Martin S-C

Flippin' heck. "The locomotive was built to power coal trains on the 0.57% eastward climb from White Sulphur Springs, WV to Allegheny, VA. With one at the front and another at the back, 11,500-ton coal trains left Hinton, WV and were at full throttle from White Sulphur Springs (a resort) to the top." - from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-6-6-6# By my calculations a 0.57% grade is 1 in 17.5.

Gordon was with the layout. I had a long talk with him at Warley last year when he was doing a grass/vegetation demonstration and he remembered me. Given how many people he must meet that was extraordinary, he's a thoroughly nice bloke and was happy to natter about his layout to all and sundry. Today we have Fintonagh, Irish narrow gauge in 0-16.5 scale. To me it felt like "Diggle meets the Wantage Tramway." An unusual model with the kind of odds-and-ends rolling stock I really like. Wittenden. 0-16.5 again but this time set in Kent. This one was a sort of "Welshpool & Llanfair meets the K&ESR". Once more some very nicely observed cameos. There was 9mm gauge track as well so narrow and narrower gauges. I particularly liked the sunflowers and the washing on the line. As the wire fence and grassy bank show, you can really pull out all the stops on the vegetation in this scale. The 'Jenga' water tank appealed. I wouldn't have been brave enough to weather the timbers green but it works well.

Because the road is the access to the goods yard? Road steepness would make it improbable for a loaded lorry or horse cart to leave the yard.

Chris - its your railway, build it how you want mate. Nothing looks wrong if you think it looks right. I've got technical howlers on my layout but I don't care. I am not constructing a miniature version of reality, I am modelling the kind of fiction I want to model.

Olives stuffed with feta. I like your style, sir.

Apparently he'll dress you up and perfume you as well. Must make an appointment.

That never stopped those clever Russians.

Over the next few days (due to site upload limits) I'll post some pics I took at the Epsom & Ewell model show last weekend, down in deepest darkest Surrey - the stomping ground of my cars, alcohol and girl discovering youth (though not necessarily in that order). Highlight of the show was a few minutes of basic soldering tuition from a very kind gent named Roger Sawyer which did much to dispel the aura of ignorance and even fear I've come to associate with this clever means of gluing things to other things using runny metal. I even came away with a souvenir of two bits of brass soldered together by my own trembling hand. I shall endeavour to have a go at some soldering of my own over the next week or two on scrap bits to begin with then maybe an underframe kit I have laying around. Anyhow, first off, Maggie & Gordon Gravett's magnificent Arun Quay. The very small, tidy and understated Garreg Wen, depicting a little snippet of Victorian Welsh narrow gauge-ness. Aaaand... this signal. I fell in love with it and took away the maker's details from the two kind gents operating the layout. Ideal for my NM&GSR. Its a Ffestiniog signal and the disc and lamp revolve through 90deg via wire within the column, as per the prototype apparently.

This is a stunning picture and looks almost designed to be a model railway - small watercourse, skew low bridge, masses of what I think is wild rhubarb, lineside industry, level crossing with unusual gates, farming community houses and a veritable forest of sheds! Thanks for posting; this image went straight into my "for inspiration" folder!

I think its a personal ATM, it prints tenners and twenties.

Curiously enough its one of the most exciting for me as well.

Very nice job on the 4-4-0T. I picked up a built kit of this loco a year back on e-Bay. Its the Premier kit.

I have a fondness for modelling tin tabernacles as well, probably driven by Iain Rice's promotion of them on his layout plans. If Rice likes them they probably are worth modelling. Witts End will have a tin chapel and the village pub will be the aforementioned verdant male pagan fertility spirit so that'll make for an interesting community.

I shook Neil's hand and said thanks. I think that counts. We are both keen to get on with track laying and getting the Celotex out to start shaping the landscape. Neil is back again on the 11th and the 13th so we'll make a start then. In the meantime I am going to have a good clean around the whole room and paint some of the subterranean track areas white to help with visibility.

Aww, that is lovely. Thank you for sharing that Tom.

And I thought my "to do" list was long!

Religious discussion is to be avoided, if you're talking about religion. As it was this discussion on religion wasn't about religion. It was actually a discussion about railway modelling. Does that help?

Major landmark today - carpentry all done. It has taken 12 full working days to get from an empty clean room to all baseboard frames, tops and gradients complete.

You may have issues with those yellow whatsits when the first train arrives...

In my opinion the Macadamias are nuts.

Sound advice. Its what I'm going to do - play trains for a month on bare track and see if it all hangs together or needs adjustment. My detailed thoughts on signalling and its associated hardware are a while down the road yet.

Alright George, which box is the cup under now?

Being an 00 modeller whose subject is fantasy railways I must be CofE (which makes sense because I am active in the hobby without really doing much and understanding even less) but with leanings towards Wicca or Druids. Is it relevant that I make my model trees out of mistletoe boughs cut only on a winter solstice full moon while wearing a sheet? There's going to be a pub on my layout called "The Green Man" as well...

Ooh, track! Always a good moment.

It was great to meet you Kevin and to have my eyes (enjoyably) opened to the contemporary world of coarse scale O gauge. I do like that with the very small radii curves you can build coarse O layouts in the space people would often deem modest for 00. And pretty scenery work is optional.