FarrMan

I have, of course, so many locos to build which I can post pictures of showing progress. Perhaps that's the way forward, because I think LB has probably been 'over-exposed'. Work in progress shots would be much appreciated here. Lloyd

I would have to go for Collet's Castles. Still running express passenger trains 40 years after their introduction. If there is a separate poll for innovations, I would probably go for the double chimney on the A3s, though perhaps super-heating would be the most widely used innovation. Lloyd

Again has to be the 9F. Could tackle anything from a mineral to an express passenger. Pity they had such a short working life. Lloyd

Gilbert Congratulations on reaching your millenium! Lloyd

Best looking streamliner - has to be the A4. Worst looking - has to be Manorbier Castle. And that is from someone who prefers that company that was little changed at the grouping! Lloyd

Ugliest? Has to be the Southern Q1, i.e. flying dustbin. Lloyd

Why is it that I invariably type iamge instead of image, amd waht instead of what? I have just had to concentrate hard to make sure that I typed them incorrectly. Gilbert I find that sometimes. I think that my keyboard must have Dyslexia. Lloyd

Tony Track level views, etc. are good, as they are what would normally have been seen. Higher level views are good as they show us more of the extent of the layout, and sometimes there is a suitable high level vantage point from which to view the station. Edinburgh Waverly is an obvious example of that. They are all lovely to see, for different reasons. Keep them coming please. Lloyd

Clive Thanks for the information. I should have known that you would be right! Lloyd

Clive I am only going on memory, which at my age is dangerous, but was there ever a diesel shunter numbered D12016? I thought that all the D prefixes were 4 digit, and that the older ones, such as 12016 never had a D prefix? As someone whose modelling skills are VERY poor, and very rusty at that, I hesitate to be thought of as critical, but hope that it is constructive, at least. Lloyd

I always thought that it was called Nimbus 'n Pinza. Lloyd

Has to be a 55 Deltic for me as well. I think it was the only class that I ever copped all of. Lloyd

Type 4? Most of the older type 4's don't appeal to me at all, but the 43 class (HST) power cars were classed as separate locos, and I don't think they have any competition for looks, so my vote is class 43 HST power car. Lloyd

Type 3? Has to be a Hymek. Lovely shape. Lloyd

I thought so. i wonder if anyone has tried it with paint thinned down? Lloyd

I don't appear to be able to get rid of this bit in my replies box but I do wish I could bow pen, keep trying, keep failing, only use it now for Replica glazing bars. I have noticed several comments over time about not being able to use a bow pen. I wonder if anyone has tried using a Rotring pen such https://www.rotring.com/uk/technical-pens/196-rapidograph-pen-4006856155006.html I have only used it with Rotring ink for drawings on plastic film (long before the days of CAD), and never for modelling. As it produces a fixed width line, it might be easier to use than a bow pen. On the subject of mixing imperial and metric measurements, I was at university during the changeover period, 1968-1971. I remember in one lab, probably a soils lab, the equipment that we had to weigh our samples consisted of a balance where we could put standard weights on one side, and the difference between that and the sample was given by a long pointer reading over a scale. The problem was that the scale was in one system and the standard weights were in the other, so that we had to convert one of them every time. Lloyd

I rather liked the look of the baby deltics, otherwise known as EE type 2 or Class 23. Not very successful mechanically, but good on looks.

A Garrat? I would vote for NRZ (Zimbabwe) 20a class. Saw quite a lot of these in Bulawayo in 1989. That was the last time I visited a working steam shed (not a preserved railway shed). They were a bit run down then, as was the coaching stock. I have a photograph of an NRZ coach in rather dirty condition that rejoiced in the name 'Tati'. The public timetable was interesting - it included first aid instructions! It also clearly stated, not that trains would leave and arrive at the times given, but that they would not leave or arrive BEFORE the time given. Mentioning strange timetables reminds me of the New Zealand timetable in 1985, that included a daily train from Wellington to Gisburn. Two days a week it was described as an express - but took an hour longer. Lloyd

Tony The mark of genius is knowing who to plagiarize from. i was fed up with students copying from someone who had got it wrong to start with. Lloyd

I fully agree. I have always admired a good craftsman, and felt that that was the main part of my education as a chartered civil engineer that was missing. When I was lecturing (in Inverness), I used to try to get the students into the brick workshop to see what could be done with brick, and to get the brickie lecturers to explain the basics to them. That was an advantage of being in a place where you could do a technical degree and/or a craft skill. Lloyd

And now another experiment. The camera is on Spital Bridge again, but more towards the centre. We know that the parapet was too high to see over in that area, so someone must have found something to stand on, and it must have been quite tall. Here is the result. The 9F at platform 6 is departing, and this is the view we get. Gilbert What happened was that the photographer was part of a group that had hired a double deck bus that happened to go over Spital Bridge. As always, the Up main doesn't stay quiet for long, and a J6 with a short transit goods soon appears. It is first seen from that high vantage point on Spital Bridge. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam? Lloyd

Gilbert I have not been to a barber for 27 years. My wife used to do it for me with the clippers, but for the last few years the noise has been too much for her, so I do it myself, without the aid of mirrors, and my wife just tidies it up for me a trims the back and round the ears. Once I forgot to put the cutting guard on, and a bit straight up the middle was rather short. I was preaching the next day - everyone claimed not to have noti8ced! Lloyd

Tony Many thanks for the benefit of your knowledge. It did appear to be very soon after closure that there was nothing significant left. It would appear that even then, electrification was rather a stop/start operation, thus increasing the costs. Some (all?) governments never learn. I was fairly familiar with the country as far as Tallington, as I used to cycle to see folk who lived between Tallington and Uffington, but beyond there to Grantham I was only familiar with the main line. Lloyd

Cutler, Alias Oxford English Dictionary It depends on what you take as the length. The yard and shed spread for quite a distance along the line, most of the way back to the station. If you were just to tale the loco depot, it would probably be wider than the length. Lloyd

Tony Do you know when Little Bytham Station was demolished? I was regularly traveling between Peterborough and Grantham (for Nottingham) between 1962 and about 1965/66, and from memory all the stations between (Except Helpston on the Midland line) had completely disappeared by then. I remember timing the running on that stretch sometimes, and having difficulty identifying where to note the time for at some of the places where presumably a station had been previously. Lloyd