Brian Harrap

Such a delight to operate Ramchester, everything runs so smoothly and the vast expanse of the station area makes it feel like you are at a real place - quite a walk up and down to see to the uncoupling etc when shunting, I'll take my bike another time. Baron

Sad news indeed, Ian was such fun and always had a friendly word.

Easy frogs now and again crop up in conversations at shows and things and the other day a member of this parish drew my attention to the fact that the original illustrations i had put up here had been zapped in the great picture loss back along. So I thought I'd give them another airing here.

Hello Geraint, Seems you had a fun time in Holland with Gerco. I hope you didn't have too much trouble with getting Ians' railway stuff passed the border police, how things have changed now - no more easily trundling across with a layout to a European show. I did enjoy the visits I was able to do, such fun. It would have been a very early version of QUAI:87 you would have been looking at, before the wagon hoist and the higher level was added and a lot more buildings too of course. As for the brainstorm of trackwork you sent, no thanks if you don't mind, the old eyes and fingers aren't what they were. all the best and thanks for the update, happy modeling, Brian

New hearing aids - none of my stuff runs as quietly as it used to. Bah

Great day out at Thornbury with Rod and Howard, thank you both. Thought you might like to see the 3way crossing nose I was on about for the new tramway layout, but don't hold your breath. Baron

Hello Geraint, The stop sign. I came across this contraption whilst ferreting around a cement works at Lixhe in Belgium (I had thought such smashboard signals were confined to the wild west) but here it was clearly allowing access to only one siding at a time although quite why I was not able to find out. I had to have one on QUAI:87 of course and I rather cheated a bit by installing it at the confluence of several diamonds that needed a polarity change switch so thats what rotating the stop board on the layout does. Driving you loco onto a wrongly set diamond is thus averted. Of now to check out oebeek........Obeka......... you know the one Best, Brian

It was while John Farmer and I were fiddling about photographing his ES1 which he had kindly brought over to QUAI:87 for a play that I noticed that the kilometer marker on the quayside was gently reminding us that for all its attractiveness, it is the wrong scale.

Whileing away a lazy afternoon on QUAI:87 recently, this came along. You never quite know what odd barge loads will pass by on the canal

Twas Iain who, many moons ago, approached me in the cake shop in Chagford ( I don't know how he knew which cake shop I frequented) and suggested we (he and I) take ourselves and my first P87 layout on a jolly to an exhibition somewhere in Holland. That turned out to be the precursor to many such trips with various layouts and friends to exhibitions all over Europe. Thank you Iain. Brian

By the way, in passing, did you know that the track and stock on this layout is all to Proto Z standards. The equivalent of P4 and the like. 0.2mm flangeways - even a bit of narrow gauge. Thanks for posting Ian. Brian

Thanks Neil, thats fascinating, still can't get my head around how you would actually use it. Brian

Does anyone know what this is? Ok its a crane. But with two jibs mechanically linked together, neither having slewing capacity. How on earth would you use such a thing? Brian

On a modellers licence of course B

Here's something you don't see very often

I had planed to get up to see this but knee replacement operation put paid to that B

Does anyone know when the engine shed at Korenov was rebuilt please. It was a wreck when I visited in 2015.

Hello Ragnar, The building is not an exact model of any real building but I got the idea from such a building at Goole (gone now). The Goole building was cut back to make room for the wagon turntable that was used to turn around end unloading coal wagons so they were correctly orientated for running to the tippler and unloading into ships. The turn table on QUAI:87 is used to turn Kuhlwagons the right way round for running into the precooling shed on the right. There was a building in the way to the left so I cut it back as at Goole. Just for fun really. Sorry about the low resolution pics, all I have just now. Thank you for your interest, Brian

No, pity B

Yes Graham, but I cant get artificial light to pierce under the rail/ ballast gap on the track to the right nor pick out the verdigris green of the OHL so well before it goes black. Just sayin, Baron

Late afternoon on QUAI:87. Sometimes you just have to photograph the light while its there. Baron

Hello Ragnar I am currently working on a mockup of what I propose to build. Its a bit unusual and so far has got some funny looks from members of the local RR club. I shall make some improvements before I post it on here. Couldn't get access to the photos on the link you sent - have to be a member and I can't answer the questions in Norse. Best regards, Brian

Hello Singletrack Yes the Kaluga does get involved in shunting operations. I have quite a few items of rolling stock which still has the old Marklin type couplings which I don't think I shall get round to changing. The rest of it I have fitted with KD knuckle type couplings mainly for improved appearance. So that I can use both types together on the quai's I have fitted the Kaluga with a differing coupler at either end, rather appropriate I thought given the heritage of the prototype. When playing with the layout in this mode I shunt all the Marklin fitted wagons into sidings facing east and the KD's facing west so it all works out quite well and everything gets a bit of a run on the Quai's. Thank you for your interest, I am working (in my head) on an idea for a train ferry type diorama which I shall share with you when I've got it sorted. Regards, Brian

Managed to get this shot of the new TGK2 locomotive about to squeeze through the narrow and track infested gap between the buildings on its way to trundle along the quaysides, looking for something to shunt no doubt. I thought I'd share it with you. Brian

Who or what lives in that hole under the track? B