MPR

Thanks for posting these fascinating photographs, it is great to see the inside of this fantastic structure!The tube material is however wrought iron rather than steel. Although the Bessemer process was becoming established in the 1850s, it did not produce steel that was suitable for structural use at this time, as the pioneers were slowly grappling with the control of impurities and the effects of alloying additions to the steel. Regards Martin

I believe that this is no longer the case - the plan now is for a larger, all new build at Broadway.http://www.broadwaygwsr.blogspot.co.uk Regards Martin

Yes, it definitely did. There are three pictures in Peter Kay's book "The Ashburton Branch" ISBN 1 899890319 showing 1470 with lining on the front splashers.(The livery sequence in BR days for 1470 seems to be unlined green/GWR/smoke box plate, then lined black first totem, then unlined black first totem and lastly lined green, second totem. The centre spread in Peter Kay's book shows this last livery- it seems to have lost its fire-iron holders by this point. Regards Martin Edit: it also appears to have had red-backed number plates when in lined black!

I like the non-standard bunker!

True, but don't forget WD700 on the Longmoor Military Railway and the more recent imports into the UK.

Great progress so far! Have you had any thoughts about what to do with the front cab windows? I think it is one of the weakest areas of the Airfix 14xx and with the thickness of the moulded cab roof, not an easy one to address.

Ah, the Llanelli, Neath and Ebbw Vale Railway's latest top-link power!

That's really nice.

Glad to see that Hornby P2's are so realistic! See the link below for an explanation of how a very different kind of modelling is being used to solve exactly the same issue at 1:1. http://www.p2steam.com/building-no-2007/design Martin

The weather was perfect down in South Devon today for the last Torbay Express of the summer, seen here departing Kingswear with 5029 Nunney Castle looking and sounding like a Castle should. Martin

GWRJ 66 has an article by John Copsey covering the working of the Dukes. By Jan 1940, they had all migrated north and eastwards, with allocations at Didcot, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tyseley, Wellington, Shrewsbury, Oswestry (all one each) with two each at Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. (They were certainly very uncommon in S.Devon by this time - my old chemistry teacher at Torquay Boys Grammar School (who was himself a pupil at TBGS during the war) told me many years ago that he was roundly disbelieved when he copped "Isle of Jersey" on a Kingswear local c. 1943) I doubt that they would have found much favour at Newton compared to the Bulldogs - the survivors must have been very tired mechanically by this time. There is a lovely photo of 9083 (ex-3283) Comet (often graffitied in comet ax!), in Swindon roundhouse, dated summer 1948, in Great Western Pictorial No.3. It appears to be newly painted green (no tender insignia and a W marking under the number plate) so you could just about stretch reality and send her west for a final fling. She was withdrawn from Oswestry in December 1950. 9084 "Isle of Jersey" lasted until April 1950. 9089 was last of all, being withdrawn in July 1950. I wonder how much time they spent actually working in their last few years?

Just seen this on Martin Finney's web-site. http://website.lineone.net/~cbwesson/ Best wishes to Martin in his retirement - I hope that his fantastic kits remain available in the future.

It doesn't look that small to me.

Great to see another pre- grouping announcement!

Just checked to see if the announcement had been made. It hasn't (at this moment), but the game was rather given away by the banner advert at the top of the page...

Hi Anthony, Thanks very much for posting these photographs - I look forward to seeing more of them (and no doubt learning from the comments and discussions they will spark! Best Wishes Martin

Definitely the right era. The Bulleid tavern cars were half-timbered.

I suppose that, being a cereal, it will be in several parts...

Under the 21 x 9 baseboard, of course!

Tell us more!

I'm intrigued by the window frames - are they etched like the Modelex parts, or have they been laser cut too? I've run into exactly the same issue over the overall width on my model of Torre box - do you know if they are going to be production parts in the Shawplan range? Regards Martin

Jim, I wouldn't count on that making an improvement - the Brassmasters window profile is far from correct - it basically follows an unbroken circular arc across the top, rather than flattening towards the centre. The Dapol profile looks far better in my opinion. Regards Martin

Hi Tim, Those Draper stands look very sturdy. Website says they're 580mm wide - is this correct? (Looking to mount a 22inch wide baseboard, so this could be ideal!). Is the height setting very positive, or is just a matter of constantly tweaking? Best Wishes Martin

Re: The electrification of the Exeter-Plymouth mainline. It would have involved an inland diversion of the seawall section, starting at Exminster, going behind Dawlish and rejoining the old mainline between Newton and Teignmouth. The main shed would have been at Newton, with a new steam shed at Aller for residual steam. Regards Martin