robertcwp

Might the bridge in the background be the one that this image was taken from? The telegraph poles on the down side seem to have 13 rows, which matches those on the right in the two images Tony Wright posted.

Ten, I think.

How about the Heljan 47 or older Bachmann ones? Might be worth looking at second hand stands at shows. With the latest Bachmann 47 being around £200 for a basic, no-sound, DC model, I can understand the desire to search for alternatives. I (somewhat grudgingly) bought one new one as I needed another 47 but the remainder of my fleet is all old spec Bachmann ones, some of which I bought new for around £40.

DMU: W50862_W50872_W-Ealing_4-1-75 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

The hospital site near Belmont station is expanding significantly so better public transport is needed. Hospitals generate lots of journeys by car or public transport. I'm not sure how important the railway is compared to buses. In recent years, the direct bus services between Sutton and Belmont have been reduced as the 164 no longer runs south of Sutton station, leaving only the 80 and 280 along the main road and one or two other routes going round the houses. For me, the question is where the trains will come from. I don't think there are any regular Sutton terminators since the Victoria via Crystal Palace service was withdrawn beyond West Croydon. The Victoria service via Mitcham Junction was halved recently and they all went to Epsom or beyond anyway. If the London Bridge-Epsom via West Croydon service is diverted to Belmont, this will reduce Sutton-Epsom to only two trains per hour. Not so long ago, there were six per hour. There is no longer a direct, main road bus service from Sutton to Epsom. Mention has been made of the ruling party on Sutton Council losing seats at the last election. One ward they lost happens to be the one I live in. One major factor was the way the Council rammed through the Low Traffic Neighbourhood changes, blocking off a key road. They had to reverse virtually all the changes but totally lost credibility in the process. They also rammed through residents' parking in spite of loads of objections although they did cut back their proposals significantly and, to their credit for a change, they clamped down on dangerous parking around the junction at the end of my road. Sutton is a real mix of a borough. Some parts, such as the south side of Cheam and parts of Carshalton Beeches, are very well off. There is lots of boring suburbia plus some deprived former (or possibly still current) council estates. Public transport is generally not great, with rail and bus services having been cut back significantly. This includes halving the train service at some stations and cutting bus frequencies. The roads are also mostly pretty poor, especially for East-West journeys. Sutton Town Centre is dying as a shopping and commercial centre.

The hourly service to Gainsborough Central was very short-lived, being withdrawn with the COVID cuts only a few months after it began. There are a couple of trains a day to Gainsborough Central. Lea Road is very poorly sited for the town, being on the southern edge. Unlike some Great Central 'Central' stations, Gainsborough Central really is pretty central.

Yes.

I like the Thompson 3-compartment brake second - not often seen in model form.

This is the contrast between a Golden Age Hadrian Bar and a Hornby Pullman: IMG_0302m by Robert Carroll, on Flickr The Golden Age car is in early 1950s livery and is matchboarded, per the prototype at the time. The Hornby car is in post-1960 style.

I was fortunate to be able to visit some years back. I thought Peterborough North was very impressive then and it has probably progressed further since.

Only the Queen of Scots, which is all Hornby. Geoff Kent did the Yorkshire Pullman and the Tees-Tyne is ex-Gamston Bank on loan from Geoff West. The latter two are rebuilds of older Hornby cars. I believe Geoff Kent hand painted the emblems on the YP.

I took this photo on 12 February 2005, so it was probably at the Doncaster show. Is this Tom Wright's layout? P1010106 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

I agree that the livery on the Hornby cars is not great. It's mainly the umber that is too dark. That aside, I think the models are very good. The other issue with the Hornby models is that I don't think they have done 1950s liveries on the 8-wheel cars. They are either in an older style with "THIRD CLASS" on the Thirds or are in the simplified livery with the later emblem that is post-1960 or thereabouts.

I would not count them as ordinary passenger stock though.

Another couple of notable layouts: Alton (model of a real location), Adavoyle (inspired by a real location but not modelled on it - Northern Ireland).

On the topic of layouts, Westford was not modelled on a real place but was very impressive and a layout I would go the extra mile to see. In its full form, it was nearly 60’ long. I saw it at the STEAM Museum in Swindon where it was in front of Caerphilly Castle and similar in length.

The recent comments about captions are interesting. Colin Gifford was at one extreme, although some of his books did include dates. At the other extreme, I have recently read a new book of very high-quality photos from a well-known but now deceased photographer. The compiler has written extensive captions, most of which are either waffle or complete rubbish, or both. I pretty much gave up on them towards the end of the book and just looked at the superb images, much as I would do with a Colin Gifford book.

One of my favourite layouts with lots of interesting trains and very high quality modelling.

Norman Preedy and John Cooper-Smith took lots of great photos in the immediately post-steam era, when many other photographers had given up. I now own some of Norman Preedy's images. He refused to photograph units, though.

George Heiron too.

There is a 1957 Eric Treacy shot of 60055 on the White Rose at Belle Isle and it has the studs. It's in The Best of Eric Treacy page 174. I'm pretty sure it was taken the same day as his photo of 60022 on The Elizabethan at the same location, which is clearly from 1957 and narrows it down to 18 days that summer.

Interesting! The BG offers more liveries than the other types too.

I must have a look at this carriage the next time I visit Retford. There are a few other old Bachmann Thompson BGs on the layout but I don't know whether their roofs have been altered. I think it's unfortunate that Bachmann omitted the BG when they did their excellent new Thompson stock.

Yes, in 1962, I believe the only Thompson PV carriage to remain was the second with ladies' retiring room. One set had a Gresley RF and if I recall correctly the other one had a Mark 1 RU. The BGs were Thompson but other stock was Mark 1, mostly on Commonwealth bogies. D9021_Elizabethan_York_1962 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

I agree, great photos but perhaps the printing could have been better. His 'Main Line Lament' is one of my favourite books.