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Thanks for all the lovely pictures Tony which are very cheering in these difficult days. You mentioned the stoppers or Parlys which called at LB. I wonder what the passenger take up for these was as it is such a small place. Is there any records of the passengers starting or finishing journeys there? Martin Long

I was an operator for many years on a large layout which went to many shows around the country. We used to have practice sessions each week and the result was that everyone knew their operating place and the sequences that they were involved with. The result was that the layout worked seamlessly with multiple moves which took place often without any verbal communication. It was most enjoyable to watch and indeed to work as a well organised team. Sadly the discipline involved to achieve this standard is very often lacking today when I visit shows and I am often disappointed at the standard displayed to the extent that I find most shows really not worth attending any more, Martin

Chris Thank you for the information on your layout "Ufford" (Dunwich). I am delighted that it still exists as to my way of thinking it was one of the best layouts both in its time and now. It encapsulated East Anglian atmosphere in a way that others have not succeeded in doing. The pictures of the Brit especially bring it all back for me. You are indeed a fortunate chap to have this iconic layout. A request please that you keep us Ufford Groupies updated with your efforts at restoration. (I have to say that had I owned the layout I would have kept it as an EM system. It looked and worked fine as such.) Thank you so much for the update. Martin Long

The recent pictures of the various Pullman trains run on the East Coast route bought forth a comment that the West Coast did not run such trains. Given that a major constituent of the West Coast company was the instigator of the Pullman concept in the UK, I wonder why this was so. Was there an issue with royalties or ticket income that the West Coast folk would not tolerate? Was the ex LNWR view the most prevalent in the LMS? What did the West Coast have that matched the standards on the East Coast as reflected in the Pullman trains? I am sure that someone of this parish will have the knowledge. Martin Long

Love the new railway crane. The original was made by Ransomes and Rapier, a world renowned Ipswich engineering company sadly no more. I recall that they had their name as a casting along the jib which this one seems to miss. I was interested in Clive's scratch built one which looks fine but is a product of the rival Cowans Sheldon company. Strange as I had Clive down as an east anglian type! There are models and drawings of the Ransomes cranes in the Ipswich Transport Museum where I have been known to do the odd stint. The museum has the custody of the Ransomes archives which are available to researchers along with a huge number of official photographs. Martin Long

Paul I think this is a marvellous layout and for me it totally evokes the Harz region and those marvellous trains. I was not able ti get to Warley but I wonder where you might be taking it next year so I can watch it and be transported back to happy days spent on the system. Thank you and very well done sir. Martin Long

What a marvellous system and so evocative of the real thing. Well done to all concerned. Is there any chance of some film of its attendance at Warley? Thank you for bringing to life some lovely memories. Martin Long

Hi most learned fellows I do not now if this has been allude to before but there are some excellent scenes on this film. It is what our leader is trying to reproduce and by the looks of this has pretty much succeeded. Martin Long

Thank you for this. Very relaxing and I am grateful for the memories of a time spent on this wonderful railway. I hope to go back some day but the tours to get there are very expensive for those of us on limited means! I had heard that the railway was suffering but I hope these are temporary issues as it is inspritational. Martin

TW wrote " What I do see (far too often!) are those who never make things, standing as righteous pontificates, often with loud voices, being highly-critical of the work of others. Yet, all they've been able to achieve is to open boxes or get others to do their modelling for them." I wonder if this attitude (which I have also met with), is a way of masking the speakers own sense of inadequacy in that he lacks the skill to construct or adapt a model and thus criticises the work of others. It is an interesting idea and no doubt the good folk of this parish will advise whether this is some sort of mental issue. Mind you we are a bloody minded lot really persevering in a world of machines and tools that can seriously damage you. (I speak with a certain degree of pain having picked up a soldering iron the wrong way round the other day!) In my chosen scale of 7mm work though is relatively easy though you need a higher wattage iron. The 2mm folk to me hold all the aces as not only is their work exquisite and almost invisible but it can be carried around in a man bag! Martin Long

That 2mm stuff is awesome! How do they see it let alone make it? Are calibrated eyes required? In some respects the scale must be the apogee of modelling as the tolerances are so fine. I take my hat off to you gents of that ilk. Martin Long

Gosh I really love this thread. It is a continual source of inspiration and learning. The Princess Coronation looks superb Tony and a loco you can be rightly proud of. Great Eastern will be another (happens to be my favourite A1 I wonder why?) There is such wisdom and sagacity amongst those in this parish that it seems there is no question or subject which does not yield a reasoned definitive reply. Thank you too for the altruism displayed by saving Maindee East; I do hope that you get it to a good home so it will continue to inspire us all in the future. I often wonder what will become of the likes of Retford and similar large layouts. Will they all end up in landfill sites like Norris's superb 7mm effort in the 1960's? I only spoke to the late Mr Jackson a couple of times and one conversation left me in no doubt as to his feelings on compensation and wiggly chassis. I did not realise that he played the pensioner card to others as due to the size of the layout I thought he was minted! Thank you everyone for the entertainment. Martin Long

V2's are one of the best proportioned locos on the east coast route. They also have small splashers hidden below the running plate which I have only seen modelled by Barrie Walls. Have any of the 4mm ones seen here have them? (Barrie is still fine but his mobility is not as good as it was before he had the stroke. He is still an avid operator and Wallsea see regular sessions.) Barrie also purchased a San Cheng V2 which he reckoned was a good replica and certainly value for money. I just wish that the proposal to transfer some to the GE actually happened but then we would not have got my beloved Brits! on the line! I once was tasked with selling some EM gauge items for a late friends family. It was a difficult task and the models (all scratch built to a very good standard) never achieved much in resale value. The same applies to P4 where an ex GE E4 class made from brass was eventually sold for £15. In the resale game it pays to be mainstream it seems. Martin Long

The gearboxes look to be a first rate product. I enjoyed the short film as I enjoy everything about our leaders layout. It really cuts the mustard for me and would be something that I would like to have built in my 4mm days. (I did try in a garage which was 9 feet by 22 feet but never go to that level of operational success though it did work. I used SMP track and made my own points and believe it or not I used the then current blue diesels as they ran so much better than the steam outline models of the time. During this time the activities of the Wolverhampton lot were an inspiration as they were doing what I aspired to. Then came the IMREX where Barrie Walls had the original Wallsea and after three daily visits, the die was cast and 7mm it had to be. If anyone back then could have predicted that you would be able to purchase off the shelf such super models that we are blessed with today then a different story might have happened. The standards today on the top flight layouts are light years away from those days. It is truly marvellous how we are blessed these days and yet still folk moan! Martin Long