Tricky

Good grief. Maybe discuss this somewhere else (if indeed it merits discussion) and concentrate on drooling over and admiring Mike’s superb work? Let’s not scare him off.

I’ve made a start - no turning back now! The railway has been unceremoniously removed from its moorings... ...and dumped on the bench. Where I have removed the backscene boards. Most of the buildings abutting the backscene have been removed with it. A bit drastic but demolition tends to be.... but it creates a nice clear space to think what will replace it. Next job, make the 2x3 framework higher, position Bristol over to the left hand end, chop a hole in the wall and put MG back.

I seem to recall a while ago there may have been a potential dabble in 7mm. May this be it...?

Sorry to say to you all, but changing an 8 to a 10 isn't top of my to do list....however it will get done. Still hoping the missing sprung axlebox will turn up for the grey one.

It made a brief ‘cameo’ appearance over on Sherton Abbas. You can just see the right hand end of it in one of Regularity’s shots on Wenlock’s blog. It felt very at home for a short while...

Thanks Dave! The best (and most reliable) won so that’s only right and proper! Good job we had the bank holiday to draw breath. Yes, plans are indeed afoot to carry out some major surgery...in between cracking on with commissions. Great photo, was that taken at the exhibish? ...I see my malfunctioning tender loco lurking shame-faced in the background...

Well deserved Dave, it’s even more exquisite in the flesh. Photos don’t do this masterpieces justice. What’s next we all wonder...?

Yes, they will be very separate visually with cameo framing around each one. I think I'll be using the spare 370mm shown at the very left hand end between Bristol and Birmingham to achieve track alignment between the two. You're right they don't have to line up in the same plane but I think a major part in this looking harmonious and linked on purpose (rather than 3 layouts cut-and-shut together) will be to have a consistent visual line of cameo frames.

Or Midland. Now we're talking...

Whitchurch Road?

Fresh from Bristol’s weekend outing, I have given some more thought to dividing MG up into two (Birmingham and London) and how that might be achieved. Although Bristol is for sale, until such time as a buyer appears (or not- we shall see) I have devised a cunning plan to shoe-horn all three (Bristol, Birmingham and London) together. Here’s a photo of my sketch- hopefully fairly clear although it doesn’t show the full extent of the train shed walls. The top half is the current arrangement and the bottom half the proposed arrangement. The theory being that as I am a fan of the Cameo presentation, all three locations will have their own independent Cameo picture frame around them, three cameos in a row, but with continuous track between all three. Birmingham and London will be separated both by their cameo frames and also the stud wall between train shed and workshop. Interestingly I’ve checked and I have the height to bring Bristol and therefore the other two up to ‘exhibition’ height. At least it solves the problem of storage for Bristol, although I’m not at all sure how the track will actually be made to line up between Bristol and Birmingham. And before anyone says, I don’t mean Gloucester....!

I thought Arun Quay was a bit too bright too, and also thought so when I saw it first in Uckfield last year. However, I would never have the temerity to say this to Mr Gravett himself and feel like I must only whisper it here... As a coincidence though, I was idly thinking on the way home that backdrops and our feeble attempts at painting sky are often the weakest point in a layout and some appear an afterthought or worse, an unnecessary waste of time and effort that could otherwise be spent on more trains and track. I hasten to add that present company of all I saw at Railex excepted...! My thoughts, however turned to maybe developing an entirely new way of presenting the said sky effect- maybe with something translucent and back-lit. I wonder if this has been done before? If not, you heard it first here...I may experiment on Midland in Birmingham/London...My ponderings made the return journey on the M25 pass a lot quicker anyway!

Do 7mm pigeons count...?!

And very well deserved too Dave. Sherton Abbas has long been a favourite of mine and extremely well executed. It’s exquisite and Best Railway is a worthy accolade. No surprise to me and plenty of others!!

Thank you all for your kind words. If I can show what can be achieved in 6’ then I’ve done what I set out to do with this competition. I cant remember now who I might have told but Monks Gate will be ‘split’ into two cameos and maybe even Bristol tacked onto one end so 3 in a row (unless I sell it...!). I sort of outlined this on the Birmingham/London thread and I’m looking forward to getting on with it. Simon Castens was also doing a great job in twisting my arm to have a dabble with Gauge 1. I think a chap from BRM also popped up at one point so really all in all a successful weekend. Today i will mostly be.... ....gardening!!

Many congrats to Wenlock in winning Best Railway, so deserved as all 18 feet of it is exquisite. My little GW 4 plank made its own cameo appearance...!

Well well well. What a weekend! It was really good to meet so may rmwebbers and thank you all who came up and introduced yourselves and stayed for a chat. Exhibiting for the first time is quite a steep learning curve I can tell you! Really pleased with Best Model (thanks Jerry, much appreciated!). Was thinking about radio control/dc/dcc driving home...still very undecided. Today was the better day strangely even though nothing was running. I put a sign up explaining the situation which meant I think most folk were understanding and kindly commented that there was enough visually going on to not matter too much. Thanks to the Scalefour chap (Bernie?) who lent me his 4mm clockwork loco as he thought it ‘might help’! He was quite pleased to take a photo of the comical arrangement!! All in all a fabulous weekend and very well organised. Hats off to the team.

Well, about to get going for day 2 at Railex. This being the first time I have exhibited, I really don’t know how you do it over and over again...it’s exhausting! Will report more at close of play.

Good summary Stephen and great to meet you today.

Show time!

Yep, me too! As it’s my first time exhibiting it’s 50/50 nerves/excitement. I’m sure once I’m set up and ‘in the zone’ it will be such a buzz! My poxy little C Max looked huge a couple of weeks ago but it seems to have shrunk in the car wash...here’s hoping it all squeezes in!

A Great Western open wagon in early red livery, standing empty. Midland covered waiting patiently. Bristol docks, 1907.

Now now, play nicely. On more pressing matters (to me anyway!), I have finished the red 4 plank and the covered van.... ....ta dah!! You may notice the conspicuous absence of the second grey 4 plank. I’m afraid no end of crawling around the workshop floor could reveal the offending widget, so it will have to wait...ho hum.

Interesting. Where might I find more info on them? Maybe one for after the weekend...