Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[ChrisN]

What a day to catch up!  Glad that you are alright and I hope it all works out well.

[Fishplate]

Hi Rob, thought you might like a little distraction 

 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

20 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I was told most adamantly only last Tuesday evening that such service vehicles were never black in Great Western days.

 

That's torn it. I was just getting settle for weather/faded black.  🤠 Get me thinking hat on again

 

[Compound2632]

18 minutes ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

That's torn it.

 

The person who told me cited the testimony of a member of railway staff whose career had been at Old Oak Common during the grouping period and after.

 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Heading towards grey with black wash 

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The person who told me cited the testimony of a member of railway staff whose career had been at Old Oak Common during the grouping period and after.

 

 

[MrWolf]

I'm convinced, I don't think that it looks all that good in black anyway.

 

Besides,I need to get some more GWR grey for the cattle wagons.

[chuffinghell]

I’ve just painted mine panzer grey…

 

 

…once it’s had a couple of coats of matt varnish it will be lighter

[MrWolf]

Now it looks even more like:

 

[Stubby47]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Now it looks even more like:

 

Looks a lot safer than a 2-wheel BSA...

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

Looks a lot safer than a 2-wheel BSA...

Four wheels good, two wheels bad.

 

G. Orwell (sort of)

[57xx]

10 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

I’ve just painted mine panzer grey…

 

 

…once it’s had a couple of coats of matt varnish it will be lighter

 

I think you have made the right choice there Chris, especially given the evidence of the various pics in the books (fig 72 in Great Western Wagons Appendix being one of my favourites of a non-black departmental wagon). I even start putting some of the preservation pics in shiny black through the photoshop filters and they looked nothing like the published photos in the books.

 

If any one every doubts it, just tell then it's "light black".

[Donw]

2 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Looks a lot safer than a 2-wheel BSA...

 

Safer for whom?

 

Don

[MrWolf]

I'd much rather be on a bike that catches fire than a car, particularly a modern car with inertia seatbelts, electric central locking, electric fuel pump pressurising a fuel injection system, air bags etc.

 

Old military slang such as "Ronson" and Tommy Cooker" spring to mind!

 

[The Stationmaster]

On 05/06/2023 at 02:33, lezz01 said:

I just called it a Bren seeing as it had Bren stamped on the side. I did fire a real Bren in the cadets .303 with more of a curve to the mag. They jammed quite a bit which is why when they rebuilt them as LMGs they increased the radius of the mag I also only used to load 28 rounds instead of 30 into the mag and that helped a lot with jamming. There was a lot of carbon build up in the gas regulator as well, much more than in the SLR but I preferred it to the GPMG.

Regards Lez. 

Coming along rather very late in this conversation the big problem with the Bre=n magazine was making sure the rims  of the 303 rounds were in the right place.  If you had a rim in the wrong place the gun would jam.  In the CCF we had DP versions to play with normally but drew working ones from the local TA depot for range days - beautifully accurate and I could hit a 1" square piece of wood at 200 yards with no trouble.  We were officially rationed to  12 -15 rounds  (5 single shots and two short bursts) but some of us couldn't count properly to less than 20 for some unaccountable reason.

 

And of course back then we also shot the old Empire Test with 303s.   We mainly had the Rifle No.4 final version but some older ones although they weren't so good for really accurate shooting.  We never got our intended SLRs in 1965/66 as the cadet force allocation was flogged to India during one of their little dust-ups with their next door neighbour.

[The Stationmaster]

 

Now then GWR service vehocle colour.  Some time back the livery expert at teh GWS ay Didcot asked me abouta Shunter's Truck which was beimg done up although his enquiry was in relation to alocation where such a thing would have been based rather than colour.  Having given him my answer I asked if he could confirm the GWR colour and he was positive - having done not only research but also having scraped back through layers of paint on various vehicles over the years - GWR departmental vehicles were painted in the usual dark grey colour.

 

I know that BR used black as teh standard colour for departmental vehicles for many years with the only exception being some breakdown train riding and tool vans which were painted carmine red in the days when black was still the standard departmental colour.

 

So on the basis - GWR - grey; BR black (until it was replaced by olive green although some departmental vehicles definitely appeared in Gulf Red.  Weighing Machine servicing vans were painted black in BR days with the normal '(straw) yellow' lettering although the lettering on any case plates in departmental vehicles was white was white

[JustinDean]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I'd much rather be on a bike that catches fire than a car, particularly a modern car with inertia seatbelts, electric central locking, electric fuel pump pressurising a fuel injection system, air bags etc.

 

Old military slang such as "Ronson" and Tommy Cooker" spring to mind!

 

I’ve had a car that ‘self combusted’. Bonnet paintwork bubbling was the give away. Took 5 minutes for it to turn into a fire ball. Just enough time to grab my vintage Marshall amp out the boot and run for it. 
 

Jay

[Fishplate]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

central locking

 

My (proper) mini's had central locking as I could reach both door locks from the drivers seat. . . . 

[MrWolf]

On 14/06/2023 at 12:54, The Stationmaster said:

 

Now then GWR service vehocle colour.  Some time back the livery expert at teh GWS ay Didcot asked me abouta Shunter's Truck which was beimg done up although his enquiry was in relation to alocation where such a thing would have been based rather than colour.  Having given him my answer I asked if he could confirm the GWR colour and he was positive - having done not only research but also having scraped back through layers of paint on various vehicles over the years - GWR departmental vehicles were painted in the usual dark grey colour.

 

I know that BR used black as teh standard colour for departmental vehicles for many years with the only exception being some breakdown train riding and tool vans which were painted carmine red in the days when black was still the standard departmental colour.

 

So on the basis - GWR - grey; BR black (until it was replaced by olive green although some departmental vehicles definitely appeared in Gulf Red.  Weighing Machine servicing vans were painted black in BR days with the normal '(straw) yellow' lettering although the lettering on any case plates in departmental vehicles was white was white

 

Thanks for clearing that up. Grey it shall be and I think that it looks better to be honest.

[MrWolf]

Elsewhere, the old Morris van looks much better for a new wing, sill and various repairs. The whole thing will be going back to the original dark blue.

 

[Rowsley17D]

Caledonian blue - nice.

[Captain Kernow]

2 hours ago, Rowsley17D said:

Caledonian blue - nice.

What about the lining?

 

[Rowsley17D]

7 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

What about the lining?

 

 

He's got to paint the rest first.

[Stubby47]

52 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

What about the lining?

 

 

Cheap vinyl,  and a pair of fluffy dice.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Cheap vinyl,  and a pair of fluffy dice.

 

Only on an 1800TC coupe painted in Limeflower green.

 

I haven't painted it, I just dealt with the tin bashing.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Elsewhere, the old Morris van looks much better for a new wing, sill and various repairs. The whole thing will be going back to the original dark blue.

 

I bought mine from a building contractor in Glasgow, whose house colours were maroon and green. I added some large black Fablon patches to blank out the previous owner's details. I never had any trouble spotting it from a distance.