Andy Keane

Thanks. Have you tried them on groups of wagons you don’t need to shunt separately? I use Kadee couplers but have some groups I don’t want to come apart.

possess it if you can, seldom in a women, never in a man.

Could you say which Roco part number you are using please? thanks Andy

I have sent you a PM with the full instructions in Andy

Or you could try and build your own from a kit! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145652659094?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l3160&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=44071d86bf2b469c89d15c1a633a3e54&bu=43054345708&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20240307063934&segname=11021

Neal they are looking very fine - you have done a lovely job of painting your little people up.

This may be stating the obvious, but if you do work on the white / blue / yellow lines, remember its the blue that takes the resistor - if you put it in white or yellow you only change white or red lamp setting (respectively), not both. I have to say its where I would do the work myself, as its well away from anything you might cook if your soldering is not brilliant! Andy

I have been looking at what sort of paving the paths to the front doors of the Godolphin Road villa would have been and Google shows this for 2009 before the villas were done up: Might this be original? a diamond tile pattern to the edges with some form of textured paving block between? Has anyone seen similar elsewhere? I know the Victorians used these: https://www.hadley-reclaimed.co.uk/paving-stones-slabs/diamond-pavers-1/ for example. The gatepost stone certainly looks aged and has a nice cruciform top.

I have been reading the GWRJ on 45xxs and in one article it notes an interesting train formation for the 6:35 Paddington to Cheltenham express on 25/11/1942: Corr. Van Third Corr. Third Corr. Third Corr. Compo. Corr. Compo. Corr. Van Third Corr. Van Third Corr. First Main Line & City Third Corr. Van Third Clearly the Main Line & City stock got around a bit! Andy

I have been reading the GWRJ number 69 (winter 2009) and it has a nice article on Newtown, Montgomeryshire. In particular it has some interesting details on the goods trade. Rabbits being shipped out on mail trains "in crates, the rabbits being hung by a stick attached to their legs" and collected from farms and then crated by a local dealer. Sheep skins were handled in sheeted open wagons. Also milk traffic being loaded into brake compartments rather than dedicated vans, and cattle being walked on the hoof to the loading dock. Details like this I find fascinating - a world completely now lost.

That will require real bravery - they are so beautiful as they come.

I worked with a paratrooper once who was forever doing exercise in northern Norway - his view was simple, pale blue might turn up if the weather was nice and it was a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, green came most days, most weathers, dark blue never left them in his entire service career!

Keith at Dapol has now replied and it turns out you just have to set CV49=28 to get a tail light to be on during reverse rather than forwards travel.

I plan wooden floors and panelling up to waist height downstairs, with a few rugs. I have some furniture to go in and will cut up some posters to make some pictures. Because there will be lights and some windows are large the interior will be quite visible.

I tried this to no avail. The instructions are very good for going forwards but say nothing about a set having its direction reversed. So I guessed a few changes but all I managed was to jam the decoder so I had to resort to CV8! I have emailed Keith at Dapol.

I have put Dapol Imperium decoders in my toplight brake thirds which allows me to control the lights and tail lamps separately, but so far I have not worked out to get one tail lamp to come on for forwards and the other for reverse so whichever way I am running the train the correct lamp is lit. Does anyone know the settings to do this? The standard setup in the Dapol instructions is: CV34=4 CV50=44 CV49=12 CV64=15 (for mid level brightness) which works for forwards travel but not reverse. Andy Keith at Dapol has now replied and it turns out you just have to set CV49=28 to get a tail light to be on during reverse rather than forwards travel.

Nice idea. Currently one gate is green and one blue, but I could match the boards the same which would be fun.

Thanks Graham. The solid roof support is to try and ensure a flat set of slates - we shall see!

It would be lovely to have the excuse to run some down a branch line but where these not just run direct from the ports to London? I suppose maybe they carried other traffic?

The villa at 52/54 Godolphin road is beginning to take up its place at Helston: I am not sure what colour to use for the rather pretty barge boards. I think black would rather harsh so maybe white with white gutters and down-pipes?

That’s why my Helston now has a set!

There were a whole bunch of different schemes considered in this area of Cornwall. The various books describe them: Hayle to Helston Tramway, not built, 1819 Tram line from Penryn to Redruth with branch via Wendron to Helston, not built, 1825 The Hayle Railway, with proposed branch to Helston (branch not built), 1834 Helston to Penryn, via Gweek and Constantine - as per @KeithMacdonald sketch, not built, 1846 It seems it was the establishment of the GWR mainline to Penzance that finally tipped the balance and decided the route taken for Helston.

Having just gotten my lined crimson coaches the tail lamps are indeed white. But I thought this livery was for 1912–1922 and thus should have red lamps?

Certainly I have found the railmotor is the item of rolling stock that most tests my clearances - I have a bridge that my Deltic was quite happy with but which I have had to rebuild to allow the railmotor through. I also had to replace the extra wide valve gear protectors fitted as standard for the narrower and nicer looking / more prototypical ones supplied with the model. Fortunately I have nothing tighter than third radius to deal with.

The points at Helston were similarly tight at one stage. But I guess why not?