NHY 581

Further to Graham's CAKE appeal........I can confirm that there will be a Vietnamese Coffee cake as well as a Courgette sponge. The trialled Lemon cake did not pass muster and will not be deployed. Welsh cakes however are being refined and have reached close to optimum development. On the subject of development, @mozzer models aka Brian from 247 Developments normally sorts out Welsh cakes as in providing rather than scoffing.......though he has a good go... And on the subject of scoffing.......... Fair warning @Stubby47 normally disposes of any unattended Chocolate cake so DO NOT leave any of your plates containing same in his vicinity. If you do and it mysteriously vanishes, do not lodge a complaint with Event Management. It will be met with the same vacant expression as @Stubby47 if you ask him if he's seen your chocolate cake.........

Discuss.

Bless you.

Morning all, Apologies for the absence. Yes, there is stuff going on, a lot of stuff as it happens and as such, I’m trying my best to reduce my online time and reallocating that time to doing said stuff. Yes, Project W is ongoing and all will be revealed in due course, when things are truly under way. The reason for the urgency ( and therefore the head down approach ) is that this new project ( which is currently little more than bare boards ) is scheduled to have it’s first public showing at the beginning of August’ 24.................and this is in addition to the previously published exhibition commitments for 2024 but could not be turned down. ( and it will not be shown as a work in progress ) So, keeping an eye on SWAG’24, Project W and readying Sheep Dip and Ewe for forthcoming exhibitions is keeping the 🐑 well and truly occupied. Sporadic updates will follow. I thank ewe. Rob

Don’t feel pressured, Jay. SWAG is not a show. It’s taking your trainset out to a mate’s house for a day with other mates and their trainsets, with tea, CAKE and chatting thrown in. It will be fine. Rob

@2ManySpams will be so excited he may well be sick !!! What a day ! Rob

Hi Martyn, Having thoroughly enjoyed your demo at SWAG'23, I'm looking forward to seeing what appears with you at SWAG'24. I've said it many times before but the colour palette you use is wonderfully subdued and quite individual. Rob

Morning all, Well, the countdown continues and this weekends featured layout is @JustinDean's nod to the Cromford and High Peak Railway. Those SWAG regulars may well remember @Alister_G's lovely Ladmanlow Sidings from a couple of years ago. Well this year, Jay brings more Cromfordy in the shape of Middleton Top. I have to say, he is really capturing the essence of this arguably iconic location by combining scratchbuilt structures along with faithfully modelled scenery. Locos and stock on this much missed line were a real mixture of some quite archaic small* tank engines which made this line somewhat idiosyncratic. To model this, Jay has combined detailed ready to run locos with suitable kit built items. Wagons are a similar mixture and they also include some lovely 3D printed water tanks. I know he is still beavering away on the layout so I for one am looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours. Here then are a few images by Jay to whet the appetite. Remember, this is very much a work in progress....( the paint might even still be wet on the day so be careful !). Rob. * Austerity 0.6.0st are not small. Bloody great bruisers of locos actually and in some quarters are considered honorary Panniers..........

Given my East Anglian leanings, this is seriously tempting.

Morning Dave, Just stunning and a lovely addition to a lovely layout. Rob.

Train, Train- Blackfoot.

When I eventually get around to building my larger East Anglian layout, it will be firmly set 1965/66. All green diesels, small yellow warning panel. No steam but good cross section of diesel classes, railcars and DMUs. I would also like early 50s branch layout but we need an E4 to complete a smaller loco roster and compliment the J15 and forthcoming tanks from Accurascale. So for now, diesels it is. Rob

Kernow will probably know. Give them a ring. Rob.

Nick.............. What if....... One lengthens the sidings by moving the points back along the headshunt thing and add a short, detachablesque off piste shunty stick. I'm troubled by the length of the sidings, especially when you take into account that the intial bit, closest to the points, will be compromised due to the close proximity of the adjacent tracks at this point. Rob

Morning all, The spotlight this morning falls on one of our esteemed traders. In this case............ Mudmagnet Models. https://mudmagnet-models.sumupstore.com https://mudmagnet-models.sumupstore.com/products Richard, aka @mudmagnet offers a range of 3D printed bits and bobs in 4mm and 7mm. It's simply those little somethings which can add so much character to those all important little places. I'm not one for figures on a layout but some carefully placed accessories such as those produced by Richard can suggest the presence of human life equally as well. And he's a pretty good modeller as well.......( as you can see from the images of his products above ) Use the links above to see what else Mudmagnet Models can offer and get those pre-orders in so that Richard can bring these along for you to collect on the day. Rob.

Yep, wrong message. Jay picked up on the incorrect wheels. So, an unpainted, non working built kit complete with incorrect wheels has sold for tidy sum. Even with all the above attended to, it genuinely is not worth much more than the price paid. Rob

Bonkers. In reality, it's probably worth around £150 in it's present condition. But ultimately, it's worth what someone will pay on the day.....in this case, rather a lot. However, that seller is worth following. Rob

Total oversight on my part. I've just ordered three LED striplights. I'll just need to sort out boxing it in. Rob

Indeed. In the next week or so, I must do some work to Sheep Dip as I had forgotten that the lighting rig had been sold with Bleat Wharf....... Rob

Morning Alex, Shaping up nicely for SWAG ! Rob

Ahem.....cough.......With all due respect to Sir, Sir needs to prioritise.....USA indeed...! Damn those colonials ! They won't have Vietnamese Coffee cake you know.... most likely no Courgette and cream cheese muffins or Welsh cakes and definitely no pastys. Good God man ! Have you taken leave of your senses ?

Morning all, This weekend's featurette focuses on Bethesda Siding, the Cameoesque Creation of our very own @Captain Kernow To quote Tim ( who explains these things far better than I can )...... "Bethesda Sidings’ represents the goods yard of Capel Bethesda, using the road bridge that carried the lane to Penybont over both the goods yard connecting line and the main line to Rhayader as a scenic break. The layout is goods only and a variety of typical W.R. motive power will be used, such as pannier tanks, 14XX tanks" ( and no doubt other suitable BR motive power ) " As the layout is set in the post-November 1962 period, trains from the Vale of Radnor Light Railway are authorised to run over BR metals from Vale of Radnor Ground Frame into the goods yard, so a variety of industrial and light railway types will be available" Rest assured, we shall be treated to a veritable smorgasbord of seemingly improbable motive power courtesy of the inspired choices made by the Kernow Motive Power Procurement Committee......you have been warned....... Another example of how a small ( 4ft 6ins long ) perfectly presented layout can be so very entertaining both at home and when taken out to an exhibition. Rob.

Paul, just re read the above. One thing, see the photo in my original post and your proposed amendment to remove the works plate. No so. Still in place, certainly in 1927 so in that respect, I'd leave it there. And wheels, should they be lined green ? Rob.

Fran, my apologies. Missed the above. Living proof that I cannot multi-task and read an e-mail. Thanks , Paul. Comprehensive as ever. I'm looking forward to the "revised" decorated samples. Only question is that of the buffers. In the image above taken at Battersea, they do look a tad tapered..... Rob.