31A

Hard times Neil! I'm assured they'll still turn a wheel ....

Thank you Barry, same to you!

Happy New Year from Finsbury Square to everyone on RMWeb!

It seems so John. I have got an earlier LNER one which I didn't copy as 1947 is nearer to Little Bytham's period, but it said much the same thing as the 1947 one anyway. Strange there's nothing in the interim BR ones, as the wording in the 1981 one isn't so different to the LNER one. Perhaps it appeared in a different document at that time, although I can't imagine which one. By 1981 the format of the GA seems to have been re-hashed a bit and it's divided into different Sections, of which Section 3 was Train Operating.

In 1947 the LNER had this to say on the matter of vehicles behind the rear brake of passenger trains, which should give plenty of scope for most model railways: In 1981 BR had expanded on it a bit, but still needn't bother most model railway operators:

Not old enough then and when old enough not bright enough! And no good at cricket anyway. For anyone who might not know, the cricket ground in Dave's photo is the playing fields of the Boys' High School.

A couple of decades later it could have been me on that cricket pitch! The trains weren't quite as interesting by then, but still more interesting than cricket....

Well according to the BR Database 92184 (32-859b) was withdrawn in 1965, at which time there would have been very few diesels in blue livery (probably only 1!), while 92212 (32-859a) was withdrawn at the beginning of 1968 when there would have been a few blue diesels around, bearing in mind what PMP has said above.

The “East Anglian Steam Gallery” books are worth collecting! Season’s Greetings!

Thank you for sorting that out, and sorry to have raised concerns unnecessarily. Thank you for that. I must admit I didn’t realise it had changed that recently; my memory must be worse than I thought! Apologies again …. !

Under the current system the 4-weekly accountancy period which ended on 31.03.66 would be described as Period 13/65, but as I say, I don’t know whether the Railway’s accounting year ended on 31st March in those days (as it does now) or on 31st December? Not a thing I’d considered previously in connection with the Longworth books; I’d previously taken the months quoted in it to be months of the year - perhaps I’ve not come across one withdrawn in “Month” 13 before!

Surprising, I didn’t realise and of the WD 2-10-0s were allocated to March in BR days, I thought they were all in Scotland. They may have worked from March for a while when new before moving to Scotland later; perhaps this is an area where the BR Database information is incomplete?

I’m not sure whether Railway Accounting Periods were the same then as they are now, but nowadays Period 13 would end on 31st March….

Thank you, and the same to you! Look forward to reading more of Kircheim in the New Year!

Hi Manna, good to see you back, and that looks like an interesting project! Hope the Covid isn't too bad; there seems to be quite a lot of it around in the UK, not sure what Aus is like. Anyway, all the best for Christmas and the New Year!

Cheers Russ, they look pretty good to me! You don't very often see them scratch but either!

That all looks very good Russ! Are the houses scratch built? I don't recognise them from kits.

Re ex GCR Restaurant (Kitchen) cars, I don't know whether this helps at all? https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/48158319237/in/album-72157604142594351/

Ooops; trying to remember now why I wrote that back in April but yes, it doesn't seem to have come out right - you are quite right!

They thought it was all over; it is now! A few pics from a day out with 68030 'Black Douglas" with Set TP06 on its last day with Trans Pennine Express, and indeed the last day of Class 68s and Mk5 coaches with Trans Pennine Express. Sorry, they're not brilliant photos but the weather wasn't great and it wasn't always easy to travel and also take photos. It was distinctly noticeable that there was a good turn out of enthusiasts along the route, including a good proportion of the younger generation. Arriving at York from Scarborough; 0940 this morning; 1U36 0845 Scarborough-Manchester Piccadilly. At Manchester Piccadilly, to form 1U47 Manchester Piccadilly-Scarborough: The same train leaving Leeds: Then at York with 1U75 1934 Leeds - Scarborough, the set being reversed due to having arrived in Leeds from York via Castleford earlier:

Good to see what you've been up to Russ - looking good!

Thank you Peter, I'm glad you like it. I agree, the J15 is a lovely little model and with a very good mechanism as well, the slow speed running is second to none. It is not without one or two slight niggles but what model is. I omitted to mention that I filed some metal off the chassis block to lower the body slightly, which helps disguise the join in the lower part of the boiler. I did think about re-drilling the holes for the boiler handrail knobs to make them perpendicular to the boiler, but decided that was a job too far for this time! You're right about choosing the right starting model. This one was R3230. Starting with an LNER livery version meant the lower cab roof could be retained for this model. If I had got a Westinghouse fitted one I would not have needed to add the pipework along the footplate angle; having said that I think my version has come out quite well! From looking at pictures of the real ones, it seemed I was restricted as to which 'Covered Wagon' I could make it by the tender underframe - in this case the model has the oval slots in the frame whereas others have the D-shaped cut outs. Also, some seem to have had the shorter chimneys fitted, which the Hornby model doesn't cater for as far as I know. Anyway, it was a nice little project to do. I think three J15s is probably enough - for now!

Just to round off the "Covered Wagon" saga, the front numberplate arrived today; a beautiful 3D printed transfer from Railtec Transfers. I had already put a crew in the cab. A lot of the 4mm scale figures I tried were too tall to fit under the cab roof, so the driver is an HO scale figure from Noch, and the fireman is from the Preiser "Seated Industrial Workers" set. In reality the cab is so enclosed that the crew is hardly visible. I didn't glaze the cab side windows as the photos I found of the real locos showed them to be left open. I presume in reality they slid forwards to open. I did glaze the tender cab's windows. I was tempted to leave the loco in ex-Works condition as per the earlier phots, but in the end I did apply some fairly restrained weathering. Here's a threesome; each one subtly different:

Earlier this morning, on a day of weather in complete contrast to yesterday's, 68026 was in Platform 2 at York prior to setting off with 1U43 1203 York-Scarborough. As you say, it seems to be on 1948 Scarborough-Manchester this evening.

Thank you Chris, they look beautiful! I'm looking forward to receiving mine.