MrWolf

Really impressive trackwork and not a bit of hi-vis in sight! All the best for the weeks ahead.

Someone who knows more about railways than I, (shouldn't be too hard to find!) may be able to shed some light on it, but this is the crossing at Llandrinio Road, Criggion Branch, showing the cattle grids and fence to stop animals getting onto the platform. I suspect that it was fitted when the line was reopened by Colonel Stephens c1911, as in the days of the PS&NWR the crossings were gated and controlled from the house. So maybe the original fitting of grids was where there were no gates originally to block access onto the line and later installed along with AHBs?

Not at all, I just have contingency plans for the inevitable. Glass always half full and quite possibly a full one hidden somewhere. 😉

Single track lane, Jenny Brown's Point, Lancs. Hawthorn growing out of a wall, Silverdale Lancs.

Roofless double vent van, Scorton, Lancs.

Skeletal uneven plank box van, Silverdale, Lancs. A van in better condition with corrugated ends behind it. An electric fence stopped me getting shots of the sides! Remains inside the van.

The road on my model is 20" wide, the same as the single three bay gate in the kit, with a bit of room either side on the verges for the posts. The gates also appear to be designed for hanging from the right as per @Nick Cs list, given that the locking mechanism is on the railway side. Pedestrian gates don't seem to be always provided and those in the kit appear to be set up to close against the shut posts, this putting them on opposite corners of the crossing, which would of course lead to a dead end on the wrong side of the gate. The kit instructions make no reference to the pedestrian gates, in fact they aren't much use at all apart from giving dimensions for installing the dog bars and a mechanisation diagram. Just as well I'm not using them. I have several stupid questions however: As I'm thinking timber infill between the rails, I presume that there was a pair of check rails that extended some distance beyond the crossing? Was there also boards outside the rails on the ramps to allow access for PW repairs? I seem to recall that there was? I read somewhere that there would be a lamp post on the nearside each side of the crossing and that the outer pane of glass facing the traffic was red. Can anyone confirm that? Or any of it? I have distant memories of going over the crossings at Coalville and the rattle of the loose boards as dad's Victor 101 passed over them. (That should give you an idea how long ago it was!)

If it's running of course..🙄

I remember as a teenager (only half as long ago!!) walking across the bridges over the river Soar and Union canal at Frog Island, Leicester and one of my friends was being gloomy about her love life. She said that she might as well jump off the bridge into the water (or possibly four inches of leather dye and four feet of ****) Being the caring, sensitive and ultimately practical type I told her that it would probably be quicker to drink some of it.

Good old Neville, had a nice chinwag with that Hitler chap, he seems like a reasonable sort when you get to know him. .... I had a modified version of that drawing pinned on the wall whilst laying the track for Aston on Clun. The loading ramp siding is deleted and the platform line carries on over a level crossing.

Certain sellers seem to consider something to be "kitbuilt" if it's been painted with a yardbrush....

I remember those moments on rough ground on a trailer or back of a lorry, where as you were descending from being launched skywards by one bump, the vehicle was already coming back up to meet you... Ow.

I don't think that weight has to be that much of an issue with the leading truck carrying the motion. The drive gears could be solid brass, as could the cylinder block with a wrapper carrying the lagging detail. A narrow shaft with three worm gears fitted and hidden at chassis level could drive all three axles under the boiler, or at least the leading two, via a pair of spur gears and a motor hidden in the firebox. A pair of UJs or flexible shaft could do the same job and drive both loco and tender units.

Three old houses that have been converted to industrial use, Lancaster.

And preventing the unions from having a stranglehold on essential services.😉

That is an interesting point, I do happen to have another kit, as usual bought cheaply from an exhibition oop north, so I could combine the two to make one four gate job and solve the problem. I can't get to measure the road atm, as I'm working, but I'll get on it tonight. Thank you everyone for your input, it's given me the confidence to get stuck in.

Oddly enough, at Shipston on Stour, upon which Little Muddle is based, there was a gasworks, roughly on the site where the harbour is on this layout.

It occurred to me that change of water or not it's still better than what passes for beer in a lot of cases. Stuff that gases you up and gives you a hangover after two pints isn't my idea of drinking. At least where I live you can get some very good beers and even the regular pubs sell Theakston's, Wainwright's and Ruddles. Working in the southwestern US gave me a taste for tequila due to the minimal choice of beers twenty years ago.

Thanks Ian, I will have a look for that, I've not bought a magazine for a while now.

I need to turn this: Into this: I've been trawling through the internet for the good photos that the instructions suggest that you need, not that easy! What isn't clear is whether the hinge post is on the near or off side of the road as you approach the gates. Not all gates seem to be provided with a pedestrian gate either.

As work is progressing on either side of the road, I've come to the point where I can no longer avoid building the level crossing. Anyone out there have any experience with building the MSE LC4/1 single track level crossing?

That would have been a nightmare, even with access to a milling machine. Unless you have a dead smooth surface, you're going to have conductivity problems.

Foisted the Proton Persona on unsuspecting motorists for one....

Both signs finished and painted, the post on the nearest is a slice of coffee stirrer. The warning about propping doors installed by the weighbridge, at least it won't get lost now.

Thanks for the info, I'll stick with the old Airfix job and the detailing kits.