lapford34102

A couple more pics The white post is my attempt at a Help Point, a feature on most smaller stations though my experience is that it's not often modelled. The wheelie bins replicate part of my local stations litter arrangements with a couple padlocked to the railings. The real locations appear to have large swing bins so in time I may try replicating one. The shelter now has a bench inside but needs a bit of weathering as the roof's far too clean. The seats are bodged about PECO ones in an attempt to get something near the real style. Bachmann do something that looks similar but think I 'd like to see them for real before shelling out. The white van is an Oxford Transit Mk3 which is right for the period. If I'm blunt I'm not very impressed. The casting is rather clunky andIMHO not as good as their Mk1 version but for the moment it'll have to do. Need to sort out some yard junk now. If you're wondering where the trains are I do most of my scenic work without it working on the possibly misguided principle that if a layout looks OK without any stock on it then it should be OK with it on. Cheers Stu

Interesting,always considered this section the "easiest" bit to model with the builders yard at one end and the Town Bridge at the other making the scenic breaks. Will keep an eye on this. Stu

The Mary Rose was not salvage but rather an archeological dig under water. Had it been left a great deal of important information would have been lost, the history of the longbow is one area. It was done with as much care and respect as the Crossrail excavations for example. DavidB-AU has neatly summed up the Edingburgh, an operation the verged on the surgical. Stu (who dived the Mary Rose in the very early days)

When they are official or legally sanctioned activities. Stu

Oh dear ! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41883153 Stu

Hi, Have managed to get a bit done on the platform. Realised the lamps were probably the wrong colour for the period so repainted those, they're shorted Bachmann ones and seem to be made with a coated wire post and base and lamp from some material that isn't obviously normal plastic, however they look the part. Modern stations seem liberally plastered with an assortment of signs and notices. Used various sources including https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/SwinginHotSpots-1 to try and get things accurate. There's a couple of figures roughly planted. They're early Bachmann ones which I suspect were made by Preiser as they're notably better than the current offerings. Have noted Prieser do "proper" OO figures so will get some for a passenger or two. With those and a couple of, again early, trackworkers for the yard that'll do me. I have a bit of a thing about "overpopulated" layouts but that's just me. Pics from phone in hardly the best light but hope it'll be enough. Stu

Hi, Since my last post a couple of months ago life seems to have had more than it’s usual share of commitments; various. Did get the odd hour or so here and there to get bits sorted but more recently managed a few unorganised and, more importantly, “unsupervised” days. So this is where I’ve got to. Still quite a bit to do but progress has been good. Apologies for the photo’s, had to use the phone. Cheers Stu

Any retaining their original configuration were almost universally known as Spamcans by those who worked on them. At the end 23 lived a somewhat pampered existence though I thought it was destined for the National Collection. Lapford was a collection of bits all trying to move in the same direction at the same time which it actually did with some success. If you want to model it accurately for the period the clack valve cover needs opening, the valves had a tendency to get stuck and someone needed to get up there with a suitable implement and whack them. A ladder was the preferred method......... Why were Spam's kept going till the end. I was told axle loading but no-one seem to be able to explain where this might apply, S+D possibly ? Stu

Will be shortly pottwring down thw Sandwich bypass with Sheepcroft Do say hello Stu

As usual very thoughtful Mike.... :-) Think Airfix are probably too busy with the aviation kit market - Walrus anybody ? - to look at even their AFV/ship range at the moment let alone worrying about possible competition for Skaledale range. A 1/35th 9F kit would be nice though. That is an interesting aspect of things where a potential conflict of interest might arise or even concerns about "collusion". Wonder what Bachmann have made of this. That nothing so far appears to have been done about Humbrol is one of life's little mysteries Personally I hope they keep a decent amount of clear water between them. Stu

Not even remotely funny, get a new joke writer....... Stu

This is all getting deeply philosophical for this early on a Monday morning. As for what tribe i am perhaps a sample of DNA sent off to the labs will answer that one. Well done to Peco for the points and track.Will get a couple of points even though have no immediate use for them but support your local sheriff and all that seems to be applicable here. Mildly surprised there hasn't been more comments regarding the price. When I spoke to Steve Flint at Shenfield he indicated a £30+ price but with a street price of 30ish it's OK even though at the very top end of my budget. Magazine reviews will be of interest. Stu

Russ, that sounds about right. Production costs will be similar, material differences won"t be that significant Stu

Perhaps they haven't yet finalised the price or only done so recently. We'll know when they're ready. Personally expecting something a magnitude greater than perhaps we're used to. Stu

Thanks Steve, hopefully the ideas are on how to do it better :-) Tim and I had a good day. Layout did pretty well though we lost a point blade around 4.00pm but got it repaired. Had a few other glitches late in the day and there does seem to be a pattern though quite what I'm not sure. Temp related possibly. Folkestone next in a couple of weeks. Cheers Stu

As all have said a great show with a really good and varied selection of layouts. We had a great day, excellent company and some interesting chats. Well done to Ken and the team. Stu P.S. Was TWY's award for the layout or beard display ??

If there's one handy try Wilko's for coach bolts, just happened across them in the DIY section (where else!) looking for something different... Stu

Hi, Try here https://www.hamodels.net/parkside-dundas-wagon-kits/parkside-dundas-4mm-mounting-blocks.html Sure they had some at Shenfield yesterday Worth a ring as very helpful and good service, use them a lot HTH Stu

With the decorating complete and a few days before prepping Sheepcroft for Shenfield made a little progress. After dithering over what to put at the scenic break or whether anything at all in the end knocked up something which I hope to the casual observer looks like a structure that went in long after the railway did. It's not perfect but my structure building skills are rather like my patio laying skills, patchy at best. It's something I should try harder at, wondering if there's a Wild Swan book or the like worth finding. The pics aren't good as the light was all wrong. The blue bits from my sadly dwindling supply are freezer insulating foam, easy to work with and a deal less messy than polystyrene. Shapes are rough at the moment but hopefully you'll get the idea. Cheers Stu

Quite right and I should have realised. Wessex colours aren't easy to determine. I know that from doing both a Wessex 150 and "red" 153. Just had another look at Martyn Read's excellent site https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailwayPics-2/Wessex-Trains/Wessex-Trains-class-158/ and it ain't FGW pink though that might be a good start as itlooks close. Probably best to look at it this way - there's probably only a few people on the planet who can comment on the colour with any authority and I suspect they're more like to commend your efforts than criticise... :-) A respray might be the way but choosing the right "silver" isn't going to be easy. Having a look at my paints most of the silvers I have are too "metallic". Part of the problem is that I'm not even sure if they were unpainted or not. Closest I have, and it's not that close, is a Vallejo silver. Interested and mildly alarmed that Bachmann haven't got any details of their Wessex 158, no re-run there then though I never expected one. Keep us updated Cheers Stu

Will be there with Sheepcroft having fun (!) with 3 link couplings.... Stu

Yes, nice to see them back in their natural habitat. Interested to see if they'll get the full livery works or some sort of SWR "lite" Might just be wishful thinking but wonder if they might appear at Weymouth again. Stu

Here you go http://www.forty-third.co.uk/76_phoenix_figures.htm Paul, remembered looking for them a while back. Stu

Rather OT but.... Not sure anyone really believed it ever warranted a 1/2 hourly service to the Capital. Your analysis makes absolute sense, the devil will be in the detail as to what the stopping patterns will be of both the Waterloo and Pompey trains are. Stu

Quite so, I've already sounded off about this elsewhere. Stu