f#m

No frieght? most have a P-way train of some kind since the track and such doesn't magically take care of/replace itself when work needs doing, many run freight trains for the benefit of photographers, many also have stock awaiting restoration stored at a different location from the main base of work where restoration takes place so you get stock in various states of decay/rebuilding being taken back and forth as funds/staff becomes avalable to restore it... A lot more going on than some model railways would have, particularly these modern image ones you get with a shed that a light loco or two potters about at getting refueled while a sprinter comes and goes from the platform next to it. (that's not saying that kind of layout has anything wrong with it I quite like them actually)

Why would you do it? For the shear fun and of it I guess, would have about as much point in this day and age as that 5AT is ever going to have (none that I can see beyond being an exersize in engineering theory and a massive waste of money that could otherwise be spent on restoring an old engine or building more lost engines like Tornado) and possibly slightly more point as it would be more interesting to see and more of a challege to make work than just building a loco pretty much the way they have been built for decades. Seems a little to me like the car industry, very little actual progress or new idea's just a case of "here's our latest model, it's got the same body and chassis as the last model but with a few more BHP and a satnav so we can change a few letters about in the name or ad GTR or something to the end and bingo, new model." It's still the same basic format as most cars that came before it. No disrespect intended to the 5AT group incase anyone involved is reading just stating an opinion. More on the topic of imaginary locomotives, this what you get if you glue two class 04 shunters together. Still deciding the best way to go about motorising this creation.

Also what are they going to do once all the oil is gone? It'll be in the same boat as the coal fired machines now and fuel costs will go through the roof. A truely imaginative idea would be to have a body shape like the Leader and stick a pantograph on top and heat the water through an enlarged version of a kettle element. As long as the goverment gets off their ass about making sure we have enough clean ways of making power there'd be no issue with fueling it only with the route avalability but that would probably grow as oil powered trains disapeared with their fuel gone.

Why does it have to stay looking like a regular steam loco if the whole point of the project is to design the loco from scratch and for it to be new and modern why stick with an old idea about where the cab should go? surely something along the lines on the Leader/turf burner would be more modern than a rehashed standard 5 and have greater visability for the driver and not require a turntable/triangular junction to turn round in order to run the "right" way round.

Red Dwarf books being read on radio4. Need to get this on cd or something.

recent bunch: manic street preachers - yes biffy clyro - bodies in flight catatonia - gold fish and paracetamol radiohead -airbag radiohead- paranoid android Playing along on my guitar to the lot for practice.

superb! Could you tell me what times the next fife circle service departing?

There can be a lot of interesting shunts on these layouts if you make the timetable as it were for operating the layout such that it starts when the railway is in its beginings with old battered stock and out of sevice locos and shunt them in and out of sheds and into trains to be put away into a siding to be waiting in the que for work and if you have multiple examples of most items of stock representing them at various stages of being restored or overhauled you can have a fantastic amount of interesting options for trains to run, shunts to do with the ever changing stock. I think operating it in this way would make it a pretty interesting exhibition layout.