br2975

And a Cardiff Corporation 'bus in the West Midlands.................... . Brian R

"Been there, seen it, done it" . In my case, the answer was simple. I switched to Spratt & Winkle's - after expeience with 7mm modelling. . You have my sympathy, I hope you resolve your problem. . Brian R

D6921 ran in GFYE with BR double arrows, as both D6921 (by at least 02/02/1968) and later as 6921. It was still in GFYE during April 1973 but was in such a disgusting state it was hard to tell if it still carried the arrows ! . I believe 6932 was also in GFYE with arrow(s) during September 1973. Brian R

21st. October 1972 and I did 1Z64 a Cardiff-Blackpool North 'Merrymaker' with (D)1741 both ways. . The following also ran the same day (D)1938 (1Z62) Treherbert – Crewe – Blackpool North (D)1752 (1Z65) Llanelli - Crewe – Blackpool North (D)1666 (1Z67) Cardiff – Crewe – Blackpool North . Brian R

My first 'Mystery' was 25th. April, 1970 - from Cardiff up the GWML to North Pole, then Kensington Olympia, Clapham Jct and down to Eastbourne, from where we sampled the delights of 4-Cor, 2-Bil and 2-Hal travel to Lewes, Brighton and back. . Two trains from Cardiff were hauled by (D)1651 and (D)1654 throughout. . Highlights for me, D5506 at Clapham Jct. D2246 somewhere on the Brighton line, 15224 on Brighton shed and LT panniers L90, L92 & L93 at Lillie Bridge. . Brian R

At the turn of the 1970s there weren't many 'Merrymaker' excursions originating from South Wales, but as Brian W mentions above, hardly a weekend (Saturdays and Sundays) went by without Mystery Excursions leaving South Wales for exotic (and sometimes not so exotic) distant parts. . During school holidays such trains would operate mid-week as well. . Destinations would vary with the seasons e.g. Autumn would see excursions to Blackpool Winter would see the largerr cities visited, sometimes with a view to Christmas shopping Summer would see the trains heading for the seaside and other similar locations . The South Wales mystery excursions would see loco hauled trains at stations normally served only by DMU sets e.g. Treherbert & Merthyr; Rhymney wasn't such a popular starting point. . Occasionally, they would even start from stations that had lost their regular passenger service(s) e.g. Aberdare. . The trains would involve some extensive ECS workings as often up to half a dozen would run from South Wales on a busy weekend, so stock could move from say Malago Vale (Bristol) to Treherbert, then work the excursion and arrive back at Treherbert in the early hours of a Sunday morning, then work back ECS to Malago Vale, or perhaps to Swansea for another excusrion before heading back to Malago Vale early Monday. Those of us without access to a Weekly Traffic Notice (which invariably omitted the destination anyway) would read the outward journey pick-up points and eventual arrival time at destination in order to try and establish the eventual destination, and whether to take the chance on booking. . A train originating at Newport then picking up at Cardiff & Bridgend was obviously heading to Tenby so was a 'no no' . One starting at Cardiff, then picking up at Newport, Pontypool Rd and Hereford would most likely head for Manchester/Liverpool or the North Wales coast depending on the season. . Also popular were "educational excursions" running to locations that served attractions that featured in the current school curriculum e.g. Slough for Windsor Castle, Portsmouth Harbour for HMS Victory, Salisbury for Stonehenge. . Also popular in South Wales were the "monkey specials" to Clifton Down for Bristol Zoo, invariably loco hauled, but not always, . . Then we come onto the 'rugexes'.................... . NOTEMystery Excursions.xls I've attached some info from a couple of 1971 Weekly Traffic Notices relating to South Wales "Mystery Excursions" Brian R

Dozen 47s . Dozen't bear thinking about nowadays. . Brian R

RADYR . I'm not sure if 'variety' comes into it, but after some research; here is what I euphamistically term a 'trainplan' for Radyr Yard drawn from the relevant 1971-1972 WTT's. . I have left out the timetabled DMU passenger services BUT have included (i) the football specials to and from Ninian Park Halt, some of which would lay over in the yard during matches, and (ii) parcels and news workings together with their related light engine and ECS movements. . Read through this and wonder where it has all gone in the intervening 40+ years ? . Brian R Radyr Quarry trainplan-1971.xls

Two weeks off ....................... what's that when it's at home ? . Happy Birthday Wayne ! . Anyway, back to making stock boxes from foamboard and Ikea storage boxes. . Brian R

Both locos were/still are preserved, being stored initially at Carnforth (with others e.g. B1 61306) . 46441 was still in an un-authentic livery in recent years. . The Fairburn tank is currently at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. . Brian R

Top photos Trev. . Don't think the blue Peak is D60 tho' - no nameplate (Lytham St. Annes) and different headcode boxes. . D90 ? . Got any more, please ? . Brian R

Jonny777 37/4s were rostered to work the Swansea/Cardiff - Bristol leg of Portsmouth Harbour trains for a while during the mid to late 80s. . Brian R

Unfortunately, my settings currently prevent me replying and (i) quoting a previous post, or (ii) cutting and pasting. . Gwiwer states on the previous page that there was a "Summer Saturday Brighton (not Portsmouth) - Cardiff which was an out and back Cl.33 and what I believe was an Oxted set......" . I now have a 1971-1972 WTT which suggests otherwise for summer Saturdays in 1971. The two rostered Cl.33/0 workings were . 1V24 10:20hrs Portsmouth Harbour - Cardiff (General) arr 14:05; operates 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971, returns as 1O64 14:55hrs Cardiff (General) - Portsmouth Harbour . The previous summer (1970) this train had been formed:- BSK, CK, SO, SO, BSK, SO, SO 1V25 11:20hrs Portsmouth Harbour - Cardiff (General) arr 14:58; operates 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971, returns as 1O65 16:35hrs Cardiff (General) - Portsmouth Harbour. . The previous summer (1970) this working had been formed:- BSK, SO, SO, RMB, CK, BSK However, it may be that these services started out as internal Brighton - Portsmouth Harbour workings where the new Cl.33 came light from Fratton and took out an incoming Brighton train. A BR(WR) WTT would not normally contain such information. The Hymek workings were as follows UP 1O57 08:50hrs Cardiff (General) - Portsmouth Harbour; operates until 25/09/1971 1O59 09:15hrs Cardiff (General) - Portsmouth Harbour; NOT 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971 when this train worked 1O59 10:00hrs Cardiff - Weymouth, returning as1V31 16:25hrs Weymouth - Cardiff (General) arr 20:02hrs. 1O61 11:00hrs Cardiff (General) - Portsmouth Harbour; NOT 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971 1O63 12:35hrs Cardiff General) - Portsmouth Harbour; operates 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971 DOWN 1V27 13:20hrs Portsmouth Harbour - Cardiff (General) arr 17:01hrs; operates 08/05/1971 - 05/06/1971and 11/09/1971 - 25/09/1971 1V27 13:20hrs Portsmouth Harbour - Swansea arr 18:20hrs; operates 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971 1V32 17:25hrs Portsmouth Harbour - Cardiff (General) arr 21:36hrs; NOT 12/06/1971 - 04/09/1971. Brian R

Bold Colliery . 22nd May 1980 . Brian R

Get hold of 'Farewell to North West Steam' by Ivo Peters & Norman Lockett. . An outstanding album of photographs taken predominantly on the West Coast Main Line in Cumberland around Ais Gill, Shap etc, with some Settle & Carlisle, all taken approx 1965-1967. . There are a number of shots of Brits on (fitted) freight in those pages. . Probably the best album I've got, I actually prefer it to 'Each a Glimpse' . Brian R

I'm intrigued at C4613, the Fordson 4wDM version of a 'Simplex' and 15" gauge too.................... . Brian R

A number of pits were either close to, and linked to the Glamorganshire & Aberdare canals in South Wales, as in the following pair of books:- . The Glamorganshire & Aberdare Canals Parts 1 & 2 Stephen Rowson & Ian Wright . I have them, and they are excellent . Brian R .

Acouple of shots of the headframe at Big Pit, Blaenavon taken in July this year. . Well worth a visit, you can go underground, and it's free................ and the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway is right next door. . Brian R

Some pictures of Wayne Hopkins 7mm scale colliery which has appeared at the last two Cardiff Shows, due to its' popularity. . It represents a South Wales pit - generally identifiable by the revettment - i.e. the pit head buildings were on top of a large stone wall, with the railway below - this was to allow the journies ( a train of trams ) to run out of the cage and into the screens, and the railway wagons would stand beneath the screens for loading. . The headframe in this picture ( which I believe is a Wrightscale etch ) would probably be the downcast shaft - fans are used to draw air down the 'downcast' shaft, circulate around the headings and then draw the air out of the pit through the upcast shaft - the fans are generally linked to the upcast shaft in some way. . Upcast shafts could usually be identified as the headframe was normally clad in corrugated sheets or similar to make them airtight and aid the flow of air. . The model features a working ropeway - but the chaps were setting up when I took the photos, and the ropeway was the last to be erected. I have more shots if you want. . Brian R

A selection from his big brothers photos:- . Brian R

In preparation for Warley,I've already stopped showering, ceased changing my underwear, dug out an anorak I bought in 1974 that has never been washed and has a collar you could fry chips in; and have bought an army surplus Bergen to put on my back so as to knock other punters out of the way as I (impersonating the rush to the stern of the Titanic) join the stampede to the Bachmann stand ! . Brian R .

Working to a deadline now ?

Nice to see Leeds United fans living up to their sportsmanlike reputation again this afternoon. . Last home match at Cardiff before Remembrance Day, so there was a two minute silence before kick-off. . Well, there was a two-minute silence for the home fans, for the visitors it was a cue to chant "We are Leeds, we are Leeds" . Not the first time they have abused such occasions. . So what did we learn ? . We learned that the Leeds fans turned up, but the team they suport didn't' . Brian R . PS Changes in attitude and behaviour at Cardiff City FC means we can now challenge the behaviour of other supporters.........................

I've also had this problem, but luckily, not on every sheet. . Sometimes the brick courses being out of square is apparent to the eye, other times it's only when marking out and cutting that it becomes apparent. . Difficult to conceal around door and window reveals, but at corners the discrepancy can be hidden by downpipes etc. . The difference in relief between the Wills and Slaters brickwork can be apparent when viewed at close quarters. . The larger windows in the 'Leeds MRC' factory are made from those that came with a Dapol nee' Airfix engine shed kit and which have languished in my scrapbox for many years. . Others came from the Peco detailing kits (the ones cast in bright green). . Downpipes are from 0.060" rod and the snowboxes are styrene with an 0.060" hole drilled in the base to accomodate the downpipe. . Due to time constraints I was unable to make and fit any guttering (shooting or chuting, depending where you live). . The vertical vents on the gable end were from the Walthers range and were finished in Humbrol gunmetal. . Similarly the two vents visible behind the one wall came from a different Walthers pack, again finished in gunmetal.. . Other smaller diameter pipework / conduit has been formed from wire. . More when I return from visiting my Uncle Sam !! . Brian

Having built the carcasses I tried them in position on the layout, and found they were too low for my liking. . Wondering what to do, I retired briefly to the gentleman's reading room downstairs, only to emerge flushed with inspiration ! - "raise the low relief backdrop buildings on Wills brick arches, that will allow bridges to form scenic breaks at each end of the layout as well. . The following weekend a raiding party left both Messrs Lendon's and Lord & Butler having stripped their displays of Wills brick arches, and some extra brickwork sheets. . Now, to raise the building to the height of the arches ....................... . My brother ( naturol ) is not the only scavenging modeller in the family, and walking to work through Bute Park one day I noticed someone had torn down signs that had advertised the annual 5th. November celebrations (no, not 'V' for Vendatta !) and thrown them to one side. . Made from a funny sort of plastic that when cut resembled a bar of nougat, they were both large enough, and thick enough to raise the ground level some 80mm and support the proposed buildings. . An attempt to make up a row of Wills arches hit problems - I don't know what 'plastic' Messrs Wills use, but it is very brittle and prone to fracture - another trip to Lord & Butler followed, and a hope they had restocked. . The arches were built, and installed against the raised ground .............. the Wills brick parapet walls were put to one side for later. . Attention returned to the buildings, especially the 'Leeds MRC' factory building which was clad with Slaters embossed brick sheet, why ? . The sheets are larger than Wills. They are more forgiving, and can curve to the imperfections in the card crcasses It works out cheaper - especially as the Wills sheets still fractured. . The 'Leeds MRC' factory was then plonked atop the arches, with a lip to hold the front wall over the top of the arches. . That brings us to todays three photos.......... . More soon. . Brian R