DavidLong

Always liked Presflos, Tim. A 'modern' wagon for the traditional railway. I seem to remember that Frank Dyer ran some, no doubt of the Airfix variety, on Borchester Mk 1 behind his J39. A nice contrast of old and new. Yours will look nice behind that Pannier Tank. Next job? David

An example would be the dashed hopes for the reopening of Leicester - Burton to passengers. Back in the latter days of B.R. there was a plan to do this and link it with some reopened stations on the MML. The scheme was backed enthusiastically by Leicestershire and the stations reopened on schedule and an interim stopping service was introduced. That is precisely where it stayed as, before entering Burton (just in Staffordshire) the line passes through Derbyshire for about 3-4 miles. The stumbling block as I remember is that Derbyshire were unwilling to make a financial contribution as the main benefits lay within Leicestershire and Staffordshire. At least Penrith to Keswick doesn't have this particular problem ('challenge' in modernspeak) being entirely within Cumbria!

I suspect that any sunstantive devolution of decison making to the north will be mainly to tha advantage of the metropolitan areas and I've read that shire county administrations are sceptical about how much they stand to gain from such a process. The people at SELRAP who are campaigning for the reinstatement of Colne to Skipton are working long and hard on this project which links the substantial urban areas of East Lancashire and West Yorkshire. This could have real benefits in terms of opening up access to employment opportunities but they don't appear to be making real headway with the essential decision makers. All of this route lies within shire county boundaries. On the other hand the first English reinstatement outside London is likely to be the full re-opening of Oxford to Bedford. This has been supported by the heavyweight East-West rail partnership and is working in an area of rapidly growing population and a route that could have significant advantages for railfreight. Sadly neither of these factors are present for Penrith-Keswick and I wish the project every success but I feel that there may be many more hurdles to overcome and financial burdens to confront before the goal can be reached.

I think that it may be more accurate to say that Corby is the exception outside of the devolved railway administrations.

A couple of points about motors. The motor in the Farish 03/04 locos is identical in dimensions to that sold by the 2mm Scale Association except that it is single-ended. If you are going to build a finescale chassis for one of these locos and have the whole loco rather than just the body then the motor from the GF chassis can be used in the conversion. It also saves putting unnecessary stress on the double ended version in removing one of the shafts. If you require a shorter motor for a project and the 8x10 dimensions of the flat can are ok then it may be worth looking at this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-Size-Motorized-Chassis-TU-DEKI1-N-scale-/360509915299?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D4646158610354127405%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D200611639193%26 When the motor is stripped out you will find that it is only 11mm long compared to the Association/GF version length of 15mm. The 4mm may not seem much but in 2mm scale it can sometimes make a lot of difference. At current conversion rates, including postage, it works out at about £27. This is getting into Faulhaber/Maxon territory but as far as I am aware none of their motors are as short as this one. Should have mentioned that the single shaft is 1mm like the larger version. It has a short nylon worm and I'm no expert on these things but it may weIl be 64dp-ish or thereabouts! I haven't used motor yet but I have no reason to suppose that the performance or potential longevity would be any different to the 15mm version. If anyone knows where these motors may be purchased separately and/or cheaper then it would be useful to know. Edit: If using the Farish motor you will need to remove the brass worm in order to fit the Association version. I bought the GWS pinion gear puller which does 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm shafts. It makes short work of removing the worm. It's available from a number of outlets but you can see it here: http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=525

Stephen Harris does an etched kit for one in 2mm scale (1:152): http://www.2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/stephenharris/index.htm Fourth item from the top.

Problem is Colin that, outside of the Manchester clubs, the following pack are suddenly light on strikers so tend to have to persist with one or two when a bit of rotation would be in order. The sad fact is that, these days, in order to be consistently successful in the Premier league you need two players of equal high standard in each position. A tall order for squads of twenty five when at least three need to be goalkeepers. I think it is no coincidence that the club that comes nearest to this ideal is top of the league. Manchester City, unsurprisingly given their resources, are probably closest and indeed are second in the table. Chelsea could rotate midfielders with the best of them but strikers and defenders are another matter. The best chance for everyone else is in the cup competitions. The league is all about consistency but in a cup competition you only have to play well in a few games and the deficiencies of the squad need not be such a factor. If you are Arsenal then merely finishing fourth is as good as a cup win. Cue open top bus ride to Islington Town Hall

Interesting watching Chelsea v QPR on MOTD last night. I didn't know the score but smelt a rat as soon as it was first in the running order. It was either going to be a deluge for Chelsea or QPR were going to win it. As the game wore on I knew exactly which of those outcomes it was going to be it was just a matter of when not if. Chelsea had 23 shots to, I think, QPR's 4 and 9 times out of 10, maybe 99 out of 100, Chelsea would have won it. The one thing that you wouldn't do, unlike the planks on MOTD, is draw any conclusions about QPR's chances of staying up. You can understand 'Arry's spin on it but any sensible observer would say "let's wait another five or so games and then see if the win was significant but not before". Equally, one home defeat to the bottom team, miserable as it may seem, doesn't provide any sensible commentary on Chelsea under Benitez.

Nice work, Tom. I like the idea of using photos of the actual platform for the brick paper. I bet you are really glad that the line features some of those nice LSWR barley-twist lamp posts aren't you? David

And, needless to say and a tad ironically, RdM being linked (even if only in the press' fevered imagination) with Forest. So it goes . . . David

This is the link to the item on the Trains newswire: http://trn.trains.com/en/Railroad%20News/News%20Wire/2012/12/Union%20Pacific%20looking%20to%20restore%20Big%20Boy%20for%20excursion%20service.aspx David

You'd think that the free postage may have tempted some bidders! David

So there I was just scouting around on ebay looking for an N scale Alco RS2 and I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/N-PROTO-Diesel-Alco-RS-2-Seaboard-Air-line-75113-/350499342823?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item519b6389e7 Looks reasonable enough, about $90 (£55 or so) including postage. Then I looked further down the listings for the same Walthers Proto N scale RS2 and I find someone taking the p**s http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walthers-N-SCALE-920-75117-ALCO-RS-2-DIESEL-LOCOMOTIVE-Union-Pacific-1291-/370665864734?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item564d683e1e $170 plus $85 postage! As a well known American was known to say on occasion, "you cannot be serious" David

Agreed. Some more excellent work, Mikkel. How are the windows glazed as it looks very effective? Is it a layer of glazing between two layers of frames? David

You have no shame, Sir. I should have you horse-whipped and black-balled from the Association. The biggest single atrocity that was perpetrated on the Blue Pullman was the all-yellow end which was then compounded by the addition of that ghastly reversed blue and grey abomination. The '70s were indeed the decade that style forgot and I should know 'cos I lived through them and had my pair of maroon flared cords and flowered shirt to prove it. And don't turn all rivet counter by claiming that this was done in the late-60s; it was done in the spirit of and merely anticipated the 1970s. Yours in despair A disillusioned 2 miller (As usual nice work btw but you should still be horse whipped . . . )

I don't think that you make much impression on Red Devil of this parish with that sort of talk. Bit of an alien concept. I've been watching the Arsenal (aka Woolwich Exiles!) for 43 years but I'll say that I really don't have an awful lot against our neighbours from up the road. Nice to beat them of course but I know which side I'd be on in a Spurs v Chelsea confrontation (sorry Mr.Penfold. . .) David

How come the deliveries for Geest are in ordinary Vanfits and not in banana vans? David

I reckon about £3000 (recession, what recession?) and about 26 feet. Now I know why, despite my liking for 7mm, I stick with 2FS! David

The article in BRM from 1995 (yes, 17 years ago) clearly showed batteries in the smokebox and boiler of a 4mm tank locomotive, a Buckjumper I think, so I'm not sure why a coach would be needed to carry the power supply. From the previous discussions of this subject and the generally negative tone of responses I have to conclude that most people are just in love with layout wiring! David