andye

and new doors painted and fitted, looking good now. A restoration project on ebay, for those who like rust and fancy a challenge! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110876827311

The navigators is a brillaint film, hits the nail on the head very well. The roadrunner crewbus is very original, the font is a bit thin, but look at this one at Knottingley, it looks the same font wise, complete with a freight rover 400, bedford astra and something else in the top right. http://www.flickr.co...N08/6053452926/ Also, the eastleight shot from above is a commando, it has the rear wrap around windows in the back of the cab. One of these days I`ll find a picture that merf hasnt seen! http://www.flickr.co...N02/6649137817/ This toton shot has a freight rover 200 and escort combi http://www.flickr.co...p28/6181437275/ freight rover 200 here Found this one, roadrunner and ford cargo, but cannot credit it as not sure where I found it!

Hi ringo, Thank you for the reply - this is the funny thing, there is nothing to suggest it was ever repainted, and the shadows in the paint show where the BR type and logo were, which is where I have put them back. There is no evidence that anything else was applied, as the paint is original. It had The "British Rail" on the rear of the tail lift,as again the shaodow shows where it was removed. The one on the body at the front is my addition, I had a spare one left and it looked good there! So the real mystery is that was the emergency repsone added and the BR stuiff emoved at the same time, or were both on together? Unless I can find any pics we will never know, except that it looks good now! At that time all sorts of stuff was left out - we had a fork lift at aylesbury which kept its NSE logos and lettering until at least 2007 after which is was either sold or scrapped, after my time there! The astra is a good survivor as well! Shows what went on. was it churcward house you worked at - let me know your name, I am sure we msut have crossed paths at some point! I was a western region apprentice of the 1988 intake, did the rounds at OOC, reading and then ended up at Marylebone, that shut and them moved to aylesbury and stayed there until 2005. Andy

Thanks for the list, its a good list, but as you say info is almost impossible to find. I spent most of sunday on flickr and google until my eyes were square, but have found a few hopefully new pictures as follows: (apologies if you have seen them before) http://www.flickr.com/photos/graham_williams/5435949548/ This is a twin wheel LWB transit, question is mk 1 or 2? as the poster says, the maxi is nearing the end of its woeful life! http://www.flickr.com/photos/martincoles/5161492456/ This again at knottingley, shows a bruff, and earlier re railing bus with the curved roof - dodge perhaps? And also a freight rover 400 with the white roof - if I re call they were conversions before the factory did them? cant quite make out the branding on the side! http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmderek/5650327975/ This is the other side of the view that merf found earlier on, the bruff has been replaced by the EWS unit, and the leyland daf is still hanging on, its identical to the one at gaerwen, might even be the same one, but cannot make out the reg, even with a magnifying glass http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrs1967_1/4467789387/sizes/l/in/photostream/ This is an oddity, and would make a good model, it also appears to still be there today, which is good going seeing as its 22 years old! This started life as re raling bus, same batch as mine with the three roof vents, bence body and leyland daf 45 mk1 chassis etc, so its around 1990 vintage. except its been re made into just a lorry, several pics on flickr, all parked in the same place, so its end may be nigh - question is could I keep two? Must email the disposals manager, does anyone have any knowledge on this one? http://www.flickr.com/photos/56394872@N06/5425785554/ This last one I am particulary proud of, its of J 839 BNW at bescott in 2004, so far the only picture I have found of it in service, or that could read dumped! It looks the same as when I bought it, so still no further in identifying how it looked when newish. I like that pic, but I am easily pleased! Andy

Thats a good idea, what did the FTA do? was that for MOT / Plating or something else inpsection wise? Andy

Hi Ringo, Well thanks a damn lot, you have thrown a proper spanner in the works!!!!!!! I was so convinced that the lettering was original, but in retrospect the "emergency response vehicle" isnt a very "BR " term, much more like written by PR people. That would suggest that the BR branding was removed and this apllied, as there is no evidence in the paint of any other branding at all. And you are right about the caps as well, good point. My dilemma is what to do, I will leave it as is for the moment, as some pictures may be discovered of it in use, or a similar vehicle. Its a shame it doesnt have the chevrons, they would look rather good! In the eastliegh shot, the oddball one is a mystery, as merf said earlier a very late build. Speed wise my one will manage almost 60, but like the others you feel it and its noisy, but good fun on an occasional basis. I did make a bit of effort to get the dodge commando that was at reading depot, but that was out of use when I was an apprentice there in 1989, so probably wasnt a viable restoration, whereas my one had a plate / mot, even if it was done by a blind man! A question for merf, do your records show anything about J839 BNW, or do you know how many of that type were built? And BTW, the 4mm versions you did are brilliant! Andy

Thats a brillaint pic, and one I have not seen before, despiet spending hours on flickr looking! I would say thats a mid 1990s shot, and I would guess thats a leyland daf 45 mk2, L reg and on, as the roof detail mathes the one in your shot at Gaerwen, i.e a solid roof and less vents, if you look at my roof its transclusent with two vents at the front, which may denote an earlier build. It has the EWS lettering along with the BR re railing lettering, looks like a bence body as well. The side window is higher than the side door, so definatley a later one. Shame I cant make out the reg! One random question for merf, at the warley show last year there was a southern region layout with a 4mm ford cargo crewbus - was that one of yours?

Detailing on a large scale is fine, but polishing and mopping the body was a tad tedious! For some reason I have become attached to it, I like driving it, it does 58 mph at a push! I agree, its from an era where there will be nothing left, and its unususal, in fact so unusual it doesnt really fit in anywhere, except here! Andy

Hi merf, Dimension wise the box body is 5.65 meters long, not including the tail lift, give or take a few cm, the other dimension is from wheel centre to wheel centre, and is 4.5 M ish. I am more than happy to get any info you need - your sets on flickr have been a big inspiration for this restoration, I have looked over and over again! So thank you very much for taking all those pics, they are a real piece of nostalga! The reg is J839 BNW, i I bought it from paul (aka semmytrailer ) last year, picture below was taken on the day I collected it and drove it down the M6, and it didnt miss a beat! My partner did comment that she thought it looked like it drove straight out of a scrapyard, she was almost right! The only history I know of it is pauls description on flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/semmytrailer/5450315370/ so if you or anyone has any history at all I would be so pleased to know! The only other picture of similar vehicle is the second one, which looks like its from the same batch, shown at eastleigh depot a few years back, but since gone. The body is by WH Bence. This one is in very original condition, most of the internal fittings are still there, except the cooker - and its also unusual as it was never re branded , ref ringos question, the arrows and BR lettering were removed at some point, as the shadow was visible in the paint, but the emergency response vehicle lettering was left on, so i think that was original from new, as there is nothing to suggest it was repainted, and its also in BR typeset. I have mereley replaced what was there. It never got any rebranding, and the other stickers it gained were some small ones saying gateshead WRD, so I presume it was used as a depot hack for a while It was driven by a chap called "baldy paul", who, according to the repair book crashed it twice, and there was a lot of written graffiti in tipex pen referring to baldy paul, and making him smile, which clearly he didnt. The last picture was taken this morning, new side doors fitted from the one at carlisle, new sleeper carrier at the back fitted and refurbed front wheels. Still a lot to do yet though. Oh, and if anyone knows what type of cooker it should have, I would love to know! Andy

merf, here is a couple more pics of the old girl, very much a rolling restoration. let me know what measurements you need, as I am getting it from storage for some work to take place over easter. Andy

That they are, the indicators are rubbolite items, as are the rest of the lights. Some of the switches inside are also maestro early ones, typical built out of the leyland parts bin!

And here is a picture of a leyland roadrunner / daf 45 re railing vehicle, on my freind garys layout, I think based on the base toys freighter - still needs a little finishing but captures the feel really well! Andy

I like that, the steps to the body are a nice touch as its so high, the snow wont bother that! all it needs is a lick of yellow paint and some BR logos !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8050359@N07/6802960030/ Not related to minis, but found this old wreck of a commer on flickr, might be ex railway!

Did you get a picture? It may appear on traveller homes .com. I passed a ruined leyeland roadrunner on the M40 weekend before last, in a right state, an ex br crewbus. I was on my way to carlisle to get some bits off the one in the picture, pic taken weekend before last - having failed to find a buyer, its being broken for spares. Shame as its low miles and in good nick, but a ten tonner so no good for a car license. I think this wil be its final resting place. According to the dealer, it attended the grayrigg derailment. Andy

Thats an odd one, it has flomatic roof vents, and extractor fan and the chimney for the hot water, looks like a window in the front, and the british rail legend on the end, the low cab may mean a bedford tk, but no side windows that can be seen, unless its rerailing vehicle? but why white? but then again it looks lower than the TK at the other end ....hhmmmmmm

saw that, all very modern, the police dodge however, nice big a/c unit, britax lightbar, not exactley rapid response lol, but a presence nevertheless. as for the fiore engine conversion, back to front body, too much weed probably, make a curious model though!

merf the transit is excellent, reminds me of the old oak common staff buses, but in my dat they were freight rover 400s mostly. I found this pic on the superb traveller homes website, it was on the news about the underground response teams having blue lights to get to incidents, look at the link, someone has already though of this! http://www.travellerhomes.co.uk/?p=4086 Andy

With reference to the various yellow vans and crew buses in this thread, does any one know what the actual colours of the bodies are? EG the escort combi vans were a ford colour and were yellow from the factory, the yellow being more "milky". Our ex marylebone sherpa was also yellow from new. The bigger carriers such as the leyland roadrunners were coach built from chassis cabs, the cabs were often white and then painted yellow when the body was finished, question is what yellow? I used to think rail warning yellow, but thats a more orangy and creamy colour, so does anyone know if it ws BT yellow for example? Or were they any yellow the coachbuilders had? Andy

Here is anoth pic of what was left of Marylebone Diesel Depot, circa 1991 ish during demolition. The view is of them old milk dock platform, but there is a Roadrunner crew bus in the back ground which caught my eye! Merf, I`ll see what I can do re the pictures, only just got a scanner and still working it all out. Andy

FAO Merf, here is E574 BAM and the escort combi, on the Marylebone Milk dock, whilst the depot was being demolished, also the coach bodymakers red peugot and my Maestro van, circa 1991 ish....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59572134@N07/5486072884/ One from flickr, a shiny bruff, complete with mainline freight braning, and an older commando behind it !

Hi merfyn, just checked the other pictures and it is that one, called the breakers today and its still for sale, he wants £2K for it. No interest to me as it was never yellow and didnt carry any BR branding! I suppose if it doesnt sell it will be broken or the body scrapped and made into a horsebox! and another pic of the same motor: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/3546768060/in/pool-1734047@N24/

here I think is a new picture, this was for sale on ebay last year, never met its price of about £1500 and was sold to a scrap dealer for less than that, went to Micheal Douglas (!) salvage ooop north. Its from Cumbria area, and is a 1992 Leyland daf 45 Mk2, I think with W.H.Bence Bodywork. Ex EWS, and clearly with some graffiti blurred out, its one of the longer re -railing vehicles. I have tried contacting the breakers, but Mr Douglas is impossible to get hold of!

Here are the two citroen relays and the C15 just prior to sale at Aylesbury Depot, by this point we had removed all the branding . The sherpa. E245 AMW is on the far right.