Steamysandy

I was working with the company at the time and I showed my bosses a Fleischmann NS sprinter as how the DMU could have been painted!

I've just received this morning an advance copy of a new book "The Great Scuttle : the end of the German High Seas Fleet" published by Amberley in which is a photo of an 0-4-0t steam loco at Lyness,originally published in Scapa and a Camera by Country Life in 1921.

The broken steel pier with the railway track plated over was complete in 1979,hence my previous comment about not walking on it! The plan was to have an operating Passenger carrying line at Lyness but they hit a number of snags including I believe the cost of insurance. The Narrow Gauge rolling stock wasn't native to the lines- it was collected by Wilf Simms who had a house in Orkney.,from a variety of sources

I've had a contact in Orkney for many years.When I was up there in 1979,I visited Lyness Quayside and saw the crane on the original track there along with two wagon chassis which were red with rust.This was before the museum was set up at Lyness Lying on the foreshore at Longhope was a 4wheel two foot gauge chassis and at Rhinnigill there was a ricketty pier with two foot gauge track on it.It was about that time that a standard gauge 0-4-0ST was returned to mainland Scotland after a spell up there I met Wilf Simms on a trip to Poland in 1992 and we discussed the Lyness set up as it was at that time I purchased a copy of Wilfs book at Lyness Museum in 1999.The Access road to the Linkspan was simply tarred over the original rails. Much of the site had been tidied up including removal of the oil tanks and I believe more has been done but due to circumstances,I haven't been able to return but I keep in touch with going on

Hi Dave(again) The DMU is a BRCW class 110 unit as modelled by Hornby and known as Calder Valley set.I think I copped all of them in the Manchester area in the 1970s I only got to Scarborough once!

Hi Dave Almost forgotten memories of a few days spent at Whitley Bay during which we visited the Museum,probably in the late 1980s. What I do remember was that the A4 Bittern decked out as Silver Link was on display inside.No platform meant you got a proper idea how big it was. I enjoy seeing your photos very much

Hi Dave J7832 - I believe the second coach is an ex Great Western Inspection saloon which appeared on specials behind Castle class locos.

18 April:- Edinburgh Evening News web site has a feature on 9 closed stations in Edinburgh.One of the shots is of Murrayburn School pupils boarding the Television train at Gorgie East in 1961.Two of the Gresley Open seconds can clearly be seen

C7938 North Berwick is a prize example of the bead counters rushing in to clear as much of the area as possible with a view to closure.Instead its busier than ever and will continue to be so

The German system was different in that the number of compartments weren't counted but the French Railways certainly did as above

A check of the DVD reveals it ran between Bergedorf and Altmuhl till1968/9.Loco numbers appear to be 78-206 and 78-235 It was definitely push- pull operated

I believe the train seen in the photo is a local train which ran in the Hamburg Area.The two green coaches were known as umbau ( rebuilt) wagon being new bodies fitted to Prussian 6 wheel chassis.Some were still in use in Koln in 1976! The train as shown features in Eisenbahn Kurier DVD 8249,Verkehrsknoten Hamburg and the loco was a class78

Can I add North Berwick which was stripped down to a basic single platform in the1970s.Since then it's been electrified and the platform extended at the outer end

Was D9016 not taken up to Aberdeen for it's naming ceremony? ( Gordon Highlander) I'm fairly certain it was but I'd be surprised if it wasnt

Hi Dave Definitely home territory today. I was born at Drem farm behind the station in 1948 and have lived in the area ever since. The station was listed but due to a misreading of the documents the down side shelter was accidentally demolished and had to be rebuilt about 1990. The sight of a 26 on hoppers at Cockenzie Power Station was a familiar one. This is fairly close to the track bed of the Tranent and Cockenzie Wagonway is close by.This was one of the first railways in Scotland and may have been the inspiration for an early Wagonway in Australia through the Caddell family of Cockenzie,one of who settled near Adelaide and planned the line which is now a preserved railway on 5ft 3 in gauge.(The Steam Ranger,Victor Harbour ,South Australia)

Another place to try is Traintrax ,a dealer in Kato nGauge who has a website and has direct connections to Japan. There are a number of modellers of Japanese trains in this country and there is a web site for Japanese n scale modellers with a world wide following. I watch it regularly

Round the country there is a network of community radio stations which are available in their broadcasting area on FM but also on the internet.Here in East Lothian we have two on FM but there are many more on the internet from not too far away. The presenters on at least one of them are amateurs including secondary school kids but not only do they provide a radio service locally but based on a personal story they give people who through personal problems have been cast aside by employers a chance to show what they can do. Please support these stations.My son was given a chance last year and it's the best thing that's happened to him Sorry if I'm biased.

The Oakwood Press book on the North Berwick and Gullane Branch Lines has a ticket reproduced for One Shilling to park a car at Longniddry Station. The registration XSF754 was a Yellow Ford Anglia which I had the misfortune to own for a short time before it went for scrap

I was born at Drem and am now seventy years later living in Longniddry.Beautiful Layout and full of atmosphere. Definitely one of my favourites.

I had known about the Nightstar stock on VIA but I didn't know about the German 628 dmu on tonight's episode!

The idea was to provide a form of entertainment and education as appropriate from a live studio on the train.It was actually a bit ahead of it's time. On the trip I was on the sound circuit was used to provide a places to look at from the schools own teachers who were on board(All of them!)one of who picked out the secondary school he'd went to about 20 or so years earlier! Curiosity was revealed with flashes of the teachers in the studio being given demonstrations of how it worked My recollection is of a very hot lamp being close to my forehead while I was singing! After we left St Andrews a sort of concert was produced from the studio coach the "artistes" being chosen from the pupils by the teachers,muggins being one of them! I believe that apart from Scottish Region internal workings ,it was used on trains between Glasgow and Blackpool on occasion (Glasgow Fair weekend?)

Further to my previous post,I can confirm a couple of details from Argos post. Sc81030 was the Auxiliary Coach and was a BR 57 ft BG Sc16197E was the coach with the studio and had sound in the compartments The Buffet car details are confirmed A really good pair of shots of it passing Kilconquhar on the Anstruther to Thornton line behind a B1 appears on Railways of Scotland ( Cinerail) Volume 1 Hope this is of some interest The formation was Ten coaches with one buffet car Years later I mentioned it to the then School Rector --- he couldn't remember it!

In June 1962,East Lothian County Council hired the TV train for 5 days,one day each for the five secondary schools in the County.I was at North Berwick High School at the time and in second year which meant we went on the train instead of the Highland Show an agricultural show held at Ingliston. Our route and motive power was 2 B1s each way between North Berwick and Waverley.An A3 thought to be 60068 from Waverley via Glenfarg and Perth to Dundee and Thornton Junction back to Waverley.The train ran from Dundee to St Andrews for a 2 hour break thence via the Fife Coast line through Anstruther and Leven to Thornton Junction again behind a pair of B1s.I was told many years later it was the only time it ran between St Andrews and Crail.The coach chest were Gresley open seconds with a Buffet Car which along with at least one of the brakes were wired for sound.The Brake end of one coach was the studio (I sang in it be cause the teachers thought I could!) There was an auxiliary brake van supplying additional power

The Fish train was still running from Aberdeen to London after I started working at BT in 1967 in Edinburgh. It was booked to leave Waverley behind the North Briton in front of the 17-26 to North Berwick The closeness of the departures meant that by the time the North Berwick train reached St Germans Level Crossing,it had to be held til the fish train reached Drem. Two memories of that period was seeing it arrive behind a pair of class 47s one of which was a Bristol Bath Road allocated machine. Another night the train derailed on starting to depart.A batch of Fish Vans were left lying on their sides. I believe this was due to gauge widening on the loop line on the North side of Waverley. From an earlier time,I can remember that there were two if not three trains passing Drem in the mid 1950s