Alessio

With a bit more time on my hands, I'm dying to have a go at a project, and I really fancy building a diorama. Initially it would be just a simple 4' x 1' which may well be expanded into part of a modular layout at a later date. It wouldn't be to operate trains on intially, just to stage for viewing pleasure or photographs. My idea is either a single or double track stretch of branch line with a siding which would run into a small industrial-type stone shed. The siding would be overgrown with clutter but still useable. The track plan would be something similar to this - not sure whether it'd be double-track the whole way along or whether I'd just do a passing loop on the nearside with a siding on the far side. I've never done anything like this before so wondered if I could call upon your collective experience for advice? I intend to use a piece of MDF or chipboard for the base but am wondering: Do I cover or prime the board before laying any track?What order do I do things in - lay track then add scenery or scenery first?What kind of materials and things should I use for ground cover - grass etc?I'd be grateful for any other advice you can offer too to this absolute first-timer! Thanks very much!

B&Q sell 9 panels of 2ft x 2ft foam tiles for about £9. I bought 2 packs and they've been great for this purpose!

On the subject of parts/part numbers, I asked Hornby a few years ago for the part number for an 8F leading bogey which has the NEM socket rather than the fixed coupling. Their response was that they didn't sell it as a spare so there was no part number for it.

Thank you!

Does any free or cheap software exist to plan model railway layout trackplans? So, for example, start with a 6 x 4 space and work out what track plan would fit on it? Thanks!

The Railway Children was filmed on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, focused around Oakworth. The famous loco was a GWR Pannier tank!

I think the intention is right but the execution is poor... these are of no interest whatsoever to me and I'm really disappointed that this is how Hornby have chosen to resurrect the Basset-Lowke brand but I can't blame them for attempting to branch out a bit.Having said that, I cannot understand for the life of me why you'd want a Coca-Cola branded train but clearly it's sold brilliantly, so maybe I don't know best!

Love them, thanks very much! Is it easy to fit and remove them or will the engine require some modification?

I could be mistaken, but I believe that in the early days of preservation (Late 60s - early 80s) there were quite strict rules about steam locos not being permitted to wear the livery of companies which were still trading or operating locomotives or something to that effect. So for example, no BR or NCB liveries. Therefore, pre-grouping locos were generally painted in their pre-1948 liveries (LMS, LNER etc), whilst industrials were often in 'house' liveries which helped to act as free advertising for the railways I guess! The Ivatt mentioned above, 41241, was painted in LMS maroon but with the KWVR lettering and crest as it was used in the railway's first ever public train. It's now back in service and wearing that same livery again. The same Ochre colour as #72 is worn by 5775, the GWR pannier tank which featured in the Railway Children.

Hi, I'm considering creating a small christmas diorama this year and just wondered if it's possible to buy ready-made Christmas headboards for OO-gauge locos? It would probably go on either my 1980s Duchess of Abercorn or on an early 2000s Terrier. I've looked on ebay but couldn't see anything seasonal. I'm not worried about specific wording but something along the lines of 'The Christmas Express' or similar would be great! Also, any other ideas of how to 'christmas-ify' a train temporarily would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks!

The Hardy's kits are new. There are now 3, all roughly based on different Hudswell Clarke prototypes. They're not expensive and look like they're very easy to assemble which really appeals to me as an intro to kit-building. Just can't justify spending £62 on a brand new loco to bin half of it! Cheers

Some members may be aware that Hardy's Hobbies (hardyshobbies.co.uk) have recently released two new industrial locomotive kits, roughly based on the Hudswell Clarke MSC Long Tanks. These are designed to be mounted on the electrotren/jouef 0-6-0 chassis. Does anyone know if it's possible to purchase the chassis without buying the whole locomotive? Thanks!

Did original LMS coaches have silver roofs? I always thought Hornby doing this made them look like cheap imitation toys.

Did original LMS coaches have silver roofs? I always thought Hornby doing this made them look like cheap imitation toys.

Surely I'm not the youngest active member at 24?! Been here since I was 16/17 and got my first set at 10.

I may be mistaken, but don't the Blue Box company already make a WD 2-10-0?

As a kid, those layouts were the equivalent of someone on Youtube today demonstrating their layout and saying 'just look at the possibilities!' I still spend far too long watching the small layout in the shop at the NRM. Seeing them in Toymaster and Allders in Leeds (what a loss Allders was... that top floor was a dream) were the catalyts that drove my desire for a model railway from the age of 4 or 5. I got my first set at 11 in 2003, I think, and to be able to ride up the escalator armed with £50 (which would buy you a lot more in those days) and take my pickings from the shelves was a dream come true. Sadly Allders shut down in 2005; Toymaster had already binned their layout and Merrion Models was bought out by Modelzone so Leeds was left without a decent model shop. I guess it's clear why shops don't do that any more. Increased costs makes shop floor space a premium, meaning they can't afford to give the space over to large displays. A crying shame because I'm sure they'd acutally end up selling more if the products were demonstrated in a good quality model environment.

@Admin, are you able to help at all?

WTD, I agree, but to buy the 6 separately costs more. So, if we assume for arguments' sake that all models will sell however they're sold, surely Hornby will make more selling some of them individually because there's no bulk discount?

SkyCube said: If you want to get a better looking one off eBay then go for it, I don't imagine it'll be a very hard project, even if you have to put it together yourself. I wouldn't bother making it actually work though; its not a very reliable system, just a bit of a novelty. Advice very much appreciated. I may do so, though I've just discovered that the previous owner of the model I want to do it on had glued the broken dummy panto back on, so removing it will be fun!

It has the plastic dummy pantograph, but you can get what looks like a metal one for class 86/90/91 on the famous auction site... I don't know whether they work but the 91 model is designed to take a working one- it has the switch on top to allow either.

So much have I enjoyed my recent forays into mending one of my class 91s that I'm considering attempting to fit a proper pantograph to one of my models- even though I don't have a layout that could take advantage, they look a lot better and I'm eager to learn! I was just wondering whether anyone has any experience of fitting one of these, and whether it's a particularly difficult job for a beginner? Many thanks, Alex