scotcent

Could it be for curling stones? It's not far from Duddingstone Loch. Allan F

I was privileged to see Mike Sharman's layout at New Lanark in 2002, and it could only be described as mind boggling, not only for the weird and wonderful collection of locos and stock, but also for the absolutely perfect running over some of the most complex (mixed gauge) trackwork I've ever seen. He even had baseboard joins running through the middle of the pointwork! I believe Mike doesn't exhibit now, which is a great shame. Allan F

Circumstances alter cases, and the nature and location of a trap would depend on local circumstances. So It could be a full turnout leading to another siding or perhaps to a headshunt. Or it could be a single or double switch which would dump the runaway in the ballast -- hopefully on the side away from the main line! Occasionally there might be a double sided switch which simply dumped the stray in the four foot without diverting it to either side. This was to be found at Perth where the Dundee bay had up and down lines with a siding between them, so they didn't want the runaway diverted to either side. The intention always was to ensure that a runaway could never access the main running lines. Incidentally, a train trailing through a switch set against it might well damage the switch mechanism, but it won't be stopped or, probably, derailed. Allan F

This seems to have been quite a common arrangement at small wayside stations, certainly on the Caledonian. Allan F

I have always understood that where horses were used for shunting, it was necessary to cover the sleepers with ballast to avoid the animals tripping up. Allan F

I've been using solvents and fluxes for more than 40 years. In my early days I used a rust curative which was in fact 66% phosphoric acid as a flux, and it generally worked quite well. The fumes became quite addictive........ For plastic welding I used cellulose thinners for many years. Nowadays I use Butanone, and the various C & L fluxes, because they're easier to get, and I can afford them now. I've lost neither my life or my sanity, I claim. But that isn't a recommendation for anyone to use these things -- as has been said they are nasty stuffs, and carelessness can have nasty consequences, in the short and long term. If you have a sensitivity to them I recommend card buildings and school glue. Allan F

A few points made have resonance for me. I was much involved in our "Bonnybridge" layout many years ago. The main lines were ballasted with (I think) some granite stuff; but the goods yard was presumed to have been ash ballast laid about 30 years previously. I got some coarse "Pollyfilla" or equivalent, well diluted with water, and coloured with powder paint, and sploshed it around with a 1" paint brush, which left the sleepers visible, but virtually flush with the ballast. (This was an impecunious secondary line built in the 1880's). A bit of paint detailing finished it off. On my own layout I used (on someone's recommendation) 5mm camping mat as underlay, mostly laid with carpet adhesive. It is very prone to permanent deformation, eg by a careless elbow, and it gives no improvement in sound insulation. The track is fixed down variously with carpet adhesive, PVA, and Copydex, and a few sections are only pinned loosely down. Interestingly these latter are the only bits which don't transmit any loco noise, and the difference when a loco is running along is most striking. Allan F

MJT units, sold for compensating RTR vehicles, work inside the wheels, and allow the axle to rock without affecting the dummy axleguards / axleboxes / springs. I have designed and had etched a unit to provide full springing for these vehicles with outside axleguards, but you need to be fairly obsessive about springing to be bothered with it....... Allan F P S My etcher is also doing cosmetic axleguards in brass in a number of different shapes. These are of course entirely non - load - bearing and are attached with cyano to the plastic solebars.

I took my son on the Keighley and Worth Valley a wee while back. We travelled in a compartment coach -- a thing he couldn't believe. I was able to show him how, with just two of us, we were able to make it look to inlookers as if the compartment was full, discouraging further entrants, a skill I learned on the Cathcart Circle trains, travelling to school! And we didn't smell of horses, though I couldn't claim we were squeaky clean. Allan F

There is somehere a photograph of the main street in Kelty (a small mining village in Fife). There is a shopfront advertising, inter alia, Black Powder and Dynamite. Now, I understand that in those days (pre 1900) it was the practice for firemen (who fired the explosives in mines and quarries) to provide their own explosives. I also know that in at least some mines and quarries there was a magazine, at a distance from anything else, in which explosives were stored. My knowledge of this field is very sketchy, and may be quite wrong. In Scotland, and I understand in England too(!) there were many hundreds of mines, most of which used explosives; but I doubt if any of them needed a van full. So how were the explosives transported, distributed, and stored? I except military material, which I'm sure was a separate subject Allan F

My logs show frequent maxima of 80+ behind standard or Fairburn class 4 tanks, often on the Joint line to Paisley, or on the line beyond there to Kilwinning.The Aberdeen expresses also used to achieve this, often on the Forfar to Perth run, with an A4. Most exciting was 83mph on the Kirkudbright branch with a Fairburn tank going bunker first. My first 90 was on the descent from Neilston to Barrhead behind a class 40 diesel with a relief London express, in 1963. Of course those were the days of rail joints! Allan F

Recently rebuilt to add another station. A number of us are very privileged to run it once a month. Running trains along a single track railway where not every station has passing facilities, and communication is by bell signals can be enlivening. Readers are recommended to read "The Irish RM" by Somerville and Ross to get the flavour of it. As an aside, my first view of the original Castle Rackrent in the 70's at the Glasgow show was life changing -- a real rural Irish scene, with the very old train emerging from under the bridge making proper noises, and in 7mm scale real mass and ponderousness. Allan F

BUT I wouldn't rely on it remaining stuck. I'd advise getting the lum off altogether, cleaning the surfaces back to bare metal, and rebonding it! If you can get a background with vertical lines that's a great help to getting lums, or anything else, vertical. Your reports are pressuring me to get my own model, from a Falcon Brass kit, running. It's a most elegant wee engine when under way Allan F

Jim Some years ago I tried printing a range of wagon sheets on various materials I could get to go through the printer -- and none of them was as good as your example here. I take it you use an inkjet printer -- I would be very skeery about that going through my laser printer! The best I got was preprinted on some very fine tissue paper, from a chap in Wales whose name I've forgotten. Allan F

Do you have Bill Bedford's W Irons for coaches or NPCS? These cater for the larger wheels. Allan F

The double layer panelling bugged me for years on John Boyle's CR coaches, and I developed the system of drilling a few holes in the back sheet, then soldering through, which Ian has now adopted. Stick each outer panel on with sellotape; jt'll be destroyed by the heat, but will last long enough the get the solder in, and the sellotape, being transparent, lets you get it lined up accurately. You can't very well bend the double thickness panel, so you need to bend the inner panel to the right shape before you start, then bend each outer panel to match. It's all a bit tedious! Allan F

The Caledonian Railway Association has a number of gradient diagrams in its archive, including the one referred to under reference CRA3/7/2/37. But you'll need to visit the archive in Glasgow. A referral to the archivist (see the website) would be helpful. Allan F

I hope I'm not swimming against the tide here, but I would have to compliment my local outfit, Scotrail, which has provided on most of the longer distance trains a decent trolley service (as these things go); and the cup of coffee is cheaper than at my local coffee shop, and it's hot. I say "has provided" because who knows what the new operator, Abelio, will do. The current trolley girls and boys are employed by Scotrail, and I think this is the outfit referred to above where they are in the line of promotion. Allan F

Thanks for that. That shunt must have kept the pilot busy for a while! Allan F

According to my 1957 timetable the down train arrived in Aberdeen at 0805 having called only at Stirling, Perth and Stonehaven -- not much daylight in the wintertime! The up train left Aberdeen at 1530 and called at Forfar and Perth; from Perth it ran as mail only. Incidentally, does anyone know how the Postal vehicles were turned at Aberdeen? No triangles about there as far as I know. Allan F

Another regular A4 working was the Postal from Carstairs to Aberdeen. At Stirling it was joined by coach(es) and vans off the 04.00 ex Glasgow Central, and the whole entourage arrived in Aberdeen about 08.14. Although the overall timing was quite slow there was a lot of shunting at Stirling and at Perth; the running up the Strathmore line could be quite brisk, and there was a mail apparatus at Coupar Angus to add to the excitement. I travelled quite frequently on this train around 1963. If the main train was late from the South a Black 5 (usually) would take the Glasgow portion alone to Aberdeen, and could get quite brisk with this featherweight train. The southbound Postal left Aberdeen about 1530, and I always assumed the A4 got to Carstairs on this train, which carried no passengers beyond Perth. I think special attention was given to the running of these trains, which were rarely late in my experience. The A4's did often appear on lesser trains as well, when there were plenty of them. I seem to remember that engines were often changed at Perth. My last trip was in September 1966 behind 60019 "Bittern", the official last steam run in Scotland, and I remember putting all my notebooks away afterwards -- this was THE END for me! I've attached a picture of the scene on arrival at Aberdeen -- imagine that now!

Scary it was! I guess it still is for the relatively few trains which go this way now. Allan F

I just bought an Ultra 7000 from Maplin's for £29.99. And it wasn't a special offer. Seems good so far. Allan F

You're quite right, of course. I was actually thinking of a later period when (as now) the coal comes from opencast sites in Ayrshire. And I'm getting confused between Halbeath and Townhill. It had always seemed odd to me that Townhill Yard was much closer to the original Halbeath station than to Townhill. And can anyone tell me why my original post disappears in one line off the right hand edge of the screen? I haven't done anything different, I think. Allan F

Normal route was from Forth Bridge up through Dunfermline to Halbeath Yard, reverse, then back through Dunfermline to Longannet. Sometimes they went from Forth Bridge to Kirkcaldy, Thornton, Cowdenbeath, Longannet. Occasionally they went through Stirling to Perth, reverse, then through Ladybank, Thornton, Cowdenbeath, Longannet. It was to do with pathing on the main E & G line and the Forth Bridge. Allan F