Mike 84C

Hello, I have two Wills/Nucast N/S chassis with W/m castings. If they are of interest I am happy to dispose of them at a sensible price. They are the residue of an estate and I have checked them against a Wills/Nucast drawing/plan and I believe the parts are complete the etchings certainly look complete. Please reply to mick@steamworks.me.uk regards Mick Whittle

But the summit is getting closer, looking very good Kirley.

That scratch built 4-6-0t is not so freelance, I think it looks very much like a Cork, Bandon & South Coast B4 tank engine built by Beyer Peacock. 1or 2 lasted till the end of CIE steam. With a strip and repaint it could be a much nicer model. Attached a BP drawing and a rather poor photo of my kitbuilt Bandon tank. Hope they are of interest.

Going back to eyesight problems, I had cataracts done in both eyes done several years apart and now have about 20/20 vision. Only need glasses for reading and modelling. I go into mad professor look with two pairs of glasses, what I have found very useful is one of those Easy Reading high intensity reading lamps. Silly expensive but if it helps with ones modelling its only the price of a new RTR loco. Cast smokebox number plates on ex GW locos were supported on two U shaped brackets welded to the smokebox door. I'm sure my memory is correct.

Having been caravanning in the Borders area several times and hope to go again! Always seem to find a fresh bit of the Waverley route to look at. Two questions go through my mind, how did the Waverley route ever make money and it must have been a very, very difficult route to operate and for the crew's work over. My hat goes off to them, iron horses ridden by men of iron. Love to see it reopen back to Carlisle, wont hold my breath!

Morning Tony, I did enjoy our chat about kits, how to build them or not! and later with that other friend of yours about cars and motoring. We never got around to what you drive except it goes like the proverbial off a shovel! My take on that after after years of being conditioned to drive at 56mph is there's always another lorry in front of the one you have just overtaken so economy is my maxim. Very best wishes to Mo I enjoyed talking with her as well. Mick.

Lima made a model of the non streamlined 3801, years ago. Sold mine also years ago! Not a bad model but of its time!

Over here in rural Lincolnshire we get a free magazine " Your Local Lincs" which has all sorts of tradesmen from garages to gardeners all advertising their skills. Or as suggested the local Parish magazine is a good starting place . Hope you get one or other of those.

Looks like the bunker C got everywhere! dirtier than coal. The oil slick down the side of 29 is pretty impressive, I wonder what disaster caused it?

NBL, glad you had a good day at the show and your forward planning and obvious intellectual skills paid off. You make blanket comments about other people when you know nothing of their circumstance. Just looking at train times from where I live would have involved for a return journey; 7 hrs sat in a train, 4 hrs in my car, 5 changes of train in each direction, none in my car, A ticket price of £102.60 off peak or £91.50 for a saver fare, My car 4 gallons of fuel approx , £30.00 Nearest railway station 14 miles round trip, next nearest 28 miles round trip, car 200 miles round trip, no waiting ,delivered door to door. I believe I used my judgement correctly on the day and the organisers of such events should allow for a larger audience than anticipated. I would suggest there are many people in my circumstance or worse knowing the age profile of our hobby and I suggest that if you feel the urge shoot off asinine comments about the rest of us modelers you read your post before pressing send.

I got to the bowl car park at 11.15 and it was full so turned away. It was suggested by one of the youths "marshalling" that I ride around MK to find a parking place. I saved my money , will probably not go again and save a 200 mile round trip. What I find staggering is the bowl car park that is straight around the corner on the Watling street was locked and empty. Lack of forsight lack of planning considering all the publicity.

Its over twenty years since I used to buy the stuff for the FR so I am out of touch with emission regs, for external combustion but I also tried mixing with "washing gas" oil , this had been used to purge/clean other tanks, also aviation kerosene which gave an interesting aroma to BL and lots of steam! I cannot really see much difference in regs for burning oil or coal in a loco firebox, if there are any and with oil you do know how it will perform whereas coal is a bit of a stick your finger in the wind game!

I remember the Warships during the brief period that they appeared at Bescot. Noisy, hot , very pungent fumes and that was just in the cab! Give me a type 2 Sulzer or EE type 4 any day. Hydraulics were for the hair shirt brigade. Although interesting to drive.

FR used to buy a product known as LMD which marine engines ran on. Its a by product from processing heavy crude to produce tarmac coating used for road construction. Higher sulphur than gas oil and can/ could only be burnt on the high seas and external combustion eg, loco fireboxes. Mainly produced in the UK by Nynas.

Festiniog locos were oil fired for years but have been converted to coal for quite a number of years now. Fire risk was one of the reasons for oil firing plus the ability to steam the boiler harder which was needed back in 1970/80's. Maybe not now?

Anyone know who the driver is on the diesel at Barrow Hill ?

Ardley stone was usually hauled by 5600 0-6-2's and 6100 2-6-2's from Leamington shed. When that shed closed the work came to Banbury and you tended to get whatever sort of locos. 9f, 8f, 5mt even 4mt.

My safety glasses, which I cannot find now, were a very similar shape with a black frame and had a triangular piece on each arm that was supposed to stop dust. Never saw that situation before but every day's a school day!

I wonder if that driver is wearing those protective goggles locomen were issued with? Never wore mine! must see if I still have them would they class as artifacts now?

Top man John Besley, should have popped your glasses in your top pocket. Only allowed for reading back in the day!

I rather like the loaded wagons but securing a car around the windscreen seems an odd thing to do even with the large amount of padding. Surely ropes around the wheels/tyres would be less likely to cause damage?

Atlantics of the GCR, NBR, NER, L&Y all had narrow grates. Any I missed!!?

Your Tipplers look rather good, just like I remember them zipping along behind a 9f or maybe something else! And that is me in my little title picture. Maybe see you at Spalding?

John, funny you should mention Octopus! and thanks for your offer! I did contact them and am awaiting their reply. Scottish power have been ok so far, we were transfered to them as a supplier of last resort from Yorkshire Energy who were great sadly but went bust. What makes me cross is the push push push to do something eg smart meters but the phone signal it depends on is so c--p that it cant happen. Mobile phones are hardly new tech; It all just seems a very British way of doing/not doing things .

People may have noticed I/we put a PV system on our house which is working well even in this foul summer. Paperwork all done and in order to start exporting excess power BUT we do not have a smart meter. So contact Scottish Power our supplier who have been bombarding us with emails and letters to get a smart meter fitted and also supplied a quote to fit a PV array. No can do sir cannot get a signal to read a smart meter where you live. Wife goes on the village fbook group to ask have others had this problem? Friend across the street is with SPwr and has no problem, as others with different suppliers. It really makes you wonder about the competence of these companys . Also the ethics of a company which was quite prepared to sell a system which by their own admission does not work as it was said it would. Nett zero by 2050 not a chance, Jeremy Clarkson got it spot on in this weeks Sunday Times.