Harlequin

Hi Keith, Just click in the quote, press return, then press return again. The quote will break open.

Absolutely stunning! @Oliver Rails Do we need to do anything to 'confirm' our pre-orders now that the prices are set or do we just sit back and wait in anticipation?

Hi Dougie, Almost everyone who aspires to model a real location makes compromises, chooses to omit things, shorten things, simplify things. And yet they create scenes that look amazingly atmospheric and realistic. This is where the true artform of layout design begins! So don't worry about changing things. Pick out the aspects that are really characteristic of the place and the things that are important to you, the views you used to see. Where there is repetition in the prototype you can reduce the amount in the model. Where there is featureless open ground in the prototype you can shorten distances to help get the scene into your room. BTW: Don't forget Peco Code 75 trackwork. That is closer to prototype scale than Code 100 and has an equally large range (with some small differences to Code 100). You only need Code 100 if your rolling stock has the older larger wheel flanges. Buying a length of flexitrack and a turnout won't break the bank and would allow you to test your stock.

"It's Lego, Jim, but not as we know it..." https://uk.bassettlowke.co.uk/catalogue/brickpunk

I started playing with a model in Sketchup:

Software... "The cause of, and solution to, all life's problems"

I've just noticed that the forum knows the difference between a status update that a member has made him or herself and one made by another member in that member's account. In the latter case it shows both account names with a » character between them. So would it be possible to filter them out from the home page Recent Status Updates panel by using that distinction?

@ISW of this parish has used a particular floor underlay product. I'll leave him to tell you about that because I haven't tried it. I have used cork and PVA, which is quite noisy when things are running at speed and I have noticed that the sound is much louder when running over a large board that completely covers the baseboard frame than when running on the boards that are just wide enough for the tracks leaving the frame open around them. When you think about it, that's not surprising - the traditional baseboard is not unlike a guitar's sound box or a flat drum. So my suggestion is, no matter what kind of underlay you use, make your baseboards so that they don't amplify the running sounds.

Hi Burtos, If the layout is unlikely to move very often and you've got room to walk around it, why don't you create a more traditional setup with the layout around the outside of the space and a hole in the middle, the "operating well", from where you operate it? There are good reasons why this design is preferred when you can do it: The trains are all around you. You don't have to move so far to reach everywhere. The fiddle yard can be open on one side. There's more length for the track and the curves can be larger radius. Etc., etc... You wouldn't then have to worry about joining boards together in a tessellation - they just join end to end. Then you could think about using Streamline parts instead of Settrack to improve the appearance of the track work (and fit more storage loops in the fiddle yard). BTW: Why are you still talking about using N gauge parts when you are designing a OO gauge layout? It's very confusing! For example in OO gauge (4mm scale) your "station" loops are little more than a foot long.

You could make a 3D computer model of the detail and get someone else to print it (lots of people here would be willing to help) or have it printed commercially. It has simple geometric shapes and measurements can be derived from the brick courses so a computer model shouldn't be that hard to create.

I'd say that's only true if the fiddle yard does not need it's own "throat". I.e. when it's very simple or when it's a pure traverser. When the fiddle yard needs pointwork, even if combined with a short traverser, then I think four times train length is nearer the mark.

Thanks! I go the extra mile for the satisfaction of creating a pleasing design and because I think the details help imagine the layout better. By the way, did you notice that I didn't use Streamline templates in this design? I just made gentle junctions between tracks on the basis that they can be formed using kit-built or hand-built pointwork. This stems from Peco moving glacially slowly and sticking to their decades old geometry while Finetrax look set to surpass them in many ways. Interesting idea. I toyed with the idea of having the industry entirely off scene, imagined to be say half a mile up the line, with a facing connection to the station. This would mean bringing the traffic into the station before picking out the relevant wagons and making a special trip back up the line to deliver them into the private siding. In that case, the engine shed could stay put... An excuse to model a water mill would be great (in theory)! A definite change of character. In my mind Bucklecombe is a quiet, rural station with only one loco present at a time - 48xx, small prairie or small pannier tank. Perfectly valid but in this case I quite liked the twist of seeing the box from the back. From some close-up angles you'd be able to look through the side windows, over the frame, to the scene beyond. And it is doing a specific job on the near side of the track (along with the big tree) of breaking up the view of the station so that it looks bigger and so that the movement of trains is a bit more interesting by being slightly obscured. Yes, I think you are describing a location with more significance on the network than Bucklecombe - on the order of St Ives or Cardigan, perhaps. Thanks.

There’s some useful info in Atkins, GWR Goods Train Working Vol 2 . On p. 253 photo of horse in cattle dock at Paddington. Caption describes how tarps were pulled over the roof of cattle wagons when carrying horses to prevent them being spooked. On p. 255 photo of many horses in and around cattle pens at Brent after a horse sale. I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere, or maybe @The Stationmaster told us somewhere, that valuable creatures would sometimes be loaded/unloaded on the passenger platform.

Some very good choices there!

Hi Andy, I imagined the track continuing under that roof for some distance. (I should have drawn a dotted line, sorry). So the loading dock is almost the full length of the shed, and is covered by the shed but the final wagon length of the track is also covered.

Setting You might have guessed from the video that my Minories will be an Edwardian SE&CR affair. I'm normally a GWR man but it didn't seem to be a good fit for a small London terminus. The SE&CR feels more appropriate for that kind of station and has the advantage that there are some great period RTR SE&CR locos in wonderful liveries to bring the place to life. The Hattons SE&CR 4 and 6 wheel coaches will provide perfect commuter rolling stock - making trains look longer and pass through the pointwork more comfortably than the bogey Birdcage stock I've got. The latter will still make occasional appearances for special trains. Some LB&SCR stock might also visit. I know next to nothing about the SE&CR at the moment but I will learn as I go and all input will be gratefully received! Next steps To finalise the electrics I need to setup the point motors but there's not much point (oh dear) doing that until I can control them. I'm awaiting a Pi SPROG 3 v2, which are not available quite yet. I also need to replace the broken Small Left turnout. They are not in stock anywhere at the moment. The first scenic job will be to add the typical Victorian brick retaining walls but none of the products I've found so far are tall enough or are too thick. They need to be about 120mm tall and no more than 12mm deep. The ones @halsey has used on Hawkesbury look like they might fit but they don't appear to be sold any more... So just at the moment, I'm blocked on all fronts!

Please tell us what the problem is when you find it. Thanks.

Raked ballast, of course, around manicured plantings of Rosebay Willowherb.

Another brainwave: I. Joan, barmaid and Hawkins' paramour - Holliday Grainger

I thought of another possibility: C. Blakeworth, the cycling town clerk and regular commuter - David Mitchell

It's not Minories without the opposing crossover, IMHO.

Transportation parked up alongside: A moped with L plates and, horror of horrors, a beige Vauxhall Chevette!

Just to be clear, this was a joke. I simply assembled a list of the most grotesque and pointless "celebrities" I could think of at the time (although I must admit that I included Ant & Dec for the benefit of others - I would give them the benefit of the doubt). To stem the rising levels of discomfort with this idea and to let the Rapido thread get back on topic, this alternative thread asks about the cast of a good remake:

With news of Rapido's Titfield Thunderbolt film tie-in for the upcoming 70th anniversary of the film and Hornby's attempts to crash the party with Lion, there has been some jokey discussion of a remake. So, purely in fantasy land, imagine that a well-funded production was going ahead with the intention of making a really great film that's worthy of, and in the spirit of, the original... A thoughtful casting director is assembling the best cast that he or she can put together, money no object. Who would those actors be? People available for filming next year and who could bring charm and sensitivity to their parts: Cast list A. Valentine, the bibulous financier of the railway. B. Reverend Weech, the train obsessed vicar. C. Blakeworth, the cycling town clerk and regular commuter. D. Squire Gordon, everyman who wants the railway to remain open. E. Bishop of Welchester. F. Emily, Reverend Weech's elderly housekeeper. G. Dan, old engine driver. H. Hawkins, traction engine driver. I. Joan, barmaid and Hawkins' paramour. J. Crump, dodgy boss of coach firm. K. Pearce, Crump's sidekick. (List cribbed and slightly amended from Simon Castens' book.) --- First suggestion: E. Bishop of Welchester - Stephen Fry ?