Trains&armour

Could anybody tell me which steam special this is and at what date? The reverse of the card says: 'A Steam Hauled special for the T.R.P.S at Aberdovey' The card itself is was printed in 1976, but guessing by the look & type and liveries of the engines pulling, I would say the date of the special should be somewhere between 1956-1960. But the Abbreviation TRPS doesn't ring any bells for me. Any help appreciated.

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Let me help out Robin here. Dean Goods have been known to pass through Brent: And here:

Same difference... At least at this stage!

Tamiya 1/48 M10 tank destroyer is my guess.

It's tiny. I expected more for my money....

Very nice, thanks!

00 gauge, but see here: Aas to the chassis-underframe, see here: Not perfect, but better.

I don't have all of the Turton books. If you happen to have a copy of volume one lying around you don't use anymore I'd be very interested.... More seriously, if you could scan/photograph the Peter Matthews article for me, I'd be very grateful. And as an aside, I found this in: David Larkin, The Acquired Wagons of British Railways,volume 2, pag. 77, (2019) Little doubt in my mind that Gloucester rebuild several low sided wagon to normal capacity coal wagons. Why? Don't know. Perhaps low sided wagons were not as useful as first thought?

Break out the marshmallows.....

You can rebuild the Bachmann Cromwell: (Still, the Airfix model is better. Rebuilding was a lot of fun though...)

The last bit of Cromwell fun. Finished: And it's nemesis:

I will match your bid.... Smaller model, but needs a lot of work. For those not in the know, this Churchill kit was first released in 1960, the fuel trailer was added 40 years later... But will be a while, currently working on this: Rescued from a wreck. That Churchill better watch out.... But maybe we should start our own thread on Military modelling.

More Cromwell fun. Changes made, model reassembled, and given a basic coat of olive drab: Somewhat better, I think. Compare: After this some decals,some extra detailing (stowage, tools, maybe a towrope) and weathering.

Yes, thanks... We will mention no names: Ok, ok mine is currently in bits: But that's just because I felt there was room for improvement. Like the roadwheels. They should be double: It should have headlights, headlight guards and tow shackles: and a turret ring, hinges for the diagonally folding drivers hatch (a very late feature, btw), and so on. To be continued...

Ace (ACE 72248 ) does a very nice one with interior in 1/72 (scale difference with a 1/76 model with a vehicle this size is hardly noticeable). Or you could go for the venerable Matchbox Dingo included with Monty's caravan kit. Not as detailed, but still with interior, 1/76, and notwithstanding the age , in my opinion a better model than the oxford one. (Oxford . Forgot all about them. Diecast models, brrrr I only do kits...)

Hi Clive. Thanks. I spotted that they belonged to the Black Bull division , the first even being marked as belonging to the 11th armored division HQ. Forgot about the red white red marking not being used in NW Europe, so you might well be right in this being tanks used in training. Refurbishing those before the invasion sounds like a good idea... Or converting them to AVRE tanks, as MIB suggested. As to the archers, don't think so. We would be viewing them from the rear then, and in that case the fighting compartment should be sloping down the other way.

Does this answer your question? source: Ware, P (Ed.) The War Archives, British Cruiser Tanks of World War 2. Cudham 2014, page 48-49 According to the original caption, these are new tanks leaving the Leyland factory. But looking at the state and markings of the tanks , I'm pretty sure these are not new. Maybe tanks returned to the factory to be refurbished? Note the lack of all weaponry. And I wonder what is hiding underneath the tarpaulins in the background...

No small scale model of that, as far as I know. But this comes close: Four to a warflat...

Daimler Ferret MK I scout car, not produced until 1952. Bit late for ANTB. Sorry...

Forgot to comment in all the Sherman excitement, but why not paint in a camouflage scheme? Some Cromwell CS tanks carried a disruptive camouflage scheme of black on olive drab in Germany in 1945. Your tank could be one that was shipped back after the war, for whatever reason. (Its your railway)

My thoughts exactly. Thanks Tony. Any chance of posting the other two films? And I did notice the ferryvan as well: An ex french build van nicked by the War Deparment. Love it. Would look nice on a wartime layout Based on a SNCF wagon, of which, so happens, a H0 model exists: LS Models 30376, an exclusive model, so not cheap. But it definitely has conversion potential. Who wants to have a go? PS: Sorry Robin, for hijacking one of your threads. Again...

Hi Clive. Would be a neat explanation, but I don't think so. Tanks were usually shipped in batches from the same factory, making a mix of two types unlikely. Though having said that, one possibility is that both types got mixed up after being unloaded and placed in temporary storage. But I don't think there are any M4A2s on that train. Sandshields were clipped to the side of the sponsons, making the sponsons visually smaller and the rearplate deeper. The one tank with an exhaust deflector plate is probably one of the early M4A4s build with this feature. Exhaust deflectors were installed starting January 1943 . If I remember correctly, it took about 6 months from starting assembly to final delivery to the intended recipient, in this case the UK. The first few M4A4s with deflector plates would have reached the UK in about July, corresponding well with the date mentioned in the caption. (But then again, captions describing Shermans as small American tanks don't exactly inspire confidence...) So, and now I think we've made Robin think twice before mentioning tanks ever again in ANTB.

OK, let get technical . I think they are M4A4s. With this angle it's hard to tell if there's a bigger gap between the bogies. There might be, but it's impossible to be sure. The rear plate though is a better indicator. M4A2s have a longer rear plate that reaches well below the the sponsons, while M4A4s have a short extension, reaching just below the sponsons. This short rear plate can be clearly made out on the tanks without the sandshields. Also no trace of the exhaust which would be clearly visible on a M4A2. M4A4: M4A2, with the exhaust even more visible because of the deflector plate. Not all M4A2s carried these: