MarkC

Can I just take a moment here to recommend Durham Gin please?

Excellent work - and, apropos of nothing, love the use of the word "brew" in the reporter's narrative too

Fortunately I am presently on leave, so a visit was called for . I visited on Sunday at lunchtime. There seemed to be a steady flow of visitors, and the hall was comfortably busy, rather than packed. A good selection of layouts were present - good work on the part of the organisers. It was nice to meet up with some familiar faces too, particularly traders Dave Alexander and Peter Stanger, with whom I had very pleasant chats. It was nice to finally meet some FB friends in real life as well Traders - a reasonable selection, but as others have commented, little in the way of general fine scale purchasing opportunities. I think that this is a common issue these days, though. Catering - yes, limited, but already well explained by the Exhibition Manager. Car parking - I had no issues, but I can certainly see how one muppet abandoning their vehicle in an inappropriate place could cause mayhem. All in all, the show was well worth a visit. Thanks to all involved. Mark

Looking for a Class 108 driving vehicle, preferably unmade. Anyone with a roundtuit pile they want to reduce? Thanks in advance. Mark EDIT - all sorted out. Thanks

G'day, Doug! Ah yes, but I thought it was the Kiwi bird - arrives, roots, shoots and leaves... - perhaps another story I fear, though, that you forgot about this chap

Perhaps it was a Freudian slip - with the influence of so many of our Australian friends here, it's worth remembering that their meaning of the word 'rooting' has different implications

Very true, but might well count against you, were you to cause a collision as you were reversing out.

Orwell was pretty far-sighted, wasn't he? - but the biggest laugh is those who voluntarily have their webcams not secure, or use this device called "Alexa", which is monitoring your every word... Me, I refuse to make it easy for the data trawlers/miners, by using all tools available. It won't stop them, but they have to work damn hard

The drivers might perhaps be pilots?

www.419eater.com is where it's at

Try this link, Colin. It works for me https://www.facebook.com/groups/hobbyeisenbahner/permalink/1735125196523954/

I get the group home page, but I think you have to actually join the group to see any content

You may find that the body is old - it was originally intended to fit onto the Triang 0-6-0 chassis.However, SEF did produce an etched chassis at one point, which matches the inaccurate Triang wheelbase, allowing a better looking model. Easy check - the accurate wheelbase is 8' x 8' 6", which is 32mm x 34mm. As a stand alone model, though, it will look fine

I built a a Centre Models RS&H 0-4-0ST over 40 years ago. It had a whitemetal block chassis, intended for an XO4 motor. I actually fitted an ECM unit. I sold it about 6 or 7 years ago to a friend - it's still running today. Nice model; crude in some ways by today's standards, but there it is. An unbuilt kit was on eBay a few weeks ago - went for slightly silly money, so there is still demand for such things

OK, Centre Models. Was there any connection with Magna Kits? Or was the Centre Kits range taken over by Cotswold?

The GEM one was an LNWR prototype, IIRC Cotswold did kits of the L&Y 2-4-2T, both round top & Belpaire variants.

Mick/Paul Thanks for your thoughts. All will be revealed in due course - I hope - when I get into the roundtuit pile. From memory, this was picked up for me unexpectedly by a family member as a gift. Family know my enthusiasm for eBay rescue projects, but that did mean that I didn't see the original listing Good job I like a challenge!

Signed

I'm still away at sea, so can't get my hands on the beastie as yet. I'm now wondering just what it actually is. Definitely a nicely assembled whitemetal body, with what appears to be a homebrew or modified Ks set of slab-like frames as the chassis. Hmm...

Some sucker will buy it though...

An insurance claim along the lines of "I was proceeding along the road without incident until a stationary tree collided with me..."

It'll take more than T-Cut and elbow grease to sort that out... ...I can't see his insurers being too impressed either

I'll fish it out when I get home - the body is nicely done, but the chassis is basically 2 strips of brass. I think that a new chassis will be required, tbh

Yes it is