60027Merlin

Congratulations to everyone at Harburns, a very well deserved award. Always a great service to its many customers with a pleasant atmosphere in the shop as well. It is a bit unbelievable to think back to the early 60s when the shop was further down Leith Walk, when Bob was a young rocker. Where has the time gone! Eric

Another shot taken some years ago of (another) one of Haymarket's number 1 link.

It was quite heartening, especially in view of recent conversations about the state of the hobby. Was it unusually busy for this venue? Is it by any chance a bit of a North/South thing? I've no view or agenda in asking that (I live in London), just that it occurred to me and I wondered what others thought. Chas, It could be, as modelling locos etc. for the North, especially Scotland is pretty barren in r-t-r so building kits is the only option! Eric

David, From memory it was from the late Dave Alexander who produced quite a few of useful detailing castings. Eric

If you can source an A2 it is quite easy to change the chimney etc. and produce 60539. I am not up to date as to the availability of the A2s.

Ah John, the Tennents Lager Lovelies were very popular back in the mid 60s until 1991. You should have kept some cans in storage as many are collectable fetching decent prices! Eric

Tony, Remember - Don't stop when you get old. You get old when you stop! Eric

Whilst waiting for my wife to finish reading the paper just now I decided to mess about with cropping some photos to convert them into close ups. Haymarket to the fore!

One of Haymarket's number 1 link in action.

David, Just for your info with the exception of the Non-Stop, no Haymarket A4s or their other pacifics appeared on workings south of Newcastle apart from visits to Doncaster Works. Gateshead and Heaton along with Carlisle Canal, Glasgow Eastfield, Dundee Tay Bridge and Aberdeen Ferryhill Sheds were told (in strong terms) by Haymarket that their engines had to return home as per the diagram. The Haymarket crews of course, knew of this instruction and made sure that their engine came back with them! Eric

J88 and J38 on Shed before their next duties.

Another selection of local workings mainly heading north of Edinburgh or heading from the north for the city.

Or N. B. R. Scott and Glen!

Willbrook on Shed and still not cleaned. Not quite up to Haymarket standard!

Another local class now on the deadline never to work again This was copied from the photo files as the original was lost here from the layout thread along with a lot more when the site was changed a few years ago.

J88 on the branch goods yard.

All these points and more have been intimated to various manufacturers over the years especially at the AMRSS Show in Glasgow. Faith is a great thing!

Being in the same position as you I found that the norm was three sets of accounts. The real figures, then for the taxman and lastly for the Bank. Fortunately the real situation was usually known to the branch by local intelligence as the staff were aware of goings on in the area and even customers, who knew the various business owners, could impart the real situation when asking them "innocent" questions about a local business during an interview!

Transfers of some N. B. loco names were available from Modelmaster. When the Bachmann Scottish Director was released, Modelmaster produced the names for every loco in batches of 5 or 6. No doubt the same would apply for the Scotts and Glens if produced r-t-r.

Add in to that the D30 Scott with wonderful names from Sir Walter Scott's novels and poems , as they, like the D34 Glen, had a wide area of working. .

I concur with all the expressions of shock and sadness etc. What I wish to highlight is the proper professional way in which Hattons have handled this terrible turn of events. By doing so they put to shame the great many companies (well known and otherwise especially regarding current events) over the past decades which have either closed or downsized acting in a ruthless manner in making many redundancies and leaving many unpaid debts. They have taken into account their suppliers who they would owe money to and their customers who have outstanding orders etc. Of course they have treated their staff in the proper manner treating them with civility. It is a sad state of affairs but Hattons can hold there head high by acting in a way few other Companies can claim. Best of luck to the owners and staff.

When you think of the shambles here in the 90s when the trains and bus services were "thrown open to competition" it did not take too long for transport time tables becoming a nonsense with integration being an unknown mystery. My wife has relatives on the Swiss/German border and on one of our earlier visits decades ago I spoke with an ex/B.R. employee who was working with the Swiss National Railways. He remarked that all forms of Swiss transport must have their timetables integrated, no exceptions, and should a business in one of the Cantons decide to run buses/lake steamers etc. their timetables must align with all of the other transport timetables. If not, they can forget it! All common sense. Great photos on these last few pages.

Perhaps the answer is hidden in plain sight.

Another year just about over but the year(s) on the layout stay the same. Teddy boys to the fore and rock 'n roll still hammering it out.

John, The photo of Golden Plover you refer to may be the one in an LNER Pacific book in colour. It was taken in 1961 when things were changing with the diesels. I recall seeing class 26/27s on this working to Edinburgh from Queen Street in 1962/63 in the western suburbs of Edinburgh . Eric