RichardT

As Ken Bruce might say "One Year Out!" January 1962 issue, p.14 Photo by J S Gilks. The photo caption reads: "The branch line look. A Cheltenham-Southampton train passes through Chedworth village on September 24, 1960" HTH Richard

An earlier post referred to transhipping being a "labour-intensive" operation and thus, by implication, one that the companies would seek to avoid. We are used now to the fact that the cost of people is the most expensive component in many industrial processes. One of the biggest societal changes of the last century and a half is that, certainly prior to the second world war, labour was incredibly cheap and machinery relatively expensive. When you could get labourers to do grunt work for pennies there wasn't much incentive to invest in expensive machinery: labour-intensive is preferable to capital-intensive. Hence the persistence in the traditional steam-age transport systems of what look to us now like incredibly inefficient methods of working - hand-operated machinery, multiple manual handling of goods, masses of porters on stations, locomotives which require armies of back-up staff to operate, manually operated signalling from closely-spaced boxes each of which has to be staffed. After the second world war, when the price of labour rose exponentially, the incentive to mechanise and simplify also rose. The labour-intensive nature of the steam-era railway is what gives models of that railway their enhanced play-value (sorry, "operational potential"), but in real life that came at the price of mass exploitation of working people on poverty wages.

“Battlespace” of course! Which would tie in with, but be distanced from, the mainstream Hornby centenary releases...

John Just catching up on Jazz Record Requests via BBC Sounds, and your request was played as the first one on the Saturday 1st Dec edition. A very warm tribute, and Alyn Shipton emphasised the modelling connection. Thanks for sending it in. Jazz and model railways - a perfect combination. Best, Richard

Glad to see that the traditional Christmas issue cover ornamentations are present and correct. Because - and I really don't like writing this - the contents list posted earlier looks a bit, well, dull for a Christmas MRJ. I used to look forward to the "out-of-the ordinary" Xmas articles - a bit of model railway history, a crossword or puzzle, some provocative think pieces or a seasonal model (e.g. Chris Pendleton's superb North Shields displayed in snow). All suitable for reading with a glass of port by the fire over the festive season. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I pick my copy up in York on Saturday, but I'm a bit worried that, of six main articles, three pieces appear to be yet more Great Western minutiae, unbalancing the issue, and neither "Newton Heath" nor "LSWR carriages" of the others really get the juices flowing at first sight. Luckily I've got a full set (been buying it since issue 5), so I can always re-read some of the classic issues, but I'm wondering if MRJ is finally slowly fading away like an old soldier. Or perhaps it's me that's getting old and jaded...

LNER bogie sulphate wagons - not much, if anything, online: snippets of info at https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1915 and some Peco blurb for the 4mm kit at https://peco-uk.com/products/lner-bogie-sulphate-wagon They are covered (drawing, two photos and info) on pp258-259 of Peter Tatlow's "LNER Wagons volume 4B". Summarising Tatlow's text, basically 80 unfitted steel-sided wagons with wooden side doors built c.1930 as LNER Diag.69 to carry 2cwt sacks of sulphate of ammonia (480 sacks per wagonload!) from ICI's Synthetic & Nitrate Works at Haverton Hill, Billingham to Middlesbrough Docks for shipment. Peco don't mention the "to Middlesbrough Docks" bit, implying in their advert that the wagons were used for general distribution of the sulphate whereas in reality they seem to have run on a very restricted "proto-merry-go-round" circuit. That said, I've imagined some running empty for repair/special diverted traffic so I can use them on my LNER in Yorkshire layout. "Later in life" (Tatlow isn't specific) they were sent south to work the landfill rubbish trains from Ashburton Grove (where Arsenal's Emirates Stadium now is, apparently) to Blackridge Tip (an old gravel pit NE of Wheathampstead). That service ended c1972/1973. Tatlow says the rubbish trains were "latterly" hauled by Class 15s (diesels, I assume), three of which were at Hornsey shed for this purpose. So, lots of non-specific "latterlys" and "later in lifes" - given Tatlow's reputation for exhaustive research I suspect that there simply isn't much else known about these wagons. But the Farish sulphate wagon labelled as a LNER bogie brick wagon is a "foobie" as US modellers say - the real bogie brick wagons were completely wooden sided. Hope that is of interest. Richard

Not mentioned so far, but perhaps the reason that this particular issue will be late is that they want to include an obituary/tribute to Roy Jackson? Best wishes, Richard