602Squadron

Yeah, in many years of using the 07:30 it wasn't unusual to arrive in Euston a minute or two early, but I don't recall doing it in less than 70 minutes.

I'm trying to find a drawing of a GNR Ivatt "A5" class 4-2-2. Anybody know whether one has been published in the model press or elsewhere? Model Railway News in particular used to publish loco drawings every month, but I've not found anything in the indexes i've searched, nor in Railway Modeller or Model Railway Constructor. Thanks.

Until the current emergency timetable was introduced, for several years the 07:30 has been timed non-stop Birmingham New Street to Euston in 73 minutes (arr. 08:43). There is no equivalent down service.

There were also the refurbished CEPs which retained a lone standard class compartment tucked away at one end of the TBCK (rebuilt from the former TCK). Most passengers didn't seem to notice it, or perhaps assumed it was first class, so it was quite often possible to travel in glorious isolation on less busy trains.

Very sad news. I only spoke to David once, but he was clearly a nice guy and very dedicated to what he did. My thoughts are with his family and friends. Bernard Hulland

Many thanks for posting the pictures, Jinx. I used to pass the Shredded Wheat sidings when walking over Hunters Bridge every morning to catch the bus to school from the bus station, and occasionally see the Fowler standing outside it's shed for a day or two at a time, although I never saw it moving or even obviously "in steam". Really good to see that it's survived, and beautifully restored.

Robert Hendry's "Goods Wagons in Colour" (P36) has a colour shot of 80072 on 27/7/64, at Fenny Compton on a rake of iron ore hoppers conveying chalk for the Greaves Sidings Blue Circle Cement works.

Does anybody have information about the interior layout of the York Route Learning Saloon DE320765, converted from a Gresley Diagram 23 TK in 1959? I know there are a number of threads on RMWeb and other forums about this vehicle, but nobody has mentioned the interior arrangements. I've not been able to find any reference to a diagram number in the NRM records or Hugh Longworth's books, so have only been able to make assumptions about what modifications were made from looking closely at exterior shots. The best view is the one taken from the compartment side at York on 22/8/63, and posted on the BR Loco Hauled Coaching Stock Yahoo Group by "Hull Trains". From the left hand end, this seems to show: Toilet and first two compartments formed into a saloon with six banked wooden benches The third compartment narrowed and converted to a toilet (door droplight blanked out and RH compartment window fitted with white glass) Next three compartments combined into two, with new partition on left side of the fifth door. Exterior doors retained on the right hand compartment only, which I surmise is the guards brake - the other large compartment (doors sealed) might be a kitchen or seating area. Saloon arranged as at left hand end. The saloon benches appear to be offset to the right hand side of the saloon (looking towards the ends), presumably with an access corridor down the left hand side. Can anybody assist, please? Bernard Hulland

Sadly, Wheels of Steel closed last year, a great shame in my opinion. However, Jeff Williams is still trading online at wheels-of-steel. org.

Only just picked this thread up, but I'm sorry to hear of Roger's passing. Although I can't claim we were close friends, I do remember Roger from Welwyn Garden City MRC in around 1969-70. My sympathies are with his family. Bernard Hulland

Many thanks to everybody who's contributed to this thread. That's been really useful and I appreciate your help.

I've been using Humbrol varnishes with no problems for about 50 years, but recently their matt varnish, both in brush-on and spray forms, has been drying with a nasty grey residue. This is not an isolated issue - three tinlets and two spray cans purchased separately at different outlets over the last year have all produced the same effect. I've tried Tamiya flat clear in spray form, which gives a very nice finish on the Halfords car matt black I use for locos, but reacts with the gloss varnish I usually apply under waterslide transfers to leave a badly bubbled surface, although it doesn't affect the transfers themselves. It's also now had the same effect on Railmatch enamel paint, which means I am going to have to strip and repaint a whole rake of wagons. The varnishes are always well stirred with an electric paint stirrer, the spray can is properly shaken, and the paint that has been affected on the wagons had been dried for between three and eight days. Has anybody had similar experiences, or am I doing something wrong? Can anybody recommend another product?

It's certainly an LMS-design Travelling Post Office (TPO) vehicle. From that angle it's not possible to positively identify exactly which one, but, given the location, I think it would be safe to conclude it's a Sorting Van (POS) allocated to the Huddersfield - Whitehaven TPO. The 1974 RCTS Coaching Stock book lists 21 LMS design POS (plus 2 stowage vans or POTs) still in service at that date, some allocated to the Eastern, Western and Scottish Regions. All gangwayed Post Office vehicles built before 1959 were fitted with offset British Standard gangways, probably originally to allow slightly more space in the interior of the early 4 and 6 wheel vans for the sorting racks. Subsequent builds retained the feature so that they could work with older vehicles. This did not, in itself, necessarily cause operational disadvantages as all vans had to be formed the correct way round in any case to ensure that the loading doors and exchange apparatus (when fitted and operational) was on the correct side of the train. The BR standard vans built from 1959 onwards had central pullman gangways compatible with their buckeye couplings and BR Mark 1 body framing. This meant that they could only work together in sets, although 8 POTs were built with offset BS gangways to enable them to work with earlier vehicles, mainly on the Midland (Newcastle - Bristol) TPO. After the last pre-nationalisation vans were withdrawn in 1977, they were refitted with pullman gangways. I'd recommend anybody interested in TPO vehicles and working to get hold of a copy of Peter Johnson's "The British Travelling Post Office" (Ian Allan 1985) or the revised edition "Mail by Rail" (Ian Allan 1995).

Well, I'm quite impressed with the first issue on the whole. The content is pleasantly varied, although Trevor Wright's article on Codsall station originally appeared in MREMag back in July 2015, but it's a nice model well deserving of the prize it won and was worth another read. Like others, I had some difficulty with the scrolling and sizing - the default zoom in double page view was almost too small to be readable on a laptop, and reset itself back after each scroll, but no doubt these are teething troubles that will be corrected. Oh, and two different contact email addresses appear on Pages 29 and 69. But it's early days yet and the signs are good.

I suspect I may be one of the much criticised "long winded correspondents", but in my defence may I say that my motivation in writing to MREmag was to share what knowledge and experience I may have acquired over many years of modelling, research and railway management, with those who wanted to know. Depending on the subject, this can sometimes be difficult to do in less than 200 words. Yes, some threads did ramble on a bit (rucksacks at exhibitions anyone?), but personally I found "Having Your Say" an interesting forum, above all conducted in a spirit of mutual respect that is, unfortunately, unusual in certain parts of the online community. I await developments, but I would again like to express my appreciation for Phil's hard work and the contributions made by all the regular contributors, particularly Brian Macdermott and the poll team. I hope we can remain in touch in the future through whatever replaces MREmag. Bernard Hulland

The GNSR 4-4-0 you refer to was Class D47/2 No. 45A, originally built in 1866 to a design by Cowan, and rebuilt by Manson sometime between 1889 and 1891. It was repainted in GNSR green for the 1925 Railway Centenary procession, in which it hauled a rake of GNSR coaches. According to the RCTS Green Book Volume 4, it was then withdrawn on 31st July 1925, but retained for a short time as Inverurie Works shunter pending possible preservation before being scrapped later the same year. A similar fate befell North British Class J31 0-6-0 No.381 (LNER No. 1114), built in 1868, which was partially restored to an approximate appearance of it's original condition for the procession, but scrapped immediately afterwards. Details are in the RCTS Volume 5. I haven't come across any references to coaching or wagon stock being officially retained for preservation and then scrapped, and, given that apart from Royal Saloons and other "special" vehicles there wasn't much interest in preserving rolling stock until relatively recent times, I think it is unlikely that any vehicles survived in this way as part of company policies. However, withdrawn coaches were often retained for departmental purposes or sold on for other uses. Many have since been rescued and restored from these sources, although many more have been lost, and these may offer a way of populating your layout with rolling stock. For example, there is a picture in the RCTS Volume 10B of Sentinel Steam Railcar Old John Bull in use as a cricket pavilion at Darlington in 1961, and one of the Clayton 4-wheel trailers built to work with the railcars as a summerhouse at Cowden in 1977. Both the National Coal Board and Ministry of Defence used interesting old coaches and wagons for many years after withdrawal and could provide a rich source of "virtual preservation" - see Robert Hendry's British Railway Coaching Stock in Colour for some ideas. The Longmoor Military Railway and the former Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway (under MoD control until 1960) are also worth researching. Right up until closure, the S&M possessed eight former London Tilbury and Southend railway open coaches built for the Ealing Broadway to Southend service via the LT District Line - what a shame at least one of these did not survive.