Flying Pig

The constant is more likely to be the distance between the boiler centreline and the foundation ring at the firebox end. There's more scope for variation between smokebox and cylinders - compare LMS standard 2P and 4F which I believe share a boiler. Moving the boiler and firebox up and down is going to alter the position of the grate and hence the firehole, though. Was the height of the footplate adjusted pro rata, or did the fireman just have to cope?

It's a pretty engine but access to the motion seems very restricted. Could the boiler be pitched a little higher? Might need a less outsize dome in the process.

Barad-dûr - I always knew it was in London.

The word dates from the late Middle English period at least, as a two word phrase 'clere storey' and would originally have been pronounced something like 'clairr-e storey'. On it's own, the word 'clere' evolved to have the modern pronunciation 'clear', but it is possible that didn't happen here. If the phrase had already merged into a word pronounced like 'clerr-e-story' before the vowel in 'clere' began to change then maybe it went its own way, A modern descendent 'cleristry' in a community where the word has been in continuous usage until today seems at least possible. So on that basis 'cle-res-tory' and 'clear-story' must surely both be modern re-analyses of the written word by people unfamiliar with it, in the manner of 'Where is the aleebi?'.

I think Compact Minories with a single slip on the arrival route is shorter (2 points plus the slip) and cheaper (just needs the slip and 3 points). On the downside it has slightly fewer parallel moves than yours and more reverse curves. Probably discussed in more detail on the General Minories thread if you have the time to search.

See the first minute of Shunter Black's Night Off. Note the use of the brake stick.

Something...something... EFE Bloater.

That reminds me of the very early days of RMweb, when weathering Bachmann rats was a popular sport and a ?coolant overflow as seen here was de rigueur. Will the new Bachmann models lead to a resurgence?

1922 map, showing Newburn still in existence: https://maps.nls.uk/view/106026616#zoom=5&lat=8871&lon=10328&layers=BT 1947 map. The house is gone and the sidings have been extended over its former location, apparently under cover: https://maps.nls.uk/view/106026619#zoom=5&lat=8931&lon=10577&layers=BT

Nope, you've lost me there. What is this concept you are trying to describe?

Except, perhaps, unnecessary.

I was once part of a very rapidly aborted scheme to build a layout in a cellar that had a floor with a profile like the Alps. That wasn't the reason we gave up, though: several sessions of scrubbing the walls that just generated more and more brick dust suggested it wasn't an ideal location for a layout.

I thought Sam's second review gave useful insight into the headlamps, particularly how easy they are to change. One of his blanking lamp irons wouldn't come out at all; one came out easily; the bottom centre lamp came out, but residual glue prevented it or a blanking piece being fitted (cleaning up by the buyer would no doubt fix this easily); the smokebox lamp came out but the blanking lamp iron does not fully block the light feed; one of the additional lamps supplied was incomplete and couldn't be attached. Not a fully developed system, I feel.

The recent Bachmann model shows what a 37 would typically look like in the later 1970s. The 'domino' headcode places it from 1976 onwards when headcode indicators went out of use. https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/82781/35-303-Bachmann-Class-37-0-Centre-Headcode-37305-BR-Blue And here is the brdatabase entry for it, which shows it may have based at Landore: https://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&type=D&id=6605&loco=6605

I confidently expect that the motion on Eric Treacy will be the usual bright nickel silver plating. It doesn't represent steel that well, but it will be no worse on this model than on any of the previous ones.

Yes, of course. Just as mineral working on the steam age railway was shaped by outside factors. My point in this instance was that long trains and large locos are not per se impossible within the confines of Britain.

Model the fiddle yard as the inner end of a set of exchange sidings and you have the full branch, with the added bonus of shunting at both ends.

As others have pointed out, it's more nuanced than that. Block trains of high capacity wagons hauled by 3000+hp locos have become the norm in recent decades and Britain hasn't grown in the meantime. What has changed utterly is the traffic and the operations and infrastructure that support it.

Ah, sorry. If you look at the main Black Five thread there are recent photos which show it in this livery with polished smokebox hinges and motion, so I guess the answer is still yes - the model depicts the current condition.

The loco was named in preservation, so yes.

Seems to be correct according to @zr2498's photos above as this is of course a model of the loco in preserved condition. Rods and smokebox door will probably look like 5200 on the actual model.

The 'For Sale' video popped up on my Youtube feed this morning for some reason. I hadn't been paying attention to this thread and it's always a bit of an 'oh no' moment when a layout you like is put up for sale. Glad to hear it had a good outcome.

Compared to the Hornby system (below) that steam generator seems quite a bit more convincing. For a start, the exhaust emerges at a higher speed which results in a realistic transition from a laminar column to a turbulent cloud just above the chimney top (all to do with Reynolds numbers I think). Also the cloud stays aloft longer whereas the Hornby one looks like a portable rain shower - finer droplets from the TRS unit?

Quite a number of people have used the Electrotren chassis which as you day can look very good indeed. I'd completely forgotten about this item. The working signal impressed me at the time: I guess it was a very simple mechanical linkage, but it still looks like fun.

I get rather tired of the Waah! that Flying Scotsman attracts. It's the only A3 that made it into preservation and without it we'd have none of Gresley's original Pacifics (insert arguments about it's not an A1 here).