TrevorP1

Agree about the hairspray although I do keep a can as stop gap. Unfortunately as far as glue is concerned I’ve found you get what you pay for. Having said that, I’ve heard that ‘Elmers School Glue’ is good. I haven’t used it yet but I’ll give it a go when I need to do another big job. Also useful is artist’s matt medium but again it can be expensive. I use it for trees and bushes.

A 1953 banana traffic booklet (available from WTT Reprints on eBay) shows a path at 6:10pm from Avonmouth to Tavistock Junction, arrival 11.46.pm. Some of this must surely have got to Devon and Cornwall in individual wagon loads. This website, Somerset Apple is also worth reading. The folk song Green Banana Johnny (Fisherman's Friends version) also refers to Avonmouth bananas.

Good news with updates @Modelu Chris A quick plea for 1940s/50s servicemen going on leave.

Reminds me of making and helping to fit piston stays when I was at the Mid Hants. Locomotive pistons are hollow to reduce weight (lessens forces on the rest of the valve gear etc) so in order to maintain the strength they have stays, similar to boiler stays. The stays are threaded into the piston but the consequences of one working loose are disastrous. Therefore the threads are made to a good fit but before they are screwed in they are coated in a chemical (sorry the name escapes me) which promotes corrosion. Once in, the ends are riveted over using a rivetter just the same a normal rivet. This method comes from notes on the original railway company drawings.

As far as odourless CA is concerned I found the hard way that the 'fumes' are just as obnoxious.

Talking of west country maritime accidents reminds me of the tragic loss of the pleasure boat Darlwyne with all on board in 1966. Darlwyne set out from Falmouth to Fowey without adequate safety equipment and unbelievably no radio. On preparing to leave Fowey the skipper was advised several times not to leave the port due to an oncoming storm. He ignored all warnings and sadly all on board perished somewhere off Dodman Point. I remember this distinctly because in the previous year we had had a very lively trip on a pleasure boat across Falmouth Bay to Helford. I thought it was great fun(!) but my mother (who, poor woman, could get seasick in the bath) refused point blank to go back on the boat. My father, who was not a sailor but had great respect for the sea, agreed. Our return to Falmouth therefore involved the tiny ferry across to Helford Passage, a walk to Mawnan Smith and then a long bus ride back to Falmouth. I think it's true to say that the safely of modern pleasure boats is due in part to this tragedy. I can recommend 'The Forgotten Shipwreck: Solving the Mystery of the Darlwyne' Nick Lyon - it's on Kindle if that's of help.

Yes, I remember the Torrey Canyon, I was about 12/13. The teachers spoke about it in school as well.

I think that settles it then Bill! If you can pm me with payment details I’d like one please. No rush at all, in your own time.

I’m weakening. I don't need one but I want one. I've always liked Bulldogs... Even if it goes 'in the stash' while I acquire the other bits for building next winter. 3335 Tregothnan I think - actually not withdrawn from Exeter in 1948 but transferred to Cornwall... 🙂

Carol builds one of the 'Rolife' kits now and again. How she does it is beyond me. Some of the things they expect the builder to do are what I would call "setting you up to fail". To her immense credit she never gives up (I would have thrown the wretched things against the wall!) and achieves a result far better that I could, although she did admit defeat with a couple of seats - I ended up soldering up replacements from brass wire! Lately she has taken to the products of Scale Model Scenery - a much more sensible idea!

To me FS is the same as all the other historic engines we have - of whatever method of propulsion - and we should be glad of all of them. It's the hype that turns me off FS but if that hype brings the railway to folks attention then that's all to the good. I was but a little nipper when I first saw Scotsman. It must have been in its very early preservation days. Dad took me down to to Southampton Central to see it come through on a special. As we waited, Southern TV arrived and set up their camera. There was no rugby maul in those days and when the reporter stood very near us nobody else jostled to get close. I think the reporter's name was Peter Wightman. As the train ran in he spoke, "I'm waiting for a ghost train..." TV duly turned in to the next news programme and there we were on the TV. I was chuffed(!) to bits but these days I'd run a mile if a TV camera came near me!

I can't remember seeing steam shunting on BR but I clearly recall the shunting with diesel at Eastleigh 'back in the day'. Yes, it was much faster than many modellers imagine. There was no messing about - job to be done. Heritage lines are a different matter altogether.

The relevance of that Beatles train is completely lost on me, as is my understanding of the brain that could have dreamed it up... Tat like that does neither Hornby nor the hobby any good at all. I would have instantly sacked the person that dreamed that up - gross misconduct! Surely some highly paid marketing wizz could have come up with something better?

In the Irwell Press north Cornwall book it mentions sugar beet traffic from Delabole.

That's always been my understanding. The American use of the word 'depot' for a railway station also makes sense although we use it in a different fashion. Somewhere in my head full of useless information is the use of the term 'way station' for a place where American stage coaches had their horses changed - in other words a place along the way where fresh horses were stationed. I can't recall the British equivalent... (coach house?) although I've used plenty of those that remain for having beer! Merry Christmas folks!

Murray Walker is the only household name I've ever met. I was buying tyres for my TR3 one day, parked in the queue with the other cars. Around the corner, quite unexpectedly came Murray and the man who I knew to be the owner of the business. Murray made a beeline for my car and we chatted for something like 10 minutes. He knew more about my vehicle that I did! A thoroughly decent, knowledgable man, quite without any pretence. Eventually he was dragged away by the other chap because apparently he was there to open an extension the the garage. Another Murray story which comes from one of his books. During WW2 he was a tank commander stuck in the 'queue' of vehicles trying to reach the 'Bridge Too Far' at Arnheim. Out of the blue his father - who at that time was a war photographer - suddenly appeared. I cannot imagine the feelings either of them had. Luckily they both survived unscathed. What a life he had, the knockers never knew a fraction of it.

Regarding the pony repair discussion, it would be Araldite for me as well. After all, they glue cars and aeroplanes together with it. I’ve managed to use it to reattach with perfect success, the mirror on my DSLR.

Something like 10 or 15 years ago I experienced much the same thing at Reading. It was complete and utter chaos and you had to feel very sorry for the poor guard (or whatever he's called these days) trying to sort it out. The situation carried on until the train was so full of very unhappy customers nobody could move, even the guard. We were lucky and had seats but not wanting to repeat the experience, it was the last time I travelled to the NEC by train. On a positive note I've used the trains in Cornwall and it was like a breath of fresh air, going a long way to restoring my faith in today's railway. My train even stopped at Camborne on a Wednesday! Keep enjoying the trip John!

This is a GW 4 plank which just happened to be on my desk but it shows the idea.

Way, way back in the day when I were but a nipper, Dad frequented The Blacksmiths Arms at the bottom of Shirley (Southampton not Birmingham). There was a chap who everybody knew as 'Cider Sid'. Even at my tender age I could tell he was well pickled - and that was before he went in the pub! His face was the colour of an LMS Duchess and his complexion like the surface of the moon. Occasionally I understood the odd word he spoke. I found him quite scary!

Brilliant! Happy days. Thanks. Made my day already!

I got drunk on cider when I was a lad... Never, ever, ever again! I can still feel the pain of trying to pretend to my mother that I did't have a raging hangover! (No doubt she knew anyway...).

Yes PJ on draught is a rare cop outside of Cornwall, come to that not every St Austell pub in Cornwall has it. Certainly it's very enjoyable when the opportunity arises. I have some tins put by for Christmas so we'll see what they're like. Tribute doesn't like me so normally I'll volunteer to drive if there's no PJ. Also worth a try, if you can find it, is Sharp's Sea Fury. So far I've only ever seen it in The Victory in St Mawes.

A lot of the Peter Handford collection is still available as a download. Transacord Digital

This is exactly what I've decided on for goods stock and it works a treat! Having tried various methods for uncoupling I've gone back to the simple plastic 'shunters pole' developed by Tri-ang 60 or 70 years ago. In my case a length of white plasticard with the last ½ inch turned up. Buffer the wagons up, lift up the hooks with the pole and drive the engine away. Works every time!