Wolseley

Well, I have some progress to report. Four N2s up and running nicely and with the bodywork of each having had some attention regarding chips and scratches. Rather than aiming at getting the paintwork back into "as new" condition, I am aiming for a finish that loks as if the locomotives have been used but looked after well, so some flaws remain. First, the LNER green one, which needed very little done to it other than bending the couplers back into shape and touching up a bit of missing paint around the smoke box door, buffers and buffer beam and the steps: Second, the LMS one. This was purchased as a body only (it was in excellent condition and very cheap, so I couldn't resist it. That did mean, however, that I had to then find a chassis to buy, also at a reasonable price, which I did a few weeks later. It is though, from a BR example (a cycling lion one perhaps?) so it has the wrong type of pony wheels for a pre-nationalisation model. Third, A BR example with the early logo. As with the LNER one, it needed very little done to it other than bending the couplers back into shape and touching up a bit of missing paint around the smoke box door, buffers and buffer beam and the steps. And last, a later logo BR example. This started off as a very playworn early BR N2 which needed a bit more than retouching of the paintwork - about 25% of it ended up being repainted. I used Lawrence Hogg's (LHP Productions) "transfers" for lining and numbering. I had used his "transfers" for successfully renovating some very sad looking Gresley coaches that I picked up for next to nothing to go with my Sir Nigel Gresley. Having used them for coaches and now a locomotive, I have to say that I think they work better on coaches as, no matter how careful you are with a locomotive, you can still see where the adhesive paper ends.

Up until the late 1970s (or maybe it was the early 1980s?) quite a few carriages and railcars used on NSW country trips had water jugs and glasses on a rack above the seats. Here is one I photographed at Sydney terminal in the mid 1970s:

I had a similar experience on Monday. I was in a 60kph zone and was doing an indicated speed of 62 or so (which in my car was probably a true 60) and there was someone behind me behaving in the same way. He managed, after a couple of risky lane changes, to get past, and disappeared up the hill, doing, I would guess, between 70 and 75. A kilometre further on, the speed limit changes to 80kph, and it wasn't long until I sailed past him - he was still doing somewhere between 70 and 75. He passed me again though after we got to the next built up area with a limit of 60 kph.....

If I had built a layout like that, I think I would have named it after one of the fictional villages in Midsomer Murders. Somehow it looks like it would fit in to one of the episodes quite easily.

Yes and no. I was really after something like the original, uncropped version of that photo, as I wanted one that showed the combined lines of the engine and tender. One thing I did notice when I revisited that photo (which I have seen before) was the small smokebox door, in contrast to the one fitted to 1027 in its official photograph in works grey, as shown on page 48 of David Burke's Man of Steam. Here are a couple of scans from A Century Plus of Locomotives and Man of Steam to show what I mean. The second page from A Century Plus of Locomotives also shows how the engines' appearance was drastically altered by their rebuilding in later years. The new cab may have been an improvement in practical terms, but it did nothing for the appearance of the locomotives. And I would say that photograph was taken at Eveleigh, rather than was "believed to be taken at Eveleigh." That building in the background removes any doubt as to where it was taken. SaveSave

It was, I think, 1978, and I was passing through York on my way to somewhere else, I can't remember where. I had to change trains at York and, after I got off my train, I spotted this display on one of the platforms. Unfortunately the weather that day was not very conducive to good photography.

Interesting thread. The railways of North East Scotland are under-rated as a prototype for modelling and it's good to see someone taking this on. There are quite a few stations in that part of Scotland worth modelling. As an aside, my Great Great Grandfather worked as a labourer on the construction of the Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway in the 1850s.

OK, so I'm going a bit off topic, but the speculation above as to what would happen if you crossed a GWR locomotive with something else brought to mind the NSW NN (later C35) class designed by E E Lucy, an ex GWR man who arrived in Sydney to take up a position in a railway system very strongly influenced by LNWR practice: Unfortunately I was unable to find a suitable photo of the real thing that showed the (almost) GWR appearance of the unrebuilt engines. Try to imagine it without the steam dome and with a six wheel tender instead of a bogie one.

If I had gone ahead with it, I probably would have ended up pushing the time frame forward 5 or 10 years, but not as far as the diesel era. That could be interesting but, for me, a bit too far removed from reality. Sometimes I wish I had persisted, but that was around 40 years ago, and my railway interests have since taken a rather different direction.

1975 again, and three photos of the Lochty Private Railway:

I once seriously considered constructing a layout (and obviously the stock to go with it) set in Scotland in the late 1920s set somewhere on the Strathmore line. It was to have been loosely based on Luncarty, but I never got beyond building some locomotives, goods stock and a few buildings. And how is this imaginary? Well, it was to have been set in a world where the grouping resulted in five companies, rather than four, with the Southern, GWR, LM (the S would have to come out of the title as you will see when you read on) and LNER south of the border, and the fifth company being an amalgamation of all the old Scottish companies - apparently such an arrangement was considered but was ruled out for some reason or other). There would be one company that would dominate the others and impose its corporate style on the rest (as was the case with the big four) and, to my mind, the logical one would be the Caledonian. Passenger engines would be blue (it's a bit like stepping into a minefield here, but I opted for the lighter shade), goods engines lined black (unchanged from Caley days). I always thought that a Reid Atlantic would look stunning in Caley blue, but I never got around to trying it out, as the only locos I finished were genuine Caledonian ones.

We cooked some food outside yesterday on a portable hotplate. While we were inside having lunch, this fellow arrived and finished off the leftovers:

And Aberystwyth in 1975 again, but with a rather different locomotive:

Aberystwyth, 1975:

Caledonian Railway number 828 on display at the Glasgow Museum of Transport in 1975:

I've just looked at a map and changing trains at Preston doesn't seem to make much sense for the trip I described. Chances are it was taken on another occasion, when I travelled from Montrose to Carnforth.

Glasgow Central in 1975:

Given that two people have agreed with you so far, chances are it is Preston. It was an overnight trip from Montrose to North Wales and I think I changed trains three or four times. That photo was taken around 6am, as was the one below, which I seem to recall taking from the same platform but looking in the opposite direction:

One thing that I was a bit remiss about in years gone by was labelling my photos with locations and dates. This is one such photo, although I'm pretty certain I took in in Crewe in 1975 though:

Nice cars. An uncle of mine (long since gone, I regret to say) had a pale blue one, registration ASR 800L. I checked the DVLA site and the car hasn't been taxed since 1983, so I suppose it would have been scrapped years ago. Back in 1975 when I visited it, the Strathspey Railway was really not much more than a static display. 5025 was there and was the most striking exhibit:

Aberdeen station in 1975:

I would agree that the car at the end is a Renault 12. The Ford in the middle was the car I had at the time. It was a very early Consul Cortina Mark Ia, with a 1200cc engine. It would have been a 1962 model, as it lacked the letter at the end of the number plate - the registration was XHS 119, a Glasgow registration I think from memory, although I bought it in Montrose. It looked really good and went well, but it was held together by body filler.....

I just posted a photo of Boat of Garten station in 1975 in a railway related thread and then realised that it was just as relevant to this thread:

And the station buildings at Boat of Garten (someone correct me please if I got the station wrong) on the Strathspey Railway, also in 1975:

I have been scanning a number of my old slides and black and white negatives which, in the case of my UK material, is all from the 1970s. As that is the one decade I can't find a thread for here, I'm starting a new thread. First up, Brechin station in 1975, while it was still in (occasional) use by B.R.: