NHY 581

I could have fun with that. What else is in the pipeline, Richard ? Rob

That said, there are benefits to going native. For one, you can walk quicker if you speak Welsh. Don’ t knock the natives.........

Totally agree..........what is once seen cannot be unseen......

No.........and.......er.....no. Once again I see right through you.

Morning all. Not much to report as I set to the Rrom of Doom with the best of intentions but became absorbed in further 'testing' and that was that. Swapped the resident B4 with a couple of other locos. The regular Sheep Dip 08 enjoyed itself immensely as did the soon to be Lambsdown pairing of Ex LB&SCR Terrier 751 and SE&CR P Class 27. Even allowing for the fact that they were DCC fitted and obviously running on DC they ran very well. Also enjoying a gallop ( relatively speaking ) were a Beastly Well Tank and a Y3 Sentinel. Basically, anything small and shunty is at home with the 08 being as large as one might want to go though I might try a Pannier later......... In short, this little layout is doing what I hoped it would. Rob.

Hi John. Thanks. Yes they are delightful little chaps. Both run extremely well, despite their short wheelbase. The steam locos are also lovely things. A few assorted wagons and there's your basis for a bit of a European goods yard layout. Nothing fancy or complex. Rob

Hi Paul, Here you go...... 213 ( Kof ii ) from Lenz 150 Badoni from Lilliput I also have examples of Gr851 and Gr835 from Lima and Rivarossi respectively. Rob

Rename to Trouville. Leave as brown. Sold into industrial use by BR in 1950s.

Morning Jamie, Lovely to see you. Glad to have offered some inspiration to such an inspirational modeller. I only wish I had your skill at creating those wonderful scenes you do so well. Sandy Shores remains an all time favourite of mine. The B4 is a lovely little loco......though it actually isn't, little that is. They're a bit of a bruiser of an 0.4.0T, as you know and have a bit of presence. This layout won't be company or ( hopefully ) location specific so we will see pre-grouping stock as well as early Southern stock pottering about the place. I'm toying with building a second, identical layout to this but using it for my small number of Italian locos and wagons, hence the 'need' forca completely different layout. Should I do so, then I'll definitely be cribbing from Sandy Shores as I think your lovely pastel colour palette would really suit the theme. Anyways, I shall potter on with this one for now and look forward to catching up with you at SWAG.... Rob.

Well, track laid and wiring in. Playing........cough....ahem....extensive testing has thus far not found any dramas to behold and it does rather appear to be quite the engaging little layout. Just right for a bit of impromptu shunting of an evening. Adding the ground cover next. Rob

I'm amazed at Accurascale's continuing engagement on this thread. I'm not sure how many ways there are of saying the same thing but they're truly pushing the boundaries. The frustration of repeating themselves must be very wearing. Hats off to them.......for however long ( or not ) they continue. Rob.

Thanks Paul and all duly noted. It's quite a big thing ( on a personal basis ) for me to join a society, of any kind. I just don't do it. In this case, I consider doing so as my knowledge of the GER is quite limited though arguably, my interest is just as limited, being confined to the branches of East Anglia. I do hope that more RTR GER locos and stock see the light of day. Given that Rapido's tram locos were predominately goods locos, now we have the coach packs, a future wagon pack would be very welcome. A van, a five plank or 7 plank open and a 10 ton brake van would be an excellent result. Rob

You'd think the GER Society would have embraced the opportunity to promote their company. I was about to join as I have developed quite an interest in the GER. However, on reading of their response in this instance, I won't be. I would not want to be part of any such elitiism. If I miss out on access to information etc, so be it. No good members now shouting foul when they were given the opportunity to be involved. They've only themselves to blame. Rob.

This crest thing has prompted me to look through the books. It's difficult when dealing with undated black and white images to be truly sure but I'm struck by how dark the coaches look, even when the images are dated to years when, in theory, the livery was Stratford brown. However, there is an image of number 8 clearly showing the crest in the Oakwood press volume on page 221. The image is undated and does look pre WW1 but the coaches are dark in hue.

Interesting as I've fitted the Accurascale ESU decoder and still having the same issues. I starting to think this is a fault. Rob

Try giving Chris a ring or email them again. Rob.

Oops, Sorry Ade. S56.

He likes panniers really. See... He's in denial. Rob

Yep, I too have received a kind offer, off piste as it were. Thank you. Rob.

Hi Rob. That's the issue. Like you, to a point, I need to get used to it as it appears nothing will happen anytime soon re neck etc and yes, I count myself lucky. Patience is key. I get frustrated when I should look at ways to work around it. That will come Hi Mark. Thanks, yes, it has promise to be entertaining. I'm not 100% if I will box this in as per usual S.S.O.P ( Standard Sheep Operating Procedure). I may well leave as is to reduce bulk. Easier to store and I still need to sort out the Fiddly Area Reshuffling Table. Do I go minimalist as per Sheep Dip or slightly bigger. I have 'stock' of IKEA bits with which to do both. I'll contact Peters Spares, just in case but the newly released Jersey has the same body so I may well wait until they appear as spare parts. Annoying but not insurmountable. Guernsey was actually bought to rename as Honfleur ( as it appeared early days ) to act as a reminder of a nice holiday spent there last year. The guard iron is part of the metal part of the chassis so may have to stay as is. And yes, I need to adapt. Anything can be worked around. Rob.

Morning Chris. Very useful, thanks. The rail joiners were tricky to handle and attach. Rob

Funnily enough, Neil, I've been looking at Dinghams. Not too seriously but I can see me trying these. Assembly could be fun but we shall cross that bridge in due course. Much as I'm not keen, I have a lot of Kadees, magnets and general Kadee stuff tucked away which could still be utilised. My sausage hooves is not just diabetes though like you, despite being controlled, I have a degree of numbness and I'm sure it's adding to it. No, I'm pretty confident it's a combination of accumalated damage to nerves in my neck ( hence p&n ), fuzzy Carpal tunnels and more recent damage to my shoulder joints. A cumulative disaster ! We'll throw it all at the Doc and see what she thinks. In the meantime, I have to tidy the Room of Doom which was left in a state of distress and remains as such this morning...... Rob

Morning all, Pretty much all the wiring is done and tested. Seems okay. A minor issue was however found when the right hand point leading into the kick back siding was found to be faulty so there'll be a short delay to completion until I can collect a new one from the shop on Saturday. C'est la vie. Another larger drama was entirely of my own making. I'm very clumsy at times, never used to be but I find now with my wonky hooves, I am. It's the way it is at present. I frequently knock something over when I'm simply trying to pick it up. Such was the case with one of the B4s which I was using for track testing. Guernsey, one of the cut away cab jobs, stalled ( later found to be due to a missed sliver of plastic on the track). As I went to poke it, I knocked it clean off the layout. Fortunately, it fell into an open drawer but managed to damage the lip on the chimney and sever a guard iron on the way South. It could have been worse but certainly was not welcome. One thing I wanted to see was what impact the current state of my hands would have on building this little quicky and it's clear certain things are proving a bit trickier that is the norm, when compared to building Ewe. Trimming chairs on the ends of lengths of flexi track, holding small objects in general ( screwdrivers, craft knives ) and soldering were all more difficult. Not insurmountable, just difficult. Picking up tiny stuff like track pins now need tweezers as I don't really feel them. Soldering in particular was fun. Sitting, looking down at the wires as I soldered them caused pins and needles in my right hand so I had to either be quick or pause to restore some life to the digits as I had trouble holding the soldering iron, let alone the wire/fishplate I was soldering ! A combination of looking down and using my hands at desk height brought on p&n in my hands and right arm throughout the evening. Well, thought it would but now we know and now I can work on making things easier. So, far from doom and gloom ( I do after all now have the basis of a working layout after two evenings work ! ) with lots of good learning coming out of last nights rather eventful modelling activity and all very timely as I'm meeting with Dr. a week today to catch up, post-op. Updates will follow.. Rob

Caledonian 439 0.4.4T. Instant branchline in a box. 'Nuff said. Rob

This is taken from the email I received from Hattons regarding my pre-orders. I have a number of P Class on order along with some Genesis coaches. Last paragraph on the email. " Any pre-orders for forthcoming Hattons Originals projects will remain in place so they can be fulfilled once the items are delivered " Rob