Mark Forrest

A fairly productive afternoon today as I use up the last few hours of my annual leave entitlement. Made a start on painting the pub and its neighbouring property. Added a small retaining wall to deal with the height difference - ideally I'd have sloped the gardens down from the back of the building instead, but that's the problem with making it up as I go along rather than having a firm plan. A bit of grass has appeared too.

Good luck with the new layout. I enjoyed following your progress with West Park, I'm sure it's successor will be bostin' too.

I have used brass tube as bus bar in the past, using choc block connectors to hold them in place. Works very well. More recently I've done the same with nickel silver rail. My Dad once had a layout with a length of flexi track fixed underneath the board and used that as a bus bar for the track feeds.

A bit more building work last night, think this is just about ready for a coat of primer.

Slowly progressing with the dreaded ballasting. On the new siding, I'm using DAS clay, quite pleased with how that's working out, although it's quite time consuming! Texture in the clay is by stippling it with a paintbrush.

Except it isn't, since the EEC hasn't existed since the '90s and it's successor, the EC, was abolished in 2009 (Treaty of Lisbon).

Interesting thread. On reflection I'd estimate over 80% of my overall expenditure is online purchases. Main exceptions are food and drink for immediate consumption and vehicle fuel; so it will come as no surprise that most of my railway modelling spending is done online. Given the choice between being able to place an online order at my convenience when I remember I need something over having to find time to visit a shop, make a phone call during opening hours or visit an exhibition - it's an easy choice. That said, there are a handful of suppliers who do not have online ordering who I do use, largely where there is no viable online alternative. Their presence at an exhibition can be the deciding factor of whether or not I attend, so maybe that's something for exhibition managers to consider.

Note to self: keep the stock boxes well hidden when Spams is doing the green stuff.

This view of Harborne in the '60s is probably a bit too overgrown. https://flic.kr/p/Gkfwyo

As I want to depict multiple different eras, that's an interesting point. Some inspiration... https://flic.kr/p/YuCU8Q https://flic.kr/p/23qScq6 https://flic.kr/p/kPNvF1

A quick blast of track/sleeper grime makes such a difference.

That photo oozes atmosphere, I can definitely see the appeal. Are you thinking as exact model or an "inspired by"?

Done a bit, bored now.

All being well, five weeks today @2ManySpams and I will be down in Taunton ready for the SWAG member's day on the Sunday and the first exhibition attendance for Fryers Lane in its new form. Here are a few photos of how the layout looks today, taken to record how much (or should that be, how little) of the original layout remained before I start blending together the old and new bits. The warehouse/factory at the rear of the layout is reused, but has been raised to closer to rail level. The freshly paint brown earth at the front shows the depth added to the layout with the foundations of the pub and house at the far end. On the new board, the last bit of landscape shaping at the front has been finished. Not obvious from the photos there has been a lot going on underneath the baseboards too; wiring and setting up the servos for the points having changed them over to a Megapoints servo controller. I think I'm at the stage where I can't put the ballasting off for much longer...

Having had the pleasure of seeing these in real life (the model, not the real thing) the photos don't do justice to just how big they are! I've used your strengthening strips method to straighten out a warped building that I'm working on, worked really well.

No problems, all sorted now.

That's perfectly fine with me 😉 If I remember correctly we had a spectacular breakfast at the hotel on the morning of the SWAG bash.

Over the past couple of weekends I've made some progress with the pub that is sited as a view blocker in front of the fiddle yard exit. The building had warped a bit so I spent some time sorting that out and adding strength to the inside of the walls which has (mostly) pulled it back into shape. Ground levels sorted and pavement and road surface added. Looks like something dodgy is going on out the back of the pub.

To be fair, I assumed I'd already be on the troublemaker list due to my known associates.

I'd better get on with regauging the track and stock, I've gone and built it in P4 by mistake 😉

Looks like you're nearly ready, unlike Fryers Lane...

I've never ridden with a mirror so possibly not qualified to comment; admittedly a mirror would be cheaper! Fair review of the Varia here: https://youtu.be/bhRVOV09yM4

Yes, in my case a Garmin 530 mounted on the handlebar (although I gather the Varia will work with other brands devices or with a phone). The device beeps when a car is detected then shows its approach as a dot (dots if several cars) on the side of the screen - not cheap but very useful. The top of the range version also has a camera but I went for the mid-range one with just light and radar.

I can't remember if it was prompted by a post on here or elsewhere but I've recently got a Garmin Varia light and radar. Fantastic bit of kit, really pleased with it. Out on a road ride yesterday we found ourselves on roads that were a bit busier than we'd ideally ride and having a display on my head unit that showed cars approaching made it a lot more tolerable (and safer). The seat post mount that comes with it was a bit rubbish, so instead it's on a neat little saddle rail mount from 76 Projects.

I've then added cork in place of the foam underlay and a couple of ply and rivet sleepers. One side glued in place ready for the rails to be soldered to the rivets. Both sides done, sleepers crudely coloured with a permanent marker; paint and cosmetic chairs to follow.