DonB

A huge number of horses were "borrowed " for military service in 1914-on. which would rather upset the above calculation.

Can't add anything of use to the working lives of the horses discussion, but I will ask my neighbour (a vetinary nurse who until recently specialised in Horse injuries when she returns from holiday. ..But the driver appears to have to stand within the cart body as there is no seat or foot-rest, although he would have some protection from the weather under the tarp.

I immediately thought of Fred Astaire's "lovely day to be caught in the rain" but your bright blue sky would seem to preclude that tune.

That didn't end well!

Before the Brexit vote, one elderly gent. interviewed on TV, said (apparently seriously) "if we leave we can have our proper currency back, with pounds, shillings and pence" !! Almost exactly 50 years ago we had a gang of bricklayers build garage walls for us to complete (roof etc.) Cost £50. --Problem? the gang of three needed paying individually down to the exact six shillings and eight pence each! A quick visit to our local corner shop to get the change was required! ( Cash in hand has been with us for ever! )

Of course they do, The place obviously has a reputation for accommodating unexpected visitors.

There's an area (housing estate) called New Zealand just within the southern part of the Derby outer Ring Road, no railway connection however.

Yes! i am old enough to remember looking forward to Peter Denny's next "episode" in the magazine. (I recently disposed of my past issues of the magazines of the time, so can't refresh my memory) I do remember that his son was in charge of preparing the trains for the return journey, and in time there became the need to have an "Automatic Crispin" resulting in the first cassettes that I remember.

Annie, A couple of daft questions if I may... Top picture just above here, Does the animation of the terrain include variations in the height of the container of the gas holder (in the background) to reflect the time of day? In reality they tended to be at a higher level early morning, gradually loose height during the day and be topped up again at night. the coke ovens producing the gas worked 24 /7 usually, although perhaps not in more non-industrial and rural areas. Secondly, did Birchenwood Colliery really supply coal to the West Country? PS. Like the new avatar.. a self-portrait ? you said you were tall and slim a couple of pages ago..?

Boat well heeled over, a rough sea, but not a hair out of place, What a woman !

Hi Phil, Our paths didn't cross at Ley's as far as I know, but we did meet a few times at the Mickleover club usually when you had your sales stand present Have Pm'd you .

Thanks Martin, I have mislaid my copy of the IRS No.122 -- Which is very careless of me since I worked for Ley's for 25 years and wrote the IRS article. It took me about 4 years to gather all the information about the sidings, I pestered anyone leaving for any historical items or photos that may have been lurking in desk drawers, and I was allowed access to a basement full of historical bits and pieces. On the 50th anniversary of the 1875 foundry opening, all employees were photographed at their place of work. I found the original 5"x 7" glass plates which should also be in the Derby Museum stores. All my original finds were passed on to a Colleague (Bob Read) who wrote a history of the works. There was follow up information in the IRS journal a few months later. The foundry closed in about 1995, and is now an Industrial estate although the wall bordering the Railway was still standing when I last passed over the rail bridge a couple of years ago.

Can't argue from a firm footing here. I don't know whether the NSR predated the LNWR at Derby. I based my assumption on someone referring to the pair of lines adjacent to the foundry wall as being "LNWR metals", the evidence of the LNWR loco shed being on land which became part of the foundry, and the S.Staffs Willington Junction from Derby and B'ham metals.

The NSR used the LNWR's rails on the approach to Derby. I have seen a 1934 Photo of the partly demolished LNWR's loco shed on the site of a development at Ley's foundry . I believe that this Photo, part of a series which also show the dismantling of the LNWR turntable in March 1934. These photo are, I believe in the Local Studies museum and library at Derby,currently closed due to council cuts.

Can't be sure, but the NSR GN may have carried Scandinavian pig iron from the docks to a large malleable iron foundry (Leys) at Derby, who had a siding (1875 -on) alongside the main lines approaching Derby station, and an array of sidings within the works which expanded with the growth of the business. see Industrial Railway Record (No. 125 IIRC) The pig iron was in approx 6-inch square by 18 to 24 inch long ingot form, a size which allowed manual unloading and stacking neatly. The supply was restricted by adverse weather in the North Sea, so stock-piling in the summer months was normal. This foundry supplied castings to the motor industry , typically rear axle and gear box housings. Unfortunately, the foundry's weigh-bridge records, listing wagons and contents moving in and out of the sidings, disappeared (along with the cabin clock!) when the sidings were abandoned in favour of road transport of supplies. EDIT.. Sorry, I was thinking of the NSR but wrote GN They both used the junction at Egginton GN Derby Friargate to Burton (now a cycle path), NSR Derby to Crewe. The road level crossing on the Derby side of Egginton junction still exists as Manually operated (steel) gates, with modern auto-barrier crossings nearby either side.

No one has identified the purpose of the spoked wheel on the side of the loco. My thoughts are = Reversing gear operation ?, Brake adjustment ? , shaker for firebox grate. ?, Wind up the spring ?

Regularity, above, details the possible sources of your "stiction". ...A quick check .... will an individual wagon roll freely, unaided, down your inclines? one of Mikkel's blogs details his wagons rolling across his near level work table,

are you any relation of Heath-Robinson ?

Harking back to the Wheel tyres and holding screws .... https://www.psbooks.co.uk/apps/onlinecatalogue/index.html has an offer at £9.99 (from £19.99) currently of "The Victorian Steam Locomotive,its design and development , 1804-1897 " Ref.S08659 Page63 of their on-line catologue. The Photos might help the to determine when the practice started.

Trying to think "outside the box", It occurred to me that an alternative to the suggested thin steel sheet at track level for the magnets to be attracted to, you could consider mixing the commercial grade of Iron filings (as used in BWsTrains demonstration picture) mixed in your ballast and WELL GLUED in place. The magnets ideally need to have (all, if more than one) of their poles aimed at the ballast and as near as possible to it.

I notice that in the last-but- 3 picture there are shadows from a fairly low Sun. Is this a default setting for that area of your layout, or do you switch it on and off?

Annie, I'm sure that you will have seen Mikkel's notes on early GWR wagon colours. There does seem considerable doubt regarding the shade of red, and when it was phased out. On the subject of colours, in your post headed "Ran some trains this morning to get the feel of the layout again and to see what might need doing." ..(I do miss the old post numbers !). 5th Picture, There is a rear view of a black and white cow, A Friesian which breed were not introduced into the UK until mid-war years and much more widely Post WW2. I'm not sure which breeds were common in Devon and Cornwall in the Victorian era, but they would almost certainly have been brown. How's that for a bit of nit-picking?.

Welcome back ... I for one missed your contributions to keeping us entertained and instructed. From my TOTAL ignorance of DCC-C systems, my immediate reaction to your NM diagram was to question whether there would be a polarity clash at the line between points listed as 7. requiring some sort of electrical switching ? Or is the switching catered for automatically by the DCC-C gismo / micro-circuit in the loco ??

Methodists disapproved of betting !