VIA185

I guess it must have depended on which electrified lines. Plenty of steam-hauled freight squeezed in between the electric passenger services where I lived on the line in to Feltham yard from Southampton and Reading. (CJL)

You may well be right. There were many 'interpretations' of the Corporate Image on rolling stock, and there was even less supervision over buildings, so I'm sure there were places which didn't follow the official plan. After all, the important thing was that places were painted and smart. (CJL)

The simple answer is, 'No.' The Corporate Image specified that 'house colours' (Rail Blue etc) were not to be used on buildings. This was in order that historic structures could receive colour schemes best suited to the architecture. However, types and styles and positions of signing would certainly be of specified pattern and would comply with the Corporate Image. One of the first station schemes that I recall seeing ,at the time, envisaged a white (presumably enamelled or plastic) strip right round the building about 10-12ft off the ground, with the station name at intervals, on the platform side, in the new Rail alphabet. While it might have worked on SR art deco stations it clearly wasn't going fit or suit many older designs and accordingly it was dropped early on. That said, on the Western Region a lot of two-tone grey was used on buildings, while in line with convention, most window frames and glazing bars were white. (CJL)

You can read how Fire Queen and the directors' saloon were recovered to Penrhyn Castle in the current issue of Trackside - the article originally published last year in Steam World. The collection at Penrhyn Castle has been being revised for several years. My GWR signs were returned to me a couple of years ago. Part of the reason for so much of railway interest going to Penrhyn Castle in the late 1960s/70s was a simple matter of logistics - students from Bangor University Railway Society did a lot of the hard graft of rescue and restoration and Penrhyn Castle was convenient and local for them. (CJL)

As projects progress, research is ongoing. More research comes to light and sometimes differences are revealed which mean that a number has to be changed to fit in with a different production batch.

Class 11s at present, Class 12s later.

We had Baldwin No. 73 on both passenger and demonstration freight trains. We also went right through to Carcross and our train was posed on the bridge (the flatcar took supplies up and brought rubbish back down to Skagway. (CJL)

Some pictures from a trip I made in 2007 A cruise ship train climbing above Dead Horse Gulch. The boxcar waiting shelter at Glacier station. From here you can hike to the Denver glacier. One of the run-by that were specially arranged for us - this one at the Pennington section house between Bennett and Carcross on the section of the line that is not in normal use. (All pics CJL)

In a two-part feature "Bridge to Engine Room" in the November and December 2023 issues of Steam World magazine I provided some background to working for the World's largest transport publisher back in the 1960s. Hope it's OK to mention that. It gives a bit more background than I can give here. (CJL)

I'm not aware of MRC ever being owned by Loco Pub Co. It was my understanding (and I did work on it for a few years!) that it came with the takeover of Railway World (based originally in north London, while LPC which published mainly photos and postcards was based on the south coast. If - and it's a big 'if these days - my memory serves me correctly. I do remember EXACTLY when it ceased, with the June 1987 issue at about 3 weeks notice! (CJL)

This is getting really off the topic of Steve's retirement - sorry Steve! I'm talking last century, here, not 'now'. I think the gist of the whole history of model railway magazines then, was that it never really mattered what I, or any of the other editors thought. Sales figures were the only thing that 'talked' and sales figures were inextricably linked to advertisement revenue. The more copies that were sold, the higher the advertisement rates could be and the greater the ad revenue. MRJ was such small fry that it wasn't a member of ABC, had no audited circulation figure for comparison purposes and so didn't really have any effect - I guess it simply wasn't 'mainstream' enough to catch the attention of those who held the purse strings. In terms of its positioning in the market I think it added a fourth level - which was more aspirational than the 'big 3' but being aspirational is a great incentive for some modellers and a big turn-off for others (the folk who would say "it's great, but I could never do that") I always wanted to show people that they could do it - if I can, anyone can. With the Constructor I tended to be so absorbed in what I was doing (and the other work I had to do for IAL) that I seldom took much notice of what the competitors were doing. Perhaps that was my mistake. Eventually it was that 'other work' (production managing a raft of magazine titles with inexperienced editors) which led IAL to pull the plug on MRC and give me a production editor role across all the magazines -but that's another story. (CJL)

Can't recall building a DJH 'Britannia' but MRC was certainly building kits ( I built Roye Link's etched brass L&B 2-6-2T) and publishing drawings right up to closure in the mid 1980s. Some would tell you that's why it closed! In those days there was an unwritten 'pecking order' - Railway Modeller entry level, Model Railway Constructor 'middle of the road,' Model Railway News 'top-end modellers who could solder and scratch-build (leaning towards model engineering). It was only when that 'discreet demarcation' began to be eroded that things went wrong for two of the three titles. (CJL)

Dave L is certainly still active - and busy. (CJL)

Railway and model railway journalism has always been something of a game of 'musical chairs' - someone retires or moves on and everyone else moves round one step. When I joined Model Railway Constructor in autumn 1963, I was interviewed by the Editor,Geoff Kichenside. But Geoff was moving on to Railway World and Alan Williams was the new Editor when I actually started work. Sometimes, there were changes of editorial direction involved, too, like when Cyril Freezer moved to Model Railway News (which I seem to recall became Your Model Railway about the same time). David Lloyd once calculated how many of us there were across the whole world. I can't now remember the exact number but it was fewer than 50, which is why the 'job opportunities' were equally few and far between. Indeed, I once applied for a job on Model Railroader! It was good to work with several 'newcomers' over the years - who, like Steve, have gone on to fill the various editorial chairs and will be familiar names to today's modellers. (CJL)

I don't think getting into or out of model railway magazines was ever viewed as a 'mistake' or otherwise by Ian Allan. He had no particular personal interest in small scale model railways and it was very much a niche market within a niche market. He sold Railway Modeller - Sydney Pritchard told me that he borrowed a hundred quid off his Mum in order to buy it! The story must be true as he told me the same tale every time I saw him! Basically, IA bought and sold businesses. In due course he bought Railway World Publishing in order to get Railway World, and Model Railway Constructor came as part of the package. Then the fun began! (CJL)

I recall that Steve submitted a feature and large format colour slides of his Kyle of Tongue layout to Model Railway Constructor when I was editor in the 1980s. The layout was so evocative of that northern Scotland area and the slides were among the best I'd seen since Brian Monaghan (with a very different photographic style) had retired. I needed a layout photographer who could take good colour shots and Steve did the job for me for a while. I think most readers have little idea how challenging layout photography can be. I think it was Steve whom I commissioned to photograph a layout, which turned out to be in a loft, on an 80degree summer day! Happy retirement, Steve! (Chris Leigh)

I beg to differ. There's the old Rivarossi log cars (now Hornby) and some ancient kits from Roundhouse but otherwise, modellers of logging roads have had to rely on limited, dated, brass imports from the Far East. These from KR look nice but they are very similar to the Rivarossis, but without the folding stakes. Perhaps KR will follow up with some high-stake log cars suitable for use on Class 1 roads. With Rapido et al concentrating on equipment that suits their Class 1s on the east side of Canada, those of us who model the forest products movers on the west side could do with lots of cars - high-stake log cars and wood chip gondolas particularly. (CJL)

Consignment enough to fulfil several small orders but not big enough to fulfil one large order, perhaps? (CJL)

Hornby produced both early and later-style Pullmans (8 and 12 wheels) and produced the earlier match-boarded Pullmans as they appeared in the 1950s with aluminium plating over the matchboard (to make them look more modern). Generally, white roofs were earlier (white lead on canvas) while they were later painted grey. There was also a light silvery-colour used in the early 1960s which looks white in photographs (check out aerial views of the Churchill funeral train, which has one light-coloured roof). We shouldn't be bothered by what colour coach roofs were as a train with all the roof colours matching would have been pretty unusual., (CJL)

I have a Bachmann grain car with a FRED coming from Germany. Thanks for all the advice/links. (CJL)

I don't normally like running trains without a caboose but a recent purchase of an ES44Ac and a CN SD70ACE mean that I'm now running a grain train with no caboose. I went looking for an End of Train device that I could wire in to an Intermountain grain car and was surprised to find a lack of simple electronic fittings, battery-powered LED units or whatever. I would have thought the Americans would be into that sort of accessory. Anyway, had to settle for a Bachmann grain car with a pre-installed FRED (I seem to recall the Bachmann grain car is a bit under scale and not great but beggars etc...). Couldn't find a source in the Uk so had to order from Germany (American suppliers want absurd amounts of postage - four times the price of the car!). On reflection would a British flashing tail lamp have done the job? (CJL)

Having completed radiotherapy on September 20 I was checked on by phone by one of the radiographers a few weeks later with regard to any lingering side effects. There wasn't much. On November 7 I had a PSA blood test and the results went straight to the Consultant (as my local surgery no longer does them). My Consultant appointment was by phone on November 30 and I''m pleased to say that my PSA is down to 0.03. (It was in double figures this time last year) I asked if that meant the treatment was successful, but she won't claim success, she just said "It's an excellent result" and pushed my next test/consultation back to six months instead of three. (CJL)

Use strips of old credit/bank cards or plastic card. Insert them between the bottom edge of the body and the chassis. Use four or five and slide them along until the side releases from the clips. Leave them in place and repeat the process on the other side. The body should then lift off easily. (CJL)

Brian's push for the BR Design Panel to have greater influence over colours as the railway looked to shake off its 'dirty, black steam loco' image. (the Design Panel also tidied up some of the early diesel designs to improve their looks and reduce the number and shape of grilles etc). E and F actually got done, of course, on two Brush Type 2s. Desert sand on D1000, followed by maroon (with yellow buffer beams), then plain green for comparison purposes. Finally maroon (but with yellow warning panels) being acceptable to most of those who were making the choice. Then, no doubt, Swindon opting to apply it to Warships, too, as the standard livery for all their Type 4s. By then, attempts to reduce accidents to track workers had led to all-over yellow ends. Brian was an obsessive LBSCR fan (his headed notepaper had a drawing of a 'Terrier') and he wanted to get Stroudley 'improved engine green' (ochre) applied to as many locos as possible. He succeeded with D1015 and one Class 31. Green is the most restful colour (think grass and trees etc) and was chosen after the series of experiments with others, colours being acceptable to most of the regional officials who judged the experiments. Blue was adopted for '8P' locomotives (blue loco, red and pale cream coaches - so red, white(ish) and blue for the new BRITISH Railways. Unfortunately the blue wasn't durable, so expediency saw it replaced with the same green as the lesser passenger classes. (CJL)

Staines West had a 'Toad' body as a bothy outside the engine shed. It survived long after the loco shed had fallen down. (CJL)