NHY 581

Afternoon all, Well, quite a day as it turns out. Bleat has departed Chateau Sheep for pastures new and semi retirement. An approach at the Stafford show from a very nice gentleman has seen Bleat moving to it's spiritual home in Somerset. It wasn't my intention to sell but Tim persuaded me otherwise and deep down, I knew it was a good thing to do. Tim brought with him a rather nice little loco which forms part of the available stud for the Taunton Model Railway Group's Bath Green Park layout. I must say, it looked very much at home plonked on Bleat prior to it's dismantling and subsequent departure. Nicely constructed, the little S&DJR Sentinel ran very well ( high level gearbox methinks ). A lovely little loco. Whilst not the initial intention, it is possible that Bleat may emerge once more at an exhibition in the future but for now it will be enjoyed by Tim. Rob.

Hi Paul, Lovely to meet at Stafford. This is looking good, I must say. Rob

Ahem....., cough......1950s BR black early crest.......cough.....East Anglian loco......cough......cough.....

Don't forget Hornby are a retailer as well as a manufacturer and as such they hold stock /allocated stock themselves. And.........retailers don't always take up their expected ( by Hornby ) allocation so these unallocated stocks are retained by Hornby. So, not surprised that Rails are able to obtain items. But...........if Rails are able to obtain items that other retailers have been pegged back on, that's arguably a bit naughty. Rob.

Morning Snoops. The 7mm itch remains unscratched........and will do for the forseeable due to previously discussed ongoing space issues but one should never say never........... Rob

Mmmmmmm.............not in anyway linked to at least one relatively recent departure.....?

Morning all, Not much to report from Chateau Sheep but hoping to make some progress with EWE this week. In other news, one for next year's diary. This is always a good show with some nice layouts in a nice venue. Rob.

On a positive, this gives Hornby yet another money spinning opportunity to release yet another version of the Flying Scrapsman to accompany the six already released to the collecting masses. The post-prang edition will have a slightly shorter tender and a selection of Humbrol touch up paints. Rob.

I don't remember the same amount of carnage when the Titfield Thunderbolt caught up with it's train. Mr Valentine didn't spill a drop as I recall.

Thanks both. Yes, I was speaking from the point of view of an easily adapted RTR model to produce something which best approaches the look of an Armstrong. This does, as Jerry rightly points out, mean it's a compromise which is more acceptable to some but not others. Looking at the image provided by Jerry above, I question whether I can accept such a compromise myself now. I aldo have a Hornby blue 4F which is kept purely as a curiosity.....and that is as much as I wish to say about that particular model ! Rob

Morning Ian, The Armstrongs were always black. Never blue. Delightful as Bachmann's rendition was, it was utterly spurious. The best way to create a S&D Armstrong from 00 RTR is to use Bachmann's Midland version, catalogue reg 31-883 as it has the Ramsbottom safety valves as opposed to the later Ross Pop jobs. Keeping any other amendments to a bare minimum, you'll need to ignore what will be an overly long smoke box numberplate. Removal of the Midland insignia and numbering and replacement with S&D lettering etc will provide a decent enough replica. Hope this helps. Rob.

D6702, as per Accurascale's release, depicts the loco as of November '67 ( earliest ) when it was allocated to Tinsley, hence the 41A shedplate. It had moved from Stratford, where it had been since '61, to Wath earlier in '67. There's this cracking Fred Castor photo on Pinterest which is as depicted by A/S https://pin.it/5yL3F0F I want it as per it's East Anglian days, hence getting rid of the 'extras'. Rob

Glad of that as those pesky tops panels, shed plates and other guff will definitely be coming off D6702. As others have said, there is much demand for the standard blue and green liveries. It doesn't have to be unique in some way. Rob.

Pity. Would have been nice to meet and chat, Stephen. Rob

As Jay says, the subject of layout height is a much debated and emotive subject. There will be those for whom a high layout works better than for others.......... I know and accept that the height I operate the layout at puts some attendees at a disadvantage ( or in the above example...potentially at an advantage. Moot point of course ) ......but.....whilst not ideal, I have my reasons. I 'design' ( an ambitious word to use ) the layouts to look into, not down on. So when planning ( another ambitious word ) and in that I mean plonking buildings, track, stock and locos on the dining table, I get down low to see the potential views etc. I then have a rough idea how the layout will look at a show. In addition, my layouts are enclosed, I cannot reach into the layouts from the rear or above due to the lighting used. Lighting is all important. There were a number of layouts at Stafford with poor or non existent lighting and they suffered for it. All that hard work that nobody could see....... Then add in my own perhaps selfish needs.......I could not lean over a layout to operate it. Well, I could but not for long I suspect. A case in point. Currently, if I lower my head, as in to look down and then raise either hand/arm to uncouple etc, I get pins and needles in both that particular hand or arm. So bad at times, I drop what I'm holding. I did drop the controller at Stafford because of this. Generally though, when operating as per my elevated layouts, I do not have any issues. Add in the need to lean over a low set layout and my lower back ( which is definately getting worse ) plays up and ultimately can sometimes go altogether, something which could cause real issues at a show. Operating a layout for two days whilst standing is tiring enough as it is, without adding in any of the above. At Stafford, two chaps in wheelchairs approached the layout. One stood up at the barrier and had a good look and spent some time chatting. The other used a large screen mobile device on a selfie stick to view proceedings. Neither commented adversely. Going forward, I'm going to produce some handouts which may assist in such circumstances. Rob

Hi Nick, If memory serves me right, track height is 54inches.Current baseboard depth is 5cms The backscene is overall 30cm ( sorry to mix measurements) so stands 25cms from track height to top. Generally, it suits most people at this height but Alex @wiggoforgold had to squash a bit but he is 10ft 12 long. The lights sit ontop. The fascia then frames the height of the viewing slot to 20cms.......er.....ish.......however...... I'm going to revise the lighting rig to make for a more streamlined look, doing away with the separate lighting box thing. So it will look a bit more thus........ First revision is planned to be made to Ewe ahead of Uckfield. Rob.

Morning all. Happy new month ! October is going to be a busy one. As well as the Sheep Continum's last show of the year in three weeks time, there is a lot of other stuff to attend to.........a couple of family birthdays, fence building in the garden ( 20m wooden for the use of ) to name but two. Post Uckfield, we will commence the revamp of the Room of Doom which will emerge as a space more tailored to Sheep needs with much storage/layout supports and a larger, more suitable Desk of Doing. Once completed, I can then start on the new layout, whatever that may be which already has potential exhibition appearances next year. Whilst this is going on, I'll be working properly on getting SWAG'24 up and running with a view to announcing the line up in December. As a precursor, the date for everyone's diary is Sunday 28th April 2024. Outside of SWAG, Sheep Tours will be commencing at the Nailsea show in March which will see Sheep Dip attending. Also in the pipeline is a trip to Exeter in June ( conveniently moved back from this years July date ). Layout to be confirmed. So there are busy times ahead on the run up to the festive season and hopefully, this means a busy thread... Rob

Well, let's not forget that the Thomas the Tank Engine tram coaches came from the inspiration offered by the W&U........... Rob

Me too. Rob

The original list is on page 1 of the topic. 15105 was originally in the list. Rob.

Cor !

I have to apply the same restraint due to the capacity of Sheep One. Max length of 4ft ( 120cms ) The other limiting factor is getting the layout downstairs in particular, the bend in the stairs, hence max width of 16ins ( 40cms )

The cost of the model is not the issue, whether full price or looking for ways to obtain a discount. No, it's simply that with the recent poor attempt at the PWM I'm not willing to jump in to what would be the purchase of multiple models without seeing a few runners first. The proposed cost is comparible with Hornby’s current release of their 08, Heljans current 07, Class 14 and forthcoming 02 along with Bachmanns most recent 08. These locos simply need to have consistent slow running properties, smooth slowing and starting with no waggling about. I'm not willing to waste money on a loco that is incapable of doing so. It is after all, a shunting loco. Rob

Sinuous, look ewe.