tractionman

Just spent a very pleasant hour or so this morning at Larkrail, really impressive modelling! Lovely to see so many enthusiastic modellers all milling around, well done to those who organised things and all the friendly exhibitors! Glad I'm holidaying only five miles from Larkhall, must try to get to the Titfield bookshop this week too... Cheers, Keith

The French book looks good, four hundred pages for a shade over one hundred euro from here http://www.cftt.org/shop/002.html The title on the cover is in French and English, is the book bilingual? Cheers, Keith

I rate this book on the subject, 'WDLR Album', by Roy Link. Some other inf here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/90725-wdlr-war-department-light-railways-on-wwi-trench-maps/ Cheers, Keith

On hols in West Wiltshire so here's something local... Bottle conditioned so is a bit 'lively'. Cheers, Keith

That looks fantastic, love the brewery signage, very impressive stuff. Could you post some inf on the track plan you've used? Many thanks. Cheers, Keith

Was it somewhere here http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.804124931692948&lat=52.6992&lon=0.4044&layers=10&b=1 All the best, Keith

The London termini do seem to create chaos when the departure boards show platforms relatively close to actual departure times. I use Realtime Advanced on my mobile to get inf on which platform a train is on and go through the barriers before the platform number appears on the boards. That means I'm on the train before the scrum. Here's the link http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced Really sorry to hear about the Bree Louise, one of the best proper boozers in central London, I must make sure I get there before the impending closure occurs. All the best, Keith

Hatton's just have 'Due into stock September 2017'. Plus sold out to pre-orders. Cheers, Keith

This seems like a nicely weathered Western, at a good price too http://www.hattons.co.uk/74817/Dapol_4D_003_012_Class_52_diesel_locomotive_D1026_Western_Centurion_in_BR_blue_with_full_yellow_e/StockDetail.aspx Tempting...! Cheers, Keith

What a lovely piece of modelling there. Here is Merlin pounding up the bank passing Cultra today with the RPSI shuttles between Belfast and Bangor, running a little behind time. Sounding and looking great. Cheers, Keith

There is also this book http://www.booklaw.co.uk/shop/index.php?id_product=2895&controller=product Cheers, Keith

The retaining walls look great, I like the way they're angled, spot on. Could you let us know the baseboard size,looks around six by two, or is it smaller than that? Cheers, Keith

It is impressive, not just in terms of the details but the ingenuity in creating a fiddle yard http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112891-lymebrook-yard/?p=2623711 Unbelievable that the whole thing is just two by four! Cheers, Keith

Four by two is used for this excellent urban based layout http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112891-lymebrook-yard/page-1 Cheers, Keith

£99 from Bure Valley http://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/8523/R3374---BR-Class-71-BR-Blue-71012 Cheers, Keith

Looking good there Oliver, just not sure about the strapline: "An exclusive range of models for the discerning collector…" instead, how about 'for the discerning modeller and collector...'? all the best, Keith

Good idea! Just arrived in Colchester this evening Nice to have a proper train for a change. Even though it is pushage rather than haulage on this occasion! Cheers, Keith

I've just been reading about the Liverpool - East Lancashire Road built in the early thirties, and spotted a photograph showing what look to be standard and narrow gauge railways being used for the construction work. Which comes from https://web.archive.org/web/20071229070048/http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/historichighways/eastlancs/index.asp and a book of the time published to mark the road's opening. (out of copyright now I assume...?). An amazing bit of civil engineering for the pre-motorway age in Britain, but it was the very intense use of railways in road-building that caught my eye. I guess this was widespread in that period, would be curious to know more about the railway system and how it connected with the mainline, assuming it did, and what stock ran on it. Cheers, Keith

With patches on the elbows, yep, usually in History departments such garments are still to be seen worn by the odd (ahem) male member of staff... Cheers, Keith

The USA academic staff ranks are different to the UK system. The student's best friend, Wikipedia, offers this explanation, "while "Professor" as a proper noun (with a capital "P") generally implies a position title, the common noun "professor" in the US appropriately describes anyone teaching at the college level, regardless of rank; also, as a prenominal title of address, it can be capitalized without implying the title rank." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_in_the_United_States Whereas in the UK, Professor is a position in a university marking the pinnacle of an academic career, so profs here tend to be older, whether male or female! It's unusual for someone in the UK system to reach Professor at an age under 35, unless they're absolutely stellar. All the best, Keith

Ah, Wold Top, very nice stuff. Well here's something from the east coast of norn iron, at last we're getting some interesting ales over here... Albeit mainly in bottles rather than on draught: Lovely IPA it is too. :-) Cheers, Keith

The clarity and crispness of those shots by Stephen McGahon is just amazing, really fantastic to see,thanks for posting. What year do the two pictures in post #402 date from out of interest? Cheers, Keith

There is a book called "The Shannon Scheme and the Electrification of the Irish Free State", edited by Andy Bielenber, which is available online as a free PDF download, https://ruralelectric.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/the-shannon-scheme.pdf it has a chapter on the railway system. Cheers, Keith