gr.king

But not severe enough problems to require one of those pre-printed & laminated apology notices seen on a layout at York, possibly in 2019?

Two previous EM Shows in Wakefield, and the now defunct Scalefour North events before those, have all given me thorough satisfaction, even as a dyed-in-the-wool OO modeller, so I'm looking forward to getting there tomorrow.

You're quite right about most of the valve gear on my two K2s and on one now owned by Graham Nicholas also being too chunky, and it's a direct consequence of using RTR mechanisms and trying at the time to produce a stud of K2s (and other suitable locos) as quickly and cheaply as possible for Grantham's shows. In adapting the Bachmann split-axle V3 mechanisms (which are also old-school model design now) I did at least make the added parts of the tall motion bracket and the replacement double slidebars reasonably slim, since they had to be made and it seemed as easy to make them look right as it would have been to make them noticaebly too thick.

Would you say that the proportions of the etched valve gear put it firmly in an earlier period of kit design, even if not quite Hornby-Dublo standard? The parts of the motion bracket that will ultimately be visible, and all of the rods look as if their appearances would benefit greatly from a lot of slimming down.

More often than not, but I haven't found it correct on every single occasion. I've found that addition of white spirit to gloopy Humbrol enamel, in a separate mixing container for just the amount you want to use, tends to overcome the slow drying problem, as well as producing free flowing paint. Not so good if you were hoping to cover a contrasting colour completely in one horrible thick coat, but is that really any problem? Hang on to those precious tins of old Humbrol for as long as they contain anything viable.

A good point. What is logical and obvious to the installer, based on his impression of the way that section of the layout should/will operate, isn't always obvious, logical and convenient to any (other) operator or operators.

That's a far better view of the contraption than I got from a cafe some way along the road. I can now see just how long that front beam is, and the additional wheels. No nose wheel gear on the plane at all, it just gets lifted out of the water on that chassis as the truck reverses (?) away.

The strangest "front coupling" I ever saw on a road vehicle was in the Vancouver BC area, possibly Coal Harbour, a float-plane launching facility. The planes were shunted to and from the water (across a public road) by what appeared to be the converted remains of some sort of pick-up truck (or ute, in antipodean parlance) with a long front bar which (I think) coupled to the nose wheel gear of the amphibious planes - but... memory suggests that everything to the rear of the cab of the truck had been removed entirely, including chassis and therefore the rear wheels! How could such a thing balance, or be handled, when not coupled to a plane? I presume it was "front" wheel drive. I wish I had a picture to hand to prove the point.

Deux Fodens.

Ooo.errr, Matron. You'll be showing that knob again soon I bet. Do I spy a Foden? Don't let Mathewsons know about that.

"I'm not sure what I did, but it works now" is always a little frustrating, but at least it does work properly now. Close tolerances everywhere are very nice if you can get away with them, but if not, I'm always happy to remember that a certain Russian (and Chinese) made rifle with "slack fit" parts was much more reliable than many others of its time, and even if not terribly accurate was on the winning side in numerous conflicts.

Not sure why Peco would wish to spend any money re-tooling to produce new electrically refined track in a crude coarse-scale form. I can't imagine that they'd produce proper switched electrofrog now anyway - they're in love with the commercial compromise (bodge?) that is "unifrog".

Is that the metallic paint in the standard range of enamels, as opposed to the "apply and buff up" metalcote?

A GNR 2-6-2 fast goods loco using the large Atlantic boiler was schemed out under Ivatt's regime, as a four-cylinder compound, presumably around the time when he was also playing around with compound versions of his Atlantics, without any great success. In fact, the requirement for a fast goods loco at that time was instead met by a simple large-wheeled version of the 0-6-0 goods engine, no doubt much more cheaply and predictably. My "fantasy" loco was based on the idea that the 2-6-2 compound had indeed been built, but showing no outstanding advantage for all its complication, had been rebuilt in the early years of Gresley's time as a much simpler 2-cylinder loco using the same cylinders and motion parts as his second series of Moguls (LNER K2). A "convenient" imaginary history that allowed the model to use an altered Bachmann V3 mechanism and most of a one-piece resin K2 body with a wide firebox grafted on..

I remember using that stuff too, finding (not unexpectedly) that it was only mildly electroconductive and that the "repaired" element in the heater would still be cooler than the rest over most of its length but with a pronounced hot-spot around the repair...

I was hoping I'd be in North Norfolk for a few days holiday around the date of the Sheringham show, so that I could call in and say hello. Alas, it looks like any such holiday arrangements will have to be delayed until later in September, if we get there at all. I'm not at all sure about the alternative of attempting a special one-day Saturday trip for the NNR and the show when it will still technically be "school holidays" and the route from here involves the A17 and A148 holiday makers' route. I might get there only just in time to set off home again...

I don't see any lack of "finesse" in manual point operation, in suitable places. All the better if you can add a discreet, dirt-cheap, DIY, hidden linkage to the tie bar and you can operate the linkage from a reasonable position. It doesn't matter if you have to move around a bit to operate the various points, signals and circuits - the real signalman in his mechanical box had to do just that - he didn't have everything within finger tip distance of his permanently planted posterior.

Might those transfers have come from Guilplates? If so, no idea if still in existence, even if only under a new owner.

I was thinking in terms of a possible need for a true extra leg, mid way along, on the outside edge. If hinged where it attaches to the underside of the board it would fall neatly aside as the flap is raised. It could also be pushed partly aside for emergency duck-under kettle access, for those who haven't super-sized themselves anyway.

Depending on their lengths, and the stiffness/stability of the tops, I wouldn't be surprised if you have to provide support (such as a leg, hinged at the top) for the outside edge of those lifting flaps to prevent sagging/twisting, mid-way along the arc.

My D&S GC "Large Cattle" and GN fitted goods were both white metal kits with etched fittings.

Last two D&S?

My aluminium bodied, SRG Phoenix (former BSL) coaches, assembled from kits using Evostik Impact adhesive 19 years ago, are still in one piece with no visible movement of the joints. The glue was used correctly of course, parts not rushed together with glue still wet, and the aluminium was thoroughly abraded in readiness for the glue. This was when I was already hearing that Evostik was no longer any good, having been made low in solvent to protect idiotic sniffers.

No idea why so many minds now default to 3D printing as the expected method for production of aftermarket or limited-demand "complete" items / parts. 3D printing is either expensive, or produces rough surfaces, or both. Resin casting for instance, done properly, is far cheaper and can produce perfect surface finish, without brittleness of parts. No, I'm not offering to make alternative roofs for fantasy coaches.

I agree in some respects, but it was only a basic Google search for a particular model railway exhibition that first took me to UKmodelshops. I didn't get there by divine inspiration or cryptic thought processes. I then saw how helpfully organised the lists are on there, in date order, with information about the show accessible without having to look in a different place. Maybe the RMWeb Exhibitions section could be arranged to list shows in date order too, rather than according to which one has most recently been updated or received comment? Then there'd be no chance of missing an imminent show that had actually been listed but had received no recent comment so had slipped down the lists onto another page...