GRASinBothell

Going back to the Dinky yard cranes, I also bought one on eBay for my layout. But, as I started adding scenery to the area it was to be sited, I found I really couldn't put up with the garish colours. Here it is with a WJ Vintage/Raylo Austerity 0-6-0ST in post-war Army livery shunting. That's an Ace GWR Mogul, in the background. I felt it was in too good a condition to paint it, and I have a Marx Freight Depot (which you can just see in the background) it can sit beside, garish colour scheme and all. So, I went back to eBay, and bought a more down-at-heel version (actually in slightly different colours - the base was a much darker blue), and repainted it. Here it is, with my Christmas present, British Railways 0-6-0T No 30074 shunting. The extra hook hanging from the crane hook is the one it came with, now replaced, as you can see, with a replacement similar to the Dinky original. BR No 30074, I should add, was the later identity of US Army Transportation Corps #4326. She was borrowed by the Southern Railway, for trials in Southampton Docks, after which the remainder of the USA Tanks were purchased. And she spent most of the first year of the existence of British Railways in her USATC livery. Gordon

It certainly applies to MY toy trains,Brian! And a Happy New Year to you, too. Gordon

The Darstaed bogie tankers included the Pratt's one, and Dave Upton's February 2019 Just The Ticket newsletter included a picture of the prototype in (as you stated) what looks like a buff-with-red-stripe livery, as was the Darstaed model. But I concur that it looks splendid in green. I seem to recall from a book on oil tank wagons, that Pratt's in fact had only one bogie tank wagon, and that wagon became the one and only pre-war Esso bogie tank wagon, so technically (subject, of course, to Rule 1) those two wagons can't appear in the same train... Gordon

And a Merry Deliberately Old_Fashioned Christmas to all. Gordon

You were asking about springs for Hornby clockwork locos. There is a supplier listed in the HRCA spares directory. Gordon

By "indoors", he probably meant in the conservatory, with a nice stone floor. No doubt he also assumed you would have a couple of footmen at the ready to put out any fires... Gordon

Jim Russell's Illustrated History of GW Coaches, Volume 1 (published in 1972) has a couple of pictures (Figs 172 and 173) of a clerestory brake third, coupled to a milk tank wagon on the Hemyock branch "twenty five years ago", so around 1947. Assuming BR didn't immediately retire it, you're close enough... Gordon

I guess that makes up for the lack of lower quadrant signals, then! Gordon

The lack of LQ signals could be explained by it being an ex-Southern line that has been transferred to BR(W) control (like the LSWR lines in Devon and Cornwall, and the Somerset & Dorset), thus excusing the mixing in of a few of your Southern locos in BR colours, assuming they just hadn't been transferred out yet... Gordon

Of course, "full-on ex-GWR mood" probably requires some lower-quadrant signals... Gordon

Since we've moved over to King Arthurs, I thought I'd share one of Sir Galahad on the Ace Trains 25th Anniversary Special train. The two people closest to the camera are, of course, Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, apparently showing more interest in a Hornby loco than the King Arthur... They are also from Andrew Stadden. Gordon

Given your avatar, I've wondered why we haven't seen this set of figures on Birlstone or Paltry Circus station... https://www.acstadden.co.uk/product-page/ehol-early-holiday Gordon

If you're after a more "coarse scale" version of the reporting numbers, the Ace Castle came with a set of combination headboards/reporting numbers for the Bristolian, Torbay Express, Cornish Riviera Express and one other. Gordon

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Possibly a bit late to be making suggestions, but you could do something like Redbrook incline, if you don't want to be constrained to having the bridge level. Gordon

A disused forest tramroad, with stone sleepers? Gordon

Skytrex do a couple - presumably in resin. https://www.ogauge.co.uk/63-canal-wharf-and-dock-side You might also be able to find some card kits - maybe Alphagraphix? I found a couple of canal boats at the Vale of Rheidol Railway shop by searching for them. https://shop.rheidolrailway.co.uk/collections/card-kits?page=5 Gordon

The Army Cadet Force at school was more like a large-scale version of playing with toy soldiers - an excuse to run around the countryside carrying rifles and firing blanks... No real fears - just an opportunity to play soldiers! Gordon

I recall a day spent at either Bodiam or Northiam station in the mid-1960s, when I was in the Army Cadet Force at school. The railway was, er, in hibernation at the time, and the exercise was to defend the station against some imaginary invaders, so we spent the day sitting there with rifles at the ready, or visiting a nearby hostelry! Gordon

I had a look at my Duncan Models ones. The pack includes several swimming, and even one that is just the tail, leaving the viewer to assume it's head down, finding something good to eat... Gordon

Try Duncan Models. http://www.duncanmodels.co.uk/price_list_figures_and_animals.htm I have swans and ducks from them, as well as seagulls (including a couple in flight, that I attached to piano wire). Gordon

I have a couple of those WJ Vintage/Raylo/ETS Terriers, and they pull a set of 4 Darstaed six-wheelers, with no problem, so I'd echo Nearholmer's words. Gordon

Given the long-running disagreement between Allen and Andries, I very much doubt if any Ace products since about 2008 would have been subcontracted to Darstaed. I suspect it is just a case of Ace specifying a body size to fit a standard Ace chassis. I suppose the tooling ETS uses could allow for different sizes. I have wondered about those suburban carriages in the sets, given that the tooling from the C1s was lost to Ace when the split between Allen and Andries occurred. Of course, Ace has produced the Met/LT coaches since then, which is possibly the source of the design/tooling for the suburban coaches, with different artwork. Gordon

Static would be the best answer I could come up with, Brian! I also have an Ace Celebration that doesn't get much use - there are way too many others now to give it track room! Actually, I've just got one more - one of the WJ Vintage (i.e. ETS) Austerity tank locos in post-war Army livery - I've just been running it with a train of "essential" military supplies (i.e. all my beer wagons!). Gordon

Interesting that you mention the Ace wagon as sharing the same tooling, however I have found that the Ace coal wagon is rather meatier than the others (I found myself tempted by the one from the Somerset coal field!). So, I went upstairs, and did a little measuring. The body of the Ace coal wagon is 125 mm (long) x 57 mm (wide) x 35 mm (tall), whereas the Bassett-Lowke and WJ Vintage coal wagons measure 115 mm (long) x 55 mm (wide) x 32 mm (tall). I rather wonder whether Ace wagons do, in fact, share the same tooling... Gordon