Bill

behind from sitting...

jousting with mimes

signalman pulling levers...

LOL, YGW, SW?

engineer Ismbard Kingdom...

Caledonian Gravy Train...

for sea areas...

Thanks Heather, (there does not yet seem to be a way to rate replies to blog entries...) The Wiki entry makes for some fascinating reading... Losing track of what trains are running on a particular line is not something one likes to contemplate, especially when travelling by train - Bill

brandishing medieval pitchforks...

Heather - Many thanks for the info - that helps in developing more understanding of the way all things railways actually work(ed)...

arrested by policemen...

It's been a while and a little more progress has been made... The layout has gotten a name - 'Barcoombe' I don't know why it sort of came to me and has been pleasantly irritating me ever since. The missing stove for the Springside signal-box detailing kit arrived and now the signalman can keep warm, dry and have a cup of tea... Springside were very good about the missing part - even though I bought he kit over a year ago - and sent it over for free. I managed to acquire some Skytrex items before they declared bankruptcy - they announced that there would soon be a sale of all their stock. I am not sure if this represents a final liquidation or not. This picture shows their GWR lamp hut. It comprises of five resin parts which, after some cleaning, easily come together. I managed to get the roof on back to front, which is typical. It comes without instructions of any kind but there should be more overhang on the end with the door, and less over the window end. The GWR station platform lamps are made by Duncan Models - although I got these from Scalelink. They come together quite easily, provided a lot of care is taken to think it through before starting, "What can possible go wrong?". The grain of wheat bulb was quite a surprise, I did not expect them to be able to light up. The kit has five parts - the top 'roof', cast from white metal, has to be drilled to accept a finial, similarly made from white metal. The 'glass' is made from a piece of moulded plastic. The column is white metal with the bulb already inserted with about 14" of wire extending. A lot of care is needed in the assembly to check that all is in line and stays that way whilst the glue sets. The station sign came from a double kit made by Skytrex . It is made from white metal, and comes in three parts - the board and two pillars. It was just crying out to be soldered, so I had a go - never before having attempted to solder a white metal kit. So summoning all my courage and experience soldering copper pipe, did the deed without melting too much of the kit in the process. The station name was designed and printed using Photoshop. (who knows if it is in anyway close to being prototypical...) The station bench was made from a white metal kit by Skytrex - the back rests were made from thin pieces of styrene. The kits were glued together using mixture of super glue and epoxy resin - the superglue was used to hold the parts in place whilst the epoxy set. The platform has now got a red-brick face and a white edge. To make it look a wee bit more than just an artists impression of a platform. I am experimenting with ways to grunge up the bricks. The experiments so far have been restricted to smudging damp charcoal from an artists stick over the pristine bricks and mortar. But I am not yet satisfied with the results.. Any ideas welcome... Lastly... This signal came ready made (at a price) from Wizard Models. Its an MSE kit assembled and painted by hand. . Its not perfect but acceptable. The build is great but its possible to improve a bit on the paint finish. On the subject of signals... Does anyone know the purpose or meaning of the white diamond shape half way up the signal pillar? That's it for now... Upcoming are some signal kits, including ground signals needing to be built... (And that should provide a real challenge - as well as a lot of fun!) A Parkside-Dundas GWR style Toad Guards van - Into the unknown with all seriousness. Just how difficult can it be? The decals had me worried me when I first inspected the kit. I just could not figure out how they worked never having seen anything like them before.. It took a while before the penny dropped and I realised they were definitely not of the waterslide variety.... And a white metal kit of a totters cart from Duncan Models for Henry the Shunting Horse to tug around... Which will probably be tackled next Onwards with enjoyment Bill

Hiding the telly...

couplings, making impossible

short cut to

private parts and

souvenir silver spoons

engine finally expired

onto the floor...

bank only with

jobs from Chinese

jelly on Jupiter...