DavidLong

Does this mean that they have finally got around to an update of the Jack Simmons volume or has there been one in between in the last eighty years? David

What seems to be lacking in the view of DfT/Treasury in this whole discussion about HST is a sense of proportion. Being in part of government is exactly what they should have before making these highly dubious and expensive decisions. Here is a slide that has been used by Gareth Dennis which gives an assessment of the sense of proportion required: The £4bn spent on High Speed Rail represents 0.36% of total government expenditure in one year. Not exactly enough to break the bank, is it? This seems like a small price to pay for a significant addition to national infrastructure in one of the richest counties in the world and which will be in place for decades to come. UK Government - it's called investment. Drives me to despair. David

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/27/revised-plans-hs2-london-euston-terminus-cost-5bn David

The definitive article on Buckjumpers was penned by Iain Rice in MRJ 35 which was a classic issue all round in fact. Articles by John Charman, Paul Berntsen, Frank Dyer, Chris Matthewman, Allan Sibley, Roger Marsh and, as remarked, Iain Rice. Quite a cast list! Excellent choice Accurascale! David

From The Guardian today: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/14/internal-government-briefing-hs2-delays-increase-costs Much weaseling from Merriman. Delay costs more! Who knew? David

Good news indeed, Tony. May I ask, is it 1:6 or 1:7? David

Never mind all these glamour puss locos, Nick, what you really need to 'keep the balance, is a Crab. Here is your start point: https://www.farishnspares.co.uk/graham-farish-by-Bachmann/crab-class-b-r-black-body-l/crest-tender-no-42932-372-225.html I have absolute faith in your ability to produce a silk purse from a sow's ear . . . David

I'm more puzzled by the fact that the Raithby tender is 1:152 and the locomotive is 1:148. David

Even if the 1844 legislation was repealed as part of the 1947 act it still took BR another nine years to move from third to second which does seem to be rather a long time. By the way, more here from the popular press about the AWC change: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/third-class-rail-travel-return-premium-economy-service-b935966.html David

So was the legislation repealed so that BR could abolish the third class designation and rename it as second and. if so, when did this happen? AWC, along with their other sins, have now reintroduced three classes with first, premium and standard on their trains. If you can get one . . . David

I just don't think that it is imported into the UK. EMA are the official distributors of Plastruct products for the UK. Although they list a number of planked and corrugated sheets there is no listing for the brick sheet. From Kevin's experience it does sound like Plastruct will ship direct to customers; this isn't always the case as you are often referred back to the the distributor for your region. I'm always up for finding a decent N scale brick sheet but sometimes it can lead up blind alleys. A few years ago I found a seller in the US and ordered a couple of sheets. When it turned up it was the same type that can be bought from South Eastern Finecast! Thanks for comments, chaps. David

Hi Kevin, I've been interested in this Plastruct brick sheet before but it only seems to come up on the .com (US) site as there is no sign of it on the UK site. Did you get yours in Oz or did you have to order from the USA? David

Many thanks for the information , Simon, which is quite encouraging. 2FS 6mm wheels should be ok using 13.7mm axles with a tad taken off each end. 4mm RTR seems to have managed to generally stay with 26mm axles for years but, for some unknown reason, similar standardisation just doesn't seem to have happened in N. I feel a little more confident now about the OAA pre-order. David

On the off-chance that someone on here may have bought some of the Rapido Conflat Ps I thought that I would ask a couple of questions about the wheels: 1) Is the diameter to the usual N standard of 6.2mm? 2) What is the length of the axles? One never knows if a new manufacturer in the scale may make some subtle changes to the usual standards. Even current manufacturers have caused us some amount of fun (!) with axle lengths. I have pre-ordered a pack of the OAAs so I would assume (another !) that the wheel standards may be the same as the Ps and I may be able to deduce the most suitable 2FS equivalents. An additional thought for the Association is that an etch for disc brake inserts would be a 'nice to have' for use with the OAA conversion. David

Jack Nelson was another writer and modeller who had lost an arm, in a motorcycle accident if I recall correctly. His seminal work 'LNWR Portrayed' is being reprinted by Peco. David

I awarded this a round of applause as it so richly deserved it. Quite sensational. David

You continue to be full of surprises, Bob. Do tell more! David

Thanks, Bob. When I asked about operating the maltings siding it was based on what happened to the brake van. Your photograph provides the simple answer; leave it on the approach line while you shunt the siding. Obvious when you see it! The photograph really is East Anglian diesel heaven - Class 15, Class 24 and Class 31. David

Bob, I'm puzzled about how you work the maltings siding. I can see how the sand and general goods sidings could be worked but the maltings has got me stumped. Reminds me of the mill siding at Ashburton . . . David

Another classic, Bob. Quite delightful. David

Is it just my impression or did the ER/NER either a) not repaint their boxes or b) just repaint them in LNER colours? All the other four regions used the regional colour + cream/off-white to repaint their boxes but I don't recall seeing any photos of ER/NER boxes in dark blue/tangerine livery. The region that I was most familiar with was the LMR and I do have recall of the obvious fading of the maroon to more of a pinkish tone over time. This was especially noticeable as the numerous vitreous enamel signs retained a strong colour for much longer. The fading was very noticeable on any wooden surfaces that had been painted. Wasn't there some dark humour on the railway in the 1960s that when the painters came to call this merely presaged a closure proposal! David

Lovely to see this again, David. I remember operating it when it was guest layout at Scaleforum in 19 . . . mumble. . . mumble! Can you remember when? Another +1 for the DY1 David

Rise End quarry, I remember it well. Especially for the delightful colour photograph on the cover of 'Model Railways'. David

Sounds good to me. How is the Lady herself? Thriving, I hope. Missed the hugs over the last couple of years! David

Hi Richard, They are 50mm long x 2.1mm wide x 0.70mm thick. I have two packs that you can have as I use ply sleepers. Send me a PM with your address and they are yours. David