Steve K

Funnily enough, I thought of 10800, too, when I saw that. I'm sure I've seen an article somewhere about converting the Alco RS2 into a passable version of that loco (possibly it was on the British HO site?). As long as it's the version where the cab and bonnets are separate mouldings, I think it could be attempted. And in fairness, the lot is descibed as a loco in British Railways livery, not a BR loco as such!

*** cough *** West, maybe? Don't worry, I still wouldn't have got it in time!

So what's he saying? That it's actually a 1930s model, and it cost £45 new? If so, that "Buy It Now" price is a steal - I'd snap it up, 'cos the model is probably worth thousands by now, seeing as it's presumably made from solid gold.

At least one of those pig-ug characterful locos is already available, albeit in HO form: http://www.pb-messingmodelbouw.com/nl/schaal-ho/bouwkits/motorstellen/90023-0-diesellocomotief-type-230-later-231-1 Not quite as ugly as a Fell, I admit, but getting there. I want one!

Yes - so much easier to buy this for £30 online, rather than pick one up for a fiver at your local swap-meet... No, I shouldn't think so - unless you stood it next to an OO model - or an HO one! I've had a couple of these (badged Playcraft, but it's the same as the Jouef one, I'm sure), and the most complimentary word to describe them is probably "sturdy", for which you may read "a bit wide"!

Well spotted. My clue, such as it was, about the car park being worth remembering, referred to the fact that it's the car park for the National Memorial Arboretum, which is well worth a visit.

Perhaps, after a week, we might be permitted another clue? I love trying to guess these, even though I never get there first, so I'm keen to find out where this is, and see the next offering, too!

Right, I've got one. It's hard to find one with some clues, but not too many. I think it's fair to say that there used to be a station at the level crossing, and that the car park might be worth remembering...

I hope not, because this one's just flown away! http://www.streetmap...96045&A=Y&Z=120 It's just south of Ravenglass, on the Esk estuary. The "healthy glow" reference, as I suspected, referred to a nuclear facility, and sure enough, this (now deceased!) duck is just a quack away from Sellafield. Now, just give me a moment to find a new square to post. First, I need to get over the shock of getting one right!

That was my point, really, the one I wanted to make in my last post. International football just isn't as forgiving as the domestic season when it comes to players having off games, or missing them entirely. If a player is sent off in the Prem, he potentially misses the next 3 games, but still has another 30+ league games (plus cups etc) to come good. In a competition like Euro 2012, any player who misses 3 games has missed half the tournament, as might be the case with Wayne Rooney after this week's incident. What I was driving at is that Capello's first task is to get England out of the group stages and into the knockout, and he might consider it risky to take along a player who, for all his potential brilliance, cannot take any part in the early stages. So yes, although I didn't set out to rile Man Utd fans (but, of course, we're all hyper-sensitive when it comes to criticism of "our" club's players), I'm saying yes, let the passionate loose-cannon types get stuck in during the domestic season, where their talent will shine through, but an international manager has a somewhat trickier path to tread - as we know, any loss for the national team is scrutinised to an extent that would never happen in domestic football, and one bad result can end a team's participation in a big event.

So glad I only listened to the radio, and didn't take the trouble to watch England's match last night. Sounds as if it was the usual bilge of a performance, albeit after a decent start. So Wayne Rooney has now equalled David Beckham's unenviable record. May I just predict that, if he's ever lucky enough to be picked for England*, Rooney will be the first man to be sent off 3 times in an England shirt? Frankly, if Capello had anything like the balls we once thought he had, he'd not bother to take Wayne to the 2012 competition at all. He's banned from at least the first match already, and he's proving a liability whenever a cool head is needed. Fantastic player, yes, but maybe he should be restricted to club play from now on, so he doesn't dash the hopes of an entire nation on a regular basis. *Oh yes, and in the "lucky to ever be picked again" camp, I'd put 75% of the pathetic mob who travelled to South Africa last year as part of the squad.

I only spotted this great thread a few days ago, but as it happens, back in June I recently visited Manchester for the first time in decades, and spent some time in the Castlefields area. I'd never even heard of Castlefields before, but was fascinated by the sheer amount of wonderful railway architecture in such a small area. To say that your work is doing it justice is a huge understatement. For the benefit of anyone who's not been to the area, I hope you won't mind if, by way of tribute to your work, I post some snaps of the Castlefields viaducts taken on my mobile phone on my recent visit. Many thanks again for the pleasure this thread has given me so far!

To those who have shown an interest in the Midands thead I started, the following site will, I hope, fascinate you as much as it has me: http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/ Occasionally, this site seems to divert to another page, but persist - it's worth a look!

Quite so, and may I be the first to add that, much to my surprise, I really enjoyed their version of "Under Pressure". Of course, this may be because, firstly, I like the Queen/Bowie original anyway, and secondly, I suspect that their voices were tweaked somewhat to make the resulting sound a bit more palatable. Either way, it was fun music at its best!

Fantastic bridge. Your work has really brought out the fine details - it's a miniature work of art!

What a strange site, but what I can read of it seems to confirm that this is, indeed, the answer. I've never heard of them...

Robert, was the band's name 2 words of 7 letters each, or 7 letters altogether? My Googling has turned up nothing as yet, but I'll have another go later! It's a strange story about the flag-stamping - we're not really as precious about that sort of thing in the UK as they would be in the US, for instance. We'd probably say "tut tut" and shake our heads, but I can't see it causing a riot...

"False alarm, Captain - it wasn't a Jedi in the anorak, it was just Jed..." (anyone not from the Midlands is welcome to say "eh?" to that)

Maybe he was going away for a couple of weeks - even to hospital? As folks have said, illness or worse does sound a distinct possibility in a seller who's gone from 100% to not delivering anything, all in a short space of time. Perhaps we shouldn't be quite so triumphant about his removal from Ebay - there, but for the grace of God...

It's reassuring to see my lot (Chelsea) near the top of the table, despite playing average at best - by their standards, anyhow. Still, it was annoying to watch the highlights last night and see Ramires' tumble for the penalty. Yes, it probably was a foul - ust about - but boy did he take off and make the most of it. If I had any say in things, I'd get the Norwich goalkeeper's red card rescinded, and pass it on the diving attacker instead, but unfortunately, you get the likes of Alan Shearer on MOTD who will never criticise a striker for taking a tumble - they always see the foul. Don't get me wrong - I know that strikers from all teams do the same, and in fact there's been a rash of diving already this season from just about every team. I'm just pointing out an incident from my own side so that no-one can accuse me of bias too early in the season! And anyway, the fact that everyone does it does not make it right - it makes it worse, in fact, and this sort of crap needs to be stamped on, quickly. Wishful thinking, though, I'm afraid... That said, I'd say that Chelsea edged the game, just about, although Norwich are looking a pretty strong side for a newly-promoted team. The only side looking desperately poor at the moment are Blackburn, but even then, a lot of that seems to be down to bad luck, both with injuries and incidents on the pitch. Will they even have 11 fit players for the next match, let alone a full complement of substitutes?

Thanks for that, Gordon - the first link confirms what I remembered reading about the film, that it wasn't actually a Ferrari, but rather something a bit more mundane, and the second demonstrates clearly how a low camera POV can make fairly rapid speeds seem an awful lot quicker. Still an absorbing piece of filming, though!

I'll certainly add another recommendation for Mark Billingham - if you like Rebus, then Billingham's Thorne will be just the job. Also mentioned on this site before are Edward Marston's Railway Detective series. Definitely verging towards the "cosy crime" genre, but a good, pretty easy read with some interesting characters and locales. I've also read and enjoyed a few of Val Mc Dermid's books - think of her as a British Patricia Cornwell (and I only say that because PC is probably better-known, worldwide), and you'll know what you're getting.

Is that a cycle track outside the running track?

... although, of course, Schumacher still has the red helmet. And a light-coloured overall. I'd also definitely say it was him on the left.