rouse2037

Thank you Simon & Jerry for your organising of such a wonderful show. An excellent array of trains & train sets & friendly folk et cetera. My personal favourite was The Watchmouth Railway & I intend to visit the area to seek out the trackbed forthwith. Hurrah for Larkrail - there are men of sufficient faith there!

Further Information This cameo competition has certainly stoked up the firebox of words and opinions. It's like glancing mistakenly in some tabloid rag, reading the "posts" from certain folk. Caster Sidings is Gauge 1. 1/32nd. Motive power will be a Ruston 44DS. It's pale blue. Rolling stock will be a kit built Slaters van. It's bauxite. A scratch built open and a couple of coal wagons. Track is from Cliff Barker. There will be a tree. (Wenlock!) There will be a building. There will be a disused miniature railway. I will have fun. Thank you. R.

Fiction. Possible use of a lazy Susan sector plate Rouse Mc S.

Fiction. It would appear that a track plan is in order. The word "plan" rarely comes to much. Rouse Mc S.

An excellent show as always - well done Simon and all. I got there and back by the GWR and a walk along the canal, which was jolly nice. Chatting to Peter and Ginny Barnfield made my day let alone all the wizzo trainsets! Roll on next year's miscellany.. Roger Swan

I appear to have repeated myself Apologies R Mc

History Thumbing through some crumbling copies of the Much Swanning Gazette, I found a railway map of the line between Thingley Junction and Beanacre Halt. The two aforementioned sidings were also shewn but with little detail. I took the liberty of using pencil and paper to draw the "map" as the original was crumbly. R McS

History Thumbing through some crumbling copies of the Much Swanning Gazette, I found a railway map of the line between Thingley Junction and Beanacre Halt. The two aforementioned sidings were also shewn but with little detail. I took the liberty of using pencil and paper to draw the "map" as the original was crumbly. R McS

History One is often surprised how, when researching a piece of information, the route diverges off the main line and down a siding that at first glance appears to be insignificant. Such was the case with my rail chair research. I discovered an article in the Much Swanning Gazette from June 1954 that described the re-laying of track on what we now know as Caster Sidings. Turning two pages forward instead of one, and I was on the "Local News" page by mistake. There, to my delight, was a short piece on Sir Jeremy and the uproar caused at Lark Hall a few weeks before. Apparently Sir Jeremy was entertaining Capt. Bakewell RFC. DFC. and his wife for the weekend. The Captain had brought along a draft copy of his new book "101 Things to do with Dust" for Sir Jeremy to proof read. Breakfast on the Sunday morning however brought pandemonium when not only did the Under Parlour Maid attempt to serve but luncheon plates had been laid out instead of breakfast plates! Turning back a page, I discovered the rail chair measurements required but it proves my point. R. McS.

....probably very much of their time and looking pretty dated by now! One "knows the feeling" as they say...! R McS

Wimsey!? I say, look here Wenlock old chap, neither Whimsey nor Wimsey here. (Nor Wimpey, nor Fine Fare Discount..) Rouse McS.

History Sir Jeremy has found by chance that the most appropriate way to safely transport his books is by use of small wooden crates. At a church fete in 1958, he was introduced to the Swedish au pair of the Jarndyce family, a certain Miss Kiea. Her grandfather was a shop owner and had developed the ingenious design of a flat packed furniture range and storage system. This included a handsome storage box, a few of which Miss Kiea had brought to the fete for the vicar to use when judging the Allotment Society vegetable competition. The sturdy design of the box meant it could be used to display vegetables on and transport them in. A roaring success; but Sir Jeremy had other ideas in mind.. R McS.

Fiction. The bundle of wooden bits that arrived was "put together". Yes it's an Apa box like the type once sold in Ikea (other shops are available). If one removes the red shaded side piece and pops the lid on, it gives a fairly nice viewing box. Alternatively, turning the box onto the red shaded part and using the lid for something else, this gives a taller box. Rouse Mc S.

A bundle of wood arrived in a box. Here it is unpacked. R McSloane

History The railway line between Thingley Junction and Beanacre Halt, originally had two private, gated sidings that led off to small holdings for the transfer of asparagus. Due to the decline in suitable growing conditions for the asparagus and then with the singling of the original double tracked main line, the need to move the crops greatly diminished and a road replacement service was introduced in the form of a Bentley MK VI. Local entrepreneur, Sir Jeremy Casters, had been the proprietor of a specialist book shop and printing company for many years. Being something of a rail enthusiast from a young age, when he heard the news of the planned closure of the private sidings and rumors that the main line was under threat, he decided to take action. The Minister for Transport and Hot Air, Sir Arthur Dick Bleaching (Richard to his chums and simply Dick to everyone else), proposed to Parliament that the unprofitable line be shut in its entirety. Sir Jeremy saw an opportunity and fortunately had the ear or two of some “Men in the Ministry”, so before the matter went further, he purchased one of the original sidings and named it after himself; Caster Siding. Following approval from The Ministry allowing a 6 month “Trial of Operation”, Sir Jeremy purchased a Ruston 44DS locomotive and three wagons. A fourth wagon, a Private Owner wagon, which had been lovingly restored over many years in Sir Jeremys back garden was also brought to the siding, purely for the enjoyment of looking at it. Sir Jeremy, with the assistance of his chum, local vicar the Rev. Samuel Weech, now operates the siding with the goods van being loaded with books in the old shed at the end of the siding and then shunted to a loading bay adjacent to the main line. They work on an “as required” basis and assist the local hamlet of Much Swanning by bringing in coal and other goods, when asked nicely. An illustrated miscellany of the sidings will be made available in due course.. although the British Library have already refused to acknowledge it as anything but raving nonsense. We shall see. Rouse McSloane.