Broithe

My usual practice is to park at Weag's Bridge. You are fairly central by doing that and it is the least popular parking along the line, as well as the most spacious. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0851664,-1.8526989,241m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D These are walks that I replicated this time. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1pSxyPvk8K2a9O1zxTlGkjnaz1y_PIB0&usp=sharing https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1W-CfOYU3OXNzIBEjpN0So7BQjLoXigo&usp=sharing There is plenty to see there, including the disappearing/reappearing river phenomenon.

Crikey! I have a few books on it - I must check them out - the time of not returning here again is approaching I fear, and hope... I have walked almost every field around the Manifold and Hamps rivers - a much pleasanter area than the nearby, but much more popular Dovedale, in my estimation.

Currently on the Big Island, I made an attempt to replicate some walks around the Manifold Valley, that I used to frequent over many years. For logistical reasons, and despite my better judgement, I made an attempt to retrace a route from the past last Saturday. This resulted in me giving up, as a result of the standard of 'weekend people' that I could no longer endure. I made a second and much more successful, attempt on Thursday - around 10 - 15% of the number of people and no idiots, who seemed to be half the people on the Saturday attempt. The railway ran from Waterhouses to Hulme End. I did the northern half, some of which is open to motor traffic, including the tunnel - be extremely careful with that on a nonworking day - in the week it's not a real problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leek_and_Manifold_Valley_Light_Railway At the terminus at Hulme End, the buildings largely survive and have been repurposed sympathetically - the engine shed is a decent café, handy, as I forgot my food... Thor's Cave Station, looking up at the cave itself. the foundations of the wooden structure still visible. And looking down from above the cave. Swainsley Tunnel - open to motor traffic, but with refuges, if necessary. Ecton Station, for the mine. And Hulme End terminus itself. The food replacement from the café. A few token sleepers remain. In the old station building is a nice, but hard to photograph, model, illustrating the old days very well. It's a nice walk on a nice day, with nice people. but there are behaviour issues, especially at the weekend, and seriously then, with motorist behaviour in the 'technically shared' tunnel. From Hulme End, I came back via a parallel route through the hills, last done forty years ago - despite fearing I was wrong a few times, I did follow it exactly. Some nice, non-railway, bits along there. Etc.... Many years ago, I started trying to recreate the current view against those past photographs from books about the railway, whilst it was still running, before WW2. I did get about halfway through that project and I might find the pictures during my current domestic archaeology process in the 'forty years of stuff' in my house there...

And the frames were never black.

@jhb171achillwill be along shortly, to point out that the glasses were really more of a peach tint.

We had inset rails all over the factory and the standard for the flange gap in the real world seemed to be just over half the width of ordinary footwear. This meant that you could expect to walk over a track without much care most of the time. But, if you caught it 'just wrong' and at a shallow angle, your ankle would fold under you, causing great hilarity amongst any onlookers.

I have suggested before that Accurascale is actually a money-laundering scheme that is necessary to keep the 'real thing' going in a practical fashion. Success at Accurascale is maintaining future success for the primary, but smaller, operation. Extracting money from the Big Island is essentially a furtherance of the War of Independence by other means. Or is that too political..?

I'm quite interested in Swedish models, or just Scandinavian, in general..

Take yourself back to the year 2000 and imagine trying to convince people that Murphy Models and IRM would be there in the next few years. We have been blessed with manna from heaven. But, we do need to pop a bit in the collection plate occasionally for the altar boys...

Yes, my paper records are 220 miles away, but the wagons are probably here, if I can find them.

Yes, I have one of each - different numbers.

If the mods could perhaps limit the pace of posting on this thread, it would give a bit more peace of mind to those of us that couldn't write a To Do List at this pace...

There are no true colours, particularly in photographs - just look at something which is half in sunlight and half in shade.

Next? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharknose

These sailed past me on the ferry today, if they are of any interest to the box-lovers on here.

Proposed Luas route.

Allegedly an armoured Wickham - in Vietnam in 1967. Apparently also used in Malaya.

The walking group had a local venture today, to gain a few new victims, around Abbeyleix Bog. I spotted these relics at the coffee shop in the hotel carpark.

Mine was delivered on the 31st of February. Check the tracking...

Those of us off down at the bottom don't care about you points billionaires!

His response, when I reported on that video on our other forum... "Those boys from Dublin are trying to entice me into trip over and making me believe drinking Guinness is part of my job"

This is very sad news. I knew Andy slightly in the real world. We lived in the same area and he participated in the local forum that I police. He was noted for being a voice of sanity on there. I met him a few times at the local exhibition, but the first time was when I bought his ladders off him and he revealed both his identities to me, the ladders having been advertised on the forum. The ladders were superfluous, as they were moving to a bungalow. The ladders were immaculate, as was his way with most things. His last post on our other forum was on March 10th, thanking me for the 'birthday cake' I had posted for his 62nd birthday. He was last on there on March 14th, but he was never a prolific poster (67 in 12 years) and absences of a few weeks weren't unusual. I will miss him via both forums and in the real world.

Actually, the German ones had the means to hold a taildragger up in flying attitude. And - for the Continental H0 boys, there is even a 1/72 kit for that. Similar thing available in 1/48, too.