Plywood heaven

Not a pretty sight is it ? That's what happens when you set fire to your van and get lucky.

Yes lucky.

It could so easily have spread a lot further and left me with a write-off. And I suspect the insurance people would have said that the damage was my own fault for welding without due care and attention.

Anyway, the plumbing was quickly replaced with some new piping along with a load of silicone sealant. It looks quite, not pretty, but efficient in the photo I think. For those not acquainted with Dormobile VW Type 2's, the mechanical thing in the corner is the foot pump for the sink. I know you can buy electric ones but don't see the point in running the battery down just to get water. Well not until I actually want water and remember how slow the process of pumping it is anyway.

Still, with the waterworks done I started putting an interior back in place. This is a whole lot easier when you have access to the back of the units, but I didn't, so some nice battens had to go in first to give me something to fit the sides and bottom to. The wood all came from Homebase and was surprisingly good quality. The pine was straight and the surface of the ply very nicely grained. In fact the leftover bit found in the garage and used on the base isn't nearly so good and I almost (note: almost) wish I'd gone and bought another sheet to keep the same look.

The shelf is deliberately short, in case you think I can't work a tape measure, as a cool box stands at the end and if it fitted under the shelf, only tea bags would fit on top. And in a rare moment of cleverness, I fitted the shelf ply under the battens so they provide a lip to retain stuff when I go round corners.

Melted pipe

Melted pipe
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Last year I managed to set fire to my VW campervan. At the time we pulled out the inside of the cupboard under the sink, put out the flames and left it all. Since I've not been camping this hasn't been a problem, just one of those jobs that will be sorted out "eventually".

Well this week eventually happened and so I've been digging into the results of the fire. I knew there was a plastic pipe running along the side and suspected it might need a little attention. As the photo shows, I was right !

Not only is the pipe somewhat melted, it's even got bits of welding rod sticking out of the bend where I had been trying to seal up the holes in the side !

The biggest problem was the quality of our construction of the cabinet - it's too good. Quite a lot of brute force & ignorance was required to get the floor and back out. Putting them back is going to be even more of a challenge, but first I think I need more pipe.

Chassis painted

Chassis painted
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

After a good scrub the Ruston locomotive chassis has been primed and painted. Since the model will be lightly weathered, Precision Paints "Weathered Black" was used on the visible parts. Elsewhere normal Humbrol matt black did the job - the later brushes better and I prefer to get a thicker coat on a chassis than that provided by the airbrush. If you look at a real locomotives underpinnings you'll see that they is a lot of muck under there and so sharp detail actually isn't that appropriate !

With paint on, wheels and mechanical bits were fitted and tested. Not problems there with everything revolving quite freely.

Finally the brakes were made up, fun with 4 parts in each including a short wire stub, cleaned and fitted. Carrs Red is the flux of choice from now on as there's no chance of putting this in the sink any more to remove residues.

Of course I couldn't rest a test fitting of the body, just to make sure that everything lines up of course...

Chinese junk ?

Stripped hull
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A fair bit of work with paint stripper cleaned up the hul quite nicely. The results initially looked very promising. This Chinese made model boat has a sort of chine hull - around a (obechi ?) keel there is a solid base and then thin ply sides.

The quality of the wood used looks pretty promising and the workmanship pretty reasonable. Exactly what you would expect in any mass produced product - they aren't going to waste time with filler at the price these things go out the door for !

I sanded the wood with both sanding pads and a detail sander. The keel was sharpened up at the front and made flush at the back end to allow for a single drive shaft and rudder. Things were looking very promising, until I looked at the back.

My plan is to have a copy made of this hull using vac-forming. This will require me to mount it upside down on a flat board, thus the deck has to be flat. This is where the problem appeared. If you look at the photo it's obvious that something is awry. The deck looks wonky. In fact with a bit of examination, the deck is fine, the bottom of the boat is fatter on one side than the other.

It may be that I can sort this out with a sander. Or just stick the hull in the bin and go and find something else to do.

Chinese speedboat

Chinese speedboat
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Damn eBay.

I bought this little boat a couple of years ago. It was described as having a plastic hull, which made me think it would be an excellent project and make a nice little runabout for pool and lake.

Of course the reality is different. The hull is wooden and has no space for a motor or any other bits that need to go inside to producing a working model boat. So it's sat on a shelf while I've tried to work out the next step.

This is my plan - strip all the bits off. Clean up the hull, improving the shape a bit. Then have a moulding taken of the hull. Fit a new superstructure using the original fittings where appropriate and some working gubbins inside.

Work starts by pulling the fittings off the hull and stashing them in a box. Most look pretty reusable although a bigger lifebelt would be a good idea. How the Chinese designer thought anyone would use the item supplied is a mystery, it's barely big enough to be an armband !

Detailed chassis

Detailed chassis
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Back on the chassis, it is time to do some detailing. First I attached the sandboxes in line with the filler caps etched into the footplate. These aren't perfect replicas of the real thing as far as I can see but exactly what the prototype items look like is impossible to judge from the shots I have. Of course under the footplate you won't notice as they are pretty hidden away.

On the test build, the sand pipes were pretty rudimentary. Good enough for the garden but this time I've fabricated something a bit more realistic. Some 1mm wire and small brass washers representing unions so the job. To make sure the "pipes" are pointing in the right direction I test fitted a wheel each time - at which point I discovered that the read sandboxes are too far forward. Desoldering them using the gas torch (they were attached with 100 degree solder so fell off when I got enough heat in the nickel) and re-fixing back a bit appeared scarier than it turned out to be.

The brake hangers have metal plates bolted to the chassis, represented here with plasticard and slices of rod. This covers up the original hanger holes. I moved the brakes a lot closer to the wheels on this model which will look a lot better even if it does mean the wheels are trapped.

Finally, more slices of plastic rod were super glued around the gearbox aperture. Not sure how visible these will be but I know they are there.

Book Review: A Train is for life by Pete Waterman

My first impressions of this book were formed at the Warley exhibition when it launched. The stand was full of people snapping up their signed copies and I just thought it would just be a rich bloke showing off his models and those buying it were collectors who just wanted some association with the most famous railway modeller in the UK. Quite why anyone would want to add it to their library was a bit of a mystery, but then so is Heat magazine so I'm perhaps not that good on celebrity culture.

I should at this point say that I actually like Pete Waterman. I've met him a few times and even been to see and operate his famous Leamingon Spa layout. He's very down to earth and best of all, a very good model maker. His teak coaches are some of the best I've seen. This isn't a case of chequebook modelling - he and his friends actually get their hands dirty. The stock doesn't just sit in a glass case either, it gets used on the layout and you have to drive it. Taking a train of 12 coaches up the back of the model with something GW on the front is a touch scary the first time you do it but soon becomes normal. In fact the whole set up is so normal that you can imagine it's housed in a garage, not a barn, with all the usual garage junk on the ground floor. It's just that Pete's garage junk is more interesting than most of ours.

Anyway, back to the book. Because of my preconceptions I hadn't even picked up a copy for a browse until one appeared in the railways section of our local library. I took a look and immediately added it to the pile to be borrowed.

There's no doubt that this is what is described as a "coffee table" book. There are lots of pictures and not too many words. The photos, are all of excellent quality and in the main, showcase different locomotives. The descriptions are perhaps a touch short, but very informative. You learn a little about each real loco, the section showing the differences between the LMS "Twins" 10000 and 10001 being particularly interesting for me as I will be building a model of at least one of them one day.

The thing is that for the purposes of model making, this is a very useful book. I know you are supposed to return to the prototype every time but sometimes those old pictures are muddy exactly where you need them to be clear to see some detail. So when people have gone to great lengths to do the research, there is a something to be said for using their models as a guide when these locomotives are so clearly pictured. The angles on these pictures are often more use than the traditional 3/4 view from a station platform too.

The prototype choices are catholic with lots of different companies and eras represented. It's not going to be a replacement for proper source material but if you like variety then it has a place on the shelf. All the model making is of the highest quality and very inspirational. I've not seen such a body of work by the countries best model makers in one place before. This is all presented without a hint of showing off, it's just how these things are. How many wouldn't build a similar collection if the funds were available ? Personally I aspire to owning a Guy R William model loco. But then I aspire to owning a Canaletto and I don't think that is going to happen either !

All in all, this is a very good book. If you thing Pete is just a rich and famous bloke who plays at trains then it will change your mind, the title and text explain how once you are infected with an interest in railways it never entirely leaves you - I bet plenty of us know about that !

You can buy the book from Amazon. It would make a great answer for that "What can I get your for birthday/Christmas" question.

Or just borrow it from your local library.

And Pete has a blog.

Bonnet attached

Bonnet attached
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

The big lump is attached. After a fair bit of heat, loads of flux and plenty of solder, the Ruston locomotive is looking a lot more finished.

The kit is very helpful here. At the front a couple of slots and tabs locate the front in the right place in all directions. At the back the cab front is marked with a half etch line to assist location. OK, I still measured and squared to make sure the thing was running parallel to the footplate side and central, but I could have got away without this.

As usual, soldering was carried out by tacking with the electric iron and then blowing the metal around with the gas flame. The localised heating of the later is very handy - running the solder along the cab front/bonnet top join I could see the handrail knobs starting to melt and take away the heat before it became liquid. Fantastic, and surprisingly easy.

If you are a beginner, it's worth bearing in mind that working with a tiny soldering iron is harder than a big one. The low power version will take a long while to heat up a lump of metal and because it's slow will need to bring nearly all the metal up to temperature. This is counter intuitive - you'd expect to be safer with less heat but in this case you'd be wrong.

Attaching Guage 1 handrail knobs

Guage 1 handrail knob
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Not as easy as it sounds this. A G1 railway locomotive is a large item with enough metal to act as a sink for an awful lot of heat. On the Ruston there's no easy way to get at the back of them either so all the soldering has to happen in the visible areas.

My solutions, which isn't sophisticated but does seem to work OK, is to tack solder the knob in place with ugly blobs of solder applied with the electric iron. Then blob lots of flux over the resulting mess. Finally give this a shot with the small blowtorch.

The torch heats up the knob and surrounding metal faster than the rest of the bodywork can absorb the heat away - something the electric iron can't quite manage - and so the solder metals and is carried into all the places you want it by capillary action.

Result: Handrail and fixing all held in place with no cleaning up required.

Detailed bonnet

Detailed bonnet
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

More bonnet fun. At the front there is an extra section containing a fan. Nothing too hard here, just a wrapper to run around the front part. The resulting unit isn't a great fit against the main bonnet section but it's close enough. Of course if I hadn't used too much heat to join the two, I wouldn't have unsoldered the wrapper again which made for some slightly frustrating work.

The doors are a single etch and lined up pretty well. All the holes for the handles matched up properly and the top is straight. Attachment is from the back through holes in the formers which makes the job easy - no need to clean up excess solder showing as it's all hidden !

Getting bonnet handles identical is important. Luckily spacing from the door can be handled by a jig/spacer made from a chip fork. Drawing a line on this also makes snipping the resulting item to length, using my best flush cutters, easy and consistent. In smaller scales I end up using bits of card but chip forks are so much sturdier...

Bonnet wrangling

Bonnet top
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Scary job time - fitting the bonnet top.

This is a large, flat sheet which has to be bent and riveted then soldered over some formers with nothing in the way of positive location assistance.

First up I riveted the sheet. Then it was annealed as best I could using a cooker flame. I'd hoped that this would make the metal malleable but if it did, I couldn't tell the difference. The top bend is easy enough, it's pretty gentle and can be formed around any round object. Pondering the sharp corner though I chickened out and decided to use the formers to make sure everything is in the right place. That sounds sensible but it's risky - pull metal too hard over thin formers and you get sags between ridges.

The top was attached centrally and then the bending started. Most of the work was done with fingers. Eventually though, more brutality was required and I clamped the whole thing upside down in a vice with wood to protect the rivets, and lots of heat and solder pinned the ends of the top to the former sides. Not pretty, not fun (the wood kept catching fire) but it worked.

9F behind the bar

9F behind the bar
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

DOGA AGM time. I packed up my competition entries and headed down to sunny London. After picking up this years bit of card to act as a background for the photos from Housemans bookshop, and then counteracting all that leftie goodness with a McDogBurger, it was off to The Model Railway Club.

Before the meeting proper we had a weathering demo from D&P Models. Watching someone merrily airbrushing acrylics over nice new RTR locos whilst explaining what he was doing and why. In around 20 minutes the models looked a whole lot more realistic and even I'd learnt something, and I've always been happy with my weathering techniques !

Next up the competition judging took place with those present voting on their favorite models in each class. We had a good turn out with 27 different models entered. The quality was very high again.

Finally the official business took around an hour. I was the Chairman's stunt double - he was unable to attend due to collecting his daughter from university in Sheffield. Personally, I think he should have explained that there is a perfectly good railway line from there and then turned up at the AGM but apparently that's because I'm not a soft hearted parent...

The competition results were announced, I managed a second place in the kit built locomotives category. The winner had built a beautiful 0-4-2 using a Jidenco kit and fully deserved his victory. Simply putting one of those together deserves a medal as they don't have the best reputation in the world !

After the even a few of us repaired to the Doric Arch pub at Euston station. Top quality beer as sensible (for London) prices. The walls are decorated with real railway ephemera and behind the bar is a 3 1/2 inch gauge 9F. This is a whole lot more interesting than the farm implements nailed to the walls of most "character" pubs. I wonder if the landlord was a big customer at the nearby Collectors Corner when it was open years ago ?

You can see pictures of the entries to the modelling competition here.

Express Warflat

Months ago I rashly promised to build a sample Warflat wagon for the Double O Gauge Association stand at exhibitions. Delivery at the AGT seemed like a good way of saving postage. The AGT is tomorrow and I realised that the wagon was still a flat pack. Some speedy work was called for.

Luckily I've built this model railway goodie before. In fact if you want full instructions, you can visit a photographic build I did a while ago. In that instance I was supplementing the kit instructions as an aid for those who'd never had a go at an etched kit before. This time, time was of the essence and so I could do things the easy way using all my toys.

So out came the mini blowlamp to blow solder around the larger bits and the RSU to stick those fiddly strips of rivets and retaining rings to the side and save me a whole lot of cleaning up. 4 hours later, allowing for a short tea break, and some pretty intense model making, I had the resulting wagon. As it's a sample for the stand I sprayed lacquer over it rather than paint. That way potential buyers can see what they are getting into.

Next time though, I'm going to take my time.

Making steps

The trouble with looking at prototype locomotive photos is that you find more work. At the front of this Ruston as some nice, inset steps. Entirely different from those provided in the kit. Yippee.

The photos were quite clear on the design, but a hard to work out precise dimensions from. Again, I went for something that looks right compared to the rest of the loco. The buffer beam for example gives a pretty good idea of depth. The width is shown by the spacing between sandbox filler and front. Then all (!) I had t0 do was draw the holes to be cut on some metal. Time was saved by soldering the two sheets of nickel silver together once the vertical fold lines had been scribed heavily with a skrawker.

A bit more cutting and filling later I had a pair of U shapes with step holes. Some more nickel at the bottom with a small lip strengthened it all up. Then the footplate hole was cut and the steps fitted. Ideally I'd have soldered them to the underside and then cut the top but again, the pictures showed the top edge of the steps poking up so I had to replicate this as well.

Hopefully the rest of the model will be similar to the kit. Why can't prototype loco owners leave things alone ?

Modifying the back

Modifying the back
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Having learned a lesson with the chassis mods, I have been examining the photos of the Ruston locomotive closely before touching the metal. One of the first changes between the prototype and the kit I spotted was the cab back. At some point during the locomotives life, the windows were enlarged and squared up a bit. This looks more modern and for the driver, would have improved visibility quite a lot.

Luckily the shot of the cab back is pretty square on so with a bit of measuring and scribbled match I could use this to work out the correct sizes for the new windows. With perfect accuracy unlikely without a plan, I have tried to make the proportions as close as possible.

Drilling holes in the corners followed by a bit of work with the piercing saw (2 broken blades) and finishing up with a flat file has resulted in a much better view into the cab. Good job there are shots of the inside so I can detail this a bit.

Big rivets

GW Models riveter
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Last time I built the Ruston locomotive kit, I used the traditional hammer and blunt nail technique to form the rivets. While I own the best rivet forming tool in the business, the GW Models press, the supplied anvils only go up to O gauge. In G1 the results are far too small.

Now GW Models do produce a version suitable for the larger scale but it is £150, which is rather a lot for the occasional model. Mind you, like all their products, it is a beautiful piece of kit and worth the cash.

A phone call (no web site here than you, this is a proper traditional engineering company) to the proprietor was instructive. The tools for the G1 rivetter won't fit in the standard one I own. However it might be possible for me to do something myself, he could supply a couple of anvils for a fiver which I could drill out , harden and then try in my machine.

Off went the cheque and few days later the anvils turned up in a jiffy bag complete with some handwritten instructions. Following these I drilled the hole out to 1mm and then hardened the steel by heating it to cherry red and dropping the hot lump in some oil to quench it. Not having done this before, I used a small pot of oil left over from an oil change on my camper van. The big surprise (for me) was the colour change in the metal. It went from a shiny silver steel colour to a shiny black. The same colour as the anvils supplied with the tool in the first place, which I guess means I've done something right.

In use, the tool produces lovely domes in the metal. You have to use the punch intended for forming raw metal rather than the half etch version - that's too sharp and either gives a tiny lump or punches clean through the metal.

Gear perving

ABC Gears
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Will you look at the quality of this gearbox !

Oooooooh, it's loooverly. Thick brass sides encasing high quality, accurately cut gears all beautifully meshed. Even a spiral cut first stage and all mounted on a Portescap motor. I suspect there are mechanism fetishists out there who have drooled all over their keyboard.

And yes, it runs as well as it looks.

For the technical, this is an ABC models gearbox, I think one of their units designed for O gauge as the locomotive is designed around 7mm technology. It's tiny for the space available but unless you want to stuff a washing machine motor in, then that's going to happen in the cavernous interior of the Ruston.

As a test, I put the wheels and mechanicals into the bare chassis and using a slightly flat 9V battery, had it perform a circuit of the garden railway at walking pace. If I'd wanted slower then 3V from a pair of AA batteries was more than enough to turn the wheels.

CDU ?

Bill asked:
...I've followed ur link from the 3mil e'group to Melbridge Dock and on to 'point motors':
http://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/2009/01/point-motors.html

...Glad I did because it reminded me of reading what you have to say about Peco from a previous reading.

I'm getting reports from a few mates who have trouble with the PL-10/12/13 combo and even on the N gauge point! The complaint is unreliability to the point of no-go which is disappointing to hear. I've asked the question if they are using a CDU and the universal answer is no.

Tell me, was the use of a CDU your solution or did you just start out with a CDU and therefore sailed through these unreliability problems without ever realising there was a storm ahead- if you didn't, as so to speak... or do you feel your experience was down to something else?

I had to think quite long and hard about this and I think the answer dates from the mid 1980's when we built a layout called "The Cawood & Wistow Light Railway", a model of the line of the same name. It used PCB track and PECO motors and for a while the wiring was as per the PECO instructions which didn't include mention of any assistance. The idea was that you just attached the motor to a 16V AC output and used a probe and studs for switching. We had the same problems, points didn't reliably change and often just buzzed when we tried to switch them.

Introducing a CDU into the circuit solved most of these problems and has been part of any layout wiring plan since. That's why I had to ponder as it's so long ago since we tried not using one. For the money (Modelex heavy duty version, £6.95) you can't beat one.

Obviously you do need to check that the points aren't glued up, or have ballast in the blades but if that isn't the problem get a CDU. In fact, get one anyway.

Oh, and if you are using PECO points AND adaptor bases, take the over-centre spring out of the later, the motors aren't strong enough to move two springs and you only need one anyway.

Other peoples hobbies

Waltzer top
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

I took my Dad for a Fathers Day treat to Hillers near Evesham. It's got nice coffee shop with excellent chocolate cake, a fine farm shop with delicious organic produce and a miniature railway. Oh and they were holding a small model engineering show. Well, he doesn't cook but loves the sound and smell of a steam engine...

Anyway, we wandered around the displays and were impressed at the workmanship to be seen even in such a tiny are as this. The photo shows the top of a model gallopers which is under construction. I suppose I should have been looking at the pretty horses (I did wonder how you carve so many identical steeds) or the exquisite organ in the centre. Not me, I looked at the gears and mechanism that made the horses go up and down. I've always wondered how these things worked and looking into the works I could see easily. The bevel gears run on a rack and as the carousel rotates it drives these which rotate a rod which the horses are attached to and this moves them up and down. Fascinating.

Well I found it fascination. Stop looking at me like that.

Anyway, we had a ride on the miniature train (fare 70p) which runs in an overlapped figure of 8 for 1/3 of a mile. 7 1/4 and 5 inch gauges can be accommodated. Along the way there are loads of gnomes, waterfalls and wild (plastic) beasts to look at. This is a clever marketing move as kids want to take several rides so they get to see everything. It certainly worked for the children behind us. This might be a particularly British thing, but there is something both daft and fun riding a tiny train behind a little steam engine.

There were static boats and planes to look at. We had a nice chat with the guys from Evesham MBC who had some fine models. The longest talk though was with a pair of miniature traction engine owners. I now have a better idea how to drive one of these and also the work involved in building one. From being the other side of the barrier I know how pleasant it is to meet people who have some idea of the work but ask intelligent questions - you get to show off a little someone who sees lots of well made components rather than just a "pretty" engine. After all those years in the workshop (3-4) getting to bask in the glory of your creation must be a relief. What better way to spend a sunny Sunday ?

Tractor Day

Tractor with eyes
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Our railway club is based on a farm. We are surrounded by fields and bucolic Warwickshire scenery. It's handy for the model boat club and on a nice day a lovely place to be.

The farmer, our landlord, collects tractors. Not any old tractors (all farmers do that, mostly rusty, broken ones) but foreign single cylinder ones. He's not alone either, it seems there are plenty of other people out there who collect and restore these machines. And they like to show them off so he organised a weekend get together.

On the Saturday evening there was to be a hog roast and after a little negotiation, the railway club was to be opened up to provide some toilet facilities, it being felt that some of those who wanted to eat might be considered to delicate for the portaloos already laid on. If we had enough people some of the layouts would be operating too as an added attraction. As it was most were run and when people weren't consuming dead pig we had a reasonable sized audience.

Now, I quite like putting on a show for the public as opposed to "proper" modellers. If you've read my reports on shows before (and if not, feel free to catch up on old entries, it should distract you from work for a while) you'll know that I find the early morning session at any model railway exhibition usually presents a crowd that stand around looking grumpy in silence. Later in the day the families start to arrive and they aren't afraid to ask questions and chat for fear of looking stupid.

So, a room full of normal people was chatty and generally very appreciative of the models on display. "Modellers" may see the buildings on one layout as simple card kits - humans look at the effect and are gobsmacked that over 100 houses make up the scene that looks a bit Coronation Street. They also don't get picky about the formation of trains but do get excited about sheep and pigs on hillsides. I suppose the tractor hobby has a higher farmer:townie ratio so they can probably tell us what breed the pig is, we just think it's Priesler.

Of course there has to be one.

Since I'm not attached to a layout, I did a bit of general stewarding. My first job was to use some barriers to prevent access to one corner of the premises which had a couple of layouts not being operated and also workbenches with tools on. I set the barriers so it was easily possible to see the layout and yet protected it from wandering hands. This worked a treat - lots of people enjoyed the model (especially the steam road roller on the bridge) and appreciated the high level of craftsmanship on display. In fact they were less trouble than the average enthusiast at a show.

All except one mother and young daughter, who found a circuitous route around the various obstacles and by the time I got to he were in front of the station forecourt and pointing at the horse drawn vehicles in the scene. Before pointing became touching I politely invited them to return to the correct side of the barrier. Mum huffed, "I only wanted to get her [the daughter] closer to the horses."

And to be fair she had. A whopping 6 inches. They were easily seen from the barrier side but that wasn't good enough. So she taught her daughter a lesson - if you can physically overcome an obstacle then it's OK to ignore it. Find a gap in that fence and it's OK to go through even if the implication of the fence is that you should stay back.

Having returned to the public side she then flounced off to the foyer with child and spent the next few minutes giving me evil looks before dragging the rest of her party (Dad ?) out. Obviously it was me that was in the wrong !

Now you might argue that if we don't want to take the risk then fragile things should not be out on display, but why should this be the case ? The people who build layouts are justifiably proud of thier work and keen to let others see the results of thier labours. If we want to persuade anyone that railway modelling isn't just funny men playing with trains, showing off high quality models seems a good method. Obviously there is a risk and we accept that. I've seen accidents happen and the person who did the damage is usually mortified - it ruins thier day more than the person who ends up with the repair.

Ifyou feel the need to see more farm equipment, you'll be pleased to know there are more photos here. Go on, fill your gumboots !

Or if you just want to watch the trains go by: