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Before returning to Germany, a little live steam.  Thanks to Brian’s tip-off, I was on the local railway bridge to see Tangmere climb out of Redhill and head for Tonbridge.  A wonderful Bulleid exhaust beat as it came up the hill and round the corner before hitting the race-track straight to Tonbridge.  Great to see the Golden Arrow headboards.

Brian caught the train at Godstone.

A well known steam locomotive Tangmere (34067) sped by Godstone on The Medway Valley Pullman today on the way to Tonbridge, before returning to London Victoria routed through Kent. Although my camera was over the yellow line, I was well behind it holding on to the tripod as this loco flew past! At the rear diesel (47813) I think! Nice to bump into ‘Ben’ who was watching too.

And further east at Penshurst…

Earlier in the week, I missed the Black 5 on the Brighton main line.  Good job I was busy, as I think it slipped around the Quarry Line, bypassed Redhill and was running very early,  Brian caught it (so to speak.)

Here’s steam locomotive Black 5 (44871) on the Sussex Belle from London Victoria to Eastbourne and Hasting, running an unbelievable 18 minutes early on the fast down line towards the coast, catching all those watching off guard! Supporting at the rear, Class 47 diesel 47813 (I think).

And here’s another brief video of the train at Coulsdon.

A couple of micro layouts for starters.

A Rob Chant 8’x4′ plan, that could be 4’x2′ in N.  Nothing special in this design in one sense, but interestingly designed for operation.  Note that reverse track (1E to 6B) that allows exchange of cars at both ends of the line.  A sort of ’empties in – full out’ idea.  Rob Chant describes operations thus:

All crews start their day in Mann Lake, and head north (clockwise) towards Paradise. While each station is assumed to have a passing track, only the trackage/industries designated for the station (they are numbered and colour coded on the track plan) can be used when switching the town. Between each stop at a station, the crew must make a complete lap around the layout.

When the northbound train reaches the last stop of Paradise, the crew works the CP interchange and the local industries, then heads back (counter-clockwise) to Mann Lake, completing any work that may have been skipped on the northbound trip. Once the crew reaches the home base of Mann Lake, the CN interchange is switched again, then the train crew ties-up for the night.

Since a train crew would need 1½ laps to get to the next town, it would take nine laps to get from Mann Lake to Paradise, and another nine to get home, which is quite a bit of train running in such a small space. And since the interchange track is feed from both ends of the layout, there will be an endless supply of incoming traffic to shuffle between the interchanges and the online customers.

As you can see, this layout packs a lot of prototypical operation in a space that is only 4’x8′, just by using your imagination and “seeing” only what you’re suppose to see at each station. I think it is a great way to get the most out of small layouts with continuous run designs.

In contrast, this is a tiny O gauge micro.  But looks fun to shunt.

Also for the modeller, these pictures of track on the IOW Steam Railway and at Ventnor give some good material for ballasting.

Was there anything more elegant than an LBSCR H2 Atlantic?  And they do look good in British Railways lined black livery.

Except maybe a K class 2-6-0??

I’ll finish with something less elegant, but one of my all time favourites.  An ex-LSWR ‘0330’ saddletank.  I think this one ended up on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.  I think that I have an O gauge kit for one of these hidden away somewhere.  One day….

My covid seems to have degenerated to just a heavy cold, so I’m optimistic!  And I’m well enough to get some modelling done.  But today’s blog will be a simple selection of photos requiring little effort from my poor old brain.

Fareham in the 1960’s.  A very modellable scene in every way, and lots of details from a bygone age.

Talking of bygone ages, Baker Street tube station hasn’t changed that much!

I wish the same could be said for Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight.

We lost such an iconic location….

Another iconic location – not entirely lost, as the viaduct is now a cycleway.  Midford viaduct on the Somerset & Dorset.  I love the view down the lane that Peter Leigh has captured.  I don’t think that I have seen a photo from here before.

Two pictures of the Newhaven West Quay line.  A funny little branch on the opposite side of the river from the main terminus.  Street running with a Terrier – can’t be bad!

Another Terrier for good measure, in a very modellable location.  Sorry, I’ve lost the photo credit for this one, but hope that it’s OK to reproduce it here.

And finally, back to 1930’s America and a Lehigh Valley poster.  Great artwork of a lovely train.