Barry Ten

Make that nine, I can't count.

I loaded it up with eight coaches, mixture of Hornby and Bachmann, and it coped easily - could probably pull a few more, I think, but 6 or 7 is the limit for my storage loops.

Nick - I haven't tested the haulage thoroughly - at the moment it's got 4 Hawksworths and a parcels van on, but that's not its limit. I'll whack on a few more coaches tonight. It's quite heavily weighted so should be OK.

Gwrrob - it's the Lima bogie, yes. I filled it with lead, bodged a way to fit Gibson axles to it, and adjusted the mounting point so that it could be used with the Comet chassis. A small piece of bent brass strip provides some down-force to keep the bogie on the rails.

I used to have endless problems with bogies and pony trucks derailing on my old layout, but since I built the new one everything just seems to run without problems. It's either the transition to Code 75 being a bit more forgiving of finer wheel profiles or my track laying is a bit better, or some combination of the two. My curves are a lot gentler too which probably helps.

Thanks for the kind comments. There must be thousands of these Lima Kings still knocking about - I wonder how many still run? Mine used to be quite smooth and quiet on a good day, but after I got my trains out of storage after a decade or so in storage it would never run well.

CK - I've not put it on a drawing, but I don't think there's anything too amiss with the Lima body. All I did was hack off as much of the moulded detail as I could reasonably manage.

I'm going to have a look at two Hornby Kings soon, to see what can be done to tart them up a bit. I doubt that we'll get a top-spec plastic RTR King any time soon.

Good to see you, Martin!

Hi Mikkel - Thanks! The Wills sheets were shaped by gentle finger pressure, applied gradually. The thing about Wills sheets, I think, is that there have been two different types of plastics used. They used to use a very brittle plastic which not only wouldn't bend, but was very prone to shattering if one tried cutting it. The first batch of brick sheets I encountered were like this, and it was very disheartening stuff! Later I tried some more brick sheets and found that the plastic was much more conventional, capable of being cut without shattering and possible to bend with care. I even find it possible to cut with scissors.

That's my theory, anyway. Occasionally (as in this week) I encounter one of the brittle sheets (this time it was in the wood boarding sheet) but all the course stone I've used has been of the softer type.

Nice to see you too, Richard! I'm a particular fan of 56xx's too, especially the Bachmann model which I've a particular "thing" for - all the ones I have seem to run so well, and they're nice and chunky too.

Thanks all, I'm always glad when anyone says it looks a bit Valleys-ish.

Tim: the retaining wall is made of Wills course stone sheets. You can see where I attempted to disguise the join with some filler.

John: are you calling our valleys soft?

Bad Rabbit - well done for remembering those locos! I plan to keep it mostly BR this time, and not to bring too much stock - just what's been proven and tested on the layout, and (ideally) what's been fitted with sprat and winkles. I could run the A class, though, as it's a nice model.

Nick: I quite like the basic effect of the liner; it's the static grass that needs a tweak. I can't be ar*ed with anything that needs bleaching!

Hi Nick - I'm in two minds about the grass, TBH -it's something I may revisit. It is basically hanging basket liner, which I think is obvious in the grass at the rear, above the retaining wall, but the foreground stuff has then been treated to an additional layer of static grass. Although it looks OK it's not the effect I wanted, which I think is due to me not using the static grass applicator correctly.

Hi Bad Rabbit - yes, this'll be at the L&B show. It was there last year but in a much less finished condition. Of course I can't believe how fast the last 12 months have shot by as there's still more stuff to do than I can reasonably achieve in three weeks!

Quite typical of the valleys, Don - there's a Robertstown near me, a Griffithstown near Pontypool, an Evanstown near Bridgend ...

Those roof vents make a hell of a difference, Geoff - really lifts it. And yes, I can see what you mean about the carden shaft. Lovely model, on an equally lovely and inspirational layout...

Geoff - excellent points! I have some roof vents in the scrap box, so that will go on the to-do pile. And I had no idea that the cardan shafts were removed, so I will take a look at that as well.

Here's the thread where it was mentioned that laser-cut glazing might be on the way:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/34325-shawplan-laserglaze-for-lima-mark-2-ef/

Obviously "in development" could mean a wait before they appear.

The weird thing about Z now is that when I look at it, it doesn't seem as tiny as it used to be. Must be a combination of day to day experience with N, coupled with the knowledge that T gauge is really tiny. I fancy a dabble in Z myself one day.

I was there on the sunday as well, but haven't had a good look at my snaps yet. It was certainly atmospheric, with the steam swirling around on a damp day.

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

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 have just come to this after a general Google search on S&W delayed action - I couldn't visualise how it would work. Many thanks for such a useful summary, Mikkel.

Hi Chaps - yes it is the camera causing that distortion, thankfully

One of the unanticipated problems with building Shillingstone at eye-level is photography, in that my biggest tripod still doesn't get me high enough. For some of the shots I've put the tripod on my Workmate but that's a bit precarious and it's a pain having to move the Workmate around or clear stuff off it just for a snap or two.

Mikkel: I think you're right; I'd be in danger of drawing more attention to the backscene than I want. There might be room for a kind of low-relief tree, but I'm not sure how it would work in terms of shadows falling onto the backscene; I'd need to experiment first before committing to anything. For now I think I'll leave well alone.

I've done 3 - 4 for the last few years and even that's beginning to seem like too much! As a one-man operation it is very tiring, but aside from the exhibition there's also a week or two of mucking about with the layout beforehand (fixing stuff broke last time, making little improvements, tweaking stock and running etc). I think one or two a year from now on, preferably local, and aiming for the more relaxed type of show where no one's going to object if you nip off for a few minutes to grab a coffee.

Cheers, all - it's a fun little project. Mark: yes, it does retain the traction tyres, for now. I may look at swapping out that wheelset from a spare chassis, using (as you say) the auto-coach for pickup, or (rather more likely) just live with it. The main thing is that the pickup arrangement is much better than the old chassis.