TheSignalEngineer

Looking at the pictures of the Wellington - Oakengates slip there's about four times as much ballast below sleeper level as when I used to work along there in the 1970s. That would be about 3 - 4 tonnes more stone per metre of railway, plus the extra weight of concrete sleepers and heavier rail.

I'm not sure of the exact location but it looks like around Hadley. That area is riddled with old mineshafts and there were opencasts and clay pits everywhere.

Not 1980s but this link should get you to the London Road Stage 2 resignalling in 1960 https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/pullfree.asp?FilePath=ArchiveSignals\Downloads\brmr&FileName=1960-400g.pdf

@Islesy Despite two attempts on here I haven't had any respomse about this. The Accurascale 1950-61 sets have upright vacuum pipes as I would expect but the TMC 2 set has hanging ones. Despite two weeks of trying I haven't yet found a picture of hanging vacuum pipes except on Yellow Spot vans. Do you have any evidence of them being fitted with hanging pipes before the days of the Yellow Spot upgrades. Thanks. Eric

Correct. The use of suspended gangways on the LMS started with the Stanier era. They had been used on the GWR from c1925. I'm not sure what bit the Mainline ones actually represent. They look a bit like something from old Triang stable. The Replica and Bachmann ones came with the same type as the Airfix/Mainline Period 3 coaches. Mine still have the original ones as I can't tell the difference in the middle of the train. I'm just doing some more P1/P2 stock which is having scissors type and I may modify those on the brake coaches when those are finished, as there are only the Leeds Forge BTO, a Period 1 BCK and two BTKs. One of them is showing some signs of degrading. Besides the Comet scissors ones Ratio did a plastic version with end boards which is now done by Peco as Parkside PA111.

@Accurascale Fran I'm still looking for a picture of 1950s livery vans (no yellow spot) with hanging vacuum pipes rather than upright ones. Has your team got one?

I used Comet parts on my conversions. This is an Airfix 57' underframe as a base during building the version used on the D1746 BTO by Leeds Forge. The Leeds Forge underframe had no visible trussing underneath, so the first job was to cut off all detail except for the centre part of the truss which supports the battery boxes. A triangular fillet was added to each end of the support frame at the solebar. These coaches had a box on each side so the regulator was cut off and a spare box from a scrap coach added. Bufers, V-hangers, brake cylinders and dynamo came from Comet.

I think these brush up quite well as layout coaches with a few mods.The Replica and Bachmann versions had the benefit of separately fitted roof vents and gangway connections athough the latter tend to go brittle or out of shape with age, They are good donors for cut'n'shut or Comet sides. I built a Brake Composite and all third from them. LMS Period 1 Brake Composite build. This model was a straight overlay of Comet M4S etched sides on a Replica 57’ Period 1 CK with roof vents repositioned to suit the seating bays and toilets.

We used 999503 to do the HMRI inspection of the Jewellery Line in 1995. That was in RR livery at the time. I used to have a photo of it on here but it disappeared in the great server meltdown.

Or the original North Staffs Railway manhole covers on that platform.

Wouldn't be easy to move the trolley if the automatic brake is still connected. You would have to carry it to get the front that close to the wall.

We went out from Folkestone on a flat calm morning. This beast was shunting when we disembarked. Who left that car there? by Charles Eric Steele, on Flickr. When we got back to the harbour in the afternoon a train to Paris hauled by 231E27 was waiting to leave. Mid channel it was thick fog, then approaching Folkestone we hit a south westerly gale and it took us 40 minutes to get alongside the quay. I was one of the few who didn't throw up

Not spoken to them about this issue as I only have them on a couple of things in place of screw on types. I have had two chats with them about things like vehicle spacings and some of their other products and they didn't bite me or anyone else who approached them, so worth mentioning it. I've had some 3D printed kits from other sources that have been so brittle that they were difficult to drill cleanly for fitting details. It seems many users are still on the learning curve as to the best material for different applications.

Meanwhile in the yard, 6364 waits to depart with the Crewe Bananas. The train so far consists of an ABS kit undergoing restoration and a Ratio kit BR 1/242 backdated to steam heat awaiting transfers. Three of the new Accurascale vans. Oxford LNER van, Bachmann insulated van, yes, they did appear occasionally in banana trains. Ratio 1/242 built as it comes in the box and a 1/246 built with a Dublo body and Red Panda underframe. In the to do box are a couple of Ratio vans, one to be updated to 1/243 with different strapping and one to be backdated to a late LMS version.

Rackhams on Birmingham used to have model railways in the toy department on the third floor. That counter closed long before Ashley got involved.

Hi Phil, The vacuum and steam heat pipes come in a separate bag along with dummy screw couplings. This set has hanging vacuum pipes which I didn't think came in until the yellow spot rebuild. Happy to be corrected if anyone has a photo of a SR van with hanging vacuum pipes and no yellow spot c1957.

My TMC pack 2 arrived today but I am a bit mystified by the brake pipes provided on this set. It is BR 1950s livery without yellow spot but it has hanging brake pipes as in the time of the yellow spot modifications. Is this an error with these vans as it detracts somewhat because the brake pipes are very prominent on the non yellow spot ones I have found in photos so far. Both of the 1950s sets on the Accurascale site have upright pipes.

69011 looks like it's in Swindon primer. Perhaps IKB 47 livery?

I would expect a single camping coach to be close to the stop block which would be around the left hand edge of the photo, so behind the buildings. The loading gauge is near to the traps at the siding exit.

Not those but I did see them on a later trip. It was around Thionville when we were on a cycle trip in 1991, en route from Luxembourg to Verdun at the time. The one going into Austerlitz in 1979 was a Paris - Orleans Railway 2D2-5500 class, actually twin cab with nose ends built in the 1930s, They were built by CEM, a Brown Boveri subsidiary. The last one was withdrawn not long after our trip and one is now preserved in a museum.

Have they told Mrs Doyle?

Today's is the announcement about the announcement to alert Mr Potato Head to get in touch with his contacts to see if he can get a scoop.

I managed to catch a couple on a day trip over when we were staying in Folkestone in 1964. Next time there was 1979 right down from Calais to Spain. All electric and diesel then. Highlight was being on a holiday relief train from Cebere to Paris. Started diesel but changed (at Narbonne?) to an electric. in the early morning through Paris suburbs it looked a bit strange Unfortunately being with a tour party we couldn't hang around for pictures as the courier was taking us to his reguar cafe for breakfast but as we got to the end of the platform we were greeted by the sight of a gereatric looking centre cab electric loco rthat had brought us in.

Or leak some fake news story to Mr Potato Head and then put out the proper announcement tomorrow.

A bit of a doodle on Google Earth this morning. I plotted assumed sight lines from the camera to the loading gauge and signal taking into account the other things in view. The yellow lines are the approximate field of view from here the other lines crossed. I've added the position of the couple on the wall and the loco. Not exactly scientific photo forensics but it gave me a camera position near the Driftwood Cafe. The Frith picture link I posted yesterday shows the building that became the cafe so is on roughly the same line but further back. This would appear to show that the camping coaches if present would be blocked out by the buildings to the west of the crossing.