Stanley Melrose

There's a UK company working on sodium ion batteries - https://faradion.co.uk/

It's an additional trailer for the L&Y Railmotors

Many thanks! That copy will now be perused with great intensity. Stan

May I interrupt this thread with a couple of questions on a particular type of Midland Railway carriage? Would the (circular) truss rods on a Midland Railway Bain 54' Clerestory Carriage be fastened to the outside of the solebar at each end (i.e over the bogies) or tucked inside the solebars and were the queen posts attached to the bottom of the solebars? I've searched loads of books and looked at many photographs but a definitive answer has so far eluded me. I did a search on RMWeb to find ths thread and thought someone conributing to it might just put me out of my misery with the correc answer. Thanks in anticiation . . . Stan

At least one of the Brassmasters team is an accountant - I suspect he knows how to ensure that stocking unprofitable and/or slow-moving items do NOT damage the business so that it remains in good financial health.

My Dad took me to Smithdown Road to swap my Trix Twin for a Graham Farish Prairie and some Formway track. That must have been around 1952 or 1953. We were served by Mr Hatton and I can see him stil in my mind's eye. I've not been a regular customer but have bought from them from time to time with complete satisfaction over the years. Very sad and I, too, hope all involved come out of it well. Stan

All I'll offer (tho' there are probably sme who are bound to disagree) is don't go near anything from the VW stable. My experience of the VW software requires me to advise anyone who is inerested in a BEV to look elsewhere. My 4 year lease expires in September and I will certainly never consider a VW (or any of their other ranges) in future. You have been warned! Stan

Joining Ford in 1965 I was able in late Summer 1966 to move my Halewood built Anglia 107E from a Friday afternoon to earlier in the week. As was customary in those days, I tried to run it in to bed down the rough spots in the engine. To no avail; on my first trip up north to visit my parents, the big ends ran so it needed a replacement engine within the first few weeks of getting it. It wasn't all bad news, however, because I had offered a lift to a young lady whom I had just met and who also wanted to visit her family in Liverpool for a weekend. We eventually made it to Liverpool but had to return south by train on the Sunday. On the train south I asked her to have dinner with me and she accepted. 6 weeks later we were engaged and in 1967 we married. In due course we had 4 children but tragically she died aged 50 in 1994. I re-married and my second marriage has now lasted onger than the first. As this is a topic for smiles, thnk of me and how my life has had its ups and downs but I can still smile. So can all of of you! So do it . . . Have a smile on me.

A Double Diamond works wonders, works wonders, works wonders. A Double Diamnd works wonders - so drink one today. . . I bet that triggers earworms in some elderly listers.

Ah the days of Mateus Rose, Hirondelle (use Google translate if your French isn't up to it) and Spanish Burgundy . . . And Watney's Red Barrel. of course!

Completely off topic as I can't help with the railway matters but my family origins were in Pocklington over 400 years ago. Perhaps you can find gravestones that confrm this? Elizabeth Catton - Christening 5th April 1616.pdf

Get well soon, Martin!

Surely the use of rectangular "holes" is to avoid the possibility of the chairs being inserted at an angle that would make the whole concept of "gauge-free" track building and ease of assembly a lottery?

My enjoyment is listening to Jelly Roll Morton and the Red Hot Peppers 1923-27 recordings. I bought an LP of these recordings in Shaftesbury Avenue in October 1962 (my first week at London Uni). They were only 40 years old back then and I now have digitally re-mastered copies in various formats collected in the years since, along with practically everything I have been able to find recorded by Mister Jelly. His Dead Man Blues will be played at my funeral. Perhaps of more interest to this list is that, in the same week, the Beatles were on Parade of the Pops at the Playhouse Theatre under Charing Cross Station. A gang of us went to hear and see them. I still recall the looks on the faces of the session musicians sitting on the stage behind the Beatles. They were incredulous to say the least, if not downright scornful . . . Incidentally, the group preceding the Beatles at the top of the hit Parade was the Temperance Seven featuring Whispering Paul McDowell (sp?) Stan

Perhaps the attached image will help resolve what a Standard 2-6-0 2MT looked like? Stan PS not sure about copyright so please do nor reproduce - and I will remove it if asked to.

I'm married to a retired academic (Emeritus Professor) from a distant land who, while actively doing research at prestigious UK universities, published her research output extensively. Her work is still quoted by many researchers today. She has often commented on her amazement at the quality of research in arcane subjects carried out by UK hobbyists who are manifestly not academically qualified by formal examination. Hats off to all who illuminate our hobby by their endeavours. Stan

Many years ago (mid 1970s) I managed a project to install a new general ledger system in a US multinational company operating in more than 100 countries. The master copy of the chart of accounts was filed in 21 boxes of punch cards that I kept in my office. How much power can one person have?? Those were the days - a bit later I carried a 29MByte single platter disk drive up a flight of stairs It cost me over £200 in osteopath fees to be able to walk freely after my back was strained by the weight of the disk drive. Our first GigaByte disk drives needed aircon and strengthened floors because of their power consumption and weight. Stan

I beg everyone's pardon but I haven't been reading this thread but I thought those who have done so might appreciate this: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2023/oct/08/german-train-travel-deutsche-bahn-kafka> Stan

In the late 1960s when I was the passenger car engine product planner at Ford of Europe, it was decided that our new OHC engine would be used in the Ford PInto to be manufactured in the USA. I found myself the liaison between Ford of Europe and Ford USA. I recall the meeting when a German engineer announced to the US engineers that the engine was metric and they would have to source metric nuts and bolts as spares. Those were the days . . . Stan

Many thanks, I'll investigate! Stan

I need to remove and replace a digit in the number of my newly arrived Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0 so it represents one of the class based at Bank Hall in the late 1950s. Can anyone recommend the source of suitable transfers that will match the size and colour of the factory applied numbers. please? Stan

My dad worked for AVROs in Manchester in the 1930s and worked on the design of the Manchester. A colleague borrowed one of his draughtsman's curves to draw the wingtip of the Lancaster. I still have it but no longer know which of the several that I inherited it is . . . Stan

Wait until the cancellation charges start to appear and see how little of the £36 billion is available for these uncosted, unplanned altrenative expenditures. When Hancock reorganised Public Health England to avoid being crucified when the COVID enquiry* eventually took place, the reorganised staff were re-located to new offices. One of my daughters was involved in the financial management of all this and she found that they were still contracted to pay the leases on the now unoccupied offices as well as paying for the newly leased replacement offices. It made a big hole in the imagined savings. I'm pretty sure the same idiocy will be on display on this decision before long. Stan * He'll be crucufied anyway, if there's any justice.

No comment required . . . Stan

Here's a story with a moral - don't get a VW BEV! I collected my VW ID.3 First Edition on launch day, 18th September 2020. I had to sign a waiver that I wouldn't pursue any action against VW if the software didn't meet specification (whatever that might have been) before the dealer would release the car to me. Needless too say, from time to time, it didn't but for the last year the car has behaved acceptably. As the 3 year date from delivery neared I arranged for the MoT. The tester wanted to fail the car because the tyres are well worn but not illegally so and I was able to collect the pass certificate and drive away. I contacted the dealer that supplied the car and asked it it's true that VW are fitting replacement tyres free of charge for certain early build ID.3s. Bring it in and we'll let you know. Wow, my car (which is on a 4 year personal lease) was due for a free set of replacement tyres. Yippee, please fit them I said. Ah, came the response, we don't have the approved tyres in stock. When will you have them because it's urgent as the tyres almost failed the MoT. They've been on back order for several months and we don't know when they will be available but we can supply equivalent quality tyres for £243 each fitted. I reacted as you might expect and declined their offer suggesting that either the dealer or VW might pay for the alternative tyres. No chance was the reply. We have over 50 ID.3s on the forecourt that have failed PDI and are awaiting parts or software upgrades before they can be released to customers. You must be losing money, I commented. Yes, we've laid off a number of people because of the drain on our working capital. I drove home and decide to contact VW Finance, as they are the registered owners of the car. I have exchanged several emails with them, the contents of which I will not bother to post but the status now is that they have opened a case and tell me they have 8 weeks to investigate my complaint. I'm posting this sorry tale here in the hope that anyone reading it will never consider purchasing a VW product. I will be posting similar messages elsewhere for the same purpose. Caveat emptor!! Stan