Fat Controller

Cardiff Tidal was/is the BR yard alongside the Celsa plant. I suspect the propelling move with a van was a Llanwern to Birdport coil train- Birdport being a new terminal which has been constructed over the East Usk branch east of Newport. The line to Uskmouth/ Fifoots Point power station runs through the unloading shed. Steel trains are propelled along the branch in one direction, there being no loop at Birdport, hence the need for a brake van at the opposite end of the train to the loco.

Lyon had trolley-buses, electro-diesel buses and diesel buses with identical bodies, built by Berliet (later Renault Industrial Vehicles). The electro-diesel ones would use the overhead until they arrived in the outer suburbs, then revert to diesel. They were sufficently similar for the driver of one I was travelling on to try and overtake another on one of the main routes- he'd forgotten he was running on electric. Sadly, most of the urban routes seem to have been replaced by trams in recent years.

I just happened upon this set of photos on Paul Bartlett's other site:- http://paulbartlettsotherrailwayphotos.fotopic.net/c1820179.html Some interesting trailers on there- any idea on the 'livestock' one, Merfyn?

As has been mentioned on here in one of the previous incarnations of the site, a number of Hawksworth coaches (corridor 2nds?) were retained until the back end of the 1960s, as they they had wider compartment doors, and so could be used to stow refreshment trolleys. At least one made it into blue and grey, and was photographed as the lead vehicle in the Cornish Riviera in 1968 or 1969- the photo's in 'Heyday of the Warships', IIRC.

I was going to upgrade my 92 in similar fashion, but it's gone on to long-term loan to the chaps who maintain them for Europorte2. If anyone's tempted to try an upgrade, I would suggest contacting East Kent Models, or one of the other specialist Hornby spare parts specialists, and just buying the bits required. The part numbers can be found by going to the relevant 'Service Sheet' page on the Hornby web-site.

Whilst I would agree that the Dapol wagon represents a wagon built to Berne gauge, rather than to the more restrictive UK one, there were wagons to a similar design introduced for 'Ferry' traffic in the late 1950s- these lasted into the 1970s, when the type shown on Paul Bartlett's site were introduced. Apart from the body shape - 'square' end on the earlier ones and sloping roof ends on the later ones- the doors were larger on the later vehicles, to facilitate loading pallets, whilst the refrigeration system was changed from one based on melting ice in roof compartments to an electric one using axle-driven generators. The majority of wagons were Italian-registered, but I believe there were also some Spanish-registered ones, operated by Transfesa and painted silver. Page 85 of 'Working Wagons, Volume 1' by David Larkin has a photo of a Belgian-registered example ( though intended for through working to Iberia)- the facing page shows an even earlier style, with an apex-roof and ice hatches in the sides, registered by FS (Italy)in 1949.

Jon, I could have a go if you like- shame they haven't got E-mail/web site, isn't it?

Just found this photo on Ernie's site showing a chocolate and cream Hawkesworth on a very secondary service...:- http://railwaysofcornwall.fotopic.net/p64054547.html

I've not found a site for L'Obsidienne, but I did find the site for AMF87, who seem to do quite a range of bits. Look under the 'Gamme AMF' section for these. www.amf87.fr/obsidienne.htm I've had a look through for Interfrigo bits, but couldn't find any.

Just had an E-mail from Hattons to say they're in.

No idea why it's called this, but 'orpherline' is a female orphan- there's probably some sort of obscure pun involved.

Orpheline generally has a lot of second-hand (often including British-outline stuff) at reasonable prices. If you walk to the top of the street (away from the Seine), you get a view of the cutting on the approach to Gare d'Austerlitz, which is the Paris terminus that sees the most loco-hauled movements. The shop is in the same block as the RFF (French version of Network Rail) headquarters, where quite a few former colleagues have ended up.

They're not that close to Gare Du Nord- though I have walked it (and on to Gare du Lyon). Take Line 4 to Barbes Rochechouart, then Line 2 to Place de Clichy. One of the Douai shops specialises in N-gauge. Be prepared for a heart-attack when you see the prices for French N-gauge...

I had a look at my very early copy of 'Baker' to see if there was anywhere in Essex that might have taken alumina from Burntisland, but there was nothing really obvious. Two possibilities come to mind:- Might it have been used in the manufacture of high-alumina cement, in which case the cement plants around Thurrock and Greys could be a destination? Could it have been intended for Norton Abrasives at Welwyn Garden City? Not Essex, I know, but relatively close.

I suspect 'dried hydrate' might be 'slaked' (hydrated) lime, which has been dried to allow it to flow more easily. I'd always thought that the modified grain hoppers were for lime traffic from Dowlow or Hindlow? A lot of the lime traffic wasn't for industrial use, I believe, but for use in water treatment plants- presumably in those where the water running into reservoirs is relatively acidic.

Last things first- Paul Bartlett's the man as usual:- http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/c50309.html They were always painted bauxite, but received an extra coat of paint, so kept their colour better than some. Traffic carried was fine powder of various types (but not cement), including lime, glass-making sand. Unloading was by air, as with the Presflos. Amongst places they operated from were Whitehaven, Peak Forest, Chelford and Oakamoor. I think the last went in 1978 or thereabout. It was unusual to see more than a handful in a train, unlike the Presflos.

To further muddy the waters... The box is not an ISO one, but one of the original Freightliner bottom-lift ones. I thought these had gone by the mid-1970s. I would suggest that the van could have appeared like that from about 1974- the application of TOPS coding had already started by then on the WR, and this van would probably have originally come from the Western on the original ABN service from Bristol to Glasgow. The crane at Elgin survived in use into fairly recent times, largely for transhipping containers for various MoD establishments in the area.

A lovely shot which I don't recollect seeing before- I wonder where it was taken? The crane will be available next year from Corgi, I note from the John Ayrey site:- http://www.ayrey.co.uk/reframe.asp?itemdet.asp?itemid=648008&id=130 That trailer in the background is one of those intended to carry things like large sheets of plate glass, isn't it?

Thanks for that, Dave- who'd have thought it? A rail-connected false teeth factory- it sounds like something from the Goon Show. I'm suprised they got through enough to justify wagon-load delivery, though. Look forward to that book; if it's to the same standards as your previous works, it should be a good 'un.

It's almost certain that china clay would have been taken by coastal shipping to the Mersey, and thence onward by narrow-boat via the Trent and Mersey canal. I can't think, offhand, of any older pot-banks that had rail connections (Wedgewoods at Barlaston did have a private siding, but that was fairly modern), but many of the bigger ones were situated near either the Trent and Mersey or Caldon canals, and had wharfs on them. Uses for paper filler and scouring creams are fairly recent, whilst most non-bone-china would have used local clay (even now, the ceramic industry probably uses more kaolin for glazes than for ware-making, I believe), so exports of kaolin outside Cornwall would not have been on the scale of more recent times.

Any idea of what industry used it there?

This was china clay for use as a filler for coated papers (some was also used by detergent plants around Warrington for certain well-known cleaning products)- for many years, this has probably been the biggest market for kaolin. It went to paper mills in the North-West (Blackburn area) and also various locations in Scotland- routeing was via the Settle and Carlisle, I believe. It didn't cease, so much as go over to air-braked stock working in Speedlink trains; look out for the Tullis-Russell hoppers going to Markinch and the high-sided opens (Standard Railcar/RLS) working to Corpach. Other clay was latterly conveyed as slurry in tank wagons. When Speedlink stopped, Tiger Railcar, who leased wagons to some of the customers, stepped in and ran a block train themselves. More recently, wagons have been conveyed by Enterprise services- I believe there is still traffic to PD Stirling at Mossend, and possibly other locations, whilst there are still block trains of slurry from Antwerp to Irvine. These replaced block trains from Cornwall a few years ago.

No- they're used for short-term traffic flows, such as coal to Clitheroe or Penyfford cement works from various locations, contaminated sand from Truro to Humberside, coal for blending between various sites in South Wales and other similar traffic. I don't believe they're used that often in engineers' workings, as the high sides make loading from below track level difficult, and tempt people to overload them. This is why numbers were cut down to give the lower-sided MFA, which I believe Bachmann also make.

SNCF use double-deck stock, both self-propelled and push-pull fitted, throughout France. I can recommend the upper deck on runs like St Lazare to Rouen, and on the TGVs down the Rhone corridor. They are used widely on some Paris suburban services, but have to have longer dwell-times at stations. One thing to note is not only is most European stock higher and wider than the UK norm, but it can be wider further down, as platforms are lower. This makes designing double-deck stock much easier, as the centre floor section of the vehicle, between the bogies, can be dropped to give an extra foot or so of headroom. If you look at the DD stock that goes to Gare du Lyon on RER D, you'll see that the heads of sitting passengers on the lower deck is at about knee-level to people on the platform...

Were the Park Royals transferred to cover Swindon sets being sent off for asbestos stripping? I'm certain I remember seeing one at Llanelli during the period in question.