bluebottle

From the cover of one of Douglas Adams's novels - Mostly Harmless: The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Part Five. The book that gives a whole new meaning to the word 'trilogy'.

Don't ever change, Matt - I like you just the way you are! Gordon

Oh, dear - I almost wish you hadn't called my attention to that, coach. Another bitter-sweet might-have-been...

The only electric I feel any affection for is the Taurus in ÖBB red - even in need of a wash and brush up, like this one.

Well, it's your alternative universe...

Just wondering - when you get as far as putting up the nameboards, what is this station "loosely based on Bacup" to be called?

Interesting - When "Design" Magazine published a special on the planned new British Rail image back in 1963, special mention was given to the visual design of the D600 class as one on which some care had been taken. Pity that the loco's performance disappointed, though of course it was on a hiding to nothing being trialled against the D800 in the Western Region... (Now, where's me tin helmet?)

What we need is an expert in Aesthetics, that is "the Doctrine which we vaguely and periphrastically denominate the Philosophy of Taste, the theory of the Five Arts, the Science of the Beautiful, etc." - it says here. Anybody want to ring up Brian Sewell and ask him what criterion or criteria he would apply in judging whether a Gronk is more or less sublime than a Duchess? Edit: emoticons not working - assume wink.

All I can say, good Doctor, is that I'm lost for words!

No.90733 (Ex MOS [Austerity] WD 2-8-0), Keighley, KWVR, 6.10.2006 I'm glad somebody spoke up for the "Austerities" (Riddles's name for them). Haresnape commented: "The appearance of the 'Austerity' design was surprisingly neat and did not offend the eye, despite the complete lack of ornamentation..." No apologies for the three-quarter rear view - I rather like the occasional shot of this kind; it seems to give a certain poise to an engine raring to go.

I think I'd rather see an unadorned US freight loco than a shrouded express passenger one. Superman? My old art teacher used to tell us not to be distracted by the clothes on whichever of our number was acting as a model, but to "think about what's underneath" (at which we all giggled, of course). If you look at the Superman comic strip, the artists have simply drawn a perfectly muscled nude man and coloured him to represent his skin-tight costume (with one discreet modification, of course; in the movie Christopher Reeve wore a "swimmer's cup" so that the continuity people didn't have to remember whether he dressed to the right or the left). He flies with his cape streaming behind him, not hiding that carefully-delineated body. A well-proportioned steam engine should need no more than a few coats of crimson lake or brunswick green to enhance, rather than obscure its form. Gordon

There's disagreement about whether the BR standards should even have been built at all; I have my own opinion, which I'll keep to myself rather than expose my ignorance to the probable scorn of at least some of the vastly more knowledgeable, if mutually contradictory, contributors to these forums. I quote Haresnape as one whose opinions on aesthetics are to be respected; it's convenient that he also sums up nicely the "state of the art" nature of the best BR standard designs, but it's their visual impact, not their innovation - or lack of such - that I'm praising here. P.S. I must confess to a sneaking regard for the KWVR's "Big Jim" - homely as he is!

(I read Simon's typo as "Perfect fast fright engine!) To be fair, I like this more than I do most US locos; it does look well-balanced, though I think that the simple highlighting of running plate and wheel rims helps a fair bit. At the risk of being labelled as parochially-minded, I still prefer the best of British loco design. Perhaps I may be allowed to quote from Brian Haresnape, a trained artist who wrote many books on locomotives. This from the section on the "Britannia" class in his "Ivatt and Riddles Locomotives": "Everything about the design was as functional in layout as possible, with a cross-blend of American and Continental features evident in the finalised appearance, but with a true touch of British refinement in the detailing which somehow produced a handsome and well-balanced design, despite all the exposed piping and the high running plate." Gordon

Anything by Nigel Gresley without the A4/W1/P2/2 streamlining. If one doesn't transpire before I shuffle off this mortal coil, and if there's any truth in reincarnation, I want to come back as a new-build P2 in original form.

More good "Now why didn't I think of that" stuff. For instance, even the 4H pencil I use for marking out isn't as accurate as a decent craft blade, and the light mark of the pencil is hardly any easier to see than the knife cut, anyway. Don't worry about boring people with details - most of us need these details - and in terms of effectiveness your work speaks for itself!

This is the kind of image that challenges one's thinking about what the word "beauty" really means. It does capture an unsettling man-made landscape almost terrifying in its scale and power. To one like myself, brought up in coal-mining areas, the kind of places abhorred by such as John Ruskin, it provokes a variety of emotions.. It's familiar yet alien; unnatural in the sense that humankind has raped the natural landscape in its need for raw materials yet, in a sense, is acting in a most unself-conscious and so natural manner... I haven't clicked "like", as I'm not sure "like" is an appropriate word. It certainly made an impression on me.

X6!! That's deviation and repetition, Matt - you wouldn't last long on "Just a Minute", though you do seem to be unhesitatingly (and indestructibly) cheerful on these forums! Good on you! Gordon

I've learned the hard way to be cautious in how I comment on GWR and Southern layouts at exhibitions... More than once, I had to explain that, not having travelled widely outside central Scotland or the West Riding in BR steam days, "Railways" to me were the former LMS and LNER, and the GWR and Southern were "foreign" in the sense that they came "from another district, society, etc." (Concise Oxford Dictionary). Friends of Churchwood in particular (Sorry, GWR-Fanatic) were apt to give me the Grrr in Great Western...

Good grief, what is this? Railway modelling red in tooth and claw? Maybe I'd better brush up my karate skills, if we're looking for this kind of thing, now!

If I was badly turned out, or badly behaved, my dear old Ma would tell me to stop making an exhibition of myself...

To be honest, a woman's speaking voice matters as much to me as does her appearance. One I hear regularly on the BBC Radio 5 Live "Drive" programme is Aasmah Mir, who has a warm cultured Scots accent and an irresistible chuckle. Wondering if she was one who has what is sometimes unkindly described as "A good face for radio", I Googled her name and found she looks as good as she sounds... http://www.google.co...9,r:9,s:0,i:100

You are The Ultimate Railway Modeller: You create a layout with a township that's so perfect in every detail that it becomes real, and because it is your own creation, your Utopia, you can go down into it. And as for your unfaithful wife and her lover... No, I haven't gone mad; that's the essence of the short story "Small Town", by Philip K. Dick. It's a good read - http://www.sffaudio....20K.%20Dick.pdf

Hah! I shall try a similar shot then, and if I get it right learn from the master and keep schtum about how I did it.

Could you explain your technique, please, coach?

I wish you'd desist from these reckless pursuits! We don't want you to seriously injure yourself - I mean, we might never get to see Bacup finished, mightn't we! Show a bit of consideration, please!