Peter Bedding

They will need quite a lot of surgery, as described elsewhere on this forum by chaps knowledgeable on Island history. Personally, I had thought that a different choice of prototype (only slightly shorter, I believe) would have had a wider appeal. PB

I don't think that I have ever deliberately procured a loco or train set for static display, but I shall give this some thought. 21C1 in full malachite warpaint would be a cabinet showpiece. PB

More than ever, there is a need for a suite of r-t-p station buildings to the designs of Sir William Tite. They would not have to be either monumental, or prohibitively large. Chard Junction or Broad Clyst are not particularly demanding. PB

Good morning all. The release-to-market day for the next Oxford versions of the Adams 0415 class will soon be with us, and I hope that they are a commercial success I bought a sample of OR's 30584, (because it was there, regardless of livery), and I was most pleased. I know I should worry about the inaccurate boiler profile, but I don't.. What is beginning to concern me though, is that one of the computerised images for number 3520 is of the wrong loco, and even more wrong would be the slidebars. The final 3 locos were all built by different foundries, Using Eastleigh's numbers, 125 was built by Stephenson, 488 by Neilson, and 520 by Dubs. All were built much about the same time (1885-ish) 125 and 520 were rebuilt by the Southern in 1930 and amongst other changes received new frames of a different front profile. Both of these locos retained the original single slide bars. So these details would be appropriate for wearing Mr Maunsell's lined olive green passenger loco livery. The computer image for OR76AR006 is, I believe, broadly appropriate, and I hope to own one soon. However, the computer image generated for (3)520 - OR76AR007 is, I believe, wrong in one particular respect. It purports to show 3520 correctly in Mr Bulleid's utility livery as worn in 1946, but with the Neilson front frames unique by then to 488. I realise that I am raising the fine art of rivet counting to almost unprecedented new heights, but my point is that OR acknowledged these selfsame differences with their original press release, and their tooling to date has shown that their production department can get it right. It's just the advertising that threatens to get it wrong. I hope that some one can show us that all is under control. PB

If this view should prove to have been taken at Lyme Regis, then I may claim to still be on topic. This particular coach, a 56ft Lav Third (ex Composite), is believed to have earlier been a part of Set148, which itself had a varied history. And if at Lyme Regis, then it would indicate that various loose coaches might get marshalled at Axminster to cope with the Summer Saturdays in the West passenger influx.

Still on topic (!) the attached photo of the prototype may also be of interest to the informed readership. Found on the web, if the rightful owner should wish to claim credit, I hope he/she will do so. PB

I think, Larry, that you have hit a perennial nail right on the head. I have my original much-thumbed copy of the 1970 edition of the HMRS Livery Register, which accompanied me to Circle meetings when such were held at Worplesdon Village Hall in the 1970s. The authors had put much effort into this definitive work, and were (rightly IMHO) most proud of the result. I await the renewed edition of this Register with keen interest. PB

Which flags up an interesting (to me at any rate) point. There were six of these sets (42-46 inclusive), with two different liveries. (Although new evidence on another forum would suggest that Set 43 was withdrawn still in green). So if Hornby were to bite the bullet and release a second production batch, we could hope for new Set numbers. Well, they can count me in. PB

Hello Rob, May we have some information on the loco, Number 1848. Is it a repaint with new numbers? PB

The ingredients for my 2-Set No 45 were delivered this morning. They are currently sitting on my desk top, awaitiing transfer to the carriage sidings. Without one of the 3 Lyme Regis locos in appropriate livery, I am undecided as to which loco from my modest collection should be given the privilege of pulling the first departure of the day from MoF. Probably T1 number 7. My real point, however, is to confirm all of the foregoing comments regarding the stunning accuracy and detailing. Wow, and thrice wow, and further words would distract. Please, Mr Hornby, may we have some more. PB

I believe that you are correct with respect of 6404 and 2639. My record shows that from April 1936 to November 1956 they were paired as Set Number 45. I would expect that Hornby will have this detail stencilled on the centre line on the outer ends. PB

Weather sign reportedly once displayed at Croydon Airport:- " Fog over Channel, Continent cut off." Plus ca change....etc etc..... PB

Hello Dave, I feel a tad embarrassed to ask further, however I should like to know if the spares in question are yet in view. My 207 is a lovely little mover, and it looks naked without a complete "face". I would welcome any solution at this point. Be well, Peter

Set 20 comprised 58ft BT(L) number 2618, and 56ft BC(L) number 6482. Hth PB

And shamelessly OT, my choice of enhancement also includes a BW DVD from the 1940s/50s. The ones that start with the image of Big Ben. Last night I watched, again, "Jigsaw" which opens with a panoramic view of the approach to Brighton. I don't stretch to red bordeaux (claret), but I can squeeze six glasses from an Oxford Landing Merlot. PB

Almost a rivet-counter's point, but I assume the appropriate ones will carry Set numbers on their ends. I seem to remember that this point was overlooked with the first release of Maunsell R4 carriages. Either way, Hattons have emailed the forecast delivery dates for those in Southern Green. My Birthday pressie to me. (The Memsahib is buying me a corresponding Adams loco.) PB

Chris, many thanks indeed for your reply and definitive information. Much welcomed. I had rather suspected that my tentative pre-assessment would not survive any length of time! We can only hope that some gifted cutter can now show us how to produce further vehicles/diagrams from the basic r-t-r vehicle, in the way that Mr Terry Gough produced a number of very worthwhile vehicles from the Triang Clerestory starting point. Was that really 45 years ago? Be well. PB

I have received a most helpful email from member John Flann, to which he attached an historic photograph: This picture was taken as part of a family record during a pre-war train journey on Portland. The stock is particularly interesting. The loco depicts the side tank repair plate on a mainland O2. The rake of carriages appears to be consistent with Set 371. This Set, together with Set 370 was damaged/partially destroyed in an air raid in 1941. The coach nearest to the camera might then be a 50'0" Brake Composite to Diagram 415, either number 6554 or 6555. The low arc-roofed coach 3rd from the camera might be the 48' 3" Open 3rd to Diagram 28, number 740. I should add that my coach records are not as accurate as I would wish, and I am sure that other Forum members can do better. Even if a manufacturer, like Kernow, should choose not to extend the range of r-t-r gate stock, I like to speculate on a cut and shut conversion of the upcoming 56'0" coaches from Kernow. PB

I guess others will also be in the queue for a pair of these 56ft pull-push carriages with the scroll-gates. Correspondence (above) has also made reference to other types of Gatestock, which I believe may have been alternatively described as Vestibule stock. One of these pairs was recorded at Wadebridge immediately post-war in unlined Maunsell green. The photo below caught my eye some years ago. If any reader wishes to lay an ownership claim, I would be delighted either to give full credit where due, or to delete, whichever is required. Set 361 is recorded as comprising one 50' 0" Semi Gangway Open Brake Composite to Diagram 415, plus a 48'3" Gangway Open Trailer Third to Diagram 28. Both withdrawn March 1956. With the 58ft Rebuilds, the O2s, and 0415s, even a modest shunting plank can look good. PB

I am much fascinated to see the resurgence of interest in the Island rail network and its rolling stock. One addition I am able to make to the eye-witness accounts is that, unlike the mainland, a lot of effort was placed following nationalisation in repainting the Island's carriage stock into BR crimson. In summer 1956 I came across a number of grounded coach bodies parked in the field immediately to the North of Newport station. To my untutored eye, all were seemingly in good condition, and all were in crimson. PB

I can be as much a blinkered romantic, with regard to the South Western's main line to the West, as anyone, but one fact will always come to the surface. The lovely pair of structures, which together still form the Meldon Viaduct, were under-engineered almost from the outset. It is not that there was a conspiracy to close the structure at the end of the 1960s, but the policies of patch repairs, make do and mend, simply had nowhere else to go. To keep the route open for economic train weights and speeds would have essentially required complete replacement of this one viaduct. Static loads were such that ever more angle iron was being needed to reinforce the original structures, and dynamic loads had required substantial mass concrete at the base of each of the wrought iron piles to prevent the whole thing from wandering off-alignment. Corrosion was an unknown, unmeasured problem. And that was in 1947, before the unloved and brown-hatted hatchet-men of Paddington were involved. Such a replacement would have been feasible, and at a cost less than the rescue of a failed bank, but that is a different proposition. PB

Wow. That is some temptation. It should be possible to shrink each of your images to an acceptable size. I use a horizontal axis of 800pixels, which seems to work every time. PB

There has been a particular interest in "Gate Stock" for many years; the Portland and Plymouth sets being the subject of articles in the model press. I believe that the pair shown in this photograph may not have been an intended pair but two singletons marshalled to serve the Bere Alston to Callington service. Perhaps a Forum reader can add the history. My guess is that Sets 360 and 361 were involved. The front coach was identified as 6557. PB

I well remember the garage, but not when it ceased to sell petrol. Around 1962 it was still trading (I almost bought a second-hand car there). By 1963-ish the "showroom" had been converted to a quasi-gambling club, complete with one-armed bandits that were considered more lucrative than the motor trade. Sorry for going OT! PB

With pedant mode on. Mrs PB and I were both residents of Freshwater Bay in the long distant past, and from the late 1940s Mrs PB was a regular holiday traveller from Freshwater via Newport to the main holiday spots. The Station site was undisturbed for a short time until the site was cleared to build the Acorn Spring Works. It would have been this factory that was cleared for subsequent retail activity. Hth. PB