doilum

I got out to the workshop as promised. I have included three other wagons that are/were available. The Slater's is the largest along with a similar B type on a white metal chassis. The ICI wagon has a white metal chassis and a brass tank but I cannot remember the kit manufacturer. The smaller three are my scratch builds on Slater's chassis. One of these came from the bay of E and turned out to be a short MR type. The intended tank later found a home as a diesel tank on Frydale and I rolled a new one. It makes a real contrast with the Slater's offering.

Before Christmas I promised some photos of my workshop test track Frydale. Having built Houghton Street, I found I wanted a ready to go test track in my 8x9' workshop. Frydale is 7' in length plus a short run off in case it goes out. It is designed to be operated from the front with manually operated points. The track is all recycled including the points bought as cripples from a GOG event. The buildings are scratch built from Plastikard and I have made use of several items and structures left over from previous projects.

Were current in the early 1980s

Anyone remember the Flying Scotsman in Normanton?

The jaguar MK1 was the first choice rear axle.

I think you might be thinking of the Viva ,HA which was based on a transverse leaf spring. Vintage looks but true independent front suspension. It survived long after the switch to the HB in the van version.

I was recently given an Airfix controller that appears to have been made by H&M. It is however, incredibly noisy. Any ideas folks?

The old H&M range usually had this type of knob. A good Clipper or Duette is often to be seen as the emergency standby even today. My personal preference is for a separate reverse switch.

Exactly!!! Now we have seagulls, rural background sounds and the almost constant bellow of someone cold starting their class 37.......

I am given to understand that the main reason that the mechanical stokers never really found favour with drivers was the need to use carefully screened and graded coal. This I assume would involve coaling from a specific wagon or bunker as opposed to the usual practice of finding convenient large lumps that burnt steadily without too much attention. Our school boilers had mechanical stokers. The coal was delivered by road in covered hopper lorries and blown into the covered bunkers through a 10 hose.

Four good excuses for another model?

Capacitor Discharge Unit.

It's still snowing! I have just had a quick browse of my Bill Hudson books. Nothing in vol 1. Nine of interest in vol 2. Two specific to Manchester. Three in vol 3. Two in vol 4. These are the acid tanks I modelled. Still easily available for around a tenner from online sources.

"Uneven"

Sorry, I was thinking back to the days of H&M. I think the club scrapped at least two layouts because the points had passed the point of no return! That said, the home brewed CDU would now be classified as lethal weapons.

I have a soft spot for these smaller wagons and have three built using Slater's underframes. The cylinder ends need to be domed. This was achieved by finding a large socket of the correct diameter and a larger socket, then pressing a square of brass between them in a large vice. Once the basic circular shape is formed the test is done by miniature panel beating. Easier to do than describe. The material cost is low and I probably had a failure rate of 25% but was happy with the outcome. The tanks were formed from individual panels of shim brass over a plastic or wooden former. Pictures to follow when it stops snowing.

One day I will have a layout so perfect that the only thing to worry about is............... Seriously, if the click is a thump due to a home-brewed CDU then you might have a problem. Peco's points were not designed to take this punishment for long. Maybe you are blessed with much better hearing than most of us!

Killed one of my koi. Daughter lost one too a mile away.

Houghton Street is protected in transit by strips of plastic soffit material. These are 15 cm deep with a 2cm return lip. They we were offcuts from the bargeboards I used on my garage. Most towns will have a supplier of these types of material and a personal visit may secure some useful offcuts. In any case they are not stupidly expensive. The layout has integral backscenes and is designed to be transported laying on the back boards. The plastic front covers allows the legs to be squeezed in on top of the boards.

A good sharp chisel. At least 25mm wide. Then 40 grade abrasive paper. Don't forget the six litres of elbow grease. Alternatively, in the absence of EG, a soft pad on the angle grinder. Dust protection essential.

Had to look twice to make sure this wasn't Witherspoon's Glassblower in Castleford' old post office!

I had a memorable trip from Birmingham to Wakefield in the mid 70s. My usual Paignton to Newcastle train was cancelled due to an incident on the southern entrance to New St involving an 08 pilot and the centenary post. Replacement DMUs got me home with changes at Derby and Sheffield and ending at Kirkgate when dad was waiting at Westgate. Each interval was spent in the bar at the respective stations. Happy days..........

Interesting idea but, having tried most of the other options I have come to favour a soft pastel green/ grey that, with eyes half closed, fades into the edge of the board.

3mm MDF is better than most modern hardboard for this purpose.

My late father told me that, as a late teenager just after the war, after hours drinking could be found on Normanton station by giving the staff a hand with exchange of mail bags around 11:30 pm. The bar was open for employees only to 12:30am.