corneliuslundie

It wasn't just the railway company that wanted to know how much was in the wagon, but also the customer who was paying for it. And tare weights are interesting as they could vary over the life of the wagon, usually reducing as the wood and ironwork got worn away by abrasion from the load, rust etc. And fitting a second set of brakes could make a considerable difference to the tare weight. It is interesting to see that with the successive RCH standards tare weights tended to increase, even though it was onlt with the 1923 standard that 12 ton loads became common.

I am sure in South Wales there were DMUs with three liveries in one set, at the time when the "reversed" livery was around, ie blue, blue/grey and reversed. But I have not photos, unfortunately - I had no camera in those days.

If you are happy with plastic kits, there are models of 2 and 4-plank Cambrian wagons from Cambrian models (http://cambrianmodels.co.uk/wagon_kits.html#gwp, see the Pre-Grouping section) under Great Western Railway as well as the old white metal 2-plank from Model Wagon Co which may still be around. No connection other as a satisfied customer.

Don'y forget the DFT's beloved bi-mode trains. These would run under the wires until they ended and then carry on on diesel power.

It is indeed a CCT. Anyone want to preserve it? I am always depressed when I pass Carnforth and see stock that has been there rotting away for years, but the examples shown indicate that anything at Carnforth may last another decade or more before it finally crumbles to dust.

Livery presumably rust covered in dirt like most other vehicles. I assume it was not meant to be conspicuous and frighten off the targets. Does the RCD van also detect modern image modellers of similar ilk? Presumably they don't count rivets. Welds perhaps?

I think this is probably the best thread to ask about traffic from Collumpton treacle mines, which my grandfather often spoke about. A search on GEMGLE gives other local mines such as Dunchideock and Newtown Abbott but nothing on the Collumpton mines. Also information on several mines in other parts of the country. I am not sure if the treacle was processed before shipping out, in which case tankers would presumably have been used, or whether it was shipped elsewhere for processing (perhaps a Tate & Lyle factory) in which case sheeted opens or minerals might have been suitable.Surprisingly there does not seem to be a relevant GWR wagon diagram, so perhaps they were conversions of pre-gouping wagons from one of the absorbed companies..

Sorry, senior moment. In 1978 any of these could have been used in the train. The reference to a generator flat is interesting. The fleet did include one generator vehicle converted from Mk 1 BSK No M34693. I have not seen it referred to as a flat though with a Mk 1 chassis it could have been. I think a generator vehicle used on one of the overseas trains though I do not have all my records to hand at the moment (paper ones, not round black things).

The exhibition train vehicles had mostly formerly been owned by Trainex/Exhibitions on the Move. It became part of The Builder ltd, but by the time I worked for The Builder BR had taken over. I have published two articles in HMRS Journals which give some of the information. From memory the fitting out was done my another company in the group called Exhibitions on the Move. There were a number of ex LMS vehicles as follows: No Function Previous no Type Built Lot Year Conversion and notes S38744M Reception M9516M TTO Wolverton 1909 1939 Originally (1975) M prefix ) Ex TrainEx. Former LMS built S38745M Club car - TTO LMS - - Originally (1975) M prefix ) 1930-48. Renumbered into LMS S38746M Exhibition - TTO LMS - - ) number series for non-passenger S38747M Exhibition - TTO LMS - - ) carrying passenger rated stock. S38748M Exhibition - TTO LMS - - Originally (1975) M prefix ) Wooden frame. All withdrawn S38749M Exhibition - TTO LMS - - ) by 1983 except S38744M S38741M Cinema/ - TTO LMS - - Originally (1975) M prefix ) conference ) S38736M Exhibition - BCK LMS - - Originally (1975) M prefix ) Unless more ex LMS vehicles were taken into the fleet, which is possible as i do not have any later records, the most likely vehicle is S38744M.

I have a feeling, though i do not have my books to hand at present, that originally, ie 19th century, a van was a vehicle for carrying passengers' luggage. A van third at that time would have had compartments plus a luggage compartment but no space for the guard and no guard's brake.Also in the early days there may have been coaches with space for the guard but no space for passengers' luggage. In fact in the early days sometimes the guard's brake was in a passenger compartment! Later such coaches went out of fashion so a van third effectively became the same as a brake third. The GWR had a lot of 40 ft luggage vans, but I do can't remember whether they all had facilities for a guard. If they didn't they would have counted as vans. (see the K series of vehicles).. Of course the meaning of the goods vehicle van is much clearer, except of course when it came to specialised loads!

Isn't it somewhere near the incident that a loco sank without trace? Perhaps they are hoping for a repeat so they don't need the lifting gear. Or would that sink too?

Twp half relevant comments. First, I am pretty sure the curve from the Met at Liverpool Street was used by trains, though later became part of the staff facilities. Secondly, the Widened Lines have a slightly restricted loading gauge. The BR suburban stoick used before the diesels had the ventilators in a nonstandard position to cope with this. I think the low point is the bridge at Farringdon. Of course this will soon all be history.

Very welcome as long as they are not all big city types. The lady looks a little grand for a Welsh mining village. But railway staff, yes please. I'll send him an e-mail.

I used this occasionally from Stevenage to Cambridge in the period 1970-73. I can confirm the headcode and the loco (31). It was blue by this stage. I am pretty sure the one I caught some time after 8.00 pm had a Gresley buffet. There was a regular crew for the buffet. I can't remember the others but the young lad was called Jamie - not sure you can model that! (I only ever had coffee, but if I was on the platform it was waiting for me on the counter when I got there, very welcome after an overtime slog.) regular clientele had been drinking from before the train left KX.

I have just had a problem with matt black drying gloss, It was an unopened tin but I had had it a couple of years. I did shake and stir very thoroughly.

For prototype layouts have a look at some of the line history books. For example, the Wild Swan set of books on the Severn and Wye has track diagrams of all the collieries etc connected to the line. While I agree that in general BR locos would have been restricted to the exchange sidings, in some of the smaller collieries and other industrial sites where there was no colliery loco the BR/main line company loco did all the shunting. There was usually a contract for the main line company to provide these services. This may be helpful or not to you, as industrial sidings can be very spacious and the small spaces available to modellers are more likely to be appropriate for the small facilities shunted by the main line locos. But even some bigger modern collieries were shunted by BR. From memory one of those in the Forest of Dean was Eastern United, which had a very restricted site. Alternatively, just model the exchange sidings with the actual line to the industrial facility disappearing off scene. Then you can use your industrial loco to deliver the loaded wagons from the industrial site and take away the empties and the main loco to bring the empties (and supplies such as pit props) from afar and take away the output of the site.

There is a good book on the industrial railways of Llanelli. Mine is currently 1200 miles away, but the publisher is Wider View and I think it is distributed by Lightmoor/Black Dwarf.

I don't know about class 03 but there were class 08s with cut down cabs, designated 08/9. A search on Google will find photos.

Two South Wales suggestions - Terminal: Merthyr - pre-Grouping six companies worked in, including the LNW Heads of the Valleys route, a goods shed nearby but other goods traffic handled elsewhere and it was a quite big station with a Brunel overall roof Through: Nine Mile Point: end on junction between the LNWR and GWR, a lot of through coal; trains as the GWR used this route for its bigger engines that couldn't use Crumlin viaduct

I don't understand why the unit with failed ERTMS, once at the rear of the train, could not have carried passengers. Was someone afraid it would take off on its own? But I do hope the service gets a bit more reliable before I move to Newtown in the autumn. Last year we had two bad delays out of about six trips, though to be fair one was a unit delayed by a passenger taken ill somewhere Birmingham and the other was a signalling failure in the Wolverhanmpton area.