Nothing done on the modelling front so far this month but have seen another item that I fancy making for Barchester and that's an over head sand hopper for loading engine sand boxes. I especially like the one that straddles the track and the locomotive travels beneath it. Must try and get some dimensions and a more detailed photograph. Mind you if I don't manage to get more details I'm sure that won't bother Barchesters designers too much.
Getting ready to add a Forum (Message Board) to Barchester's facilities. This will be great if I can get people to join as we can discuss matters and/or problems directly. In my opinion the single biggest benefit of joining a forum is that you are never alone with your hobby. Here is somewhere you can rant and rave if things have gone wrong or, at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, you can share your pleasure when something goes right. You can post pictures of your successes or of exactly what has gone wrong and where help is needed. The forum and it's friendly members are always just a few keystrokes away.
Now the Forum has only been running a few days and I see from the forum stats that there have been quite a few visitors but nobody joining. This is very disappointing as I know that quite a few modellers have already been helped by the Barchester web pages and the forum is a natural extension to those pages. I fully intend to make the combination a big, if not the biggest, source of model railway help on the internet and this is the chance for others to become part of that. Please don't be put off by the present lack of activity on the forum as we have to make a start and then a natural momentum will take over as word spreads.
I would also like to point out that neither Barchester or it's forum is intended in any way to take away from forums and web sites already on the internet, indeed I participate, and contribute, to four other model railway forums myself. So, come on people, lets have a few of the passers by taking an active part. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Here we are then at the end of another month and the winter, also known as the modelling season, is almost on us. Half a dozen members on the forum now but so far only two of them have done any posting. Slowly but surely I am introducing more information to the forum, to encourage others, and Barchester itself is updated every other day and is fast becoming a large reference facility for railway modellers. If you are one of the visitors and have liked what you have seen then sign up to the forum. If nothing else you will swell the numbers and encourage others.
See you next month guys and gals. Happy modelling.
