Flying Fox 34F

Hunslet 102, I’ll search this out for you and either send it as a PM or link to to your thread. It may be a few days, while life gets in the way as usual. Paul

Somewhere in my computer files, I have a diagram of a BR proposal for a rebuilt Buchanan Street station. It appears BR was considering doing away with Queen Street at the time. IIRC, the diagram was created before the end of Steam, and features a small servicing point with turntable. I’ll see if I can locate it if you are interested? Paul

Only this kind of comment would come from someone from Liverpool. My Grandfather, born in West Derby, had a very similar way of describing things. I love it!!!! Paul

Philip, Turned out better than I imagined. Looks good. Paul

At one exhibition I attended with a friends layout, we had great fun running my Red painted A3! It should have been BR green, but I ran out of time for the show. Caused much huffing and puffing from the rivet counters. Kids loved it though. I must add, I only ran it in the last hour each day, other than on request. Its the correct colour now. Paul

I’ve been following the aircraft comments and the mention of a Canberra triggered a memory! When I was at College, there were three RAF technicians on the same course. One guy, as a hobby, was creating a document that detailed the construction, allocation and ultimate fate of every single Meteor and Canberra that was ever built. I wonder if any book was ever published? Paul

The joys of spinning the news!!!!! Paul

Hello Tony, There are many different types of Insulation Pads. They used to a black rubber, but now there are different colours, made from a compound of some kind of polymer. The Pandrol clips are also available with an insulated coating as well. The first ones I encountered were installed on the Nottingham line out of Grantham. The staff were aware of potential issues and sure enough, there was a track circuit failure affecting one mile of track. I recall it took two days to locate the problem. One pad wasn’t seated right on a sleeper. Paul

IIRC, Steel Sleepers are used to allow the track to be relaid without requiring a deep layer of ballast being removed first. Most sections of the Slow lines on Stoke Bank were on wooden sleepers. When the old track is lifted the ballast layer is scraped and leveled. The steel sleepers are dropped on top and the insulation pads and rail clipped into place. A thin layer of ballast is then laid on top and the track tamped. The turned down ends of the sleepers are meant to dig into the ballast. The idea came from the US! Paul

I recall the Tunnel cars having a sag in the frame, when there was the 100 Year celebrations. Doesn’t look any worse. Paul

My first visit to the USA, I suffered at the hands of Immigration. Filled out the Landing Card four times, due to minor errors, example, a letter slight over the edge of the line, etc!!! On the forth attempt, one official asked, “You back again?” I explained about the person refusing entry. Paperwork checked, next thing I know, the awkward squad was immediately dispatched to the Supervisor’s office. British Border Control can be just as awkward. To be honest, certain people of certain backgrounds, think they have the right to be very awkward. I wonder if it’s jealousy? Paul

Hello Anthony, The bus in the photo is painted in Leaf Green and White. It’s a Crosville Bristol RE coach, but downgraded to Dual Purpose duties. There is a Mark 1 Ford Fiesta car in the background, so the photo is after 1976. Just looked up when the car was first introduced. Kind regards Paul

I’ve come to the conclusion that the UK political attitude is as follows; The UK invents things and spends lots of cash on it, but the rewards don’t come quick enough, publicly! Then, the abandoned idea is picked up by someone abroad who makes a success at it. Behold, Political class do a deal to use lots of money to buy it back in! Currently, the various new trains on order seem to come from a Japanese company, who happens to also own a half share in a Rolling Stock company that operates their products. The other shareholder is the Ministry of Transport. Paul

I recall meeting Chris Garnett many times. He was a CEO who would get out and about and even help out alongside the staff on the ground. I cannot say the same of his replacements. Paul

This has reminded me of an unusual incident. A man was getting a tad out of hand at one of my railway stations. We tried all the usuals tactics, but in the end the BTP were requested. One Officer arrived and began the arrest. Now matey was rather strong and resisting, so by now myself and several other staff were asked to assist. It ended up resembling a collapsed Rugby Scrum. This subdued man, especially when someone released methane gas??????? Paul

Stop the Press, Winslow Boy has been observed commenting to a certain Sheep, about a form of Steam powered mobile shed, that said sheep is currently mangling. Has WB finally seen the light? And what will be of his large black book????? Now back to the S##d Paul

The detailed responses have given me a clearer picture of the intended movements. For the time period, I would suspect communication between Shunter and Signalman maybe by handsignals. I’m not certain a Foul Bar would be installed as it is not giving access to a Running Line? The fact the nearest point end of the double slip to the train is handworked, puts the responsibility on the Shunter to make sure the train is first, clear of the points and then, ensure the switch rails are fitting up correctly, before signalling to the driver to setback in to the relevant road. I’m sure Mike, the Stationmaster, will provide us with more details. All good fun trying to work out how places may have been worked. Paul

The Committee will probably refuse to permit the move. The Shunter will have to split the rake and shunt twice to get inside the signal. Or, There is an adjustment to the Signalling that makes the Double Slip hand points instead of worked by the Signalbox. John, may just write a very local instruction under Layout Rule 1. Paul

Philip, Have you considered raising the height of the door stops? You could rig up a horizontal beam off them, to add a stubby leg from the beam to the underside of the baseboard joint. It would prevent Mr Gravitg striking at an inappropriate moment. Kind regards Paul

Good to see everyone enjoy themselves Spotting! Also is there a Claughton sat in the yard at Central? Good to see the Project is progressing nicely. Paul

Andy, You could paint one Fresh Flour for the wife. TTFN Paul

Hiccups and errors are part of the real railway. The trick for the operator of a model is to react to it as the real railway does. Pause, scratch your head, (or whatever you prefer!!!), put the kettle on, then start looking. Consider it as all part of the show. Paul

All this talk of April 1st articles and jokes in general has brought back some memories. Thirty odd years ago, myself and friends were attending a Model Railway show in Derbyshire exhibiting two very different layouts, over Easter Weekend. Bank holiday Monday was the 1st of April! One was a BR Eastern Region dockside station set firmly in the 1950’s, the other current BR, complete with overhead line for the then new class 91’s. We were also the overnight security for the venue?????? Anyway, Monday, all the other exhibitors arrive to find various tiny adjustments made to each display, nothing, just altered positions of road vehicles etc. As for the two layouts mentioned, we had swapped the entire rolling stock of each. We ran the trains in this state for the first two hours of the show. The visitors were puzzled initially, until we pointed to the calendar on display on the wall behind us. The most important bit was everyone saw the funny side. Not sure it would so well received these days? Paul

A fine use of old oil drums to produce a train. Not sure Derby would have approved of a Ride-on Mower with an oil drum boiler and tube chimney to represent them!!!!! Paul

For me, what makes your layout and stock stand out, is the consistency of the modelling. Because you work in 3mm and are busy building available kits and carrying modifications of what is available secondhand, everything has the right look. A highly detailed RTR offering is fine, but if the quality of everything else doesn’t match, it becomes very obvious. All power to you. Hopefully, it will finally kick me into action. Kind regards Paul