doilum

The Estelle is also fondly remembered in my back catalogue!

A much better use of government money creating post coal mining jobs in Washington New Town.

The story I heard was that there was a stick as well as carrot. Planning permission was refused for the state of the art plant proposed by Rootes somewhere twixt Birmingham and Coventry. Similar politics took the new TR7 to Speke....

I always fancied the Clan Crusader.

Like all cars do today. Problem was they were marketed at non enthusiasts. Having a front mounted radiator didn't help either. Lessons to be learned from Fiat and Skoda in rear engine design.

I always thought the Imp engine was something quite special being ohc and alloy and based closely on the fabled Coventry Climax race engines. I understand there were production issues arising from a political decision to build the cars in Scotland. I was led to believe that the blocks were cast in Scotland, freighted to the Midlands for machining and returned north for assembly. Had the cars been built at Ryton as originally planned, they might have been more reliable and certainly profitable.

Almost sure the bug was on crossplies as per factory. They were quite fat on cosmic alloys at the rear. Someone out there will remember the rules for tyres on three wheelers.

No, a GT. Never quite got it finished. Sadly the registration is now on a posh car!

The tyres were I believe, the first ever radials to be offered to the public. If you had a sidevalve Ford special in the late 50s a set of 15" Bellamy rims allowed access to the new wonder tyre. I managed to track down a set for the Rochdale I had in the 90s.

And this children is how Walschaerts valve gear really works...

A much more sensible option. My choice was driven by the lack of a full car licence. At least I didn't follow the usual route of a Reliant Regal. It was replaced a year later with a Spitfire MK3.

Were these the really mad, bad and dangerous ones with the Hillman Imp engine in the back? The Bug was much better than all the armchair experts claim. It could easily outrun all but exotic sports cars in the traffic light sprint to 30mph and held an easy 60mph on open A roads. Despite red lining between every gear change ( I had only just graduated from tuned Lambrettas) it never failed to start or return less than 45mpg. Side vision was poor and three quarter vision nil. The change in the law that forced me to fit an offside wing mirror probably saved a big accident. I only rolled it once and that was entirely my own fault. Far too fast, late braking in torrential rain I made the right turn outside my future in law's just on the spot where lorries leaving the quarry opposite dumped their mud on the road.... We picked up the big pieces of the wrecked offside front and took them home. Masking tape was used to create a Frankenstein jigsaw and Isopon's P40 glued it all back together. Once painted it was as good as new. Sad thing is I cannot remember the reg number and have only one very poor photo, so if anyone recognises this late M reg example it would be good to hear.

Wish I still had mine in the barn........

Poverty spec Bond Bug on steel wheels. Rarer than rare.

This made me take a second look. The tipper wagons appear to be loaded with coal rather than the usual cargo of muck. Not sure how Betteshanger operated but our local collieries had "stockyards" where surplus production could be stored. In latter years these were well organised concreted aprons often with flood lighting, fed by conveyors and marshalled by payloaders. In earlier times these were trackside dumps often some distance from the pit head. I guess the coal on the roof was the result of a miscalculation under the screens due to the ultra short wagons. I hope the ventilation hatch was closed. Cue some genuine " pit language"!

The second set are provided to get you started on your first scratch build.

Looks like the first one is being used as a tender.

Can anyone identify the cover and lever on the firebox? I have seen a similar lever on the nearside of Diana.

Don't forget the pickups. If you want plungers this would be a good time to drill the pilot holes.

I cannot say if the Hudswell Clarke locos had this modification as the side tanks cover the firebox sides. I may be able to find a photo or two of dismantled examples. That took longer than I expected!! The HC locos didn't have holes in the firebox. I found a great photo of Whitwood no 4 in kit form ready for despatch to the Nene Valley as a spares package. It is incredibly difficult to identify these holes in the austerities although I found a good near side view of Diana showing them clearly. On the off side they hid behind the reversing link.

I wouldn't worry too much about the coupling rod holes. Once the axles are in place the rods can be checked for exact wheel base. Any tiny adjustments can be made with a round file. This will grate with engineers who swear by the broach but the engineers approach assumes everything was perfectly measured in the first place. Old school kits shouldn't be far out but don't expect perfection either. Once you are happy that the wheel base of the rods is correct, the broach can be used to ensure they are circular and correct size. Eventually I will get round to upgrading ,S112 and my earlier Austerities to 10ba crankpins which are a much neater solution.

They had previously escaped my attention despite having built four, five if you include the 50550, and never turning down an opportunity to watch one in action on YouTube. My upgrades will start as soon as my remotoring project on Wild Swan is completed.

Will this be a fictitious freelance or one of the original eight? S112 had the rear frames trimmed and a conventional buffer beam fitted to allow for the mechanical stoker.

Just curious, which loco?

Many years ago at the previous house our neighbour had two thirty foot leylandii trees planted to screen his caravan from the house. Beneath them lay a deep carpet of needles which was quickly adopted by our cats as a giant litter tray. This worked fine, neighbour was tolerant and understanding and all was well until we decided to push out the boat and have a real Christmas tree. Hallelujah said the cats, indoor facilities.......