Nick Holliday

If you are going to alter them, this diagram might be useful, as it shows that the drive rod that actually actuates the point runs to the switch rail itself, where the manufacturer has his stretcher bar. The fancy rodding shown on the drawing beyond the toe only applies to points with facing point locks, and there are extension pieces on the end of the switch rails to suit. FPLs are unlikely on what look like siding points operated by a ground frame.

My Brighton Railway search seemed to indicate that well over half the gas works located at or near stations didn't have a siding immediately serving the works. Presumably the coal was unloaded into carts etc and moved across the yard to the retorts. As for the amount of coal delivered, a Goods Working Book from the LBSC from 1918 has a list of expected wagon loads serving various sidings, including a number of gas and electricity works, which may be enlightening. An alternative source suggests that the Mitcham gasworks, over a mile from the yard that served it, received around 200 tons a day in the 1930's, which tallies, roughly, with the 20 wagons a day from 1918.

This photo, taken from the Shoreham-by-sea archives, came up in the discussions of the Brighton Circle. Bungalow Town, between Lancing and Shoreham in winter. Looks like someone has found a use for all those slightly warped Graham Farish Pullman bodies.

I did a little research on the gas works within the LBSCR area, and over two-thirds of them had no direct rail connection! Major works such as at Sutton and Mitcham were some distance from the nearest railway yard, and presumably there were fleets of horse drawn carts, and later steam and diesel lorries, to transport the coal and coke through the neighbouring high streets. At places like Bognor, the practice of receiving coal from beached sailing boats persisted well into the twentieth century.

A search for Lledo here comes up with plenty of discussions. I suspect the horse bus you are referring to was analysed by @Edwardian and the conclusion was that the bus was under-scale for 4mm although the horse might have been a bit larger.

The first batch of them were provided with 300hp engines, whilst the second batch, from the Gloucester company, each had two 230hp engines. I can't see another power car in the Mayfield photo, and how easy was it to hook up the Paddington arrangement to work in multiple?

I'd be inclined to add a bit of side protection to the fiddle yard. If something does fall it could drag the whole train off, and possibly onto the floor. It doesn't have to be substantial, perhaps a strip of card or plastic pinned or glued to the side would be enough to prevent a catastrophe.

5' 6", so not much larger than the carrying wheels. The Gladstone and Richmond 0-4-2 classes had 6' 6" driving wheels.

The trailing and tender wheels were Stroudley's standard 4' 6" diameter. Used on the D Tanks 0-4-2T and his passenger tender locos, D2, D3, Gladstone and G class singles. Here's a drawing from the colinebinnie website of a D2.

Is this what you meant? http://www.lbscr.org/Rolling-Stock/Locomotives/Stroudley/D2.xhtml

Probably not too helpful, but Martin Goodall covered the alterations to the Airfix kit in MRJ Issues 24 and 25, but I couldn't find further reference on the net.

At the turn of the century, the LBSCR ordered a number of steel underframed wagons, all with this "reverse solebar" feature. 30 No. three plank Open B Class in 1896 (5&9 Models kit in 4mm) 1,250 No. 5 plank Open A Class between 1896 and 1900 (Turbosnail 3D print in 4mm) 200 No. 6 plank Open C Class in 1898 (5&9 Models in 4mm) 100 No. 8 ton vans in 1900/1 (Smallbrook Studios in 4mm) (Modellers please note this feature when considering using the recommended Dapol chassis!)

The London Railway Record magazine, in its issue No. 25, had an article by J E Connor which included a sketch of the station and approaches as of 1886. Although some doubts have been cast as to its accuracy, to my mind the additional complexity, when compared with the first sketch, makes for a more functional and effective layout, particularly if the crossover at the throat were a single or double slip.

Fox bogies, from the Leeds Forge, were used under a number of lines coaches, albeit with minor variations, so would be probably more generically correct, if there is such a thing, than the panelling. There are always Hornby's SR Maunsell rebuilt LSWR coaches to provide a bit more variation - only an expert can really tell Stork from Butter.

And Harrod's had a fleet of electric vans from 1919 to 1970 https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/vehicle-collection/harrods-electric-van/

When I left school in 1969, there was a prize giving, and recipients were asked which book they wanted. Almost everyone dutifully requested a dictionary or similarly educational tome, but I caused a bit of consternation when I asked for Ahrons' book - infinitely more educational! I still have it, suitably inscribed, of course, and it often gets referred to, or dipped into just for pleasure.

That Wills kit is an E5. "Thomas" was an E2 (sort of)

I've had a look at the Aspects of Coal Industry books, and, whilst informative and useful, they do concentrate more on the larger, more modern collieries. For modelling purposes it might be better to have a look at some of the older, smaller collieries, which can be modelled in a sensible space. I would suggest trying to track down some more of the Lightmoor Press works, in addition to the Paul Karau books mentioned earlier. Coal fields such as the Forest of Dean, Somerset and Kingswood, Bristol had a number of modelgenic collieries, and the LP book "From the Mendips to the Sea" features a number of Somerset collieries, and emphasises how they were integrated within the local rustic community, and also reminds you that many collieries were multi-level at surface level, with various embankments and gantries etc. Their books on PO wagons from the Forest of Dean and Somerset also feature the many collieries involved. These small establishments were not confined to those smaller coal fields - almost every coal mine would have started off on a similar scale, it's just that many grew over time to overwhelm their neighbourhood, and it is these that tend to feature in the photographic coverage. The smaller ones seem to have been eclipsed by the behemoths, but many soldiered on into the sixties, and are are eminently more modellable as complete entities than the giants. There are a number of excellent websites that cover coal mines, such as this one https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines/ or http://www.archive-images.co.uk/gallery/Archive-Images-of-Industry/ which may give you further inspiration.

Perhaps Hornby will tart up their GWR clerestories and supply them with suitable bogies and in proper GCR livery. They were (almost) good enough for Peter Denny!

Would it improve matters if you fitted a length of thin 2mm internal diameter tubing on the axles? You would have to adjust the height, but it might (?) reduce the friction, especially if you could use PTFE, and it would ease lubrication.

(Source: Challenger-Group/Wikipedia) The farming industry has really benefitted from the introduction of baling machines which came into use at the end of the 19th century. Prior to this making hay bales was an extremely time consuming and heavy job. Farmers used to have to cut the hay and form it into haystacks by hand. Haystacks were a good way to store hay because they kept the hay off the ground allowing it to breathe and drain any liquid. It was important to make the haystacks the right size otherwise the hay would rot. Farmers originally used lathes and rakes to cut and gather the hay. In 1872 Charles Withington devised the first reaper with a knotting device to create hay bales. The machinery was improved to make it more reliable and useable by the wider farming population. These days baling machines are amazing pieces of machinery that gather the hay, form into bales and wraps them in protective material. Modern-day hay bales are easy to transport and store in locations most beneficial for the farmer.

Not knowing what information you have gathered it is a bit difficult interpreting what it is you are after. I am surprised you have identified over 700 locos, without being aware of the LBSCR contingent, as the fitting of proper condensing gear was usually confined to small batches of locos specifically intended to work on underground tunnel lines, not just in London but Liverpool and Glasgow. Notwithstanding the range of locations, only about 10 major companies, and three underground lines had condensing locos, and most had only 20-40 such locos. As for the LBSCR, the vast majority of the 377 locos that Stroudley built were fitted with condensing gear, tanks and TENDER locos! (The Caledonian built a couple of condensing 0-6-0 tender locos in addition to various tank classes) The principal difference was that the condensing gear was not fitted to minimise steam in tunnels, it was a simple and effective way of pre-heating the feedwater in the tanks, before it went in the boiler. 20-40% of the steam was diverted into a pipe that took it to the side tanks or tender tank, and this happened wherever the loco was, not just in tunnels, one reason why the pipework is smaller in diameter when compared with "proper" condensing locos. Hence there were no specific Terriers allocated to the East London line, as they were all equally equipped to run underground. New Cross shed, at the southern end of the the ELR had a large allocation of Terriers, at least in their early days, and any one could have run on the ELR. There might have been changes after the ELR was electrified, as I believe there was a need to equip locos using the tunnel to have the Automatic Train Stop gear fitted. The condensing gear was gradually removed after Billinton took over, but many locos retained it for a long time, and some had it reinstated to maximise economy when on railmotor duties. The North British Railway, under Drummond, an associate of Stroudley, also had this type of equipment fitted to his tank locos, even though tunnel running wasn't really an issue. As for the SER, only the first 12 of the Q Class were condenser fitted, 5, 27, 158 161/2/4, 177/8, 180/1/2/4, out of 118. You probably are aware that the LCDR had 36 0-4-4T A, A1 and A2 classes so fitted, together with 33 of the later R and R1 classes. As for the GER E10 class, the numbers given appear to be the only ones fitted with condensing gear, according to Geoffrey Pember's book on the topic, but all 40 of Holden's later version S44 Class, were so fitted, although 5 had the equipment removed by the LNER around 1929. There were, of course, several GER classes of other wheel arrangement that had condensing gear as well.

I wonder if an answer might be to track down an etched brass kit for a Toad from the Frogmore range, supplied by Dart Castings. Various options, but, sadly, all currently listed as "Temporarily Out of Stock", but Roxey Mouldings also do etched kits for a four and six wheeled Toad, rather more expensive, but available.

What is a breaksman? There is a separate category for porters and shunters, (Not sure why they were lumped together, but I suppose at smaller stations the porters were involved in shunting the yard) and I would have thought shunters were the vulnerable ones. Since the number of engine crews (around 12,800) is close to the total of breaksmen, goods guards and passenger guards, 13,309, this suggests to me that all of these categories were associated with running trains, the shunters doing the work on the ground.

There is no reason why black and white cows shouldn't appear on almost any layout. The Holstein/Friesian breed arrived in Britain in Victoria's reign, the import of them from The Netherlands was banned in 1892, because of foot-and-mouth, but the breed continued to flourish, albeit in a small way and in 1909 The British Holstein Cattle Society was formed. Importation of stock was allowed in 1914, but the breed saw its most dramatic expansion in the fifties. There are also several native breeds of cattle that are black and white, but perhaps not marked in the familiar way - Belted Galloway, Old Gloucester and the British White and Park cattle.