Dava

Please....questioning the environmental & economic sustainability of long-distance biomass transport, when there may be insufficient to meet demand, is not the same as climate change denial. Scrubbing emissions from coal fired power stations with good life expectancy makes sense and anhydrite (gypsum) into the bargain, as the rail freight to Rushcliffe on the GCR(N) shows. Dava

If you join after November then your fee covers the following year so you should be OK till 2016 - bargain! Dava

Just wonder how importing biomass from Canada or wherever to Drax is more environmentally sustainable than burning coal? Which is what kept Healey Mills in business. Dava

This thread is really interesting & thanks to David for the old photos & maps, esp the aerial view. The area today is modern Telford with hardly a trace of the iron & colliery sites. Priorslee is the Wolverhampton Uni campus there. Look forward to seeing more! Dava

Since last post, I have got involved in the campaign to save the Cape Breton rail line. Closure hearing at Sydney on 8 Dec so big media day as I will be speaking at it, appearing on CBC Information Morning Cape Breton at 740am & at our public meeting at 6pm. If interested follow twitter @Capebretonrail Trying to get the Capers to understand that closing rail lines is a bad idea as within 10 years you need them again. Sensible folk get it. Dave

Martin, Hope the layout idea works out. I am hoping for a quiet patch to finish unpacking boxes & build a little layout next year. But work, books & a campaign to save our local rail line here in Cape Breton get in the way! Dava

How did Thompson 'improve' the loco, exactly? There was a previous thread about this so being provocative! Dava

Which is why a model of the Beyer Peacock type which ran on the Isle of Wight and New South Wales has to be explored....I looked at this idea before moving to Canada & floated it with Ixion, don't think they made it here. Dava

The sample Terrier looks very good indeed, with exquisite lining. Bar the odd wavy handrail, and the bunkerside numberplate and sandbox worksplate which the real one had, which will probably be etched add-ons. If it runs as well as it looks (no reason not to with 5-pole motor) these should be a hit when they finally arrive....next year. Will I stick to my resolve to wait for the blue K&ESR one? Nowhere to run anything here yet, so it would be a very pretty static model for a while. Finding appropriate stock to run with the 1870's era loco will be an interesting challenge for RTR buyers. I started a plasticard 'kit' for a balloon brake end near two years ago and completed one side so far. Modelling light railways has advantages! Dava

Gauge 0 version anyone? It would have a strong appeal. But with so many promised releases delayed by years not before 2020 or so? Dava

I really like this, very well presented 7mm scale light railway with great locos & carriages. I suspect the WC&PR was not generally this well tended In the Col Stephens era! I will be in Tempe Arizona next Jan so would welcome the chance to meet John & see the layout! Dava

Thank you, CME, much appreciated. Our local line in Cape Breton has its own thread (link below), there will be more shots of rusty decrepit North American wagonry in overgrown sidings ere long. Locos make very rare visits as the closure application is in. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/88033-cape-breton-nova-scotia/&do=findComment&comment=1659266 We have to hope it doesn't get like 'Ice Road Truckers' here this winter! I hope to start on a micro-layout with a whisky flavour (Speyside). Happy modelling Dava

CME, I do like Draycott, here I am sitting in Canada, no layout, no 110 volt transformer, our local railway is also static, so photos of weathered wagons in grassy sidings are fine. I may head in the same direction over Xmas. The Shoc Van is well done. Dava

A sunny Remembrance Day in Cape Breton was a good reason to explore outside today. Here are two uses for old cabooses next to the Bras D'Or. An ice-cream caboose (not open, needless to say!) A summer house Here is a reflective shot of one of the CBNSCR bridges. Rusty condition is typical. If they're made of Cor-Ten steel that's fine but I dont think so. It would be great to see a train crossing this bridge, but then it would be great to see a train! Dava

When is the loco going to come? Dava

Thanks for the comments. Genesee and Wyoming are not popular citizens here. More to follow as they pursue abandonment. We have urban exploration of the Sydney yard planned soon. Also more photos in the can to share! Dava

Its been a busy month. Catching up, I visited the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry at Stellarton, an interesting if very quiet place with a very traditional approach to curation. Oldest loco of the rail collection here is Samson, built by Hackworth in 1838 for the General Mining Association. The Albion loco of 1854 is almost invisible in store. They dont welcome enquiries about stored locos. Outside and the first thing you see is 151, the 36" Gauge 0-4-0ST Built 1942 at Montreal Locomotive Works for Dominion Steel, Sydney Steel Division. A massive loco, Inside the museum are some of the ingot cars it hauled, you can see why it had to be so powerful Then from the beast to the beauty, a very pretty 30" Gauge 0-4-0ST by Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, in 1917 for the Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Co (later Dominion Steel & Coal)., Trenton Works, Trenton. True love. You can read here about the stored locos they don't like to talk about, presumably unrestored, not open for visits, definitely not going to Cape Breton etc. https://museumofindustry.novascotia.ca/collections-research/locomotives/more-locomotives Since I got back, there has been some progress on the Cape Breton & Nova Scotia Central front, more on this as the story develops. And Jeremy, founder of Big Spruce Brewing, has picked up well-deserved awards. The only craft brewer on the island, able to sell direct to his consumers and avoid the state monopoly. My growler is in the cooler. Dava

On a visit to Milwaukee, found the Rock Bottom brewpub by the river, excellent beers esp the Hop Bomb IPA, food also looked good! Dava

I like the brake van & effective use of wood.As there is no stove chimney, does this mean there was a primitive beer-cooler inside, so the brakesman could enjoy a tinny seated on the end balcony? Just a thought & look forward to seeing the diorama develop. Coincidentally there were rough & ready coal lines using British equipment in Sydney, Nova Scotia where I now live most of the time. Long way from Sydney NSW! Dava

It will not be this year! According to the Tower Models website, the first Terriers are now due 'around January' With other liveries 'early 2015'. Anyone really wanting a budget Terrier before then is advised to try the Alphagraphics card kit, a good static version can be made in a choice of liveries Dava

Its all about politics here in Canada, if they (we since I am now part of it) can raise enough pressure then saving the line maymay just be possible,but major investment will be needed to make the line secure & the ideal of passenger trains is a distant dream. I'm in Halifax the next few days, the vollume of container freight trains is a huge contrast & I'll aim to get some photos of CN operations before returning via the Stellarton industrial museum & some static exhibits. Dava

Now back in Sydney, Nova Scotia with an update on the Cape Breton & Nova Scotia Central plan to abandon the line. The operating subsidy expires on 30 Sept, when the operator will probably file their notice to close the line, but will have to keep operating it until this is resolved. There has been a protest rally to 'save our railway' with evidence of local feeling and the economic impact of its loss. Not much traffic has actually been visible, or maybe I've just not been there at the right time. But on Monday this week leased HLCX 8151 and CBCNS 3327 looked fine shunting a train of 14 box cars in the Sydney yards. Dava

Given the size of the Gauge 0 market, I dont think we'll get more than one shot at a popularly priced RTR 'Terrier', so hopefully it will be a good one. Dava

Hornby produces good new model + people like it + it sells = panic over? Great promo for the P2 2007 full size build! Dava

Is it time to retitle this thread as there is no sign of an end to the Tugs any time soon, they continue to haul the goods through Lincoln on my last visit today and to return to service gradually by DB? 20+ years & going strong. Dava