Markeg

My wife will be happy. Zip from both Bachmann and Hornby. Kit building it is for me this year. Only Rapido/NRM Stirling Single on pre-order. Mark in Oz

Can recommend the V&A Museum, especially the glass display. Wife wanted to see that. Fortnum and Mason's is good for afternoon tea. Buy some while there to bring home. Maybe fit in a show in the evening if you can. Mark

Hi Rick, I have put the date in the diary. I will try and make it. Otherwise I will contact you re visiting during week. Hope you had a great Christmas and have a happy new year. The two railway workers in front of the Santa special Class 17's are checking the Christmas list. I have had some running time the last few days and working on some scenic in a corner. My new chassis Bachmann V2 BR died on Monday unfortunately. Mark

I think he might mean Santa Fe. Hope you had a great Christmas and have a happy New Year one and all. Thanks for allowing me/us to follow your progress. What an inspiration Grantham is. I might one day get to see it. I saw The Gresley Beat in 2011. Unfortunately my Bachmann BR V2 just came to a standstill. It seems that the motor is dead. Mark in Oz

In York head for the shambles and have a cup of tea and a tea cake at the Teddy Bear tea rooms. As you walk up the stairs and try to sit down, that will be dizzy enough for you and your lady. The floor is all over the place, too far gone for restumping. If you walk along some of the wall at York you will get a view. Better still walk to the Monk Bar Gate, down the steps and you will come to Monk Bar Model Shop. Heaps of Model railways and very helpful. Mark

Basically they are 10mm short. Can be made to look okay though. I have recoated one with a cedar wash/stain. The numbers and letters are still legible. I also bought from a deceased estate repainted coaches which were painted with teak paint possibly from Railmatch or Precision paints. These will be sold off when I build the kits I have. Lining on the raised beading can be difficult. You need a steady hand. I use a bow pen. I would google LNER coaches, go to LNER forum and LNER coach association website for reference material. HMRS and Modelmaster do transfers with letters, numbers and lining. South Eastern Finecast do flush glazing packs. I have a spare body of a sleeper coach which I use for trying out paints and stains etc. Hornby produce a correct length coach but these are expensive. Hope this helps. Mark in OZ

You have taken on a lot. From having done 3 weeks in a car in the UK in spring, what you have planned is nigh impossible. 26 days all up. The UK is smaller than Victoria, but it takes you longer, if you want to visit such pretty places. We only had two long drives, the rest we could take a little time. We only had 2 single days where we stopped overnight. The rest were 3 and 4 days, so we could see the sights. Not be stressed at being somewhere or missing out. If I were to go again I would stop at fewer places longer, say a week. Such places as Cheltenham and venture out from there to Bath, Cotswolds, Severn Valley railway, etc. York is another you could do, We had 4 days in and around York/shire and I did the NRM twice, once with my wife and then by myself the next day. You can do North Yorkshire Railway, Shildon, visit Pickering, go west, etc. As Peter C suggests, work our what you want to see and I would say base yourself near several things. You will realise you can not see everything, even in such a small place. Remember you can, finances and health permitting, visit again. Stonehenge is over rated, just a pile of stones. better to plan to drive past onto something more interesting. Mark

Great looking Banana you have there. I like the building too. Mark

Hi Tony, The video is well done and good to see the bridge in situ. I thought you look quite dapper for just turning ..... I have just been sorting out my OO gauge kits, after finishing an O gauge cattle wagon. Mark

Hi Rick, Did you remember to inform the residents of Penhayle Bay? Can you reduce the sign to fit on your layout? Nice photos too. The bus convention arrived to clog up the car park. Mark

Happy Birthday Tony. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for the inspiration over the years. May it continue. I have just completed an O gauge SR Cattle wagon. My first in O gauge. Fortunately it is a small 8'x1'6" layout. So small amount of stock. Once I finish the SR Pillbox Brake Van, I will be back into building OO gauge/scale LNER items, such as Locos, coaches and a couple of wagons. Mark

Hi Rick, Thanks for the 'memories.' I have enjoyed your posts of your layout and such. All the best on your move to the old dart. Look forward to seeing what you do next. And just maybe I should make it down south of the river (Yarra) to check it out before being dismantled at a BRMA gathering. regards Mark

Hi Peter, Have a great trip. Mark

Hi Peter, Nice photos. Reminds me, I must polish that bowling ball. Mark

Hi Peter, Looks like the plans are coming together and looking good. Off to Paris, that sounds great. Do you need someone to carry the bags? A French friend told us to say, "Je suis australien" and we would be right. The french like aussies. ​Enjoy you trip. Mark

Hi Jeff, All I can say is that they look very plush! Won't be visiting in August as I will be at caulfield with my O gauge layout Filching Rd Yard. Mark

I do not know what the import tax situation is in NZ, but over the pond here in Australia the threshold is currently A$1,000.00. That is everything under that figure does not get slugged import tax. But from July 2017 everything will be taxed. Maybe that is the case in NZ too. Mark in OZ

I did not pre-order one. Was waiting to see if and when the GNR cab version came too. Due to the fact of the Beyer-Garratt experience and too see it in the flesh, well photos and reviews. And on that note I will not buy one. I have a Hornby 01. Only bought it because it cost me around A$120 (Australian) (at the time about GBP75) and then duly added sound. Mark in Oz

Hi Allan, Fantastic work. Very much admired and inspirational. A master at work. Have a great year too. Mark in oz

Hi John, Excellent work there. Like the little people and how they bring it all to life. I like Montys figures and have a few, including newspaper seller. I use to sell papers in the corner pub and to cars at the heading home peak hour here in OZ. When it comes to statues, I was thinking that a tribute to Sir Nigel Gresley and a duck would be appropriate. lol Mark

Hi Mick and one and all, I have just renewed my digital subscription to BRM. Am pondering whether to renew hard copy of Hornby Mag. and I occasionally buy the Railway Modeller at the local newsagent. The RM is A$9.95 whereas the others are A$14+ here in OZ. Model Rail seems to be much the same. I was looking at some 2013-14 issues when I subscribed to them and found at least one article of relevance/interest in each. One about rail connection on a cassette system layout. Perfect timing as that's what I was about to work on. Have not bought a MR mag for about a year. So as I am reviewing these expenses, I think I may not subscribe to HM since it is due soon. I have every copy from no 1. I should say that I subscribe to BRM digital edition because of one TW who continues to inspire and challenge some to have a go at loco kit building. I will be one of those soon after I finish building a small O gauge layout (8'x18") end to end exhibition layout for the exhibition I am organising for the Bendigo club. It will be the smallest layout at the exhibition. Though I am waiting to hear from a N gauge modeller. All other are from 3.6metres to 9m long/wide. So was very hard to fit them all in. Actually I had to knock one large layout back. enough of the dribble Mark in Oz

Hi Gilbert, You could try a selfie stick! lol I see someone has suggested that. Mark

Good to see Liverpool beat Chelsea. Finally a win. I'll have to give my Hornby B17 a run. Other sports like netball, Rugby and Cricket. It seems like its New Zealand verses Australia. Netball result was 2 games each, but Aussies win overall. That was on Friday night. Rugby, well that was likely to happen, not that I follow the game, but I did watch some of the replay. Cricket, This Thursday is the start of a 3 test series here in OZ. The Kiwis over the last few years have given a very good account of themselves and can beat the aussies. I hope not though. Mark

I received said email as I had originally ordered that model from Rails of Sheffield. Hattons had Brighton model at gbp154 and had 4 left, so bought that and cancelled the BR LC model. It arrived in 6 days, usually has taken about 2 weeks the last few years from UK to OZ. A friend has ordered a BR version, don't know which one from Tower so having something different is okay. Mine runs very well and only one of the cabside number plates had come off in transit. So well done Dapol and Hattons. Mark

I have seen them painted red. Just looked on the elegant steam website and they are black. elegantsteam.com/coronation I thought that Mailcoach supplied the kits with a soft foam to bounce back after going around a curve. Must find some for this set and the Silver Jubilee set. Mark in Oz