checkrail

All coupled up, up starting signal off and away goes the King, next stop Paddington. John C.

Ha ha. I can't deny that it's been a temptation sometimes Kevin! But I'm half way through now so I'll try my best to resist on the basis that the surgeon knew what he was talking about. Recovery going well so don't want to jeopardise it.

Now 4908 pulls forward before backing over the up end crossover onto the down main ..... .... where it waits for the signal. This leaves the road open for 6019 to pull out onto the up main with the through coach before setting it back onto the front of the Paddington-bound train. John C.

Such a realistic finish on that loco. Looks like the oily grime would come off on your finger if you touched it. Reminds me of trainspotting days at Shrewsbury in the early 60s, finger writing the GWR insignia onto the tenders of Halls, Castles, Kings, Manors etc. " Oi, what you doin' to moy engine?" I remember one driver saying, with a grin on his face.

The Kingsbridge branch. Thanks Rob. Was lack of publisher interest due to there having already been books on the branch? Would the one you and Mike are talking about have added more? If so - a shame it didn't happen.

The sequence continues as 4908 'Broome Hall', still in pre-1934 livery and with small tender, coasts to a halt in the up platform, its first - and last - stop outside Cornwall. In the third picture we can see 6019 waiting in the branch platform and 5557 taking a breather in the loco spur, while 4908 is uncoupled from its train. John C.

I've lost the plot a bit here chaps. What was the intended book all about?

5557 has now been uncoupled from its train and has run forward into the loco spur, clearing the way for 6019 to back down into the branch platform where it is coupled to the through coach, and the through coach is uncoupled from the B set. As this is done 4908 'Broome Hall' arrives with a Penzance -Paddington express, having run non-stop through Plymouth and its environs. John C.

Here's a slightly different take on the Earlsbridge through coach working. On p.75 of Great Western Pictorial No. 2: 'The Hubback Collection' there's a splendid 1937 pic of a King near Charlton on the up main with the 9.0 am Perranporth to Paddington. The caption goes on to say, "The last station call of this train was Brent, where the scheduled Truro 4-6-0, which had worked through, was believed to have been changed for the King. Sometimes eastbound trains not stopping at North Road station changed locomotives at Laira Jct., though in this instance it may have been felt more efficient to change at Brent, where the two Kingsbridge vehicles (Van Third, Compo) were also attached to the front of the train." So, inspired by this narrative, here's the Earlsbridge through coach returning to the junction, coupled to the branch passenger train behind 5557 ..... .... and here's 6019 'King Henry V' running out from Laira to meet it. Here's a close-up of the magnificent monarch. John C.

Coming along nicely. I do like the look of your trackwork.

And a couple more as the 28xx and train head for the tunnel. The 'Raven' wagon was bought on eBay. It's one of those Bachmann Collectors' Club limited edition models, or whatever they call them. Of course that that didn't stop me giving it a good coating of grime and altering the couplings and wheels. And it attracted my attention because it's another one that wasn't black. One thing I've noticed in many hours immersing myself in the various pre-war photo albums is the subtle variety of types and size of wagons in coal trains. I felt that a uniform rake of Bachmann vehicles wouldn't quite cut it, however different the liveries, so I've been trying to replicate that variety through the use of kits, coke wagons, and waifs and strays like the Trix wagons. The new Rapido ones will help in this aim too. While some of the individual vehicles might not be 100% accurate, as usual it's the overall impression and flavour I'm after. John C.

The empty coal wagon train runs through the platform roads as the tail end of the down stopper moves out of sight. Looking forward to getting some of the new Rapido 1907 RCH pattern wagons. I see they do a Renwick & Wilton one as well as a couple of South Welsh examples. John C.

There's a rare splash or two of colour towards the front of this coal empties train today, as 2818 heads towards the South Wales coalfields. One can readily understand why the majority of coal companies painted their wagons black - though i get the impression that a greater variety of colours was prevalent in other areas of the country. The Diamond Anthracite wagon is from a POWsides/Slaters kit, while the Aberpergwm one is a straight Bachmann one picked up second hand at a show, and was one I hadn't come across before. The Ocean wagon In between them is an ancient Trix/Lilliput body (to 3.75 or 3.8 mm scale IIRC) on a Cambrian 9 foot RCH chassis. I have a couple more of these, including one with a 'coal' load that I just can't remove, so it currently languishes in a drawer. Meanwhile Winslow Hall gets the rightaway with a down passenger service. John C.

Yep. Both are good, and frequent stops of mine, but Cullompton has trainspotting opps too IIRC. Love Tebay but have awful memories of Gloucester Services where, in 2016, en route home from my daughter's wedding in Cornwall in the dark I inadvertently filled my (then) diesel car with petrol. 15 hours later we got home. Rescue guy told me that people used to swap the hoses round out of sheer devilment.

Thanks for this suggestion Kevin. Have ordered the Robin Whalley book on Affinity 2, which claims to explain the areas I'm interested in.

Love the 'Little Muddle' branding.

Many thanks guys for good wishes and suggestions. I think I'll actually sit this one out - I'm afraid I've never really been more than a part time railway modeller in any case and I'll easily fill a couple of weeks. Kevin's suggestion re wagon kits is a good one, but even there I can see difficulties, when I ask my wife to pop up to the loft and bring me a Cambrian RCH 9 foot underframe kit, a supply of MEK and 2 axles of Gibson's twin spoked and she looks at me like I'm speaking in Serbo-Croat. But one useful thing I might do would be to explore more possibilities with the Affinity Photo processing package, which I've so far only used for focus merging. The cloning tool would be the first on the list to learn about. But one of the reasons I keep putting it off is that when I go to their online tutorials that geeky young bloke with the specs gabbles so quickly that 40 seconds in I've lost him. John C.

Thanks for good wishes Phil. Are you trying to get me into serious trouble here? 😀

A couple more from the studio floor the other week. That Manor's going to have to be toned down somewhat - it's a bit too iridescent for me! Have just returned from hospital this lunchtime after a minor stomach op. All well but must now take it easy for 6 weeks, lifting nothing heavier than a kettle. What would be the ideal way of spending such an enforced period of convalescence? Playing trains of course. Trouble is, I'm not allowed to go up a loft ladder for a fortnight. Such irony! But yesterday I had a very enjoyable photo session on the layout and will be able to amuse myself (and some of you too I hope) by posting the results on this forum. Vicarious railway modelling - most therapeutic! John C.

Not the cathedral I nicked my clerestories from?

Fixed now - coach vertical again. (I think.) I added yet another strip of thin Plastikard (using double-sided tape) onto the coach floor underneath the bogie stretchers on the side to which the body was listing. Looks like an 'orrible mess underneath but it works! Of course this is because I'm using white metal bogie sides with Plastikard stretchers of my own devising, on a plain Plastikard floor. There's always a fair bit of trial and error in ensuring free-running and smooth turning (and no tilting) without ending up with the coach riding too high. (Buffer height is the all-important check here.) Having said that my Hornby B set showed a similar tilt - the vehicles were in slightly different vertical planes - so a bit of packing was added there too. And of course they still had their original 'clip-in' Hornby bogies. John C.

It's Anthony Manor again, still resplendent in ex-works finish! Coming in at the up end ... ... and coasting to a stop at the down end. I've noticed in some recent pics that the brake compo behind the loco is listing a bit to one side. It's since been on the bench for some attention. John C.

Cambrian D1667. That's it! Thanks Ben. It's all coming back to me now - I bought one of each kit at the same time for a bit of variety. But interesting to see there was a Three Aitch kit - I don't recall them. Revisiting the Cambrian website it says that 54,000 D1666s were built and would be found in goods yards all over the country "regardless of region (although less so on the GWR)". Why "less so" on the GWR? Doesn't seem to make sense.

No, not Ratio - I've only ever bought GW kits from them. But I'm puzzled as to what it really is (not that it really matters I know). It has steel solebars but otherwise looks identical to the Cambrian kit (of which I have one with wooden solebars), but also looks pretty similar to a definite Bachmann one I have with wooden solebars. L to R Bachmann, Cambrian (both wooden underframe), Cambrian (?) with steel underframe. (Crude tarpaulin might get fettled one day.) John C.

No use to me on SC but the detail and finish look magnificent. Appetite for the corridor toplights now well whetted. Well done Dapol - not hitherto my favourite purveyor of rolling stock.