Matthew Cousins

Spent Friday trying to sort out a quarter inch gap that has opened up between the viaduct and the rockery. Given that all parts of the layout are massively over engineered, I was puzzled as to how this movement occurred with enough strength to shear the screws holding the trackbed down. Anyway have got this mostly sorted out in a day, with a friends help and had just enough daylight left to get a pic of his locos on a test run.

Glad that you liked it!

Perhaps Sir Nigel might have produced this, if not for the war? I suppose that it might have been classed as an M4 and then named after the top bods in the LNER with the bird names being restored to the swifter A4's?

You have a point there, but I have no room for it indoors anyway, so will see how the paint goes - and if it stays on the aluminium!

After an embarrasingly long time I have managed to get the bridge painted, so there is some chance of running the complete circuit this summer. It looks a bit bright, so I might even weather it! The deck will be treated in the same way as the rest of the outdoor track with a base of resin and ballast followed by track pinned and finally packed with more ballast and resin. So far the rest of the track has lasted 2 winters with only very minor loss of resin adhesion to the plastic fascia boards.

Hi Hilbert, the loco will be 60027 Merlin in the experimental purple/blue livery, if I can get the colour right that is!

Hi Thanks for your kind comment, winter seems to be pretty prolonged down here too! but when the sun comes out it's just great to be in the garden and I'm very lucky to have the layout, which is on the site of an old vegetable plot and Karen didn't spot the potential of it, so I land-grabbed and then many years later graciously allowed the building of a summerhouse greenhouse, on condition that I could still have the railway run through it!

As with many other 0 gauge folk, I have gone outdoors with the station (and power supply) in the summerhouse.

It's a pity this isn't 0 Gauge, I would buy one straight away!

Do Bachmann do 'Magnadhesion', it must help with this new ceiling based space saving layout idea!

It certainly should never go in the skip, someone would probably love to own and operate it, looks very good to me.

Well done with the backscene and figures, both have enhanced an already very good layout. Also note the arrival of the O2, which probably fills the gap that might have been filled by the Adams Radial?

Top quality work, well done indeed!

Really like the backdrop, is it photographically produced or painted? I also think that the layout looks convincing as an adaptation of reality.

Inspirational work! Makes me want to get on with some of my mis-shapen acquisitions!

You will be so busy with being retired, you will wonder how you ever had time for work!

Looks like you need a medal for bravery!

I'm happy to report that the S scale models have found a new home, through the wonderful medium of the RMWeb! A last pic just to show the LBSC K Class Mogul, which I think must be around 50 years old and shows what a good level of model making was developed in this lovely scale all those years ago. It is good to know that these have gone to a good new home where they will be looked after and brought up to date (although I was intrigued by the skate mechanisms for stud contact and how the stud became almost invisible in the handmade trackwork). Having looked at the nice layouts made in this gauge, I have admired the workmanship and feel that this scale has been rather unfairly overlooked, as it is that bit bigger than 4mm so the smaller locos can be modeled well, yet is smaller and easier to deal with than 0 gauge,( which is my chosen gauge where the model making in 0 gauge is at some times absolutely sublime).

A very good job, what names will they carry?

I can still remember a farm layout that my Dad made for me when I was 6 one Christmas,(over 50 years ago!) I'm sure this will be a very memorable for your son, well done.

Well.. the wheels are round, that's a start! I look forward to seeing what you can make of this!

The Old chap who built these models about 50 years ago was very good at construction - although painting has improved a long way in recent years. These items are available for sale and appear to be the 3/16th scale imperial form of the gauge and are 3 rail stud contact. An intriguing scale that I hadn't encountered before. It would be good for these nice locos to go to a new home with an 'S' gauge modeller who would appreciate them.

Hi Peter, Please see re-crop of the pic - it shows all the nameplate but not the whole loco for 60012. Cheers, Matthew

Excellent work and clever use of lighting, well done.

Yes Jon, they have taken a lot of care to detail the various types of casing on both loco and tender and at first sight they appear to be accurate.