Barry Ten

The last thing I'd notice in that shot is the track gauge (the track just looks "right") but I'm immediately drawn to the over-thick sides on that coach. Not a criticism at all, just an observation that there's a lot more to railway modelling than a few mms here and there in the trackwork, and I wish the great 00/EM/P4 debate could be buried once and for all.

It's a wonderful layout and it was very nice to have a quick hello. @wenlock and I very much enjoyed the Warley experience although I think we may have wandered into the wrong hall at some point.

A short clip:

I've made a start on a very small 009 project inspired in equal parts by Portmeirion and the TV series The Prisoner, filmed on location in the late 60s. Discounting a childhood visit to Portmeirion in the 70s, the roots of this project go back about 20 years to a visit to the Dutch narrow gauge museum in Valkenberg (near where we used to live) and an exhibition weekend where there were layouts and a selection of second hand items. I came away with a Hampton waterworks 0-4-2 and a couple of bogie carriages, the latter a bit worse for wear. I did nothing with either the loco or the coaches for about 15 years until I gave them all a service and repaint, as well as repairing various damaged bits. Next, I acquired a Peco set track starter pack, a couple of additional points and straights, and laid out an oval on a sheet of foam board. I settled on Portmeirion as the theme because I thought it hadn't been done before, could be recognisable, and lent itself to a small, whimsical representation. The idea is that there's a tourist train running from just outside the village in the wooded approach, down almost to the sea- front. For inspiration, one can rewatch The Prisoner: There are also many images and angles on the web. Wanting a bit more background, though, I picked up this very jolly walking guide which offers some insight into the various filming locations as well as useful close-up shots of architectural details. The idea is to scratchbuild and/or adapt from kits the majority of the buildings on the layout's small footprint, but they'll be "essence of Portmeirion" rather than close likenesses. Provided I emphasise the Italianate touches and the typical colours, I hope that it'll say Portmeirion, or suggest another village built to similar principles. Obviously the layout is very much a train set rather than anything offering sophisticated operation, but three trains can be run, backing them in and out of isolating sidings in turn. I tried putting a passing loop in but the small size made it a bit silly, so I just opted for the sidings. Despite the scary geometry of the dead frog points, everything runs fine, even the noisy Ibertren chassis under the original water works loco! Of course I haven't been able to resist a couple of Quarry Hunsletts and a Small England, beautiful models that they are. The official colours for the line are cream and dark blue for the coaches, and cream and mid blue for buildings. I'd like to paint the locos dark blue but I need a stiff drink first, the lining and decoration is so nice! Be seeing you!

You may already be aware of it, but there's a rather nice layout plan for Swansea Victoria in one of Iain Rice's books.

Perhaps they snip off the edge of the sheet before packing the model for markets where the Swastika can't be depicted?

On the subject of Swastikas, I understand the sensitivities around not including them in kits, but the approach on the Meng decals for the Mustang was a new one on me. To get the "kills" Swastikas on the side of the P51, one transfer had to be laid over another. In other words, the Swastikas were there on the decal sheet, just in two halves.

Aberdare - Cardiff, at least, which joins the Merthyr line at Abercynon, is still Sprinters. Someone working for TFW told me we might see electric trains after Christmas.

Richard Maunsell didn't have railway modellers uppermost in his mind when he designed his engines, but I don't think they look right without the front steps ... unfortunately they are often a pain if your layout has train-set curves. Hence a compromise, plastic steps fitted (Bachmann didn't provide any with their Lord Nelson) but allowed to adopt a mildly jaunty angle if necessary. Once painted, I still think they look somewhat better than no steps at all. I imagine it's possible to set up some kind of side-control on this type of bogie, but none of my efforts have been successful. As it is now, the LN manages the slightly tighter radii on my inner loop (seen just exiting the tightest section) and has room to breathe on the outer loop. I also managed to fit the front steps on Hornby's more recent LNs.

Not without dismantling it, which I've not been inclined to do just yet as it runs nicely. Does this look like your handiwork?

Here's another "not actually an LNER" U1: This is a DJH example built and painted to a very high standard. I didn't make it; it came from the same estate sale that also provided the Mike Edge G&SWR 4-6-0 I showed a while back. It runs well and has very neat tender pickups. It was a birthday present from my wife so I don't know how much it cost, but I consider myself lucky to have it. Somewhat different kettle of fish, but I'm in the process of repainting a Bachmann Lord Nelson from BR green into Southern malachite: This one was originally Sir Francis Drake, but I'm planning to rename/number it as Sir Richard Grenville, immortalised in the 1976 Al Stewart song "Lord Grenville"! Another Al

Thank you for the download, a very interesting and successful piece I felt. On the subject of period accuracy in films, I think you are right in that it is as much to do with what's expected as to what is strictly accurate. I think I recall that in the film Apollo 13, which is highly accurate in many respects, the computer displays in mission control were made to look slightly more up to date than would have been the case in 1970, because the typical audience member wouldn't have accepted the reality as it was, which would have been mostly just columns of numbers on tiny screens.

It's actually a bit shorter now (the layout, not Dave). Dave's adjusted the height down an inch or two to allow for folding legs on the main board.

Dave Stone (Wenlock) and I will be there with Dave's Sherton Abbas in 7mm. I'm sure Dave won't mind me posting a few of his pics. We did Manchester last year but this will be the furthest show so far. It really is a magnificent layout and I'm very lucky that I get a chance to play with it from time to time!

What are these people doing to their models? Tieing house bricks to them? Sitting on them?

I've been doing some DCC conversions of a couple of older Bachmann split chassis models, in this case a pair of Royal Scots. Although there are undoubtedly issues with the split chassis range, these particular ones had remained trouble-free and nice smooth runners for over 20 years so I thought it was worth the trouble of converting them. They are a bit of work to do as the entire chassis has to be stripped down, but provided one takes care with the insulation of the motor contacts, all should be well. With these, I ran the wires into the tenders and added a DCC plug so the decoders can be swapped in and out. The total cost is less than 20 for the decoder and socket, so well worth it in my view versus the cost of a new etched chassis, motor and wheels etc. Examination of both models did show splitting of the wheel muffs, but in neither case had it shown up in detrimental running. In both cases I reinforced the muffs using glue or a light touch from the soldering iron to weld the crack, so they should be good for another few years at least.

I've found the Continental "Epoch" system quite handy when finding my way in French railway modelling. As long as it's just taken as a rough guide, not hard and fast rules, I don't find it unhelpful.

I enjoyed this episode as well, top stuff. It really cleared up what a DMU is for me, as well.

A jolly good shop it is too - glad it's still in business.

I picked up a sound-fitted 15XX from Lord & Butler yesterday. Here's a clip of it running at slow speed across a variety of points and crossings, quite satisfactorily I would say. I'll keep an eye on the running over the next few weeks before committing to any weathering or coupling mods. (yes, I know it would have helped to turn the phone around...)

Surprising how far off the rails that middle wheel on the 9F is. Probably not that evident from normal layout angles, though.

Nothing very exciting here, just a bit of problem solving. This Fowler 4P has a Comet chassis that I made a few years ago. It ran fine under testing but exhibited a tendency to derail on Peco curved points when pulling a train. The problem was due to the end-throw on this long tank, where I'd mounted a Spratt & Winkle hoop directly to the body. It would either derail the leading vehicle, or ( more commonly) the leading vehicle would affect the loco, leading to the pony wheels touching the steps and lifting off. The solution was to fit the loop to the bogie, not the body: This removes the dynamic forces on the body and hence cures the derailments. Maybe not the most elegant solution but it does the job given that I've got to live with those Peco turnouts. Al

I should have been clearer, sorry - I meant that with the TT:120 stuff going mainstream, it makes (to me) the 1:100 stuff look even more appealing as something a bit different and needing more modelling "input".

That 3mm Jinty kit looks very enticing, Tony. Might I ask what gauge it's designed for? I've often looked at the 3mm Society and thought about giving something a go. If anything it seems like an even more attractive proposition now that the TT:120 stuff has appeared.

The Meng Mustang is just about finished.