Barry Ten

I raised it again and Andy Y's looking it. Seems Sidecar Racer and Gwrrob have it as well.

I thought it was a Chrome thing for sure, but I'm currently logging in using Firefox on a different laptop and I get the same error message and problems displaying. I wonder if there is some database corruption going on with my blog area, regardless of the browser.

I raised the issue in the faults area but no one responded.

Excellent stuff.

Thanks, Don. Must be a Chrome thing, as that's what I use. If I go to someone else's blog page, though, I can see their listings. Is that the same for you?

Due to some weird browser related thing, my own blog pages don't load properly and I can't see who's "liked" my posting. Thank you for the likes, nonetheless!

What a corker. I'm a big fan of your earlier "Bunty", Tim, and this is a great addition.

Having had the pleasure of running your J72 and Jinty models at Warminster, I know you have very

high standards of running, so I've no doubt that the Planet performs impeccably.

I should add that I removed the existing trailing connection from the up line (the pair of points under the road bridge) and am reinstating the trailing connection further back, so that a complete train can be set back into the yard from the down line. It can there either be shunted by the down goods engine (after a run-round move) or left to be attended by the next up goods.

The up starter signal (near the barrow crossing) was removed as part of the works. I was initially under the assumption it ought to be relocated to the end of the up platform, protecting the crossing from the down line - indeed, that seems to be a common arrangement. But looking at some track and signalling diagrams in the four volumes of RH Clarke, I see that Aldermaston (for instance) still has its starter signal in the same location as mine would have been. Presumably if the crossing had to be protected, it would be done so with the home signal in advance of the platform, so that no train could enter the block if a shunting move was necessary.

It would be academic, but the up platform is quite short, so if a train engine is required to stop in advance of the single-slip, with anything more than four coaches, the rear part of the train will still be straddling the level crossing. Perhaps that sort of thing wasn't uncommon, especially if the station stop would be timetabled to be relatively brief and the road traffic not particularly heavy.

A bit out of my league for now, but they look like lovely kits.

Those French kits can be dangerously addictive, so be warned!

As for the Dean Single, it's a second-hand M&L kit which someone had started and abandoned. I had a good look at the photos and decided I could have a go at it, after all there shouldn't be much to go wrong with a single-wheeler chassis! I'm not sure if the Gibson one is based on the same kit, or is something totally its own. I look forward to it.

More photos added above.

Mikkel: thanks! And yes, there's a lot of stuff - too much, maybe! I suppose I just get on with it. I rarely get in more than an hour's modelling of an evening, but I try to be organised and know ahead of time what I'm going to do, even if it's just a small job. Tonight I had grand plans, but I only got as far as soldering up a pair of coupling rods. Still, that's one less thing to do when I carry on during the next session. I think it also helps that I'm not a perfectionist, and once I've started a model, I don't like it to drag on for months and months, preferring to finish something to a reasonable standard even if it won't win any contests. Occasionally I get stuck on a protracted model like the Enterprise or the Blue Pullman which gets spread across years rather than months, but I'd much sooner open a box, finish a model, and move onto something new, before my enthusiasm wanes.

As for what's next, well more of the same really, upgrading old locomotives, building the kits in my stash (including a Dean Single!) adding a few more coaches when I'm in the mood, reworking some of the less-than-brilliant tracklaying on the summer module (it looks OK in photos, but there are some bad dips between rail joints, as well as some areas of track that aren't completely level in the horizontal direction, meaning that locos lurch to one side in a most ungainly manner. It's all down to my inexperience working with C+L, which is a lot floppier and more easily distorted than Peco, especially (as in this case) when it's all laid onto a foam substrate, so there's no hard surface to act as a reference). Your trackwork looks a lot better and neater than mine, one of the factors pushing me into relaying it. It won't be a horrible job, though, and I'll likely use the disruption as an excuse to add a trailing connection to the goods yard from the "down" (or is it "up") line?

In the long run, I'm still dabbling with the American layout, and there's a larger French project germinating, which I hope to be able to take to Simon Casten's Euro-orientated exhibition in Bath next year. Lots of planes to build, too. I just like modelling, really! The main thing, though, is to be able to share the models with such a great and friendly community as we find on the blogs, including your good self.

Thanks, Mark. I've added another one above, will take some more tomorrow.

I have a split chassis parallel boiler Scot that runs like a treat, so I'm loathe to touch it! But it could do with a decoder.

I agree that these jobs are very satisfying when they go well. I still approach each chassis with trepidation as I haven't done anywhere near

enough not to be worried about cocking up some stage of it. I think it helps when you know that the basic components are well designed,

as with Comet, so you're not fighting some basic discrepancy that isn't your own fault. I look forward to seeing your Rebuilt Scot.

The original Hornby Patriot was the subject of a particularly scathing review in Model Trains, if I remember correctly, where the loco was praised, but the tender canned for being awkwardly proportioned, presumably to fit an existing chassis unit.

Later on, Railway Modeller had an article showing how the tender body could be cut down and narrowed quite convincingly, and the chassis modified a little, resulting in a good improvement. Rather than try and cut/shunt the body, I scratchbuilt my own tender top (twice) but I could never get the model to run properly after that. As for the Airfix 4F tender, I've got a few of those (in 4Fs and 2Ps)  and in my view they run extremely well on DCC, even with a basic decoder, and provided they're kept lubricated, they're not overly noisy.

Thanks, CK. I think I'm coming around to Tony Wright's point of view that it's more satisfying to own a model that one's made or altered oneself, even if it's not perfect, than simply purchasing the equivalent RTR one. The only thing I "demand" is that it runs well, and if the basic shape is OK, I can tolerate some of the details being less fine, or even absent. Tarting up 1970s/1980s era models is fun as far as I'm concerned as the bodies are generally pretty good, it's just the mechanisms that tended to let them down.

That's not to say I don't enjoy a bit of RTR retail therapy!

Don't worry, the timber fronted building and the other cottages have all been covered by a preservation order! I may not have room for them on this layout but they'll go into the stash of buildings for the dream project, whether it ever happens or not.

I stand corrected - I was in Antics earlier today and they had 1/350th Bird of Prey. Might have to build that one!

There's a resin kit for a Klingon D7 cruiser to the same scale, but as yet nothing similar to this kit.

http://www.nicenmodeldesigns.com/1-350-star-trek-original-series-klingon-d7-battle-cruiser.html

Viewers will be pleased to hear that I've since fixed that badly leaning wall in front of the pub!

Thanks for the kind words, all.

Thanks both!

That's all looking pretty damn impressive, Dave, just dripping with sleepy Edwardian atmosphere. Tiny touches, like that beautifully embedded building, really do add to the convincing impression.

I know it's not set in Gloucestershire, but when viewing these gorgeous imagies, I can't help but think of the mood conjured up in Adlestrop:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlestrop_(poem)

Trying to build it as the Refit 1701, there are some alternative parts for the 1701-A, but I suspect I might have muddled one or two of them up already! The details are relatively minor, luckily.

There's a fantastic shot of Bridport high street in the new Wild Swan book, just a simple B&W shot from the early 1950s but almost achingly nostalgic, even though I wasn't alive at the time. A Milk Bar, Leaker's cake shop, Hilton & Moss Chemists, awnings over the pavement, old cars, ladies on bicycles, a Woolworths, and at the end of street, a big banner proclaiming the "West Bay Regatta August Bank Holiday Week".

I'm not sure it was a better time but it was certainly a more visually attractive scene.

Thanks, Mikkel - you and Dave (Wenlock) must take the blame though, for your many Edwardian enticements. I'm just dabbling!

Yes, those grilles could do with looking at, perhaps after having a go at semi-flush glazing? I might be tempted to give it a go when I'm in the right frame of mind.

I think the Tri-ang ones are very characterful models as well. I believe it's even possible to get some semi-accurate diagrams out of them with a bit of cut and shut. I have a pair put aside for the future.

As I might have mentioned in the earlier post, when Hornby published the pre-production pics of the new Clerestories, back in 1981 or 1982, they did look like they'd have full moulded detail, and it was a bit of a disappointment when they came out with flat sides and printed lining. But the newer printing methods seem to be able to add a bit of 3-d relief, it's just that's there is a bit too simplified.

Very evocative, as ever, Job. I also like the look of old shopfronts in black and white photos. I don't know why they appear more attractive than contemporary scenes, but they do.