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storthships

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  • Website URL
    http://tony@storthships.plus.com
  • Skype
    tony.jaydee

Profile Information

  • Location
    South Lakeland. Cumbria
  • Interests
    Golf, Railway modelling . Photographing ships in as many locations throughout the world as time and money allows.
    Actively involved scanning and digitising ship slides for the World ship Society.

storthships's Achievements

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  1. Worth trying Dave Cleal, good man to deal with. Larry, did you receive my private message I sent you. Would welcome a phone call when convenient. 015395 63641 Many thanks. Tony.
  2. Hi all, Regarding Romford screw couplings, I have just ordered (and received) a quantity from Dave Cleal at Mainly Trains. They appear to have undergone changes in as much as they are in a brass finish except the hook which is now a finer scale. Interestingly, Markits list them in their on line catalogue but those as well as the 3 link couplings are faded out in the list but I could not see any explanation for this. Tony Dyer
  3. Hi Robin, Am looking forward to seeing 82034 appearing here sometime. Tony Dyer
  4. Hi 5050, Yes you are right, Bob Hunter was our first sales rep. I remembered he lived in Wakefield, drove a VW yellow beatle and had, shall we say, not a good driving record. I went to court in his defence and hoped my presence and good character reference did something to minimise the penalties for his driving offense. Do say hello to him and if he wants to make contact,its tony@storthships.plus.com. Our second rep was Stephen Barnfield who I believe is still connected to the hobby and am I right in saying he paints professionally. Tony
  5. Hi Larry, Thank you so much for the info on the imported Jubilees. Wow, do I actually own a gold plated model - are they worth anything.? Should i remove the springing to improve running before i put it up for sale or should i leave it in its original condition which is normally the correct procedure. I hope life is treating you kindly down in Abergele. We had a golfing break last year playing Oswestry, Wrexham and Llanyminoch (sorry-not too sure of the spelling. Whilst there, I visited the Llangollen Rlwy Centre and walked across the aqueduct. Altogether. a pleasant three days. It is nice catching up with you on this fascinating web site. Long may it continue. Must get some more stories posted. Kindest regards. Tony
  6. While working at Kings Cross I bought a 4mm imported model of an LMS Jubilee. It looks as though it is gold plated but it is probably lacquered shiny brass. It is in a Blue Plastic Box. It has no makers name or any other identifying mark whatsoever. However, it is fitted with nameplates. 5599 BECHUANALAND.b The tender even has a builders plate. No.9028. Does anyone know who manufactured this ? Tony Dyer
  7. Thank you Brian, It answers a lot of questions and it sounds as though life was very interesting to say the least. To return to the Kings Cross shop, and another great character of that time. Yes, the wonderful Nick Campling. Nick was always welcome with his wonderful collection of stories and he was also one of the few who was permitted `upstairs` as it were. It is many years now since the passing of Cyril Freezer, editor at that time of the Railway Modeller. Nick hatched this plan and would put it to the test to see if it really would come off. Nick brought up to the office a Private Owner wagon (not sure if it was 4mm scale or 7mm) that he had just constructed and planned to send it to Cyril for review in the magazine. It wasnt the wagon itself that was particularly interesting rather than the owners name. We chuckled when we saw it and said to him, `You will never get away with it`. The wagon was duly sent down to Devon and if my memory serves me right, it was indeed published. So what was so special about this name ? It was beautifully lettered in the livery of now hard to find company called NORFOLK & GOOD. Does anyone have an update on Nick Campling. Regarding` Bulleid Bob` Brian, yes he must hold the record for the number of Kemilway BofB chassis that he constructed and indeed complete Bulleid pacifics made from the Airfix/Kemilway pairing. I know I was supplying Bob these chassis long after I left Kings Cross and regularly received a phone call and the Christmas card. Then it all stopped so I suppose it was time up for dear old Bob. There will be many more stories to come yet I am sure. Son Peter sends his best to you Brian and of course to anyone else who remembers him. Time for some more scanning. Tony (Storthships)
  8. Hi again Brian, No, you have got me there. Dont say it was son Peter, but on that note, do you remember the occasion when a regular customer brought in a very nice locomotive he had just built and painted from a kit and `entrusted` it to `the guvner`. In typical DM fashion, on it went on to the test track, and the right hand immediately applied `full noise` to the control as was always his fashion and this beautiful loco went flying off the end of the track and onto the floor incurring severe damage. The loco was eventually restored to its pristine condition by the said heavy handed operative and sold, but the customer was not best pleased. Brian, in my previous letter but one, I did ask of your whereabouts and what you are doing. You didnt answer that and I am sure its not a secret. Do tell - e-mail address or something. Regarding the the cheque card saga, yes Brian it was you but all sorts of things happen when you are in the prime of youth. I will sorts some more stories in due course. Best wishes to all. Tony
  9. My employment at the Kings Cross shop as manager from 1973 - 1989 produced its fair share of memorable occasions. I am sure the person in this story will know who I am talking about but for this essay, he will of course remain nameless.. The shop was fortunate in that it had quite a few - shall we say- prestigious clients,. These clients were of course well known to management and of course these clients were on good terms with the company directors. It is the mid 1970`s, The company was learning its way with credit cards like Access and we were instructed never to accept a cheque unless it was backed up with a cheque card. On this occasion, the gentleman in question, immaculately dressed in a very expensive tweed suit, bowler hat and umbrella, had run up a fair size bill with his purchases and wrote a cheque from a well known prestigious Bank. Said employee asked for his cheque card but it was made clear that this will not be necessary. Not happy with the situation, said employee came to the office with cheque in hand and stated that - quote` Ive got this geezer downstairs who refuses to let me see his cheque card`. Both David Morris and I looked into the security camera, saw the gentleman in question and said to the employee, Oh, thats alright, just make sure he has everything he needs. Said employee is not at all happy about this and demands to know why exceptions can be made and how difficult it makes his job when told explicitly that cheque cards are a must. He was told not to argue and go back down stairs and conclude the business in a nice manner. Happily he did although he persevered with the argument a long while after. So who was this prestigious client. He was no other than the Queens Solicitor. Kings Cross was not the choicest of areas and it had its fair share of undesirables especially `winos`. One Saturday a customer reported that he had seen a man take a boxed train set out of the window and leave the shop without paying. I hot footed through the front door only to trip over a man sitting on the step, bottle to his mouth and the outline of a rectangular box underneath his jacket around the middle of his back to his shoulders. On confronting the man, he promptly denied everything but offered no resistance when myself and another member of staff removed his jacket and recovered the said train set,. There was no point reporting it to the police, he practically lived in the courts we found out. Yes, they were interesting days and there are many more tales that can be related. Stay well. Tony
  10. Hi All interested readers, Through the good offices of Paul Bartlett, I have been introduced to RM Web and in particular, the Kings Cross Model Ship topic. It has been great to be taken down that road again and be reminded of so many long forgotten names. The one name that has not yet appeared and yet was such a good hard working member of that stalwart Kings Cross Staff is Robert Dudrenec. I am in touch with Robert who now lives in Stratford -upon Avon. When I (Tony Dyer) left KX in 1989, my wife and I moved up to South Lakeland to pursue what was becoming a new found interest. Namely hill walking in a lovely part of the country. I never worked full time again, but instead had a part time job working for a very successful outdoor equipment distributor. I still ran Kemilway with George Pring (who, yes was the George in George Allan Models) until his tragic death in the late 90`s. All Kemilway rights finished up with Peter Dawson of Peter K models who is still successfully trading. I was not aware of the passing of Bert Collins. He was a great character and always good to be in his company. I am very impressed with the amount of information imparted by Brian Kirby. His memory is brilliant and it shows in his very accurate descriptions of anecdotes of which a whole book could be written of the comings and goings at Kings Cross. Where are you Brian ? I would love to hear from you and what you are doing in life today.. There were many great names that had associations with Kings Cross. I remember a struggling modeller/turned manufacturer who graced his presence there always using his favourite word to describe the latest models -`Fabulous`. everything was fabulous. I cant remember the company he represented but he suddenly became very successful in the pop music business and he was away. Yes of course, Pete Waterman and still so much connected with railways. So, here I am, just celebrated my 80th birthday. Sadly, my wife died in 2004 and I miss her dearly. However, I keep very busy. Play golf a couple of times a week. I still keep my hand in with railway modelling by servicing the nearly 100 locos that are owned by a very good friend of mine with probably one of the best layouts in existence that nobody has seen. A lot of my time is now spent scanning and digitising the many thousands of slides that are in the care of the World Ship Society. They have probably the largest collection of ship photographs anywhere and is continually being added to as members pass away and their collection is bequeathed to the Society. All in all, it keeps me out of mischief, occupies my time and I find it very rewarding. Love to hear from anyone who knew me at Kings Cross. Good to hear about you also Adrian. Likewise, love to know where you are these days. All good wishes. Tony
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