Pandora

I think you have the reason, the risk of the fireman going up into the coal space of the tender, and with the filler mounted on the top deck of the tender, how would the fireman fill the tender with water? As part of the electrification project, were water columns removed where overhead was installed?

To operate this layout I think you would need 6+ people, 3 controllers, 2 drivers and a gofer to deal with derailments / sticky locomotives / put the kettle on.

The Lima diesel motor bogie wheelsets, how are they constructed? For the wheelside with the cog, how do you separate the wheelrim from the cog? As you can guess, I wish to replace the Lima wheel with something closer to scale, while retaining the Lima drivetrain, the locomotive is a Class 73, I wish to replace the undersized wheels with wheels of the correct diameter

The 1980s, the period you are researching, saw the development of BR Speedlink freight working, Sectorisation of the locomotive fleet, the many liveries and logos of locomotives were allocated to specific purposes, Chemical, Construction, Parcels etc. Here is a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedlink. Will Speedlink working be ported into your layout scenario?

I'm going to convert some of my Lima diesels, rather than salvage motors from CD/DVD drives I want to buy new 9V-12V motors from Ebay £2-50 each, , can you post the critical dimensions of the motor, diameter and depth? For a Class 26 or 33 conversion BoBo wheel arrangement, what is the depth of the "fat motor", is there plenty of leeway in motor depth as no call to grind for a clearance of a middle axle. For the Class 47, any further hints as to the depth of a motor to avoid the grinding operation?

Read some of the USA railway modelling magazines, they have more coverage of "Grand Layouts" You can divide your layout into sections, "off-stage" sections and "on-stage" the off-stage being non-scenic holding loops and plain line using Setrack the on-stage can be smaller scenic areas where you concentrate your finescale efforts, i wish I had your area, I would run scale length freight and passenger on a continuous loop passing through an urban trench style of suburban 2-platform station.

Here is the railblue site https://web.archive.org/web/20131225055908/http://www.railblue.com/rail_blue_history_2.htm

Hornby have shown their skills in producing exquisite small shunting locomotives, the Peckett, Ruston and Sentinel models, there is a significant pool of 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 diesel shunters to tackle, shunters dating back to WW2 by the Big Four and lasted until about 1970, Hornby manage to sell such masterpieces for around £100 each, a lot easier to part with than £200 for a W1 (for me). Hornby please tackle an LMS Jackshaft shunter or me!

The steam heating boilers in the diesel-electrics were oil-fired, some electric locos had electric steam raising boilers, the boiler contained electric heating elements, if the diesel-electric had to provide electricity for both traction and heating of the carriages, some of the diesels such as class 40 would struggle to outrun a decent steam loco, CME Ernest Cox wrote of this , "pity the poor steam loco boiler"

A link to the Railway photography of Geoff Warnes of Doncaster: https://www.pressreader.com/uk/yorkshire-post/20220208/282359748120843

Is the Trolleybus complete and restorable to working order? Will the Trolleybus visit Sandtoft or any another venue with overhead power?

You are correct about CO2 and the petrol vs diesel debate, the diesel may win win the CO2 emissions but loses over Nox emissions, the scientists are stating that Nox has 250 times the potency of CO2, a gram of Nox does the environmental damage of , acid rain, ground level ozone, human cardiovascular damage, and others, of 250 mg of CO2. Neither can claim to be "safe and green". The emissions debate around the IC engine continues to baffle!

I was down to Eastleigh on Sunday for work, I had the time to look over 69005. The sides and roof are OK, but that cab front, it is too harsh, a bit more styling to soften the look of 69005 please

The scale of the surplus of the SR Class 33 at their mid-life point was high , 95 locos on the books, with a case for 80, a pity the surplus did not go to Scotland to enhance the hard working fleet of 20+ Class 27 Glasgow push-pull locomotives. I'm thinking of a 33 + 27 push-pull pairing. But then the ScR adopted to Class 47 push-pull. As to your question, one for the experts!

I recall reading a book covering the Southern Region Class 33's, the book stated the Southern had ordered too many of the Class , a pity the Region denied ScR the 33 with the more powerful Sulzer engine and standard electric train heating.

Thank you, Orgreave to Scunthorpe workings would probably use the Doncaster avoiding line, as a young spotter we knew this as the "1800 line", from the boilerless D18XX Brush 4's of Immingham and Frodingham sheds which worked the line. I have been offered a rake of the Hornby hoppers at a fair price, now to make a decision! https://wikimili.com/en/Doncaster_Avoiding_Line

Is it correct that the NBR was later found to have a worrying level of corruption a within the Boardroom?

Where did the Coke Hoppers work during the 1960 to 1975 period? I'm interested in where they would seen in rakes of wagons. Were they seen on the Woodhead line, or Doncaster?

I think I am after all confusing a chaldon wagon with the side-tipping wagon, apologies!

The wagon I refer to in the 1970s Doncaster image was a modern version of the Beamish wagon, the modern wagon had the same style, inside axles boxes and the distinctive shape and the body in metal. The wagon was in fresh black paint, no owners marking, so possibly owners are Steel Works or the NCB. I wish I could find and post the image for everyone to see.

The use of Chaldon Wagons was later than the 1950s. probably until the 1970s or beyond. I had an image from the web of a 47 working an up-direction freight train through Doncaster Station , the image lost by a hard drive crash,and cannot relocate , ( does anyone have a copy)? The image would be from around 1970 and In the formation is an ex-works metal-bodied Chaldron wagon with the typical inside axleboxes, the wheels in full view, the nearest wagon works to Domncaster would be Charles Roberts of Wakefield and it is an assumption it is a the repaired or overhauled wagon in transit back to the owner. Did Roberts make such wagons for UK or export in the modern era?

In the early 1960s BR&CW moved away from locomotive construction to property and finance , had BR&CW remained as a constructor, perhaps Br would have ordered more Class 26 and 27 locomotives and fewer Class 24 and 25 locomotives. BR&CW Lion, was Lion a serious competitor to the Class 47 for the Type 4 fleet?

I think it was Bonavia who described the post 1948 BR wagon fleet situation, BR had no choice other than to pay owners in full for a wagon fleet in poor condition and of the wrong mix of open wagons and vans for the traffic needs. BR was buying many wagons which were not required. The PO wagon companies then had the pleasure of repairing the fleet at BR expense, or breaking up wagons for salvage of materials for recycling needs in the rebuilding of the country

Initial proposal of five companies, later changed to four. Govt owed the Railways a major sum of money post-WW1, the Grouping was a mechanism for cutting down money to be paid by the Exchequer. The LMSR was the problem, the L&Y/LNWR/Midland were the cats and dogs in one kennel, (I'm aware the L&Y and LNWR merged in advance of the Grouping). Many heads rolled, George Hughes CME L&Y, Henry O'Brien. Sir Guy Granet, a Barrister, Chairman of the Midland, who distrusted Engineers, held all the cards, under his tenure the Midland Railway policies prevailed lleading to the the difficulties which led to the LMSR calling upon Stanier to modernise the LMSR. At the time of his retirement CME Hughes of the L&Y Horwich was working upon an Electrification Scheme for the LNWR Crewe to Carlisle route, how different the railway could have been if the Midland had not ruled the roost.

I am steered towards authentic liveries, the pre-order book closes on May 1st, I think i read Rapido will only go forward with the RTC livery if sufficient numbers are pre-ordered