SteveyDee68

Thanks for that, Rob - booking my appointment for Specsavers as obviously my eyesight is worse than I thought! I could have sworn that right hand point was a Y … I’m gonna blame @Sitham Yard * for suggesting there was a reverse curve at the right hand side, which was enough for me to then see one and deduct that was because of a Y point! The likes of Paul McKenna (remember him?) and Derren Brown have made careers out of using the power of “suggestion” to influence people - perhaps @Sitham Yard is one of them in disguise?! 🥸 🤣 Steve S * not really!

Ah, serves me right for reading on my mobile phone without my glasses! On zooming in on the photo you are quite right, as that particular point is a Y (albeit a nice long one) which introduces a subtle reverse curve; if replaced by a right hand point it would, as you say, remove that reverse curve. Funny how I hadn’t noticed that earlier and assumed all the points were left and right hand only. It’s a great trackplan — I’ve saved the image for future reference and have already sketched it turned around 180° (so the front is the back) to see if it works as a quasi Wells-Next-The-Sea quayside layout! Steve S

What I particularly like about this (and your other more recent) track formation(s) compared to your earlier layouts is your use of standard points to avoid reverse curves through points around loops - it inspired me to rethink the trackwork for my own micro layout Blackford Wharf (with set track code 100 points, where reverse curves are even more severe). Looking carefully at the above, there are no reverse curves through any of your pointwork formations … I feel I may end up stealing borrowing this trackplan for Woodhey Wharf when I eventually build it! (Note to self - purchase of 6 x code 75 medium points required) Steve S

Crikey - I think John Wiffen’s TO30c Modern Cargo Ship from ScaleScenes looks pretty close to BOTHNIA FIN in the above photo. I’m guessing BF above is probably a little wider than John’s model (he has used selective compression to make it “workable” as a 1/76 model, and I think looking at most modern coaster photos* that it is mostly across the beam - although if he did that to scale width it might then show up the shorter length more) A bargain at £9.19 - one heck of a lot cheaper than any Artitec kit! Steve S

That is a really inspiring Nellie bash, and the photo sequence is a great guide for anyone wishing to do the same. I wonder - if assembled “t’other way baht” would the motor block still make ‘side skirts’ on the boiler necessary? (I’m squinting a bit and wondering if the motor block sits more to one end than the other on the chassis) Not meant as a criticism - indeed, I have such a chassis ripe for bashing in a similar manner, and although others have put a (single) Nellie body on that chassis, your version does seem more ‘balanced’ overall and worth emulating. Steve S UPDATE Further perusal of your photos shows the block is pretty central, so no is the short answer. Could the sloping section at the front be further trimmed, or would the block then disintegrate?

That’s London for you! (Hat, coat etc)

Delighted to be able to tell you that this is as simple as “Export to mp3” from the Audacity menu! eBay is selling iPods for very low prices, which you could load up with sounds/tracks via iTunes on your computer (I think it is available for both Mac and PC). Something like an iPod Nano with 32GB of memory should be more than enough to hold your backing tracks - and with a micro jack socket for headphones/audio out, you can run the sound to some powered speakers under the baseboards. You could pick up any old generic mp3 player, but just remember that Steve Jobs demanded the iPod be created because he loathed the awful user interface on them before Ives came up with the “touchwheel”! Steve S

Yep! Shows up now as “add to cart”! At least my eBay seller will deliver to ARGOS with Click & Collect (much better for me than arriving at home whilst out!) Steve S

Well, I’d looked to preorder a “Booster” from ROS before Xmas but got distracted and returning to their website today found all the “preorder” buttons are greyed out … which I think means they have sold all their stock? However, opening eBay up I found exactly the model I wanted (BR green) on sale from The Class 37 Group at a BIN price only 1p more than ROS, so promptly made use of PayPal’s Pay-In-3 and am looking forward to receiving it in due course! Another loco for my planned “Broadhaven” layout! Steve S

Just stumbled upon this thread having been a regular contributor to the eBay Madness thread just next door… I have to report this one, as I am still grinning from ear to ear about it … Have been trying to get hold of a Triang four wheel “Swedish” starter coach for some time after seeing an “upgraded” version on a FaceBook micro layouts group, and had seen single examples sell for crazy sums (I think upwards of £50) so a listing by the infamous Gostude for four of them for £99 almost seemed a bargain … Then in early December I was looking through a seller’s other items (as I always do whenever I watch something of interest, in case they have other items I might combine postage with) and stumbled upon “Continental Style 00 g.u.a.g.e Short Coaches” [sic]* with a starting bid of £2.99 and one bid only. One of them has damage to one corner (also has a damaged buffer - that was not at all clear from the photos) but I couldn’t believe my luck. Set an alarm for four minutes before the end of the auction expecting the price to have rocketed and was amazed to find them still at £2.99 and one bid. I was prepared to pay up to £16.20 each, and so put a bid in five seconds before the auction ended for £32.40+£3.75 p&p I won … for £3.20 … a tenth of what I was prepared to pay! Result!! At £1.60 each** that definitely fits the “good buy from eBay” title of this thread! Good luck to everyone finding more good eBay buys in 2024 Steve S * RMWeb’s autocorrect has changed the seller’s incorrect spelling of “gauge” despite my efforts to stop it doing so - last attempt is by using redundant full stops 😡 ** I never factor in postage - it is what it is!

Just to follow up re: Audacity - it is free and a really powerful audio program; I used it before Christmas to join so-called professionally produced backing tracks for a school musical that had gaps between songs that were supposed to run one into another - needless to say the school are mightily relieved and it took about half an hour all told - majority of time spent listening by ear to remove any audibly noticeable joins between the tracks. You can “loop” sounds to act as “beds” for individual audio effects - example the sound of wind through trees looped and then individual bird sounds dropped in on top randomly. Will be watching with interest how you further develop your layout before the house move, and all the best for 2024 Steve S

Happy New Year to you, too! Thank you for posting your micro layout up on this thread - I finished 2023 by re-reading it all from the start! What you have demonstrated to me personally, more than anything else, is that all of my projects have started too complicated - I should learn to walk before I run, so to speak! Congratulations on your purchase of a Victory tank loco, too - they really are beasts of a model, and you took advantage of a brilliant offer from Planet Industrial linked with PayPal’s Pay-in-3 (my favourite purchasing method!); thankfully I refrained from buying yet another (as their offer was extended until midnight last night!) Looking forward to seeing what you do next in 2024! Steve S

Happy New Year to all! Just to report that the first book is absolutely fascinating, and the second book is literally a follow on volume, as it uses the same sequence of photos and compares it with “modern” (1997-1999) views of the riverside. Although quite a few riverside buildings were kept, restored and adapted, it is sad to also see how much was swept away in the name of progress. Of course, the 1980s/1990s were not exactly a period of great architecture (with a few exceptions) and some ghastly carbuncles (to borrow a phrase) were thrown up by the waterside. Of course, we are now a further two decades on - I wonder if they have a further volume in preparation to show even more changes along the sides of the Thames? With any luck, perhaps some of the worst of the 1980s architecture has been torn down and replaced? Although the authors are not experts or particularly interested in the ships caught in the photos, they do give some pertinent information. I’d recommend these books for anyone interested in how the urban landscape at the edge of the Thames has changed over the years. Steve S

And straight back to you, sir! Steve S

Hi @New Haven Neil - any idea of the scale of those models? They look utterly gorgeous, but must surely be a little bigger in scale than 1:76? Steve S

TMC have on their website the Collector’s Edition of the Blue Pullman available to order at £419.97 (reduced from £599.95) which makes that cheaper than their lazily-listed second hand version on eBay! Steve S

TMC would like you to spend over £500 on an item with one fuzzy photo and a description that tells you nothing other than somebody else has owned it… Blue Pullman See me - Can do better

Thanks @Darius43 for pointing me to the other thread (sadly devoid of photos) which explains a lot about bullion flats and their usage. Nice short train - class 31, 2 x FXAs and a bullion van for the armed police - to pass by at speed on any through station*! Steve S * Using Rule #1, of course!

Okay, time for a really stupid question (or three) for @Darius43 (1) Is a Bullion Flat wagon for the transportation of gold bullion? (2) Are the containers shown on said flat wagon effectively “portable vaults” for said gold bullion? (3) Is it me, or wouldn’t the use of said containers on such wagons be as conspicuous as, say, a nuclear flask wagon? In which case (a) where are the photos and (b) doesn’t that make them obvious targets for the criminally inclined? I mean, absolutely fascinating and totally perplexing at the same time! Steve S

Recently re-invigorated my best mate’s interest in modelling; he has half built a “watching the trains go by” layout in the loft for American outline stock, but has had a change of heart and is resurrecting his BR Western Region stock. As a surprise, I have picked up a Warship class 42/43 in green from eBay, to be renumbered and named “Benbow” (three guesses why!) together with a selection of Triang Mk1s in chocolate and cream finish (2 x BSKs, 3 x composites and a restaurant car) so he can have a six coach “passing through” train to supplement the branch line formations he has planned. This thread was the first that appeared when searching how to improve Triang Mk1s and is inspiring (would be even better if all the contributors reposted their missing images - curse the RMWeb outage!) and informative - straight away I can see roofs should be grey (I have a mixture of grey, white and black!) It is mentioned about altering the bogie ride height to get the buffers to the right height, but nobody says how - any advice? (I plan to upgrade the coaches before presenting them to him - also an excuse to finally make use of the airbrush I bought about four years ago!) Steve S

As others have already said, you have created many interesting and realistic cameos in the space you have available. I must say that I am particularly taken by your large industrial buildings - there’s something about suchlike towering over trains that simply looks “right” Steve S

For some reason I missed this explanatory post from @HExpressD! But now - yes! I see it! Hattons used a prototype photo of a different yellow six wheel Sentinel rather than do their homework properly! Feels like they should receive some (belated) teacher feedback … Hattons - see me - must do better Steve S

How lovely that this thread has resurrected itself just as I find myself ready to ask a really stupid question… Were any of these square tanks ever repurposed to carry water, as was done on the C&HPR with old locomotive tenders? I acquired a couple of “unfinished” Dalol versions and wondered about simply labelling them “water” for my C&HPR inspired layout! Steve S

Thanks for the heads-up - just ordered myself a copy plus a similar volume called “London’s Riverscape: Lost and Found” (Panorama of the river from 1937 and today) to add to my library! Mind you, the foreword to the second book is by Ken Livingstone MP so that might not be quite as up to date as the title might imply! Steve S

What a smashing bit of kit to get as a Christmas pressie - she’s a keeper! 😁 My pre-Christmas present to myself was a(nother) Victory tank loco. (Like I don’t have enough of them already!) And I have just a few more days left to resist buying another for £99 before their promotion code runs out!! Enjoy Christmas, and looking forward to seeing your layout develop further in the new year! Steve S