TEAMYAKIMA

Hello I am looking to make scrap bales for my HO layout can you please show how they were made - thanks. And further ... do you or anyone reading this have detailed photos of prototype scrap bales please? Paul

Hello Firstly may I say that I don't model British, but I think what I'm trying to model is universal. I want to model compressed metal scrap that might be going to a steel works for recycling into new steel. I understand they are crushed/compressed into virtually standard size 'bales' I was thinking of using DAS modelling clay to make these bales Does anyone have photos of the real thing? Or photos of their efforts or any info to share please? Thanks Paul

I thought there was nothing tooooo bad about that review. I was expecting worse from the comments of those who had already read it and I'm happy to take the last paragraph at face value. We mustn't get too touchy. Live and let live I say.

Although our layout is set in 1925 and run prototypically at exhibitions we do stretch that a bit on Friday nights!

Wasn't there a sitcom based in a country railway station starring many of the same actors that were in Hi-Di-Hi? Shot I think on the Severn Valley.

What l'm not 100% clear about is whether teams were given a free choice of topic within the overall theme. So as regards TV theme was there a free choice of programme ? Or a short list to choose from or were each team just given a topic?

The depot is back on the agenda ...

Wanted : Bachmann China Rail S12 cabooses .... I need up to three examples please . Paul

Have also been checking/improving locos. This is a PIKO DF7C - it is fitted with a NEM coupler pocket and so it need a NEM mount Kadee. At Bristol it was fitted with the 'standard' Kadee # 18 (medium length) as it was a 'quick fix'. But when looking at it in the cold light of day it's ugly and sticks out a lot. I have other uses for #18's and I have a stock of unwanted Kadee's EXTRA LONG NEMs (#20's) and so took one and cut it up ....... With the modified # 20 on board things look a lot better.

I have been working on the layout - honest! But as usual lately not much to show for it. Have completed the second 'improved' wood load and also made a pipe load This is very much a posed photo .... this loco and wagons will never find themselves on the industrial line, but the lighting for photography is better there. I had wanted to keep the more decorated QJs for the showcase as they were not that common and this one 6800 (Iron Bull) had been withdrawn and plinthed by 2005. But am short of QJs as two are still sitting in Hong Kong awaiting collection and so 6800 and 2470 will have to cover for them.

About 15 years ago there was an internet channel 'The Railway Channel' produced for the serious enthusiast and run by TV professional Mark Found. It was a subscription service. It featured visits to exhibitions etc and clubs including my club Twickenham & District MRC. It was a serious channel for enthusiasts.

I thought tonight was even better than the first week. One bi-product of this series may be a broadening of what is seen at exhibitions. For years/decades the holy grail of exhibition mañagers has been the most prototypical realistic layouts ..... which has meant that many layouts we see are somewhat formulaic .... Bring on the odd-balls!

All joking apart, there was a dinosaur (as a wagon load) on what is considered to be possibly the best American HO layout ever built - the G&D by the late John Allan. From memory it was a stegosaurus - on a flat car!

May I ask whether anyone reading this has any Bachmann S12 cabooses they would be prepared to sell. I have four and ideally need another two or even three. If anyone has one/two/three may I request that they send me a PM rather than add to this thread please. Thank you.

It's the critics choice today in The Metro

I was depressed/alarmed yesterday when I spent my whole day off working on the project - and compared it with how much I had achieved! One small job I worked on was wagon loads. Recently I bought three C64K gondola cars from a firm called China Garden. They came with wood loads ..... Now I was somewhat torn.............. I have quite a lot of empty C64k cars without loads already and so wanted to make use of these loads, but TBH they are a bit crude. An awful amount of work went into making them by hand - there are dozens of individually cut pieces of wood in each load all glued together and each piece is real wood and therefore unique. But in real life there are also verticals that hold everything together above the height of the car. So I sacrificed one load and 'picked off' some of the pieces in order to make two better ones. +- The trouble was that some of the logs are really very big - larger diameter than I wanted , so I had to pick off many pieces to get enough thin ones. I have cheated a bit as I only put uprights on one side as I don't think you notice there're not present on the non-viewing side. In fact the non-viewing side shows where I've robbed this one to provide uprights ...

I, and many others here might well agree with you, but we live in the place and the time that we do and unfortunately there's not much we can do about that.

We're on national television! Ok, only briefly! In the introduction to Channel 5's 'GREAT MODEL RAILWAY CHALLENGE' there are a selection of very short video clips of all kinds of model railways in a wide variety gauges/scales - and one of the clips is Addison Road taken at Alexandra Palace earlier this year. Like all the clips it's definitely a case of 'blink and you'll miss us!' but whatever - we're famous!

Have just watched it again - missed the first 3/4 minutes when it was live. Found it on Channel 5's catch-up site - under the heading 'POPULAR PROGRAMMES' which is, in my opinion, very encouraging! In fact enjoyed it even more second time around.

I don't disagree with you, but this is not the 1970's - things have moved on. If you want to attract new YOUNGER modellers you have to speak their language and adopt their norms - the GBO is a format they know and understand and so the programme makers are half-way there before they start.

I can't wait for the celebrity version .... Rod Stewart, Roger Daltry etc ....

I've been upgrading/repairing various stock. This is a Bachmann QJ fitted with the shortest Kadee NEM fitting coupling - sticks out - not acceptable Here it is fitted with a Bachmann cranked-up coupling - overscale - not acceptable Here it is after a bit of work - a standard non-NEM coupling fitted in its place ... neat !

Here's a photo of the station in our period ... the lights along the front need to be added to the model .................

Our next exhibition is Peterborough in December and there are plenty of little jobs to be done. The focus last week was the main station building seen here .... (copyright Tony Wright and BRM magazine) There are details yet to add!

That's quite a claim ! Did the judges know of this ?