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Peckett "Flying Bufferbeam"...

I'm not sure if it would fit, but a P2k GP7/9/18/20 would make sense, it'd get round the cracked gears problem and a lack of space inside due to the size of the chassis block of the original.

I'll have it...

I did wonder what to do with a Lion, should I get one-apart from to run on a Woodhead route layout. Then I had the idea of Titfield Thunderbolt in a 1980s dystopia, with Lion hauling a mouldy caravan on a Lowmac with a burnt out Shark behind... ESU, isn't it? 50 quid for a sound decoder that I could put in a broad gauge loco (another layout pipedream) seems like a bargain.

Perhaps they are looking for an outlet to sell all of the Model Power cabooses they have in stock...

I did offer to help a friend unload and set up, due to my last minute availability and ability to get there on public transport. "Too late, I'm afraid, names have already been submitted". Not sure how fixed in stone this is but it just seems like another hurdle of unnecessary administration that saps the fun out of volunteering to do anything for that venue.

The X1 Bus route (Coventry-NEC-Birmingham) has also gone fully electric.

All of those Chinese HO coal hoppers invariably come up when I do a search, although I think they might have actually sold some since the last time I did a broad look at their stock levels. Still plenty of Chinese coaches tho and the contents of what must have been a Model Power dealer's back room that will never sell.

Agreed. The surge caused by an uncoupler will dim the lighting. You might be able to do it with a single transformer with two separate 12v windings, but it'll be easier and cheaper just to use wall warts and carry a spare.

Fortunately I didn't manage to register in time, but am watching it live. I wouldn't have won any brass locos with cheeky low bids tho, although the multiple freight car auctions did seem to go for bargain prices despite their mixed content.

After they've paid the 24% hammer price and eBay's fees (14%?), they'd probably need such a big markup to cover their other costs. I have noticed that some dealers who mop up US collections are smart enough to drip the expensive items slowly back onto the market. Also, without using the "nothing for me" comment that usually follows every RTR announcement, a lot of the brass items are of the "if you've ever wanted one then you'd probably have it already", and the general downsizing of US modelling in the UK in both size and quantity means there probably aren't the numbers willing to scrap it out over something that they know will never be available as RTR.

The afterburner test?

Or Hornby Railroad... Don't forget that Craftsman detailing packs used to be at the upper elechon of detailing when quantity often trumped quality, even if variety didn't. But was the time spent on this or kitbuilding really cost effective...? There are still plenty of other skills to master within the hobby but you could assume with the obvious time saving from just running RTR would lead to a higher standard of layout, but to be honest I don't think it has as much as it should.

At a distance you are more likely to see the blurry lettering rather than the lack of separate grabs- when I had to quickly finish six Accurail 36' boxcars I left the moulded grabs in place because it would have taken a lot longer to complete and not been as uniform as just repainting them and adding my own custom printed decals. And when I tried to print handrails on place on Interurban cars I had to then change them to holes to add brass wire, but what I should have done to save more time would have been to follow Hornby 's lamented "Design clever" standards and just make them more substantial and webbed into the body as you really can't tell at exhibition viewing distances. Every now and then a model is released that quickly seems to end up on all possible layouts- the Bachmann 08 did 20 years ago and more recently it's releases from the same manufacturer seemingly on every 009 layout and I often wonder what layout owners did or how they managed before.

@OliverSR I'd also be interested in this for my own Chiltern Court layout, should it become available as a kit or as a file.

Anyway rant over and I'll post this link to a video I've just found from Stafford...

Nottingham show retrospective! First of all thanks to @Talltim and Colin for help operating- (both having never seen the layout before, it was good to see the ways those Guys operated it and the new moves to do), and @doctor quinn for help setting up the loan of the operating stool (I suppose we didn't really need two). One of the most surreal exhibition experiences occured when someone took it from next to the layout, turned it round, then sat on it with their Grandchild to watch the layout next to us. I have a dislike of warning signs on layouts as they shouldn't be necessary but "Please don't rob my seat and use my fiddle yard as an armrest whilst watching someone else's layout" might be necessary in the future... The layout performed reasonably well once I'd manage to level the fiddle yard properly, it'll definitely get the means to adjust the height of the centre roller from underneath as per Tim's suggestion. I did think there was an issue with the yard and stock falling over but this was traced to operators of another layout knocking it. I was also wondering why the powered Interurban car was slowing, accelerating and slowing into the ABC sections, it turns out one of the original Bachmann Underground Ernie pickup wire connections was broken on the 8-pin board and had spent half the show just running with pickups on two wheels. I still think there is a fundamental problem with the Hershey not being recognisable enough as the Hershey, despite the new display boards. I even had to field questions about the gauge specific society next door so am thinking of starting my own banner for "HO- the most popular scale in the world and definitely better than all those others where the gauge isn't accurate..." Anyway, I didn't take too many photos, but this is the new end complete with matching curtains and 28 with a train from the yard.

That is a 57' long car, I haven't got the book handy to check at the moment but it is probably a R-70-18 and a recent repaint into UPFE with white lettering. I did question myself whether the OP's was a 50 or 57 mech but Athearn's 50' car was the only one with high ladders. Early 57' Reefers were built with them but not available commercially until the Red Caboose R-70-16.

The US Boxcars were on the Nottingham club's sales stand, I believe @davep101 was the seller but not sure if he is still active on here or how many sold. They looked to be a mix of Intermountain and earlier wood kits, and mostly North western roads (NP, SP&S).

Hope you can make it, it looks like another excellent show.

Annoyingly the cross brace on the legs has got in the way of the point motor, so I've taken the quick but ugly option and notched it out so the leg can fully fold....

A few of the jobs that were on the list to do for the Nottingham show this weekend. The extra curtain has been made by my Sister in Law and I've just about decided how to finish wiring the new fiddle yard. This Gondola was rescued from the Derby Convention and has been re-lettered for the Hershey and will do as a place holder until I print the side door type I've been working on. The blue tarp is actually green and cut from a disposable glove, and is the wrapped up weight that it desperately needs. A few details for the town area, although seeing photos on a Nostalgic Cuba Fb page has prompted me to try to make more of the signs that were relevant to the era. Finally the Steeplecabs have been cleaned and lubricated after the most used loco and the Interurban car developed a growling noise that seems to be amplified when the bodies are fitted. The AT&SF 44 tonner also came from the convention but hasn't had to give up it's latest type of chassis to a Steeplecab yet.

This was my entry into the topical Halloween pumpkin carving competition, also the first time I've tried airbrushed cotton wool over LED strip as seen in plenty of action dioramas on Fb. Another had turkey teeth, cut from a double sheet plasticard as mirrored pairs. ( I later removed the temporary writing to denote the pairs of teeth...)

Visitors to the NMRA convention in Derby on Saturday would have seen this small O scale layout called Little Calumet. Unfortunately I didn't take the right photos to do it justice but with a nice gilded frame it'd be talked about in the same way as one of those obscure continental layouts that go to Warley. Being in a darkened room showed off the glow from the grain of wheat bulbs. It is part of a larger loft layout that is wired for vintage three rail, the centre rail can be seen buried in the street but due to the sharp end boards needed at shows it runs with an Atlas 3 axle diesel and a couple of hoppers. The builder did admit that it proved impossible to accurately switch cars on the rear spur with old AC motors, and I was wondering if modern stuff uses the same control system?