Hroth

If the O gauge Heljan 128 is as well built as the OO gauge examples, you should be able to lug a considerable amount of tail traffic with one. Its a pity that even with your re-imagining of West Kirby, I don't think much more traffic than could be contained in a sole 128 would be generated inwards or outwards! Before they redeveloped the station buildings, there used to be a Red Star parcels office there, it wasn't the busiest of places....

I see that the "New Hornby Collectors Club" has gone back to the idea of a compulsory "Club Model" (You guessed it, yet another oddly liveried GWR 101) and the only Club Members Only model at present is the SECR H class with brass dome for £100. You also get a pin badge and 4 quarterly mags, all for £28. A bit more expensive than the old club but no mention of the floated premium level at present. http://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/thecollector

The still existing Conwy Railway Bridge is a smaller scale version of the Britannia Bridge and may have been constructed as proof of concept. Wasn't the Britannia Bridge lined with wood? (not having followed your links!)

As I understand it, the Tay bridge was a badly designed and constructed truss girder concoction with the rails running on top of the trusses for most of the crossing and INSIDE the trusses (the "High Girders") where it passed over the navigation channel. It failed for so many reasons that its surprising it kept together until the storm that brought it down. What I found interesting was that no mention was made that he was Sir Thomas Bouch and was knighted for services to engineering (ie building the Tay bridge). I don't think he had his K stripped from him when it failed, as he would have nowadays, though the project to cross the Firth of Forth using a similar bridge was stopped and we have the marvellous (over) engineered Forth Bridge that exists today because of him and the Tay bridge disaster! At least William McGonnagall wasn't mentioned...

Thats rather brave of you, implying that a streamlined Princess Coronation is better than a Merchant Navy.... The MiM will NOT be impressed!

Cruel..... More accurately, they might be P4 width but don't quote me on that! Oh wait.....

Nelsons are a bit lumpish, aren't they? I've no reason to have one and they don't tick my Rule 1 book either so thats them sorted. However Ohhhh Bathtubs!!!! (aka Streamlined Coronations...) Wantone! However, Red? Blue? Decisions, decisions!!! I dithered over Sir William A. Stanier FRS and missed out. This time...

Wow! Looks like they're expecting a little more than small-arms fire....

One assumes that your old Prof also ambulated clockwise on the upper deck of the ferry come rain or shine?

Or, going by the pic, 6 places...... Rather like the dwarf Glod - relentlessly duplicated!

Who'd volunteer to be portrayed for eternity as a "gentleman of ample proportions"?

Should be similar to R2517 E6003, which I believe was the most recent outing for the Green/pale stripe livery. I've one on order and as its 002, I won't have to renumber! @ woodenhead: Probably Blue/FYP by 1969, though they might still have been Green/SYP. You can't see the front in theHornby illustration, but it looks like the pre yellow panel livery.

They also get confused about the places trains stop at...... I blame the use of americanised predictive text entry systems!

Compared to the "wet tshirt" one of JA, its pretty mild,..... (Did that one get posted here?) I know I saw it somewhere, but I'd be too chicken to post it here myself. Anyhow, the computer its on is offline, waiting for a new case fan at the moment so I can't share it with the rest of the JAFC anyhow!

I thought it looked very nice, but at the price, I'll stick to my Hornby Dublo crane....

Sane, sensible and sympathetic. Thumbs up to all involved, not the dogs breakfast I was fearing! The only thing that worried me was the extent of Dick Strawbridges facial hair.....

I saw what you did.... Hands you your coat with the gravity of a most disappointed Jeeves.....

Flange squeal is prototypical, and you haven't had to invest in DCC to get it! Following your track building adventures with interest....

Because......

And on that note, how about a Morris side equipped with fish instead of sticks?

Two more days and we'll be into the land of bitter disappointment. Perhaps the "New Hornby" will follow Bachmanns lead and announce models to be released within the next decade?

Not only that, but even if they wanted to remove trees within the railway curtailage, would they not have to do an environmental impact study and get planning permission for each tree they wanted to fell? The bane of short-termism and unintended consequences rumbles on... The problem with "local residents" in the UK is that they move to a property close to a noise source that has been there for centuries and then start whinging about the noise. Church bells are a particular target for this sort of whiner.

February already? I'm assuming you're working to a lunar calendar. Perhaps you need to make a Gregorian adjustment!

I got "Westminster" when it was cheaper than the Railroad version at Hattons too. The only problem is that its so fragile, bits fall off when you just look at it!

Other restorations were a Thames fireboat and a Scammel Mechanical Horse.