Marshall5

I spent a considerable amount of time looking for colour photos of NPCS taken in the 1957-64 period when painting a B.R. built FruitD, an ex LNER Dia.9 Horsebox, ex GWR Siphon G and two ex S.R CCT/PMV's. The conclusion I came to was that they all had black ends in that period. When spray painting was introduced in 1964/5 the ends became the same colour as the sides so only a very few vehicles would have maroon or green ends before the change to Rail Blue. Paul's website is an invaluable reference but unfortunately, unless it is of an ex works vehicle, a B&W image can't really be relied on. Most photos show that these wooden bodied vehicles were seldom cleaned and little or no colour would be discernible under the overall filth. Ray.

Why didn't you just re-set the crank in its correct position and secure with Loctite? Ray.

I hope this image is of interest. It shows 19" goods 8858 at Bolton Trinity St. (ex L&Y) with a passenger train heading in the Manchester direction and carrying an express headcode. As they were classified 4F would it be unusual for one to be used on an express passenger service? Ray.

I did exactly the same using a Sharpie and then varnished over the transfer (actually the whole wagon). Unfortunately the black Sharpie ink seemed to 'bleed' into the white lettering after a while. Hope it doesn't on yours. Ray.

Apologies if I appear pedantic but the loco is 5" gauge (about 1.1"/1foot scale) not "5 inch scale". Full marks to the builder for his efforts though - there aren't enough many young model engineers. Ray.

The Midland and the LMS both referred to the colour as "Crimson Lake" but it was, essentially, the same as B.R. "Maroon" allowing for variations in the colour of the undercoat and coats of varnish used. The locos and carriages used the same Crimson Lake so I think it is safe to assume that the buildings and delivery vehicles used the same. Ray

According to Charlie Box's book (p44) "From 1905 to 1922 the L.O.R. original channel section conductor rails were left in position and used for traction return current in addition to the running rails". Hope this helps. Ray.

Is there nothing in VoR in detail https://www.rheidolrailway.co.uk/product/vorindetail/ Ray.

One of the ex WD 2-10-0's 'Longmoor' is on display (or was in 1980) in the Utrecht transport museum. Ray.

Sorry to disagree but I've spent a lot of time around railroads in the western U.S. and have yet to see a LHD loco. Anyway back to the OP. Whilst all the S100's were built as RHD I wasn't sure if the S.R. modified them to LHD so I referred to Rich Tourret's 'U.S. Army Transportation Corps Locomotives'. Quote: "The modifications made by the SR consisted of fitting vacuum brake equipment with a Gresham ejector over the reversing lever, fitting steam-heating connections, addition of sliding windows as well as minor alterations such as additional lamp irons". No mention of change from RHD to LHD which would entail a lot of re-engineering although the Chinese did it with their S160's As Tourret is/was pretty much the expert on USATC/WD locos I'm prepared to believe that the USA tanks were right hand drive throughout their lives. Could be a good excuse for a field trip to the K&ESR to check though! Ray.

Sorry but I can't agree with much of the above. I always clean the area of the etch where I am going to solder with a fibreglass brush or wet & dry and pre-tin before making the joint. There seems to be a perception that soldering is some sort of 'black art' requiring all sorts of fancy gear. I have been building 7mm scale kits for 40+ yrs. and my 'go to' iron is a simple 40W with a 1/4" chisel bit. IMO people make too much of a song and dance over "temperature control" - to me the amount of heat available is more important and the bit holds that reserve of heat which it transfers to the metal and allows the solder to flow freely. I have always used a corrosive flux and make a point of thoroughly cleaning up after every soldering session. IMO the small amount of time it takes makes the next session much easier. Ray.

I completely agree with your second sentence - the Barnsley venue wasn't given a chance. On the first, however, I'm not so sure. I asked Jackie the question directly and I'm pretty certain that the reply was that the venue was available for June but not December due to prior bookings. I don't think the Guild made this quite as clear as it could have done for some reason ...... Ray.

I always went to the G0G Summer shows (not just to escape the TT) and the really irksome bit was that the Barnsley show lost the least money of all the G0G shows. IMO the South was already well catered for and the North lost out. I sincerely hope the Wigan show in December is a success but, a couple of weeks before Christmas and close to the well established NEC and Manchester shows, I have my doubts. Whichever way I won't be going .... 4hrs on the Irish Sea in mid-winter - forget it! Ray.

No, it is from 3817 which was scrapped in March 1973 as posted above. ISTR some or all of its driving wheels also became 'monuments' for a while in the 70's. 4156 wasn't cut up until July 1980. Ray.

Whilst B.R. certainly did remove plates for sale through their stores controllers - my old man had 1462's smokebox direct from Swindon many other locos went to the private scrapyards complete with all plates. How do I know this? We bought 7753's brass cabside for a quid from Central Wagon at Ince along with the smokeboxe plates from 43275. 44104 & 90257 all for 2/6 each. I suspect a great many plates also went 'walkies' from shed scraplines in exchange for a packet of fags. Ray.

That's pretty much as I remember it. The driving wheel you mentioned was off 76080 and was later 'preserved' for use on the new-build 82xxx - unfortunately it couldn't be used as the 76xxx drivers had one more spoke than the 82xxx .... or was it the other way round??? Ray.

As mentioned above some heavy trains of 'fulls' were double headed or banked as shown below. In the first photo taken also in 4/77 ex Cannock No.8 HE3776/52 leads Respite HE3696/50. In the next 2 photos taken 4 months later Respite has taken the lead and Gwyneth is bringing up the rear. Do you think I'll get a "like" from Greta??? Ray.

Yes, that line was very heavily sanded! Monty, new from Hunslet in 1950, inherited its name from ex GWR pannier 1956 which was scrapped at Sutton Manor in the same year. Austerity 'Monty' came to Cronton in 1959 joining 2 other 1950 built Austerities one of which later went to Bold where it was named Whiston - a name which it still carries at Foxfield. Monty was oou by the end of 1970 and scrapped in 1973. Cronton Colliery wasn't as well known to enthusiasts as other collieries in the area perhaps because steam working finished a bit earlier, in 1972. Glad you like the photos. Cheers, Ray.

Another favourite 'hangout' was NCB Bickershaw where steam working lasted throughout the '70's. The austerities there could always be relied on for a good display as the loaded trains faced a steep climb from the colliery to the B.R. exchange sidings near Abram. In April 1977 RSH7135/44 Gwyneth (ex NCB Gresford) was taking a short rake of 16 tonners unassisted. Heavier trains could be double-headed or banked. Ray.

Soon after B.R. steam finished in August '68 I started to take more of an interest in the remaining industrial steam - all the usual places in S.Wales, Scotland etc. and, nearer to home in Lancashire. To be honest I can't remember if I've posted any of my slide scans on this thread before but here's a couple taken in 1969 at my 'local' colliery, NCB Cronton. Cronton colliery was accessed from B.R.'s Willis Branch which diverged from the L&M at Huyton Quarry and by the time I knew it was worked exclusively by Austerities - on this day HE3692/50 'Monty'. Ray. Edit: More information about Cronton Coll. and the Willis branch can be found here: https://8dassociation.org/the-willis-branch-cronton-colliery/

The diagram 1/551 saloons 30088 & 30106 (laterTMD395279/80) were the ones converted from D1912 kitchen cars in 1957. Ray.

Er .... isn't 5525 a Patriot ? Ray.

In the list of initial allocations none were allocated to Carlisle. The nearest would be 45047 at Lancaster (still there in 1961) or 45020 in Glasgow. The latter was still in use in 1987 as the Sc.Region GM's saloon so hadn't strayed far. Hope this helps. Ray.

I don't think they are period 1 as there is no visible panelling. More likely Stanier period 2 or 3. Ray.

I presume that it was so they could use the same mainframes and put the wheels inside to suit the narrower gauge. Unfortunately that meant that they couldn't use coupling rods as on the s.g. ones so used chains to couple the driving axles. Ray.