Starlingford - The End of the Line

[Black-Marlin]

I reckon that the combination of a blue locomotive with crimson & cream coaching stock is definitely one of the prettiest:



G

[sarah]

Hi Gavin....

BR Blood & Custard is my Favourite coach colours....OK, in reality they found it hard to keep them clean it seems....

Blue locos are also nice, but Blue was an awkward colour to repair, so also went!

[Black-Marlin]

Hi Gavin....

BR Blood & Custard is my Favourite coach colours....OK, in reality they found it hard to keep them clean it seems....

Blue locos are also nice, but Blue was an awkward colour to repair, so also went!

Hi Sarah

I now have three B&C rakes! A southern region one, made up of 6 Maunsells, for which I have Sir Gawain and Bibby Line; a generic (and pristine) Mk1 rake of 8 coaches plus a bogie van, on which I use Kingfisher, Clan Mackenzie, King George V and sometimes Deltic or Bibby Line again; and a mixed and weathered rake of Mk1s and Portholes which is so far the exclusive province of Lady Patricia.

Regards,
Gavin

[sarah]

Hi Garry...

Bibby line is re-built I take it?

I am working on an "as built" MN using the chassis from a re-built one (modified) and need to stretch and modify a WC / BOB body to suit!

Also the tender sides need building up....

Regards,

Sarah

[Black-Marlin]

Hi Garry...

Bibby line is re-built I take it?

I am working on an "as built" MN using the chassis from a re-built one (modified) and need to stretch and modify a WC / BOB body to suit!

Also the tender sides need building up....

Regards,

Sarah

Who's Garry?

Yes, Susan, Bibby Line is rebuilt, although an as-built version - Royal Mail - is on the wishlist... Good luck with your rebuilding!

G

[sarah]

OOPS!

Sorry GAVIN....

My error....

Thanks....

Regards,

Susan AKA Sarah!

[Black-Marlin]

Sorry GAVIN....

Not to worry, Sarah!

In other news, is anyone else going to Model Rail Scotland? I'll be there with the Aberdeen MRC crew. This year we won't be exhibiting a layout and will instead be doing demonstrations of various things. All model-related, of course; none of us will be demonstrating yoga, kite-flying, Spey-casting... My own contribution will be to carry on detailing steam engines. If you're there, swing by and say hello

Gavin

[mikem64]

Hi Gav,

I've not posted any comments for a while so I thought it was time rather than just popping in & viewing your wonderful layout & super fleet of LNER stock.

I just love browsing through your photo's as it's amazing how much I've missed on previous viewing. So thank you for taking the time in posting & keep those wonderful photo's coming.

Cheers Mike.

[Dad-1]

If I lived near enough Gavin I'd be pleased to say Hello !!
But I shall have to give it a miss.

Geoff T

[mattmay05]

Sadly a bit far for me being as far south as I am, on the Isle of Wight, London is about my limit. Hope you enjoy the show Gavin.

[Bufferstop]

Now if it were Easter Weekend I'd be delighted to, I'll be visiting there aboard the Spring Highlander, (made possible by a large refund from HMRC to Mrs W.} Sorry couldn't afford an extra trip.

[Black-Marlin]

Thanks all for your comments - I appreciate that Glasgow is well out of the way for many of you (ironically it's the closest big show to me...)

And thanks, Mike, for your kind words of encouragement - updates to the layout are growing increasingly few and far between, as life in Scotland becomes increasingly settled. Which means that my suspicion is that Starlingford is nearing the end of its development, and the next adventure - Starlingford Mk.II? - is beginning to loom on the horizon. Inevitably there will be stock discussions and debates in the interim (I just bought a final Hawksworth SK, meaning that Lion's rake is now complete) but you may notice an increasingly elegaic tone coming over future posts. Starlingford isn't dying, but it may be approaching retirement. We shall see...

Regards,
Gavin

[Black-Marlin]

For those of you wondering, incidentally, what Lion's rake is, it's comprised completely of maroon Hawksworths with one BR Mk1 Restaurant First, in the following configuration: BCK, FK, RFO, CK, SK, SK, SK, BSK, BG

Happiness!

[Black-Marlin]

So Glasgow's been and gone, and what have I been up to?

First of all, I've been detailing absolutely everything it's in my power to detail! No locomotive near me is safe. Nor are any brake vans (adding tail lamps and, where feasible, guards) and, as of this weekend, coaches, as a whole selection of corridor connections have arrived.

I have also been giving serious thought to the next layout, as work on it could feasibly commence as early as this year. (It's feasible, though not necessarily likely; a whole lot of ducks will need to be lined up for it to happen!) I've been trying to pin down what, exactly, my requirements are. This is trickier than you might imagine; separating a requirement from a 'nice to have' is not always entirely straightforward...

To that end, here are my thoughts as to what I'm trying to accomplish:

1) Four-track mainline operations.
2) Room for 9-coach express trains.
3) Significant water feature.
4) Bridges.
5) Use of Peco/DCC Concepts Code 75 Bullhead track.
6) Proper fiddleyard (this can be Code 100, as I have a full box of Peco flexitrack stashed away and I don't want to waste it!)
7) Large-radius curves.
Open-frame modular baseboard construction.

And here are the nice-to-haves:

1) Branchline(s) (perhaps on a different level to the mainlines?)
2) Port/quayside facilities
3) Colliery
4) Canal
5) A nice windmill...

Ah well - all fairly nebulous at this stage, but definitely things to ponder...

[sarah]

Hi Gavin...

Good luck with the new layout....

I am now getting into DCC a bit!