Tappa

DEMU Showcase had card readers on the door to take entrance fees last year. Made things much easier as visitors were offering cards for payment without being asked for. As Peter Kay says, it's the future. Jeff

I built a version of Minories a few years back. The idea was to use as much RTR stuff as possible to show what could be done. Layout was called Somers Town and featured in September 2007 Railway Modeller. Mine was based around the early/mid 1970's and used cl. 31 & mk1 suburbans as well as parcels traffic. It worked pretty well and was fun to operate. It never really got finished and is something I would like to have another crack at. regards Jeff

I was going to say something similar to Mark - I assume it was to do with protecting the load en route

I’ve modelled one of these using two Airfix/Dapol mineral bodies. Lot of work sanding and filling the sides, with rivet detail then added back

Southern Wagons in Colour by Mike King (ISBN 978-1-909328-19-8) has 4 photos in colour showing the AC cars loaded on Conflat D’s. They are all roped down. The notes say that Surbiton station was used for loading and when Surbiton yard closed, Guildford was used until 1976 when production ceased. The photos are taken at Guildford and dated around 1970. Jeff

Best thing I did with my Sprog was to get a small cheap Netbook (or equivalent) and load DecoderPro onto that. I use that as a dedicated system for DCC. Much easier than having to lug a laptop around, especially if you exhibit your layout. I have a length of track on a piece of wood, a Netbook and the Sprog which means I can do programming anywhere. Just make sure it has the usb ports to connect to.

Hugh Millington's site is also worth a look at vans that are out of service in 1986. APCM vans The site is worth a look for all the other wagons as well. Jeff

Superb modelling as ever Alan. Like the idea of "standard man" for measurements. Fits in with those other standard measurements of Olympic size swimming pools/ double decker buses/Nelsons Column/football pitches, etc. Jeff

Don't know how I missed this thread. The Widended Lines are something that has fascinated me for ages. So much so that I built a layout - Margery Street (the one that is mentioned earlier in the thread). The layout is sadly no more, but when I was researching it, I did exactly as recommended earlier and looked at the type of brick colour, style of architecture, etc. I amassed quite a bit of info and photos during this. My layout name came from a street just round the corner from Mount Pleasant Post Office which then gave me an excuse for parcels traffic. I also pulled together buildings and ideas from the Widened Lines such as the typical cable bridge found on the LU, cable supports, etc. Depending on the period you settle on, make sure that the loco numbers (especially the 31's) match up with loco's that worked the line - the 31's had trip cocks specifically for the signalling. If you need any of the info that I pulled together, feel free to ask - might not know the answer tho' Jeff

Alan, I think you have stumbled onto the poor mans FreeMo. A superb idea!

Stu, hope the model of Chants Ave bridge will feature all the pigeon sh1te as per the prototype! Jeff

Market Weighton belongs to a good friend of mine. It is currently in store and as far as I am aware, there are no plans to exhibit it. Just before it was exhibited at Beverley Minster, we had it up for testing and a few tweaks to the scenery. Jeff

Hi John - I haven't had any problems and my layout lives in a shed, albeit an insulated and heated shed, in my garden. I suppose it depends on whether you do anything to the food stuff. In the case of when I used sesame seeds, they were glued down and made solid with a 50/50 pva water mix (same as ballasting). They then got painted so were well and truly sealed. I've also used the 'forest in a box' to produce trees and had no problems. Jeff

For my sugar beet traffic I used sesame seeds suitably painted - I have a vague recollection of Geoff Kent mentioning them for one of his layouts. Jeff

A couple of pictures of the station building I made for my layout plus the Dunnington-inspired warehousing. The station building shows the York Model making diamond slates that I used. Jeff

Martyn, did you get hold of a copy of the building plans from the old MRN magazine?. If not, let me have your address via a PM and I'll send a copy to you. Jeff

Seeing Martyn's photo's prompted me to dig out those that I took over 20 years ago. They are interesting in that they are almost from the same view point as those taken by Martyn. First up is a view from the road bridge with the DVLR peeling off to the left. As a marker for the recent photo, the church spire can be seen in the background. Next is a view of what would have been the station platform, now occupied by Appleton's. Finally a view from the road side showing the former station building, then occupied by Appleton's. As I am now back in the UK, I'll set the layout up and take some photo's. Jeff

They are listed as diamond slates/tiles and are done in various colours. My SECR brake is the Branchlines brass kit. When I did my grain wagons, I didn't bother altering the height as it was around 1mm out I think. This would have been the width of the saw blade but I would then need to get the springs all square. I changed the board sides and added the board brackets as well as adding brake shoes, changing the buffers, etc. I'll take a couple of photos when I get home but that will be after Easter. I don't think there are any on the 'net but I might be wrong! Jeff

Hi Martyn, I have built an EM gauge model of the DVLR. My layout draws inspiration from Dunnington as I modelled a cut down version of the grain warehouses. I also used the station plans from MRN and scratchbuilt it from plasticard. Incidentally, York Model Making do the correct style of roof tiles. My layout is an imagined station heading off north from Dunnington to meet up with a set of exchange sidings near Stamford Bridge (Layout is called Scoreby and in the best DVLR tradition, there really is very little at this location!) The layout also features a couple of classic DVLR bits of rolling stock - the 6 wheel SECR van and the NER brake van as well as 04's. I rebuilt the Lima grain wagons to a more accurate version and this is what I use on the layout. I'm away from home for the next few weeks so can't post any piccies. Jeff

Hi Kier, I take it you are aware of the detailed notes in the Yahoo BR Coaching Stock Group specifically about the Mk1 suburbans? I found it immensely useful when doing my suburbans. Jeff

If anyone has any spare brake gear from the Parkside LNER hopper (kit PC80) that they no longer need, I'd be happy to take them off your hands. The items I am after are the brake leavers and brake gear. They come as a spare in the kit. I've been in touch with Peco to see if they will supply as a spare but the price is more than that of a kit. Many thanks Jeff

My best guess would be a French mineral - dia 1/112. My reasons would be side stantions and the slightly joggled (for want of a better phrase!) brake lever. The highlighted horizontal where the side door would be may well be the door latch for the cupboard doors. You can also just see what appear to be door hinges on the centre panel. Jeff

They are BR standard 12t vans. The one on the left has planked doors (you can tell by the strapping on them) and so must have planked bodywork as no planked doors/plywood bodies where built. It will also have standard RCH vacuum 4 shoe brake gear as again no all planked vans had 8 shoe clasp brake gear. The other two both have plywood doors and so could be either all plywood body & doors or planked body & plywood doors. Looking at the middle van, judging by its cleanliness I would say it is an all plywood van. It also seems to have 3-part ends so that could narrow it down a bit. The one on the right hints at being planked body/plywood doors. Both styles of van had RCH vacuum 4 shoe standard and 8 shoe clasp brake gear. This would give you an excuse to model all three variations!

Hi Natalie, I think anyone looking at Kinmundy now would most definitely know it is set in the Great North of Scotland Railway area of North East Scotland if they looked at the buildings alone. A typical GNoS goods shed has replaced the generic Provendor store, a signal box based on Old Meldrum has replaced the Wills Great Eastern(!) box. Neil Rushby's superb station was quite rightly kept but has had the addition of lamps and a station clock added. Something that I consider a signature item of GNoS stations has also been added - a grounded GNoS van. The Doncaster show saw a great reception for the layout and the way it performed is a tribute to Pete's track building. Anything that did come off was usually down to stock and certainly not track. One chap who said he was from Aberdeen felt as though he may have travelled on the line! I enjoyed working on the layout and am pleased that others like what we have added to the original build. Jeff

In the absence of a reply from Martin, the grain wagons are the Dapol bodies on a kit chassis. They are still short of being scale length (10mm seems to ring a bell), but if you keep them all together, you can get away with them. There are an awful lot more photos elsewhere but this captures the spirit. The only missing item was a starter signal and that was sorted out on Monday evening. As Steve says, come along to the BRM show at Doncaster and see it in the flesh. Jeff