ikcdab

The kick inside, Kate Bush

Try http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/Prototype.html

I must nominate my "local" modelshop, Buffers of Axminster. Unfailingly cheerful and helpful whatever the circumstances, the two ladies, Maria and Jess, who run this can only be congratulated on keeping me going throughout 2020.

Thanks!

Laminate every time. Why would you want to go for anything else which is just fashionable and difficult to maintain. Laminate is very easy to look after, much cheaper and far more practical and less faddy. But do pay for the best quality of laminate. I have never regretted our choice.

Ok thanks. I have 4 of the Bachmann RTR ones, so I'll just pick numbers within those limits. Ian

Thought I might make up some of these over the Christmas/new year dead days. I have cut the sides out of plasticard and I have some 9ft wagon chassis in stock. My question, what was the number series of the wagons before transfer to departmental use?

Thanks for the replies. I have two of the MSE kits to make a double track crossing. Although looking a bit venerable, I am pleased with the kits and looking forward to getting them set up. I intend using servos and a MERG servo4 board to power them.

Brilliant that's really helpful. So timbers it is then. I had forgotten about the need to have access to the track! Just out of interest, how were the timbers anchored down? Did they just sit they under their own weight, or were they bolted to the underlying sleepers? Thanks

Excellent. heres mine, not a fictional railway, but a fictional poster...

I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss scratchbuilding. It sounds daunting but when applied to a structure like a station canopy really isn't. For me, the difficult part is arriving at a drawing. Once you have that, think about it in its component parts and map it out on the pc for accuracy. I don't know exactly what you want, but the Scalescenes kit might be an excellent starting point. Because of their nature, the kit is very easy to alter to suit what you want. Card is a great modelling material and I use it for a lot of scratchbuilding.

So, 1960s, main-line gated level crossing over a semi-minor rural road. Somewhere in southern England. I reckon that outside of the rails the road surface material will be the usual tarmac probably worn, and will be laid up to the outside of the rails. Maybe a wooden plank right up against the outside rail edge. But between the rails....wooden planks? Or would there be "check rails" then infilled with road material? I know that every crossing will be different, hence the "bit of string"...but what is most likely?? Ian

Excellent work Ken, I have just found this thread. I really like what you are doing, it is first rate! Ian

If you can design it on a pc, then it is hugely easier. Most drawing packag3s can do this very easily. Then print out and stick onto card. I then cut all along the lower edge, which then means all i then have to do is to nick out the "vees" with a sharp blade. I don't do find it too difficult. The key is having the accurate template to begin with.

yes i have most of those...will scan and upload later. i have colour slides and b/w. I was very much into 3d at the time and many of them are in stereo pairs so you can see in 3d with an appropriate viewer... if i dont do it, remind me.

These are all mine..During the early 1980s i took many pictures of westcountry boxes, inside and out. I have only scanned a very few, i am open to requests if there are any between Westbury and Cornwall i might have...Hele and BradninchAthelney Bruton Castle Cary Drump Lane Hawkeridge Pinhoe Roskear Junction Somerton Stoke Canon Crossing Tiverton Junction

I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. The signalman had done had operated the levers correctly. The points hadn't moved and he couldn't clear the signals. What else was he to do? I bet there was no technician handy and he had a train waiting to come into the station. The only thing he could do was to authorise the driver past the signals at danger which seems to have happened correctly. In these cases it's incumbent on the driver to inspect the route before moving over points. The driver of the down train was ok, he had no wrong route to inspect. It's the driver of the up train who then passed over half open trap points who could have prevented it. But the report says it was dark and he couldn't see. Even so, is that a reason not to inspect the road before passing over it?

The old rhyme... White is right, red is wrong, Green means slowly go along....

I dont know which company built these boxes, but they really are the most attractive design.

I bought the Bachmann one several years ago. Well, I bought the chassis and body separately on eBay as good prices. I love it, excellent runner and (as far as I can tell) is an accurate portrayal. It's the best as far as I am concerned. Ian

Mmm. Not sure. Some people have to live further out because they cannot afford the ridiculous London house prices, either buying or rental. I'm pretty sure the affluent do stand on their own two feet, I wouldn't want to pay his tax bill etc. It's the hallmark of a good and supportive society that we all pay in and then we all benefit....

Same with us. No delivery Monday or Tuesday, but bumper crop today, Wednesday.

A couple of points. The iwata neo is excellent. I bought one a year ago and have great results from it. Having said that, I can spray acrylics very well, but I really struggle getting it to spray enamels, no matter how much I thin them. Although I'd like to sort that out, I am happy with the acrylics because of the ease of thinning and washing out. For thinning I use 66/33 mix of water/99% IPA. I don't bother with the proprietary thinners which I'm think are just very expensive versions of the same thing. Agree that frequent cleaning is key! Ian

Yes but even so, wood becoming heavier because it gets wet and then presumably gets lighter as it dries out, is so frequent that it cannot possibly affect the painted tare weight, unless they weighed the wagons after every rain storm.....

Really..? I assumed that's why they were painted, to stop the wood absorbing water....