Gwiwer

A little post-script to the story. One thing the layout never had was a distinctive sign of its own. I have been aware of a couple of suppliers for some time but one doesn't ship overseas and the cost of a stove-enamelled totem was always prohibitive even without shipping to Australia, But now, and thanks to catching up with one of the above-mentioned businesses at Worthing MRC's exhibition, the last-remaining section of the layout in my ownership finally does have a custom-made totem. And if you thought the outside natural-light shots had finished - I've found a way to do them on the viaduct outside a tiny flat south-west of London. The legend lives on. And may yet be re-born in some form at a future date.

Strength and best wishes to Smiffy and family. Always a good listening ear here.

Many of which are quite recently arrived. One has to allow time for things to sell through. If Kernow has 504, 512 or whatever fits the container then they also have all of those to sell. Compared with a catalogue release which might give them 50 or 100. How many of their commissions do you see in the bargain bin? Very few. Only the Delabole presflos currently other than some special offers to mark their 15 years in business. I think we can trust the team there to have good judgement as to what they can sell, at what price and in what quantity. Otherwise they would not be celebrating their 15th anniversary in a time of difficult trading conditions

Anything which may affect fitness for purpose must be disclosed. It isn't hard to test a loco and declare it a non-runner for example. Even a cursory glance should pick up body damage, missing buffers etc. A reasonably knowledgable eye would quickly spot glue or paint faults, missing sand boxes and other detail. I would expect a listing to indicate clearly what major faults an item might have. To do less may amount to misrepresentation just as would be describing an item as "Like new" when it is no longer like new for any reason. I am not pointing an accusing fingere here. More like flagging a potential for inconsistency based upon personal experience and the comments of others in this topic. It is of course Hattons' choice what to purchase of all the second-hand items they are offered. It is in all of our interests to then have that described as fully and fairly as is reasonable.

Morning all. Sun-day currently living up to its name though the seaweed-feelers promise precipitation. A good night's sleep was had interrupted only by his Royal Catness using the bed as a trampoline at one point and the student neighbours (upstairs) doing what students always do namely returning home as Dawn broke. French toast, bacon and maple syrup was enjoyed for breakfast. SWMBO has retired to her room to organise her things for a week in Lostwithiel. Surely it is time Withiel was found and Dawn repaired? Commiserations to His Muddy Hipponess; I hope a good wallow will ease any pain. Best wishes to all.

I'm afraid that is the ball-park market price now. Much more than we were paying a few years ago but costs have risen sharply. There are bargains out there but come back this time next year and I suspect £160 will be looking quite cheap.

Hard to say as the 442s are not timetabled moves so have to go by which ever route offers a pathway. But given they are on the main line from Byfleet Junction either way it makes sense to me to route them via Wimbledon. Except when only two tracks are available that way.

I am no expert on the class but looking back to Andy Y's photo-post these do not seem to be mini-splashers at all. Possibly wheel-rims visible above the frames which compares with the view of the real 1362. The steps do appear to have been located marginally to the rear of centre compared with the cab doorway which might or might not be a compromise to permit adequate wheel clearance on model curves. Just my thoughts.

So routed because of engineering work restricting main line capacity. Some 444s and 12-car 450s (so not Readings) were coming via Chertsey and Richmond as well.

There is only so much any retailer can reasonably do to alert its customers to such things. Nothing I can think of would cover all bases within the bounds of reason. There is always the potential for some - hopefully a very small minority - to not be aware of this issue and end up paying the new shelf price. As the stock has already been produced (as stated by KMRC) and the factory is only waiting for payment before shipping the answer to whether there would be enough should be academic. They already exist. The only question is how much will each customer pay. This thread is not perhaps a balanced overall sample but to draw from comments made here it seems that those who have been contacted are by and large happy to pay up-front knowing the wait is very nearly over.

Morning all, for such it is. A day to remember for many of the wrong reasons. Departed on time but delayed at Twickenham because some main line diversions were coming through and of course given priority over an otherwise punctual timetabled service. No matter. I had allowed plenty of time for a connection at Clapham Junction. Connection duly boarded we then ground to an unexpected halt north of Horley. Not unusual given the congestion which is normal at Gatwick these days but the length of stand was unusual. We took over ten minutes to creep forward the mile or so to Gatwick. We waited. We then crept forward a signal at a time and waited up to five minutes at each. Finally we were informed that a signal failure "in the Balcombe area" was causing delays "Up to 25 minutes". We finally reached Haywards Heath 45 minutes late and at Hove were put "down the slot" behind the all-stations-to-West Worthing train increasing the arrears to 58 minutes by our destination. Morning coffee became lunch instead. The return train at 20.34 was cancelled outright due to "A planning error" according to RTT. That seems to be code for "Whoops - something went wrong". OK. Plan B is take the next Brighton and change there. RTT proved its worth here as a quick check revealed the up from Brighton was also cancelled but due to a "Signalling problem". Plan C was to wait for the next direct train at 21.09 which duly arrived 5 minutes late and proceeded to lose more time for no apparent reason including stopping twice in the (closed and gated) up fast platform at Thornton Heath. The result was a missed connection and 28 minute wait at Clapham Junction. So we thought. The 23.01 Kingston was then "delayed" while some problem or another which caused it to be detained 13 minutes in the platform at Vauxhall was sorted out. We finally reached home at 23.38 and over an hour later than planned. In between trains there was a visit to Worthing MRC's exhibition which proved very worthwhile. Much bigger than I had expected and with a steady number of visitors without being too busy to see anything or talk to people. However I was running an hour late so a planned 2 1/2 hour visit was cut to 2 and that didn't do it justice. 3 - 4 hours would have been better. The limitations of local bus services these days left me with a substantial walk to finally reach mother's well over an hour later than planned but all was otherwise well. She is tired, extremely frail but mentally alert and still doing most household tasks for herself. Dinner at sister's with most of her family was an ad-hoc affair as she has been unwell and we all did our bit in the kitchen to help out. Finally I have returned home with several blue and red boxes courtesy of a Mr. Trerise from Camborne whose stall was attracting steady business. Plus numerous "bits" from other stands which is one of the reasons one goes to such events - to buy bits which may be hard to find or uneconomic to purchase online. Now - where's the Southern Railway "Delay Repay" link? I have four claims to upload. Two of us in each direction delayed by well over the 15 minutes it takes these days to trigger a claim. A free ride to the coast and back is the least we felt we deserved. Night all. See you later in the morning!

Congrats Ian Modelling is the art of using space to best advantage. I'm sure something constructive will emerge from your negotiations.

Pro tem Uber continues "as is" pending appeal. There is already a very strong feeling emerging among the younger sections of London society that the decision is a kick in the teeth for students, low income earners and those who require late night / early morning transport away from the night bus network. It is. of course, also a way to ensure the Mayor's tenure is restricted to one term if all 30,000 - 40,000 Uber drivers find themselves unable to earn anything. Many have invested in late model hybrid Toyota Prius cars which need to be paid for. SWMBO's ride to and from work is typically in a 16/66/17-reg Prius.

This despite all Uber drivers in the TfL area holding TfL private hire licences which have to be worn.

Morning all from a bright and sunny Hill of Strawberries. Rather fresh first thing but lovely now. I feel a riverside stroll may be called for. Visited at short notice by friends from our days living in Beer. They were up staying with family and being just minutes away in Hampton Wick (not the place to live if you speak rhyming slang) they rang to see if we were home. We were actuallyin the Thai restaurant all of 75 yards from home so all was well, we finished our meal withou undue haste and were home in time for a quick relocation of dust and stray socks! A pleasant couple of hours passed which included opening some bottles of falling-down water. Currently sat outside with coffee and chocolate biscuits plotting Plan B for tomorrow. We are off to visit Mother spliced with a visit to Worthing MRC's exhibition and the Kernow MRC stand thereat. Sister was due to chauffeur us arond and feed us before we returned but has come down with vertigo and has declared herself a horse de combat. I suspect the local bus company and taxi firms might benefit. Best wishes to all. I may be offline tomorrow.

Never mind l'Académie anglaise, where's the crême anglaise? There's a naked apple crumble here. Spelt is a kind of flour. The past tense of spell is spelled by American convention but it can be spelt either way in the English version.

Thank you. Despite using search across the site and specifically in obits and 'tappers that did not show up.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/09/20/david-shepherd-wildlife-artist-obituary/amp/ The passing of David Shepherd, railway and wilife artist among other interests, has been announced. RIP a quiet giant without whom our world will be the poorer.

One must exercise caution here. There are many photos of two Warships leading a train and the WR authorities diagrammed 2 x 8xx on the better West of England expresses for a time. Some workings were definitely one of each: a 42 and a 43. But unless it is possible to see mu pipes connected or an empty second cab beware. The "inside" engine may well have been in tandem (with its own crew driving) rather than in multiple (two locos driven as one by a single crew). For modelling purposes it's ok to couple the two types together just as it is to couple most other types assuming each was individually driven. For the gathering of historical records and a precise representation of a given working - beware.

Aye. A teuchter will out-scrape them all and still claim he has the better life.

Coffee consumed with two chocolate biscuits. Enjoying the little outside entertaining area I threw together earlier. Sun has disappeared, clouds suggest the forecast rain isn't far away. Rodent elimination is very effective if traps are baited with chocolate. There is an added advantage that no toxic chemicals are involved. The disadvantages I see are that it is necessary to remove the remains from the trap to the ex-mouse-sphere. And one doesn't get to eat the chocolate. Domestic Engineering is required followed by the ritual of throwing the Gwiwer in the shower. All of the above to be followed by lunch and an afternoon readying stuff for next week. SWMBO is off to Lostwithiel for a quiet writing week with friends and will hopefully return with a completed PhD thesis for me to proof-read. While she is away I am taking full advantage of my Senior Railcard and some bargain offers to make a quick visit to Scotland. Up first class on the sleeper for £85 and back on a Beardierail Leano for the princely sum of £16 Glasgow to Eusless. I get my jolly to Cornwall the following week staying in Hayle

Morning all. There are no slugs here this morning. I counted them all twice.

The XA class. Later replaced by Routemasters. So "convenient" in fact that it was felt necessary to provide a dedicated bus link more than once. When the Red Arrow concept was first introduced the 511 shuttled between Victoria Bus Station (right outside the railway station) and the Coach Station. It proved unsuccessful. Why would passengers arriving by rail wish to continue by coach? Few did. In more recent times a minibus shuttle was tried in response to some requests between the Buckingham Palace Road side entrance to the railway station and VCS. Again it was a failure. Even with baggage it was quicker to walk.

Morning all. Hump day is upon us. There is a smell of unfresh cat about the place, which I can best describe as crunchies-with-cheese. A check for unauthorised deposits revealed nothing. He may have wind. Converted the 4x1 metre space outside the back door from junk storage to fake-grassed garden which has gone down well with SWMBO. It looked good with the fake candles (battery powered) twinkling away after dark too. £49 well spent then. Coffee beckons. Best wishes for your day.

No contact made here yet either but ..... They may well have a large number of customers to email each one of whom would require a unique email to be sent. That will take time. Also in my case Chris knows I am attending Worthing MRC exhibition on Saturday and will see him there at which time my plastic will no doubt feel the need to be exercised.