doilum

It was a much bigger car. We bought one as a second car for the winter(Dutton hibernated). The top of the drive was just 72" between the houses and as I lined up for the first time I clipped the nearside mirror. Deep breath, try again and hit the offside mirror. Big curse, try a third time and hit both mirrors. This was wider than my friends Vauxhall Carlton or next door's Volvo 144. It had to live out on the road where, one rainy Saturday night it was stolen. We found it next day just half a mile away with the back seats down and, from the wrapping litter, it had been borrowed as a passion wagon. It was a truly poverty spec example in chocolate brown with matching plastic interior and a 1.3 A series engine that couldn't catch it's own shadow. My wife actually liked it. To be fair to the Maestro, one of the best days out in my life was, five up, to the 1986 Challenge cup final in an MG turbo version that my uncle had blagged from a dealer contact as an "extended test drive". Much of the trip down the A1 at 100+ ! Better than an Escort? In poverty spec the Ford is much more fun if less roomy. Would I have swapped the XR3s for an MG if the drive had been wider? No.

My guess is that the unions might have had a say in things. Whilst GM pushed ahead towards a common European model (already 8 years behind Ford) by adopting the Kadett body shells and allowing Wayne Cherry's style department to do a nose job, they secured work for the plant building 1257cc Viva engines. Dad had several Vivas and Chevettes. I don't recall big problems with starter motor removal on Vivas so I guess the problems came from the different cross member on the Chevette. Main problem was that the 55 bhp couldn't easily be increased without spending lots of money and compromising reliability unlike the Ford crossflow .

Helps if you have a tame mechanic with a hoist. Up in the air, remove the wheel and get behind the wheel arch liner. Astra's are no better. Back in the day the average ten year old could swap the bulb on a Chevette or Fiesta without any tools I five minutes including handwash after.

A much underrated car. If only GM politics had allowed it the 1.6 used in the Opel Kadett, Ford might not have sold so many Escorts. Despite two years of hooligan driving I never had any incident or off road excursion. Eventually the boy needed more racer and it was replaced by an RS 2000.

If the wagon floor has an area of approximately 11 sq metres, 1 mm of rain = 11 litres of water = almost 3 gallons !!!! OK, most would run off but having had the joy of humping wooden joists that have sat in the merchant's yard through a wet month, the difference in weight is not to be scoffed at.

Huge things with a bloody great Merlin engine under each wing........

Designed by Mazda adopted by Ford. Not sure who actually makes them. One less servicei item for my NC.

There are four silver coins of 1,2,3&4 p values. The largest (4p) is about the size of a single modern penny.

Thanks. Not the prettiest but looks like a powerful beast.

Excellent. I think #44 is a RSH product, but what is #29?

The tare weight of the wagon was a matter of trust between the colliery and the coal merchant. There were potentially significant gains to be had from whoever owned the wagon. Does anyone know if there were regulations requiring wagons to be reassessed during their working lives?

The grey primer helps. I think I used electrian's solder for this extension to ensure it didn't fall off as I added the beading etc.

The more interesting question is WHY you / I cannot envision it. For those aged over 55 there is perhaps the excuse that we were originally taught to measure and think imperially and then translate into a metric equivalent. Those under this age will have been educated in a metric only system. Dad was a primary school head and came home in late 1971 with a box full of wooden rulers. The education office had issued stocks of new metric rulers, weights and jugs with an instruction to destroy all imperial measuring devices. We were never short of paint stirrers. In 1979 the JMB examination board stopped accepting geography answers that were not given in the correct metric units. Forty years ought to be enough time! Perhaps the problem is that we were / are not taught to guesstimate distance, volume and weight an advantageous skill for persons young and not so young.

No confusion with metric ( an English invention?) . Simple base ten and an integration of weight, volume and area. 1000cc,= one litre = one kg of water. 1000 kg = one metric ton. Makes water collection and storage calculations a doddle! That said, those of us brought up imperial were given an arithmetical agility that bewilders metric children. Money started in base 12 went to base 20,10 or 8 depending on whether you used shillings florins or half crowns. Weight went from base 16 to 14 to................ All good fun but anyone who thinks that poles, chains and acres are superior is welcome to them. The problem is that certain parts of our popular press have constantly undermined the metric system and that education has not celebrated and explained it's strengths. Rant over.

On the FS as originally built, the slightly curved door opening extended vertically to the height of the windows. This is how the Hachette cab side is supplied. Shortly after the introduction of the corridor tenders it was extended vertically further to make the cabs less draughty. Careful study of A3s show this clearly. It looks a little odd but was appreciated by the crews. It also requires the handrail extending. Beware of recent photos of the preserved FS as I am not sure how they have restored the cab side. If you look on the St Frusquin thread there is a photo of the completed loco in grey primer. If you compare the Hachette cab side the difference is obvious.

Try a Google search for " Hachette flying Scotsman".

Not railway related but as a small child one of the neighbours was an independent barge owner. In summer he transported wheat and barley, in winter,coal. Must have had a good brush!

Can't remember what the window issue was but there are references in the contemporary build threads. I used the etch as the inner frame and glued it to the clear acrylic provided. This was then glued with a touch of contact adhesive after all the painting was finished. The door opening is as you described but with a little shim brass reinforcing from the rear. Once cleaned up with the Dremel noone would guess. If I recall correctly the first issue included a spare cab side to practice on. Definitely worth the effort and easily within the skill set of anyone who has got this far already!

Had a grey Triang one in the early / mid 60s. Dad built a working coal drop based on the picture in the catalogue. Now I know where I get it from!

Back then, personal risk assessment was done by observed experience rather than third party armchair perception. Noone would recommend a return to the pre health & safety days but we live in a world governed by people with little or no appreciation for the task in hand or the overall picture. My guess is that this guy would wager that he could safely put his pocket watch down half an inch from where the furthest lump would land.

Sadly the railway was never reassembled after the house move and was sold as a project. The coaches use a solid bar connection that is spring loaded and can be replaced with a conventional coupling hook and 3link chain. The wheels are the heavy fine scale items from the Home of O gauge and run freely.

5mm scale on 16.5 or 6mm on 18.83 gauge?

Deserves to be modelled.

Just curious. Could you give a three line account of a railway I haven't heard of before? Sorry brain now engaged ! Excellent Wikipedia account.

A different challenge from personal experience. At the previous house I had a continuous run with 5' 9" curves at one end and a 5' & 7' curves at the other. I found that whilst my A4 and J25 had no problem with trains of 40+ wagons they struggled with more than 3 of my Kirk Gresley coaches. There was no buffer lock or derailment, just an insurmountable level of friction on the wheels. The coaches are individually free wheeling and have run successfully on a club layout. Perhaps that quoted minimum of 6' radius is not far off the mark.