Barry Ten

Second Language - Disco Inferno

Maybe the problem with them is that they're not prog? I think they're fantastic myself although you do have to give 'em time. Today I 'ave been mostly listening to Bruckner.

Correct, Graham - it was the SWAG do indeed. Sorry for the confusion!

I saw this in real life on friday - it really looks the business.

Excellent, Graham - and you're right about the steps being prone to being knocked off. I remember chatting with you at Camrail about the best way to fit the steps and pipework to the N15s such that they will cope with moderate curves.

Very nice, Roger - look forward to seeing it for real.

Nick - that shows how little I understand these matters, alas, as I don't doubt that you're right. The doorway was pinched from the scrap box - perhaps I should consider something plainer? Here's the one I saw yesterday during a lovely afternoon in Camarthen (not my photo): And here's one that provided the inspiration for the drain pipe, cunningly positioned to conceal the break between two pieces of Wills sheeting: http://www.churches-uk-ireland.org/images/manc/manc/openshaw_beulah.jpg Handy, when life imitates art!

I saw one with Zion on it yesterday, in Camarthen. I must admit to knowing next to nothing about all these denominations - my knowledge of religions institutions would shame Father Dougal McGuire. But they are lovely buildings.

I wanted a typically South Wales-looking chapel/church for Paynestown but as the layout developed, it didn't look as if there'd be room for it. However, I've since decided that I don't like the hill on the right side of the model (behind the carriage shed), which was done in a hurry and has never looked quite right to my eyes. By slicing the top off, I can create enough area for a reasonable sized building which will help reinforce the location. There are enough chapels in my neck of the woods that one hardly needs to do any "research" (my nearest one is now a Jewson builders merchants), but rather than copy a prototype, I wanted to make use of some bits and pieces already in the scrap box and produce a representative hybrid. The main problem was going to be the windows, so I looked around to see if there were any chapels that used a similar style to the Wills wall/window pieces. My concern was that these windows wouldn't have the pointed arch that I associate with churches, but a quick trawl of Google soon threw plenty of chapels and churches that had round-topped windows much like the Wills ones, both in single and double storey varieties. I also spotted that there are often smaller windows above the door, for which the Ratio industrial windows would be just the ticket. Other than that, it's largely imaginary; I don't know whether it's Wesleyan or Methodist or what have you. I do know that it won't be a Jewsons! Paint to follow, it'll probably be red brick and stone trim although part of me likes the idea of painting the bricks white or cream and then offsetting this with red trim.

I'm smitten. It's been happily trundling around all evening with a short freight while I work on a 4mm building project. It's made me keen to get the rest of my small steam fleet converted to DCC.

Bachmann's latest N scale steamer is the Baldwin 4-6-0; I got hold of one today. Total cost, including shipping from the USA, was 101 dollars - not bad for a brand new model with DCC onboard as standard. The ten wheeler seems to have had a bit of a mixed reception from US modellers; the general view seems to be that it runs very well, pulls satisfactorily, but is let down by Bachmann fitting a big tender in order to fit the standard decoder inside. Some batches also have the bogie assembled upside down, meaning that it derails. On the plus side, the assembly fault is a simple screwdriver repair job, and some modellers have already successfully fitted smaller tenders without sacrificing DCC. I put mine on the track and let it roll. It ran very well on DCC, and didn't derail - close inspection suggests that the bogie is assembled correctly. It's virtually silent on my plain track but the noise level increases a little on the ballasted areas - it's still nice and quiet though. There's a trace of click from the valve gear (I'd guess) but nothing that seems to affect the very smooth and steady movement. Another big thumbs up is that it's a good hauler. My first impression on lifting it out of the box was that it's nice and heavy in comparison with Bachmann's Consolidation, and the Consolidation pulls pretty well anyway. A good omen. I've since tested it on an 8 car train and it copes easily with the layout's 2% up and down grades. It can definitely pull more, but this is a small loco and well suited to short peddler freights. All in all a cracking little model, and perhaps because of lack of familiarity with the prototype, I'm not too offended by the tender. It's a controversial step, but personally I think DCC as standard makes perfect sense for American steam, especially as the model is already competitively priced. Oh, and it's got decent couplers on it - a big step up from previous Bachmann steam. It's great to be able to take it out of the box and put it into immediate service, instead of faffing around with Micro-Trains conversion kits.

It's looking fantastic, Marc - good to see this coming together as I know how long you have been thinking about it!

As a young reader of RM and the other mags, it wasn't so much the brilliant layouts that inspired me as the ones that seemed within range of my abilities, even if I didn't have the time, space or money to realise them. For instance, there was no doubt when I saw the pics of Barry Norman's Windlesham Cove that this was an amazing model, truly realistic and convincing. But, I couldn't see how I could ever attain that level of skill, so it might as well have been a Rembrandt as far as I was concerned. On the other hand, I remember being constantly inspired by Linfield, the layout that was featured quite often in Model Trains magazine, with updates showing the changes and improvements made by the builder. It was built in a room that was not massively bigger than my garden shed layout, so I could relate to it and draw inspiration from the track plan and the arrangement of sidings and so on. It wasn't finescale - from recollection, the track wasn't even ballasted to begin with - but it looked realistic to my impressionable eyes. I was also impressed by Hebden Junction (I think I've got the name right) - a big BR-era junction station with an LNWR/MR theme that featured in the Model Railway Constructor Annual in 1981, and much later in Railway Modeller. I've only seen those two articles, but the layout has always struck a chord with me because of its grimy look and impressive through station. Again, not finescale, but convincing all the same. Beyond that, I'm not sure, but it might be Westford, which is still on the exhibition circuit and always impresses with its depiction of a busy main line terminus.

Two SD24s rumble through Paynesville, GA on the head of a lengthy freight: