geoffers

Enjoyed my time there. It has always pressed my buttons and given that the big shows in Southwold and, it seems, Peterborough have fallen off the perch it is the only biggish show left for someone in the dark fastness of Norfolk who does not wish to travel more than a round trip of 200 miles or so. Thus one survives on some good local shows and the next one for me will be Norwich in April 2023 I think.

I am reluctant to change the number of the 3F mentioned from 43474 as it has been weathered by Adrian Butler at Lord and Butler and I do not wish to c*ck it up, so rule 1 applies. Runs beautifully too. Thanks for looking.

Great document and very handy. Many thanks. In Ian Allan's colour album "On Somerset and Dorset Lines" by Robert Robotham, published 1995, there is a photograph of Templecombe shed in March 1961 with several locos present (photo attributed to Colour Rail (SD267)). One of the locos is stated to be 3F no. 43474. This is interesting as I have never found any reference to this particular loco on the S&D elsewhere. Indeed it was supposed to be based in Bedford according to Longworth's researches. It is also one of the 3Fs released by Bachmann which would be a handy match. I have always assumed that the photographer noted the number down incorrectly, and that it may have been 43734. Or it was an unrecorded and short transfer or loan, though somehow I doubt this. The other locos noted are 44417, 43436,73052, 40171, and 40126 which were all locos that appeared at Templecombe (the Stanier 2-6-2Ts very briefly of course).

https://railwaymatters.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/br-standard-class-4mt-2-6-0_v3.pdf I noticed that in the tender entry in the above link Mogul numbers 76025 to 76044 are quoted as having the BR2A tender. I believe this is incorrect and photos and various books, including the RCTS " Detailed History of Standard Steam Locomotives" Volume 2, states they were BR2 with the BR2A allocations commencing from 76045 to 76114 - with the exception of the BR1B tender allocated to 76053 to 76069. This concurs with my memories too, especially 76026 a regular up from Bournemouth to Bath. Incidentally 76084 is probably my joint favourite loco on the NNR, equal with 53809.

Have seen the layout a fair few number of times as I usually pop in if I am at Holt Station (member of M&GNR society and live in Norfolk) and have seen the great strides you have made in restoring it. The photos above demonstrate that. Am looking forward to the dairy (think you are planning one) as Bailey Gate had a United Dairies, later Unigate, as its main business. The bookshop on Weybourne Station usually has a good selection of S&D books (though I'm sure you know that!) and there is a lot of S&D knowledge on RMWeb too.

Good luck with that!! My own DCC layout is based on the S&D, a railway which I was familiar with as I lived close to Bailey Gate Station.

Good choice. Was going to suggest a RH drive Bachmann 4F. I have three, all renumbered 44102, 44559, and 44561, Nice locos especially when weathered. Popped into Holt during the Autumn Showcase and you have done some sterling work on the layout. Really nice to see.

Looks like a BR1F tender. I was going to caution about the name being present with an early crest on the tender since she was named in early 1960 but Bachmann have done their homework here as there is a picture of here in Derry's Irwell book of the Standard 5s with nameplates and early crest. Just shows how it pays to have photographic evidence.

Several delivered to Great Eastern Models in Norwich as I was there this afternoon. Did not get a look at the locos though. At over £220 it means my Bachmann version will have to keep trundling on as I have inflationary bills to pay. Choices eh! However I hope those who receive them are happy with them as they look good from previously posted pictures.

I seem to recall a comment from an ex-S&DJR fireman or driver that they used to haul onions from northern France (docked at Weymouth or Poole presumably} and you could smell the onions as the train travelled. I think it was onions.

Thanks for that. Will give the CVs a go. I did see the posts you put up but did not do any mods as the firebox flicker was not that important. Disappointed that it hasn't improved it though, if indeed that is the case.

Resolve weakened considerably recently and I bought Lydham Manor even though I have ordered and paid for an alternative version due later this year. Pleased with it - yes. Two queries though - the firebox flicker seems very dim . Fitted a Next18 decoder from Bachmann (36-567A which is a rebadged Zimo I understand) so is there any way of making it brighter? Secondly the decoder is supposed to have a brake function - how is this activated? Thanks in anticipation.

Have followed Bournemouth for 60+ years, if not a fan, with the last match I attended being in 1972, but I always kept an eye on them through the following 50 years. The elevation to the EPL under Eddie Howe, and the fact that they stayed there for five years and only got relegated due to some dodgy VAR decisions (not just the Villa one) was special given that just a few years earlier the club were hours away from going under. Eddie and his team probably got stale and the break has done him good it would seem. Scott Parker was not universally welcomed by fans and even some Fulham fans warned it would end in tears, so Scott a bit of a marmite figure. I feel sorry for him as I feel he should have been given some more matches given the opposition he faced. He has been honest in saying that he did not feel the players were good enough but said this in public and I feel that the result may have been that he lost the players, and his public criticism of the board and owners was the act of someone who felt he had to bring this out. On the other hand the board could not spend money they haven't got and with the recent financial history they were determined not to let it repeat. I don't think the owners are as wealthy as some others in the EPL either. This is the perennial problem in football - try and run the club properly or spend and hope owners will bail you out. Norwich are in the same position - profitable but a yo-yo club. In the end I think Scott was sacked for publicly dishing his employers and playing staff and the drop in confidence. that caused on both sides rather than the recent results embarrassing as they were. If I had ever done that the sack would have followed too. They have Wolves at home tonight - this may be interesting.

RJS1977 posted ..."Another "haunt" in that period was a newsagent's a couple of streets away from the Met Office in Bracknell (where I worked at the time)"... Another "renegade" metman I see, Never worked at Bracknell or at Exeter (apart from helping with the training at the end of the forecasting courses in my last two years). Managed to stay in the outstation circuit. Nothing to do with this post of course, though Norwich did have three model shops when arriving in 1987 but there is just Great Eastern Models now remaining. A top model railway shop too and well worth venturing into if you happen to be this way.

Having just watched episode 3 with the transport of 6960 "Raveningham Hall" from Bridgenorth it was interesting to see it ended up at Hornby old buildings in Margate, and Frank Martin got a look in too. Admire the drivers. I couldn't do it.

Thank you for the clarification. Will take my dunce's hat off now 😊. Now to hunt for a Next18 decoder.

Forgive me if I am being thick but is it just the sound version which is being altered from 21-pin to Next18, or is the DCC-Ready version (ie non-sound) also being changed? Or staying as 21-pin? I only ask since I have a 21-pin ready to install whereas I have no Next18 decoders to hand and my usual supplier appears to be sold out.

After a dearth of chaffinches and greenfinches in the last few years now getting regular chaffinch visitations on the feeders, and glory be, two greenfinches this morning. Welcome back all. But not all good news as there is no sign of swallows, house martins, or swifts yet.

Going back to cuckoos - there is a fascinating book called "Cuckoo" by Nick Davies, whereby it appears that cuckoos do not randomly choose different hosts but concentrate on the one species, whether it be reed warblers, hedge sparrows etc., and their eggs have evolved to match their chosen species. In recent years the only cuckoos I have seen and/or heard have been near reedbeds whereas "...when I wer a boy..." in Dorset they were more widespread in such as hedgerows, woods and copses etc..

Nice walk in a local reed bed and Sedge, Reed Warblers singing, and even a brief call from a Cetti's. Disappointingly did not hear a Cuckoo especially so as their host were in some abundance. They are very scarce these days but have managed to track and even see one or two last few years. And Chaffinches and Goldfinches have returned to the feeders after a long absence, but no Greenfinches.

An LMS or MR 2P 4-4-0 would be appreciated by S&DJR modellers, and, no doubt, by LMR and ScR modellers. The Hornby model is past its sell by date I feel.

Had the rear trailing truck derailing as well but thanks to the advice on here and a play with the back-to-backs it is now sorted. So thanks to all.

Singers who cannot sing.

"...Removing permission to drive, even if only for a short period of time, would, I think, strike more effectively at those for whom a fine is merely a petty inconvenience...." Was very effective in Saudi when I was there in mid-80s. Big fine was changed to several months in slammer and driving miraculously improved.

Needles is a particularly exposed site with winds funneling up the cliffs and often reads higher than elsewhere. Whether it is a sensible site to use as a standard is debatable.