marsa69

I might be missing something here but you're already on social media by being on RmWeb. As for your attack on Steve and his Little Loco Company then you are seriously out of order. This isn't a LLC project it is a project started by a good friend of mine who has commissioned LLC to progress the enterprise. Just because it started as a crowdfunding idea doesn't make it any less of a viable project just because it hasn't come from a major manufacturer first. Am I sensing a bit of elitism because it didn't originate from an idea on here? Seriously disappointed with the attacks by people on here against Steve. Instead of being critical why not put your money where your mouth is and see if you can do a better job?

Put an old redudant chimney on the canopy roof left over from steam days or for a more modern solution put on a crawl board with an engineer fixing the roof

A very belated condolonces to his wife Julie and his family. I never met him but had 'spoken' with him on here a few times and he always had positive and polite things to say.

Today parked up at Euston station

Hi Richard, It was nice to stop and chat yesterday and to see the layout in the flesh. Well done on creating such a compact and excellent layout. As discussed I particulary like the choice of graffiti from the local greasy grebs, Cheers,

Thanks Jaz, it was nice to see you and t'other half again and we're glad you liked the layout and the progress made, Cheers,

Managed to get a peek at this in between turns on Lincoln Central today. Got to say a big thumbs up for a great layout, Cheers,

Nice to see you again mate after the Lincoln show. The layout, as ever, looked spot on so hope to catch up with you tomorrow,

See you all this weekend at Model Rail Live, Cheers, Mark and John

Cracking weekend so here's the last of my pics. It was nice to meet all those rmwebbers that attended and hopefully will see you all at next years show;

A couple more from today but you'll have to wait for John to post the good stuff The layout performed near faultlessly apart from a stroppy Cobalt motor and a nearly stroppy operator

Superb model mate. It'll look really good next to your cascaded 205

All set up ready for the punters. Had a play with my camera phone and some of the settings

Well that's everything packed up in the van so a quick bite to eat then off to set up for the show. Hope to see plenty of people there over the weekend so come and say hello

John asked me to do a layout overview write-up. See what you all think; “Now that would make a great model”. Now how many times has someone either said or heard that statement? Those famous last words have caused no end of modellers to have sleepless nights, accelerated hair loss, irrational behaviour and the emptying of bank accounts. And why do we do it? Because we feel the pull and the compulsion of the modelling force, the force that takes over our thoughts and actions. And so it was that 3 years ago that a certain John Whiteside made the mistake of uttering those words, the words that finds you here today in front of this model of Lincoln Central. What seemed like a good idea at the time still seems like a good idea, but only if you look at it from 20ft away through squinted eyes! This started out as a 5yr plan and has seen many trials and tribulations, but we find ourselves 12 months ahead of schedule. John is a local boy and strangely enough has a history of fire engine fascination. So how did he end up into model railways, especially one of Lincoln Central? “Now that would make a great model” he mistakenly said. What you can see is the track plan from 1956 with the old Great Northern hotel being modelled at the High Street end and the construction of Pelham Bridge at the err…..Pelham Bridge end. We’re also going to model the Durham Ox crossing that was in place before the bridge was finished. Thoughts have been regularly turned toward the possibilities of modelling the lines from Lincoln St. Marks but that is something for the future. The original plans for the layout were to operate from steam in ’56 through the end of steam/dieselization in the ‘60’s through to the glorious era of that ultimate corporate livery of blue in the 70’s and beyond! Because of the amount of stock that would be needed the decision was taken to start operations from the late 60’s or the end of steam saving John a fortune in stock purchases. Construction of the layout was pretty straightforward like most layouts with the only major difficulty being the fitting of set-track pieces to an authentic track plan. As with building any model layout some ideas worked brilliantly and some not so well. Compromises had to be often made and complete re-workings of ideas undertaken to allow us to reach the stage that you can see now. Despite its size and apparent complexity the layout can be assembled and operational by the two of us in less than two and a half hours. When it comes to packing up it can take less than 90 mins. Operationally it is possible for just the two of us to operate it and in certain circumstances one man and his dog. Johns other passion is electronics, especially of the modelling kind. Longer term the layout will be touch screen computer operated with full route setting and limited train automation in place. Working signals, DCC operation, moving people and the like add to the atmosphere and operation. Not everything was done by just us two and a lot of other people were involved in the process without which we wouldn’t be where we are now. The layout has been exhibited a few times already and was always designed to be displayed as a work in progress until final completion. We don’t proclaim to be experts but we are enthusiasts. We’re happy to chat about all things railways, fire engines, airplanes and just about anything else. Please feel free to approach us and say hello, we don’t bite. Honest. We’re happy to talk and if you have any observations or criticisms then please tell us. All we ask is that you make them constructive because that way you’re being more helpful. Lastly we ask that you respect the layout by not touching anything or allowing any children to touch it. To some it may seem like a toy but to us it’s a labour of love, one that’s taken a lot of time and effort to achieve. John still says “Now that would make a great model?” to which I say “Yeah! But I still think we should have done it in 7mm!” All the best, John Whiteside and Mark Paynter

Fleet shortage of 3rd rail units led BR to transfer a 205 to cover whilst urgent remedial/modification work was carried out to the 3rd rail stock, Or, BR were trialling the 205 prior to cascading them to the Wirral after replacing them on their Southern stomping ground. The rationale is that the units could work electrified and non-electrified routes on Merseyside giving better flexibility, Cheers,

Now that looks good mate

Busy old four days from Fri to Mon setting up/building/tweaking/swearing/injuring/finally running/then dismantling We achieved more than we thought we would. It was nice to meet up with Billy and Chris as it's always good to get fresh perspective on what we're doing. so thanks again guys (and your good ladies) for paying a visit. Running wise it performed nearly faultlessly apart from one or two very minor electrical niggles here and there. It did prove one thing in that the layout prefers diesels to steam as we only had about 2 diesel derailments compared to goodness knows how many when a train was steam powered Nest outing will be the Lincoln MRS exhibition at the end of June so fingers crossed nothing will be sabotaged by the gremlins in the lock-up Hopefully John will pull his finger out and get those pictures posted Cheers,