03060

Having followed this thread (and watched many you-tube videos) for months and months even though I don't really model much in '00' I've just ordered a basic Black version from Rails .... well OT on your birthday has to be spent wisely !

In the places that I've been in this year (Leeds area, Western Scotland and North Wales) I've certainly seen plenty of Swallows and Housemartins, with a healthy number of Sandmartins noted on the Isle of Bute. We have had a good few Swifts in and around Airedale where I live but I don't recall seeing many on my recent travels in North Wales but that may just have been me not looking for them .... as ever, I could sit and watch the Swallows aerobatic skills all day long. Regards, Ian.

26029 made it to Mallaig in Jan 1982 along with 37260 and some Blue Grey Pullman stock on a special. There are several photos in Ted Arisaig's excellent Scotland Flickr album showing the train at different points in the journey. Photo by Ted Arisaig. Regards, Ian.

Nothing unusual but I couldn't resist taking a photo of this Comma as it sat quite happily in the sun displaying it's colours having just chased off a rival yesterday.

That's a standard BR Mk.1 BCK painted in Pullman colours, I'm sure that someone will have more info on it. Probably Car 355 as that has been modelled by Bachmann in both 00 and N.

Hope you have a good w/end and all goes well Les, a few photos would be appreciated if you get chance ... and good luck to the trainee ! Regards, Ian.

That bloke in the middle looks like my Grandad !! LoL

Is that a complete airbrush repaint with a lighter 'faded' blue Dave or have you managed to achieve the colour with a white overspray plus additional weathering touches ? (Apologies if I've asked this before for other locos but I'm always interested when I see good results.) Regards, Ian.

I suppose in answer to my own comment a female Merlin would have to also be a likely candidate, it certainly came past with an audible whoosh and there are quite a few low flying Swallows around but as fast as they are they are virtually silent as they pass. Unfortunately I'll probably never know but there does seem to be a strange lack of birds of prey around this area. With the moors a 1/4 mile to the back of me and the seashore 1/2 a mile to the front it could well be Merlin country, I'll be paying closer interest as to what's sat on the fenceposts and walls for the next few days. I've only ever seen two live Merlins before, one in Northumberland and one near Grassington in God's Own County of Yorkshire !

Still touring in North Wales, enjoyed seeing the Choughs, thousands of Guillemots and a Kestrel at the RSPB South Stack reserve on Anglesey, was also fortunate to have a bright green Common Lizard scurry across the path in front of me. A couple of days later saw us in Abersoch on the Lleyn Penninsular where I came across a Little Egret in the the small river inlet and then half a dozen or so Scarlet Tiger moths busily fluttering around on the coastal path between the harbour and the main beach. Most wouldn't settle to be photographed and I snatched a couple of 'in flight' shots before seeing another at rest. Unfortunately I didn't take note of what sort of plants they were interested in but they were all seen around one garden in particular. Sat outside my van just now near Tal-y-bont I've just nearly had my 'wig' blown off by something very, very fast and brown which led to a few squawkings from the Sparrows in the hedge to my left, don't think that it was big enough for a Sparrowhawk (but it may have tucked it's wings in) and I couldn't see where it went after the lightening attack ... the Sparrows don't seem too upset by it though ?? Regards, Ian.

A slightly strange question but I'll ask it anyway whilst this thread is 'hot.' Could somebody with one of these locos measure for me the distance between the outer edges of the outer wheels and the opposite ends buffers please as I wish to know if one would fit into a loco runround headshunt for a layout that I am contemplating but have very little space in which to work. It would be nice to see if I can fit in one of these locos beforehand. Much obliged, Ian.

Thanks for the swift response Dave ... and some more interesting photos to ponder. I got the impression that 03037 picked up the darker blue around the time it was transferred to Oxcroft open cast site, but reference to your 1986 visit is a couple of years before this. On closer looking at 08016 (in the photo you posted) I can see the red buffer beam and coupling rods along with the darker blue livery, strange then that the NCB men kept the BR emblem ?? The other 'query' that you could maybe clear up for me and which appears in the background of Pic.2 is whether or not the small shed to the left of the screens was ever rail connected or not ? I've seen photos of one of the Class 14s in a similar shed being rail connected but also have seen other photos of an NCB blue diesel being delivered by road and worked on in the shed in the photo with no sign of rails, which I believe by then (if it is the same shed) was just a workshop. I'm afraid that when I first looked into this site most of the photo references were stored on a different phone which is now dead and they didn't transfer to my new phone, so apologies for my vagueness. Regards, Ian.

Thanks for sharing these Dave (and @5050 ) they are certainly very interesting views from angles that I've not seen before. I didn't realise that 08016 had also been painted in the darker blue shade and have to say that I thought 03037 was still BR blue until it acquired the red buffer beams and coupling rods. I presume the bit of brick wall in pic.1 is part of the weighbridge and office ? I also note that the siding under the bridge has gone by this time. Pic.4 is very interesting showing this Landsale/lorry screen as a stand alone unit and not connected to any of the other screens by conveyor, am I correct in thinking that this does have rails running through it though ? As I said ... all very, very interesting. This was my 'O' Gauge test mock up on my living room floor the other weekend, all now transferred back to the railway room. I experimented with this a few years ago but couldn't quite make it fit with the Peco points that I had, I've now re looked at this using a few Set-track points which allow me to fit it into the 9'3" length available. The loading sidings will be to 'Inglenook' type lengths with a mirror behind for extra depth ... but enough of my thoughts ... I'm enjoying seeing your layout develop at a rapid pace. Regards, Ian.

Congratulations to both Rob @young37215 and yourself, Andy, for getting together and arriving at such a convincing solution .... they certainly 'fit the bill' and I think that it's very brave of you both to model such an unruly and messy pile of boxes and tackle, especially when you've both gone to great lengths to produce superbly nice models of what I always find quite a 'romantic' setting .... until you're stood there shivering on the platform in the cold wind and rain .... and realise that the chip shop is shut !! Great work. Regards, Ian.

Thanks for this, I can't have read my magazine very well as I thought that it was only being released in the two liveries seen above, which is why I didn't pre-order any. Regards, Ian.

Very nice, I didn't realise that they were being produced unpainted as well, this will suit me as I would like one in Dutch livery for a weedkilling train.

I'm always pleased to see more Kestrels particularly as they seemed to have a big dip in numbers as the Red Kites spread their wings and areas; last year I saw 3 males in one tree sorting out territorial borders. As for Magpies I'd also agree although I've maybe been swayed by listening to a certain The Unthanks track quite a lot recently and so am just noticing them more (similar to buying a new car syndrome) .... I've also noticed quite a lot of young Magpie casualties by the roadside on the M1. Regards, Ian.

I'm currently on holiday having a tour of North Wales, having had a couple of nights at Deganwy near Llandudno I took a walk up to the old hill fort up behind the town and managed to disturb two butterflies on the path. One took off rapidly and I caught a glimpse of browny orange top wings whilst the other held it's place on the path and allowed me to photograph it at rest on a stone, it only took flight when I picked up the stone it was on to proceed further up the narrow, winding path. Again rapid flight and brown on the upper wings were noted. I've just managed to look these up, a pair of Graylings, which I was hoping to see later on on Anglesey (Holyhead lighthouse) as that is the only place that I've come across them before.

I've tried for many years to see Pearl Bordered Fritilaries in Grass Wood near Grassington where they allegedly frequent but have not had any luck so far as I can usually only manage one trip per year up there ... so maybe I will try the spot near Shap next time, I've fancied taking the camper van up to that area for a while now. Thanks for the post.

Thanks for this useful information Les, I've re-arranged my modelling room (again) and recovered my two original baseboards which I intend to modify one final time to make them a little easier to handle as I think a version of your trackplan will work for what I would like to achieve. I also think that this will be a 'quicker' option to getting a runnable scenic layout and allow me time to modify some of my stock before re-tackling my larger intended home layout in a few years time ... we shall see. Thanks again for the extra input, much appreciated, I'm about to go on a 2 week holiday in between my night shift weeks so I can't imagine anything much happening for a month or so. Regards, Ian.

With great help from the employees of Frizinghall M&Rs, both past and present, I now have my own copy of the very hard to get Sept 2022 Continental Modeller and will be studying a certain article for the rest of the w/end. Happy days are a coming !

I'd noticed that you'd used the term 'on' the Yorks Post and not 'in' the Yorks Post, I served my Web printing apprenticeship with them, starting back in 1984, managed 14 years with them before going on to print the Yellow Pages ... and then err 'Gentleman's' Mags !!! Ahhh, well .... happy days ! Both this thread and a visit to the '0' Gauge Guild show in Barnsley last Sat have reawakened my interest in the British Oak site once again and saw me pushing bits of stock and track around on a makeshift (cardboard) baseboard. I still have an RTR 03, 08 and a J94 from my last look at this place, plus a Class 11 and Hudswell Clarke kits and a few wagons .... hmmm ?? It ended up costing me £100 for another point and a HBA wagon down at Frizinghall M&Rs earlier this week ! Don't hold you're breath though .... I've been here before and will probably still be pushing track around long after Dave has finished Blacker Lane DP LoL !!

Well I wasn't expecting that ! A super find @woodenhead , I followed the link and found this one next to it : 50010, 1975 taken by Brian Roberts, a couple of interesting comments under the photo on the Flickr site.

Class 31s on the WHL as noted mainly from Flickr images :- D5511 (BR Green), 31106 (Waterman / Fragonset Railways Black), 31190 (seen in at least 4 different liveries), 31602 (at least 3 different liveries), 31128 (Waterman Railways), 31601 (Fragonset Black), 31452 (Fragonset), 31146 + 31166 (both Dutch.) Obviously all bar 1 of these are in 'post' BR days and afraid that I haven't come across any Regional Railways one ... yet ! 'Lines of the West Highlands' by Ian Lothian has several photos of these workings plus a few of preserved Deltics on railtours. Regards, Ian.

I also thought that Glenuig was a super layout when I saw it at Wigan a few years back, I must have gone back for another viewing at least twice and even considered trying to do an '0' Gauge version, bought a Heljan Class 26 to try out but didn't have the space in the end, so I can definitely understand your thinking. I think from what I can see that this will bring both you and us a lot of pleasure. Looking forward to watching it develop. Best wishes, Ian.