Buhar

They've obviously put a 3mm scale wagon in the scene just to the left of the mast. Doesn't really work as forced perspective. Alan

'fraid not. We don't have any hypotheticated taxes, it all goes into one big pot, NI and green levies included, then gets spent where the treasury sees fit. Alan

It's nice to hear Brian's wife is pleased to know her husband's models are going where they will be appreciated. I hope Brian himself is able to take that in too at some point. Hopefully they are bringing in more funds than a commercial sale would, it looks like it so far. Care home costs are terrible, as I recently experienced, although can be worth it if matched by the service provided. Regrettably that's not always the case, especially where offshore companies and hedge funds are behind things. I hope Brian is comfortable and that Barbara feels he's in good hands. Alan

I went to a talk on energy conservation and the bloke said home turbines are very sensitive to the local geography, hills especially. He ended up dismantling his which was in the west of Scotland, which is windy. Air source heat pumps are not noisy at all. I usually have to check the blades to see if mine's working.

The other issue with joining two previously separate DCC layouts will occur with points or other accessories which have been allocated addresses or are involved in pre-set routes. Obviously you don't want more than one item on an address, but re-programming to eliminate conflicts would not prevent you returning to operating them as independent layouts in the future. As others have said, for loco control only, ditch one powercab connect the buses and you should be away. Making the join with a plug allows a quick return to separate layouts and will assist with fault finding. Alan

As I understand it, if it's an (M) motorway it replaced the old A road, often built on top (the A74(M) in places). Ordinary motorways ran in roughly the same orientation as the A road which remained. There's a wee bit of A74 south of Glasgow, the rest got single carriage-wayed and designated a B road or a B road was built alongside for local journeys and non-motorway traffic. I think the M6 M74 naming issue was to do with which budget it came out of and also trying to appease the Scots by building the southern stretch with 3 lanes.

The Travelodge in Durham, a little walk from the centre, is on the site of Durham Gilesgate Station and you check in in the original station building. Most of its existence was as a goods only facility.

I must confess to being a wee bit disappointed when the versions list was announced as I took "as built" to mean the darker blue livery so I am delighted to see my assumption was wrong. Rails seem to be developing a network of knowledgeable folk and are willing to act on their advice to produce accurate models. This is their first up my street so I pleased to be able to support them. Alan

Hi John, I take it that the Dapol/Model Rail model is accurate above the solebar to make this improvement worthwhile. Alan

Oh no!! Not the Danelaw again. We tried that once and it was very unsatisfactory, unless you were Danish. Alan

Hi @St Enodoc, There is possibly a liberal, anti-populist, anti-simplistic bias in the posts here that finds a focus in Trump and Boris (Tony Abbott's appearance is really a side-show). I don't think either truly represent the views of many of those who voted for them and I most certainly would not characterise those who did as "morons". I think Simon @Regularity sums things up well in considering voting patterns and votes against something or someone count as much as votes for. One of the things I value in a functioning democracy is respect for alternative views (with the exception of conspiracy theories) . BTW I don't think you're alone in the parish in holding a view that differs from that I outlined at the top and it's quite likely such folk skip over the posts they find annoying or one-sided. Alan

The thing that thumped me immediately was the difference in splasher size, those two shouldn't be seen out together. Alan

Biden used the Kinnock passage(s) on a few occasions previously and always attributed them. On the famous occasion he forgot and that sunk him. He and Kinnock are on friendly terms and have joked together about the story. Alan

Hmm. For the cut-outs maybe make a plasticard template for the hole sealed with sellotape or cling film, fix inside hole at the desired location (little dab of superglue so it can be removed later). Stick more plasticard behind the frames to make a solid base behind the holes and then use filler to build up level before removing the template which should,'t stick to the filler. Bit like filling windows on plastic coach conversions. Rub down with sanding sticks. If the smokebox door can't be levered or pushed out (and that model looks well constructed, probably with solder) you might have to lose it by pushing a soldering iron through the centre and then nibbling and filing away to the edge you want. Alan

Hi Jonathan, Good to see you avoiding the clutter trap in modelling an inter-war shed. The last thing anyone working there wanted was to trip over a coupling rod or a wheel left lying around for "effect". I can only think of bucket of coal for the devil at the water crane and maybe a bike or two. Although maybe a neat pile of brake shoes waiting to be taken away would be OK. I do think it might be worth burying the sleepers in the direct shed area, they were usually invisible under a layer of ash. Alan

I doubt it's the motor, more likely weight and distribution there-of. That said, IIRC @davefrk reported a Bachmann Jubilee showing prodigious hauling capacity with admittedly some very free-running coaches. Although Jubilees are recorded as reaching 90mph quite often, a more normal express speed would be more like 60mph. Alan

And as I'm sure @tomparryharryknows it also depends on whether you're in a conservation area, how close to the boundary or house you're building it, what part of your curtilage you're using (generally only at the back), whether your house is on a corner and, finally, how big it is. Some of these issues lead to getting involved with planning applications, others (size particularly) could lead to having to apply to Building Control. In all cases, keeping the neighbours on-side helps a lot. Alan

Speed increased from "timed out connection" to "whatever off a fireman's shovel" in the last hour. Go and do some modelling, Andy, that's enough for a very long day. The thing's working after a good enough fashion, everything else can wait until tomorrow. Alan

Those Clan and family names are still prevalent in the Disputed Lands close to their historic bases and many later rose to various sorts of legitimate prominence; Johnston, Little, Glendenning, Maxwell, Armstrong, Charlton, Milburn. They were a violent, lawless lot with little to commend in their behaviour although it makes for interesting reading. Alan

I think that might be the Scottish Borderers (6104) or the Border Regiment (6136) the Reivers were a more irregular bunch and liable to change sides if the price was right. Alan

US. Mark Parisi. He should have known better. Alan

I saw those, Jonathan, which is why I posted the comment! It was not that seriously intended, but the little touches you've done do make a nice difference. Alan

I think that little bank down from the platform road needs a bit of foliage, clumps or tufts or something. IIRC Woodland Scenics do a couple of suitable packs. Alan

Jubilees was the official class name from IIRC 1936 when 5552 got the black and chrome livery, not just a spotters name. Enginemen may have taken little note of this unless dealing with a company pedant. Alan

Round topped firebox and shorter smokebox perhaps? Alan