Rik Thistle

Donation made. Thank you MSW for what you do. All the best to everyone for 2026. Richard

Eric, A nice looking building and well finished and furnished by you. UK pricing on the their website says £47 so I guess they set a price target and designed it to suit, hence no 2nd floor etc. I agree, that no one will notice that floor is missing. I can't understand either why they designed it so one couldn't work on the insides of the 'box'...strange. It is interesting what buildings/establishments appear in a new town during the first round of building works, and then what buildings follow in the 2nd and 3rd rounds etc as a town grows. I re-watched the TV series Deadwood (...gritty and not family viewing!) recently and it was a good insight in to how political power and money drives what buildings come first and which buinesses survive in the longer term. Have a good Christmas and New Year. Richard

Just for interest.... Moving a Churchill Mk 7 (flamethrower) tank and an explanation of the work shedule to get it running again..... Recovering a WWII Churchill Tank That Hasn’t Moved in 30 Years (45 mins) ... " What started as a “simple” recovery of a World War II Churchill Crocodile from a museum quickly turned into controlled chaos when our recovery gear bent straight away. In this video, we attempt to extract a 40-ton WWII flamethrower tank that’s been quietly ageing indoors for decades, load it onto Crouch Recovery’s lorry, haul it back to our workshop in Leicestershire, and finally take a look inside — including a rare Bedford Twin Six spare engine that came with it. Nothing goes exactly to plan… but that’s half the fun." Lots of 'creative' methods used for shifting the tank out of it's museum building onto the truck, and then off the truck in to the repair facility. But those chaps obvioulsy enjoy what they do....I wish them well. Richard

Eric, As Keith said ....Whatever the barn's history, it's a neat structure and you've done a fantastic job modeling the barn. It's very well done. The project continues to fascinate. Richard

Eric, Keith suggestion of horses being kept in the barn piqued my interest. There is what looks like a corral attached to the right side of the building. That maybe means there was livestock of some sort kept inside, and that they needed daily fresh air ... or perhaps for auctioning? Does the spacing on the corral rails give any clue to the livestock type....the wooden rails look quite close together....were sheep a thing at those times? Richard Edit: Also the soil within the corral looks churned up.

tmj, Everything that has been said before, plus... Since you are based in Texas, USA you might want to consider a local company like Grizzly ..... https://www.grizzly.com/metal-lathes ....showrooms in Missouri and Washington..... they also deliver to your home. From their website.... Our products are manufactured in several countries, including locations in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Many of our products are made in China and Taiwan, while others are produced in the U.S. and Europe. I suspect most of their sub-$3k lathes are made in China, and maybe Taiwan. Those designs look very similar many other sellers of Chinese lathes, so they possibly come out of the same factory but with differing quality control standards. Chinese made lathes are no longer 'bad'.... they have upped their game, but rejects plus poorer quality control units can end up in the direct sales route. I would buy from a USA supplier (eg 'Grizzly' or The Little Machine Shop) since they will have already taken care of import admin etc. They can also deliver quicker from USA based stock, provide local Support (...most definitely not to be underestimated) and a wide range of accessories, again usually from stock. I'd avoid Amazon/eBay kit. You mentioned $3k as being a bit too high but if you buy a $1.5k lathe, say, you can expect to eventually spend at least that same amount on tooling and accessories....it's one of the laws of nature I'm afraid 😉 I have a lathe similar to the Grizzly G0765 - https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-7-x-14-variable-speed-benchtop-metal-lathe/g0765 Mine's runs a 3" 3 jaw chuck (and collets, as Wefalck recommends) , has a 3.5" swing, 0.5HP brushless motor and quick release tailstock. I make metal model engines on it. You'll need a little space either end of the lathe for gearing access and tailstock wheel handling, plus a few inches behind it. Oh, and don't forget to get a light...I use a flexible Ikea clip-on one. Good hunting. Richard

Eric, As Paul and Keith have said, those are two very well done additions to your layout. Good stuff! The more I read of your build, the more I understand why folks build model railway scenes....there are so many different and interesting aspects to it. Richard

Eric, I should have looked back at your tunnel pics in post #78.... the smoke staining is obvious. Yes, agreed, an open countryside, rural town is much less likely to suffer from smoke staining. Richard

Eric, Good new building and gravel innovation. Keep 'em coming. I was wondering if the smoke stacks would cause any discolouration of the wooden buildings and tunnel entrance. In the UK, due to coal fires to heat homes, power industry and railway lines/junctions, many UK cities with stone buildings were almost black in colour...it was very bad. In the 1960s or so steps began to clean up those buildings. Lungs were a different matter ;-( Richard

Valeriy, Good ideas. Richard

Richard, Those steam engines and settings are superb. Thank you for the link to the video of the working models and of David's methods.. Richard

Giorgio, What a great project. I'll follow from now on. Commander Piedrabuena had a very full life and seemed to want to help his fellow humans at every opportunity. Is this novel based on his adventures?.... Piedra Buena: Un Capitan Respetable, Historical Novel - https://www.amazon.com/Piedra-Buena-Respetable-Historical-Mastroscello/dp/9871468318 Thanks, Richard

Eric, The Inman & Sons building looks great. Your comment about the Sign's lettering size got me wondering if American 'shop fronts' also included the products sold (eg furniture) on the front signage, as well as the proprietor's name? Googling that thought for some imagery .... https://www.google.co.uk/search?lr=&sca_esv=b4f5d26490e949a3&as_qdr=all&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeioyp3OhN11EY0n5qfq-zENwnGygERInUV_0g0XKeHGJRAdFPaX_SSIJt7xYUfpm-75lA8Uar42yNWdqGuJlUAnl4VoyIc9TvIZo00AnzLuo73CKalUXQ8cWgmottQs4BXh0bU9aRqLPpzWejdabGFvk-MuP83mUuK41Ro6dMLX7Czip9A&q=19th+century+shop+front+american&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj99Mupl-qPAxXPQkEAHbyIPHwQtKgLegQIFxAB&biw=1376&bih=731&dpr=1.4 ...seems to produce a 50:50 split....some did, some didn't. That might possibly be related to whether or not the business was public facing or 'business to business' ... or both eg public facing needs to suck in passing trade so giving as much useful info as possible in the sign is a big help. Whereas B2B doesn't need that. Richard

Eric, Thanks for the very detailed explanations of the logistics behind the both the actual and model railways. I can see why it grabs folks as a hobby. Richard

Eric, Thank you for all that info....there is a lot going on. I imagine the person (or office) that collected all the data to produce the Waybills was very important and crucial to smooth, efficient running of the railway. Some questions - How did that office communicate with other remote regional offices to know what deliveries to expect etc? Or was there one central 'waybill office' per region? Did Telegraph enable the first Waybill usage or were Waybills initially carried on the trains? I think that a casual bystander like me only ever sees the tip of the iceberg regarding 'railways workings' - the same can be said of all professions I imagine. So thank you for giving a very insightful look at what is happening below the surface. Richard