BoD

Morning all. I was hoping to get to the Hartlepol show Baz, but, my car and I had an unfortunate incident yesterday which involved its recovery from deepest Northumberland. Nothing serious but I am waiting for a phone call to tell me if I will have it for the weekend.

Everton's board has announced that Koeman has their full support. Watch tis space. To be honest though, I would give such a statement from Everton more credence than a similar statement from most other clubs. Their chairman/board seem genuinely supportive and back their managers.

I could post a whole set of photos that I think would make good models ....... ..... but I think Noch have already done them.

........ but what would you do if you won one?

A strange mist/fog/haar has settled over us here, although as there is not a breath of wind it can hardly be haar. Worrying thing is though, it is yellow going on amber. Edit: and it is now dark enough for the street lights to have come on.

We have that strange yellowish dullness over here on the east coast too. The met office must know about this because they have painted their weather warning map yellow to match. I will worry if the skies go amber or red.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Oh dear. I don't know what has happened but that doesn't sound good. If thoughts are needed then they have mine too.

Evening all. I read an article over the last couple of days which said that the data Mr Fish used on that fateful day was fed into today's super powerful Met office computers and they came up with exactly the same forecast - the winds would miss us and hit France. Whatever happens over the next day or so, stay safe.

Well done iD. Enjoy your reward. At the start of this year I set myself a target of losing two stones. Only two and a half to go.

But the firms involved should be informed. The scammers obviously got his e-mail address from somewhere and I can't imagine them randomly selecting people for a scam such as this.

How very convenient.

Give us a break!

Evening all. I enjoy bridge. Happy anniversary Rick. I've had a wonderful day driving a steam loco and despite a shower and change of attire I can still catch the occasional whiff of eau de steam coal oil etc. It's wonderful. Now sitting enjoying a wee drappie. Slainte. I have a serious question for the honourable members..... but that can wait until tomorrow.

Thanks for that Alex and welcome back to modelling. I think that, eventually, the layout will be run as prototypically as I can for some of the time and according to rule 1 for the rest, just as and when the mood takes me.

That's most interesting. Thanks for that, 37409, it certainly gives me plenty to think about and offers one solution. I have been studying numerous photos but hadn't yet worked out the various timings/overlaps.

Good afternoon all and thanks for the good wishes. A lull has occurred between a lunchtime get together and some evening festivities. I even managed to spend some time with grandson playing trains. So far it has been a good day. One surprise gift means that tomorrow I will be learning how to fire and drive a steam locomotive.

Good morning all. And so starts my 61st jaunt around the sun. As discussed a couple of weeks ago, I must remember to pick up my first free prescription on the way. Then some sort of 'family do' later on. As yet I have no idea what or where. Jeans or tux? Who knows. Have a good day. I assume I will.

Theakston's XB

The plan for the fiddle yard is fairly straightforward as can be seen from the photos above. I plan to have two tracks in each direction each of which can hold two trains. The fifth track will be bi - directional allowing for 'through running' if I want it. The 'scenic area track plan is a modified plan of Crianlarich. Due to space constraints I have not included the old turntable sidings at the top and have lost one siding at the bottom but have retained the head shunt. I think it should still give me some operational interest and 'play' value. The upper branch returns directly to the fiddle yard but I am tempted to try and include a small terminus station on the other branch. I could probably fit something about 8ft by 18in. (Possibly a bit wider if I lost some inches from around the waist). The terminus would be simple inspired by something like Glenluig or one of Ian Futer's Loch Lochy type designs. That would extend operational interest but would be something for the future. Now this is really where modeller's licence is likely to take over so I apologise now to any purists out there. I want to run the layout as based in the 1970s or 1980s because I particularly like BR blue grey and Large logo 37s. To cap it all and complicate things I like steam too. So when no one else its looking it is going to be rule 1 applies. This was also why it moved from a model of Crianlarich at a particular moment in time to something loosely based on Crianlarich possibly covering a wider period of time. Perhaps I need a new name for a 'what might have been' junction further up the line. Certainly RETB hasn't been installed yet - which is why it is difficult to justify large logo 37/4s. Having said all that I still want to run trains that are of a fairly prototypical format. This whole business has got me perplexed and I'm not quite sure what I want to do. Has anyone else faced or solved a similar quandary?

Why £1475.99? Such a random amount.

In your hospital bed?

And I suspect some may never have heard of the term 'raining cats and dogs'. How do you know it's raining cats and dogs? I've just stepped in a poodle.

I hope to be at Shildon this weekend and funnily enough we have booked a few days in the lakes next week. I'm not stalking you, honest. And now for something completely different.... ..... as threatened I have raised my head above the parapet and have started a layout topic. Probably end up shot down in flames. See signature below for link. There is not much in it yet but it will grow fairly quickly as I bring things up to date and then it will, in all probability, grind to a complete standstill.

The first task after retirement was to put the baseboards together and start to lay track. I had decided early on that the fiddle yard would be Peco code 75 track but the main layout would use SMP track and hand built turnouts to a plan created using Templot. I decided to stick to OO as I didn’t feel confident enough or indeed up to re-wheeling stock. It may be something I regret later but I felt I was, at least, giving myself a chance to complete the layout. Like the signals, the turnouts were built when I could grab time whilst still working. Whilst planning, the first application of modellers licence was made. I did not fancy building the ‘scissor’ crossing at the North end of the station so although the signalling is still semaphore the trackwork is of the newer layout at Crianlarich with just two turnouts. However, they are on a self-contained board so could easily be removed and replaced at a later date if I feel like it. The baseboards were built using the L girder open format mainly to accommodate the landscape as it falls away to the north of the station. I also quite fancy a viaduct on one of the branch lines. I used the timber sizes suggested by Brian Lambert on his website and although slightly less than normally recommended they certainly seem sturdy enough. The girder frames and baseboards. At an early stage I promised myself that I would try to keep working underneath the boards to a minimum (it's an age thing) so I completed as much as I could before fixing the baseboards in their final positions. The entrance to the fiddle yard under construction. Tested .... And the fiddle yard itself. I'm not the tidiest of workers!!!