Oldddudders

I'm not arguing. While a pic taken in - say - 1955, on slow b&w film in drizzle will indeed have atmosphere, that is because it really was taken in 1955 in drizzle. Photoshopping your 12mp digital output to ape black and white invariably looks fizz, because it is. Colour is lovely, colour is real - make the most of it, as our ancestors would surely have wanted to do.

I seem to recall the broiler was chain-driven. There is something quite Bulleid about a chain-driven mechanism catching fire! Incidentally I have a feeling the same firm nearly managed the same trick more recently at Heathrow!

Money back is not the issue. Feeling warmer is.

Exactly. There is an issue about all sorts of green things that also help someone make a profit/living. The whole concept of a recycling industry has a whiff of emperor's new clothes about it, I'm afraid. As for stories about shiploads of glass being dumped at sea - yes, glass is inert, but wouldn't glass in landfill also be inert, but cheaper?

After recent negative comments about a certain venerable brand of pannier tank body, does this chap have the right idea, perhaps? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/scrapped-0-6-0-tank-loco-low-loader-/290582073825?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item43a80a91e1

I live in France in lazy retirement, so an interest in the railways would seem natural, but it is in all honesty a bit narrow - and I don't merely mean gauge! Back in the days when steam roamed all over Europe, the pics I saw of French steam left me unmoved by comparison with Germany in particular. In the mid-80s, my then boss always seemed to be in the correspondence columns of the enthusiast press talking of steam performance, Chapelon et al, and I was clearly a disappointment to him! When we moved here in 2004, we quickly realised there was a preserved line nearby, the Transvap http://www.transvap.fr/, and partook of their offer one Sunday, for the Tuffe Apple Fair. A lovely little tank loco with funny coaches, as well as some Billard railcars, made the whole thing seem delightfully rural. More recently I became acquainted with their Picasso railcar, and now I find myself with a model - or two - as well as a couple of the 1930s ABJ units. Quite where these will see service remains to be decided, but a 2011 Challenge diorama might find a home for one. The scene at Bonnetable on Sunday when the town feted the rebuilt station gave me an idea or two.

When I see layouts of this high standard, rightly harvesting gold stars in the popularity stakes, I try to analyse just what is hitting the spot for so many RMWebbers. In this case the layout has the luxury of space - although for all we know that was hard-won - and thus accurately represents main-line railways away from the big city, and looks "right". The scenery is obviously part of the secret, too, but if you look at it, it is designed to be a support to the trains, not to leap out and impress you in its own right. But what about the trains? Instead of being told that "An HST heads north" we are given its title, reporting number 1S12, and a comment upon today's timekeeping. Thus this assembly of plastic and brass, running on ribbons of nickel silver, assumes a mantle of authenticity that makes the ensemble seem more like a prototype magazine photo than a pic from Toy Trains Weekly. Clever? I think so.

No shame there. Your neighbours in the US modelling fraternity often seem to regard summer as time off from the layout, and then have a "back down to the basement" event in September, when days shorten and temperatures drop. Time standing further back from the layout is often well-spent at your stage - you might have new ideas or other inspiration about how to proceed next, rather than grinding on with a design or features that may prove to be less than optimal. When it happens, it happens - don't force it!

Size isn't everything, we're told! But this is magnificent, too!

For DCC items and related hardware Tony's Train Exchange is hard to beat, and they also sell locomotives, at competitive prices. They are also front-of-house for QSI sound systems, who have just released stereo for HO and larger.

Just click on a member's name, and up comes their profile page. Below their picture/avatar you will see "send me a message" so click there and away you go. When they reply, you will receive a notification in whichever way you have chosen to set up, but in my experience messages always produce a red figure next to your user-name on the top right of the screen when you log in. The red symbol will stay there until you click it, which opens your message folder. Much more complicated to describe than to do!

LT (that's Leicester Thumper, not London Transport!) - have you considered the nearly-stations, e.g. the 1935 Northern Heights stations, which never actually got built? People have written whole books about Brockley Hill, Elstree South and Bushey Heath, not to mention the half-built depot, which served instead to build bombers in the Hitler war, and after the Hun was put back in his box, then became the maintenance and overhaul centre for the entire LT (not Leicester Thumper this time!) bus fleet.

Why not? Looks like a reasonable way to fill the space, and having the track at an angle rather than parallel to the edge always causes the viewer to stop and look. The high buildings will ensure they have presence. Could be really successful.

Thanks. Compartment stock with vacuum brakes looked a little unfamiliar!

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the black vehicles in the background, top left of the shot, beyond the Pullmans? EDIT: Godfrey - I can see very little wrong with your pic, which has good focus and exposure.

Hopefully he won't go right round the bend!

You must have got to the seller! it now says "Lima Coach made in Italy"!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hornby-R2678-Collectors-Centre-L-E-LBSCR-M7-252-M-B-/290573854160?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item43a78d25d0 Spot the deliberate error!

Am I allowed to say it looks lovely the way it is - and weathering will dull the fine result of all that effort? Clean steam locos may not have lasted long that way - but they do look lovely, especially this one!

Brilliant! I walked right down the garden path on that one!

I would say you are a very lucky feller. This looks like a great starting point from which your own layout can develop - although reaching other people's standards isn't always easy! Elsewhere on RMWeb we've seen second-owners taking good layouts and turning them into great ones. You don't have much need to improve on this - but matching it would be great!

Point taken, but I think we each have a different definition of "tat". A 30-year old Tri-ang diesel would be tat for some even if it had never been out of the box, because they would regard it as inferior to state-of-the-art C21 Chinese models.

Your persistent modesty only serves to highlight the fact that this is all about very effective modelling. Re-working indifferent models from decades back seems a most gratifying pursuit, especially with such fine results. Kylesku remains one of my favourites!

Having moved to France in 2004, and not being the most regular of exhibition visitors anyway, this is the first time I've seen pics of South Pimlico - and I'm quite sorry! Looks really good, certainly captures the feel of the area, and the Pink Floyd Battersea Power Station is just brill at spotting the locale. You are right, though, that arches and viaducts dominate once you leave Victoria, so please keep us posted on progress with the new layout!

Frankly, Scott, you're not doing much of a job as an annoyance, because this continues to look lovely! Must try harder!