Bulwell Hall

Another interesting feature of this photo is what appears to be an auto trailer in the platform next to the Mainline and City set. I wasn't aware that these worked in to Paddington?

That looks very nice indeed! Very well proportioned and delicately detailed. Perhaps I could mention just one thing - 2021 class 0-6-0 pannier tank? Gerry

This is my version of 3335. The reason I have done her in wartime black is that the RCTS in Locomotives of the GWR state that latterly the remaining Bulldogs were in black. The photos that I have seen are by no means clear on this and I'm sure that when looking at black and white photos of grubby engines you can see what you want to see. Certainly at least one of the Birds was painted green with GWR lettering on the tender as there's an official photo of her. So who knows? My inclination was that during WW2 she was an old engine and not likely to last for much longer so would have been painted black as was Swindon practice at the time. Not much help I'm afraid.

The spare coaches certainly were kept at specific locations for use when required. The Carriage Working Programmes show where spare coaches were to be kept and also specified the class of vehicle that was to be used - 3rd, Bk Compo, etc. For example, the Bridport Branch had a two train service provided by two B sets. The CWP instructed that a spare coach was to be kept at Maiden Newton and photos sometimes show it in the 'Bridport Siding' by the signal box. There may also have been a spare at Bridport but I'm not sure about that and my copy of the CWP is not to hand at the moment. My CWP is for Summer 1947 and the spare coaches may only have been for the duration of the Summer timetable - I can check later if anyone really wants to know.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this in print! Gerry

Well I certainly saw them on the SR Waterloo - Bournemouth line at Winchester City several times. I once saw Frilford Manor - the Reading Manor still in GW livery - on a Down parcels train and I even photographed Granville Manor on Eastleigh shed one Saturday afternoon.

It truly is a fact that a pannier never offends. What a lovely engine! Gerry

It truly is a fact that a pannier never offends! What a lovely engine!

B....y fantastic news! Long, long overdue and very welcome. Gerry

Very nice work indeed - it must be tiny in 2mm scale! I have always been attracted these small, early GWR boxes and they were commonly seen along the length of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth lines to both Weymouth and Salisbury. There were two small signal boxes at Maiden Newton until the 1880s and I assume - there being no photographs that I know of - that they were of this style. There was also a small signal box at Dorchester at the Yeovil end of the down platform, until circa 1912 and again I assume that it was of this style there being no photos showing it. These were the first signal boxes to be provided on the W,S & W and were replaced over the years as facilities were extended and enlarged. I believe that the Frome North Signal Box - formerly Frome Mineral Branch - was the last to remain and fortunately is now preserved at Didcot Railway Centre. Gerry

Absolutely agree Tony! Isn't there a saying about being wary of meeting your hero's - which can apply equally to ancient model railways? Another layout that made an enormous impression on me when it appeared in the Railway Modeller in 1962 was the Portreath branch. This EM gauge GWR branch line terminus really captivated me at the time but when I actually saw the layout many years later I was very disappointed indeed. But on reflection I realised that a combination of very youthful enthusiasm and naivety on my part - I was only 10 in 1962, clever photography and well written article and photo captions had created an impression that didn't match the reality. Indeed so crude and basic were these early models - and so abysmal was the running - that I do wonder sometimes how we managed to sustain our interest in those far off days. With the advent of modern developments such as DCC control, 3D printing transforming they way we make models and the deluge of high quality RTR models to name just a few, we truly never have had it so good!

Absolutely wonderful Frank - well done! Gerry

Having taken a very roundabout route the remaining locos and stock from Ken Northwoods North Devonshire Railway now reside in several boxes under my layout in my railway shed. Amongst them is the award winning Sayer Chaplin Modified Hall but sadly it has suffered over the years and is now in a sorry state. There is also a 14xx 0-4-2T - also built from Sayer Chaplin parts - and this is rather more presentable but both engines really are products of their time. As a young teenager I drooled over the NDR when it appeared in Railway Modeller in the 1960s and could only dream of having models such as these. Another of the locos in the collection is what was termed an 'Outside Frame Dean Goods' built from a Ks kit and this really was an object of desire to me at the time - John Harrisons Torpoint layout also had one and was another influential layout. But whilst they were probably state of the art when built in the 50s and 60s these locos really are just curiosities these days and they will find no place on my own layout. The same also goes for the coaches which are mostly Exleys and whilst highly desirable at the time now don't cut the mustard. Gerry

Whilst I am old enough to have ridden behind a Manor in BR service, living on the Southern Waterloo- Weymouth line as I did I don't recall having done so. But I certainly recall seeing them as they regularly turned up on the SR. Somewhere I have a snap taken on my juvenile Brownie camera of 7818 Granville Manor on shed at Eastleigh around 1964 whilst Frilsham Manor with the 'GWR' tender came though Winchester several times. I also saw Cookham Manor arrive at Taplow on a special from Birmingham at an early GWS open day at Taplow around 1966.

FWIW here is a GWR modellers take on an ex NER Horsebox built from a D&S kit. These are lovely kits that well repay the time taken to build them. And it is surprising how often these ex NER vehicles turn up in photos of GWR station yards so I needed little excuse to make one! Gerry

Nothing could be finer than a Dean Goods in the Avon Valley! If you manage to find a time machine going back to Limpley Stoke Simon, I'll come along for the ride if that's ok?

Beautiful work Jack. I especially like what you have done with 4026. I always thought that the Hornby Star had potential in spite of its shortcomings and you have proved the point - I'm very tempted to get on with mine now and get it converted to EM. The King is very nice also - and has really brought out how good the model is - but I just so much prefer a Star to a King! Gerry

Some of the K38s were definitely painted all over brown in the pre WW2 era. I have in the past consulted the GWR Carriage Registers which give details, dates, etc when vehicles were altered including livery changes and some of the K38s were definitely repainted in brown and in that period would have had the GWR roundel. I cannot easily access my notes relating to this material but what I found was definitive enough for me to do one in this livery myself - photo attached. I also have a photo taken at Weymouth in the late 1930s showing the Channel Island Boat Express leaving and the first vehicle in the train is a K38 in brown - again I would have to dig deep to find it. As an aside to this Carriage Working Programmes show that the Channel Island Boat Express always had such a van in the train and other photographs show that this was often a K38 in full Ocean Mails livery - certainly I have photos of the boat train on the Weymouth Harbour Tramway in 1939 with such a vehicle in the formation.

Many years ago I wanted to build a model of Gara Bridge station. It was the beautiful scenic setting that appealed to me, along with the William Clark buildings, and I even got as far as making a couple of them - the goods shed and the signal box. As part if my research I visited the site and at that time - very early 1980s - the station building was pretty much original - with its canopy - and was accessible. But as I progressed I became increasingly concerned that the layout would actually be very boring to operate. There was a 45xx and B set that would cross with a 45xx and B set and that was about it - the model didn't proceed any further! The scenic setting is undoubtedly superb and I would love to see what somebody of the calibre of Geoff Taylor could do with it. I haven't been back there since but I understand that the station has been significantly altered and is now a house.

I'm so pleased I was able to make it to Didcot today - what a splendid spectacle it was! I don't think I have ever seen so many people at the Railway Centre. It really was a wonderful day out! Gerry

For the chalk markings I use a grey crayon bought from an art shop - in Green St in Bath in my case! The one I use is a 'Polychromos' by Faber Castell and is Cold Grey. The grey is less stark - or more subtle - than bright white. When working it is vital to keep the point very sharp - probably sharpening the point after every stroke. This is the only way I know to represent the entirely random chalk marks done with a flourish by a worker in a hurry! All the transfers that I have seen are far too regimented and do not convince. As always practice makes perfect so do give it a try. Gerry P.S. I cannot take credit for this technique. I picked it up from an article by John Sutton who did some very nice modelling in 3mm scale and produced some lovely wagons. I haven't seen or heard of him or his work for some time now.

My new Rapido Iron Mink, which arrived six days ago, took its place on the layout today. All I have done is to re-wheel to EM, add a little extra weight, add three link couplings and weather to taste. The work to add the three link couplings is a little more involved than on previous Rapido wagons - due to the diminutive size of the vehicle - but is not impossible. I think they are wonderful little models that fully capture the appearance of the real thing. I also have a Ferrocrete van to do but this is to have rather more work done to it and will need to wait until a more urgent project is out of the way first.

Mikes post above reminded me of a photo that my late father took at Bar End Yard at the GWR station at Winchester. There were three or four Iron Minks there used for secure storage and a couple of them are shown in his slightly light affected photo. The nearest one was W204993 and was marked 'For Use at WINCHESTER Only'. I can recall them there in the1960s and by then they were in very weathered bauxite with the earlier lettering showing through. The vans were abandoned to the contractors for demolition after closure - in 1966 or so - and broken up on the spot.

This really is a beautiful little model! The detailing is exquisitely done with restraint, the livery is superbly applied and model bodes very well indeed for future wagons from Rapido. My only regret is that by my post WW2 period they were getting thin on the ground so I cant really justify more than one. But I shall certainly be obtaining the forthcoming Minks and Opens in multiple - not to mention the LMS opens and hopefully others that we don't yet know about. Rapido really are coming up with the goods and I for one am excited about that! As for a GWR tank engine, the 2021 class lasted longer than the 850s so gives the apparently important BR aspect, even if they were less pretty! But I note that Rapido are doing a Highland Railway 'Jones Goods' none of which lasted into BR days as far as I know but that doesn't seem to be a problem - so who knows! Gerry

Like Tim I am delighted to see Steve Halls wonderful layout and likewise, am astonished at the speed with which it has been accomplished. The list of K's stockists was also welcome and illustrates just how many model shops there were at one time. I visited quite a number of them over the years and was surprised that a town the size of Reading had two - I recall only EAMES down by Reading General station. I also used to frequent Precise Models of Eastleigh although I never knew it by that name. It was always simply known as the 'Eastleigh Model Shop' and for a time was a regular haunt on a Saturday afternoon whilst en route either to or from the Locomotive Sheds as we witnessed the demise of Southern steam. Gerry