TomJ

I’m imagining cement spilling out and setting over the track!

A bit of a random question - but I never cease to be amazed at some of the knowledge on here! Thinking of using some spare track for an Inglenook micro based round a quayside in southern England 1930s - Berkshire, Hampshire or Sussex (might be canal or sea). Now this is an area not blessed with natural hats wearing stone like the north. So what would inset track on the quayside be infilled with? Cobblestone setts, tarmac, concrete, dirt? It’s a little detail but id like to get it right!

Will these upgrades be DCC ready?

The only ever excuse for using the phrase ‘Reach Out’ is if you’re a member of the Four Tops!

I've successfully used the Dapol couplings on a load of 10 and 15ft wheelbase wagons, steam and diesel era. I do exactly what you suggest and just put on auto coupling on one end of a pair of wagons. That way I can put as many similar wagons between them as I wish, and run rakes of 2 to many wagons for shunting. So I have 18 clayhoods and have autocouplings on one end of six wagons - so I can shunt them in blocks of six. And it saves a fair bit of money on the couplings! Done the same with coaches, like the B-set For those which are already NEM fitted I have tended to put the fixed knuckle Dapol couplings for within the rake. For those that don't - well life (and money) are too short to convert them.

Thanks everyone for the comments. And especially Harlequin for his kind offer. I’ve sent you a pm

Google and the search function have let me down! I'm sure I've seen companies who do a layout name plaque to go on the front of a baseboard (or wherever) in the style of a British Railways Totem sign. Have I dreamed this up or does such a product exist? And if so any ideas who or where? Was thinking of mounting the layout name on the front on the baseboard (approx. 3inch deep) and thought a totem would look good. But no way my painting skills would be up to that!!!! Thanks

It’s a great idea, especially for those coming into the hobby or the younger adults. I got back into modelling in my mid 20s. At that time I was living in a two bed flat. I had space for a small N gauge layout but no work bench or place to do woodwork. It’s not just the cost of the wood - it’s all the tools and facilities. Something that needs as much assembly as an Ikea bookcase is ideal. I wish it was around when I started - there were small manufacturers of baseboard kits but they were generally bespoke with long lead in times

When I was a junior doctor in Hull we organised a mess trip to Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes. Mainly an excuse for candy floss, hot dogs and beer Some of the overseas doctors were clearly thinking ‘we left our homes and families for this.....?’

It was a light hearted comment about what today about my sheets of left over brick work. Not meant to be taken seriously!

The few examples I can think of were all located on lines to Newquay! On the Par line Bugle and Luxulyan were island platforms - I think developed from single platforms as the traffic grew. At Bugle the access was by stairs from a road bridge. At Luxulyan it was a foot crossing, and the actual station building wasn’t on the platform! On the Chacewater line, which was built by the GWR, St Agnes had an island platform - it was originally built as a single platform but became an island when it became a passing place. As a result the canopy on the building was reversed (to road side) and the platform side blocked off. Access to the platform was by footbridge. Further along the line Perranporth was built as an island platform, with subway access.

To me it was the mixture of some clay facilities in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere that appealed to me. So not so much the huge settings like Rocks at Goonbarrow or Burngullow but Ponts Mill, Moorswater and Wenford Bridge. The industrial trains squeezing past cottages or through dense woodland. And that's what I've tried to capture a little bit in my layouts. Even in N it requires huge compression - but so does the whole layout with curves that are far too tight, short loops and sidings. To me its about capturing the atmosphere and essence of a place. My clay works may be very under scale but it still towers over the passenger line and dominates the scene. The OP talks about loading wharfs where clay was brought in by lorry from other works. Were there any examples of these into the blue diesel era? Would be an interesting feature to add Great to see more photos of Wheal Elizabeth. It was a real inspiration of mine, especially the multi era aspect of it

Once they’ve added platform ‘0’s then where next? When will we see the first ‘Platform -1’?

Thanks. I’ll have a play. Or perhaps we can set up a barter system! I’ll swap you a load of brick courses for some arches!

Is there a way of printing just segments of a page of Scalescenes without affecting the size and scaling? Being a tight Yorkshireman I’d like to save printer ink when I’ve just damaged one bit or when I need just four more brink arches! i usually print the downloads direct from my phone or iPad but I do have a MacBook I could use as well Thanks

Most importantly it means that on a quiet branch that’ll never see more than one train at a time I can still justify a signal box and a semaphore or two!

My old maths teacher tried to explain to us why zero wasn't a real number. I always think of that when I see a platform 0 And of course Kings Cross has a platform 9 3/4

Thanks Stationmaster and everyone else. So it confirms that what looks like a signal box on a lot of GWR termini isn't really one! And more importantly I can justify a small 'box' and a signal or two on my layout that'll never see more than one engine at a time.

I think its copyright, and its only the low resolution one. But its easily found on Google Images search of Wallingford Signal Box Here's the link https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwa/S174.htm

Thanks everyone. I'm looking at the Wallingford branch because its a good example of the sort of line I'm interested in recreating - short feeder with no intermediate stations. The signal box diagram clearly shows a home and a starter signal, and as it was worked one engine in steam I wondered why? If only one train can be on the branch then couldn't you achieve the same with a ground frame (covered or not) and no signals It seems that almost every GWR branchline terminus had a signal box, yet many hardly (if ever) saw more than one loco at a time so I wondered why go to the expense?

As someone who doesn’t always get signalling this may be a daft question - but it’s something I’ve noticed about a few Great Western Branchlines. A lot of the short ones were worked on the One Engine in Steam basis. Yet they still had a signal box and signalling at the terminus. Wallingford is one example I’ve notice, but there are many others. If the branch only had one engine then why the signalling at the terminus? What was the point and would it have been cheaper to do without? Thanks

Has anyone also noticed that the wheels are approx 0.42mm too close to each other?

Im sure it’s the Glyncorrwyg miners train. They weren’t true autocoaches with control gear in the cab. Instead it was a window cut with a bell and a brake. All driving still being done from the engine

Crying into his Prime Minister’s cup whilst quarantined on the Galápagos Islands