Neil

I believe that they are indeed one and the same. He goes by the name of 'trains 12' here.

Don't we all? In no way do I want to decry your first hand experience John but I'd guess we all have some 'not proud of ourselves' moments in the past; I certainly have a few. There was an interesting piece in one of the colour supplements a few months ago about change. The short version is that generally we tend to view where we are at the present as being where we want to be and become resistant to change, yet fail to realise the huge changes in our lives that brought us to this point. It argued for embracing those aspects of change that would be positive, rather than trying to anchor one's life to a particular place, time, attitudes, beliefs, and not budge.

I thought that the layout has great charm, all the more so because of the motivation behind its construction. Impressed by Eddie Izzard's reaction too.

Good morning, and it is a good morning here in mid Wales. The sun is shining, my modelmaking mojo has returned with a vengence and the site of my extracted tooth has stopped hurting after my visit to the dentist on Monday for remedial attention. I mention this because I've heard of others who battle on with pain after an extraction which could be treated with a follow up visit or two to the dentist. The pain will (usually) be caused by a condition called 'dry socket' (google it) which can be treated. Both my last two extractions ended up this way and both times the dentist was able to treat it. This last time took two visits, but it's now on the mend. Reading yesterdays Guardian at breakfast this piece in the Guardian by Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament) caught my eye. As a disappointed remain voter I found it cheering that we still have those within the EU advocating a fair and friendly approach to negotiating our exit. Joy is however tempered by disappointment at not being a part of the reset EU he advocates. Interesting times.

I'm a little perplexed by some of the views expressed here. It would seem that some have a desire for accuracy not matched by their desire to do some remedial work on a model to achieve it. It rather smacks of the person who would like to be able to play the piano but is unwilling to put in any practice. At a modest ten and a half quid I'd suggest that if you want an LNER cattle wagon you buy it, see if you can live with its faults and if not have a stab at correcting them. Even if it all goes horribly wrong you will have lost comparatively little. However you may succeed and even if you only get part way there you will have gained some practice and insights into model-making.

Not an expert but is it perhaps "take that one", "take those two", "take them all". I'm afraid that I paid little attention during English lessons at school, failed the exam, sat it again at twenty three and passed. Twenty three is a long time ago and I can't remember what rules of grammar we were taught.

My observation would be that this would mean that change would never occur. To apply to recent events (sorry but it's a particularly suitable example) the UKIP, far right Tory and disaffected Labour activists should have accepted the democratic wish of the previous generation and not campaigned to leave the EU. Status Quo rules. However if you accept the above is too restrictive and that groups can campaign to change things then one would also have to accept that things which are changed can't and should not be shielded from further change. Sauces for both goose and gander. Good night all.

Good morning from sunny mid-Wales. Had a go at the real thing; passed with some margin for safety. However three things struck me: 1/ Really how relevant/desirable is a test of 'Britishness' particularly one based on knowledge of facts rather than one which gives an insight into character and personality. Would I like to live next door to pub quiz bore or good Samaritan? 2/ I could imagine there would be a good number of British born and bred citizens who would fail the test; I'm pretty sure my parents would pass, I suspect my children might not. 3/ In the light of the recent rise in racist incidents one could be forgiven for thinking that any answer for the last question would be appropriate.

Good evening. Tooth update, dry socket (google it) following extraction so back to the dentist. Half an hour after phoning for an emergency appointment a previously sound filling fell out too. All now sorted and quite frankly small beer compared to what some have to put up with/suffer from. On Saturday I headed the thirteen or so mile to Tywyn to see the Fletcher Jennings get together. The journey there reminded me of the existence of a third species of motoring cockwomble; we've had the fast and the slow, on Saturday I followed the mono-speed cockwomble. From Abergynolwyn through Dolgoch and to Bryncrug it's possible to make good speed on what are narrow and twisty roads. I ended up following a silver grey car at a slow and steady 35-40mph. Fair enough, if you don't know the road and you're not used to diving on something that narrow it makes sense to err on the cautious side. I'm quite happy to follow at a reduced pace, however what irks is that 35-40mph continued through the 30mph restriction at Bryncrug, the car in front pulling away as I braked on entering the village. Living in the country I see it happening regularly, open road and village being driven through at the same pace. Sorry for the rant, must be the residual grief from my gob.

Good afternoon. This morning I came back from the dentist with one less tooth than I arrived with. After the usual pleasantries Glenys asked if I would be watching the football tonight before saying that rugby was more 'her game' as she used to play it when younger. Good training I thought as I lay back in the chair, gob open and tooth putting up a bit of a struggle. Thank you Robert; I found it very cheering.

Good evening, back from shopping in Aberystwyth. An unusual sight in Morrisons car park an early Allegro in baby poo brown. Must be thye week for old cars and shopping as coming out of the Machynlleth Coop car park on Monday evening was a yellow Ford Capri. I've also been thinking about motoring cockwombles. If I understand correctly (and there's every chance I may not) there are two sorts. Captain Kernow has identified the slow moving cockwomble whereas a couple of hundered miles further north Judge Dreadful notes the over fast tailgating variety of the species. This leads me to wonder that if the two gentlemen were to be driving along the same stretch of the road would they be each others cockwomble?

Good morning. I've just had an e-mail from my least politically minded friend sharing ideas about what could be done regarding the current situation. It seems that a once disengaged nation is engaged up to the eyeballs now. This morning I'll be attacking my stock of plasticard in order to progress the next master for casting (009 steeple cab electric), I had made a dreadful blunder early last week, but managed to rescue what I'd done by sticking on some extra bits. Good stuff plastic, most amenable to filler.

Well they have for a bit. I'd like to state my thanks to Andy for recognising the exceptional circumstances we find ourselves in and responding with pragmatism and empathy. I'm pretty sure that his workload (even if it's just been limited to closely monitoring what's said) will have increased. As a disheartened remain voter I've found it invaluable to know that I'm not alone in my feelings. I'm also thankful to those participants on both sides of the debate for their moderation which has allowed the discussion to take place.

Good morning all. I'm worried that I may have woken up in a similar (but not quite the same) parallel universe; I'm sure a whole thread has disappeared overnight. Mind you I'm relying more and more on shopping lists these days so it could just be my memory. Yesterday was a good day and did much to lift the gloom which had settled here since early Friday morning. Some of you will know that I spend most Tuesdays on the Corris Railway. Most of my time there is spent carriage building, number 22 being finished last year, number 23 under construction at the moment. As a thank you to those involved the railway laid on an afternoon of events just for the carriage builders, with steam trains up and down the line, photo stops and a couple of gravity trains for the full white knuckle experience. All good fun but the best bit came later on when I got to drive the lines new O&K diesel up the line. The whole day was topped off by a rather agreeable meal for the group at The Riverside in Penal.

Apparently we will now be able to export "irony" to the States at advantageous rates and free from the previous red tape surrounding jocular comments and witticisms. By not having to comply with EU legislation and standards it should be possible to finely tailor withering put downs and sarky comments to US sensibilities. Economic pundits expect the pound to rally against foreign currencies once the export of humour is in full flow.

That might have been me. I remember your worries re. access to healthcare from a previous post a month or two back. Though anecdotal evidence doesn't have the weight of numbers I find that the personal helps flesh out the wider repercussions of something which might otherwise be a bit abstract. A further exercise in logic would be to examine the rights and wrongs of leaving Europe based on the stated preference of 37% of those entitled to vote.

The silver lining. Afraid it's all a bit gloomy here in mid Wales, for once the rain is irrelevant. However heartened to see that my fellow residents in Gwynedd are blessed with the common sense that was lacking elsewhere in the UK. On a personal level we have a trip to Belgium planned for this autumn, wonder what the exchange rate for euros will end up at once/if any volatility in the financial markets settle. Also wondering if I'll have to look down the back of the sofa some more for the Dodo I have on order from Hattons. Of course this is trivial stuff, my thoughts are with those who stand to be properly affected by yesterdays vote.

Just to clarify matters, SLW already produce the 24/1, all 24s from D5050 are 24/1s the difference between them and the 24/0 are fuel and water tank capacity. I suspect that most of the posts expressing a wish for a 24/1 mean one fitted with the roof mounted headcode box, which are part, but only part of the 24/1 sub class.

In some ways EM could be seen as the compromise, a pragmatic half way house between the quick and easy OO and the more demanding but greater fidelity of P4. However there's a better argument that whatever standard we choose comes with compromise, that we should accept this and plump for whatever one best fits our needs at the time. In my case OO is the standard adopted by my neighbourhood friends, it's therefore a more sociable choice and I'm looking forward to using bomb proof Peco track which will take far less time to construct and lay. It also means I'll be saved the faff of converting stock to run on a different gauge, not a huge problem with some stuff but an absolute with others. Bit of a no brainer really. I've also been developing the theory that track gauge/standards are immaterial to the overall attractiveness of a layout. To illustrate this argument I'll submit my most recent layout Little Point, built to 009 standards which commonly represents narrow gauges from about 18" to 3'.

Morfa Mk 2 probably won't happen. At the moment I'm still in limbo with the family seat still on the market. When moved I should be able to sharpen my thoughts about Morfa's successor. All I have worked out for now is that it will be in OO rather than EM and probably will not be another Cambrian themed layout.

Thank you all for the kind comments and dust busting suggestions. To answer the last couple of questions, Shell Island is lit by three 12v spotlights (halogen I think) and while not ideal they're a reasonable compromise at giving the look of a warm sunny day. Operation is a two loco affair, BR power propels the train in from an assumed junction with the Cambrian Coast Line, industrial shunters scuttle around exchanging wagons from the explosives stores and RAE Llanbedr. The goods shed on the kick back rarely sees use.

Though the big picture (the referendum, the result and the repercussions) is of greater concern to me, I also worry about sixty odd pages of picking over Hornby's finances. Though perhaps peripheral to Hornby's profitability I can't imagine that it helps Hornby maintain or build commercial confidence in its business. I imagine that the current level of uncertainty isn't what any UK business would want, and while not wanting censorship I'd not want to undermine Hornby's position, especially as they have the added complexity of running several major continental European brands.