K14

Things Ain't What They Used To Be - Duke Ellington

When we gave W231 its 'facelift' we had the interior to bits in a fairly big way - all the seats out, all the polished trim off and also the wall panels above the windows (as the gutters were replaced & we needed access to the cant rail channel). This was the first time it had been done in preservation & revealed a few things... The saloon walls were finished with a self-coloured predecessor to Formica; below the waist was a very dark brown - near enough 'Bourneville' - & the upper panels were very nearly white (memory suggests they may have had a green tinge which could imply they were some kind of celluloid that had discoloured over time). Jointing strips were brown-anodised aluminium H-section all round. Seat ends, interior sliding doors & the window surrounds were all stained & varnished dark walnut. One of the seat backs was chalked 9/61 which indicates its last shopping date. The regulator in the underfloor small 'battery' box bears the same date. The cab & vestibule were grained dark & light oak with the waistline being the nominal division. The van was also grained, but had been hacked about over the years such that next to no clues survived as to the graining arrangement. As such I took as my reference the surviving ex-factory graining in 7371 which is light oak top to bottom apart from the Guard's door which was dark oak. It may well be that this is wrong & the van ought to follow the cab pattern. For modelling purposes I'd suggest dark brown/white for the saloons & a deep red-brown/sandy brown for the cab, vestibule & van. Mid/dark brown for the lino. Another intriguing variation is the positioning of the PCA box & downpipe on the end. The official shot of W221 in JL's book shows it mounted on the centre flat panel. W231 has it in the same position, but when the old paint was stripped from the end four holes emerged on the L/H angled panel that could only have held the PCA box. W225 on the South Devon shows this variant:— (photo from Wikimedia Commons) When that happened (& to which vehicles) is anybody's guess. Note that in the above pic the PCA gear should be body colour, as should the feet of the handrails on the cream and the backs of the steps & lamp bracket. Pretty sure that the handrails below the waist were red all over. With regard to works shopping intervals, the painted 'SP' date (Shopping Proposed) was 3 years from build date. A bit of paint archaeology on one of the internal panels from 7371 suggests a maximum five year interval as does an emergency tool cupboard door from 1184. One thing Bachmann seem to have missed is the white line across the driving end windows & droplights. P.

Hi Douglas, I'm not sure when W231 was re-upholstered, but it was prior to 1990, so there's a good chance that your slides of W231 show it when it still had the red 'crowsfoot'/'octopus' cloth. In that guise there is no distinction between 'smoking classes' other than the little triangular transfers on the windows. AFAIK 'filigree' was the last incarnation of the distinction. 7313 still retains its ex-service cloth in the 3rds & they are all crowsfoot; it's 1sts were clothed in the blue 'autumn leaves' pattern - again without distinction. I totally appreciate the problem of representing interiors at reduced scale & a compromise is the best that can be hoped for. A while back I attempted to produce a printed representation of the c.1900 'white star' motif & found that, even in 7mm, it just didn't work at all. For the purposes of the Hawksworth trailers, I'd suggest a dark blue/red combination for the B 'n' C vehicles & agree with your red-brown for maroon (erring towards the red). P.

er... Not as such. The cloth on the seat back looks like the 1937 'Fan' pattern:— (Stick marked at 3" intervals for scale) Hawksworth 3rd class cloth looks like this:— As far as we know it only came in one base colour, The examples above are rather faded, but the background was originally turquoise & the pattern a rich red. The above show 7372 at Didcot and is as it left BR service, This was superseded c.1949 by 'filigree':— This is the red version which was used to indicate Non-Smoking compartments. Smoking was the same pattern on a dark blue base. in W231 the small saloon (16 seats) is Non-Smoking. The photo frame on the end wall is an original BR-era fitting, but wasn't there as built. After that we get all Nationalised & find the 'crowsfoot' pattern (which the Bluebell call 'Sprig and Octopus' & date it to the mid-50s):— This example is from 7313 at Didcot and is as it left BR service, I can't be certain, but I believe that curtains & Rexine blinds were colour-coordinated to the upholstery. We have a number of Rexine blinds at Didcot that are Brown, Green, Red and Dark Blue. Some are embossed with the GWR roundel whereas others have B.R. in an oval. In W231 the cab & luggage floors are painted and the saloon & vestibule floors are covered with a mid-brown lino (this also shows the blue variant of the filigree pattern):— When I was repainting W231, I removed all the aluminium sliding vents - the first time they'd been out since the coach was purchased from BR. When stripping them down I found... Several coats of preservation-era cream over Maroon over Crimson over Cream. So it carried all three main variants. Whether it was ever lined crimson is another matter; on p.262 of Vol 2 of John Lewis' trailers book are a couple of letters dated 7th & 22nd July '52 relaying the diktat from 222 Marylebone Road that non-mainline stock should be unlined crimson & that Swindon would enforce that as of the 22nd. Pete S. C&W Dept., GWS Didcot

The Power Of Rock And Roll - Frank Marino

Still Crazy After All These Years - Ray Charles

Not Just Another Pretty Bass - Tony Levin, Stickman

Sweet Gene Vincent - Ian Dury & the Blockheads

Never Tell Your Mother She's Out of Tune - Jack Bruce

All is not as it seems... This is the other side:— Article on the setup here:— http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20141012/29406/5-strangest-secrets-universal-s-hogwarts-express

Shape Up Or Ship Out - Bobby 'Blue' Bland

Evil Hearted You - The Yardbirds

On the subject of 'cushioned' wheels, that sounds suspiciously like Mansell's Patent:— This is taken from p.132 of 'The Engineer' dated 24th August 1866, but there was an earlier summary on p.348 of the 12 Dec 1862 issue. I'm told that the split-spoked variant were much loved by the GER, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a solid-spoke version. Pete S.

Sugar The Road - Ten Years After

The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum - King Crimson

Staying with Co. Donegal's finest... Nothin' But The Devil - Rory Gallagher, Jinx

Gimme Some Money - Spinal Tap

Woodchoppers' Ball - Ten Years After

Cool For Cats - Squeeze

Long Misty Days - Robin Trower

Jump That Train - Foghat, Return Of The Boogie Men

Out On The Water - Graham Bonnet, Line-Up

1937 or thereabouts if memory serves. We refer to it as 'Fan' pattern. P.

Couple of points... The door stop on the unidentified coach is on Brake Compo 7371, and the pic of the trailer labelled 'Autocoach bell mechanism' actually shows the PCA box & rodding that links the Communication Chain to the butterflies & the brake system. The gong mechanism on a trailer is just an overgrown bicycle bell:— Pete

Step ladder duly positioned. As has already been mentioned, this is a bit of a flight of fancy as B749039 was never an Aero. It's had quite a history though... Built 1951 & served the Bass Brewery system: http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=4777 http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=5103 By the early 60s it was being used for glue traffic from Cambridge to Inverness, probably from ARL at Duxford: https://www.model-railways-live.co.uk/userfiles/image/Features/freight_onlY-6-B749039.jpg (More on these tanks here). It finally ended up at Haymarket attached to the breakdown crane. There's a heck of a lot of paint on the tank itself, so I'm hopeful that it'll respond to some excavation & can one day carry an appropriate livery. Pete.