cobbler

Will you be checking the "magazines" in Amsterdam to see if they sell Rail Express ?? Enjoy your "business trip" Richard

I have a rare unsigned copy, it's still in the plastic subscription wrapper. I have put it away to keep it safe and use it as part of my pension fund portfolio Richard

The coal yard at Northampton behind the station lasted until the very early 1980,s. it consisted of two dead end sidings with the bagging plant in between. I joined the railway in 1982 on a youth training scheme and on work experience was allowed to walk round the yard checking if the wagons were empty and taking the numbers to pass on to TOPS. They handled fitted and unfitted 16 and 21 tonne mineral wagons, Mco, Mcv, Mdo and Mdv. They were unloaded by hand into the digger bucket which moved the coal to the bagging plant. Each siding had several upright sleepers sunk into the ground and spaced out for the wagon doors to be rested on to allow the coal merchant to stand on and shovel coal out The loads would come in each day on the trip from Bescot. The merchant was Wiggins Coal, they also had a small weighbridge with a brick office next to the road entrance into the yard. The sidings are still called the coal yard but today handle stone. Richard

Picked up a blue one from my local model shop in Northampton yesterday, they had received two, Tarmac green and a NCB blue. Very disappointed in its running, put it on my layout last night, clean code 100 track and Electrofrog points, initially didn't move, after a nudge it stuttered and spluttered on straight track, stalled and stuttered on points. Wheels are clean, tried to run it in, even spluttered on a rolling road and kept stalling Richard

I have a copy of Steam World from October 2006. There is an article on Cashmores at Newport, there is a photograph of B 950541 , lettered Pontnewyntdd, taken in the yard Richard