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April 1963 at Corby Glen for this afternoon. Corby Glen Class 31 D5571 down freight April 63 J030 Corby Glen Class 33 up l e April 63 J031 Corby Glen Class 55 up 10.00 Edinburgh to Kings X The Flying Scotsman April 63 J033 Corby Glen Class 55 12.17 Harrogate 12.33 ex Bradford to Kings X April 63 J034 Corby Glen Class 47 down 13.15 Kings X to Leeds Central April 63 J035 Corby Glen Class 40 down freight April 63 J041 David

It is hard to classify this batch so it is probably simplest to say the Ongar branch and the maltings which were once rail served at Snape in Suffolk. Ongar Dec 76 J5576 Ongar LT Epping to Ongar Dec 76 J5577 Ongar LT train Epping to Onger Feb 77 J5635 Snape inner yard of maltings Oct 73 J3432 Snape front of maltings Oct 73 J3433 Snape maltings March 76 C5620 David

This is really just a trial. I'm scanning a batch of Dad's photos from an album I've found of whole plate (8"x6") prints to see how it works. They are quite different in many ways from the postcard prints I've scanned from his main albums and put on here. Many of them are sepia toned and they all have his notes handwritten on the black album pages. JImg396Apr David

Five places beginning with "S" this time, though one is not a real railway. Sandilands Lincs pull along train Aug 52 J1679 I think this was my first train, aged 3 (just)! The photo was taken on my birthday Sandy Class 31 down freight Apr 74 J3646 Sandy Class 46 10.15 Kings X to Leeds Apr 74 J3645 Saxby Class 105 etc Norwich to Birmingham going away Sept 70 J2381 Scarrington Lane crossing Aslockton Class 114 Nottingham to Grantham Sept 75 J4930 Scremerston Class 254 up Aug 81 C5482 David

As anyone who's been to this event before knows, it's of course a no-brainer to make a trip across to deepest Somerset to attend the SWAG do. Genuinely the highlight event of my yearly calendar, what makes it even better for me is the chance to spend 6 hours photographing some top-notch layouts via the honour of being chief photographer for SWAG - plus of course being inspired by them and having really great conversations with like-minded modellers. One thing I should admit before I go any further is that I focused on layouts and not general atmosphere (which may be a positive depending on your thought process!). Though I see others have already posted shots of people and wider views of the event - so thank you! In any case, due to the huge volume of photos, I will be sharing one layout at a time - as and when I complete the batch of photos for each layout. As I'm focus stacking each photo (which takes between 20 - 70 photos per finished photo), I took over 4000 photos yesterday! As you can well imagine, it's going to take me a long time to process the photos so please do bear with me as it will be very piecemeal. There may or may not be more photos of each layout, but I will only pick a few of my favourites for each. Layout owners - please feel free to use my photos as you wish - larger photos are available on request. My thanks to you all for being so accommodating, and also for visitors for being so patient: especially with me and my tripod getting in the way constantly! The layouts will appear in the order that I photographed them to make my life a little easier. So without further ado, let's begin... ...first up, ' Kyle of Lochalsh': A stunningly tiny but impressive Finescale 2mm layout by @bcnPete. Photos really don't convey just how miniscule this layout is, and it really surprised me just how smooth in operation it was. I particularly loved the misty, faded backscene that added a great sense of depth to a very narrow layout. The high quality of the station building and weathering on the rolling stock also stood out for me, as did the general presentation and unique view from the front into the traverser fiddle yard.

Northumberland again around Ulgham Lane crossing, north of Morpeth on the ECML. Ulgham Lane crossing 47525 08.55 Aberdeen to Kings X May 74 J3692 no, it is probably 47528 Ulgham Lane crossing Class 40 up oil Nov 80 C5224 Ulgham Lane crossing Class 55 55019 up Sept 81 C5545 Ulgham Lane Crossing 43108 up April 85 C6761 Ulgham Lane crossing 56102 up coal from Widdrington 28th Aug 85 C7152 David

Some photos at Trent for this morning, one from 1975, the rest from 1983. Trent Class 25 vans to heading to Nottingham from Derby Oct 75 C2503 Trent Class 254 HST up Aug 83 C6132 Trent Class 120 Crewe to Lincoln Aug 83 C6133 Trent 47347 up coal Aug 83 C6136 Trent Class 47 up coal Aug 83 C6138 from the Erewash Valley line David

And finally Away with the Prairies - 6

I can't be there today unfortunately because of health reasons but I hope everyone has a fantastic day; as usual! Hats off to Rob for his excellent organisation once again and the team.

Ratcliffe on Soar on the Midland between Trent and Loughborough comes next. Ratcliffe on Soar Class 47 up July 71 C664 Ratcliffe on Soar Class 45 St Pancras to Nottingham June 76 J5300 Ratcliffe on Soar Derby dmu Class 116 June 76 J5334 Ratcliffe on Soar Class 45/1 45xxx St Pancras to Nottingham April 78 J5991 Might be 45104 Ratcliffe on Soar Class 45 down ballast Feb 83 C5940 David

Another trip further back in time to Cambridge around 1947/8. Cambridge B1 1285 down ex pass Liverpool St to Kings Lynn c1947 JVol3112 Cambridge B1 and D16 ecs 1948 JVol1239 Cambridge B1 up Yarmouth to Liverpool St c1948 JVol1202 (2) Cambridge B17 down ex pass 1947 JVol1415 Cambridge LNER B1 down pass Kings X to Cambridge 1947 JVol1437 David

'Big T' delivered to the Glentanar Hotel

A Prairie at rest

Is a model railway ever finished? I thought so regarding Little Bytham (apart from my continuing building locos and stock). However, there was no road signage, apart from a road sign and signpost. So, Ian Wilson produced these for me yesterday............ Two signs for Station Road. Their position is by 'guesstimation' because the fence has long gone and the wall has been rebuilt. The fence supporting the Witham Road sign has also long gone. Once a common sight by the side of our roads, AA signs were very distinctive. We have no evidence that one was ever fixed to the north wall of the Willoughby, but it's an ideal position. Speaking of the real Willoughby, since the owner's death it has never reopened, and Little Bytham no longer has a pub. Ian Wilson will produce any road/street signs on request. He can be contacted at Pacific Models.

And finally (for today) Away with the Prairies - 3

Germany this morning. Most of the photos are at Assmannshausen on the Rhine taken in 1990 and 1991. Assmannshausen is on the right (east) bank of the Rhine. There is also one photo in the Harz of the Harzquerbahn near Allerbach in July 1991. Assmannshausen 140 005 northbound freight 2nd Aug 90 C14668 Assmannshausen140 582 northbound freight 2nd Aug 90 C14676 Assmannshausen 140 130 Wiesbaden to Koblenz 2nd Aug 90 C14672 Assmannshausen view north 19th Aug 91 C16518 Assmannshausen Class 140 20th Aug 91 C16529 Assmannshausen 141 145 Koblenz to Wiesbaden 20th Aug 91 C16531 Allerbach 99 7222 Wernigerode to Nordhausen 27th July 91 C15993 (1) David

Five photos taken by Dad at Burton le Coggles on the ECML south of Grantham for this afternoon. Burton le Coggles Class 47 down car carriers Aug 71 J2763 Burton le Coggles Class 40 up Aug 71 J2764 Burton le Coggles Class 47 1992 down Aug 72 J3102 Burton le Coggles Class 55 9017 Kings X to Newcastle March 73 J3154 Burton le Coggles Class 47 up 11.30 Leeds to Kings X Nov 74 J4089 David

Low and behold..... A pannier crossing the viaduct!

Away with the Prairies - 2

Not had a Fairburn (Noo Year challenge) update for a while. Quietly plugging away in the background ... Tank top details. Lifting lugs and inspection covers waiting to be fitted. The tank straps are quite distinctive. As the boiler and tank units separate, needs to be a close interface. With the two assembled together in the frames, straps are soldered to boiler, to align with fixing points pre-soldered to tank tops. Filler caps. None of the right size in stock so simply fashioned them by lopping the tops off these long term residents of the 'spares' box. No idea what loco type they were originally intended for? Moving on to the front of the loco, here's the all important 'face' coming together. No LMS style smokebox doors to hand (WHAT?!), so I took a similar size one and turned it back to plain so I could ... ... add the detail. Not too shabby? Tried in position. Front footplates now need detailing Adding steam pipes, lubricators and front sand box fillers. Are we - perhaps, just maybe - starting to look like we're on the home straight? Hopefully!

A trip to Cumbria to look at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway at the inland terminus, Dalegarth, on 1st August 1975. I think the children in some of the photos may be a bit older now as it is 49 years since Dad took these photos! Dalegarth 6 River Esk Aug 75 J4645 Dalegarth 6 River Esk Aug 75 J4646 Dalegarth 6 River Esk Aug 75 J4648 Dalegarth 7 River Irt Aug 75 J4653 Dalegarth 7 River Irt Aug 75 J4654 David

Evening all, Well, that seemed to go rather well. My thanks to all who came along today. My impression is that it was busier than last year and I spoke to quite a few people for whom it was their first and hopefully not their last visit to SWAG. Thank you to all our exhibitors who generously brought their layouts along, giving so freely of their time and finances and of our members who demonstrated their dark arts across many modelling activities. And a huge thank you to @Godfrey Glyn, @Graham_Muz and @peter220950 who provided the catering and bring and buy to their usual exemplary standards. Not forgetting Aidan @Culmhead who despite being unable to attend today ( something about being on Portugal !) was fully involved in fine tuning the bring and buy. Special thanks to Nadine, aka Mrs @mozzer models who helped out hugely in the catering department. No mention of the catering department is complete without thanking John Farmer @Re6/6 who, aided and abetted by @Brian Harrap did such a splendid job of ferrying the essential pasties which once again were sourced by our much missed on the day Tim @Captain Kernow So, Can we do this again next year ? Well the sums aren't fully done yet but first impressions are that it's a resounding YES! One reason is the truly astounding amount donated by the visitors today which has provided a rather substantial leg up for next year. THANK YOU.

In order to not believe that LM only has Pannier's here is another group of rather nice looking locos Ken Dobetter (local LM photographer) has been engaged to take a series of photographs in and around the station. Here is a limited series from him titled Away with the Prairies - 1

NEW BR MK1 COACHES BREAK COVER Bachmann today announced three brand new BR Mark 1 Coaches for its Bachmann Branchline OO Scale range. The three models depict the Brake Second Open (BSO), First Open (FO) and Restaurant Buffet (RB) vehicles which have not previously been produced as part of the flagship Branchline Mark 1 Coach range. The Diagram 183 Brake Second Opens were built from 1955, and by 1960 a total of 163 vehicles had been completed. A further 18 BSOs were built in 1963 which had an internal door splitting the seating bays in two to create a non-smoking area. Seats were provided at tables for 31 passengers, along with a toilet, guard’s compartment and an area for luggage. Between 1980 and 1981, BR converted 18 BSOs into BSOT Micro-Buffets – the T standing for Trolley. The conversion saw the toilet turned into a store and the first bay of seating removed to make room for a counter into which a trolley could be slotted, allowing the option for customers to be served at the counter, or at their seats throughout the train from the trolley. This variant is also modelled as part of the new tooling. Diagram 73 First Open coaches were built by Doncaster, York, Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon, Wolverton and Swindon, with no fewer than 128 FOs built between 1953 and 1963. Delivered to all regions except the Southern, the first vehicles were painted in BR’s Crimson & Cream colour scheme but later builds went straight into BR Maroon and to a lesser extent, Chocolate & Cream. Each coach provided 42 first class seats with a toilet at both ends of the vehicle. The Diagram 24 Restaurant Buffet was the most numerous of BR’s many catering vehicles, with the RB providing both a kitchen and pantry along with a service bar and seats for 23 passengers. Construction was shared between Pressed Steel and Birmingham RC&W and again, 128 vehicles were built, these being outshopped between 1960 and 1962. Entering traffic in BR Maroon, some RBs were delivered to the Western Region in Chocolate & Cream and others to the Southern in BR (SR) Green. In later years some vehicles would be refurbished, and liveries such as BR Blue & Grey and InterCity were carried. These brand new models feature all the hallmarks of the Branchline Mk1, which capture the distinct shape and profile of the BR Mk1 coach with flush glazing, extensive detail and separately fitted parts including various handrails and pipework, and a full complement of underframe equipment. Era-appropriate details, such as the presence of end steps and, on the BSO, the inclusion of roof periscopes, are all catered for. The new tooling extends to the bogies fitted beneath each vehicle, with new BR1, Commonwealth, B4 and B5 bogies being developed. In addition, the BR2 bogie has been added to the pool of options and all bogies feature integrated metal wheel bearings and electrical pickups to aid those wishing to add features to their models which may require power. Profiled metal wheelsets are fitted, as are standard tension lock couplings, fitted into NEM coupling pockets which are attached to chassis-mounted close-coupling mechanisms. Details of the first batch of models to be made from this new tooling, including livery variants, prices and availability will be included in the Summer 2024 British Railway Announcements on Wednesday 1st May.

Newcastle, Benton and Benton Quarry junction for this morning. Newcastle right Class 101 to coast left Class 101 from South Shields May 74 J3714 Benton Class 101 Morpeth to Newcastle 10th Aug 85 C7112 Benton HST 43073 up10th Aug 85 C7113 Benton 47188 up ammonia tanks Grangemouth to Haverton Hill 10th Aug 85 C7115 Benton Quarry Junction Class 254 down May 83 C6053 The line to the left went to Gosforth and eventually reached Ponteland at one time. At this time I think there were still trains to Rowntrees at Fawdon as well as making a connection to the Tyne and Wear Metro. Now the line is gone. David

Some Southern electrics near Headcorn for this morning. Thay were all taken on a day in May 1976 - probably the late May Bank Holiday. I know I may not have interpreted the headcodes correctly. The reference I use is the 1978 edition of "Southern Region Two Character Headcodes", published by Southern Electric Group. Headcorn Class 411 7159 Charing Cross to Folkestone May 76 J5174 Headcorn Class 411 7166 Victoria to Folkestone May 76 J5175 Headcorn Class 411 7160 Margate to Charing X May 76 J5176 Headcorn Class 411 7132 Charing X to Dover May 76 J5177 Headcorn Class 411 7182 Charing X to Ashford May 76 J5178 David

I digressed today from track laying to install two signal gantries, delivered by Absolute Aspects on Monday. As with all of their creations, they are works of art! 1st photo is the board at the southern end stripped of anything that could fall off when tipped. The signals locate into DIN sockets fitted under the baseboard. Once the holes for these were drilled and filed, the board was gently slid out (it is wedge shaped) and turned on its side. 2nd photo shows the board with the two gantries slotted into place. With the board located back into its normal position and parts replaced, a few photos of the gantries in situ. Wiring up us 'work in progress'. Giles Giles

And here's its slightly younger sister 5000 'Launceston Castle' heading west through Stoke Courtenay in early 1939. That fence is getting worse - needs attention. John C.

Morning all. Well, with the dust settling on SWAG for this year, I'm hoping that normal service can be resumed shortly. Ewe is out at ExmoorRail on Saturday June 1st so a couple of jobs to do on that. However, main focus is now on getting Project W progressing. Even by my standards, progress to date has been at a molluscesque pace. Though some building has taken place, it is little more than a bare board with track down and wired at present. Mindful that I will be setting this up for Railwells on August 2nd, I really must get going on this. This is where we are currently. J15 was being tested but this will be pre WW1 SE&CR. Fiddle yard is going to be at the other end. Goods yard at the camera end. Water feature to the right will be, as per EWE, at the front of the layout. The game is ahoof.

Another interesting day! light loco move longport to Tamworth, or so we thought 805 in crewe our train to longport 56081 we collected 66723 and set off for Tamworth high level via walsall and Sutton park, it was due to continue to Roberts road from there with another driver so off we went, just after stone my trainee opened up the throttle and at about 40 mph lost all power, as we had a bit of momentum I suggested keeping rolling to clear yarnfield jn so if we were a failure any trains heading south from stone could use the old chord toward Norton bridge station and we would be out of the way, spoke to the signaller to tell her what had happened and why we were carrying on incase there was something behind us that could have been trapped had it followed us beyond ‘the points of no return’ sure enough after a few phone calls and tests we had to declare ourselves a failure as we couldn’t get power at all as there was no other drivers around we had to leave the loco there under protection of the signals and get a taxi back to basford hall to get a rescue engine, that meant a long walk along the path alongside the cutting but not before getting a line block cross the running line! damn thing! These boots are made for walking And onto the bridge to wait for the taxi who in all fairness was there in 10 minutes, very good considering the location! 66720 was the rescue loco in basford hall Into the station to change ends before heading south we were expecting to go via Stoke to attach to the rear of the failed loco and push it to Stafford where we would run round and drag it onward to bescot but the signaller pulled off for us on the slow line of the wcml, where we got to little bridgeford jn we drew past the points and changed ends before making a wrong direction move toward the front of the loco, a move I didn’t think they would do so it’s nice to see someone using their initiative as it was a quick move and saved a lot of shunting at Stafford Onto the loco and brake tested before heading off to bescot some 200 minutes late but without causing any delays or cancellations to any passenger trains into bescot and the broken loco was removed I then of course had to take the rescue loco back to crewe, there was the added bonus of 37405 in the yard though We then followed a freightliner all the way to basford hall which was soul destroying before we stabled the loco and left, booking off about 3 1/2 hours later than booked, luckily its a day off today, certainly an interesting day and plenty for the trainee to put in his assessment book!

Many thanks! I love doing it, even if it does take quite a while when it comes to the editing. I'm grateful that people have responded to the photos so well already - especially as there's obviously plenty more to come... Rob, thank you for yet again putting on a fantastic show. Without you (and others of what I consider the core team) it would not have been the huge success it remains to this day. Coming back from such a great show has really made me itch to get on with the new layout, though it might be a few years out before it gets to a presentable state! Likewise - it was great to meet you! It's such a lovely little layout. If you want a download link to the photos, do let me know and I can send a WeTransfer link that will work for 7 days. OK, so onward! This time it's @rcf's 'Osney Town': Another brilliant example of a cameo layout, and in such a small space when considering it's a big scale (7mm)! A wealth of detail and a beautifully balanced scene. Of particular note is the bubbling stream/brook at the front of the layout. Whilst hard to get the camera 'in there', the natural framing of the trees made for some lovely shots. What the layout lacks in operation potential, it certainly makes up for in execution.

A scene in Apple Green. L1 67702 and B12/3 1565 are prepared for their next run out of Liverpool Street.

Decals (Railtec) placed and light weathering to finish 😀 Cheers Darius

Seagull is now off on the way to Grantham. For some reason I did another very similar shot, and didn't fancy doing all the shopping again, so I cropped it and changed it to black and white. A very large black cloud must have obscured the sun just as the photographer took this.

Well are all those panniers and Prairies here are some wagons....... Say tar!!!

I've completed the 'budget' Mainline 75XXX........ As already mentioned, I discarded the original chassis (it ran, but assaulted my ears!), replacing it with a Comet set of frames. The motion on the original chassis was pretty good, so I stripped it off and fitted it to the new chassis - just some strips of scrap brass, solder and some epoxy. The Comet motion will be used on something more-worthy - the DJH 73XXX I'm building, because Comet's valve gear is superior to DJH's. The original motion sits well fixed on its new chassis. After the racket produced by the loco in original form............... This morning she just purred round Little Bytham (the exquisite Lawrence/Goddard ex-LMS non-gangwayed three-set was built for the late Paul Bromige, in 1994). I even wound her up to a scale 80! Truly, a 'layout loco'. Was the exercise worth it? In financial terms, probably (definitely?) not. Though the original loco only cost a fiver, add up the cost of the wheels (Markits), frames (Comet) and the motor/gearbox (Portescap) and this takes the 'price' of this loco way beyond what it's actually worth. Granted, apart from the frames, I had all the other requisites in stock, but they'd been paid for in the past. In a way (a perverse way?), the 'price' is not the point. It started off as part of a further 'budget modelling' article for BRM (to be published soon), and I've taken it a lot further - way beyond any notion of a 'budget'. It could be perceived as being daft spending so much more on items to go underneath an RTR loco from the '70/'80s, but I've rather enjoyed the process (what price for that?). It's also daft to produce a loco type which would hardly ever be seen at Little Bytham, if at all (yes, the type was common six miles away, but on a rather different road). Doncaster repaired the type, but were it on a running-in turn, it would surely be clean. Rule 1, I suppose. BR Standards (apart from the 9Fs) were not common at Little Bytham, anyway. Though I have one or two............. Such as this wonderful DJH 73XXX, built originally by Roy Jackson and painted/weathered by Geoff Kent. All I've done is fit a better motor/gearbox in it.

Model World live production model in cabinet,nice to catch up with @Accurascale Fran and meet @Islesy.

Things have slowed down with Blacker Lane as there isn't much left to do but I had a couple of friends over, last weekend, for a session. I have also added a Manning Wardle to the locomotive fleet and now some more internal users for the landsales train.

Seagull now arrives with the 6.40 KX-Grantham slow. As always, the next part of the diagram will be something more challenging.

Hi folks, Jus some more cab sneak peeks! More soon! Cheers! Fran

Morning all, A date for your diaries. I can confirm that SWAG'25 will be held on..... SUNDAY 6TH APRIL 2025. Please note the shift to the beginning of the month, made for a variety of reasons. Hall is booked and deposit paid. ☆The fact that we can go ahead and do this is entirely due to the success of this year's jolly modellers day out and in particular, the generous donations made to the cause by both our visitors and a few very kind souls, who despite being unable to attend have still contributed.☆ On behalf of all who are involved in SWAG... I thank you. Rob

In its first few months of service '8750' class 3603 runs in off the branch with a goods train as the Castle heads for Pymouth. John C.

Having seen what is behind it, back up front for another look at our A4.

A scene from Tewkesbury.

Is it still lazy from this angle? Away with the Prairies - 5

Back to the other side, and to one of the most familiar views of an arriving Up train. One of the reliably good places to take a photo though, I find.

Seagull runs alongside Platform 6, but still has a little way to go before finally stopping. This evening we shall have a look at what is behind the tender.

Away with the Prairies - 4 Along the yard