Alex TM

As an outsider in Edinburgh I, too, am not sure which are 'right' and which are 'wrong' though it seems to matter for job interviews. It can be amusing to see the hierarchy at work amongst middle-aged men. Growing up in, the west of Scotland being asked what school I went to was for another, and rather unpleasant, reason. More importantly, I am looking forwrad to the show and have it in my diary.

And we can't have people attending the 'wrong' school in Edinburgh ..... !

Hi everyone, The downsizing referred to earlier has had to be radically accelerated. As a part of it, more things have had to go sooner than expected. Sadly, this project has been one of them. On a positive note much of it has found good homes with folk who enjoy pretty industrial locos., but more of that on another occasaion. This leaves me with some bits'n'pieces for a really miscro project As ever, thanks for reading. Regards, Alex.

Hi Mullie, Still thoroughly enjoying thsi thread. As for the removal of printed logos, a late friend of mine used to use really cheap toothpaste and a cotton bud to remove modern logos off the glazing of model preserved buses. Apparently the cheap stuff is mildly abrasive. The risk would be visible and noticable damage to the glazing. The same friend also used the paste to remove paint a glue spills from model aircraft canopies. Finally, I would not worry about your model aircraft building skills. Have a look at some of the models that appear on the Airfix Tribute Forum, and you'll see some quite gracious and generous support for those of us who cannot yet figure out how to do WWII Luftwaffe camouflage. Hope that some of the above is of use. Regards, Alex.

Hi again everybody, I hope you all are doing well through this miserable weather. Most of the bits'n'pieces needed to make a start on this have now arrived. My perfect sense of timing meant that I tried to source building kits and points just as my local model shops were awaiting back orders coming into stock. As well as work, and covid, since my last post I have managed to do some research that may change some of the detail. First, I found a map that shows it was the SECR that had the direct line into Reading so that may mean more of their stock, rather than LSWR as thought, appearing. Secondly, after playing about with some code 75 bullhead track, I have decided to revert to code 100. I simply found the finer rail too fidly and fragile to work with, and discovered that the rail likes to pop out of the chair if you look at it for too long. The one advantage to this is the ability to use small radius point, with the few inches saved made available for siding length. The biggest challenge is that what I had in mind seems to have already been done on this forum, and I would like to do something noticably different. A link earlier showed a mock-up of some buildings and stock that reflected my own thoughts; then, last night, I came across this thread again. The link takes you to one of the final layouts: Perhaps, these had been influencing me all along. As ever, many thanks for reading, reacting, and commenting. Regards, Alex.

This is completely new to me, so many thanks for the suggestion. Some of the later stuff in the 'scrapbooks' are familiar to me but some of the older material is really quite something else. I wonder how much of it wouldn't pass today's scrutiny.

I am old enough to remember her, and her husband. I am afraid ... !

Hi, I had thought of that at first but since my interest is in the pre-groouping era I thought I may find a more focussed level of knowledge and response here. Thanks, Alex.

Hi, So much of what you say is so familiar, even though I suspect I am a little younger than yourself. I grew up in a large town in the 70s, and things had not moved on that much from what you have described. Somewhat jealous, that you could get proper coffee where you grew up; we only had jars of a dark brown powder that, when added to boiling water, made a similalrly coloured fluid that was either flavourless or brackish! Regards, Alex.

Hi again everyone, Many thanks for all these useful pieces of information, whether words or images, and the links, too. The flour traffic branded GW van image is especially useful as the layout will be set in the Reading area. The information regarding sacks and drums, etc, is great as it 'allows' for the inclusion of a wider range of open wagons on the layout along with a visible variety of loads. Again, thanks. Regards, Alex.

Hi everyone, While collecting various wagons for my firthcoming micro-layout, I realised that I had no information regarding how three essential ingredients for biscuits would have been transported in pre-grouping times. So is anyone able to assist with the following? How were flour, oats, and food oils transported by rail in pre-grouping times? For example, if flour was transported in sacks, would they be transported in open or covered stock? Alternatively, did specialised wagons exist and what did they look like? Would then oils have been in barrels, and what sort of wagons would they have gone in? Pointers towards relevant books are always welcome. Thanks, and regards, Alex.

Hi again, A little bit of an update. It turns out that chassis kits PC560 and PC570 are to be found illustrated among the former Ratio wagon kits rather than alongside the other ex-Parkside chassis. Acoording to one local modelshop they hadn't appeared on a recent price list but do so now. Friend's order for three kits arrived in the model shop just before closing time yesterday. Again, thanks for the guidance. Regards, Alex.

Reminds me of a scene in one of the Indiana Jones films when, while Indy dressed as a ticket examiner and having thrown an SS officer out of the window, everyone was extremely keen to show that they had valid travel tickets ...

Hi again, Not much of an update, but progress nonetheless. Track and some Metcalfe buildings have now been bought. The latter are as much to gauge how the layout could look as to potentially use on it. One of the buildings comes only in a stone finish so I will probably need to reclad that in brick to be more in keeping with the others. Otherwise, I hope you are all managing to keep warm during this current cold-snap. Regards, Alex.

Was it called 'Auld lang syne'?