stewartingram

That last pic looks like one of the sections where the old canal has been filled in. If so, it must be new growth, possibly natural or possibly some planted.

I did at least expect those cows to run away from the lineside in the opening shot! Are we going to do a "Titfield" with this one, and have some extras from "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines?

I scan them and keep them on the PC. In fact anything I buy that has an instruction leaflet, I scan; from a Tesco kettle, prescription tablets, or a diy furniture item.

Blackpool Balloon trams from the 1930s (on rare occasions) in fleet service as a 'B' car The tramway was rebuilt over 10 years ago, with new Flexity trams put into service (the 'A' fleet). 'Just in case' the need arose they modifird a handful of Balloons, putting th 'tubby' doors on them so they could use the new platforms that the Flexity trams use. They are normally kept withe rest of the fleet at the old Rigby Road depot (now Tramtown) with the ''C' fleet, which are the Heritage trams, the latter not used in normal service. However Tramtown is closed for a while due to renovation of the building, and some cars that are used have temporarily moved to the new depot at Starr Gate. I'm not sure if the B trams have ever been used as planned in normal service, but the possibility is there, however they have been used on heritage tours.

Diverted ECML trains often came through March to Ely & Cambridge, rejoining the ECML at Hitchin. (And obviously in both up and down directions). I'm told there was a weight restriction somewhere on the loop (St.Ives bridges?) which barred them from the loop. However - no internet then _ we were aware of diversions one weekend, and had spent the day spotting in Cambridge, with some timetable info we acquired somewhere. After teatime we left for home; my mate had to cycle back to Histon. He got stopped by the station LC gates being closed, and was astonished to see a Deltic on a diverted up train!

I think you will find the St.Ives-March section closed completely, leaving a passenger service from Cambridge to St,Ives only. This lasted until about 1970ish (can't remember without looking it up). Meanwhile there was sand traffic from near St.ives n which lasted a lot longer. There may have been singling of the line onward to March on a temporary basis during demolition I believe.

I'm sure I saw this recently on this thread, but having gone back many pages I can't find! I've been going through my roundtuit boxes, and found an old Hornby LMS 2-6-4T. There was a discussion about these, with a comment that etched tacks with rivet detail, and side window cabs, had been (hopefully still are) produced. Does anyone know where they came from?

I don't know that one, but on that day I drove from hoe to March, taking most of the morning. Concentrating on the St.Ives section I took photos at every place possible.

I've now got one on order from Alan Gibson (along with some other parts for different locos). Having tried some 3d printed resin parts on another project, which proved too fragile for use, I prefer the brass one I have on order.

Another common fault is dirt on the axles. When servicing in the past I would tear off a narrow strip of rag about 3-4" long , a tie a knot tightly on one end. The other end would be pushing through the axle holes in the main motor block, assisted with a cocktail stick. (Obviously the wheels/axles were removed first). The end of the rag could then be pulled through, with the knot cleaning the hole as it went through. Wipe the axles clean, apply a spot of electrolube to the axle to aid conductivity, and re-assemble the wheels. Add a spot of oil to the bearings - both ends - of the armature, NEVER 3-in-1 or WD40. Lovely motors that do not deserve the critism they get. The early metal ones were direct copied of Fleischmann mors which were even better, available on 47 and 9F locos.

Numbers work for bus routes (and the Southern Electrics).

On the refurbished Blackpool tramway, flashers are used when stopping and leaving the stop/platforms. Ironically, apart from Fleetwood, all the tramway is on a reserved right of way, no road access at all. And even in Fleetwood the trams still carry on without pulling in to the stops like a bus!. I can't remember if the flashers were introduced on the older trams before the major refurb; I suspect they were fitted to some after major overhauls.

Give me a PM about that magnet? Stewart

The one thing I hope with the mention of these W& U sets, is that they were so unpopular that they had to be sold off cheap, and it has shifted the the chances of any more GE related items.

No names, but when I was working with the local Police (80s/90s), their Traffic Dept. ran mainly Rover SD1s, with a small handful of the early Range Rovers. They all carried lots of equipment such as cones, signs etc, & including a towrope. The R/R were there for winter use as well as occasional off-road use, and they went through a phase of using them at RTCs to clear the roads. Excellent for that, just pushing cars out of the way to clear the carriageway. Sadly this didn't last to long as I believe there were complaints about the (already damaged) accident cars getting damaged by being pushed On another tack, one of the local councils (around the same time) introduced a tow-away scheme for illegal parking, which became very successful. They still had Traffic Wardens) who were actually part of the local Constabulary); when they came across an illegally parked car, after trying to find the driver (they were allowed a short time to do this), they then radioed in to the Police Control, who despatched the contractor's lorry to pick the car up and transport it to the compound on the outskirts of town, where the offender had to go to collect it and pay for its release. It became a victim of its own success though; too many complaints from hard done by motorists so they abandoned the scheme. The parking problems then got worse than they were before the scheme started. (And the Wardens were also withdrawn).

I remember having one of those - I must have been about 5 at the time!

And Woodhead died many moons ago!. Fox don't seen to do them either.

When I made the MTK kit all those years ago, I did purchase a brass conical exhaust from somewhere - I think it was possibly A1 models? However I've gone through my extensive list of favourites of suppliers, and cannot find anyone that lists one. I have in my stash of disposable items, an Airfix 04 kit; upon checking, I've already nicked the cone from it for something els! I've found a few 04 kits on ebay and elsewhere, but at the moment we are talking around £15 and upwards; rather expensive for such a small item. I've already done a W&U D2202, with a new resin cab and sideskirts, and a narrow straight pipe. from brass tube.

Not much to do to mine, I'm converting it to green/wasp 12134 of Cambridge, but I hit a problem in finding suitable number transfers. Suggestions are welcome please.

Do they maintain it then?

I once had a Farish Black 5 in for repair at my local model shop when I did their repairs. We usually got Triang/Hornby/HD, it made a change!. I ended up putting an X04 un the tender, driving the loco wheels, but can't remember the details now. Customer was well pleased though.

Emphatically YES. When I lived in Chesterton (Scotland Road), I habitually parked (with permission) on the pub frontage in High St (?) - was it the Yorkshire Grey? When I moved I chose a house with a driveway. Nowadays, for one-offs, I park sensibly and walk to my destination. Why? 1) I'm not lazy. 2) I'm not selfish and have respect for others. 3) I have respect for the law and its rules, so try to keep to them.

One of my wheel cleaning methods involves using an XACTO knife blase (probably an old discarded one), applied to the wheel surface, whilst power is applied.

I wouldn't worry - he's probably nailed the ladders to the woodwork.

But when will this thread finally close?