Nick Holliday

Rumney Models do two types of detailing kits for Bachmann tanks which include four etched ladders in each one. https://website.rumneymodels.co.uk/wagon-detailing I don't know if they are suitable for older models, though.

Your memory is correct. Two Ironclads, Nos. 273 and 275, were transferred from Redhill to Reading in 1903 (some time into SE&CR days). This pair spent much of their time working the Ash-Aldershot shuttle services, although occasionally they appeared on the 7.12 a.m. Reading to London Bridge, which ran non-stop from Reigate. As more of Stirling's F's and B's were cascaded down, life for Ironclads was getting close to the end. 273 and 275 were some of the last to go, in 1906, but they had been transferred away from reading in the meantime. As for Ash shed itself, it is covered well in Hawkins and Reeve's book on Southern Sheds, complete with a drawing of the 1905 version of the building, which, at around 80 feet long is unlikely to have housed the pull-push coaches as well as a loco. It was originally a two road structure, one for locos and the other for goods, but in 1905 the goods shed was removed and, presumably, the engine shed upgraded. It was classed as a sub-shed of Reading, and in SR days received SE&CR 0-4-4T's. In 1933 it became a sub-shed of Guildford, and M7's became the usual residents. However, in SECR days the LSWR also stabled a small tank there, from Guildford shed, to work the Tongham line.

Binley is covered in Keith Turton’s Eleventh book, with a couple of photos, in a more complex livery and a sketch, which I think forms the basis of the model. Another, simpler, sketch appears in Thomas’s Third sketchbook- same livery, different livery and style of wagon.

I think the answer is it doesn’t. A small yard like this, with no means of running around, would only be served by trains running anti-clockwise on the inner circuit. If services on the main line allowed, it would leave the brake van on the main line whilst shunting, to save time messing about in the yard.

Many of this type of book are long out of print, and may be difficult to find at a reasonable price. I see, however, that there are a couple of new books on the Highland and Cambrian Railways’ architecture which might be of interest.

Perhaps instead of getting bristly because people have misinterpreted your extremely vague initial question, you could make an effort to answer @Bucoops questions, to allow a more measured response? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of drawings available in print somewhere, not to mention those online, and even more hidden away in archives, both privately and in organisations such as Network Rail. Some books have many useful drawings (I counted over 30 in “LMS Architecture”) but many books and magazines have only one or two, but they may be the ones you are looking for. If you could be more precise about the criteria it would make things a lot easier. Finding good drawings for St. Pancras station of the Midland Railway is much easier than locating those for Little Snoring-by-the-Sea of the Garstang & Knott End Railway! You have mentioned having drawings for Angerton, a minor station on a relatively obscure (The NBR’s Wansbeck Railway) line. Perhaps you can tell us the reasons for this choice and the extent of information you have, so that we might be able to narrow down the search and offer comparable sources. Drawings come in a variety of forms, from basic outlines to fully detailed construction plans, not to mention varying degrees of accuracy, so an idea of what you have already, and whether you consider it satisfactory, would be useful in separating the wheat from the chaff. If you were to carry out a Google search using terms such as “railway station plans drawings” this would open up a whole world of opportunities (literally – as you’ll find drawings for stations at Wagga-Wagga, Mumbai and many places between, as well as lots from the UK). One good location is www.licensestorehouse.com, which lists hundreds of drawings from the Network Rail archive, which you can view, and even Network Rail’s own archive, where you can even download the images, although the choice there is somewhat restricted. It is quite amazing what is available, often in unsuspected places, if you can be bothered to look. The idea of going through planning applications only really works if you have a specific location in mind, as there is no easy way of finding out similar projects by just using Google (other search engines are available). You haven’t said whether your intention is just to build a single station building, or whether you are considering a complete station. If the latter, you will need to consider sourcing drawings for structures like signal boxes, goods sheds, station masters’ houses, railway workers’ cottages and all manner of other buildings. If you can keep that thought in mind as you go through this stage, it may save having to repeat this process sometime in the future.

The installation at Brighton was rather more complex than at other LBSCR stations. You might find some inspiration from Michael Ball’s Ferring layout, which has a very similar backstory to your scheme. He was a signal engineer on the real thing, and is heavily steeped in the Brighton way of working. https://www.lbscr.com/mickleham/Ferring.html http://s386633784.websitehome.co.uk/bpmrc/Ferring/index.shtml

Sorry. Thought you might live “my” side of the A217. The H1 is supposed to stop at Tesco on the way, if that’s any better.

Bob I'm pretty sure that it is still running - the NHS put on a bus service, the H1, which runs between St Helier Hospital and Epsom Hospital, available for public as well as staff. Fare is £1.50, free for pensioners after 9:30. Buses run roughly every 40 minutes and the journey takes just under an hour. Roughly the same time as your trip, but depends how close you are to St Helier in the first place. https://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/plan-your-journey

Sadly, the Goring is the one near Wallingford, not Goring-by-Sea in Sussex.

Jane Austen has done all the hard work in creating a back story already! Surely it has to be Sanditon. Apparently based on Worthing in its first developmental period.

Lightmoor Press are due to publish another book on PO wagons covering the remainder of the south East in the area covered by the LBSCR, by Simon Turner, which should flush out some useful examples. I have a record of Edward King of Worthing, and a note regarding the Worthing and West Worthing Co-Op. Don’t forget that Worthing would have been served by wagons from larger agencies from Brighton and London, as well as directly from collieries or via their factors.

The very useful index of PO wagons in print on the Lightmoor Press website shows entries for Victoria Coal Company in Wakefield as Volume 7 page 132 and Volume 9 page 6 within the Turton series. There is also a reference to Wallsend Colliery at Hepburn in Peter Matthew’s book on page 38.

@Graham_Muz I am slightly confused by the statement on your website: "It should of course be noted that these CAD renders are a work in progress and some areas in particular are known to require some amendments, such as tank tops. I am also hoping that the couplings might be revised slightly to reduce their protrusion. It is the purpose of such renders to help evaluate the overall shape and details to confirm they are totally correct before approving the CADs for tooling to commence. Contrary to the belief of some, the first impression from tooling / the Engineering Prototype is to confirm fit and function and perhaps make some minor adjustments, not to see if the basic shape is correct"… I know that you are not party to Rapido's activities, but perhaps you can suggest how far along the line these images represent the design development? To my eye there are a number of flaws that could be improved, but if this is early doors, perhaps I should wait to see what the next step delivers.

Tatlow’s books have much useful information. His Illustrated History of LNWR locos has a drawing of the cab, but it is very sketchy, but it should position some of the major items. His book on Eight Coupled Goods Engines has lots of drawings and cab photos which clearly show the various gauges and pipes the first book overlooks. Although they may not be exactly the same as the PoW cab, together they should get you very close. There is also a cab view of one of his 4-4-0 locos, albeit when converted to oil firing, in his LNWR Miscellany, Volume 1.

This month’s issue of Back Track magazine, July 2022, has an article on Steam-Era Duties on the Southern, by Alistair Nisbet, which includes two photos of trains serving Morden Dairy. One shows a Q1 with a train of tanks, with some van I cannot identify behind the tender. The other is clearer, with a Class 4 4-6-0 at the head of a train of milk tanks, running tender first, with a standard BR goods brake van at the front of the train, next to the engine.

Since every roundhouse loco shed worked on this principle, it is entirely prototypical. This would also apply to the many sheds where access to the shed itself was via a turntable, such as Nine Elms, although in that particular instance there does seem to be a way that, with a lot of shunting, a dead engine could be recovered. From a quick search it seems that the southern lines were happier with the turntable feeding cul-de-sac tracks, including Slade Green which matches the OP proposals. I could only find one instance on the GNR, GER and NER, which was Swaffham on the GER, with a very strange layout, at the right hand end, that no modeller would dream of! The GWR weren't averse to providing blind sidings off turntables, such as at Cheltenham in 1892 or the Midland, such as St Albans

On the roadway of Tower Bridge in London they used oak rod cut into short lengths, slightly larger than wine bottle corks, which were set vertically in tar. This was on steel or iron sheeting, presumably to reduce the noise.

Would Lego bricks do the job?

No, it takes around 20-40 seconds of shining the UV light on it after which it is pretty solid.

As you seem to have a relatively small number of vehicles to deal with at the moment, I would suggest you reconsider some of the other coupling options. The Greenwich coupling does look challenging, but it was intended for narrow gauge modellers, who would not be dealing with RTR stock. Sprat & Winkle and Flippem are probably more user friendly for this purpose, although I have no personal experience of either, but they have been discussed extensively on RMweb, and the Alex Jackson couplings have been in use for over fifty years, and once you have started with AJ’s, the only supply issues are finding the necessary wires. The AJ coupling in particular is almost invisible, but all are more discreet the the moulded tension locks, although the latter can apparently be converted fairly simply to magnetic operation.

The ultraviolet setting glue might be your answer as it doesn’t start setting until the uv light has been used. If you can get one joint secure, you can manoeuvre the others as you go. You may need a third hand to hold the light pen, though.

Perhaps you can assuage your conscience by reverting to Downton’s earlier arrangement, from NLS OS maps from around 1888. Just one siding and a loop.

Hornby introduced their Zero One system in 1979, that’s 43 years ago.

They may not be your father-in-law's articles, but there are several stirring adventure stories in the always entertaining Archive magazine from Lightmoor Press. In Issue No. 1 there is a wonderful piece by Clive Carter on Coals to Portreath, with plenty of graphic descriptions of the hazards when working to this harbour, followed up in Issue 4 by a fascinating panorama of the harbour showing how the coal was handled and stacked, from the Paddy Bradley collection. Issue 7 has an article by Neil Parkhouse on Combe Martin, detailing the work of the ships that visited, as well as the industrial nature of the town. In Issue 8 Clive Carter returns, with Steel Ships and Iron Men, investigating the story of the colliers operated by Harveys of Hayle, Cornwall, followed up in Issue 11 by a photo of one of their ships, S.S. Hayle aground on Hayle Bar, emphasising the dangers involved in the coastal trade. Issues 12 & 16 have items covering similar ground, but rather more genteelly, outlining the role of the Severn Trow, working in the opposite direction, up the rather quieter and safer River Severn past Avonmouth. There may be more articles within their pages - there are searchable contents listings for both Archive and the sadly missed Railway Archive magazines on the Lightmoor Press website.