BernardTPM

There are plenty of alternative FR Double Fairlies: going early there's James Spooner as built, going '70s/'80s there's 'The Square' while the current EoM, DLG and the new build James Spooner are all to a larger loading gauge.

And for the period the layout is set in daytime running wouldn't really require lights.

And probably finished before this beast gets done.

No, that's larger 165hp machine, an 0-6-0DH outside frame with coupling rods.

It would be a monumental redesign given the loading gauge difference as shown here. On the other hand EMD did have a Metre/3' 6" gauge design that would fit, hence this. But that wouldn't look like the LifeLike or Lone Star model, of course.

Yes. I think they simply reused the artwork. The Derby type 2 was a late (circa 1970) addition to the Woolworth unpowered range, in (too light) blue. There's one shown here.

That wagon used the chassis originally put under the R112 Cattle wagon and R123 Horsebox.

Lone Star also did an EMD in 'sort of' BR green when they did their later 9mm gauge pushalong Treble-0-trains for Woolworths.

I suspect R668 was introduced around the same time they retooled the chassis. Perhaps the surprise was how long it took them to do a 45t tank wagon for it (1973).

The 75t crane runner uses it now, but earlier ones used the late '60s cheap trainset flat.

It was designed to be easy to mould, that's why it's short as the simple clips match where there are holes in the chassis to clip into. The chassis dates to around 1968/9, first used on the Whisky Grain wagons, but the replacement Tri-ang Hornby rather than Trix version sold by them for a short while.

Pretty much certain. The instructions for the first three releases showed how the tender attached too though there was no tender version among them.

Yes, my mistake there - a friend of mine used to have an overhead system in the '70s. So many AL1s I'd forgotten they were already discontinued by then. The last TC models in the UK catalogue were in sets in 1972, but carried on a little longer overseas.

The old TC diesels were in the British Catalogues into the early 1970s and the AL1 later still.

Almost the opposite from contemporary accounts, the Mk.2c were originally called Mk.2b: Modern Railways Jan. '68 "a second batch of 250* will be started in January for completion by early 1969. Of this latter 38 corridor-firsts, nine corridor brake first and 64 open seconds will be of the MkIIb pattern. The chief MkIIb innovation will be a wider. wrap-around exterior door; the Mk.IIb cars may also incorporate full air-conditioning." So at that stage all the coaches with the wide end doors would have been 'IIb'. In the April 1969 issue "The Ministry of Transport has approved a 1969-71 building programme of 600 new MkIIb coaches. - - The first batch of the new coaches will have pressure heating and ventilation, but again all are being designed for possible installation of air-conditioning." This 600 would include the coaches that would later be both MkIIc and IId. The first mention of MkIIc is in April 1969 issue "The first 350 BR standard coaches with air-conditioning will be allocated to the Eastern and London Midland Regions. Designated Mk.IIC, they will go into production at Derby this autumn," So at this point what are now 2c are still 2b and what will be Mk2d are 2c. Underlining the former point, the new coaches for NIR are shown in the Sept. 1970 issue. The lowered ceiling and twin rows of lights clearly make them Mk.2c type but they are described as "Mk II B". By the time the actual air-conditioned coaches appeared (Sept '71 issue) they were called Mk IId, with the first 250 of the 600 authorised in 1969 retrospectively becoming Mk IIc. * Mk.II type, i.e. integral

It varies according to type too. All of the Mk2c BSOs and FOs had the later style while the FKs and BFKs were part and part like the TSOs.

Yes, the first batch (the ones originally painted green) had the earlier motor bogies.

No, not old tube trains; old 'surface' stock. 😈

Suprisingly seen two different Metros in the past month, the last one a Rover 100 version earlier this week.

Yes, the ride on their new Cl.197 was surprisingly poor, if anything worse at low speed. Coming out of Crewe it was bumping up and down very noticeably and quite noisily. The Cl.158 is far superior.

Possibly Scalecraft? I still have some bits of their 'Medway Queen'.

The SPA plate wagons built from 1979 were delivered new in Railfreight red. There were some experimental red/grey (and yellow/grey) repaints about in April 1979 too.

Some Mk.2c vehicles had the earlier style toilet windows, some a revised, single plain window, similar to those that would appear on Mk.2d/e/f coaches, with a lower top edge. Obviously the TSO(T) coaches were conversions of both types. Mk.2c TSOs 5498 to 5561 had the old style toilet windows, 5562 to 5615 the later style, but you'd need to cross reference to the new TSO(T) numbers to sort which had which.

The other is E9/E123, 5 compt centre Brake Tri-Composite.

A Rex wagon kit, sold by ERG, parts made by McMurdo. More here and here.