BernardTPM

Seems so, no through piping, so most of that train must be unbraked so the brake van was very necessary. Yes, Open AB is not a TOPS code. By contrast quite a few of the Cov ABs did have through vacuum pipes.

Given their position in the train I wonder if they might be OAB*, with a through vacuum pipe, otherwise there would be almost no automatic train brakes operable. * Given the date they might well be marked 'Open AB' on the data panels.

Actually Railway Modeller, December 1971, pp.400-1. Drawings by Cyril Freezer.

Yes, the old 1963 mouldings were greatly enhanced by a really good paint job, even if the loco was always more compromised than the GWR Single for which the chassis was originally made in 1961.

They were in the Bachmann 'Railway Children' set after that.

There was a China made CR livery train pack in 2007 too, R2610. The coaches looked really good with the modern livery application.

Early versions of those coaches had BR1 bogies and black ends. The Gresely bogies were a big improvement in the early 1980s. Not only more appropriate but they also lowered the ride height, bringing the buffer height down.

Triang's R159 VR 'almost B' has a better rendition of the classic GM cab than the earlier R55 model. I think I recall seeing an R159 converted to single ended format somewhere.

Certainly the same make, but it would depend on place and period. For example in the '70s Dagenham produced several Ford models.

The second picture is the only one with assorted vehicles that is early enough for your time period*, probably around 1957/'58 I would estimate. * the singleton Austin A30 is OK for both '54 (still current then) and '61 though.

I wonder if those coach sides could be some of the Hanson's embossed sides from the very early '50s.

Yes, the Mk.2 Cortina is the newest design of car in any of the pictures and wouldn't have been on sale before October 1966. While you can always have an 'old timer' hanging on you can't have something from the future (unless you feature time machine cameos, of course). When looking at the ages of vehicles for a (still vaguely in progress) layout set in 1972 I first found a selection of 38 colour photos from that year in which I could identify 234 vehicles. I could then work out approximate ages, taking the middle of the production range where a single year date couldn't be identified (e.g. from numberplate). From this I derived the following age graph: One thing this does show is how fast cars used to rust back then!

Left to right: Photo 1: A35 Countryman, Ford Zephyr 6 Mk3, Morris Oxford s.VI Photo 2: pre-War ?, Austin A40 Countryman or van conversion, Austin A40/A50 Cambridge, Humber Hawk Mk.VI/VIA or Super Snipe Mk.IV, late '30s Austin possibly a 12 or 14, four large older cars the two far right could be Morris (OK, pre-War isn't my speciality) - think this photo is 1950s, older than the others. Further reserach: the first of the old large cars could be a 1935 Austin 20 with the odd combination of very upright front screen, relatively smooth, semi streamline bonnet front and that distictive front quarterlight. Photo 3: Austin A55 Mk1 Cambridge, Ford Zephyr 4 Mk3, Austin FX3 taxi ?, Morris Oxford or Cowley s.II Photo 4: Austin A40 van, Ford Anglia 105E 2-door Photo 5: Ford Cortina Mk.2 4-door Photo 6: Austin A30 4-door

Not directly relevant, but I did do a 'what if' for the L&BR - the Southern decided to rebody the coaches with new open saloons to better view the scenery, promoting it as a purely tourist route like the GWR's VoR line rather than closing it. The style is as used on contemporary Standard Gauge SR stock.

Spooner & Co. provide a potential way round that. It is likely that the cabs would not be as low as those on the loading gauge challenged F.R. though. C. E. Spooner did produce designs (unbuilt) for the Penrhyn Railway that featured taller fittings that would have fouled the FR tunnels. More likely they would have been like those on the NWNGR Single Fairlies.

Maybe the tank is for water for a steam heating boiler 😁

That underside part is often missing from the double-ended diesel version too.

Shown here. They were also in some of the 1960s Triang Hornby Minic catalogies. To some degree it was 'the next big thing' that never made it, overtaken by the modern Liner train and then ISO containers.

I did something like that for the Imaginary Locomotives thread. Power car with twin engines. Coach is basically the same shell as per Blue Pullman but, lacking air conditioning, the windows are the same as for the Metro. Cam. Mk.1 Pullmans, riding on B4 bogies.

Blue Box I think. Here's the only online pictures I found. I had a body of one once.

I wonder if it might be worth loosing the metal base then. It doesn't have much visible detail on it, certainly when loaded on a Cartic.

Was the plastic Princess actually by Lone Star or a 'Hong Kong' copy? That wouldn't be unusual at that time. My red Impy one is diecast apart from the wheels and motion and was purchased circa 1970, just before Decimalisation. Cost 3/6, I think. The blue Cl.24 (Derby type 2) came out around the same time. The plastic wheeled Baldwin had been around since the relaunch of the pushalong (Treble-0-trains) range, must have been around 1967/'68.

Yes, there was a version with light (EL.66L) and without (EL.66). Note the thin wires for the bulb.

As all those models are plastic then the first thing to try is Methylated Spirits as it safe on any plastic. Failing that perhaps a very mild abrasive paste, like silver polish or T-Cut.

All the Treblo-O-Lectric locos were new tooling, even the F7, much better than the old Tri-ang lookalike they previously did. Three formerly electric powered locos made it back into the new 9mm gauge Treble-O-Trains series, the F7, Baldwin (without tender) and the Derby Type 2 (Class 24), though the latter was a late addition.