DavidLong

Nice work, Tim. Townstreet do seem to be a cut above the usual cast buildings. Is it too late to change the canopy roof to match the main roof as the contrast between the two methods is noticeable. David

Too modest, Martin. If I was selling the idea of Templot I would first emphasise the ability to plan the layout 'in the round' with the advantage that the design will flow in the way that it is designed. No more of those peculiar straight turnouts in the middle of a curve because with Templot the turnout will be part of the curve. If you prefer to build turnouts on the workbench rather than in situ then you can do it with the knowledge that they will fit back exactly where they came out of the plan. If you don't like the plan on its first iteration then go back and rework it and you can keep reworking it until it is the version that you are satisfied with. Trouble is that it can become quite addictive and you can spend more time designing than building No more of those individual templates that you hope will go back in the way that they were intended or cutting bits out to make the turnouts curve and as for lining paper and pencils. . . I wouldn't be without it. David

Looking good, Pete. Another unusual prototype :-) David

Nice work Mikkel. So glad you've given up on the code 100, your modelling deserves it. This track looks excellent. I'll be keeping your method with the polyfilla in mind for the future. I've recently been laying track in 2mm Finescale with ply sleepers and plastic chairs and haven't found any problem with adhesion so far either with Plastic Weld or Plastic Magic. David

Thanks for that , Lisa. I've looked it up on the Expo tools website and I'll keep it in mind. In the meantime I've ordered a miniature marking gauge which may at least give me consistent widths which I can then cut with the Stanley knife. Regards David

I do like these locos and you've made an excellent job of it, Pete. Such a nice change from Hs and Cs. Any chance of a follow up with an R1 - the 0-4-4T version that is :-) David

Hi Lisa, I'm currently building 2mm Finescale track using ply sleepers and Easitrac chairs and it's working out fine. However, the pain is cutting out the sleeper strips from 1/32 ply. This looks like just the sort of tool that I've been looking for. Do you reckon that it would work with ply? What is the possible maximum width of the strips - pointwork need 2mm wide and ordinary sleepers 1.7mm. David

Mr Y, you are so helpful. What a nice man. David

I remember this transition era with great affection. Up to the closure of Birkenhed Woodside in 1966 a favourite jaunt for a friend and I was: Southport to Liverpool Exchange - 3rd rail LMS electric Ferry to Woodside Birkenhead Woodside to Chester - usually a LMS 2-6-4T on Paddington train Chester to Crewe - BR DMU, a 108 probably. Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street - BR AL1-AL6 on train ex-London Liverpool Exchange to Southport - 3rd rail LMS electric The contrast beween these four forms of traction was quite remarkable especially, for the period, the quite astonishing turn of speed of the LMW electrics. The liveries of the period were also in transition as discussions elsewhere on RM Web have demonstrated. All in all, an excellent period to model. Growing up with all forms of motive power I have never been particularly interested in the sterile arguements about steam v diesel v electric and these raged in magazine letters columns of the period. However, I think it would be true to say that many who had only really known steam in their lives were deeply resentful of the changes that were taking place on the railway. Many put their cameras away and stopped photographing what they regarded as a railway that had lost its soul when steam departed. Some, such as John Spencer Gilks, just went on recording as before and have left us with an unbroken record of the railway from the late 1950s to the years of privatisation. We should be very grateful. David

Thanks, Jez. Very useful to know. David

Jez, can I just be clear about this. You have cut off the sideframes from the main part of the bogie frame which stays in its original position. The sideframes are then glued back on in a higher position. May I ask what glue you used to re-attach them and does it seem to give good security. Thanks in advance. David

Excellent work, Tim. The Howard Scenics kits make up into lovely models. It just makes me more jealous of the fact that they have never been produced in 2mm scale :-(

I'm for the grey, Tom. David

This has been one of the problems for the aforementioned 'wheel design team' and has been just as much a difficulty in N as it appears to be in 4mm scale. Bachmann have been mostly more reliable in using standard components and hence it has been worthwhile in producing the replacement wheelsets which will then fit a number of designs. It is to be hoped that Dapol may have adopted a now-standard design for their multple units but one would need to examine an example of each to be certain. David

I don't think that it is just a question of the livery which is a representation of an era. Aside from nostalgia many posters have mentioned the variety of stock around in that period but that is usually in relation to the contemporary railway. I was making the point that if you make the comparison backwards in time rather than forwards then the sheer variety available to model, not to mention the amount of railway, increases enormously. David

The unbelieveable part is that they can lose 10 points and still be second! David

Wow, so much nostalgia and for a period that lasted barely more than twenty years. Perhaps asking the reverse question is why you wouldn't choose to model a period in the previous 135 years of railway history? A choice of gauge(s) through most of the nineteenth century (no use for Peco Streamline though. . .). Pre-1923 more liveries and choice of stock than sticks could be shaken at. In the Big Four era there was a collision of 19th century technologies and the brave new worlds of Stanier, Bulleid, Gresley and the like. Look at any large scale old map and realise just how much of the green and pleasant was covered in railways. So much to model and so little time David

Suarez has previous. Ear biting in Holland and his celebration of his goal line 'save' against Ghana to name but two instances. Talented maybe but not a very nice person. A transfer to Sunderland could be of benefit. If MON can house train Lee Cattermole then Luis Suarez should be a doddle. David