Bill Matters

Possibly the BBC reversed it as on Keith’s Facebook page it runs normally, i.e. forwards. I would have liked to see an overall view as well as it seemed more concerned with the buildings.

The only reference I could find from Simon Martin to ET and genius was ‘The conversion to a Pacific wheelbase was remarkably straightforward and the more I look at it, the more I realise just what a stroke of genius it was on Thompson's or Robert Thom's part to go for the simplicity of the equal length connecting rods and cylinder setup. Half the reason it came together so quickly was because they reduced overall design time on the new front end I feel. Either way the Doncaster Drawing office should be praised highly for the turnaround, and the works too.‘ Someone else on the thread quoted ’I'll leave the thread for this evening with the words of R.H.N. Hardy, who was more than familiar with the full experience of operating the original Pacifics at Stewarts Lane: "I think that, without a shadow of doubt, Bulleid was a genius."

I am waiting for S.A.C. Martin’s book on Thompson, which looks to have been extensively researched (including analysis of loco usage/repair history from the NRM) and may give a more even-handed appraisal of ET than hitherto experienced. https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/edward-thompson-wartime-c-m-e-discussion-2012-2021.35938/page-206 has 206 pages of sometimes heated discussion as you might expect.

In this blog https://bedfordrail.wordpress.com/2021/03/01/the-case-against-east-west-rail-route-e-is-there-anything-in-it/ the author quotes : -East West Rail will be used for regular diesel freight trains, which wasn’t made clear before the consultation This is perhaps the most widely-circulated argument on social media and elsewhere. It is almost entirely untrue – the only correct element is that East West Rail will be, at first, a diesel railway. The rest of the argument has no basis in fact. and An East West Rail spokesperson confirmed to the Cambridge Independent on February 1st that any freight on the line is only ‘potential’: “We are aware that freight is a topic of great interest to the local communities we will serve, and we are currently undertaking a study to understand potential freight use.” Maggie Simpson of the Rail Freight Group gave similar confirmation in this recent Q+A with Tangent Rail: “It’s an open question at the moment. We don’t have a definitive position on whether or not the East West Rail Company is building freight capacity in the central section. Rob Brighouse [Chairman at East West Rail Company] was vocally clear that this line was not for freight.”- So there may eventually be freight, but this would probably involve more spend than currently planned.

Similarly I have recently purchased a Bo-Bo (actually a birthday present), a Co-Bo, Co-Co and 08 (both converted to 3 rail). My brother, who started the layout in the 1950s is not impressed as he is a died-in-the wool steam man.

Could you say where you sourced the coloured tips for the toggle switches. My usual source has stopped selling them and I cannot see anyone selling them in packs of one colour. Thanks

Mary Berry seemed to like the first photo.

Is Burgh-le-marsh applicable where most of the station buildings are still extant?

Regarding your new signal, on the real thing did someone have to climb it every day to change the lamps? If so, wow!

If it is 2-rail then the Duchess should be in a red box.

Did you mean 0.3 Amps?

Good luck anyone trying to uncouple with it. As Wolseley said in the original thread it is a roadway for the level crossing.

I am making up a Breakdown Crane train (consist) and need a mess coach and tool van. I read somewhere that obsolete dining cars were used as mess vans as they had the kitchen already fitted. The red version of the Stanier dining car is more of a match to the pinkish red of the crane than the maroon of the normal Stanier brake coach or suburban coach. All I need is the nerve to convert the dining car, which has been kept in very good condition for the last 60 years.

Maybe it is a texting/internet thing for abbreviations sake as it is called Biggy on Facebook. I was brought up in Potters Bar and some members of the local Facebook group call it Potty. I never heard this when I lived there for 25+ years. Mind you the station staff used to call out 'Pott Bar' when a train arrived.

Excellent. Are there any plastic 00 cattle wagon kits that have poseable doors you can have open, rather than having to carve-up the moulding into two doors and a ramp?

For those of you who still have snow.

milk on?

I too was disappointed there was no DVD. I went through the link on Page 80 suggested in the mag and had to enter a 'competition' so they can send me the DVD (could have asked for a link as an alternative). This meant registering an account and did not cost me anything. I think the DVD is on the way as there were no questions for the 'competition' Very convoluted, and not impressed. Edited to remove actual link.

But this would be two for the price of one with the other half somewhere else.

Hi, Love this topic and your layout. One query on how you take photographs of non-stop trains (with apologies if it has been covered before). Do you have the train static or is it moving, and if moving at what scale speed is it running at? I had a thought that at certain angles if you could follow a moving train it would give a different effect to a static shot. Regards Bill aka Barry

IAM = Institute of Advanced Modellers?

This book is getting more publicity than the new James Bond film. It's on my Christmas list now.

Ah, but if they did you would not be able to open up a loco to maintain or adapt it. They would probably need special oil at 100GBP for one cc. Bill (written on my iPad)

Mick, thanks very much for the info and very useful link. Bill

Were pigs conveyed differently to cattle, or were they loaded via a normal dock into a cattle wagon? I ask as I have been given some pigs (00 scale) as a present. Thanks