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A good plant to keep an eye out for during summer months as it is the foodplant for the black and orange striped caterpillars which then become the beautiful Magenta and dark grey Cinnaber moths ....although farmers and horse owners tend to pull it out as it is poisonous when eaten to cattle, etc , I believe.

Mine was waiting for me when I got back very delayed from holiday on Friday (thankyou) but I was straight back into my 12hr shifts yesterday so haven't had chance to read anything properly yet but I'm looking forward to the articles on the Inter Frigo fish van construction, the casting techniques and the Turbot which I had to redo as my first effort came out too wide initially. Whilst some of the subjects have been covered on here in Grahame's own threads it's nice to be able to see a full continuous, well illustrated, printed text which tells the whole story in one go. Like the A4 format. Regards, Ian.

My holiday on the Isle of Wight finished on a high for me today with this Brimstone butterfly, not because I've not seen them before but because the wife saw 'a big yellow butterfly' on Monday whilst I was swimming in the Solent ! Seen at Havenstret station, it gave me the run-around for quite a while whilst I tried to creep up on it !

Are those extended axles that you've used and Romford wheels, Pete ? If so can you remember where you got them from as I've heard of them mentioned or quoted but I've never actually seen any for sale. I have a chassis that is long overdue building. Regards, Ian.

The diesel depot at Fort William is called Tom-na-Faire, this might help you find a few more photos, etc that are on the web, there are certainly more than 3. When I get home at the W/end I'll see if I can point you in the right direction as I have a list of useful West Highland Line websites or photo sites. Regards, Ian.

Now British butterflies are much more my favourite topic and with only 57 (?) species generally associated with this country I reckon that with a bit of travelling, studying, hunting and a large dose of luck it should be possible to see them all, although I still have many to go. Not the best photos but here is a Common Blue in Freshwater, I usually need to see the underside of the wings as-well to confirm the species as some can be quite similar. Strangely I've seen a great many males on the Island this week but only a couple of females.

The chap on the campsite liked to pile his grass cuttings up next to the hedge above the path so I'm assuming that it's just a young one fresh out of the nest ....just glad that I didn't bump into his Mother !!

Also, whilst on the reptile theme ...several seen in Ventnor Botanic Gardens and these I like !

I came across this little chap 2 evenings running quite high up near Freshwater golf course, I checked both mornings afterwards and he wasn't still on the path, so definitely still alive ...but thank goodness he didn't take off as I'm absolutely terrified of snakes, luckily this one was only the size and length of a pencil !

I'm thinking that they may be OCAs with snow built up on the uprights and the 'wooden' effect that I thought that I could see isn't what I thought (afraid that I can only see them on my phone at the moment.) I'm always on the lookout for wagon types seen on the WHL. Returning to Rob's original question regarding earlier types of Alumina wagon to the PAFs (?) I thought (and has already been mentioned) that BR Covhops were the immediate predecessors during the 70's with Presflos and LNER Alumina wagons before these. Regards, Ian.

Pretty sure that there is a drawing for these (PABs) in Santona's Modelling the BR Era book, afraid that I'm on my jollies on the I.O.W so can't double check. Just as a matter of interest can anyone confirm what the first two wagons are after the two 37s taken in the winter, please, wooden bodied Tubes maybe ? Regards, Ian.

"Anybody got a quartering jig in their pocket ?"

I had somehow totally missed that one but came across it and ordered it whilst looking for more information on this new one, should receive it by the end of the week. Thanks for the extra info regarding the future release, can't wait. Regards, Ian.

Morning Duncan, Love the STV wagons (as well as the others) and by coincidence I managed to grab these two shots whilst passing Oakworth on the KWVR yesterday to help me with the two that I have on my work bench (along with all of the others !) Obviously in a 'preserved' condition but still showing signs of a wagon that's spent a lot of time sat waiting in a siding. I wish that I'd raised the camera a little higher to capture more of the internal detail, maybe next time. Regards, Ian.

Yes, sorry Chris, the small amount of information came from the advert in Bylines, nothing on the website as of yet, I probably didn't write my post very clearly. The title is The Somerset & Dorset Railway and a line of type on the cover stating 'Bath to Bournemouth. Including Evercreech Junction to Burnham on Sea and the branch lines to Wells and Bridgewater.' I'm as intrigued as you are. I hope that someone on here may have a bit more information or will see something more in the near future. Regards, Ian.

Just a little "heads up" for fellow S&DJR followers, a new book by Derek Phillips is being promoted in this months Railway Bylines (June 2021) from the Irwell Press stable, new for June. No more details and currently nothing on the Irwell website other than : A4 Hardback, Approx. 350pp, iSBN 978-1-911262-33-9 Price : £.TBA Regards, Ian.

If you wish to use a person's RM Web moniker in a reply just type the @ symbol immediately followed by the first few letters of their moniker, a drop down box will appear containing all the RM Web users with an alphabetically similar moniker which you can either scroll down through or add more letters to your selection to narrow it down to the person you are looking for ie @bécasse or @phil_sutters. Hope this is of more use than any advice I can offer regarding the 03s and wasp stripes.

The honest answer is I'm not sure, I've carried a small monocular around with me for years and have found it quite adequate for nature watching whilst walking the dogs (I do have other larger pieces) but I've dropped it a couple of times and think that I've lost some clarity in the lenses (I've dismantled it several times) so I did a quick search for a new one which is where the photo connection versions popped up, I've only had the briefest of looks so far but taking your comment regarding the Cannon will proceed carefully and will let you know how I get on, I'm not in any great rush though. Regards, Ian.

Wow, thanks @Flying Pig that led me into a very educational 1/2 hour of watching You Tube videos of the various Warblers seen in Britain, found the wing tip length relation to distance of migration interesting. That's also put me in doubt as to the identity of what I've always assumed were Whitethroats, seen in my usual bird watching area around Esholt Sewage works, Bradford; I will now have to try and get some photos and maybe video to check whether I'm correct or not. Every day's a school day, as they say ! Regards, Ian.

Sat Nav ? ....

There's hope for my 7mm Bachmann Brassworks "08" yet with it's dodgy roof profile !

Garden or Wood Warbler but by the description of it's call I wouldn't rule out the Reed Warbler which (according to my RSPB book) "On migration, may be found in unexpected places, such as thickets and hedgerows." Very nice photo Steve, I take it that you're happy with your new camera ? I'm looking at getting a new monocular that can connect with my phone to take pictures, I'm generally not a technology fan but could see me actually getting some use out this. Regards, Ian.

Excellent Mike, thankyou for the detailed explanation. I know that I've occaisionally looked at the European locos on the second hand stalls at Society events but have usually ended up dismissing them having not seen the potential that you have and not wanting to get drawn into yet another distraction of modelling a continental railway. As I've said already, excellent in my opinion. Regards, Ian.

Hello Mike, Any chance of a below the footplate shot, please, very interested to see hoe you've adapted the chassis. It certainly looks the part, living close to the Middleton railway in Leeds I'm fairly familiar with their two Hudswells which I love to see when they are allowed out to play ! Regards, Ian.

That looks superb, Ken, thanks for showing us the build. .....now, what could I use one for ? Regards, Ian.