Jim Martin

Those things at the back: they're the pick-ups, right? Jim

Isn't Camden Bank a big P4 layout? If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's been in MRJ a few times. Jim

I can't watch "Shane": that kid is just so annoying! When I got my first DVD player, the first DVD I bought to play on it was "Once Upon A Time In The West". Jim

I think that the BBA kits went out of production a few years ago, but a small number were manufactured a little while back because people kept asking about them. I'd have a few if they were there to be had. Jim

If they're going to pay by PayPal, which most people do, in my experience, they'll do it unprompted in the next few hours (I generally give it until the following morning for a sale that ends in late afternoon). Failing that I'd send an invoice. I think I've only ever had to send one. Jim

These photos were taken on 25/01/2018 at Liverpool Lime Street station. This is a complete set of the stock used by the contractors, Stobart Rail, for removing spoil, rubble etc. from the construction of the two new platforms. I suppose these are the spiritual descendants of the ancient open wagons and industrial tank locos which appeared in S.W.A. Newton's photos of the building of the Great Central. All of the wagons appear to be the same size. In a couple of the side-on shots you can see the rail clips, which should allow anyone who knows what modern sleeper spacing is to make a reasonable estimate of the length. I think that the bodies are not attached to the underframes: certainly each body is fitted for lifting either by forklift or by crane (or a skip lorry, possibly). There are at least two underframe types and several body styles. Only the underframes carry numbers, as far as I can see. The photos show the whole set in order, starting at the end furthest from the buffer stops. U/frame no. W142 (2 views) U/frame no. W145 (2 views) U/frame no. W12? U/frame no. W030 U/frame no. W??? U/frame no. W125 Mercedes road-railer U/frame no. W146 U/frame no. W144 U/frame no. W143 U/frame no. W141 U/frame no. W126 U/frame no. W029 Jim

Are you sure that second one isn't superelevation for high-speed cornering? Jim

Just to be clear, when I mentioned a "class 158+156 combination" above, I meant a 4-car train: an entire class 158 and an entire class 156. Jim

There was a clear gap between the two cars when we finally got out of the station - there was about a 6-inch gap between the gangways. My train was diverted to Manchester Piccadilly and terminated there (it was supposed to go to Victoria and then on to Liverpool) and passengers for Liverpool were directed to the 17:37 East Midlands train to Lime Street. This was a 158+156 combination and was, unsurprisingly, very full. I was in the corridor of the 158 and there was a fair bit of gallows humour regarding the two people who were standing right in the corridor connection with one foot in each car. Jim

Leeds station is currently suffering heavy disruption after a train separated on the Western approach. I just left there on a TPE Newcastle-Liverpool service (now a Newcastle-Manchester service and running way late) and 150203 was standing just outside the station, surrounded by people in hi-viz and with an appreciable gap between the two cars. It looks like the station was essentially closed down, albeit teeming with people, for a good half hour at least. I imagine that Northern will be on the hook for serious money. Jim

There are several movies on Youtube which show bits of the area. A search for "Pathe South Bank" will get you some. Unfortunately, although there are a number of aerial shots of HMS Belfast, almost every one ends just as the camera is pulling out enough to take in Tooley Street! I visited HMS Belfast with my mother and sister in what must have been the mid-to-late 70s: frankly, I have no recollection of the area being quite as much of a dump as it appears to have been at that time. Jim

It's possible that he was actually right. There's a long tradition of English (and probably British, but I don't know for certain) people mispronouncing Scandinavian names. Jan Molby's name is generally pronounced "Moll-bee" in the UK, but should be "Murl-boo". The local news reporters here pronounced former Everton goalkeeper Thomas Myhre's name as "My-rer" for several years before having a stab at the (apparently more authentic) "Moor-er", only to give up in the face of listener complaints and go back to the old way. I don't know about Ole Olsen, but unless you know 100% that it's pronounced a certain way, you might just have encountered someone showing off his knowledge of correct Danish pronounciation. Alternatively, you might have encountered someone showing off his knowledge of another Scandinavian language and assuming that they're all the same. Jim

You could try E.L. Ahrons' Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century, which I think was an anthology of articles from the Railway Magazine from about 1920. I've seen copies, but never sat down and read one: there are several volumes and while copied in good condition can cost a lot, some are ridiculously cheap:https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/locomotive-and-train-working-in-the-latter-part-of-the-nineteenth-century/author/ahrons/. You can find a list of the volumes, together with a pithy assessment of these and other books by Ahrons, at http://www.steamindex.com/library/ahrons.htm. Based on your interests, it seems like you'd be after Volume 5: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=locomotive+and+train+working+in+the+nineteenth+century&client=ms-android-motorola&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj12b7xtvrYAhUK6RQKHRg2CBw4ChD8BQgPKAE&biw=360&bih=512#imgrc=k0fH_jkqrnXC5M: Jim

What had they been carrying for the interior to be that colour? They usually seem to be rust-coloured. Jim

A set of drawings for these locomotives and the class 18T altered (LNER classes J58 and J59) were published in Model Railway Constructor in December 1968. They were by C.A. Reddy, who did a lot of GCR locomotive drawings around that time. Jim

A typical Royal Navy destroyer of WW2 was about 330' long, which is well over 4' in either 1:76 or 1:72. A Flower-class corvette would be about 2'8" long (206' full size); and a Motor Torpedo Boat, which isn't even a ship, would be almost a foot long (generally about 73' full size). I'd have thought that a ship to either scale would be so overpowering as a scenic feature that no-one's going to question whether it's exactly to scale. The thing that I find problematic about ships on layouts is that there's an immense amount of rigging, antennae etc. all of which is easily visible at railway modelling scales (even in N), which gets left off because the builder is building a model railway and not a model ship display. The thing is that it is visible and the lack of it is visible too. Jim

Speaking as someone who never has been and never will be in the army, it seems to me that the "Be the Best" brand (which is only 24 years old, and so scarcely an integral part of the army's historic heritage) exists mainly for recruitment purposes. I'd have thought that once people are actually in the army other slogans, i.e. regimental mottos, assume greater importance. That being the case, the kind of people generally roped in by the media to give an opinion - usually politicians and former military commanders - are almost certainly not the target audience for the slogan. I don't know how much work went into this decision: maybe the agency involved simply dreamed it up over a liquid lunch one Friday; but if they did the research, by which I mean "really did run it past people in the intended target audience, and found that they thought it was too dated, elitist and non-inclusive to make the idea of signing up for the army seem attractive" then that's how it is. The opinion of the Secretary of State for Defence is at best irrelevant and at worst, if the brand is that unappealing to potential recruits, actively unhelpful. Jim

The BSAs also operated between Sheffield and Seaforth (Liverpool) carrying stainless steel slab for export. They were later augmented by the BVA flat wagons and associated "kassette" intermodal units, which were purpose-built for the traffic (see http://www.kockumsindustrier.se/en-us/our-products/productdetail/?categoryid=1&productid=10).There was an article in Rail Express a number of years ago which covered the entire operation in some detail. I can get hold of the reference, but not for a couple of days. Jim <Edit>Looking at the linked photo, these are different BSAs. The ones at Liverpool were based on BBAs and were more like bogie bolster wagons. This is why Paul Bartlett and others counsel against relying on TOPS codes to identify wagons</edit>

Didn't the little scrap compound at Northampton process a lot of old rail? There was a feature about it in, I think, Model Rail a good few years back. Jim

I'd have expected the answer to this to be "black and more black", but the first paragraph of the"livery" section in the RCTS green book reads: The "Austerities" were originally painted in khaki-brown livery, with 2in-high cab side numerals, tender letters and broad arrow motif, all painted in matt golden yellow. From March 1943 the cab numerals became 6in for clarity whilst operating in the United Kingdom, and finally 8in from the end of December 1943. From March 1944 the livery became khaki-green, whilst at a later date "W D" appeared on the tender in 12in letters with a 10in broad arrow motif" So apparently not Jim

I've been an enthusiastic follower of Grahame's thread and now I'm loving this one, too! My own building plans have been held up by some problems about fitting the structures into the available space, so I'm most impressed by the scale of this building. Most of all, though, is the sheer awesomeness of using episodes of The Sweeney as a modelling reference. Jim

Rail Express is running a series about active depots at the moment. Part 2 is in the current issue and covers London, Southern England and Wales. Last month was the North of England, I think. Jim

So it isn't the Fell, then? Jim

I'd second this sentiment. I think this is a smashing book and at the prices listed here, I'd definitely be buying a copy (note for future generations: at the time of writing, this is £5-10 including postage). Obviously, this is post, rather than pre-grouping; but there are many references to pre-grouping locomotives and operating patterns. Jim

Well it worked for Claudia Cardinale in Once Upon A Time In The West. Apart from her husband and entire family being wiped out, obviously. Jim