Methuselah

Go for it.... Looks like it's still there too. Chances are there were some willows around it, and those grow at a prodigious rate near water, so you can't go far wrong. It was probably there well before the railway. Personally, I find some model ponds where attempts have been made top create ripples etc a bit wooden, since real waves and ripples are entirely animated. Using a sheet of glass works well, as it's level and really shiny, as real water always is.

I can't believe that it's two and a half years since I last scribbled here. So what's happened in the intervening time...? Bluntly - not enough....! Sure, there are more boxes of 'stuff' collecting dust in the loft of the barn, but, since I've still not finished renovating the house, the 'train shed' itself is still, perforce, down the list of priorities. Perhaps later this year will see it happen - but, no shed - no railway....😐😐😬 My time being in such short supply, I did commission someone to start on the scratchbuilt buildings, which have turned out very well, but did require a lot of specially-made windows of course. These will, in total, include Tenbury, Easton Court and Woofferton stations etc. Thus all the lineside buildings will be faithful, and I doubt that many original non-railway buildings will be included, as the line side fields were mostly empty of buildings. Although my own house is outside the footprint of the railway, I will, in an abundance of vanity, sneak it in, having spent over a decade renovating it. I did even manage to get along the Warley show at the NEC last autumn. A vastly bigger show than the Warley shows of my youth, but rather a mixed bag, and I came away somewhat underwhelmed. Will I bother again this year...? I very much doubt it. I could leave it another fifty years and have my ashes wheeled around in an funerary urn on a trolley I suppose...! Surprisingly, I didn't purchase any new locos at the show, just a few discounted wagons and transfers, but having seen the Kernow Models GWR Steam Railmotor running with sound and lights - I subsequently decided to order one a few days later, and we are promised these over this summer - hopefully. This model is available in all liveries, and the earliest, the full Edwardian chocolate & cream, looked and sounded very nice and was my choice. If I'd have built one, I simply couldn't have gained any sort of advantage - especially in terms of finish. This delayed start to the actual physical build of the diorama of Woofferton Junction etc does at least have the advantage of allowing my old and addled brain to soak-up more information, and to some extent ameliorate the gap of five decades away from model railways. I never cease to be amazed and humbled by the sheer excellence of some of the output of modellers, both of kits, scratchbuilt, and in terms of scenery/dioramas etc. I'm acutely conscious that I need to ensure that all the niggles/annoyances that I see in lesser creations must not appear in my own efforts. However, I realise this will prove very difficult....! Certainly, the output of certain modellers - some well-known, some not, have proven to be very inspirational, and I do return to looking at their works regularly as inspiration. All of the infrastructure on my diorama will be set for the Edwardian period. Fortunately, hardly anything ever changed, apart from some minor signalling upgrades. Locos and stock aside, I am hoping to have various swappable elements such as figures and road vehicles, so as to better portray the key periods between 1900 and the curse of Nationalisation. I'm still rather daunted by DCC, not because I don't understand it, but it's the potential cost of equipping a lot of locos. I have some ideas for how to tackle this thorny issue, but that will have to wait until I have something runnable. Attached are images of the majority of the railway buildings for Tenbury, with only the two signal cabins awaiting windows to complete, and to be clear, these wonderful structures are the work of a friend - not my own hands. We had drawings for only some of these structures, for the rest, we have to size the buildings from large-scale O.S. maps and interpret photographs. As will be seen, these structures have followed the methodology used by the experts at Pendon, where the buildings plug-in to the scenery. This gives the huge advantage of avoiding the dreaded 'hovering-building disease' - the ruination of many an otherwise excellent diorama. Onwards & upwards...!

What is the optimum Wattage for an iron for kitbuilding....?

Two years on from the last post on this subject now. What are the current 2023 recommended irons for brass and whitemetal kits....?

Are there any drawings/photos of it in NER configuration/livery......?

I received the new lined LNER version a few weeks ago (Rapido have now asked for it back as they seem to have an electrical fault...!) - however, I also previously bought the original LNER version several years ago - which was, of course, unlined. I was wondering what work would be required to turn this into it's original NER configuration and livery....?

Many Thanks Martin.

Sorry to ask a slightly off-topic question. Long-shot ;- GWR Bullhead track with two-bolt chairs. I need a drawing for the wooden keys that were used. Would any kind soul be able to help please.....? 🙂

That DVD sounds interesting - just ordered a copy. Woofferton was never a canal-rail interchange, as the canal was already moribund, and the Tenbury Railway bought the remains of the canal company to use some of the land to build the railway over. A lovely area, with some very curious railways. I'm building the old S&H Woofferton Junction in 4mm, as well as the branch as far as Tenbury - with some contraction of course.

Very appropriate - almost passing his Lordship's front-door....!

Does anyone know how many of these models have been made - and if there will be further batches made....?

Thanks. That's quite a long potential life - with the opportunity for a model to be in four liveries. High time for some RTR by the sound of it.

Out of interest - when did all the ex-LNWR coaches get withdrawn.....?

I'm a late re-starter to model railways. I have limited time for kits and scratchbuilds. I can do some - but some RTR coaches would be great - especially LNWR-built. For example, LNWR coaches could be produced in both LNWR and LMS livery and cover quite a large time-period. I don't think that is so specialist that they wouldn''t sell, and the effort to produce accurate carriages is little different to the generic tat that has been churned out since Triang days.

The recent spate of Pre-Grouping locos is very encouraging. I think there is a substantial pent-up appetite for such RTR models. Let's hope more arrive - along with more equally accurate rolling stock.

I noticed the wonky dome too, but didn't like to mention.....

They look great - I ordered a couple of Luknow - I will re-name to suit a local shed. They arrived this afternoon and are perfect - no damage. Lovely models. The coaches, however, will require some actual modelling......

Hmmm.......I seem to have had an uncharacteristic mental glitch, as these were ordered last year, and I thought that it was an option...... I have just been on the phone to Rails, and indeed - I am told that it is not an option.... doooooooh... Sorry folks. 'As you were'...! Incidentally, the young lady at Rails referred to delivery as expected 'November-December'..... Happily - I'm in no rush.

You omitted to mention the benefits to pedestrian safety of gridlock in Tenbury's only main through street, and the enrichment of the fine country air of all that surplus sewerage wafting-up from the overloaded sewers. No wonder such progress is so warmly welcomed in the locale.....

I've ordered a couple with sound. Has anyone heard these sound-schemes yet - any good....?

I'm after any drawings for a GWR level crossing for a single line with wooden gates and posts - not the cast-iron post type. Any info' gratefully received.

I'm new to this type - and the SECR generally - and have a couple of queries for the experts here. I see the Rails version lacks the rear set of lining on the boiler that the NRM version has. Which was prevalent in service....? Any reason these are being made with a matt finish - were the originals not gloss - like the real NRM example....? The Rails version is available in a DCC Sound version..... I'm a bit confused about whether the NRM version is available in a Sound version...like the Rails version...? I have to say, these look gorgeous in the original SECR livery.

Like I said, the Merlins were too big and two heavy. The CG would have been buggered and the whole machine needing re-stressing - and with the available wing area, higher take-off and landing speeds, as well as, doubtless, a serious degradation in turn radius etc etc. The Hornet was a clean-sheet design, intended, from the outset for the special 2,000hp version of the Slimmed-down low-fat Merlin, each engine turning in opposite directions to counteract engine-torque.

The RR engines have been mooted as a stand-in for a long time - and there is much merit in that option to at least see a Typhoon in the air. As for regenerating the Sabre - the prognosis isn't great. A vast effort to get - probably at most three Typhoons into the air..... The Sabre is a pretty fiendish engine. I knew mechanics who'd worked on them in the war - and they found them a nightmare. Still - if money is no object....

Kermit Weeks has possibly got more Sabre engines than anyone else of the planet. His Tempests II & V are being restored to airworthy standards - but for static display. ( I think he possibly has eight Sabres.). Kermit has excellent resources and facilities - and is better positioned than probably anyone else to get a Sabre-engined Tempest into the air. One might argue that the FAA is perhaps a tad more adventurous than the UK's CAA. Even so - I wouldn't put money on his Tempest V flying.