doilum

North Wales . Mk 1 also available but you mustn't call them " escorts" as Ford will sue. I understand that the Irish ones date back a good decade or so and left a lot to be desired. Look on YouTube for the Late Brake Show review of the born again mk 1.

No. Always the two door shell as they were much stronger. The " more door" has only recently found favour as supplies of affordable two door shells dried up. Having owned escorts and been around their restoration for forty years I am pretty sure that the floor pans were almost identical. The four door opening was more likely to twist and made positioning of the drivers competition seat more awkward. Little brother used to tell the tale in theid eighties of one of their reps who set a new PB for the Aberdeen to Bradford run in an Avenger four door. After the high speed run down the A68 switchback he climbed out of the car only to find the door would not close. Broken back in a nearly new car.

Apologies for the interuption. Unexpected visitor. The Q6 like most of my tender locomotives, will use the American system of current collection. It will also be DCC. To avoid potential sparks between the tender and locomotive the tender sub frame is isolated from the superstructure by a strip of 10 thou plastikard. Space had to be created at the front for the drawbar which is mounted on.the superstructure. I would like to isolate the loco chassis in a similar manner but will cross that bridge when the time comes. Pictures show the initial test build using the brass spacers provided. Some builders have a favorite piece of plate glass, others swear by some type of jig or extended axles. My weapon of choice is an offcut of SM32 track using the same logic as Brian Cloughs much quoted quip on Leeds Utd Second picture is the finished item. The spacers have now been removed and the chassis retested.

The delayed start at Spa gives me time to introduce my latest project. Thursdays post brought Yeadons Register #23 and a win from the bay of E. This is an unstarted etched brass kit of some antiquity. It appears to be reasonably complete apart from lack of instructions and boiler and smokebox. The price was right and I am delighted with my purchase. The aim is to build no.1288, built in 1913 and which spent the whole pre war period at Selby. First step, having checked the contents of the large box, was to make a start on the tender. Owing to the lack of instructions and pre drilled brake hanger holes it took the best part of an hour to decide which was front and rear in the almost symmetrical chassis parts. Finally a tiny rivet detail on a Yeadon photo helped me reach a conclusion. Having made a decision holes were drilled for the brake hangers and to secure the additional perspex frame spacers.

Grandparents left a.small parafin burner lit in frosty weather. Their indoor facility didn't arrive until around 1964.

There is a difference between clean and shiny. It is almost impossible for those under the age of forty or raised outside the coalfields to begin to appreciate the level of filth and grime in which we lived, worked and played. Oddly enough the cleanest everyday locomotives I recall were in the filthiest environment of Glasshoughton coking works. The baby blue livery was always clean, probably due to a daily blast with a steam lance to remove the highly acidic coke dust.

Were they that bad? I recall waiting for a Castleford to Leeds paytrain in the early 80s. A 56 with 30 fully loaded MGR wagons was held at the signal just beyond the end of the platform. It pulled away in a cloud of noise and smoke and by the time it reached where I stood was travelling at.well in excess of 30 mph. Pretty impressive performance.

Tàking photographs as a primary historical source I am always suspicious of locomotives in shiny ex works condition. The first question is " who took the photo and why?". Was it a special occasion?, Royal visit, gala weekend, or final workings? There is good evidence that Area 8 locomotives left the Allerton Bywater workshops in this condition, it just didn't last too long in the filthy conditions of the muck run to the tipping fields and the locos were worked too hard for thorough cleaning and polishing. As diesels became the main workhorses many collieries retained one or two steam engines as a strategic back up in the event of an oil supply crisis or sub zero winter temperatures. Often the " personal pets" of the manager or chief engineer,.they might be the subject of much polishing as the foreman found work for.idle apprentices on a wet Friday afternoon. They were regularly steamed and rolled out for gala days, royal visits..... .

Shame on you! These tiny South Leeds locos are cute enough to have their own YouTube channel.

Definitely not Area 8 then!

Leaves the final task for the servants......

I can't be sure about the rest of the country, but in Area 8 the wagon number was prefixed by a one or two letter colliery ID code. Wagon transfers did take place with many examples coming south as the Durham coalfield was wound down. Most of these were steel , in particular the iron stone hoppers and side tippers. The wooden wagons remained in service until the end at those collieries which had river side loading staithes as these had been specifically designed around the 7 plank end door wagon. The 16 ton steel wagons did the same job but never fully replaced the wooden type.

Wheldale colliery is on the south bank of the riverAire but was given running rights for trains of dirt can side tippers to access the tips on the north bank via the iron bridge.

I wouldn't be surprised if the painting was immediate. The nationalisation of the industry was a big deal at the time and this was an easy way to make a big statement. Under new ownership. The new regional management had to take control of previously rival collieries in close proximity. I guess there was competition with the new British Railways to secure the ownership of wagons which had escaped pooling.

And the 80s.

I am one of a small group working on a 7mm model of Selby station and swing bridge. There has been no attempt to model the goods yard or mpd but the bridge swings and the station buildings will be dead scale length. Our slightly flexible time period is LNER pre war. The owner of the project hopes we may be able to take it on the road late in 2025. Any previously unpublished photos of the station would be welcomed. There is a thread in the Prototype Questions section. .

No, your 15 and 16" Hunslets came out perfect. My technique.is to stick the tip of the blade into the wood and gently press back.. To be fair , on those kits etched from heavy nickel silver a Dremel is weapon of choice.

An Exacto #2 with a pre loved blade cutting on an offcut of thick ply or soft wood. Always cut along the grain.

Many thanks. We are still some way off running trains let alone drawing up a show running order but this exactly the type of information we need. Having a clear picture of Selby in my head, it all makes sense. The D20 is a definite to do loco now!

Snap. In 2001, whilst we were having double glazing installed, "Felix" walked in through the missing door to join our team of five cats. Sadly it didn't end well for Felix as, after producing three large kittens, she was shot and hit by a car. Fortunately the kittens were almost weaned and one, Guinness, joined the team and had a very happy twenty years with us.

The austerity "#7" being loaded by a payloader was a film star. Despite having just had full repaint in blue, the BBC director wanted it in green with an Awdry style "7" for children's TV film called "The Hills of Heaven". They also took S134, later known as Wheldale, from store and repainted it green with the same number "7" in order to film a sequence on the former Methley Joint at Newmarket Collier y. I have, without success, been trying to discover more about this film for some years and even bought the BBC book. Any information welcome.

Just for the record, the driver was the fireman. If a second person was on the footplate it was either the shunter or a colliery worker blagging a ride to an outlaying job.

Long shot. Try the mining museum at Càphouse. They have all sorts of records and maps produced by colliery staff. There was no organised archiving of the industry but someone might just have donated maps found in grandad's attic. You Tuber Gandy Dancer has posted a lot of 8 mm film he took as a youth in this area. He may also have maps? Try the library most local to Bickershaw and talk to the person who curates the local history collection. It would not surprise me if a local author had not published a bok on the collieries of Greater Manchester . They may also have maps and documents too.

Hunslets are like beer. A boy can't have just the one.