31A

I may be wrong, then. Just something I had in the back of my mind!

I think the windscreens were slightly different too, not as tall?

I agree; I had to look several times to convince myself it was there. As you say, they are usually much more apparent. I don't think I've seen a colour picture of a clean one before; going by what I've seen in B&W photos I would have thought the fairing was painted green, but it may just have been dirty in those pictures and appeared to be the same tone as the green bodywork. It's a lovey photo, anyway!

Are they? They've got the jumper cable sockets beneath the windscreens and the fairing below the buffer beam which I always thought indicated the Lightweight Met-Camms, numbered in the E79xxx series.

Hopefully for the residents of Matylebone then, perhaps Chiltern might be able to arrange a shore supply in the station so that the locos can be shut down, but TPE never seemed to be able to do it. I always think a risk of shore supplies in situations like that (terminal passenger stations) is that sooner or later someone will start the train without disconnecting the supply first....!

Is the difference that the 68s when coupled to the Mk5 coaches need to be left running, to provide power to the coaches, and can't be shut down? That was the case with the way Trans Pennine used them; it has been explained that there was a technical reason why they couldn't be shut down but I can't remember the details at the moment. The noise certainly was deafening if you were on the platform at Scarborough and a 68 was under the train shed roof, or when one was standing in Platform 2 at York station; it was impossible to hold a conversation over a pint in The Tap pub on the station! I shouldn't think they'd have been very popular in the station hotel either. I'm not very familiar with 67s, but doubt they would be as loud as 68s.

See this thread for a source of a new motor from Tramfabriek: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/119213-oxford-n7/page/47/

Because you’re not the target audience perhaps? I’ve always wondered if there’s an internet forum about historical docks and shipping somewhere where adults similarly rant on about the London Docklands museum and how they won’t be visiting Mudlarks when they go there (even though, again, that particular bit of the museum is aimed at children and they’re not the target audience). Thank you; see above. It's not that I haven't been because of the existence of the Wonderlab (which I realise is not targeted at me) but at least in part because of the lack of the Workshop, which I always found one of the most interesting parts of any visit. I believe a large part of the NRM is out of bounds at the moment for reconstruction anyway, which I wish them all the best with and look forward to visiting again when it is finished.

Thank you; there's no need to shout at me - I'm quite familiar with the place, being a resident of York and a member of The Friends of The NRM. What I was saying was, I do not feel motivated to visit the NRM now there is no Workshop to look at.

The view down into the Workshop from the Viewing Gallery was about as detached from any dangerous activities as it was possible to be (apart from possibly paint spraying but I think there is another area for things like that); I'm sure no H&S Inspector could have objected. The public weren't really "present", it was like having an aerial view. I loved going there when Sir Nigel Gresley was being restored; it was fascinating to be able to look down onto a dismantled A4, identify the parts lying around and seeing how it all went together, it was like seeing a 1:1 Scale kit on a workbench. There were usually other locos from the Collection in there as well with various things being done to them. Although I live nearby I haven't visited since the "Wonderlab" thing opened and I'm not sure I'm in a hurry to!

The axles of Romford tender (and bogie) wheels are smooth and the wheels themselves are a tight push fit, so they can be pushed off without damage and are tight enough fit to hold themselves in place when you push them back on. Some tender sub chassis kits have the axles running in inverted U-shaped slots so that you don't need to take the wheels off the axles, and the axles are retained in by wire retainers across the mouth of the U. The Comet kits cater for this by tabs with holes in, which you bend at right angles to the frame and then pass the wire retainers through. Here is a Comet kit in a Bachmann LNER tender; I have added wire springs to the middle axle:

All the best for tomorrow, Dave! Your daily posts are greatly appreciated and always interesting, but please don't feel you have to do them until you feel well enough to do so.

This came up on my YouTube the other day. I don't know whether its been mentioned on here before, but this video is quite recent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poynJIQobEI&t=634s

This is the mushroom grey / black / white that I was thinking of. Admittedly it's a signal box, but the same colours were used on stations:

Mushroom grey, black and white is certainly what I remember from the Eastern Region in the 1970s / early 1980s.

Thank you; that is my favoured thinking too at the moment!

One of the things I liked about the GC was the comprehensive signalling installations, etc. (see below). Since my visit I've been wondering how (or whether) to add signal wires to Finsbury Square. I did buy some pulleys from Wizard Models a while back, but haven't got around to using them yet.

Interesting! Didn't get to be pulled by the Hall; it always seemed to be going in the opposite direction! A pity they haven't got any LNER engines there, but it was quite an impressive collection of BR Standards. Thank you.

Thank you, Chas. You're very lucky to have been able to do that! Word going round was that the 9F was going to be withdrawn for overhaul after the weekend. Later on, we were hauled by it, but it did look particularly suitable on the demonstration goods train. It is a line I should try and visit more often!

Also available from Wizard Models (I bought some recently) - 8BA. Easier to order from him!

Well, apologies to the Engineers amongst us and others for the display of rough engineering on 61646's driving wheels. To calm nerves, here's some pictures from the weekend before last, when I visited the preserved Great Central Railway, for their Winter Steam Gala. Despite the theme of the weekend, the main reason for my visit was to see and hopefully ride on the beautifully restored NER Petrol Electric Autocar. Despite the crowds, I did get to ride on it and it looks as good inside as out. Because of the crowds, and maybe not always helped by the island platform layouts of the stations, it wasn't always easy to take photos of the trains. The double track section was being used to the full, and there were goods trains running in between the passenger trains, so at times it seemed there was hardly a time when there wasn't an approaching train on the horizon! Full marks for main line atmosphere. There was some interesting steam motive power to be seen as well. I don't think I've ever seen a 78000 working before: But not one but two turned up. And consecutively numbered! The Griddle Car with its All Day Breakfast meant there was no need to stop for lunch. The sun was over the yardarm, honest! A restaurant car with a view; In fact one of the many good things about the GCR is the 'atmosphere' at the beautifully restored stations. As I was staying overnight in the Loughborough Travelodge, I was able to make the most of the day's ticket, with the atmosphere changing as the evening drew on. So, top marks to the GCR for a cracking day out!

Stirling and Inverness in fact, to be picky, but Edinburgh-Aberdeen isn't a walk in the park either and they do that several times a day. LNER Azuma services mostly seem to run pretty reliably in my experience, when not interrupted by external events.

Carrying traffic for intermediate stations, perhaps.

Thank you Lez, that's very kind of you, but in reality I'd have nowhere to put one. I'm very lucky to have a nice house but one thing I'd really like would be room for a proper workshop, instead of using an old computer desk in the same room as the model railway.

I'm not a real engineer.... 🙄