Nigel was on hand through most of the weekend (as pictured here) even though he was supposed to be wearing his Scandinavian Railway Society chairman's hat.
Only purchases of the weekend were pizzas and a non-DCC Bachmann Class 25 for Rhiw. I just checked on its suitability... only just... 25 054 - withdrawn 1985. Lucky. I know if it was wrong by a couple of years some spotty little oik with a hat full of badges would make a point of telling me so.
This coming weekend (26/27) Garn will be appearing at Eurotrack at Eastleigh in Hampshire. If you're in the area do come and say hello. As I'm half an operator short, you may well get the controller pressed into your hand for half an hour.
The bow end used a 12BA bolt. A hole (too large) was drilled through the GP's footplate and another drilled (too small) through the floor of the cab. I didn't feel like dismantling the cab which precluded using a captive nut so the bolt is just self-tapped through the floor. It won't be taken apart too much so shouldn't be too much bother. Note that it's off-set to avoid screwing it up the driver's arse. That'll get some interesting google search results..
Yeah it's a bodge... *shrugs*
A little while ago I reported the death of Alan Fall. Yesterday whilst rummaging through some photos I found this, which was the shot that I'd wanted to use - the classic over the glasses look.
As railway-ers we tend to think of Listers as lightweight 2' gauge industrial locos, but I'll bet they sold more of these. I'm not sure how big the engine is, but it can't be more than 10hp. Pre-fork lifts, depots would have a couple of these chugging around - possibly with a trailer or two. I seem to remember them in the sorting office carrying mailbags.
The above was the initial influence: the Clarendon Road bridge at Seaford. Not a plate girder I know, but it had all the elements I wanted so armed with these photos and those from the web page work could commence.
The sharp-eyed will note that the mid-way supports bear an uncanny resemblance to Airfix footbridge parts. Don't think that this wasn't part of the plan.
In the last couple of days I've been bounced some comments from one of the forums re: display boards and exhibition plaques. I've got mixed feeling about this and referred to this shot of Wood End at St. Albans in 2000. The drop down board was originally added to protect the card wall, but we soon added some info, covered with a sheet of perspex and framed it. Would I do this again? No. It ruined the visual balance as well as the physical balance (the end/corner board was cantilevered from the main two). I'm coming to the opinion that the rise in display boards can ruin a perfectly lovely layout. The above is quite subtle compared to some, but when they become bigger than the 'viewing window' of the layout then you are in danger of disappearing up your own arse.
In amongst all the tidy up is the railcar. It was built originally for Wood End in about 1999, but was used infrequently due to clearance problems - it would go through the bridge about one time in three and would clip the retaining walls. It featured in a couple of photos in 009 News, but other than that it's a little shy. The obvious root is the Meridian Models Ashover Light Railway coach kit which has bee shortened and altered and mounted on an N gauge GP18 chassis.
Conclusions: Compared to your average 4mm wagon kit you get quite a bit for your six quid. Apart from the previous gripes I found that the canopy plastic was a little brittle and I'd have been better off using a razor saw rather than a craft knife to remove it from the sprue. This, like a the previous small problems, would be solved on the second kit; it's a learning curve. The transfers are comprehensive and in a lot of cases almost invisible. To the point where even the most pedantic could leave a few off. I did wonder about the squadron marks which seemed about 10% too big compared to the prototype photos I have. The box art shows them skewed off like a drunken bass-player - I followed this, though they don't look quite right to my eye.
A noodle down to Spain to see an old mate saw a ride on this; the Costa Blanca tram. I can't find out very much about the history of the line, but it looks as if it's an old and, possibly closed, narrow gauge line that's been re-engineered and electrified. All the buildings look at least pre-war, but the platforms are newly raised in most cases to fit the modern stock.
The first photo is a 4 VEP heading toward leaving Wivesfield for Brighton (or possibly Eastbourne or the west coastway. 12 code anyone?) in what looks like all-over rail blue with the then new double arrows.
