mike morley

I've been on that website before and feel it only fair to warn people that they need to set aside a couple of hours at the very least, preferably an entire afternoon, before venturing into its depths!

A tree-house with suspension bridge access. It's a sedate ten-minute amble from the former terminus of the Cambrian's Kerry branch. There is/used to be another tree-house (although not as picturesque/modellogenic as this one) peering over the fence at the west-bound traffic near the Coventry end of the M45. I originally posted this picture some years ago on the (superb) Geograph website. As it's my picture I'm not sure if I need to make the usual disclaimer about creative commons.

Alister's picture is of Fairford, ex-GWR, in 1962, off the back cover of Wild Swan's GW Branch Line Modelling Pt 1. As the former GWR was still largely autonomous in those days I'm not sure it would be entirely representative of anywhere else on the national system.

A good example of why it isn't a good idea to work to a deadline. This was originally intended to be a model of the watertower at Moorswater, on the Liskeard and Caradon, but getting bogged down trying to work out what the dimensions should be (and never getting it right,despite this being the third attempt) meant I had no time to include the window-shaped opening that should be overlooking the coal stage, another one under the pipe pivot or the doorway in the other side.

Both off the A470, north of Dolgellau. I think that's a Nissen hut hiding amongst all that foliage. It occurs to me that doing something similar could be a way of making use of a model that hasn't turned out too well but took too much time and effort for you to be willing to throw it away.

Or there's sheds within (ruined) huts. Cwm Cerist, above Dinas Mawddwy.

How about remnants of sheds? Former platelayers hut (I assume). Mid Wales Railway, south of Pant y Dwr. I admire the imagination of whoever thought of using it as a signpost.

No! It usually dries nearer gloss than matt and is almost guaranteed to crinkle transfers of all types.

I would have guessed this was a sheep-dip, but the excellently-produced leaflet detailing the many points of historical interest around the village of North Kilworth, Leics, tells me it was used by drovers to water their cattle. It's in the delightfully named Washpit Lane.

I think this must be a pump, although its design and being located in the middle of a field (near Garthmyl, twixt Welshpool and Abermule) make me unsure.

Some had ROD tenders (which didnt suit them at all!)

I recently tried Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty as an alternative to Squadron Green and found that although it was very good for certain tasks, it wasnt as versatile as Squadron Green. The two main problems I've found with it are that it's almost runny - I'd guess its consistency is mid-way between Copydex and PVA - which makes it difficult if you need to build up any kind of depth. I assume that to get that consistency must require a fairly high liquid content, which cannot help shrinkage rates as it dries (shrinkage wasnt relevant with the uses I've put it to, so wasnt noted) The other problem is that I found it preferred sticking to whatever I was using to spread it with, rather than whatever I was trying to spread it on! That is a problem it shares with Woodland Scenics Foam Putty, which again I found excellent for certain purposes but even less versatile than the Deluxe Putty. I'm still searching for a replacement for Squadron Green that I'm entirely happy with. Everyone who's used it speaks very highly of Tamiya filler but I cannot find anyone who stocks it locally and being a chemical means P&P charges are steep if ordered on line.

Have I missed something here or have you not told us what the loco is?

Built one of these a few years ago. The whitemetal from which it was cast turned out to have a melting-point about half a degree above that of the low-melt solder I used to assemble it! Took me longer to repair the damage done than it did to actually build it in the first place! Tenshodo spuds don't have the best of reputations but I found that when carrying the weight this body provides they can be made to perform far, far better than you'd expect. I know John Bruce of this parish has built a dreamliner version using a pair of Branchlines gearboxes that are no longer available. I considered attempting something similar using Bill Bedford gearboxes but abandoned the idea when I realised the better-than-expected performance of the Tenshodo spud would be enough for the limited use mine gets. What powers yours?

It's at Beamish. I'm intrigued by the brick-walled compound. It looks like something you'd find pigs in, but that would mean the greenhouse was the actual sty, which is hardly likely.

Is there a collective noun for multiple sheds?

radar and radio ariels on the wheelhouse roof. Navigation lights.

Conventional solvents no good with 5thou plastic. It's so insubstantial the solvent just dissolves it.

I've never got on with the stuff and my existing bottle of it is becoming less and less effective with age. As I've a lot of roofs that are going to need 5thou slates applying in the near future I'm faced with either buying new bottle or finding an alternative and, quite frankly, I'd prefer the latter option. Any suggestions?

I came across this in the hills above Rhyd yr Onen. At the time I thought it was the wheelcase of a long-gone waterwheel, but I was puzzled as to what purpose it could have served (there are two disused quarries close by, but they are so small that even their combined output could not have been enough to justify a mill). I later learned from the extremely friendly local farmer that it was actually once the take-off point for Tywyn's water supply. It's modern successor is a few hundred yards further upstream. The bridge in the background carries the pipe that connects it to a small reservoir further down the valley

You must be getting to the stage where you've got more locos than wagons for them to haul. Is a shed layout planned to provide them all with a home?

What are the 20 layouts? Who are the 18 traders?

My late next-door neighbour, normally a 66 driver for EWS, used to find himself driving those EMU's when EWS was short of work. He told me how the third rail pick-up shoes would occasionally get choked with brake dust and other grunge thrown up off the track and be reluctant to come down when required. Apparently all they needed was a kick, but by the time that kick had been administered the panel had gone red, at which point he discovered there was no re-set button. Shortly afterwards he discovered the nearest person able to re-set the panel was in Maidstone or Basingstoke or somewhere else some distance away . . .