BG John

The garage down the road from me seems to do work on rally cars, and I sometimes see Mk II Escorts going past my house, with the driver itching to put his foot down when he gets round the blind bend onto the straight that runs past my wood. It makes me think it would be rather nice to still have my 1600 Sport, although it probably rusted away many years ago.

I think I have a philosophy evolving that my next car will have to be a restored classic from my earlier driving days, when life was simpler, and everything was repairable. The most modern vehicle I have owned is my current one, made in 1999. It has nice simple wind up windows, the sat nav is plugged into the lighter socket when I need it, and if my phone rings and it's convenient to pull off the road and answer it I might, otherwise the caller will have to wait until I decide it's time for a break. Of course it's not perfect, as the water heater doesn't work, so I can't have a shower in it, and the loo doesn't flush, but at least they can be fixed when I get round to it, and they're not things that car drivers need to worry about anyway! I just hope the eyewateringly expensive welding job it had to get through the MOT this year (although probably peanuts compared to fixing the blue nav sat tooth thingy in a modern car!) will hold for a few more years before I have to decide.

It must be very expensive to repair all this stuff, so does that mean that as it gets older, and things start to go wrong, various features will no longer be used, especially by future owners who can only afford cheap cars? Or will they end up being scrapped sooner than more basic cars, meaning that car ownership becomes only accessible to the better off who can afford to buy new or recent models, and pay the repair bills?

I once touched 105 on the M25 while testing my Escort XR3! Is that why they installed all the variable speed limits and cameras? It's the only time in my life I've ever got above 80. Honest. And I rarely go over 50 nowadays.

I must admit it's rather cute. I'm almost tempted to do one in EM, but wouldn't get away with the absorbed railway excuse, as my modelling date is 18 years before the grouping!

I've got a lathe, so I suppose I don't have an excuse then!

I've had one for around 45 years or more. I changed to EM 43 years ago, but still haven't got round to converting it! I must do something with it one day, but it means doing something with the driving wheels.

All the standard gauge track is now laid, but I've still got to strengthen it at the baseboard join, and add the check rails. Then I can add some of the wiring and hopefully get something moving. I've got one loco and four working wagons, so just need to add the missing buffers and couplings to the fifth wagon to have all I need for the inglenook. I haven't got enough narrow gauge stock yet, so I'll do the rest of the tracklaying after the standard gauge is working. Another bogie coach arrived today. I couldn't resist it! I probably won't be able to run two coach trains on Cheapside Yard, but something else is coming soon where I can!

Observing that the track plan is almost a Timesaver, I had a go at drawing up something similar in SCARM last night, to fit on the two sheets of 1200x500 Knauf Spaceboard I have. I've stretched the Timesaver a bit to fit in a platform and make the loop long enough for a couple of coaches, so I can add an optional fiddle yard and run passenger trains. I've got four handmade points that are almost Peco size that I was given, so can perform a bit of surgery on them to squeeze in an extra few inches where I may need it. Then I just need to make one more. It could turn out to be what happens when Cheapside Yard is done.

Would Inkscape be better for this? It's the same price as GIMP! GIMP creates bitmaps, so will lose quality when it's scaled, but Inkscape creates a vector file, so should be infinitely scaleable in either direction.

Cholsey would have been a fair bit shorter, and only double track, in the early 19th century, and would be easier to compress when a typical express train would have consisted of a 2-2-2 and 4 or 6 wheel coaches. If I get everything else I want to model done, and live long enough, it's the period I'd choose for a big main line layout!

I understood that culm was a mix of coal dust and clay. My wood used to be a clay pit that was rented by two coal merchants. A previous owner of my house apparently mixed his own to heat the two big greenhouses where he grew tomatoes.

I've just e-mailed Dapol to check on the latest delivery date for Bodiam, and the reply was "We anticipate the Terrier being in store around the middle of October". As they were asking the Colonel Stephens Society for advice on the correct colour at Telford, having acknowledged they'd got it wrong, that seems rather soon.

I've just been through a dry spell here in West Wales, where I got my field fully cut for the first time in the almost six years I've been here, and raked up all the grass and weeds. Of course dry spell doesn't mean there isn't the odd shower overnight. Yesterday I managed to mow nearly all the grass around the house. And today the rain is back, so it's all growing again! I think any garden railway I built would soon disappear into the undergrowth! It was never like this when I lived in Berkshire, or even in West Somerset!

The thought of running expensive finescale trains outdoors in Wales causes me palpitations. On the few days when it can be guaranteed not to rain, I need to be outside tackling the excessive plant growth caused by all the precipitation! I would be most likely to be operating my layouts in weather that I wouldn't want to go out in, let alone let my valuable models lose in .

If it's a magic train, surely you just need the right spell to re-gauge it .

It's a potential place to run Terriers Kevin! I've got a family connection with nearby Herstmonceux, as we used to spend two weeks holiday on my aunt and uncle's farm every year when I was little, which is why the line appeals. I'm inclined to work on the assumption that if local history and geography was a bit different, the line would have had a better chance of being built! Or maybe I'll need Hecate after all, and double-headed Terriers!

My main interest is somewhat further west, so I can't afford to start collecting books on the Brighton just for the odd K&ESR picture! My plan at the moment is to model something on the authorised but not built Pevensey extension, which is why buying one in IEG crossed my mind, as it could be used to transfer wagons between the two Pevensey stations, or be on hire to alleviate a loco shortage. But both K&ESR ones is better, if less colourful! I was thinking of having a holiday in the area this year, as I haven't been there for a very long time, but it will have to wait until next year now. I rejoined the Colonel Stephens Society this year, but haven't got far with gathering information yet. At this stage, I just want to be sure that buying two is a sensible plan, although seeing some good photos would be great. No 2 is on my to-do list. I've scanned the drawings into Inkscape, and altered the perspective of a few photos to match up to it. One day, I'll start drawing the parts for cutting on my Silhouette Portrait. I want to do a few simpler scratchbuilds first though, so I can hopefully develop the skills to make a really good job of it. Of course having produced the artwork, it seems pointless not doing No 1 too! I just need to save up for the Slaters wheels! I know there are kits available, but I also know the state of my bank account! No 4 isn't on the list, as I rather fancy building the original lightweight track that was probably too weedy for it, it's big and may be out of place on a smallish layout, and it needs lots of expensive Slaters wheels. On the other hand, it's just a bigger version of Nos 1 and 2!

Where do I find the Bennett Collection photo? Googling came up with loads of non railway Bennett Collections, and the Lightmoor Press book. Presumably this supposedly just pre sale photo is pretty accurate, although I hope they did some work on the smokebox and chimney! I assume the Westinghouse pump was removed, is it doesn't seem to be in the photos I've found so far. http://www.southerncountiesrailwaysociety.co.uk/southern_counties_railway_society_TT_july_2013.htm I've read that Bodiam will be produced as originally delivered, so does that mean the lettering will be wrong for both of them in 1904/05? I'm getting very tempted to increase my order to two, but want to be sure I'm not letting myself in for a big or fiddly job!

Thanks. I was thinking they were different originally. So I need two Bodiams then! What's this about no condenser pipes? Or do you just mean Rolvendon? http://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/onewebstatic/b6dd6c0bda-COL-KES8.jpg-for-web-large.jpg Photo 38 in the Middleton Press book shows Bodiam with them in 1907, and photo 76 (undated, but early) shows Rolvendon without them. Do clear early photos of both of them exist? I'd like to be sure that if I can scrape together enough money to buy two while they're available, I can convert one quite easily.

I'm getting worried now. I use it for pruning my beard, and used to use it when clipping my previous dog, as they're supposed to be dog clippers. Does this mean I should keep my face well away from electricity?

While raking up grass this morning (something I've been doing nearly all week, so my mind has been wandering a bit!), a couple of questions came to mind that I hope soon fade into oblivion, or could turn out rather expensive! 1) Which, if any, of the current batch are as running in around 1904/1905? Specifically which are contemporary with the K&ESR Bodiam, that was bought in 1900? 2) Are any of the current batch, or futures batches, in the condition (apart from from livery obviously) that K&ESR Rolvendon was in when first running on the K&ESR (1904)?

My date is probably 1905, and certainly pre WW1, so diseasals are out, as are all the eyewateringly expensive RTR steamers. The Hudswell Clarke needs backdating one of these days, with a riveted cab, sandboxes above the footplate and a new smokebox door I think. I've no intention of joining the Guild, as that seems like a path to even greater expense! I was given one of those monstrous Lima continental coaches. I don't like wasting things, but am a bit stuck with what to do with it so far. I'm not telling where the coach came from until I've decided whether to buy the other one!

It's too small for standard gauge. I checked the dimensions against the WC&P ones. I don't fancy chopping them up, especially as Cheapside Yard is supposed to be just a quick starter layout, and I'd have to try to match the existing paintwork to hide the join! The cab is intended to be my first effort with my Silhouette Portrait, and avoids the need to worry about adding 7mm detail to an open cab. I'm intending to add a longer chimney, and maybe some toolboxes to hide the awful motor fitting clips. I might add skirts as I'm inclined towards a tramway layout, but your suggestion is worth considering. I'm not going to make a big thing of it, as it was only intended as a quick loco to get started with, and is one of the turbocharged ones, so not ideal anyway.