F-UnitMad

Also you'll be clobbered for Import VAT by HM Customs, and £8 Fee from Royal Mail for the priveledge of telling you about it... UK Supplier prices may seem higher than US, but that's because they'll have also had to pay these charges... It does nark that stuff is really much cheaper in the US, though....

Would part of the problem be that in the case of the 66 it could use an existing American chassis, like the real thing does? That would've cut down the costs as they were 'testing the water' so to speak. They'd have to design a totally new chassis and bogies as well as the body for something definitively British.

To be honest I just thought the best way to deal with the "Yanks" comment was to treat it with the disdain it deserves and ignore it... The details of the Ploiesti raid were significant enough to be commented on. It is generally said that by the end of WW2, when the US 8th & RAF Bomber Command were fully experienced and equipped for their roles, that the USAAF area-bombed Precision Targets, and the RAF precision-bombed Area Targets.... Whatever the morals of the campaign (eg Dresden) or it's effectiveness (German war production still rose despite the bombing) the one fact is that for much of the War, the bombers were the only means the Allies had to hit Germany itself.

(Re Ploiesti Oilfields) The Ploiesti Oilfields were attacked by B-24 Liberators. They approached at 10,000ft, then some way out went right down to the ground for the attack - hardly any altitude at all!! Apparently B-24s were not that 'stable' in level flight and could rise & fall something like 30ft without the Pilot moving the control column; the crews were less than impressed to be told at briefing to go in at 30ft.... True, the oilfields were not a small target, but they were attacked by far more planes (178 set out) than the Dambusters raid. I've never heard of low-level sorties by B-17s. The B-25 Mitchell is a better comparison with the Mossie than a B-17, good call!

... and possibly of Stirling losses in particular? A bit OT, but that does remind me of a Geordie chap I worked with once who told me about when he had been working somewhat illegally in Europe in pre-"free movement" days. Coming back through French Customs they enquired why he had a bag full of tools with him... he turned on the most impenetrable Geordie he could manage, and the bemused Customs Officer waved him through, with the words "Oh, you don't speak English..." (in 'Allo'Allo-style French...)

A salutary point. The Americans knew exactly who was who and saw their deaths. The RAF didn't, and had some misguided views such as "Scarecrows" mentioned above. They also feared flak far more than nightfighters, because flak could be seen, and, especially in the early days of the "Schrage-musik" upward-firing cannon on the nightfighters, they never even saw a nightfighter attack, and the victims didn't return home to tell the tale. There was a very interesting program on TV fairly recently about the psychological toll that Ops took on Bomber Crews, and the very different ways the USAAF & RAF dealt with it....

Yes, didn't B29 crews had a saying, "Two a-turnin'... two a-burnin'..." ...??

Ah yes, especially the Lancastrian... must admit I was thinking more in terms of their wartime trim... Incidentally your picture link posted shows a Lanc with (I think) the Bristol Hercules Radials that Trisonic was talking about... .... and the part of the fuselage that's underneath the rear of the cockpit canopy is still Olive Drab..!!

The straight lines were what enabled the wings of the awful Avro Manchester to be easily extended, and have 4 engines instead of 2, and hence become the Lancaster. The B-17 does have something of the "airliner" look about it - possibly the clue is in the name - something to do with it being a Boeing aircraft... ;D The Lanc has a family resemblance to the other RAF bombers of the time, and is definitely a war machine. Whatever, they were both great planes, and the bravery & sacrifice of all their crews should never be forgotten.

That'd be the MkII Lanc which had Bristol Hercules Radial engines. IIRC only about 300 of that Mk were built, as a trial in case they ran short of Merlins, as much as anything, seeing as most of what the RAF flew at that time used Merlins..!!! The comment about the Lanc looking 'dated' next to a Fort is possibly down to to the finish? Lancs were never finished in polished aluminium - they had a hard enough time of it as it was, without being highly polished for searchlights to pick up!! Forts and the rest of the US daylight force ended up in polished finish because camouflage paint proved a bit of a waste of time for a 700-strong daylight force, and not painting them saved weight (same as the space shuttle fuel tank). Key to a Lanc's bomb capacity as well as it's sheer lift capability was the design of the bomb bay - biggest of all the WW2 Heavies, B-29 included. Forts had a much smaller bomb bay, so restricting it's puny bomb load anyway, but Lancs could've done with (and some did get, late in the War) the 50-calibre guns Forts had, and especially a belly turret. Arizona is all very spectacular, but does look a strange backdrop to my eyes, for planes I think of as being high over Europe!!

Although I saw this at Telford I had a better look at one today at my local model shop. I'm not so bothered about the 'low' side grille or any possible (but microscopic) errors on the nose profile - to be honest I think that's partly an effect the yellow nose has, and partly camera lens distortion in pictures - what does grate with me a bit, and it's the same on the 37, is the big grey cover inside each cab that is desperately trying to hide the motor. These covers also seem to mean the seats are set impossibly far forward?

Don't the blackened wheels make a difference?? It could very nearly pass for HO scale - this time it's the coupler size that gives it away before the wheel treads, which are almost hidden! It certainly has a 'heft' about it that ot many N Scale locos manage! Nice!!

Too late now, of course, but I'd suggest something like I do - model in a scale you can't afford, in my case O Scale. That way you have to think long and hard about what models you really need, as opposed to just want or fancy, and you can't afford all those tempting 'impulse purchases' that mount up costs without you realising. For two years now I have gone to the Telford O Scale Guildex and not spent any money bar the entry fee, whilst all around me models sell for hundreds of pounds...

Oops... I never thought of that... D'oh!!

He did enjoy that thumb, didn't he...?? I'd not seen this new layout before; someone has expanded a bit from the original O.K.St.

Yes, sorry - I didn't mean to imply that you personally had made the claim. But whoever has posted that clip has their information wrong, that's all. Will go back and edit my comment... Done.

Sorry, but the Video clip claiming that David Hampson "built" Oldham King Street is just plain wrong. He did an article about it in the Winter 2005 issue of Modern Railway Modelling - I have it here in front of me, and in it he quite clearly states that he bought Percy Street from Ian Futers (who even delivered it!) after admiring it at the 2001 Warley Show, and then turned it into Oldham King Street. He did replace the backscene, and station nameboards, and has added more detail. I do like the video clip linked to - but then the layout needs all the DCC "whistles and bells" it can get, because operationally, when I saw it as Percy Street, it was dull as flippin' ditchwater to watch......

Behold! The Oracle speaketh the Truth!! Rule No.1 for model railways, usually agreed as being "It's My Train Set I'll Run What I Like", should actually be changed - to "STAY SINGLE!!!"

The mention of Kraftwerk always brings to my mind the wonderful Bill Bailey Tribute to them....

And why not?? Makes a change from "certain" yellow Reliant Robins... or Daleks... or the Tardis... etc etc etc...

Yeah, but thank goodness for the Interweb and RMweb, eh..??

I have followed advice elsewhere to come and look at this thread... What can I say? What superlatives can I add that haven't been used already? Sir, you have absolutely nailed the "London look"... so many characteristic features, in such a small layout, without any of them even getting slightly close to being a cliche... and all in N Scale, too! The Period music really sets off your Film Clips, too! (It doesn't seem right to call them "video clips", somehow!!) Fantastic stuff; I shall keep watching.

No, Jack - thank you - for yet more inspiration!! The Portway Terminal Railroad may yet ride again, after this...!! (I just have to add it to the back of the queue of other projects I have..... )

... not as many as he's designed over the years... Agree with Ian, Jack; "Gem" describes it down to the ground!! Once again, you are not helping me resist building more in O Scale....

In the "Past & Present" Series of books that cover this area, they say that some of the foundations of the water tower and so on are still extant - just extremely hard to find in all the undergrowth!!!