Lambton58

Sorry to hear this news. For me, Iain's writings and work were entertaining, informative and inspiring in equal measure and will remain so. He will be much missed in the model railway world. Ralph

De Havilland were very good at producing stunning looking planes

We had the pleasure of going to The Flying Prom at Old Warden last Saturday - a 60th birthday treat from our sons and their partners. As usual with Old Warden the flying was lovely. One of the highlights (for me) was finally seeing and hearing this beauty flying - the DH88 Comet.

And then later in the day the USAAF passed over The P47 flew over yesterday too (I only heard it - AD- Exchange told me what it was!) in company with a Spitfire; I'm guessing they were heading back home from Fairford.

Back on the Jubilee Bank Holiday there was a vintage fete in our town and the organisers had booked a flypast from one of the BBMF Spitfires. Unfortunately it didn't turn up and we got this grand old lady instead! She put on a superb display doing 3 circuits I think. Ralph

This is from Old Warden's Fly Navy event on 3 July. Chosen for no other reason than my very first flight (in 1976) was in one of these. I was in the Sea Cadets and went on a week's 'course' at RNAS Culdrose. One of the highlights for the cadets was a flight around the Lizard in one of these lovelies.

That's my understanding too. I think there may also have been issues with staff recruitment and training, which meant that 'enjoyed' the bustitutes service for longer than maybe intended. I used it once to/from Bedford and it was an interesting experience. Some lively driving via routes I wouldn't have thought of to get from station to station.

The good weather seems to have brought them out in numbers! Here's one not long out of hibernation back in March passing Woodley's Farm Crossing near Woburn Sands. It's taken a while but we do seem to have a full service now, with no bus replacements. Although I've seen them passing loads of times, circumstances and the pandemic meant that I hadn't travelled on one until last week for our London jaunt and a couple of trips to Bedford. And I must admit they're better than I was expecting and they seem fine for the Bletchley / Bedford service. Not sure about them for a longer journey like Bletchley to Oxford though. Ralph

We went to London last Friday and changed trains at Bletchley. Here's a couple of snaps taken from Platform 5 showing progress so far on the new platforms/station.

7 of 9?? My goodness, if a Deltic has been assimilated into the Star Trek Borg, that can only increase their power. Where's Zonta when we need him?

Looking forward to seeing her. Shame my shunting plank is wired for one-engine-in-steam otherwise we could have tried some Deltic racing!

Nimbus has arrived in Woburn Sands and started making friend with the locals. It really is a very, very fine model. Impressed with the packaging and box too. TBH she really is too big for my current shunting plank but, well who cares?! I haven't even tried to run her yet, but I'm happy 😁 Ralph

Back in the early 1990s I recall watching a chap at EXPO EM glazing his carriages with the very thin cover slip glass for microscope slides. He said he used glass because nothing else looked like it and the cover slips were thin enough to cut and look convincing. He was building a model of Stevenage in the 1930s and had some absolutely exquisite models. I think he was Joe Paternoster-Rowe but I could be wrong @Flying Pig do you remember him and those models? Back on topic... @Accurascale Fran - very nice and a good choice

That's lovely! And very achievable - you've given me some ideas on how to enhance mine [# ImminentRetirementProject No 385!!] . I really like the contrasting finishes on the smoke box and boiler. It reminds me of something Ian Rice wrote in one of his books about black loco's along the lines of they may be all black, but never uniformly black. Whyaye, very canny! Ralph Lambton58

Often the case along there. The fields sit on the clay belt and don't drain very well.

Thanks! I know where you mean. I often walk from home to the two next crossings nearer Woburn Sands (Woodley's Farm and Fisherman's Path).

@Nearholmer Which crossing is this? Might have a wander down sometime :-) Ralph Lambton58

Looks to be in nearly mint condition...

Ahh! Thanks I was wondering what it was, having spotted in on the Realtime Trains site. This is one from last Wednesday - 67001 passing Woodleys Farm Crossing, Woburn Sands on the 031N Bletchley to Bedford North Sidings. Ralph Lambton 58

Yep - still shot from IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044706/mediaviewer/rm943247105/ 70 years old this year and still a great movie - almost as good as The Titfield Thunderbolt. Ralph Lambton 58

Thank you!

And the good news is that there is a FIDO beer brewed Ferry Ales Brewery near Lincoln, and jolly good it is too! "Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation(FIDO) was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield The device was developed for British RAF bomber stations, including RAF Fiskerton a small distance from the brewery, allowing the landing of aircraft returning from raids in poor visibility by burning fuel in rows on either side of the runway." Cheers! Ralph Lambton 58

Here's a couple of 1:72 planes I finished in 2020. Airfix Supermarine Spitfire F Mk22 of No 603 (City of Edinburgh) Sqn, Royal Auxillary Air Force. RAF Turnhouse 1951 Revell De Havilland Vampire FB3 of No 601 Sqn Royal Auxillary Air Force. RAF North Weald July 1952 I took the photos in the back garden with the models on top of the wall and against the sky. Ralph Lambton58

Ah, sorry. I missed the previous comment. Going a bit off topic now but, my goodness, what incredible bravery from both men.

Remarkably, it a similar thing also happened with a Lancaster - https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/sergeant-norman-jackson-vc . What happened afterwards is just as remarkable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cyril_Jackson Ralph Lambton58