Dagworth

About the worst thing you can do is to tin wires that are going into any sort of screw terminal. Over time the solder will flow and the joint become loose. If you don't have ferules then strip the wire, twist it and then fold it back on itself before inserting into the terminal, this will result in a secure joint. Andi

The footplate has always been worked on overtime and RDW, I knew the 12hour kings that worked every rest day and sunday and 12 hours every shift until Hidden came in and brought some forced time off. Overtime for some was a way of life, some lived to work, some just worked to live. Andi

They were used around Anglia in conjunction with works for electrification in the 80s. As soon as I saw Andy's topic title I knew it was going to be them, fascinating to watch in action. Andi

It's the same grey as used on blue/grey coaches https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/paint-products/precisionrailway/nationalised/diesel-electric-colours/14p133 Andi

The only reason I spray the ballast before gluing is so it doesn't ball up with the surface tension of the glue being applied to it dry. the dilute PVA flows much easier into wet ballast Andi

First And Last And Always - Sisters Of Mercy

I had similar problems with paint not behaving as usual on some Hornby 58 cabs. I eventually came to the conclusion that they were made of polycarbonate which doesn't like enamel. Andi

490mm over buffers. Edit: I’ve just got my Bachmann Cravens out to measure it for you, obviously destined for your layout Andi

I don't know how many people knew what my comment referred to? Andi

Uncle Nicknack?

Put code 100 joiners on the code 100 track, put the finescale track above the joiners - packing under sleepers to match railhead height - and solder the rail to the top of the joiners. Andi

Bind Their Kings In Chains - Blyth Power

A more descriptive title would be better, for example "Stolen ON30 locos and stock" than just "Stolen"

or https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.8&lat=52.47414&lon=1.74454&layers=168&right=ESRIWorld Andi

it looks very similar to what was there in the black and white photo with the Cravens unit Edit: the important bit though, if a train leaves Lowestoft on your layout will it arrive at Ipswich on mine and hour or so later? Andi

Does the Google Earth imagery from 2006 help? Andi

Some Kind Of Stranger - Sisters of Mercy

In which case I would seriously advise starting with something a LOT smaller, a little layout that you can learn the skills of woodwork, track laying, ballasting, wiring, scenics, all the things that go together to build a layout. Even just an 8ftx4ft single board with a couple of ovals and some sidings, something to play trains on! The reason I suggest this is that if you've not built a layout before then something very large and ambitious has a good chance of being too much, and you may find you've bitten off more than you can chew and you may get ten percent of the way into it and lose the motivation as it's such a long journey. It also gives you a good chance to explore what parts of model railways really appeal, are you a layout builder, an operator, a wiring and electrics enthusiast, a main line driver, a shunter, a signaller? For layout planning you really can't beat trying things out on a computer first before you commit to timber and track, it's well worth the small (relatively) amount of time it takes to learn your way around one of the computer layout planning programmes. There are several free programmes out there, Ravensclyffe was planned on XtrackCAD https://sourceforge.net/projects/xtrkcad-fork/ It may also be worth investigating whether there are any model railway clubs where you are, they can be great places to learn the basic skills you will need. Good Luck! Andi

Vision Thing - Sisters of Mercy

Or a Bardic (BTP told us that where we had raised our arm in self defence - the one holding the bardic - we got one free hit. So make it count! If you clouted the oik a second time then they may charge you with assault) Edit:Replied before I’d seen the other comments Andi

The email I've had from Rails today welcoming me to their mailing list would seem to confirm that they have taken the Hattons customer database. Andi

Bear in mind that a crossover to scale may be 5ft long whereas if made from Peco points will be around 2ft long Andi

Make me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel RIP Steve

Building a huge layout doesn’t have to be the sole domain of music moguls. Yes I work in the same industry but have nowhere near that kind of income but I’m still building an insane layout, a scale model of Ipswich. I live in a modest rented terraced house (albeit with a reasonably large garage) and now have three large (!) layouts and three small ones. Ipswich is built with no compression at all, the only major alteration is to straighten it slightly so that it all fits on a 4ft width straight set of boards. As someone said above, this does entail hand building the points to get them correct. It all comes down to choices, I live alone (edit: that's actually not true, I share the space with three gorgeous felines!), I don’t drink very often, I have no children, and my house is pretty much a workshop! Andi