C126

May I just say that the (1st Class) commuting is, for me, the best thing about being in employment, and this on a Voyager by one who yearns for a 4CIG compartment. The train-crew are wonderful, and I am putting pennies aside as and when to donate to the inevitable strike-fund I see looming, for the local R.M.T. branch... Not that this adds much to the discussion, but I wanted to nail my colours to the mast.

Suddenly occurred to me there could be another hyphen in "INTER-CITY", depending on how '1970's' Mr Gibbs wishes it to be. I think it was in the 1980's it became all one word, with a Swallow.

Looking forward to this title as well very much. Any news of a publication date, please? I think the hyphen is set to align with the font in lower-case, hence its looking wrong 'when all about is upper'. As an appalling compositing pedant, if you could get it corrected it would please me greatly.

According to the O.E.D., the first citation found is from 1960: Line manager. [Meaning] 19d. In business or management organization, the chain of command or responsibility; the persons responsible for the administration and organization of a business (as opposed to the staff). Hence line manager, line management. 1960 L. C. Nanassy & W. H. Selden 'Business Dictionary', Englewood Cliffs, U.S.A.: Prentice-Hall. p.27 "Following are the basic types of internal organization of a business: (1) line: The owner gives orders directly to the workers. As the business grows, the owner appoints a few executives, who are responsible to him... (3) line-and-staff: Authority flows from top to bottom, with responsibility falling on staff supervisors and special experts." 1964 J. M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. viii. p.111 "In several British factories it was found that the division between ‘line’ supervisors and ‘staff’ technicians tended to disappear—technologists must have supervisory responsibility." 1967 C. Margerison in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. p.25 "The accountants considered that they had responsibility for the end-product and sought to control certain actions of line managers. Line managers resented this interference with their authority and started to obstruct the accountants in their ordinary accounting function." Just to add to the collection of people's work practices above, in a Library service, I am supervised on a day-to-day basis by two 'Superintendents' (wonderful old expression), one of whom is my Line Manager who has formal responsibility for my discipline, Annual Review, leave permissions, etc. However, both Supers are the same grade and give us daily orders, draft rosters, etc. They are degree-grade posts; mine requires only G.C.S.E.s and is called 'Support Staff'. In a previous library, I had a Supervisor between my Line Manager (whom we shared). She supervised our work on a daily basis, sat in on Annual Reviews (if I wished), but had no formal responsibility for the team members. Her grade was a higher Support Staff, but required only 'A' levels as qualifications. Hope this helps.

Thanks as always @Mikkel for your attention and kind remarks. The paradox about figures struck me when first I started taking photographs. When running trains one has restful poses, but these look less interesting than 'action' figures in one's photographs. This was an excuse to draft a two-part list, of characters found in a goods yard and what they could be doing both 'in motion' and 'at rest'. I would give examples, but I can not put my finger on it at the moment. The only one I remember is two shunter poses, one leaning on a pole and the other reaching over buffers to uncouple wagons.. Composing the list also lead to ideas for tableaux and the multitude of lorries required for the different goods. One day I might have time to play trains.

Please forgive me if I missed it being mentioned previously, but there is also the dismal 'just in time' logistics concept that has taken root. As I understand it, warehouses no longer exist to hold buffer stocks of widgets. As soon as a lorry-load of these is made, it is driven straight to the shop/ firm using them. I remember vividly the television series 'The Factory' (with that irritating ex-green-grocer) about tea-bag manufacturing. The tea-bags were packed, loaded into an artic., and driven off to a super-market who was about to run out of this line. We are now seeing the consequences (and I am told it is to get worse in the next few years) of demolishing all these 'buffer store' warehouses, with interruptions to manufacturing meaning there is no 'slack' for customers to purchase. The bean-counters realised warehouses cost money, so should be eliminated to increase short-term profits. Railways are much more suited to flows to warehouses, I think, concentrating goods in distribution centres that are then delivered over each's 'region' for the firm. Unless firms' distribution models are returned to the more Edwardian system as outlined by @Nearholmer , The accursed lorry will have the advantage. As one who would love dearly to see the return of 'Speedlink', marshalling yards, and shunting 'cuts' of wagons, this is not going to happen with the 'free market' having to lower costs but not pay the environmental consequences. I agree also with Nearholmer's remarks about people's pay, costs, and disposable income. The politicians are scared of increasing people's basic costs back to the Victorian proportions of income because we have a low-wage economy, and we are all paying too much in rent or mortgages. Housing costs have shot up as a proportion of income over the last fifty years. As an aside, when I listen devotedly to Radio 4's 'The Food Programme' droning on about artisan food-makers of quality produce at three or four times the price of supermarket basics, I wonder what proportion of the people can afford to shop thus. There is a reason why the poorer eat cheap bad food, and no amount of farmers' markets and twee stalls will solve this without addressing the underlying poverty of many in the U.K.

Just wanted to thank you again for this (although the link appears to have vanished now), and show my recent attempt when I had the tin of silver paint open to do the tea-chests and a steady hand: Hope people agree this is an improvement. I will have a go at window surrounds mentioned further down the thread later.

I would add that if you intend running model parcels/mail trains on your layout, the film Night Mail is a must for illustrating the exquisite precision planning and platform choreography as described by @Nearholmer above.

Delighted to be of assistance. Herewith the missing pages: And I thought you might like as well from: the following lists: As to there being "nothing in your diagram for AG (Kensington O. to Brighton)", I can only assume there were no trains diagrammed thus for the duration of this time table. I could have missed it, of course - the diagram has one omission in the Corrigenda - but perhaps others more knowledgable can enlighten us. Incidentally, I would suggest the c.15 mins. wait at East Croydon was for un-loading, not necessarily shunting. This was the time given to un-load the Newspaper trains on weekday mornings at Lewes, if I remember correctly.

Just a quick addendum to @Lacathedrale 's plea for loco-hauled head-codes (if I understand correctly). Sorry it is a quick 'shot'; I am off work till Tuesday so no access to a decent scanner. Anyway, from here: ... the relevant section is: Do say if you want the other pages copied ("Headcodes--main line--loaded passenger trains"). Hope this is of use. I can do a few more recent time tables as well if required.

Sorry, in a rush, but this was my effort: Hope of use.

Sorry to return this subject from the depths of the archive, but I have been reminded of it this last month commuting. I have watched the crops along the line ripen slowly under variable skies, the sun now lower and the yellower light prettier on the khaki and golds in the fields. From a shimmering green crop (barley?) that looks like the softest animal fur, to the gold-brown coarser textured crop (wheat?) like a carpet (memories of crawling around the living room as a child with my die-cast motor-cars), all now are being slowly harvested, leaving stubble and bales. Occasionally I see the combine harvester at work on the train home, circling into the centre of the field, lit by the late after-noon sun. There is also the wonderful 'three-second vignette' one glimpses on journeys that inspire one's models, beautiful cameos crying out to be reproduced. A gated crossing, with a cottage next to a small river; the bright primary colours of a rolling field of yellow rape, bordered by a lime green hedge under a clear blue sky, and a jogger in a bright red top running along the path beside it; allotments (always a wonderful sight I think); decaying lineside huts. But I ramble. Each will have her/his own examples, but these are to me more joys of train travel 'when it works', and never experienced on the awful weekend 'rail replacement 'bus' rumbling along a motor-way.

Excellent idea! I have not got as far as thinking of foliage yet, but this is good. It is 'OO' by the way. It was a feeling of 'exasperation', for want of a better word, at how to join two cuts in a plastic sheet of English (or any other) bond that got me. Having smoothed it over with filler, etched in the courses again, and painted over carefully, I was (as usual, quite unrealistically!) expecting perfection to result. I have learned though it is better to 'cut and shunt' at the side of a recessed panel than half-way between two on the outer buttress. Anyway, I must stop moaning and put it down to experience. I do love my brick structures though, so it rankles rather... Were it some concrete brutalist monstrosity I would not care.

Thanks for your kind words. The new arches' brick-work painting just appeared worse than the first batch's - I am losing my 'dry sponge technique' - with the pointing less visible. Also, I was hoping the joins would be hidden better. Having done my best at smoothing over the cuts, they still show. What more can one do? But enough whining. I can pick up my brickie's trowel another day, and there will be more enjoyable tasks ahead when this is completed...

They look pretty good to me! Well done.

Apologies for the somewhat haphazard typing here - trying to iron shirts for work to-morrow, listen to programme about Louis Armstrong, and ponder Cold War food stores on another thread - but I recommend 'Carriages at eight : horse-drawn society in Victorian and Edwardian times', Huggett, Frank E., Guildford : Lutterworth Press, 1979. p.30: "One of the most popular Victorian carriages was the coachman-driven brougham, a small closed vehicle of French origin, seating two people, which Lord Brougham had redesigned in 1838 as "a refined and glorified street cab that would make a convenient carriage for a gentleman". A brougham cost about £150, though a miniature brougham, which was much favoured by young Guards officers, could be bought for £20 or £30 less. There was also a coupe, or double, brougham, drawn by a pair of horses, and seatign four, which was a popular choice among aristocrats with a large brood of daughters." Also an ill. p.29. "preserved in Glasgow Museum of Transport". Thanks for the link, Mikkel. Don't remember that web-site when I went 'carriage bagging' (e.g. https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/our-museums/carriage-museum/ , which is recommended, if decaying slowly when I visited years ago.

Just wanted to post further proof as to how you here have led me astray: Managed to get to a real model shop yester-day and spent too much money, including the above which was certainly not on my shopping list. Who could resist it, though?!? I think it will be a while till I build it - still wrestling with viaduct brick-work - but I know if I did not get it when seen, I would regret it. Now to resign myself to beans-on-toast for dinner for the next three weeks...

Sorry to drag this so off-topic, but it is rather an interest of mine, being a child of the Cold War. There was a list I saw a few years ago on the www composed by someone, and the structures are mentioned in 'Cold war : building for nuclear confrontation 1946-1989', Barnwell, P. S. (ed.), Swindon : English Heritage, 2003, (rev. pbk. 2004). Peasmarsh (Surrey) is illustrated, but sadly there are no plans. Do see pp.215-; I will transcribe it if there is interest and when I have more time. Five types: Cold Store, Grain silos, fuel stores, general purpose depots, and misc. stores. The penultimate were single storey sheds used later for intervention stores (e.g., E.E.C. sugar and butter mountains). 47 cold stores built, 2x million cu.ft., 5x half-million cu.ft., 40x quarter-million cu.ft. designs.

Sorry to turn up a little late to this comment, but do you know if the W.W. II Cold Store retained sidings about it, please? I took some photographs of Loughborough's - converted to use as an R.S.G. - that did so (but was cut off from the main line). I always wanted to visit Hexham's, but missed it before demolition. I also wanted to model one of these, but calculated (erroneously?) I would need a three-foot length of base-board to accomodate it! Playing now with brick sheeting for viaducts, I am glad I never took this project on...

Thank you all for your kind words. It is hardly a work worthy of the Model Railway Journal, but I was so surprised I managed to complete the modification without gougeing lumps out of the paint-work - let alone expecting the wagon to explode into a thousand shards of plastic - I had to share my excitement. I wondered briefly why more model wagons are not made with removable or opening doors like the Hornby VIX, but then realised it would increase costs, and most modellers want to see their wagons moving in a train. Would be a nice option though on the more complicated wagons, to have doors that clip on before running them...

I will give this my full attention when I have a bottle of lavender water nearby...

You mentioned the difficulty of buying goat meat, so substituting mutton. Have you (or anyone else?) tried any on-line meat retailers? A quick search brings up several that appear willing to post different cuts: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=goat+meat+shops+UK+online&atb=v169-1&ia=web I have no connection with any of the sellers, but would be interested to hear anyone's experience of using such a service, good or bad. I was going to do the reverse to you, procure some mutton on-line for a trial. Good luck with the Scotch Bonnet search - too much for me, I fear...

Dear Chris, Thank you for your kind words and much-appreciated advice. Figure-painting is something I have put off, but these were just too good to resist. I assumed one did the 'big colours' first, and finished with the detail (the smaller the area the less likely one was to slip). I have noticed both how my eye-sight would benefit from an illuminated magnifier and my hands from being steadier now I am past the half-century. Another concern is trying to keep the layer of paint thin enough to maintain the exquisite detail. I was sorry to see the primer 'reduced' some facial expressions. Do people prefer slightly thinned enamels rather than acrylics? Another aspect to explore... Many thanks again. Neil.

Unable to resist the allure of a well-dressed lady, I splashed out on Andrew Stadden's figures - who needs boring brick-work to finish a layout when you can feast your eyes on a crinoline or silk topper? - and they are stunning. These are my favourites at the moment, with the fullest skirts. The above is the full set, sorted by skirt size, three at the back being more of an Edwardian outline. And here come the gentlemen, sorted into coat style (frock coat single-breasted, double-breasted, tail-coat, 'sack coat')... I am the figure top row, 2d from right, to have a cane added. My photography is hopeless, and adding a coat of primer does not enhance the detail, but as you can see I have started playing around with sample 'slabs' of colour, an acrylic set picked up during the virus confinement at Wilko's. How you gents can get such precise detail on your figures I know not, but I hope with practice I can get some sort of decent finish. My partner bought me this for my birthday: ... which goes into even more detail than the 'joint volume' I cited earlier. If anyone has any queries they think might be answered by this book, please do not hesitate to ask me to check. Quite where I am to put these figures when finished, on a 1970's B.R. (S.R.) Goods Yard, I have no idea. But they were too good to resist when I had a few quid in my pocket. Hope this is of interest. Best wishes to you all.

Popped back to Lewes last month to see a few old chums, and saw this on a town centre street (Market-street). It demands to be modelled, and I am annoyed that I did not remember it from child-hood. So many such buildings have had their frontages rebuilt, so it is great to see the original openings extant. Lovely bit of brick-work as well!