Andrew

Nice Class 50 pics, thanks, Mick. What make is that colour light signal please? Looks very authentic.

Sharp eyes!

DGR does globalisation: first run of the intermodal train Class 66 waiting for work Bringing home a train of containers - literally all the way from China Then it was time to form up another rake at Northdown container terminal: Before heading off again

One more:

Your trees are looking great, Mick. Silver birch, perhaps. More happy leafing!

A new kid on the block The 1st October celebrations in Dorking and Beijing mark an important milestone for the Fat Controller and the People's Republic of China. The date is also the anniversary of the opening of the DGR in 2012, and for all these reasons it frequently results in new stock arriving in Dorking. This year was no exception, seeing the DGR finally escape from the steam age with the acquisition of our first diesel (about time too, I hear Mick say) and what should be a decent train of intermodal wagons to complement it. Getting the too-bright and shiny intermodals couple

Not the Night Mail Some old negatives recently came my way, courtesy of Julian, which look like photos from sixty years ago of the overnight mail trains that ran in both directions between Paddington and Penzance. Presumably these are summer photos, taken when the train could be seen in daylight. The trains had originally been known as the Great Western Up and Down TPOs and that continued after nationalisation. The Travelling Post Office vehicles are in the striking Post Office red livery used for the new Mk 1 mail train stock (1959 onwards) until their repainting into blue and gre

Strange Cargo at Northdown Junction This curious object was recently seen on a Lowmac. Is it perhaps a prototype Korean deep diving bathysphere? Nope! It was of course Josh's 360 degree camera ready to record full details of the DGR circuit. On the following video you can swivel the field of view by tilting your device or using the mouse. Quite fun to give it a try:

Belmond British Pullman in the Surrey Hills In normal times this luxury day excursion train is often hauled by Merchant Navy class engine "Clan Line", lovingly polished into gleaming condition. During periods of high fire risk, most of the tractive effort is provided by a Class 67 diesel running as the train engine, with the Bulleid sauntering along as pilot with little effort. These photos were taken near Dorking on one such trip, although no-one attached the headboard that day. Northdown Junction Running along the Downs

Virgin Trains When Virgin Trains used Pendolino electric units for their West Coast Main Line franchise they also had a full rake of MK3 coaches including DVT as a standby set (known as WB64). In 2011 Virgin Trains started hauling this set with Class 90 locomotives hired in from Freightliner, and this arrangement lasted until the operations ceased in late 2014. More details here: http://www.class90electriclocogroup.co.uk/virgin_trains.html This is what it looked like (you have to imagine the OHL equipment):

South West Trains These Siemens Desiro Class 450 units have been a mainstay of medium distance suburban services on the third rail electrified routes out of Waterloo since 2003 and are familiar to thousands of people who in days gone by were commuters. The livery started to change after SWT lost the operating franchise in 2017. This one is on an Up Waterloo service: Rear view on Foxdale Bank Rural Hampshire perhaps Still heading for Waterloo

Modern railways Goodness! More than a month with no pictures. So it was jolly good that Geoff and Josh came over yesterday for a suitably distanced running session and brought lots of exciting rolling stock to add new liveries to the normal DGR diet of steam age British Railways. The photos will be posted in installments, starting with "Lady Penelope". Lady P. is number 57307, re-engined from a Class 47 and, at the time shown, owned by Virgin Trains primarily as a rescue engine for Pendolino electric units and other trains in trouble, such rescue locos commonly being known as thun

I fully endorse Mick's second and third paras above. After eight years of sterling service my creocoated timber track base is starting to show its age, suffering from rot in some places where it's been resting on the earth and warping on some curves where it wasn't adequately braced. I shall replace it on the same basis. Treated timber is by far the simplest medium to use and I prefer its weathered appearance to that of uniform grey roofing felt. It has good qualities in service and, if it lasts for 8-10 years, offers a reasonable lifespan.

All looks promising, Barry. A couple of thoughts. The temporary can tend to become permanent, so you might want to make some allowance for that from the outset rather than committing to replace everything as part of the plan. The sidings at your terminus don't look as long as the passing loop. If there was scope to have the station parallel to the front edge of the decking you might have more length available. If you could get the line to run behind that variegated green patch so that the curve starts from up against the boundary, there might be more length available for the main