Michael Edge

What alternative do we have? They all do this sort of thing and always have.

It's simple, quick and foolproof - and the nut still unscrews without any problem. I've probably been advising people to do this for more than 50 years, I think my Dad told me how to do it when I was about 10 years old (as he was a plumber he also taught me how to solder properly).

Interesting bit of loose shunting, just demonstrates what I always say about slow shunting on layouts - it was actually always done as fast as possible and that 350 was being flogged along flat out there.

If you do keep the nuts on the bottom it's very easy to stop them working loose, simply spoil the thread a little way below the rotating part with side cutting pliers. The nut will then lock on to this part of the thread before it locks the bogie arm or pony truck. I use the same method for coach bogies having seen far too many with springs inserted between the bogie and the underframe, this does indeed keep the nut on but it also inhibits the bogie from rocking as it it should. I still have dozens (possibly hundreds) of these to remove from coaches running on Carlisle.

I think they were Austin Sevens but they weren't nearly as common as the LNW ones.

I would work on the basis of taking the trucks off to get at the body fixing screws - but I never put bogies on like this anyway, I always change them to a centre pivot now. The DJH practice of putting the screws on top with nuts below is a nuisance for anyone who doesn't have a set of box spanners as well but if you are going to leave it this way round you must lock the screws in the spacers.

Black 8 is a nonsensical modernism, there couldn’t have been such a thing since there were no red 8s - LMS power classification only went up to 7. Since I come from a little way north of the Mersey I concur with Tony about loco names, they were always Mickeys snd Semis, although our “coffee pots” were LNW 0-8-0s. I am (and was) aware that the enginemen had their own nicknames and rarely understood ours.

Yes, the 26A allocation shows its origin for my Wigan Wallgate layout. 45154 is also underlined in my spotters books but like you I never saw the other two named Mickeys.

Very probably, it's been running since December 1979 - had a Pittman motor and K's wheels then.

I've built a few Jamieson kits, the pressed shell for the LMS streamliners was the best way to produce one for a long time. This is the only Jamieson loco I still have though. 45156 was the first Jamieson kit I built, it has been altered a bit now with mostly etched motion (not sure if it's K's or Eames etch or a mixture of both). It still had K's wheels when this photo was taken but it now has Gibson drivers.

Trestrol EC drawing was in Model Railway Constructor September 1958.

It’s the rim shape that was pure Horwich.

I have thought about doing this but the centre throwover would be huge and with our sharp curves it might cause problems - probably by demolishing ground signals. I have an empty one as well and they look OK to me, they are big enough as they are!

Not just that one, all the BR standards had a Horwich pattern chimney as selected by Cox himself.

Here's another rarely seen variant, an O4/5, rebuilt with a shortened Gresley boiler Some of my own etches in this and a Judith Edge tender, seen here on Wentworth Junction at a very early stage 63745 has since been weathered. The Triang Trestrol behind it is one of their best models despite the fact that over an inch is missing from the length in the middle - not visible in this photo though.

Still a lot cheaper than commissioning an etch design today.

Yes it's Liverpool with the floating crane Mammoth.

That photo is taken from Nelson bridge which is the continuation of Victoria viaduct at the north end of Citadel, the bridge also goes across the river here. We have a low relief version of that goods shed alongside a line which just disappears into the wall - we just have the through goods lines, no room for Dentonholme yard (the building wasn't big enough....).

The nearer track did go right through Dentonholme goods shed so you could have a bit more in the space......

Don't worry about the theory, just try it out - and don't forget that shunting with steam was a lot faster than most modellers seem to think.

I think the kit built one looks much better, more like a loco and less like a shiny toy - even with the repaint it still looks like moulded plastic.

You will find the end footboards come quite close to the platforms on curves, there is quite a big throwover here - also obviously in the centre of the underframe truss, the coach body should all be above platform level anyway. Our model of Carlisle has the platforms built at correct width/spacing from the tracks (most modellers leave a big gap) and as a consequence we've had to make sure all stock really is in gauge - a great many models aren't.

It’s only the test track that’s tidy, the bench is the usual tip! The test track only contains items being worked on ( or likely to be) , there are also piles of boxes in other places.

This is the G train etch for the B7. Some of the B7s ran with self trimming tenders so I used a Perseverance kit, I didn't bother building up the axleboxes and springs from the parts supplied so I used ours. Boiler and firebox scratchbuilt in my usual way. Now painted in very early BR livery it runs on Herculaneum Dock and Wentworth Junction. Incidentally we have plenty of the etched "ship's wheels" and also etches for the Iracier axlebox covers which some of these tenders had.

I think the lack of beading on the coal raves is the result of open rails plated on the outside.