David C

Looking in my fridge at the veg, there's broccoli from the UK, asparagus from Peru and beans from Kenya. It seems as though the seasons have been abolished by supermarkets jetting in veg and fruit from all over the world whenever they are not in season in the UK. When I was a kid in the 1950s, before cheap flights, polytunnels etc not every variety of grub was available year round, but unfortunately, I can't recall what was in the shops at what time of year. Wikipedia is not very helpful on this. I'm sure most RMWebbers are fascinated by my diet, but for the few who aren't, what veg were grown when is of importance scenically. If I model a potato field or my 1:76 scale station master grows tomatoes on his allotment during the wrong season, then that is as bad as running 4 wheel clerestory coaches behind, say, a class 66! Are there any farmers or allotment holders who can advise this ignorant townie (who has only ever grown weeds successfully)? My layouts feature deciduous trees in full leaf (partly as view blockers but mainly because trees in winter are a real pain to make), so the season is late spring to early autumn and the period sometime in the 1950s. What would be growing in fields and allotments then? Thanks in advance David C

Interesting idea. I assume you're working in 4mm. What size baseboards are you using? I'm also intrigued by your idea of a loco works David C

Slip coaches do make interesting models though. John C. Agreed. You could quite prototypically use one on the branch, even if they were not seen on the mainline being returned on a normal service train so far West. The GWR removed the slipping gear (apart from the tanks underneath) from quite a few redundant slips and employed them on branchlines. Usually having 1st and 2nd class accommodation, they were ideal for lines where the passenger traffic only required a single coach. Off the top of my head, Farringdon, Newcastle Emlyn and (I think) Windsor were examples. The former had 70 foot concertinas whilst Windsor had a shorter version (not sure what diagram, but possibly a toplight). I want one for "Woodstowe" as they lasted well into the BR period. A beautiful and inspiring layout - keep the pics coming! David C

I drove from Ipswich yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the standard of the exhibits. As an inveterate exhibition visitor (and occasional exhibitor!) I had seen Teign House sidings, the 0:16.5 layout, Gas Lane and Abbey Street before, but they were all well worth seeing again. Most of the others had something of interest, too, although I agree with Nick's comment above about the miniscule shunting layouts. I will certainly go in future years. Where did I hear about the show? UK Modelshops site, RMweb and the mags. Before heading for home, I had a wander around the centre of Ely and the cathedral, which I've only ever seen from the train before. If you've never been to the city, its a stunningly attractive place. David C

Hornby should sort out deliveries to their existing suppliers before potentially making things worse with a lot of new ones. I wanted a couple of the new Collett compartment coaches for "Woodstowe" and popped into my local shop (Orwell Model Railways in Ipswich). The proprietor advised me they hadn't received any and he didn't know when the next delivery was. He also said that he always knew when any orders from Bachmann would arrive. I picked up one of the coaches at Ally Pally (from Cheltenham) but decided to get the other one I wanted from Orwell on the grounds that I should support my local - and very good - store. I go in moderately frequently to get all the usual bits and bobs needed when building a new layout and on which they will never make very much of a profit. Without easy access to such bits and bobs, life for us modellers would be a lot more difficult. The last time I asked, I was told that they had had a delivery from Hornby, but it was from an order they had submitted in August. Hornby has apparently outsourced their deliveries and consequently. they have no control of who gets what when. Its noticeable that the "big boys" like Hattons, Cheltenham etc had stock very quickly after the Colletts were released, but I wonder how many of the smaller outlets are in the same situation as Orwell. Whatever, it does not bode well for their survival - and these are the shops that provide a really valuable service for us modellers by stocking all those unprofitable bits and bobs we all need. David C

Newhaven Harbour by the recently deceased Colin Parks? See obituary .... David C

The shuttle buses are quite frequent - I guess about every 10 - 15 minutes. Get on at Wood Green and avoid the station if you can - on several occasions, the coaches have filled up at Wood Green, so no room for passengers getting on en route. If you use the W3, you have to pay unless you have a bus pass. It takes a bit longer from Finsbury Park. David C MRC member

Interestingly, there is a debate about this on a German model railway forum, in particular, by how much Brexit would affect the price of Peco track, which is much cheaper over there than that produced by local firms. I've forgotten what little German I knew, so used Google translate, so take what follows as approximation of the various posts. Basically, the consensus of opinion was that any tarrifs the EU added to British goods would be more or less cancelled out by the fact that VAT would not be charged. Whether this is what will happen or not, is open to dispute - not even Theresa May knows! As an afterthought, I do appreciate Neil exercising restraint and I shall forego inflicting my opinions (well, rants!) on the subject as a result. Let us not sully our hobby with such unimportant nonsense as politics, fake news etc. David C

Products look good and I would certainly be interested in buying! Ideally, I'd like to see them before parting with my filthy lucre - are you going to be touring the exhibition circuit? Also, I'm not on facebook ..... David C

I'm deeply envious of the amount of space you've got - if I was in the same situation, I'd use the area exactly as you plan to do, by building a complete section of railway. I shouldn't worry too much about Difford Junction either. The Mid Suffolk Light Railway (wonderful prototype!) planned a junction to Debenham at Kenton. Although the branch was partly built, it was never opened, leaving Kenton station with two platforms, which given the railway never really had more than 2 or 3 trains a day, was a little excessive. There was (and still may be) a lovely model of Kenton in S4 which was featured many years ago in MRJ. What sort of motive power are you planning to use? And stock, come to that! I shall be interested to follow progress on the line in the future. All the best David C

Thanks, RMWeb members for your comments, which are all very interesting, but none of which seem address my original question of how long whatever is causing weekend bustitution will last. I appreciate that maintenance is ongoing, but I would have thought the entire length of the Liverpool Street - Norwich line could have been replaced several times over by now! Unless, of course, there's just one chap replacing the ballast stone by stone ...... I'm not, nor have I ever been, a pro railwayman, so I don't know the problems, but it would be nice to understand why this particular route is causing so many delays at weekends. Incidentally, I moved to Ipswich from SE London a few months ago and go up to Liverpool Street roughly fortnightly during the week. The service has been pretty good, with delays recently due to lineside fires and/or drunks creating difficulties, particularly on the last train from London. All of this is understandable and I'm not complaining about that - just the weekends! David C

Given that this thread is now 4 years old, it is still almost impossible to travel at weekends on this line without a rail replacement service. This situation has existed for years - surely, all the infrastructure must have been renewed several times over by now! Oh, and can anyone explain why Greater Anglia has the audacity to charge full fares on such services? A rail replacement service usually adds at least an hour to the journey. Any railwaymen out there who can advise when this absurd situation will end? David C

Looks good. The factory/goods depot is a good way of framing the layout. Any chance of a track plan (or photo showing what it is like) and dimensions? I'm interested in building a small urban yard as a change from the rural idylls I usually model and would appreciate inspiration. David C

All of the above is fascinating stuff, so thanks to all who have contributed. When operating Woodstowe, I'll be observing what the prototype did in future. One thing which makes me grind my teeth at exhibitions is operators leaving the engine of an incoming train at the buffer stops after the coaches have been removed. What should happen is that the incoming loco should follow the outgoing coaches up the platform and then wait at the starter until signalled on. I remember seeing this done as a child at Liverpool Street and also at Lime Street on Merseyside - and I also recall it seeing it at Munich Hbhf when I was older. As Pacific231G says, they do (or did) things differently over there. Back in the 1970s, I travelled on a mixed train on the 76cm gauge Waldviertelbahn in Austria. This consisted of a couple of 4 wheeled coaches, a luggage/guards van followed by a couple of standard gauge wagons on transporters hauled by a big 399 class articulated 0-8+4TT. Part way along one of the two northern branches, the whole ensemble stopped in the middle of a forest, then reversed about half a mile (I guess) before backing into a factory siding, where one of the sg wagons was detached. The train then continued to Heidenreichstein or Litschau. (I forget which one the train was destined for). On another occasion on the same line, the train was supposed to leave circa 1.15pm and I duly boarded the train in good time. I was the only passenger and there were no crew to be seen. Over half an hour later, the crew turned up all (about 5 in all, including the driver and fireman) all eating very large ice creams. These were all finished before we set off. David C

There is an additional error in the Oxford AA3 toad to Miss Prism's very useful checklist and that is the size and position of the windows at the non veranda end. I checked through both volumes of the Karau/Turner epic history of the Watlington branch and there are a couple of useful photos of the AA3 allocated to Princes Risborough. One is of 56441 parked in the furniture factory siding at Risborough and clearly shows that the prototype windows were not as tall as the central "window" (which should be an access hatch) and they should be placed about 1 plank higher. Interestingly, the van still bears a 16T rating, so not all were upgraded to 20T. The other photo is of the entrance to Watlington station and shows quite clearly the non veranda end of a toad, which I assume (possibly incorrectly) is also an AA3. This is out of service but in use as a mess hut. The photo is dated 1951. This shows the size of the two windows in the end panels as being the same as 56441, i.e. not as tall and placed a little higher up than on the 4mm version. What is interesting is that it looks as though the access hatch in the central panel is open as you can see right through the van. On the other hand, it may have had a window cut in it ..... If so, was this before or after it became a mess hut? I invested in an Oxford AA3 with the intention of replacing one or both of the two Bachmann toads I need for use on Woodstowe. However, given the amount of work required to deal with the most obvious problems with the Oxford product, I may shell out for the Hornby version. Pity really, as the AA3 is really a more characterful vehicle with its short wheelbase. I don't think anyone else has mentioned the window errors, but I've only skipped through most of this thread just looking for posts detailing the errors rather than reading all of them thoroughly. If anyone has spotted them, apologies! David C

Couplings: Personally, I wouldn't use S & Ws as they usually require a lot of surgery to the vehicle you are fitting them to. I use DGs which are etched brass but modified to make assembly and operation simpler. (See my layout thread "Woodstowe" post #44.) You can also use the similar B & Bs which will couple to them. The "pro" for the latter is that they come ready blackened, but the "con" is they are bit more fiddly to make us. I would suggest you stick to one pattern of coupler, otherwise you create operational problems for yourself. Locos are restricted to either goods or passenger trains, but not both unless you have vehicles with a Kadee at one end and your other chosen couple at the other. You also can't add tail traffic or run mixed trains, either. I did consider Kadees, but didn't consider their operation prototypical. They are designed for use with N. American stock where locos couple up to them by stopping a yard or so away and then charging at the wagons or coaches so that the knuckles engage. Quite fun to watch in 1:1 scale, but in the UK, locos gently buffered up to wagons or whatever and then a shunter would chuck the 3 links over a hook and that was that - unless screws were fitted and he had to get down between the buffers and tighten them up! Hope this is useful. David C

A "16xx" and an E1? I never thought I'd see an RTR version of the former as they were built by BR, not the GWR and consequently their appeal would limited. I'll certainly buy one - or even two - for Woodstowe, my WR BLT which is operated as per the Cardigan branch, where the class was a staple (along with 45xx praires) in later years. Currently 57xx/87xx panniers stand in for the 16xx classes. Sure the E1 will please Southern enthusiasts. David C

In the absence of any other responses, I'll give you what little I know about the Halling models. Firstly, its very little - I've never owned one! I have had actual experience of the shorter 4 wheel powered bogies whilst operating a friend's 009 layout at EXPO-NG a few years ago. He had built 4mm tram bodies on them and reckoned they were pretty reliable chassis. They certainly worked reasonably well when I was playing with them on his layout. As regards the upperworks, I have heard that the range is based on very simple and basic clear plastic bodies, the details beings applied through painting - a bit like the later versions of the old Hornby GWR clerestories. Whether this is true of the Austrian 76cm gauge railcar or not, I don't know - it may be the body is made from moulds originally produced for another manufacturer. You might be better off contacting the 009 Society or posting a query on the Narrow Gauge On Line Forum. Hope this helps. David C David C

Try looking at Martin Welch's "The Art of Weathering". He recommends using Humbrol gunmetal (the non metallic version) as does Gordon Gravett. Both work in 7mm scale, which may explain why I found it a little too silvery for my taste, so added a little matt black to tone it down. I've also tried washes of Humbrol 64 (light grey) with varying amounts of black, white, earth and khaki. Martin Welch also suggests painting individual planks different shades of the same colour - his book is well worth obtaining and I usually refer to it when finishing off a model. David C

Correction: I've seen it done on an Essex based club layout, the name of which I've forgotten. I was never a member! Iy was a nice layout, though! David C

Re: posts 8 and 9 - how to work the kickback. How about a bit of rope or chain shunting? Easy enough to get wagons into the kickback, but the addition of a bollard part way along the "truncated" line would enable you to get wagons out. I did it on a 7mm narrow gauge layout many years ago and on a 4mm layout by an Essex based club - Romford? Chelmsford? I can't remember which one but rope or chain shunting enabled access to a brewery. David C

I've got an open wagon on my layout with a tarp cover over a rail making the distinctive "roof". This was inspired by a colour photo of a goods train headed by a GWR 2-8-0 going through somewhere in the Birmingham area in BR days. Quite where I saw it, I can't remember after so many years! It must be in one of those colour albums or in a prototype mag of which I have a great many. They're very useful for weathering purposes - and for confirming that some GW wagons still retained their tarp rails post nationalisation! I don't know what diagram this particular wagon was. David C

Thanks for your kind comments about Woodstowe. I've still got the layout and it was exhibited late last year. Since then, it has been boxed up and will have to stay that way as we are planning on moving at the end of this year. There simply isn't time to put it up beforehand. I did not extend it as I originally thought I might as my modelling has concentrated on the little bit of Bavaria I am building and which has been taking shape very slowly for the past couple of years - its still nowhere near complete at the moment. Until it is, then Woodstowe will be in storage, although I am tempted to put it up in its new abode just to have a play! A lot of effort went into building it, so I do plan on keeping the layout. Whether it will ever get extended, I don't know, although my thoughts keep on returning to those Comet sides and the feeling that I ought not to let them go to waste. David C

Fascinating reading the comments of members and particularly those of Chris Leigh. Like John Flann, I too wrote a number of articles for the MRC, (as well as for other magazines. I keep all of the mags which featured any of my deathless prose (and some of it was pretty deathless, I must admit!) and dig them out every now and then. It is noticeable that the quality of the material in the later issues declined in the last few years or so (drawings apart), but I do remember being very taken with Chris Leigh's front covers. The MRC's photography was often better than its competitors: I looked through some MRCs from the 60s in the Model Railway Club's library recently and was very impressed by shots of Frank Dyer's Borchester and the Epsom club's Ruxley branch (amongst others) which were so realistic they could have been 1:1 scale. Admittedly, the modelling helped, but whoever took them knew what they were doing! David C

I've seen a proper doctor at last. It's gout, I have no medical qualifications at all, but you don't need medication to cure gout! My mother developed gout in her 70s, was given medication which she was told she would have to take for the rest of her life. One of her mates told her to eat cherries, which she did - fresh in season and tinned for the rest of the year.She gave up on the pills after a few weeks and never suffered another bout of gout (!) and lived until she was 90. I'm not a believer in quack medicine (ask me what I think of homeopathy!), but tinned cherries worked for my Mum. She incidentally was a lifelong teatotaller: the only alcohol she ever took was a mickey finn my uncle told her was fruit juice! Great layout and great photography, by the way! David C