James Fitzjames

K2 sold for £250 the other day! Would love to see the kit reintroduced

I'll give that a go - much appreciated, thanks!

Plea for help: Last night I was happily drilling a whitemetal footplate so that cab handrails could be run through it from underneath, later in assembly. Got to the final hole and the drill bit sheared off, filling the hole, with not enough protruding to get any purchase with pliers etc. I did attack the protruding bit of bit with a file, whilst turning the air blue, but stopped once it occurred to me that some on here might have faced the same situation and have a solution. It's a new one on me. Any ideas or advice very gratefully received!

Tony, I have to agree that YouTube is not necessarily a '''good' thing all round". My own layout co-collaborator is (just about) of that generation. Having persuaded me to model a fairly unfamiliar prototype (to me), it's transpired that he knows little about it himself! I've now acquired most of the books dealing with our wee chunk of 'chosen' railway and, as is my norm, spend significant amounts of time immersed in them. When questions have arisen, I have offered to lend books that will clarify, but this is never taken up (he does read, just not about railways apparently!) Knowing that people learn in different ways, I thought, perhaps, some of the Right Track DVDs would be the answer, if visual learning was the issue. But no. Rather than watching the best in the business doing their thing, I hear about reviews and 'How Tos' by various YouTubers, including Sam. I don't want this to come across as generation-bashing and acknowledge that my lack of comprehension might be just that. I also acknowledge that there are some very good modellers inhabiting YouTube, but I'll admit I'm bemused by those who seem to find watching demonstrations by the finest practitioners in the hobby off-putting, rather than inspirational. Why, for example, would someone who has Norman Solomon's DVD available to him prefer to rely on 'some Aussie guy on YouTube' for 'gilt-edged' advice on track-laying? Perhaps YouTube is somehow less 'daunting'?

Having spent more hours than I care to count this week wrangling over loco renumbering/detailing, I did, at one point, find myself considering the whole accuracy issue. Was turning my mind to jelly over such minutiae as allocations, brake types, coal rail plate versions, curly sixes etc., as well as real exotica like Westinghouse removal dates and buffer beam holes, actually doing me any good? Was I deriving any pleasure from it? I arrived at the conclusion that, though these details can be trying, I want what I model to be as 'right' as I know how to make it, it's really as simple as that. The 'line' will draw itself naturally, as it does for everybody. Pen-throwing and raw expletives are just part of the fun.

That is one bonny engine...

Might be good for Wartime locos, to represent the indifferent dross many of them had to run on?

'2D' figures look like the old Merit flatties to me.

That J94 figure is great, is it available? Smoking is something we don't see half enough on steam-era layouts: everybody had a 'fag on' back in the Forties and Fifties.

Yes: I would kill for a K4 built and painted to that standard. Re. weathering, Tony Geary's 9F speaks volumes in favour.

Completely

Not that singer, the chap concerned was far more dandy and charming He also turned out to have girlfriends all over the country, which did not result in a happy blonde...

Bill, surprisingly, she wasn't too put off once the dust had settled. At least she thought the 'Sunday' response hilarious, though, I think, a little disturbed at that level of 'commitment' to prototype operation! Sadly, her stilettos clicked out of my life a while later and she ended up with a (later famous) pop singer, but that's another story...

First exhibition I ever attended (millennia ago) had a beautifully realised GWR branch line taking centre stage. Since I was accompanied by an equally beautifully realised blonde, who 'liked trains' and was 'open to persuasion' re. the hobby (yes, really), I was eager for her to witness the very best it had to offer. When we first perused said layout, a Dean Goods was sitting in the station with a coach or two on. I was sure it would move in due course, so we drifted along taking in every detail. Minutes passed, details exhausted, everything static, operator deep in impenetrable conversation, we decided to take a turn round the hall. I recall nothing of note other than a particular trader's stand where my companion was treated like a helpless bimbo and referred to as 'the little lady'. Hoping to snatch some variety of victory from the jaws of defeat, we arrived back at the GWR BLT where nothing had changed one iota. Desperate now, I butted into the, still ongoing, conversation and asked when the train would be leaving. The operator looked at me bemusedly and declared 'not for a while yet, it's Sunday!'

PostScript used to be 'trade only' suppliers of remaindered books. In that capacity, we used them fairly extensively for non-fiction titles, which offered a longer 'window' for sale, more beneficial to smaller bookshops. Of all the PS books we've stocked over the years, none have failed to sell out, so remaindering has less to do with the quality of the books, and more to do with the longer duration required for non-fiction sales. Don't be downhearted!

Indeed, and there is also vendetta-based feedback, which is seriously underhand. As an example, a retailer of my acquaintance (no names, no pack drill) received a scathing review of their service from, what turned out to be, their landlord masquerading as a customer because they'd had the temerity to complain about the state of the carpets in their rented flat!

Something Rice, soul man?

'Aviemore' beautifully observed and rekindles lovely childhood memories

Or, indeed, to be in the vicinity of beyond a certain hour...

Considering adopting this as a new maxim for life!

Hullo Tony, 'Descendant (touche - I cannot reproduce accents either) of Great Colin' is the hereditary title of the chiefs of Clan Campbell, now Dukes of Argyll. Why the LNER thought it a good idea to commemorate the mortal enemy of what the Campbells viewed as the 'Gallows Herd' of Lochaber on a locomotive that was to spend a deal of time in that locality is anyone's guess! Needless to say, it didn't go down well north of Bridge of Orchy...

Sorry Tony, my Gaelic blood couldn't let ''MacCailin' More' pass; it should be 'MacCailin Mor': 'Descendent of Great Colin'. The LNER got it more wrong than yourself, however, managing 'MacCailein Mor' originally, hence their subsequent renaming of 3442 as 'The Great Marquess'! DMR do a K1/1 kit via Precision.

Probably also an increasing desperation to be 'relevant' to young people, who don't follow the 'watching telly' habits of their elders. I can honestly say that, of those under-25s I know, not one of them has a conventional televisual setup, and wouldn't thank you for one. Personally, I think the television channels are fighting a losing battle anyway, so would be as well setting some kind of linguistic example for the remainder of their existence

'Long Train' - Sisters of Mercy 'Train' - Dubious Blues Band 'Ride this Train' - Johnny Cash ad nauseam...

My answer to that, from my own experience, is nothing! I too was at a point where I needed to find something different to do, being no longer physically able to crack about in a red jacket and fluffy hat for a living. There were 'mental issues' too, so quiet and sedentary were orders of the day. After a short time, I was commissioned by a collector in Italy who, ultimately, couldn't get enough of what I produced. Mr M became my sole client simply because economics dictated that my entire output had to be devoted to fulfilling his commissions. It got to the stage where (very generous) cheques-in-advance were arriving but my enthusiasm was leaving. I was coming away from the bench at dark o'clock at night in pain and with the prospect of another early start for more of the same. In the end, I returned a cheque, with apologies, pulled up the drawbridge and waited for any enthusiasm for my hobby to return. It was a long time coming...