NHY 581

Followed by a Pannier dozing at Sheep Dip....... Rob

A Peckett at Sheep Dip. Rob

Morning all, Last night saw a bit of operation on Sheep Dip, as well as a spot of railway reading. This is a view from the playing.......er....ahem..cough, operating session..... Sheep Dip, all being well, will be at Nailsea in March. Rob.

Hi Nick, Chris, Yep, two copies of what I see as 'The Bible' for small layout builders. I stumbled across a second copy at a silly price and bought it for when I wear out the very well thumbed first copy... Rob

Simon Castens is on here as Not Jeremy. Have a look in the Other Magazine section as he normally introduces the next issue of MRJ.....Or you could contact the Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop in Bath which he owes and runs, as well as Wild Swan of course. I know there are some plans afoot to do something around Iain Rice and his work but no idea what exactly. I'm sure something will emerge in due course. Rob

The Rice shelf ( including a few other notables ) Rob

You'd think I'd remember that..... Edit- suitable correction made.

Rank has it's privileges.......and if that fails....possession is 9 points of the law.... Rob

Morning Dom, Lovely job on the grass. I really like the change in shade. Rob.

No I don't. Accurascale's price point is once again spot but not so different to that of the existing Bachmann 94xx. You can pick up good, boxed examples for anywhere between £40-£70. Some later releases will be more but realistically, not much more. . There will still be a buoyant market for s/h if not new Bachmann Panniers. Rob

Yes. Mine has had a test drive but nothing too strenuous. It's now back in it's box and has been spirited away by Santa's official Chateau Sheep representative for formal unveiling in a little over a months time. But.....it's a bit of a rather nice lump. Rob

Pretty much done deal Chris. ... Has your 6703 arrived ?

Well, I have to say, much impressed by the Pannier shaped news from Accurascale. Top, top, top result ! There will be an order placed for 7754, the Mountain Ash Pannier which will replace the existing version from Modelzone/Bachmann. In addition, with a lead time of Q1 2025, there's plenty of time to formulate a layout around other examples. Yes, the sheep could well go West ! Rob.

Er......hang on, Roger. It's all been very L&NER this year. You've had lots of Flying Scotsmans ( Scotsmen ? ) to chose from, at least one other A3 in 1923 guise, the TMC G5, several A4s coming......oh and the streamlined B17s on their way and, and Hush Hushes......and and the Y7 from Rapido and you will no doubt, as I am, be eagerly awaiting the J67/68/69 also coming from Accurascale...oh and the J52 from Rapido..........so not a completly bare cupboard. I of course would have loved it to have been an E4 but it wasn't to be. That's life. So come on, just let us peasants who also enjoy small useful, incredibly cute Western tank engines, LONG overdue for an upgrade have a bit of the limelight today. Rob.

Well, bloody damn, flippin' good. Needless to say I've sent details to NotenoughPanniers to allow him to get his pre-orders in early. So, could we now, finally, see a bona fide Western Region layout emerge from Chateau Sheep ? Time will indeed tell but with enough lead time before delivery in early 2025......probably. These look splendid........ Rob

In addition to any new plots and schemes for new layout ideas, the inclusion of the Mountain Ash pannier is excellent news. Will sit well with my NCB No.8 Austerity on Sheep Dip.....and I can gracefully retire my Bachmann/Modelzone example of 7754. Top stuff. Rob.

Bloody damn good.....an arrival of Q1 2025 should be just about spot on for the commencing of a new layout.... Rob

Morning John, No, sadly not. Tregarrick ( ?) was extensively featured in the old Model Railways magazine but I don't know off hand which issues. I'm not aware of any other articles or features elsewhere. Rob.

No one likes a grass........

Thanks Steve. Neither me or the consultant are 100% on how much of or if any improvement there will be. There is a distinct possibility that the problem lies elsewhere but this needs ruling out first. It's contributed towards there being a gradual tailing off of output. Some days are worse than others which slows things down a bit so any improvement, no matter how small, will be welcomed. But, there are modellers out there who cope with far worse adversity. Rob

I see what you're doing and you are all very naughty.

Very nice. Frivolous of Cardiff.

Came very close a week or so ago, Alan. But..........I've decided to stick with 4mm for the foreseeable. Too many nice things on their way......and I really do not have the space to do what I would want. Rob.

Hi Steve, Green, Small Yellow Warning Panel. In my humble opinion, the best BR diesel livery. Period wise, it would place the layout at 1965-69. No full yellow ends, no double arrows, no TOPS panels. I currently have a selection ( using TOPS codes ) from Classes 03, 05 ( Wrong cab but rule 1 ) 08, 15, 16 ( stretching it a tad ) 24 and 37. DMUs from Class 105 and Derby Lightweight. On order are representatives of Class 31 and the W&M Railbus. An outsider would be a Class 21 which escaped the earlier mass exodus further north ( Massive rule 1 appliction there ). So when space becomes available, everything stockwise is there. Rob