doilum

Another small detail in the photo. The "emergency winder" was mounted on a large road vehicle and operated by the Mines Rescue team. There was probably just the one to cover all the areas of the South and North Yorkshire coalfields.

The nose has a similar look to the Ford based Rochdale GT I once owned. They did a convertible called the Riviera. The Austin 7 underpinnings look a tad too narrow for the body. The Rochdale used the sloping headlights from an early Porsche or Beetle but these appear to be the standard Lucy's type. Shame that MrPhilby never got round to publishing volume one of his guide to British kit cars.

Somehow I have not come across this fabulous image before. My late father was head teacher of the village school 1966 -73. Prior to his appointment, two small children had been killed playing between the wagons down near the river basin. The release of another batch of loose wagons under gravity caused the parked wagons to compress with fatal consequences for the children stood between them. In an almost bizarre twist of coincidence, the consequences of playing with colliery wagons is at the heart of the plot of "The Hills of Heaven" which would see S134 repainted as the#"7" in the photo.

S134 He 3168 was rebuilt at Allerton Bywater workshops circa 1970. It was then moved across the road to the colliery where it was stored in the wagon workshop. The paintwork was not quite finished lacking the lining and gloss lacquer. Sometime circa 1979 it was put into steam to appear in a BBC children's TV film The Hills of Heaven. Repainted green with an Awdry style "7" in yellow on the bunker it was sent via BR metals to the stump of the Methley Joint which ran up to Newmarket colliery. Most of the film had already been shot at Bickershaw using He 3776 which was also given the green makeover despite being recently resplendent in lined out blue. If anyone knows why they had to go to all the expense of creating a Yorkshire doppelganger I would love to know more. When the couple of days filming were done,S134 was returned to Allerton Bywater Colliery where it was left outside until mid 1981 when Hunslet approached the NCB with a view to undertaking some research. This was agreed on the condition that Hunslet sent their own engineers to recommission the loco. Originally it was planned to undertake the research at Allerton Bywater but the austerity was too tall to work beneath the screens, so it was transfered across the river to Wheldale where it could work the mile of internal track that linked it to the washers at Fryston. The test work was completed in late '81 but this was a very long cold winter that saw several diesel failures and S134 was in use until the following September. During this time it gained celebrity status and is probably the most photographed and filmed Industrial Locomotive this side of the pennines. It was then retired to Embsay whee it was repainted red and named " Wheldale".

I forgot to add that it is much easier to clean up tarnished parts whilst they are still flat / attached to the fret. A bonus also being that after a quick wash the finished model is ready for a coat of etch primer. Paint. Now THAT is another can of worms......... We all have our own favoured approach. The key is to be open to advice and new ideas but default to what experience tells you works best for you and the tools available.

So I have six months to build the Selby canopies 😁

Perhaps the only time I would disagree with Mr Edge but in the land of solder cleanliness IS godliness. Nickel silver isn’t quite so fussy but having prepped brass properly half an our previously it gets a quick kiss from the fibreglass pencil immediately before soldering. Not sure if you are aware but most of the assembly is done with 145 degree solder. Save the electricians solder for wiring or attaching a small item that might be disturbed by future soldering.

Aware of that. This was a random connection to the Wrexham area. Turns out this was a red herring as the history of the United Cooperative ties it firmly north of the border. The mystery continues!

But no obvious colliery name in the online lists.

Odd thing is that there are no geographical instructions accompanying the name of the colliery. Suggesting that it is local? Sadly no obvious candidates from lists of Scottish mines.

The united cooperative seems to confirm the Scottish location. Have we a full picture of the wagon?

A really daft question. Are we sure that the Brechin is the one in Scotland? i entered “ Brechin” into google maps and one option seemed to be for the Wrexham area. Unfortunately it will now only recognise the settlement in Scotland.

My good lady is incredibly short sighted. Without her glasses she can read the washing instructions on a gnats underwear. No definitive answers sadly but she supports the earlier idea of two words and an ampersand. She suggested, without any prompting, that the first word might be “Bute”. I am aware that the Bute fortunes were made in the Welsh valleys.

Don’t let historic variations in spelling rule out a possibility. Especially where railways are concerned!

Whitwood? Briggs&co Castleford.