lapford34102

Thanks for the plug Dave :-) Have spent some time knocking up some trestles of my own instead of borrowing them. Plus some minor improvements to the layout Looking forward to Wrecrail, something of a unique (!) event..... :-) Stu

Bidding for the ECML franchise? Stu

Whatever the back story locoholic has a point. Someone else now has the opportunity to move on this whether it"s a full RTR or something more diy Stu

Sounds like an "Only Connect" clue, still it'll keep people busy over the weekend with Saints, Class 29's and things with only 29 of them. Stu

A wild guess and probably well wide of the mark - a Class 74.. Stu

Hi, Interesting question. Firstly I've no experience of Ammo paints, out local shop stocks Gunze + Tamiya both of which I have used for wagon painting. I don't get hung up on getting exact matches as any colour pic of wagons shows huge variations. I've used Tamiya's XF90 RAF Light grey for unfitted and XF79 Linoleum brown for fitted, they're reasonably close. Now this isn't much use really to you unless they stock Tamiya as well but might give you a starting point. A NATO brown is a passable match for late bauxite. Sadly printed or online colour charts aren't much use for comparisons. You could though take a wagon or paint sample in and check though the Ammo/Vallejo bottles don't exactly help. Probably not much help but good luck. Stu

Credit then to SWR for taking public opinion into account Stu

Hi, Not birdlife though we now have chaffinches and long tailed tits regularly visiting but one evening last week we realised there was a hedgehog in the garden. So we got a cheap plastic underbed storage box and using some info we found on the web set it up as a feeder. First night nothing but on Fri had a check and this A hastily taken pic with a phone to minimise disturbance. He/she has been back every night since. Stu

On the Southern Region the service on the "old road" from Hamworthy to Brockenhurst via Wimborne was an M7 and maunsell push-pull set. When the M7's were retired Ivatt 2mt's were used instead. Think they tacked a BY van on the non brake end of the set. In one book I have there's a picture of a GWR Bulldog hauling a single autocoach into Bincombe tunnel.Undoubtedly a one-off. Stu

Hi, A few "likes" have appeared since I last wrote so thanks for those. Steve, as for developments what with the decorating ensuing clearout, the snow and postponed stuff plus a couple of modellings distractions not much actually. Which might be a good thing in the long run. Off to Ally Pally in a couple of weeks where I'll have a look at what backscenes are about plus a short shopping list of hopefully easily obtainable bits. It'll then be grandparent duty over Easter so anything happening is a few weeks away. However after keeping up to date with the Realtrack 143/144 thread dug this out to see whether it's worth trying to revive It's DC Kits resin and while the body is quite good the chassis is somewhat agricultural. Not sure how long ago I did it but if I were to re-do it or start afresh on a RealTrack 143 then I'd finish it a little differently using what I've learned from the 150/153. Hopefully then an update in the not too distant future. Stu

From 2 miles down,where's Howard Hughes when you need him ? Stu

Yep, that's a Devastator. Lots more photo's here including a Wildcat https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r9l1yy0je3wj3dp/AAA7hWRgc9JCygpmmPbVWQoFa/Photos?dl=0 Assume it has War Grave status. Stu

Freezing rain now here in east Kent Stu

Hi, Surprised to find a pair of Siskins on the niger seed feeder last Sat. They've stayed around since then but haven't seen them today though that might be to the snow we now have. Our daughter living just south of Leicester had this sight this morning and hastily took this shot, a tree full of Fieldfares who had been raiding the nearby Holly for berries. Nothing out the ordinary in the garden so far today but will keep the feeders and water topped up and keep an eye on things. Stu

Having acquired a Kernow weathered version with an eye of the future i had an idle moment to have a good look at it. Whilst an very good model the factory weathering, with me at least, jarred somewhat. Reading back through this thread there have been a couple of comments about it and I couldn't find any photo's matched the level of weathering though they may well exist. So I wondered if the weathering could be "reduced" so tried some Tamiya thinners on a corner and found it came of relatively easy. Anyhow after a bit of effort got most of it off plus there was no effect on the totem or numbers though the green looked a bit blotchy after. masked the glazing and coat of matt varnish plus a little additional weathering based on a photo in the 71/74book and here's the result. Just thought it would be worth sharing. Cheers Stu

Hi, Chard makes a sound point re the fueling point. Are the two tracks going off scene up and down roads or is the lower one going offscene a siding or something. If they are up+down then you'll need to shunt a unit to get to the upper platform. My inclination would be to run both platforms into a single road offscene and split it there which would make fiddle yard ops a bit easier. Cheers Stu

Hi, Not garden birdwatching but what with the weather and decorating decided we'd take ourselves out for the day up the Stour Valley to see what was around and call in at Godmersham Church (between Ashford and Canterbury) to find the Hawfinches before they go. It's been something of a hotspot for a while now but numbers seem to be dropping so off we went. After a fruitless 15 mins my wife found one deep in one of the Yew trees and overthe next half hour or so we had certainly 4 visible at once and likely a few more in the Yew behind us. A worthwhile trip. On the downside the local green woodpecker has wrecked our birdbox ! Cheers Stu

Now you come to mention it......... ;-) Ta Stu

Hi, Thanks for the comments gents :-) Apologies for not replying sooner but been on decorating duty and my workspace (!) is full of displaced furniture and stuff. As for the fiddleyard....... Please gloss over the quality of my woodwork which is the source of great humour in certain quarters. I am firmly in the "what's in the scrapbox" when it comes to baseboards and even the track is largely recycled stuff. The larger siding will comfortably take a 150 and at a push a 158 if I find a reasonably priced S/H Wessex one. The loop will allow a couple of OBA sized wagons to be run round which will be fine for what I need. Get the place tidied up and I can get the scenic board back in and think hard about any changes along the back edge, hopefully next week. Cheers Stu

Not sure there is any other sci-fi writer of Banks's equal out there at the moment, if there is i haven't found them yet. You may well have read something by Charles Stross but if not Iron Sunrise or Singularity Sky are pretty good and his Halting State should be on any Sci-Fi101 reading list IMHO. His Laundry series is not strictly sci-fi but ridiculously addictive. More fantasy than sci-fi Robert Jackson Bennett's trio of City of ..... books is worth a try but do them in order. HTH Stu

Looking forward to finding out who they've sorted out for Judges are :-) Stu

16X units are slated to replace 15X's on the the BTM-Wey route. A 2 car 165 would be a measurable improvement over a 150/1 though I doubt the journey down Bruton bank will be quite as exciting(!) Nice to see GWR back in Weymouth :-) The 442's will probably be back as well on the Pompey-Wey service. Stu