john dew

For once I got there before you Robin! One will shortly be winging its way to Vancouver from Cornwall. Best wishes

Thanks Tinker......glad you like it.........hope the house building is going well. I replaced the Heljan, which served the Engine Shed, about four years ago with a Fleischmann. After some initial problems, of my own making, it has run like a dream.....super reliable. The hole in the ground in the Storage yards used to have another Fleischmann. I bought it second hand for about 50 bucks in 1996 so it doesnt owe me anything. Its always been a bit make and mend but the last year or so it has become even more erratic. I finally bit the bullet and spent most of this years train budget buying a new replacement. Unfortunately I think I may have damaged the coil/solenoid which triggers the motor. Alternatively I have incorrectly re-assembled the mechanical lever system activated by the solenoid. Either way it isnt working properly. I cant recall previously wishing I lived in Essex but it would be handy right now......I suspect you would sort right away while I chipped some locos for you. All is not lost.......there is a local guy we have used in the past who will hopefully solve the problem. Best wishes

A bit of trivia about life in the UK during and immediately after WWII Before I realised that the hotel would finished up so far back from the railway I started to acquire figures and bit and pieces to detail the rear kitchen. You now need binoculars or a cruel close up to see them but it seemed a shame to waste them I intended the two cooks, having a crafty fag, to be chatting up a waitress but am still looking for a suitable figure. They had to be sous chefs (short navy/black hats) because they are actually Modelu footplate men with the cap peaks filed off. The guy on the left has been in my bits box for years. A Montys Models dust bin man but I wanted him to be seen emerging from the kitchen so I googled "UK Pig Swill 1947".........as part of the war effort dustbins painted green with "Pig Food" stenciled on a white background were used to collect all waste food stuff. So here is the Talbot's rack of Bins ready for the weekly pick up. The Bins were issued to each street where they were often chained to a lamp post You will have to imagine the chain! Apparently the collection system continued on through the late forties although I must confess I dont remember any cans in our road. One can never accuse Granby of lacking detail! In other news: John Dew wrote: Meantime I need to run some trains......but before doing so I have to come to a decision about the geriatric storage turn table and resolve a tiresome sporadic short on the branch line.....I could be away for some time! I have definitely made up my mind

Conversely its warm and sunny in British Columbia........and 4 cubic yards of top soil has just been delivered......no trains for me this week! As always super photos Neal Best wishes

You must be delighted. The scenes are absolutely spectacular.....my congratulations. Best wishes

?? Have I missed something

Best wishes from Vancouver.

The Hotel is now in its permanent position on the layout. There is still a lot to be done to the surrounding area but at least passengers arriving and departing from Granby no longer have to look at a bomb site. By way of a reminder, here is a wide angle view of the train room taken from the doorway The reverse view looking towards a collection of assorted memorabilia that is normally cropped out. Why do we keep this stuff? As a rugby fan its very difficult to justify a 50 year old Paddington Bear with a Villa scarf! Until it was recently pointed out to me any connection with the GWR had never crossed my mind! I have been muttering for some time about the size of the Hotel footprint in relation to available space. The eventual solution was to build out an extension in front of the station building Its less than ideal. The Shed turntable controller had to be rewired and relocated on the other side of the duck under. Its also now a very long reach to the Shed approach road, fortunately, because of Stay Alives, loco stalls are comparatively rare. That apart I think it works quite well The Canal Warehouse still has to be linked to the main level but I have been cropping out the unfinished rear of the Warehouse for a decade so a few more months won't hurt. The hastily constructed door to the Post Office looks a bit contrived but I do like this view up the alley to St Asaph's Square and beyond to Chester Road and the north bound bus stops. Viewed from the front showing off the varied skyline plus a last chance to see Paddington Bear There is no picture frame trim left so the sides of the extension will be finished with Will random stone. This wall will culminate in a tunnel portal for the branch line which exits the hidden storage roads beneath the hotel. Because of space, Chester Road, the street parallel with the station, had to be one way. The extension has enabled me to add south bound bus stops and traffic signs which make the traffic pattern look more credible. I didnt originally intend to have St Asaph's Square set back so much but I am actually quite pleased with the sense of depth that has been created I have added some detail but there is a distinct absence of pedestrians around the hotel and new bus stops. Once the figures have been painted I will post a few cameos. Meantime I need to run some trains......but before doing so I have come to a decision about the geriatric storage turn table and resolve a tiresome sporadic short on the branch line.....I could be away for some time! Finally, here is an old photo of Granby that I took in 1948 with my Box Brownie before being treated by Auntie Edith to Afternoon Tea at the Talbot .......must have been my birthday.

B****r.............You are absolutely right Mike. That was a typo.....sadly on my plate order Thats tiresome but thanks for telling me better to know than not. Best wishes

The GWR version 9402 has the letters "Pdn" in White on both running plate step supports. For greater certainty I assume this means Paddington and will be redundant on my model which is in the process of being renumbered to 9407 (Oxley) ? I was planning to just paint it out. Happy Easter from Vancouver

My apologies to all........this must be my longest gap in posting for many years . All manner of events, railway and domestic, combined to delay me from finishing the site detail of the hotel and even posting anywhere. Hopefully most, if not all, of these issues are now sorted. There are still a load of figures still to paint so the hotel frontage looks strangely deserted but most of the surrounding infrastructure is now in place. Given luck I can take some shots and post them over the weekend. Talking of shots, we both had our Covid jabs on Tuesday. Side effects were relatively mild.....nothing like I remember from my Army jabs many years ago. Canada is a long way behind the UK .....only 12% have had the first jab so it will be quite a while before we can get together again with all our family. Nevertheless there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter.

I think it was WWI not WW2?

I think the connection also has speaker wires to allow for a speaker in the tender

Hi Neal You have been so busy I am struggling to keep up with all your posts! First off congratulations on the video which I thoroughly enjoyed. Having followed Henley for so long it was a very pleasant journey through familiar scenery. Not sure how I missed your introduction to Kadees........I started converting my stock about ten years ago. I know they are not strictly prototypical but they are ultra reliable......perfect for my automated operations (there are a number of my videos on Youtube). Like you I tend to top and tail my rakes with Kadees and in between using slimline tension locks for freight and Hornby couplers for coaches. I started off with all manner of Kadee patterns but now standardise on just the four NEM options. You can get NEM pockets from both Bachmann and Dapol. Plastic bread packaging clips make perfect shims as they come in a variety of thicknesses I have insertd them (particularly #20s) quite often into the NEM recess as per your photo.....I find it best to secure them with a dab of Superglue or black tack. I have also drilled out the shaft of NEM kadees and screwed them direct to the Loco chassis You mentioned you were concerned about the height of the uncoupling magnets. You may need to carve out the sleepers for Code 75 but it should not be necessary for Code 100. I am afraid I can remember which code is used on Henley. With Code 100 I have to be super careful that there is no trace of ballast lingering on the sleepers and the magnet is perfectly aligned. A mm or so off and it will ride up on the edge of the chair. If only certain locos catch then adjust the hook with plier. Which brings me to my final point.......Kadee sell a special set of pliers designed to adjust the hooks. I believe it is very effective, I have been intending to buy one for ages......you might want to put one on your US shopping list. Sorry for the long winded reply. I do hope a bit of it may be useful. Best wishes ,

I should have put progress in quotes or added a question mark. It was intended as reluctant acceptance rather than approval. In fact I share your view that it is not a particularly good match racing format. . I do indeed remember the 1987 12M racing......it was brilliant ....we were glued to the TV. As weekend racers we could relate directly to almost everything taking place on the race course which is not the case now. I had heard that the Kiwis favour Ineos as Challenger of Record but I hadnt heard the Prada group wanted to revert to a more conventional design.......interesting!

Sorry Neal........that was my fault I drifted off topic on to Rugby and then Sailing!

Hi Mikkel I have only just stopped giggling at your slippery eels......brilliant modelling. Glad you like the latest additions. There is just one side that isnt visible without a helicopter shot. Its the side next to the Post Office side. I made sure that my first attempt at the low relief kit finished up there

Thanks Brian. I hope it wont although its certainly distracted me from operating much during the last three months. I am afraid it developed a life of its own and has turned out much bigger than I originally intended. Too late now though...I will have to live with it I will try and show some trains in the next post. Keep safe

I am looking forward to it as well. If the two boats are evenly matched it should be quite exciting although with the absence of passing lanes everything seems to depend on the two minutes before the start. Its now a far cry from conventional racing.......I guess thats progress and helps with the Tv ratings!

Thanks Phil......so glad you like it. Cant wait to get started painting little people for front and back. I am sure you enjoyed the game.......it was very kind of you to avoid mentioning it

Thanks Neal.............the inspectors were very happy...... For next summers project I am contemplating a Castle on the window sill! That should keep me occupied Hope all is well Best wishes

You missed a pretty eventful game. Shall I PM you a reminder for the Irish game? The time difference can be a real problem with sporting events. I missed a couple of Prada Cup days before I realised that Friday afternoon in Auckland is Thursday evening in Vancouver!

I thought the English attack was the most imaginative it has been since the WC semi final. At 24 all the Welsh were beginning to look a little rattled. Those three elementary penalties on the trot were unforgiveable. The other key item not mentioned much was Farrels unusually poor place kicking. I think he left either 8 or 11 points on the ground.....compare that with the accuracy of Biggar and Sheedy! I can only hope they get their act together for the two remaining games

With the Hotel building itself now complete, I hope I can be forgiven for re posting a couple of "before" shots of the rear I must admit that I am rather chuffed with the way the 1mm veneers I showed last week fitted smoothly on to the backs: Building now glued to base. Fire Escape and Ventilation in place. Here is a less than flattering close up to give a glimpse of the kitchen Outside the kitchen doors I am hoping to convert a couple of Modelu lounging engine crew into sous chefs having a crafty smoke break. Painting the Blue and White check trousers will be an interesting challenge. The close up does show up the origins of the ventilating equipment...small blocks of 2mm card clad with Scalescene print outs and a dab of weathering powder. From the obligatory 3' I think it looks quite credible although I wouldnt want an HVac engineer to look too closely at the layout! Normally I use either painted wood skewers or Wills for chimneys but I thought I should splurge for the Talbot Hotel ......here are 30 metal castings from Langley Models. Also from Langly (usual disclaimer) the fire escape I still have to add lamp posts at the front and a few detailing cameos front and back. That will have to wait until I have finished creating enough space on the layout to for the hotel base with its over large foot print! I have to take regular medication for high blood pressure.......unfortunately they have yet to discover a drug with sufficient strength to deal with my wrath at England contriving to lose to Wales on Saturday.........I am only just about back to normal! Keep calm......keep safe

No I have not gone into hibernation although the last couple of weeks weather made me think about it. The hotel is so close to being finished I kept putting off posting until I could write finis.Then I got into a catch 22 situation where I realised that I couldnt attach a number of small but vital sub assemblies until I had completely finished the base.........and I couldnt finish the base until I had cantilevered the support framework. I think I have resolved the framework issues and having dusted down the chop saw, I have just been cutting up lengths of 2"x1" in a freezing cold garage. Meantime here is the progress on the actual building The Palm Court is now finished I forgot we had some plexi-glass off cuts. Thank you for the pointer John (St Edonoc). Its Rigid enough to create a more realistic shape than the curved structure I had originally envisaged. Fortunately this can only be viewed from 3'. Bridging three kits and two scratch built extensions revealed a number of 1/16" errors which combined to produce a few less than square corners. You may remember I was not looking forward to soldering a fire escape from this etching All done except for the painting Thankfully another 3' viewing item. There are more "less than square" corners and quite a few wavy steps. As I suspected, it is too wide to be attached to a Wing end wall. Instead I built this four storey annexe The doors will match up to the landings on the fire escape. There is an exit from the 5th floor on the flat roof of the annexe and a staircase on the roof will provide an exit for the 6th floor Marking out the doors and window to match with both the fire escape landings and the existing window lines was "interesting" . Fortunately the escape is quite flexible and with two pairs of hands can be glued into place on both the annexe and the base Here are the other sub assemblies waiting for the base to be finalised I was always a bit concerned about concealing the 2 separate Scalescene ends on each wing but I think this will work out quite well. I covered the two battered chimney pieces with Dressed stone paper cut to shape. Below them, the pieces of 1mm card with appropriate windows and doors will be glued direct to the end walls. (thats why the curtains are drawn) All that remains to be done, apart from glueing in place, is to add doors to the kitchens below the Palm Court and ventilation units to the roof of both the kitchens and the single floor extension on the right. And chimneys of course......I treated myself to some rather nice castings from Langley More to come.......keep safe A change from Rugby......I will be watching Race 5 of the Prada Cup this evening (Saturday afternoon in N.Z.) with fingers crossed that Sir Ben can pull off another miraculous recovery........a decent start would help.