David Holman

Absolutely! That is one enormous cattle train.

Loads of very subtle detail. An ordinary scene, beautifully observed and not easy to get right like this.

Fab. Think the printed paper approach is the right one, especially in 4mm scale. Am guessing the markings on the real thing were fairly shallow and probably would look too deep on a 3d print. And you've still given a nod to modern technology! What could work in this situation is resin casting. When I've done my own wagon sides, found that even the fine scratches of a wire brush on the plasticard masters are picked up by the resin. Likewise even a glass fibre brush. Both good for wood grain effect.

Spoke with someone at Railex yesterday who actually has some of Sid Stubbs and Alex Jackson's models. What a privilege that must be. Nothing about the Isle of Man layout in MRJ though.

Hadn't noticed the tender wheel on Shannon, though rear bogie wheel on Wolf Dog wasn't always turning, which probably means the springing needs adjusting. Not sure about the uncoupling. Some trains were almost faultless all day, so suspect more adjustment of the AJs is necessary. All were working fine the two weeks before, honest! Guess I wore them out... Will have to see what the 1950s stock brings to the party today.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

They look great. Am rather tempted by the idea of a 7mm one...

If it's no trouble then yes please. Am presuming the axles will be something like 3mm or 1/8th inch steel. Easy enough to replace, especially with no quartering required, but the modern penchant for force fit, nylon, final drive gears would have me worried about both splitting when replacing, plus the worry of sourcing a new one.

Many thanks! I thought there might be room and shaving a bit off the back of the axle boxes could well do the trick. However, wondering if would then need to realign the brake and sanding gear? Another concern is whether the wheels are thick enough overall to cope with moving them out 2.4mm on each end of the axles? Back to back on Fine scale 0 gauge is 29.2mm, I think, but 33.98 (call it 34) for broad gauge. When I looked at an Impetus 0-6-0T a while back, replacing the axles didn't look much of a problem, but potentially breaking the nylon main gear in the process put me off immediately. In the end, another loco I wanted, but didn't need, so pragmatism ruled...

Northport Quay will be there this weekend (actually at the Stoke Mandeville stadium). Very much a finescale show, I' m quite chuffed to be included and fly the flag for broad gauge. On Sunday, Galteemore is bringing some of his stuff as well, so possibly the largest selection of 7mm scale, Irish broad gauge at a model railway exhibition for quite some time. Shame the layout is only 7'6 long!

Great thread. Recently been pondering on an 88DS for Northport Quay. Photos of the model indicate there might be enough room behind the dummy axle boxes to ease the wheels out a couple of millimetres each side to 36.75 gauge. If so, I'll have to debate my customary needs and wants with myself. I don't actually need one, but I could certainly want one...

Northport Quay is at Railex this weekend. 7mm scale/36.75mm gauge, I use code 100fb rail on copperclad sleepers, which works well, both visually and physically.

There are some fabulous Lego models out there. At the recent Ashford show, they had an oval layout that hadhe Forth Bridge as the centrepiece. I kid you not. Approximately 7mm scale, I guess the bridge itself was about 7m long and 1.5m high. The oval layout was more like 10m by 4m. If that wasn't impressive enough, there was a vast range of trains available, all made from Lego and very recognisable. Everything from modern diesels to steam outline. A bit of 3D printing was involved for some details, but all essentially Lego. Probably spent more time watching this layout than any other and it was great to see it was mostly younger people involved too. It will be coming to the Chatham Show, in the Historic Dockyard, in July.

The latest Model Railway Journal celebrates the above, with a fascinating insight into some of its many achievements. Former members include some real legends of our hobby including Alex Jackson (of auto couplings fame) and Sid Stubbs. Both men were pioneers of 4mm scale in the immediate post war years when you had to make everything - including even wheels and motors! Indeed Alex Jackson worked with 24 volts, after using no less than 110 volts in his Gauge 1 garden railway. Chee Tor, the pioneering 2mm FS layout also features, along with a host of other stuff. Well worth getting a copy if this sort of thing interests you.

Epic! Thanks JB.

Interesting to see how the whole approach to modelling changes as you go up a few scales. Lovely stuff!

It might be me, but reading these regs made by brain hurt and my eyes glaze over! Can't help wondering whether high tariffs or making the system so complex that nobody want to use it, amount to the same thing.

The Keith Pirt book is especially good as all the pictures are full page and therefore give lots of detail for everything from weathering, through wider landscapes to buildings and even clothing of the time.

The latest Railway Modeller has an article on weathering a Class 37 which looks very useful.

Pure magic and oh so subtle. That pale, weathered stone really looks the business.

Thanks Jamie, definitely worth a look.

Exhibiting Going to a show is a bit like having guests visiting - you tidy up and make the place look respectable. Except with a model railway, it all has to be dismantled, boxed up and made safe for transport: in my case a Kia Sportage with the back seats lowered. Mostly I'm fairly tidy, but there were a few things noted from seeing how the Gravetts pack away Arun Quay that made me resolve to do better, plus address a few things that really should have been done ages ago. First was wheel cleaning. I use a 12v plug in wall transformer for this, but holding the two wires against the wheels with one hand, while using a cotton bud soaked is IPA [no, not the beer] with the other is fiddly, so made up a holder for the wires from a barbecue skewer, which is much better. Looking after your very precious stock is always a concern and I despair at folk packing stuff in old ice cream tubs and the like. I've now largely standardised on those plastic crates that come in a variety of brands, with most coming from The Range. The pink lids are a bit Barbie, but they do the job, especially as, a]they are deep enough for the stock to stand on its own wheels and b] I've added various dividers and all important end pieces to protect the AJ couplings. My trains are short, so I can fit one per box, which helps setting up and at the end of a show. A few non-standard items require a different approach, in this case A4 filing boxes. The crane, F6 and a couple of spare wagons go in one... ... while Railcar B and Wolf Dog, being both too long to go in an A4 box have their own, home made ones, using mdf/ply. One other box is a deepened box file, which takes the station building [it is loose because it spans the baseboard join], plus one or two other scenic items. There are 14 boxes in all, some of which can be seen below. A large supermarket carrier bag will take up to four at a time, which makes carrying things fairly easy. The layout comprises just three baseboards [two scenic, one fiddle yard], but there is all the other stuff too: Trestles, beams, pelmets, fascia and lights, plus two larger plastic crates. One has all the electrics - transformers, controllers, extension leads etc - the other everything from my drinks cup to packing pieces, bolts, the drapes and a myriad of other odds and sods. There is the tool box too, which you hope not to use, because that means something needs repairing. As can be seen, stuff is arranged to fold up, nest, etc and is secured with velcro strip to help with handling. And yes, it does all go in the back of the car! I usually spend the week before a show dusting and vacuuming the layout, cleaning wheels, stock & so on. With everything ready, it takes less than an hour to load the car, though it is always worthwhile making sure stuff is suitably padded with old towels to stop and rattling and protect the interior. Once you get to the show, it is always nice if the unloading points are near to where the layout stand is going to be. One or two venues [Chatham and Allypally for example] are big enough to let you drive your car to your stand, which is nice, otherwise it all has to be carried by hand and it is quite a few journeys. Setting up can be done in an hour [less with help], while knocking down takes half that, because at the end of a show, stock can be gradually put away before the finish. After that, it all goes back in the car, only to be unloaded again when you get home. All the more reason to be careful and worth remembering next time you visit a show.

Fine work and also like all the research. Anyone modelling wagons from this side of the water usually has a wealth of photos and other material to work with - even whole books on the subject. My experience has mostly been peering at the background of photos to try and identify details, so Ernie's archives are really important and the one of 11562 a real gem. Hadn't noticed the missing axle box cover before, but learned fairly early on not to get too precious about certain details and things like different buffers on opposite ends and different wheels on the same wagon seemed quite common!

Definitely looks like room for a layout there!

With NPQ going to Railex at Aylesbury in less than three weeks time, attention has turned to a bit of tidying up on the layout. The trees either side of the station [I'm calling them hawthorns] have never looked quite good enough, so teased out the Woodlands Scenics matting a bit, glued on some more and added some lighter coloured scatter/crumb to hopefully improve the texture. Am temporarily adding the crab & lobster pots I bought for Swillybegs to the quayside, while the donkey & its cart have had a tidy up too. Now find myself wondering if I should try and fit a small fishing boat in next to Acla? The space below is about 35 scale feet. Something else needing a tidy up was my Deutz G class. The roof had come loose and the brass was starting to show through the paintwork in several places, while the buffer beams had got very tatty. Still have the aluminium colour rattle can, so sprayed some into a paper cup and used that to touch in the exposed areas on the bodywork, while the buffer beams have been given a new coat of Humbrol red. The model uses a set of Worsley Works etches, adapted to look more like the early version. Fairly sure I described it all on my workbench thread, several years back.