John Isherwood

I'm afraid that you are incorrect in all points. a) I am a retired local government highway engineer, and it was my job to know and implement highway legislation; b) I have it from the current professionals in both rail and highway engineering that the reason that the rails remain is precisely that which I have quoted; c) again, from a professional perspective, you will have to accept my word for the fact that it would be MUCH cheaper for the Railway to lift the rails and reinstate the road as soon as they were redundant, than to revisit and maintain the crossing every couple of years - which is necessary at Dunmere and similar locations. There is a good reason why they incur the cost - insurance against possible future rail traffic requirements. Sometimes, posters here DO know what they are talking about! CJI.

Try Sheet BL161 at the Cambridge Custom Transfers website. CJI.

Beat me to it - that's the one I was referring to. CJI.

Unfortunately for the residents, "the best year for sales in ages" equals going from the lowest incidence of Covid in the UK to the highest. They'll all go home soon, and leave us their Covid legacy for the winter. My wife has been waiting several years now to see a specialist - what chance when our only major hospital is having to deal with imported Covid! John Isherwood.

No such luck here - there's not a single spot with sand that some Chelsea Tractor owner hasn't staked-out with endless windbreaks! The current one-upmanship is who has the biggest trolley with which to transport all their beach clobber to their chosen territory! It is incredible how much competition, expenditure and stress goes into having a 'relaxing' holiday. To cap it all, it's impossible to get a booking to eat out because the second home owners block book restaurants at the start of the season - often several different restaurants per evening - so that they have a choice of where to eat. Pity the poor restaurant owners who end up with dozens of 'no shows'! Some restaurants now take a deposit, or operate a 'first come, first served' system. Roll on the end of the school holidays! John Isherwood.

I think that you are correct in that. CJI.

See old Railway Modeller magazines - the subject was comprehensively covered there. ... no, at this time of night, I'm not going to find out in which particular issues it was covered. CJI.

Works for me - so long as the 'newly wed and nearly dead brigade' are banned from entering Cornwall as soon as the schools go back! They should have put up barriers on the A30 and A38 months ago - but then half of Westminster wouldn't have been able to have a holiday! (... and if you've ever been to Rock and / or Polzeath at this time of year, you'll know that I'm not exaggerating)! John Isherwood.

Your intervention is greatly appreciated - thank you so much. John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

It all depends upon the interpretation of 'fit for purpose'. Surely, any model intended for operation should be able to withstand moderate handling? CJI.

I have received a BACS payment from an A. Cardall - but no explanatory e-mail. If you are the A. Carall in question, or know an A. Cardall, please contact cctrans@hotmail.com, cctransuk2020@gmail.com, or send a PM here. Thank you, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Not really - once those rails are removed there is zero chance of the line being reinstated for currently unforeseen demand for china clay. There is still plenty of china clay on Bodmin Moor; who knows what future requirements will be. CJI.

If that was meant to imply disapproval; I'd sooner OHLE and the possibility that the railway might still be there. I certainly don't think that OHLE was unacceptably intrusive in the Longdendale valley - but then that railway succumbed to the 'rationalisation' of BR, despite electrification. Electrification, with the notable exception of the SR / BR(SR), was always going to be 25kv. once the technology was developed. There would have had to be far more abandonments / re-equipment if widespread electrification had been adopted earlier. CJI.

Tom, You seem to have interpreted my post as being in some way critical; nothing could be further from my mind. Your reproduction of the natural landscape is, in my opinion, unsurpassed. I mentioned the use of real slate as other modellers - especially those modelling in the larger scales - might wish to try using it. No - I did not represent the binding wire at 4mm. scale; totally impracticable IMHO. Again, the comment was for the benefit of those working in the larger scales. John Isherwood.

Slate can be virtually infinitely split along its bedding planes; the limiting factors are the sharpness of the splitting blade; eyesight; and the resistance of the finished shards to accidental damage. In the latter case, 4mm. scale thickness slate fencing has survived over forty years of existence; and the layout is now in the hands of a young, pre-teen enthusiast! John Isherwood.

Why not use the real thing? When I modelled North Wales NG in 4mm. scale, I built considerable lengths of slate fencing using slate shards, split from roofing slate. When built, slate fencing often had two strands of fencing wire woven between the tops of the slate 'slats', to bind them together and prevent them from leaning over. I also modelled a sizeable slate waste heap and an adit entrance - but that utilised slate 'liberated' from a real waste heap! John Isherwood.

..... and in virtually all of the level crossings in the upper Camel Valley. CJI.

From personal experience, it takes just a few minutes to post an explanatary note to my website, when I am unable to provide my normal level of service. One can only hope that the hiatus at Alan Gibson is not as a consequence of anything unduly serious. John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers

Film prop model, based on a 9F. CJI.

Clearly NOT imaginary, but way weirder than anything that I've seem on here!!!! John Isherwood.

I think that you are a little confused here. It's the axle length that is critical, not the diameter; both original and replacement wheels have pinpoint axles. Your previous comments that wrongly assumed the chassis was cast metal were also misleading; both Markits and Gibson use 2mm. axles. CJI.

That's two of us, then. John Isherwood.

The rails forming level crossings are often left in-situ even when the rest of the line has long-since been lifted. This, in highway law terms, means that the level crossing still exists and could be reinstated in the unlikely event of the line being relaid. If, on the other hand, the crossing rails were lifted, legal permission to install a level crossing would have to be sought and granted if the line were to be relaid; such permissions are very rarely granted nowadays. I suppose that the highway authority takes the view that, if the crossing still exists in law, it should have the legally required markings. John Isherwood.

I am currently trying to purchase the 60' turntable; ideally ready assembled, but in kit form if necessary. The only contact email address was on the Metalsmiths website, but they have referred me to the Midland Rilway Centre. I can find no mention of the model turntables on the MRC site; am I missing something? John Isherwood.

Tony, I wouldn't dream of it - my point is that there are more of us than you may think who DO notice incorrect wagon numbers. However - we just shake our heads, but are too polite to voice the fact. (It's a banjo / streamlined dome thing)! John Isherwood.