28XX

Get Down On It - Kool And Da Gang innit?

In Your Letter. - REO SpeedWagon

In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry

Fat Bottom Girls - Queen

Flying Without Wings - Westlife

Black Night - Deep Purple

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles.

Jane - Jefferson Starship

Monday Morning 5:19 - Rialto

I'm in Love With My Car - Queen

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynnard Skynnard

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen

My son had a new Mito in 2009. It mashed its gearbox six months out of warranty. A common fault we discovered. Luckily our local guy was able to rebuild it, but he lost confidence in the car and traded it in for a Golf (yawn).

Hampton Rise

Today's Britain. Gold Plate everything. 13 weeks to build a bell-mouth to serve a trading estate. Well into a third year to widen less than a mile of road to dual carriageway.

I Touch Myself - Divinyls

Snip!

 

It's quite difficult for us to imagine these days how backward much of rural France was in the 50s and 60s. The 2CV was perfect basic transport for the prevailing conditions. I prefer them to the 4L (my then partner had one) although Renault must have done something right as they built and sold 4 million of them, against only about 2 million 2CVs.

 

Snip!

My father is a Francophile and always has been. In the early '50's (when he was in his early 20's) he took his car to France with the intention of seeing how far south he could get. At the time, a particularly delicate and scary chapter in the Cold War was unfolding, and the original CND ban the bomb protests were taking place in England. He was driving down a long straight French road when he realized that he hadn't seen another car for a while. Through one deserted village. Then another. Still no signs of life. The thought seized him that perhaps nuclear Armageddon had begun, the French had all gone to shelter, and he was the only man out in the open!

Re. the Somerset. He's dropped his starting price to £1650. No bids yet.

I think I'll contact him on the last day and maybe make a low offer

Without You - Nillson

Fictitious names or places which need a station but never had one, spring to my mind unbidden.

Boldmere

Cotteridge

East Bromwich

Brunswick Green

Utterley

Llan Droffar

Your Own Special Way - Genesis

Thanks for all your helpful comments. If I take the plunge, I'll keep you updated.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232260554127

Very tempted to go and kick the tyres. Does anyone have any vital knowledge to share on these before I do?

I have just built a larger signalbox from two of the 1990 version of the Hornby kit - suitably painted and with a little extra detailing, this has gone together easily and neatly to create a lovely model, larger than the out-of-the-box kit. Assuming that the Gaugemaster kits use similar plastics (depends on what the moulds will accept I guess), then these kits are fine. They're not up to the latest Ratio/Wills standards but then they're cheaper and of differing prototypes. I also have a small collection of the footbridge kits awaiting completion of some platforms on which to mount them! Good luck!

I have two of these kits to do precisely the same for Stourhampton North. If you have any hints / tips / regrets / photos of yours I would be very grateful to see.

One Fine Day - Chiffons