Clay Country

A smart move for those of us who've only bought a few and wish we'd bought more, even at £27. My rake of four arrived in today's post. Apart from the ladders and the walkway on the roof (I'd have happily paid more if these were etched) they were well worth the wait B)

So THAT'S where they've all gone!

Hi Leon, This is looking really good, you've created a fantastic industrial landscape. A word of warning on the Vitrains 37s though, the paint is extremely thin and it's practically impossible to take the numbers off without having to repaint a small patch before applying the new number. Bachmann 3TG railfreight 37s seem to be a bit more forgiving in this regard.

Here's a shot of my boxfile layout, taken with the aid of sunlight

Can't wait to get my greasy mits on these. Speaking of which, giant thumb prints could be an issue on that chrome finish!

The chrome finish looks absolutely superb. I've got four of these on order and I think I might have to order a few more... B)

Very nice B) I'm very tempted, but I still think the bullets looked best in silver.

This is looking very impressive, I look forward to seeing your progress with the station buildings. Will you be modelling High Street crossing? I've always fancied having a go at Lincoln Central, but I'm thinking about doing the area around Brayford level crossing and East Holmes signal box in N. The university buildings are an architectural challenge that's hard to resist!

Great photos Jon, thanks for sharing them. Does anyone know the story behind the two-tone grey/blue stripe livery on 167? I've never seen that one before.

Many in the railfreight industry seem convinced that the downturn in freight volumes is only temporary, and the upward trend we saw before the recession will begin again in a couple of years. So it's quite possible the plan to overhaul a few 60s, as DBS suggested before the recession kicked in, could still happen. Most of the growth over the next decade is expected to come from intermodal traffic, which is more suited to 66s than 60s (unless we get round to running longer, heavier trains). Perhaps with greater demand on the 66 fleet there might be a good case for spending some cash on a few 60s. I think DBS understands the economic situation will improve and they will probably need their tugs again at some point in the future...