number6

Splendid. Those droplights without doors must have driven people to distraction at times - imagine being a bit 'worse for wear' hanging out the window fumbling for the door handle in the dark... . Maunsell stock on the Southern had lots of them too. There would be no ventilation on the corridor side otherwise I guess.

I appreciate the issue with the sharp radius and problems cutting track. Neither should really be an issue. If you have one use [or borrow] a Dremel with one of their smooth slitting discs [wear goggles!] and practice with some scrap bits first. It is very easy to get a very neat cut and there no forces on the sleepers from rasping a razor saw back and forth or those clipper things that always need cleaning up. One thing to watch out for is heat: that can melt the sleepers.

For what it’s worth I thought the screws idea would work and tried it but disliked the lack of adjustment. Screw one in just a tiny bit too far and it won’t be level and then the actual area of rail soldered to the screw head is tiny. You then have to get four to all match otherwise you get rough running over the join. Lots of faff. I preferred to solder a brass chair (C&L) to a copper clad strip, this strip and its neighbour over the join are fixed with superglue and small pins or screws into the baseboard. Run the rail through and then check the levels - cut the rails once everything is soldered up. I’ve got lots of joins like this on curves and in awkward places and they are all flat and smooth. This join is on a removable section. One of my pet hates is baseboard join hillocks...

I'm going to chalk that up over my workbench

If it looks as good as this at that magnification then it is going to be fine in real life. The microstrip hinge trick sounds great. I have an etch of door hinges and I keep looking at them and thinking is it worth it... I'm working with Hornby Maunsells in lockdown. they have many of the same features: cream paint, lots of door handles and grab rails. Half way through the paint process I noticed the odd door hinge missing - was that missing on the factory moulding? - and then was reminded to check a door on another carriage which has hinges moulded on both sides of a door.. Yep - three hinges both sides...

Lovely. Appreciate the effort that goes into coaches - so many things to go wrong - you think you are almost there and then something else crops up. But that looks wonderful. Assuming it was lightly loaded I always wonder how travellers back in those days picked what to ride in as the train pulled in - and walking through a train how to choose a carriage. The differences in interiors and contrasts as you passed through the gangways must have been interesting. And for the enthusiast: hard to choose sometimes. The Great Western never really managed to harmonise their carriage stock and there must have been many 'Do I go for the comfy old clerestory with the rather dodgy ride or the new but more utilitarian bow end stock?' I used to preference anything with opening windows [when that was a thing].

I'm thinking of something like this would work brilliantly, all bases covered: 3rd rail, DC overhead, AC overhead [maybe needs some rewiring], bio diesel. https://bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b03/3-40-8.htm https://bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b03/3-40-7.htm

Yes sorry - unclear - I meant that the Caledonian built 5 4.6.0s (which had originally been authorised as 4.4.2s). And these engines, to stay a bit on topic, were really just an extended 4.4.0. The issue is Feb 2009 if interested.

tbg knows their stuff! Seeing the numbers climb through the 1950s for 4.6.0s, 2.6.0s and 2.10.0s is another way of seeing Riddles standard classes taking the work of earlier design fashions like 4.4.2s, 4.4.0s and (even) 0.6.0s. Steam Days magazine had a very good article about when Atlantics were fashionable in pre group days and how they held off 4.6.0s on the Caledonian and Great Central for a while before falling out of favour. Even the Great Western were tempted to try the 4.4.2 under what was effectively a Star but found no real advantage to their 4.6.0 platform. Should we go further off topic and people try and identify the locos in the tank engine table?

I was sent a screenshot of this last night by my friend who likes to find 'railways' on the telly for me to mock - but I was pleasantly surprised!

In Hugh Longworth’s amazing book British Railway Steam Locomotives 1948-1968 there is a fascinating appendix which is well worth having a look at when you are considering one of those ‘green diesels and BR pre-group steam engines’ layouts to see if it’s likely to have happened. It shows what locos lasted to which year both by wheel arrangement and by region and by class. Really you’ve got to be back in the 50s for the true interesting and varied stuff. Who knew there were only 12 0.6.0 tank engines left at the end of 1966? Whereas in ‘56 there were 2,662. It says that by year end 1962 there was 1 4.4.0. A T9.

Wow! That GWR note is definitely overzealous. And the filming definitely not causing any infection or stress on the NHS. My question would be why are there so many ‘silly’ cars and bikes roaring noisily around the empty-ish streets and roads near me. Those people are more likely to cause an accident, run someone over and cause greater stress on our emergency services than someone tripping over in a field on a country walk.

I dug out a Freight Working timetable from 1962 for the SR Central Section. There were often more than one brake van in freights on this region. In the marshalling instructions there are many instances of more than one - sometimes three in a train. More often this is because of multi formation trains to/from different destinations being combined or reversals. Here is an example - 12.30 am M.O. Tonbridge to Reading West Junc. which would have to reverse at Redhill. Next down is the same train retimed to 5.50 am after 10th September. The seven vac wagons next to the engine must include the brake, and then would require there to be at least six next to the brake on the rear too so it complies with instructions after reversal in Redhill. Clues for how to make up model trains are all over these... Fitted heads you see a lot. How often do you see a fitted rear?! I went off down a rabbit hole here and looked at all sorts of instances of multiple brake vans. The Ashford - Shoreham by Sea - which would have to reverse at Redhill - has two and an instruction for the Beeding wagons to be left ready on brake van for the 6.30am. The next one down: Barnham - Bognor conveys two spare. Obviously a balancing working for getting them back where they're needed. There are lots of these peppered around.

Lovely job. I do like a bit of Lima... You remind me I have [I think] 5 EDs in a box that I did a similar job on many years ago and never finished. Now there is no excuse to dig them out.

Well done - did anything escape your lens Andy?!

I was not paying attention at school in Lewes right next to the line in 1981 but I cannot recall these AB trains... Everything else: bananas, short lived freightliners, Galley Hill tanks, Ford Vans - what wagons would they have been - also Presflos? or something else? I pieced together this to help with my model landscaping - and bought prints from them - this is next to useless at this scale so hope okay to post. Britain from Above is a wonderful resource - you can lose yourself in there... Note in this image that loaded wagons are in the headshunt that leads out onto the Eastbourne down suggesting they are being dropped off from a freight working in that direction and not from Newhaven - this being the 'good old days' of course. And also my models of the DC2591 and the Hawthorn Leslie which I haven't plucked the courage to add the wood dumb buffers and mess it up with dents and chalk dust.

Thanks. Its called Alpha Cement on this map. Just north of Southease and Rodmell. Obviously only worked by down trains.

Oh I just spotted it! Sorry. To be honest you could photograph the whole thing in enlargement. What a work of art. And playing no reference to geography or north south etc. I am amazed the draughtsman chose this arrangement.

Splendid stuff. Can we see Asham Cement down the valley towards Newhaven too?

Also see here in 1977 from John Turner on Flickr: I note that the maximum load into Southerham sidings was 25swl. That was never going to happen in 1977!

Interesting. Surely the only thing in common between a Bulleid coach and 4COR is the colour?! I think you should create a fantasy Bulleid EMU - an express version of the 4Sub instead. In all the imaginary loco threads has anyone sketched up something like this? Follow the end profile look at a Sub and add a corridor connection... Good luck anyway!

Found an image of the loaded and fulls together. This suggests two visits by passing freights? https://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?img=G-165-07A&serial=4764&page=297

They definitely are. After they shut the line down I guess? I’d like to know as well. (See my signature for a 4mm Lewes East and Southerham). Have always assumed by this date that everything was worked in and out in the up direction from trains from Newhaven so I'm all ears. Re coal: I have images of loaded and empty coal 16tonners in both roads of the loop - I don't think I have an image of the diesel on the south end of anything from the works so possibly they propelled them out to the mainline? I remember it running into the works but no memory of the outward workings. I built a version of the shunter by slicing up an Airfix Drewry and lots of Airfix Presflos before Bachmann made them.

Genius. I'm going to extrapolate this over 12 weeks: so if I've got this right every other tea is a new bag and every inbetween tea is increasing numbers of previous bags in a new cup. I guess when you can't fit any water in the cup it might be time to locate the remove the oldest tea bag and chuck it on the compost? By my calculations - never was good at maths - that is remove one every four days because you have to accommodate the ever stronger but also weaker tea bags.

Not bad but they do look a bit like a knock-off version of the real thing! Or a sketch done without looking at the subject. I’m very keen on funny proportioned old fashioned tinplate models and lots of Irish prototypes have that air about them.