Robin Brasher

I don't think the SECR 0-6-0T is a model of an E2. The original Hornby LBSCR E2 had shorter tanks, fewer cab windows and fewer coal rails. It is simply Thomas the Tank engine without a face in SECR livery.

Thank you for the information about the SR Utility vans. When I bought my Tri-ang Utility Van in 1958 I thought it was an excellent model. The green colour looked correct for Southern region green, it had 12 opening doors and imitation metal grills on the doors. My first model had a weight on the chassis but coarse scale wheel standards, open axle boxes and an older style of Tri-ang couplings. The two Southern Utility vans that I bought in 1994 were still made in England but the printing of the lettering had been improved and the grill on the windows were finer. The wheels were to a finer standard but the white wheel rims detracted from the appearance as did the lack of headstocks on the buffers. The lack of weights on this and subsequent models could lead to derailments when heading a Pullman train. The blue and Winston Churchill vans were made in China. They have better wheels but there is no lettering on the Winston Churchill van and the printing on the blue van were not as fine as those on the models produced in Margate. There was another model in the Primary Series which, I think, was green with red doors that is highly sought after. I don't think British Rail ever painted these utility vans blue.

In Eric Bottomley's painting 'Golden Days, Beckenham Junction' the SR Bogie Luggage Van is in BR green and the Bulleid Pacific has a cycling lion emblem with the two leading coaches being crimson and cream which suggests that the luggage van had been painted shortly after the new livery had been announced. Tri-ang's original bogie luggage van was available either in crimson or green which also suggests that the utility vans were painted BR green. Not sure how accurate either source is but I expect the luggage van on the Golden Arrow would have been immaculate. On the photographs I have seen the SR Bogie Luggage Van on the Golden Arrow is crimson. The original Tri-ang Bogie Luggage Van had opening doors, which added to the play value, subsequent versions had the weight omitted which made it unstable at the head of a train. I wonder if the new models have opening doors and a weight in the chassis.

For Hornby's nostalgic 0 gauge model I suggest an electric version of the 0-4-0 that Hornby produced in various forms from 1931 to 1961 as No 0, 1, 501 and 50 and 51. I had the clockwork LNER and LMS versions of 501. They went at a scale 300mph and would do about three circuits of my track but an electric version would run more realistically. Numbers 50 in BR green and 51 in BR black were smartly lined out and finished in gloss.

For trains on a fairly small layout I suggest Terriers Cowes and Carisbrooke with two coach set 44 from the ex LSWR coaches, an SR cattle wagon and an SR goods brake.

It is an attractive layout. It would take a long time to ballast the track and it highlights the need for some ready ballasted track so perhaps Hornby could introduce some Fleischmann ready ballasted track into Hornby's range. There are also no signals so I would like to see Hornby reintroduce the Hornby Dublo electrically operated signals that had a compact mechanism which was mounted above the baseboard.

Setting up a layout was much easier when I started. I laid my uncle's 0 gauge Hornby track on the lounge carpet where I ran his clockwork train. I could put the head and tail lamps on the locomotive and brake van which had opening doors and put milk churns in the milk vans. Dinky Toys cranes could lift loads from lorries into wagons. My grandfather made a simple wooden station and bridges made of painted wood. The semaphore signals had transparent green and red aspects. No need to spend hours building a baseboard and legs and fixing the track. The engines were not scale models but they had the feel and weight of the real thing but the goods wagons were not bad representations of real wagons.

You will be pleased to read that the January Purbeck Gazette has come out and there are three replies to Robin Beuscher's letter. Nico, the editor did not publish mine. They cover many of the points raised here. Rebecca Mace says that Mr Beuscher will be paying for another cycle track that no-one uses. J. P. Searl points out that Nitrogen is 78% of the air we breath. David Collins gave a detailed response stating that the Swanage Railway contributes about £15 million to the local economy and most of the 200,000 passengers the railway usually carries are not train spotting nerds. The readers have come up with three different ways of spelling Robin Beuscher's name. Please see www.purbeckgazette.com click on the front cover of January 2021 and scroll down to Reader's Letters on page 4. The paper copy is out but it may take a couple of days for the online version to appear.

I have not had much luck with dating ladies but my friend took an attractive lady to the Severn Valley Railway and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She even managed to persuade an engine driver to let her into the cab of a locomotive at Hampton Load station. We had a few drinks at Bridgnorth and on the train and had a walk along the footpath by the track to Highley. She gave me a hug at the end of the day.

We exhibited a large Hornby 0 gauge clockwork layout a Blandford a few years ago. The mayor, who was a young lady, went round the exhibition at lunch time and then she spent the whole afternoon watching us play with the clockwork trains which she found fascinating. The trains bore little resemblance to the prototype but they don't need to as a Hornby 0 gauge train is the real thing.

The castle hall in the background of my Metcalfe model representing Corfe Castle. When I get access to my model railway I will try and blend it in with Challow Hill cutting and Corfe Castle station.

In the beginning was Hornby Dublo's EDL1 (electric Dublo locomotive 1) Sir Nigel Gresley which developed into the Hornby Dublo range that Tri-ang took over in 1964 and eventually acquired the Hornby name. In the 1960s it looked like Tri-ang Hornby was just a continuation of Tri-ang with just a handful of Hornby Dublo items going into Tri-ang Hornby's range. As the years progressed many old favourites from Hornby Dublo joined Tri-ang Hornby's range. Although they were more accurate models I do not think they were as well engineered as the Hornby Dublo models that have stood the test of time. Hornby's A4 with a tender drive came out in 1979 with Sir Nigel Gresley appearing in 1987 but I think that the valve gear was cruder than the Hornby Dublo model. It was only when the locomotive driven model that Hornby released in 2004 that the Hornby version was better than the Hornby Dublo version with Sir Nigel Gresley appearing in a Hornby Dublo style box in 2008. Hornby Dublo's LNER coaches had tin printed windows but the livery was a good representation of teak. I preferred these to Hornby's first series LNER coaches that came out in 1977 and are still in the Railroad range but the second series LNER coaches that came out in 2004 are works of art and put any previous LNER coaches to shame.

Looking back now to the roots of Hornby Dublo and Tri-ang a lot of Hornby Dublo locomotives have survived in a different form like the A4, N2, the Duchess, the Castle, 8F and the West Country whereas Tri-ang locomotives like the saddle tank, the L1, the 3MT, the 3F and the Transcontinental series have not and the wheel standards and track standards have more in common with Hornby Dublo than Tri-ang. My hope of a Barnstaple locomotive is derived from Hornby Dublo and perhaps other old favourites like Silver King and City of London will form part of the Hornby range again one day.

The Flying Scotsman was neglected by Meccano Hornby who produced it as a 4-4-2, by Hornby Dublo, Tri-ang and Trix until 1969 when both Tri-ang Hornby and Trix produced their models. I don't think Hornby produce the Flying Scotsman in their main range as it was in 1968 when Alan Pegler ran it in LNER livery or when it visited the Swanage Railway in BR green with smoke deflectors. I would like to see these in Hornby's main range. I think the Trix version was better than the current Hornby Railroad version.

Should this be "They could not be more helpful"?.

The original writer has moved to Harman's Cross which is mainly a linear development following the A351. The A351 is not cycle friendly as it is a busy, narrow road. There are some bridleways but cycling along them to Swanage or Corfe Castle would involve a long detour. If the Swanage Railway was a cycle track it would provide good access to Swanage and Corfe Castle but the line is a preserved railway and not a cycle track. The writer could always put his bike on the train which is a lot easier than trying to close the Railway and arrange for the Council to replace the line with a cycle track. I have replied to his letter in the January Purbeck Gazette.

The March 1963 Model Railway Constructor dismissed the Tri-ang Wagon Lits Sleeper saying "To attempt to criticise a model which bears no resemblance to its alleged prototype would be somewhat pointless." The adverse review did not prevent Tri-ang from selling 4,300 of these coaches. Despite the shortcomings of Barnstaple's appearance it was a well engineered model which was more sophisticated than Tri-ang's Winston Churchill, which also came out in 1961. Barnstaple was quieter, would pull more coaches and had finer scale wheels. Both models have stood the test of time and many are still running today. My friend in the Isle of Purbeck Model Railway Group ran a Tri-ang Winston Churchill on the club's exhibition layout until the flanges wore out. At the end of the day running trains is what our hobby is about and both Barnstaple and Winston Churchill are the sort of locomotives that you want to run all day. I would be pleased to see a Barnstaple locomotive in the Hornby range now that its West Country locomotive has an equal performance and a similar haulage capacity. Perhaps someone could set an endurance test between the to models.

Turning the clock back a few years since the introduction of the Class 87 Hornby could produce a couple of 60th anniversary sets of the Tri-ang Lord of the Isles complete with a smoke unit and the Hornby Dublo Barnstaple with Pullman cars car 74, Aries and car 79. Lord of the Isles and the clerestory coaches paved the way for some pre-nationalisation trains whereas Barnstaple and the Pullmans seemed like the last word when they appeared although Barnstaple received a bad review from the Model Railway Constructor.

I usually buy the catalogue and Hornby Magazine directly from Key Publishing as there is no nearby Tesco store. The offer used to be available from participating W H Smith stores as well but my local W H Smith store does not participate.

I have not done much modelling over the past few months as our club 0 gauge layout at Swanage and my 00 gauge portable layout at a nearby village hall are out of bounds due to coronavirus restrictions. An advertisement for a Metcalfe cardboard castle prompted me to build a castle at home as part of the scenery for my 00 gauge Corfe Castle layout which will give me an idea about how to build a model of the real castle if time permits.

I began making cardboard models when they used to print models to make on the back of cereal packets and models became more sophisticated supplied by Builteasy, Superquick and now Metcalfe. Making Metcalfe Kits is a good method of developing the scenic side of a model railway before building some accurate models of your chosen scene. I have just completed a model of a castle gatehouse which will form the basis of a castle for my model of Corfe Castle Station on the Swanage Railway.

They are doing the same on the Swanage Railway. It is attracting a lot of local interest and the seats are fully booked.

Excellent video from SDJRF88. I am tempted to buy one. The close ups of the cab would be enhanced if there was a driver and fireman. There is a review of the model and prototype in the December Hornby magazine.

Looks like someone has got up out of the wrong side of his bed. Harmans Cross Station is a wonderful station and has been sympathetically styled to blend in with the Swanage Railway. Despite this it was only built about 30 years ago and cannot be described as an exceptional piece of railway history unless the whole of the resurrection of the railway in preservation is an exceptional piece of railway history. I wonder if anyone has written in response to this in the January Gazette,

Bearing in mind the success of the Coronation Scot coaches Hornby might produce some Coronation and upgraded Silver Jubilee coaches. These will boost the sales of the A4 Pacifics. Hornby might also introduce some authentic pre-grouping four and six wheel coaches as their existing four wheel coach is in need of upgrading and they will go well with the Adams Radial and Terrier. If this upsets Hattons Hornby will claim that it has been working on this project for a long time.