46444

Fantastic work Missy. Be good to see her in all her glory with a nice paint job.B) Cheers, Mark

........ When are we going to see a J15 I wonder.... Thirded.

Hi Alex, Really good to see the Ivatts photographed in their natural setting-thankyou. The picture of 46495/46495 together is remanisant of St.Ives with 46496 waiting to take a fruit train to Kettering. A lovely atmospheric shot that captures the line so well. Good to 46444 (My namesake) making an appearance too. Cheers, Mark

Hi Alex, Impressive stuff. Can't wait to see the bodyshell as well. Cheers, Mark

Looking good Pete, Trips like this are well worth making if you pick up goodies like this!!! B) It's a shame I never took any phots of Sharon. She was in the shed. I'm looking forward to seeing how you go about making a County tractor. Photos Mk 2 should be with you this weekend all being well. Same clothes for three days! Hope you had a bumper can of Lynx! Cheers, Mark

Hi Missy, Looking good I must say. Ah, the modelling mojo! I've had the same problem for months. Then I started the Manors. It's all come together again. Loads of half finished stuff finished as well. In my case, something different kick started the mojo!!!! Keep going Missy. It'll be worth it in the end. It's a good looking prototype and you will do it justice. Cheers, Mark

Bit late I know but saw 60096 heading towards Immingham at Barnetby last weekend. Here she is with those wonderful 'pegs'! 60040 came through prior to this working as well. Cheers, Mark

Evening Pete, Very slick!B) I'm really going to have to get some of these couplings for my 66's and CDA's. Off course a FGW Class 153 won't need them!!!!!!!!! Cheers, Mark

Oh, and as for Mike Read. Didn't he do those tastefull advertisements for Hofmeister. What was the punch line? Follow the Bear! Hmmmmmm!

Evening Pete, That controller looks a bit flash!!!B) Like some expensive British built hi-fi equipment. I'm looking forwards to the DG coupling video as well. Need to put some of these on my stock. Anyway, now where's that FGW Class 153? Mark

Hi Roy, I would probably agree with you on the Farish Standard 3 82xxx-it's a beautiful and well finished loco with that attention to detail that can't be faulted. I'm tempted with one of these though I'm waiting for the Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 to come out myself. Perhaps though if Dapol hadn't raised the bar in N gauge Farish wouldn't have responded with such new products. I personally believe both these manufactures deserve praise for giving the buyer models that could only be dreamt of a few years ago. Dapol was one of the reasons I moved to modern image N gauge from OO modern image and to this day I still marvel at the finish on my Dapol/Kernow Class 153 'St. Ives Bay Belle' and the beauty of the Ixion Manor. Cheers, Mark

Evening, I do think this is a superb looking loco and Dapol have captured the lines well on this gracefull machine. As others have pointed however there are a few niggles that standout-namely the driving wheels needing blackening. My personal bug bare that was also picked up in the MR review is the typeface on the nameplates. If Ixion can get the GWR Manor name/numberplate typeface spot on, I'm not sure why Dapol couldn't have achieved this on the Britannia. I'm not sure if Dave can answer this but will this problem be addressed on the initial production run or on later versions? I do like this model and I think Dapol are continuing to push the boundaries of N gauge steam with this release. Thanks, Mark

Really nice work Jo, I love the 67-think you've captured her just right with the subtle approach to the weathering. Look forwards to more installments. Mark

So that's what you've been cooking up is it? Looks like a good idea and there appears to be a few options open to you as well. Saying that-if your proposing to do this as a special in the 80's period anything goes-so a Dapol 14xx with autocoach or a 45xx could do the honours. I've both of these locos and the're brilliant runners. Not sure about converting them to 2mm FS though. but I'm sure I read on here somewhere about converting a 14xx with scale etched chassis and coreless motor. Might have been Missy? Cheers, Mark

Morning Alex, What a transformation! I'm really impressed with the detail you've put in to her. She looks superb. You see. I said you needed a Class 37! I look forward to the finished result. Mark

There's some really good images on here. Here's a few of my shots taken at Peterborough (10/4/10): And one from Carbis Bay near St.Ives (20/6/10): Cheers, Mark

Good to see you back again Missy with this project and i'm glad you persevered with it. It's looking really neat and tidy!B) Look forward to the next installment. Mark

That is looking good and it could do with a Class 153 there as well just to finish it off nicely! What did you make the hut from by the way? Just one thing though-you might need copious amounts of trees and plenty of weeds though!!!!!!

Hi Tony, What a superb kit and your fine building skills have done it justice. Looking forward to further updates. Mark

Hi Tony, I really like this layout. Again it shows the benefits of 2mm Scale i.e the railway becomes part of the landscape. The trees look good too. I need to get on with tree making for my N gauge experimental layout St. Keyne Wishing Well Halt after I've finished off a few 4mm jobs. Look forward to further progress. Cheers, Mark

Hi Missy, Excellent work. Capturing the profile just right. Oh, go on then! On with the Elvis links: ELIVIS as entered the building!!!!!! That must be the '68' Come Back Tour with cape and scarf. Look forward to the next installment. Cheers. Mark

Evening Pete, Really enjoying this account of building these Clayhoods. Your first wagon is coming along nicely. The chassis looks neat and you've done a grand job of mounting the body on to it. As a matter of interest, how are you planning to do the hoods? As you say-'Only another 17 to go!'. Cheers. Mark

Morning James, Excellent sketching. I really like them, they really capture the atmosphere of the F of D. March End Sidings certainly has a lot of potential for modelling and as you have noted Class 14's/25's were used after the end of steam. A few years ago I kept toying with the idea of building a layout based around Berry Wiggins depot situated at the old Whimsey Station outside of Cinderford. I've still got the numberplates for 3737 and 8745! Although I sold all of my Bachmann Berry Wiggins tanks. Literature wise, I guess the definitive works would be the four books published on the F of D/ S & W branches by Karau et al published by Wild Swan. I've also a soft back A4 book called Steam in Dean by Ashworth, published by Lightmore Press. This book is excellent as Ben Ashworth's photographs are excellent. Also, Ashworth wrote two books published by Sutton titled Last Days of Steam in Gloucestershire. These books have some good photos of the Forest as well. All certainly inspiring and so much potential. Hope to see something oneday! Cheers. Mark

Hi Jon, Can't think of a better location. Can't remember the name of the place now. Somewhere in Cornwall I think? I was there last week. 66093 with 32 CDA's hard at work. Of course with the delightful weather, there was only one place for waiting for fots. Now what's the name of that pub? I'll be watching this with interest. After I've finished my first foray into N, my next layout will be built using Easitrack, having just joined the 2mm Scale Association like you. I think with this layout, you're going to be able to show the benefits of N in landscape modelling. Cheers. Mark. Now where's that EWS Management Train?