Limpley Stoker

Any news of the promised, stench free, footbridge- it takes forever to cross the line with so many trains.....Mike

Mr Cholmondley-Warner says 'coal was short and so were the men'... He wouldn't have said that in the Rashleigh Arms.........

Thank you for posting this link to the Fowey workings. I came back from a week in Fowey yesterday ( 2 hrs in the jam around Ivybridge) and wondered how the ECC traffic was shipped out. Next time I'll be on the A30!Mike

Talking of a rail replacement service, I was wondering if we might see an engineers train in possession at Brent.......?Mike

I'm hoping to finish my station before Kernow's steam railmotor arrives from Camborne. That gives me a couple of years!!Mike

Many thanks for posting these photos again for me. The plasticard detailing is really crisp. One question, did you paint the sides before assembling the building- you have painted the wood framing so neatly. I think this is the reason your close up pictures of your structures are so convincing- no sign of shaky hands !!Mike

I have laid out the branch platform ready for wood plank surfacing and wooden support structure. In theory I could squeeze in a model of the Hop Pole but it would obscure the best view of passing trains, so I will have to make do with the real one!Mike

As a latecomer to these pages I was trying to see how your lovely station building was made as I am remaking my version of Limpley Stoke station. I suspect it is built up layers of plastic extrusions- I was rummaging around page 440 of this addictive journal but failed to find the answer!Mike

I was wrong- only had to wait 10 minutes!Mike

That looks so real and inviting. An empty station suggests a long wait for the next train so it's a bar of Cadburys fruit and nut from the machine and half an hour on that seat with today's News Chronicle. Shan't bother to weigh myself fully clothed though.Mike

This photo emphasises the missing glazing bar on the lavatory windows. I have attempted to add these on my BR versions, where it is more noticeable in the cream : it adds a little regional character, but it isn't so noticeable in the mahogany.

So that's probably why no all first class coaches were built , it would be too far to walk for lunch the entire length of a coach, so half a first class coach either side of the restaurant car saved all that walking. Now when do we get the restaurant car to go with the pair of composer? Auto-typo there, should read compos.......

And while getting an expert opinion, why are the Composites LH and RH :surely they could just turn the coach round for the best view of the sea!

Thank you for those fascinating figures, which are presumably used by NR today. It would be interesting to drill down and find the root causes of accidents at gated crossings, and see what percentage were due to mechanical failure , presumably signals were fail safe. Did vehicles ram closed gates, or could human error on the part of the gatekeeper be possible? The risk seeking driver is probably not a completely new phenomenon, but encouraged by the apparent ease of dodging the modern barriers. I believe it takes a staff of three to man a gated crossing, obviously a big expense compared to a remotely controlled barrier system- cost saving is obviously the main driver for modernisation. The District Council planners at Lewes have yet to be persuaded that removal of the grade 2 listed gates can be permitted, and have placed an injunction on NR : the station building, signal box and crossing gates were listed as a group of structures.

Network Rail insist the modern level crossings are safer than the good old fashioned gated crossings :surely a physical gate with well maintained Victorian mechanism is the safest, but most expensive option. I'm with the planners in Sussex in preventing NR replacing the grade 2 listed gates in Plumpton. Even dogs can't get through the gates!

At the start of this thread the Horsham to Guildford service in the late '50s was mentioned. I have unearthed a blurry picture I took of two coaches in the coach siding at Horsham in 1957 and wondered if they were part of a birdcage set. I vaguely remember them to be in vermillion.