sulzer27jd

Many thanks, Mike, I will give that a try. I took Western Star's advice and went looking at your wagon builds. That's is the sort of standard I am hoping to get to. What do you use for the bolt-heads and how do you get them so neat? Thanks again John

Can anyone point me in the direction of pre-grouping brake fittings? I am looking for a source of brake levers, blocks, retainers and crown plates suitable for use on 10' wheelbase pre-group vans and opens. I have had a look at my usual suppliers, but can't see anything. Any guidance will be much appreciated. The first set will be going on this GNSR diagram 14S van. Thanks John

I have worked on the scenery from the Fraserburgh end and have now managed to progress a little further along. I am bringing the yard to a close and working on the local road past the station. Here are a couple of shots showing the yard and the station building; and close up from the coal road; Hopefully, there will be more progress during this week. John

Very well done to everyone involved in organising the Perth show. A very enjoyable day, today. John

I don't think there are many, but have a look at - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/13818-albannach/&do=findComment&comment=124104 And my 2 - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/129281-rosehearty-gnsr/ - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58728-claterinbrigg-gnsr/ Regards John

It's always good to see someone modelling the GNSR. As a point of interest, the GNSR had some unusual wagon habits. For example, their steel frames vehicles used channel section as their headstocks, with the open side facing out. Into this open channel was placed sections of timber into which were attached the buffers and couplings. As well as using 3'1&1/2" wheels, they also used 3'7" wheels with 9 or 10 spokes. It's interesting what you find when you look beyond the usual railway subjects. Keep up the good work John

I suspect the public, force-fed a diet of inaccurate jibberish by the media are, for the most part, incorrect in almost everything they think they know about railways.

This, of course, should be the whisky industry.

The Strathspey Railway is the former Inverness and Perth Junction Railway and was for many years the mainline between those towns.

Luke, I would suggest a purchase of "The Speyside Line", available from the GNSRA http://www.gnsra.org.uk/master3.htm which details the whisky trade on a line that generated considerable quantities but also has colour photos of both Balmenach and Dailuaine. Remember also that, given your available space, you may not be modelling the distillery itself, but more likely the bonded warehouse. This is the secure building where the finished product is stored prior to onwards dispatch, usually to the central belt for blending and bottling. All the best John

There is probably no "right" answer to this and it may be that you have to do different areas in a different order, because of how they are placed in relation to other scenery. In simple terms though, I would separate out the work on your track. Paint the sleepers and track (this is not weathering, this is painting them some basic colours). Ballast and then as has been suggested a thorough testing. I would then go back in and weather the completed trackwork. Other scenery around the layout can be done around your trackwork, but it may be worth covering it up to prevent spills. I tend to try and work from the rear of the scene, forwards, as this avoids damage caused by leaning over. John

That is very nice. Looking forward to a few more pics. John

If anyone is desperate for 4mm flatbottom rail I have a pack here, that was miss-labeled as bullhead and will not be used. DM me. John

The United Kingdom defines itself, to the United Nations as; "A constitutional monarchy consisting of four constituent parts: 2 countries: England + Scotland 1 Principality: Wales 1 Province: Northern Ireland." None of the constituent parts are "regions" of UK. We exist in a multi-nation political union, but that would probably be too big a sign for the MNPURM and simply calling itself the Railway Museum actually better reflects the facts.

Perhaps those at the Railway Museum have discovered that the United Kingdom is not in actual fact a nation and that therefore their museum cannot be national.

He also did versions of the Scottish rail map recently, taking out all of the Gaelic, Celtic or Scots words. A monoglot's railway map of the central and east Scotland - https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaputniq/28394382878/in/dateposted/ John

Indeed so. The work they are currently undertaking in the city, creating a large open area [and then filling it in again with yet more hideous buildings] does, however, show that a large central station at street level would have been a possibility. If access to, or removal of some of the docks had been considered, then this street-level station would have been an even better option.

The Scotrail livery is fixed, with only a small label being replaced when/if the operator changes. Seems like a sensible idea.

I would agree with you. Dundee Taybridge had a bottleneck approach for historical reasons (they closed Dundee West which previously took the Perth/Glasgow services and then diverted all the Strathmore route trains via Dundee). It would seem crazy to build this into any new station that was being proposed back at a time when the railways were at their height. I remember the station in the early 80's when the Dundee - Edinburgh and Dundee - Glasgow services were loco hauled and required the station pilot to release the engine from the bays. These moves made the west end a very busy place, even with the relatively few services that were left at that time. The original drawing does show multiple tracks from both the Caledonian lines and for the NB. I would think, as a minimum that these would be required, but the way the through lines are shown this would create an extremely complex set of pointwork to allow the freight services to avoid the platforms. Given that the original drawing was just a proposal, I would think a more effective track plan could be drawn up to allow for the basic premise of a central station, with; additional bays at the west end (required for services to Glasgow Buchanan Street, Perth, Alyth, Blairgowrie, Edinburgh, Glasgow Queen Street [via Fife] and Tayport avoiding lines for freight, accessible from both the Caledonian and NB approaches the east end bays for services via the Caledonian to Forfar and Kirriemuir, plus services over the D&A to Arbroath. through platform faces for, predominantly, Edinburgh to Aberdeen services, with the ability to re-engine these services at Dundee. The Dundee Central idea would be a very substantial project. I don't think the plan as shown is realistically workable though. John

When considering traffic, you may wish to also take into account that around this time the plan was to create the Dundee Suburban Railway. This would branch off the D&A at Roodyards and loop around what was then the outskirts of the city before joining the Dundee & Newtyle line at Lochee. There were also, on a couple of occasions, proposals to link Dundee with Inverness. One of which would utilise the Dundee Suburban to get out of Dundee on some higher ground. This would, of course, give the possibility of a service departing from one set of bay platforms and potentially arriving in the other! On a slight point of accuracy, the stations that did exist, whilst they were of course connected by rail, were not actually linked, at least not in a way that made any practical operational possibilities. The line north from Tay Bridge station passed by East station at Camperdown Jcn. The prospect of a Dundee Central station, would - assuming that space is available - make a great layout.

Thanks for posting Mike. Horseshoe Curve and Altoona are a couple of my favourite locations and well worth a visit to anyone who is in the area. IMHO Pennsylvania is one of the most under-rated states by those from the UK. John

I have to agree with the comments about weathering but would add that the lack of any weathering and the other extreme, of over-zealous degradation, can both be eyecatching for the wrong reasons. One of the great things about our hobby is that people derive pleasure from it in a variety of ways. I have no problem with anyone running their stock straight out of the box. But for those who wish to replicate a scene, that is in any realistic, then every item in that scene requires to be modelled in a realistic fashion. From my own position, one of the interesting challenges I have tried to tackle is how to show a locomotive that is being used but is also being regularly cleaned. Haymarket depot had something of a reputation for turning out its locomotives in fine condition. In this case, I have attempted to weather their engines by applying layers of grime, that are then substantially removed, hopefully leaving the tell-tale traces that reflect both hard work and care. These shots were taken on my previous layout. Of course, not every engine has received quite the same attention from the cleaners; John

It was a pilot edition with only a few pages, the date was purely for illustration. It has a letters page with made up letters and advertisers that don't exist. I don't know how many were printed, but I suspect very, very few as it was primarily to show the trade what it would look like. John

Vol. 1 No. 1 November - December 1993. Plans Page - LMS Carriages Modelling Nouveau - concrete structures Loco Profile - Thompson B1 I seem to remember writing one of the fake letters for Andy Farq. John

I have a copy of the pilot edition, that was mocked up to show what it would look like. John