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Well, no, but don't you think Exham has more of a Devonian sound?

And no, I didn't get it from that pastiche Sherlock Holmes story. I haven't read it. Good try, though.

The mind has now creaked into gear and planning has started. It's even got a name, which the old 8 by 4 never had: Exham Priory. And who's the first person who can tell me where I got that name from? I wonder if I've bitten off more than I can chew, though. With all that space to play with I decided...

Yeah, that's exactly what's happened: the mind has gone blank. Well, not quite. I've some idea of what I want: more or less what you've said. Fiddle yard, loco shed, goods yard, main-line station with an out-and-back to a branch terminus, and a double-track continuous run. It's fitting it all togeth...

I think I’m in need of inspiration. We went down the other day to have another shufti at this house we’re hoping to buy in South Wales, and this time I took a tape measure. The future railway room in the cellar isn’t very appealing just yet. The (lady) estate agent who was with us excused herself fr...

I was a bit put out, to say the least, when I lost my job on health grounds last December, until I realised that I had enough coming to me in the way of pension to enable me to sell up, move out of London and take early retirement. This is now happening. Missus, train-mad autistic son, and self will...

… if you have the slightest interest in steam traction, “this” being A Journey in Time by James Barry. I had heard about this book, and thought it sounded very interesting, so when I found it on the shelf at my local library I grabbed it PDQ and took it home. I wasn’t disappointed. As research for a...

Now look at the K3. The radius rod moves backwards and forwards with the expansion link as it should, the pivot where the motion of the combining lever is added therefore moves, and there is a moving valve rod in the valve chest above the cylinder. I don't believe a single reviewer noticed this whe...

Belated thanks, Jimmer, for your answer. My original post having gone for a week with no reply, I'd given up expecting one and hadn't checked back. I haven't room for a ramp of that length. I was more or less expecting this, which is why I asked the question rather than rush into buying one only to ...

There are certainly some design issues to be addressed in any recreation of a P2, as revealed by this interesting excerpt from H.A.V. Bulleid's account of his father's supervision of **** o' the North 's testing at the French plant at Vitry-sur-Seine: "He was satisfied with the consistently goo...

For those of you who gave me encouragement further up this thread (and are still interested), I am pleased to announce that the 60th birthday steam engine experience day is now “go” – though not quite as originally envisaged. The event will take place on the Lavender Line at Isfield, East Sussex, on...

I specifically wanted curved crossovers on my layout: they were an intregal part of the design. I was warned (by an article on this very website) about derailing on Hornby curved points, so I used Peco ones. No problems.

Ah, but when Stanier went over to the LMS he started off the same way, but soon started putting domes on his Belpaire firebox taper boilers. On the other hand, all the Stirlings (Patrick, his brother James and his son Matthew) used parallel, round-top boilers without domes. Seems there's no hard-and...

It looks wrong because it was wrong! The firebox was too small in volume and the boiler barrel was too long. That was why it never performed in proportion to its size. If not quite "a complete and utter disaster," it was certainly the nearest thing to a failure that Churchward ever built. ...

Many thanks for all your encouragement and comments, which are giving me plenty of food for thought. I think I'm weakening, especially as the missus, bless her heart, has just told me she's been investigating her finances and thinks she can afford it. Mind you, I've no intention of letting her bear ...

Well, time passes by, as it has a habit of doing, and Ifind I'm on the run up to (gulp!) my 60th birthday. This being, like it or not, a bit of a landmark, it's been suggested that it ought to be a bit special, and one thought that occurred to me was: "Hey, now, I've always wanted to drive a st...