ColHut

Dear All, Does anyone know what road markings or signs there were before outward opening level crossing gates in the 1929s and 30s? I am particularly concerned with the residual numbers of manual crossing gates which opened outwards from the railway of which there were a number still around. Was there a sign telling drivers to stop short at a point to leave room for the gates to be opened and/or on tarmacadam a line marked? regards

Ta, Just could not go past that and bought one for myself for next year. Local prices are somewhat more...AUD 279-299 (GBP 165-177 + P&P). regards

Just wondering, a bit of archery here perhaps, if anyone made decals for the Airfix/Dapol/Dart castings platorm vending machines, including the ticket machines, chocolate, cigarette, or weighing machines. Possible market there? regards

Just generally, I think that including wheels and bearings in the kits, and also transfers as Parkside do, would be very welcome. That one stop shop for the complete kit saves a lot of postage for us in far away lands. regards

Just wondering how people go with having cobbles follow a curve or winding road? Most of the embossed plasticard are fine for angled joints, but cutting the curve "across" the cobbles would look daft. The exeption might be the rounded cobbles from wills (ssmp205/215), which being round are omnidirectional. The alternative seems to be to scribe your own on modelling clay as many seem to have done. regards

Yes indeed, or Horton Park. regards

Any chance of an LNER/GNR footbridge? regards

You may find this thread useful: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13253 see also: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13253&start=25 My understanding is that where possible the coal is stacked on the opposite side of the track beyond the access road. This saves double handling because the coal can be loaded directly from the wagons into bags or lorries, and the spare put to one side. There is a useful modeller's guide I will try and dig up. In some area, especially the NE I believe coal drops were more common with hopper wagons. Here it is: http://farnhammrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SmallCoalMerchants-2.pdf YMMV, usual caveats about not uncritically modelling models apply! regards

Good point. I need to distinguish between barrow crossings and footways for signalmen etc. regards

Thankyou Miss Prism. An ernest response. I happened to have the LNER in mind too. About 4'6" wide then. Seems reasonable for foot traffic. regards

Does anyone know if there was a standard width for barrow crossings across main lines for any of the grouping or pre-grouping companies? There appears a huge range from ramshackle affairs 2-3' wide to over 6'; with construction from parallel to perpendicular boards, and very neat to very rough. regards

I think you are on the money. Sure Hornby still has the range and the IP, but going forward, no need for people to turn to Hornby to make things, they can go straight to a manufacturer. I think even Dapol (or PECO) own more railway related production facilities than Hornby. It will be interesting to see what the future brings.

I look forward with interest to the details on the saw mill. regards

Thanks Campaman. It does not look to me to be based on a standard GWR Ground frame cover. I am more curious as to why it is a Gatekeepers hut. Certainly at hand worked crossing there were huts without lever frames, just the block instruments and maybe a bell in the 30s.

Bigger image from another angle: http://daveangell.co.uk/images/1708a.JPG regards

G'day, Can anyone tell me what the above model was based on and what time period it might have seen use? regards A link to an image: http://tri-angman.co.uk/shop/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IMG_5349-204x204.jpg

Looks good.

Good to see SWMBO is onboard. The import thing is to take her on a proper train pulled by a real thoroughbred like an A4, not some cart-horse of an LMS Pacific

I will mis being able to order the kits, couplings, buffers, mounting blocks and decals all from the one place with one lot of postage. Unfortunately this cannot happen with PECO as they are not a retailer. Postage on numerous small orders becomes very expensive. I guess that's what you get for living half a world away At least I have just stocked up. regards

Good to be in a minority I appreciate bullhead rail and I think set track is great, especially in yards. I doubt I will ever see the two combined in code 100 but it would certainly improve the look to me even with my toy trains. A bit rough though having to choose between being "toy train set" or "more advanced modeller". sheesh!

Not sure I follow the direction of all the above, and thanks for your thoughts on the original post, but the reference I placed was just for interest to the styles of crossing gates used not to the manner of working. These were all controlled by crossing keepers. The particular cases had block instruments and bells warning of arriving trains. regards

Just by way of reference, I note that the number of old surviving 'occupation type' crossings on public roads where single gates controlled access and did not open across the railway was higher than I thought. According to an accident report on Harpham public by-road level crossing in November 1936, there were still 61 unlocked crossings, and 44 crossings locked only at night, and all (105) were of the 'OccupationType' in the NE region of the LNER alone. The reports are available here: http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Harpham1936.pdf Food for thought.

Thanks All, Your inputs much appreciated. Consistent with some pictures of LMS minerals being used for what looks like ash removal in an LNER MPD.

G'day, Looking at the numbers of rolling stock in use in 1932 as given by Essery, I note over 150,000 mineral wagons owned by the railways, most of which were not in use as service stock for Loco coal. Can anyone advise whether non-hopper railway owned minerals in traffic use were common user stock? Some pictures suggest they were, but I do not have any hard evidence either way. regards