doilum

I took the time to browse through a book of Jack Hulme's book "world famous round here". There is a photo of miners working on a trackside allotment in the shadow of Fryston colliery. The photo dates from the 1930s or perhaps the war years as all the wagons are in colliery livery. What surprised me was the scale of the cultivation with a patch of cabbages covering perhaps half a hectare. Likewise the green houses were more on the scale of the municipal park than a suburban garden. The sheds too are on the scale of a single garage and there is not an old door fence in sight. These are I think, a feature of the 1960s as slum clearance gained pace. On reflection, there are no pigeon lofts either, this may be a dig for victory allotment on land released by the colliery owners. A Google image search for Jack Hulme Fryston showed another photo with a tractor and trailer lending weight to the wartime date. A later post war photo ( the wagons have NCB lettering) shows this area has reverted to pasture and was probably the field reserved by the colliery for grazing the ponies during the annual holiday.

The question is: when reality was ridiculous, do we model it faithfully?

I wasn't that far off with the first guess!

Sounds like a plan. My instant guesstimate was based on the length of the points. This would have given a ridiculous 1:12 so I doubled it!

That is fearsome! Must be at least 1:24 even allowing for the foreshortening effect of the camera.

Just a reminder. In the real world ( no flat baseboards) the third dimension goes both up and down. It is thus possible to split the difference between the two lines and reduce the necessary gradient. I have no real knowledge or interest in things great Western but many of the typical LNER coal drops had minimal gradient as the road access was lowered to suit. That said, the landsale drops at both Whitwood and Glasshoughton collieries were of train set proportions and a loco often struggled with two fully loaded 20 ton hoppers.

A few months ago I visited a modern dismantlers to collect a pair of seats on behalf of my brother in law. On entering a clean office which reassembled a man cave they apologised that the seats were not yet out for inspection and the complementary coffee machine was unavailable due to covid regulations. I was given a hi Viz vest and we went out into the stacks of vehicles. Of course the one I wanted was in the middle of the stack, but no problem, a giant fork lift appeared and extricated it for my approval. I was happy so the young lad set to work and in ten minutes I was on my way. I too have spent many happy / frustrating hours six inches deep in puddles removing parts and then negotiating with a dubious crowd of crooks, sarky beggers and the occasional honest John ......... Progress. I think so.

Have just been asked to fit a red switch to daughter's new horse box. I did her last one as the tacho kept flattening the battery especially in winter.

Behind my childhood home in Castleford there was a plot of abandoned land of perhaps 3hectares. This had been ear marked for a new school in the 1930s ( eventually built in the mid ,70s) but was used for the war effort. Whilst there were several brick built structures eg pig sties and green house bases and an enclosed poultry compound made from railway sleepers, I do not recall any sheds. Up to now I had not given it much thought. Time to research further.

It is my best guess. My younger daughter looks after the local history photo collection in Castleford library. She hadn't seen these before and thought they would be great additions if the copyright could be agreed.

Have just been asked to fit a red switch to daughter's new horse box. I did her last one as the tacho kept flattening the battery especially in winter.

Perhaps we were better at finding them. We ran a painting competition in the local schools and distributed complementary tickets to attract young families. That said, there was more genuine interest among teenagers and there was debate about small groups of unaccompanied lads visiting the show, often on both days. They were never any bother and perhaps returned to modelling in later years.

Guinness. Sorry for some unknown reason my tablet is not loading photos. Bedtime!

Guinness too shows clear signs of feline dementia. She is happy enough but we are paranoid about keeping the front door shut and are watchful when she gets close to the pond.

Hudswell Clarke 1886 of 1955. Originally "Whitwood #8" ( a whole batch of eight were delivered new in 1951-6 to what was then the central work shop) it spent it's full working life at POW before being scrapped on site in 1972.

Excellent. I haven't seen these before. I guess that #3 had by then replaced the fireless loco with the high level cab. Is the additional pipe work to do with remote control of the coke hopper wagon. For those new to the industry, this wagon was drawn alongside the ovens and filled with the red hot coals before passing under the quenching tower. The steam given off by this process was quite acidic and, if the westerly winds strong enough, could leave holes in the washing half a mile away. The truly amazing thing is that these photos were taken from the public footpath that ran right through the plant. The loco is Coal Products #3, in the words of the late Ron Rockett, a name as imaginative as the light blue livery was practical! My IRS book lists her as Hawthorne Leslie 3575 from 1923 which eventually went to Tanfield for preservation. A birthday has brought David Monk Steel's book on industrial wagons. This confirms that the hopper car doors and tilt were air powered from a semi permanently connected loco.

Recently I helped my brother in law assemble a large steel shed. The panels came in two large cardboard boxes measuring approximately 5'x3'. We used the lid of one as a workbench across the top of two Wheely bins. Despite constant showers it survived the two days it took to decipher the instructions and erect said shed. With an internal structure of cross bracing and the top glued to the base this would have made a very rigid and durable platform. Many years ago my first 7mm layout was constructed from reclaimed hardboard using a hot glue gun. After two or three shows it was put aside in the cellar. Eight years on it was resurected for one more show and then gifted to another modeller. Modern hardboard is not quite what it was, but a full sheet of 3mm MDF is £15 at B&Q.........

As children we tried hard to keep a straight face when grandad ( born 1895,) harked on about watching the returning salmon leaping the Weir in his childhood. We remember the early 1960s when a combination of high river level, weir and easterly wind created a foul smelling foam that could completely cover cars in the adjacent road. The weir now has a salmon ladder, who knows, I may live to see the return of granddad's salmon.

The power station outlet into the river Foss in York was a favourite fishing spot on freezing January Saturdays. It was rumoured that if someone fell into the river Aire men would place bets on whether the unfortunate would drown or dissolve first. The clever person was the one who invested in the purchase of the fishing rights on the Aire through Castleford about five years before the clean up started.

Never seen it modelled. I believe the screens at Wheldale operated on a rope haulage. Once the final wagon had reached the shute and was full the loco would return to take the full rake. I doubt that this was unique.

Almost as pretty as two Mardy monsters!

The firmer the cat ban, the greater the challenge to the feline. When cat finally gets in, and it will, the greater the risk of damage. Best approach is to convince cat that it is no big deal and keep a cushion on the floor by the heater. Or, go for a rescue senior whose jumping days are done.

If modellers followed this practice Hornby would be in trouble!!

And that's the easy bit, pure GWR! ExplAin why a former LMS shed like Normanton was allocated ex LNER locos in order to run trains venturing east beyond Castleford. OK the J72 was to stay compliant with a strict weight restriction, but keeping a D49 to run the daily Scarborough train? This might have the making of an interesting thread!

Look on the bay of E or Amazon for a soldering kit. Should be around the £20 mark and include everything you need to get started. Ignore all informed debate on expensive irons and just have a go. Cleanliness IS godliness. Don't expect solder to take to a fishplate without some abrasive cleaning. If the soldering iron is trying your patience, a quick wipe on a damp kitchen towel works wonders. At this stage of your journey you cannot beat Peco.