SM42

To me early bauxite is a little more orange than later freight brown. I've used Humbrol 133 but was not 100% convinced for my taste. It's acceptable but nearer to the later freight brown than early bauxite to me. I see it as a sort of in between shade Humbrol's 133 is also a semi matt colour which could, of course, have coloured my judgment, but that helps with the application of decals and as a bonus sealing the decals with a matt varnish knocks it back anyway. Humbrol's rust (I forget the number now) just looks wrong but I do sometimes use it as an undercoat for bauxite on lighter plastics Mixing matt and semi matt has not been an issue in my experience. I was doing just that for quite a time before I realised I was doing it. Just grabbing colours that looked right to mix together without paying attention. Things did turn out a little more on the glossy side though. It's a matter of personal taste and perception in the end and as has been said, consistency of colour across wagons of the same colour is not often seen. Andy

I appreciate the sentiment of the OP but I feel that if we are confined to barracks, so to speak, then the ability to get our non essential shopping still, is a bonus. If it were a problem then it would have been shut down two weeks ago. The Govt have acted to discourage us from congregating around shelves in shops but has not told us to give up entirely. Mail order is available at present so I see no need not to use it. It could easily have been closed down too. I have made my first order today since shut down to replenish the consumables. Will I do it again? Definitely, Do I feel guilty? No, but then I don't feel 100% comfortable either. Maybe the curtain twitchers are having an affect, maybe the ever present only go out to shop for necessities etc message is generating subliminal feelings of guilt about buying non essentials. Maybe I'm worrying about the mechanics of accepting a delivery whilst maintaining social distancing. Maybe I've become paranoid that every object is alive with vicious germs plotting murder. Who knows? We are living in stange times. Normal has changed. It's bound to have an effect. I expect that delivery services will be under increased pressure, because despite popular perception, not all shopping is via the web, and things may take longer to get to you. There are no doubt some businesses working hard to adapt quite rapidly to 100% mail order, some with reduced headcounts too, which may affect dispatch times. Other traffics may take priority with the courier firms as well , but a delayed delivery is a small price to pay for being able to hobby shop at present. As always with our suppliers, use 'em or lose 'em, ( and the latter is a real possiblilty now,) although we may need to use them in a different format to that which we are accustomed. On the bright side there should be less "sorry we missed you cards" being used. Andy

My vague recollection of the inside of Stechford shunt frame (on the outskirts of Birmingham, the former Stechord No 1 SB) were that the levers remained, the block shelf remained with some rudiementary indication apparatus, some of the low wooden lockers and basic sanitary ware. There were a lot of white levers and some may have been removed before I ever got to visit. I photograped the outside but unfortunatley I don't recall ever doing an internal shot. Andy

I'm just amazed I recognised some of these. Equally amazed by how things have changed too Andy

My first thought was Tipton area towards Birmingham, with a route indicator for the Princes End branch, but did Wolves box beat the OLE? Did the branch still exist at the same time as Wolves PSB? Beaten me with this one Andy

Top one is Birmingham International alongside the aiport (on the left of photo I think) on the Birmingham side of International station https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Birmingham+Airport/@52.4558271,-1.7327867,202m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4870b0deff56c9e3:0xd7fab23579355bb!8m2!3d52.4523821!4d-1.7435071 Bottom one approaching Bescot under the M6, possibly Bescot Curve Jn, photographed from the curve, Walsall line to the left https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bescot,+Walsall+WS2+9BS/@52.5650279,-1.9950013,339m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4870989a5bc77cc3:0xc624ac10c394d338!8m2!3d52.571494!4d-1.998578 Middle one looks familair but can't place it Andy

Oooh Now you say that yes it is Oxley not Duddeston. Not enough incline for the flyover to Proof House jn The building on the left is a giveaway now I look again. Ooops Well done Andy

Middle one Oxley again from Wolverhampton end of viaduct. Oxley chord line diverging to right in foreground First one Basford Hall South looking towards Stafford? (Sheer guess) Last one Willesden?? again a guess Andy

The last one looks like Duddeston or was it known as Vauxhall then? Vauxhall Shunt Frame, now known as Aston Signaling Centre on the left (this end of teh box is Aston SC, the far end still Vauxhall Shunt Frame) Vauxhall flyover in the distance Train is on slow lines, Photgrapher on down carriage siding with I think New Street's 75 (?) signal in the foreground Middle one could be Oxley, view from the signalbox Andy

Oh Lord. Now you lot have started something. Where did I leave those Red Panda kits? Andy

I was beginning to wonder if it would go ahead. I had planned to go again but never mind. There are far more important things to worry about. I may, if I find a bit of time, try and post some of my pictures from past parades if I can find them, as a sort of steam therapy to keep us going All please feel free to post your pics too. Best wishes all Na zdrowie Andy

I visited on Saturday morning and my heart did sink a little, given past events, when I was told the news as we got to the door. Like Hobby I had a limited time slot so couldn't hang around too long. However given the situation, I think it was handled very well from my viewpoint and whilst I was a little disappointed that the bit I wanted to see wasn't available it was fully understandable and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the show overall. I wish all those affected well and with luck Warwickshire's finest can get a break on tracking those responsible down. Thanks L&W MRS, I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning out, well worth the effort of getting up early on Saturday for. Andy

Apparently my none existent Amazon Prime account has been hacked again. A robot just called me to to tell me. However more worringly was a recent experience with Mrs SM42's bank. She called them due a problem making payments through internet banking and as I was in the room (I was double checking the account numbers payments were being made to) when they went through security they locked the account due to a security breech. Oddly they don't seem to have a problem with recording a call for "training and quality assurance purposes" where they ask for the answers to all your "secret" security questions. She will be complaining and has changed her security questions and probably bank too if they try it again. Such security errors really shouldn't happen. Even as I type the Amazon robot has called again. Very persistent. Andy

Living in a box Andy

Cutnall Green Opened 1928 Andy

If you have a model of Mrs SM42 on the bus you could have it make a Special Stop Order call at the bus stop at the end of our road rather than take us all the way to the station. The cheek, the embarassment, the convenience. Of course if you are modelling modern day Rugeley Trent Valley, buses are a necessity, Class 350 units less so. Andy

Indeed, using an initial wash of thinned paint for weathering is very good at removing Bachman's printing. If you've got some enamel thinners lying it works fine. Andy

In my experience Railmatch spray cans clog up after a few seconds and you are left with an almost full can that you can't use. With Dulcote it seems that if you spray from too far away you get a patchy finish as the coat is not coating everything, i/.e the droplets of varnish are too far apart by the time they reach the model. That's my theory based on observation of my own results. A second light coat will sometimes fix this I've found. As for distance I tend to be over cautious (maybe a foot or so) and get nearer based on what I see happening. I usually use at least two light passes. Sometimes three. Weathering hides the rest, but I appreciate weathering is not to everyone's taste. Andy

The "new" Selly Oak box didn't last too long before Saltley PSB took over. Built around 1957 and resignalled around 1969 I believe. Andy

The problem with adding stickers or non standard wheels (note the insurance ramifications of this modification) is that these can be easily undone too. I have non standard wheels on at the mo (yes I have declared them to the insurance) but come the Spring when I put my summer tyres back on the car will be standard again. A suspicious person would say that a cloned car is your car, but you've made a temporary alteration to avoid justice. Dents are usually good though as they either get repaired or don't exist in identical pairs. Howeever I do think the mobile phone location would be a good angle. Especially if you used it . After all how far would they delve in reality? Conjecture about complex Hollywood style ruses to risk prison time for the sake of a relatively minor punishment seem a bit far fetched. Those caught doing such things try much simpler plans. Easier to set up and remember the story for everyone involved. For reference too, no-one is entitled to see "evidence" until they elect to go to court, by which time it is too late. What you can do however is ask for copies of any photographs to assist in identifying the driver. This is not asking for evidence (don't even use the word) but making reasonable efforts to identify who was driving at the time of the offence as you will be asked to do so by the police if you are the registered keeper. They probably won't help with the driver's ID, but will give you chance to check the car in the photo. The police etc are human. Mistakes happen sometimes. In terms of the council in the OP's case, they have 56 days to respond I believe. They also need to consider your appeal properly, not use some template brush off. Keep track of the dates, keep on top of this and don't let this slip further down the line of enforcement if you can help it. Keep records of all correspondence, proof of postage, dates etc See www.pepipoo.com for more forums / advice on such matters. Good luck Andy

Has anyone using just blade contact to stock rail ever tried using graphite to improve / guarantee the connection? Pencils are cheaper than specialist applications I would suggest. Would there be a downside to doing so? Andy

The joys of the Red Star Parcels computer and its, errm, creative, routing options. Parcels certainly got plenty of miles for their money. I think a relative of this computer now works at National Rail Enquries. Andy

Granted, but I was trying to find something that doesn't involve random blades of grass in what, for me, would be odd places, scenically. So far it works , but more trials required, and the replacement hook could be a useful refinement Andy

By removing one loop on each vehicle and having all stock one way round they can be adapted much like the standard Bachmann tension lock for magnetic uncoupling, (the Brian Kirkby method?) A quick experiment with a couple of wagons proved the concept and the fact the loop is ferrous made no difference to operation. Whether they will stay coupled in a train is an experiment yet to be carried out ( pulling a short distance seemed to work) as there is no obvious positive locking under tension except the slight backward rake of the coupling spigot. One other possible problem is the staple fouling the wagon running gear or having to be so low to miss the running gear that it catches on the track, but this will to a large extent depend on the vehicle Andy

My only reservation about the Chivers diag 119 conversion is that they are like gold dust now ( I didn't get hold of many when they were available) and it seems a shame to waste a perfectly good kit to make a diag 107 now, Converting something to replace the Chivers kit would be a lot more work. The OP has shown an easy route to let us have our 119s as Chivers intended as I think the Parkside kit may be around for a little longer. MJI, I take it you have built your Chivers kits so taking a mould is not possible. . Andy