you could still exhibit in the form you have drawn if the viewing side was that at the top of your drawing. The back of the layout where the storage roads are would be away from the public who presumably would see from the from or the front and side? As long as your boards are easy to dismantle you won't have a problem - 22 feet remains quite small for an O gauge layout so will appeal to a lot of exhibition managers who are looking to put on a varied show. As Steve suggests I would just go with it and if you are lucky to get an invite later all to the good. Paul R

Rod I am fairly certain that at least one of them went for scrap straight after being withdrawn. I have the DMU listing book on first generation units somewhere and could look in that if you were interested. Others may have ended up as sandite units but this is only from memory and I would have to check Paul R

Drool drool!!! I believe the 6 class 73/0 locos were allocated up to Merseyside at one time and finished in a yucky yellow colour. PRMRP do a kit I think Paul R

Ian Westdale are reasonably good kits but I find you have to purchase extra details from the basic kit. They are made of aluminium which has to be glued together. I have seen some very good models made from their kits. The motto is take your time. I am part way through a build of a 122 unit which I hope to finish in blue and grey. I got it second hand back in 1982 for £20 including bogies but no motor which I subsequently brought from Bristol Models I think. It was started but not progressed very far. The 128 is a very good choice Paul R

For some time now I have been pondering how to finish these phone boxes and having massive problems trying to paint the Telephone sign - or at least highlight then letters in black. Reference to the prototype suggests that in fact these panels are in translucent plastic and the Telephone sign is in fact part of the plastic. Langley Models have simply etched this into the brass and the font is all wrong. A quick trawl of the internet and I have ascertained that the font used is Della Robbio which is available as a free download. A similar font is golden book but as this was only designed in 2003 thats not correct and you have to buy that! So the boxes are sitting on a piece of paper that has various sizes of Telephone printed onto it in grey backgrounds. The size is going to be 5.5 or maybe 6. I did several to get the size right. I now have to grind off the telephone raised letters and substitute these paper versions. As the boxes are not going to be lit the fact that they are not translucent is not an issue. It may seem a lot of effort for something that most people would not even notice but I want it right - I know! Just making the roofs for the signal boxes and hope to post these tomorrow. All for now Paul R

Easy build also do a Cravens Class 129 single unit but these - there were 3 of them - and they were confined to the Midlands and may have been withdrawn before you proposed timeframe. They also do the RTC Hydra conversion which I have my eye on. Have a look at my Black Notley thread - you may ind some helpful hints. Welcome to O Gauge by the way - have you joined the Gauge O Guild - you won't regret it http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12968-black-notley-br-eastern/ Paul R

Ooh a blue thumper -now you're talking! Yes a 503 would be impressive and I don't think it's necessarily a way out thought to expect at kit at some point in the future. Kits of all sorts of strange things get made. I have some Irish steam kits in O for a postulated retirement project centred on Courtmacsherry. given two of these were one offs it is surprising that kits are available. Now all I need is an A or C class diesel and some antiquated coaching stock and I am away! I have a lot of photos from a previous holiday and you can still trace the trackbed and the station still survives as a private house. The big question is whether to build at a scale 5'3" or compromise on 32mm track. Oh well I can dream until then. Keep up the good work - your layout is a pleasure to follow Paul R

Rod Just a thought - have you given any consideration to installing third rail and having some electrics - an O Gauge 507 would look the part although I don't believe anyone makes one! I am not volunteering! regards Paul

Quick update for a Sunday afternoon. Progress continues on the signal boxes and I am pleased that I have had more time on my hands to get on. Plastikard modeling is easy to pick up and put down - you don't need to heat up a soldering iron and have to wash parts afterwards. Don't get me wrong I like making soldered kits but for buildings I prefer working in other materials and I have always felt you can make anything from styrene sheet if you have the patience and are careful. So here goes The photos show the ends up to roof level and the models are now representing what they are supposed to. The cast signalman and diesel driver from Border Miniatures have arrived and these are shown in the next photo. I should have bought a secondman too but forgot. This particular signalman is described as a 1940's and 1950's person which is about right for the era the layout is supposed to portray - between 1958-1960. This one has detachable arms and can depict a signalman with a cup of tea or pulling a lever. I am going to pose this one with his tea on the steps of one of the boxes since I still have 2 PLM Castaways figures to come which are in a lever pulling and lever pushing mode. The theory will be that it is shift changeover time or the tea man will be a relief learning the box. There's an excuse for everything! The square bars in the roofs of the boxes are not prototypical and are there to support the roofs which are going to be removable. I am not going to all that trouble detailing the inside of the boxes without being able to get and see inside! I think the models will look a bit nearer the prototypes once the glazing is in and the planking on the sides done. The roof is the next stage and I will post again once these are on the boxes. Sorry still not taken the Wessie out of the box All for now Paul R

Superb Rod The thumper sounds just like the Uckfield line before the 171's arrived. Takes me right back. Paul

I am looking forward to the video. Can we see the Thumper in action? Paul R

Just a quick plug for the Gauge O Guild product directory on its web site. I needed some signalmen for the two boxes and found what I was looking for on connected web sites. I have two coming from Invertrain - PLM I think and another plus a driver for the Western coming from Border Minitures. Progress on the boxes continues and I have now almost finished the panels on both boxes. For the inside I think I am simply going to place a single sheet over the interior walls. Without realising I have created cavity walls for the boxes! Next comes the planking and the roofs. Paul R

Found this link on Flikr you may find helpful http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger_sutcliffe/5542677399/in/set-72157626182408043/ I don't seem to be able to embed the image but you can find it through your browser Paul R

Ignore the last post as I have now corrected them. I think the spell checker had something to do with it The photos are interspersed in the text in the right order Paul R

Sorry for some reason despite the original post being correct with pictures laid out in line with the text, what has appeared on the site is not in the correct order. The photos are mixed up and appear after the text. The first is in the middle, the second at the bottom and the last at the top

A bit more work on the signal boxes over the Christmas period. The frames for boxes are now completed and you can see this from the first photo I have now started to fit the wall panels and these are from 20 thou sheet and you can see these in the next photo which shows the Black Notley box from the rear. This is the one with the brick base. The walls are held in place by gluing them to 60 thou square strip mounted inside the frames and you can see this from the next rather poor quality picture although I think you will get the gist of it. You can see the strip mounted inside the frames. The planks will be laid on top of the wall sheets but I have come up against a dilemma because what I thought was the case is from closer inspection of the photos not as it originally seemed. I had thought that the planking was some form of overlapping plank strips but I now think that it is a form of tongue and groove which is not going to be easy to represent. I could have probably got away with planks laid side by side in 4mm but not in 7mm so I may have to ponder and experiment unless I can find something suitable in the Evergreen range. Sorry no pics of the Western yet - still in the box! All for now but any advice welcomed from those who have been there before me Paul R

Colin Re your 313 project. I have in stock some Sprinter style bogies that were I think from Lima or Hornby and these are I believe more or less the same as fitted to the 31x EMU classes. I bought them when I was going to scratch build a 4-PEP train. As I now work in 7mm they are of no use and I wondered if you might like them. Send men a direct message if you want them, There are 8 bogies. There are no wheels however just the bogie frames Paul R

Well I can't believe its been 3 months since my last post. Outside of modeling so much has happened since then. As a family we went out to Uganda with Quicken Trust doing charity work. This was extremely rewarding but very humbling. We are getting involved in a Ugandan Microbank as part of the village that the charity supports - 23 years with NatWest wasn't for nothing then! In the midst of all that I was made redundant and left work this week. Now actively seeking new work! Have a bit of money to live on for a while but it means we are having to be careful and its an austerity Christmas for us. Then of course as is usual at this time of year the oven packs up. This is the third time before Christmas and this time our man can't fix it so its either pay a significant sum to the manufacturer with no guarantee of how long it is going to last - its 10 years old - or buy a new one. So the new one is coming tomorrow so I will be wiring that in! An expense that we could have done without frankly given the changed circumstances I had to cancel my Heljan Western order but thanks to the generosity of the staff the leaving collection was enough to purchase one and this will be placed on the layout with due ceremony once I have had it to bits to refit one of the front windows that has fallen out. This is a common problem it seems. There is no justification for this on an eastern branch line other than I wanted one!. Not sure how I will afford the Warships when they are out but that is another year or so away. I regret now not buying a Hymek but you can't have everything in life. The excuse is that one day a Western came over to Temple Mills on a transfer freight and was failed on arrival necessitating a trip to Stratford for repairs which took some time as the depot was not familiar with Hydraulics. Then its been sent out on a test train round the Braintree branch and back through Bishops Stortford because in my view of history the Dunmow section did not close as happened in reality So back to progress on the layout. Well the signal boxes are coming along nicely if slowly as these pictures will show The one above is the larger of the two being modeled on Cressing. This will stand by the crossing and control that end of the station. This is the smaller wooden box based on White Notley and is planned to stand at the other end of the layout although in reality I doubt the station would be regarded as being big enough and one would have been out of use. This final shot shows both boxes from a different angle. Both will have the Springside interiors. I have one in stock and another under the tree! Parents come in handy at Christmas! After these have been done I need to tackle the station building and also get the B2 finished. It's so close now I can't believe how long its taking. Right all for now - as usual any comments welcome Paul R

Does anyone know if this Wills rodding is to scale or is it overscale to compensate for its flimsiness? If so could I get away with it on an O Gauge layout? Alan on another tack are you going to be getting an original Cl22 without head codes when it appears. I am pleased to say that following a leaving collection at work I now have my O Gauge a Heljan western and what a beauty it is. Paul R

Colin Have you seen that Hornby are to do a 2Hal and that judging from the press announcement the model is tooled and ready to go. An exccellent companion for your 2Bil methinks Paul R

I have an original Parkins kit sold as RJH. Theses seem to have an etched front with cast white metal cab roofs. Is this the same as the later MMP kits? Paul R

Any updates Rod? Paul R