Moxy

It's supposed to be one of these North British DH The cab on the model is too long, the radiator is vertical (should be slightly raked back), it's outside framed when it should be inside framed with jackshaft drive. Apart from that it's fairly close I suppose when Playcraft introduced it in 1963 it was no worse than what Triang was offering at the time.

I have found this link to a Bob Reid https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/130227-hst-retirements-and-secondary-deployments/&do=findComment&comment=3343425 who has the Wordpress site in his signature, but he doesn't seem to have been on RMWeb since January 2020. Perhaps somebody knows him or where he is now?

Regarding stripping old paint, if the Modelstrip or Superstrip don't work, try Dettol disinfectant. I have successfully used it to remove all sorts of repaints & most manufacturer's paint jobs as well. Triang crane runner, bought secondhand with a thick coat of green paint, followed by a thick coat of grey paint Same wagon after soaking in Dettol, returned to the bare red plastic

There are some discussions from RMWeb in 2012 HERE about the same subject. There was a Golden Arrow body kit (NL9) but it has long been out of production. http://www.goldenarrow.me.uk/products.htm# The only other one I could find is this rather basic print by Tebee Models on Shapeways. https://www.shapeways.com/product/WY2F7UCRQ/oo9-w-l-loco I think the reason they aren't more kits available is because the prototype's unequal wheelbase is nothing like any N gauge RTR chassis available that is anywhere close. The only route to an accurate chassis is to scratchbuild one, and if you can do that, scratchbuilding the bodywork isn't a problem. Good luck with the search. These are some of my favourite locos, so if anyone does come with any other kits that I have missed, I would be interested to know as well.

They could have both. In my hometown of Preston, (when they had a dock and a banana trade), they had banana warehouses on the docks, but there was also a ripening warehouse part way up the Longridge branch where green bananas were ripened for sale. In order to reach this ripening warehouse, the train had to go from the dock, up into Preston station, then reverse direction and head off towards Longridge. To further complicate matters, the Dock branch & the Longridge branch were on opposite sides of Preston station. This Flickr photo shows some inset tracks & bananas being loaded into vans. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/4640221919 Sorry, I don't know which banana company operated out of Preston.

Southern concrete was discussed here https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79762-concrete/ I don't think it answers your question as to when it reached the IOW, but concrete (at least as far as the Southern Railway is concerned) seems to have started with the LSWR just before grouping, so somewhere in the period 1920-30 would be my guess. Hope this helps

Google can still find some old webpages, probably through the Wayback Machine, but the actual pages themselves aren't there anymore. If the page you are looking for starts "rmweb.co.uk/forum/...." then it's gone. They went in January 2019 because the old software they were on couldn't be upgraded. There is more about it in this thread https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/150817-how-to-access-the-old-archived-site/&tab=comments#comment-3805131

I think you may be right there. The crest lines up with the box on the footplate. There's a photo HERE of it wearing the later crest where that is clearly more central on the tank. Interesting variation.

That would be true if they were both to the same loading gauge, but they're not. The Bachmann ones are to a larger continental loading gauge than would fit on a UK line. The combination of larger loading gauge/smaller scale (continental) versus smaller loading gauge/larger scale (UK) means they fit quite well on UK 009 layout. As a narrow gauge modeller I have a couple of the older Liliput versions of these coaches and they don't look out of place on a 009 layout. Paul

Similar stories from a mate of mine who used to drive for First Manchester out of Bolton depot. The number of people who ran into the back of whichever double decker he was driving at the time, and saying "sorry I didn't see you." I wouldn't mind, but it's not as though as First Bus 'Barbie' livery was subtle!

Does anyone have a scale drawing of this L&YR loco please, or know where there is one? My usual Google searches have drawn a blank. It doesn't matter what scale, I can scan & print it to the size I want. Just to be clear this is the Aspinall rebuild of the Barton Wright 0-6-0 tender engines, the last ones of which ended up as Horwich Works shunters. Thanks in advance.

Branchlines make a chassis kit for the Airfix Kitmaster 04, their details are here https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/suppliers/40005-Branchlines You will have to ring them, they don't have a website.

That looks like a Mainline J72 cab/running plate/chassis with a Hornby Caledonian Pug saddle tank & smokebox. A good idea and well executed.

Nice conversion. Bit worried about the 'population' in the background though...

The Sentinel DH23 still survives, it's working for Ribble Rail in Preston pulling bitumen trains. https://ribblesteam.org.uk/exhibits/diesel/sentinel-10165-1965-energy/

Several links here to Hessel Street, Weaste, Salford. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1865568 Photos date from 2000 & 2010, not sure whether there is anything still visible today. This was an entrance/exit into Salford Tram depot, which was last used by trams in 1947. The modern Metrolink runs in front of where the old tram depot was.

It was to serve an iron works founded in 1788, although the tramway dates from 1895. More links here: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3469758 And some links to a book about Robert Spence & Co. https://www.helenjohnsonyorkshirewriter.co.uk/2010/07/dalesman-for-august-2010/ https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/5004829.richmonds-men-of-iron/

Good plan, I like it. I have a couple of comments though, which you are free to ignore, but I think the yard as drawn doesn't quite work for me. Is there any access/fiddle yard at the left hand end? The reason for asking is the headshunt appears to be about 18" long, but the sidings it is feeding are roughly 20" to 30" long. That may be deliberate, but to me that would make the yard difficult to shunt, you would only be able remove half the train from the siding. One solution to this might be to move all the yard pointwork about 6" to 8" to the right, to make headshunt and sidings about the same lengths. Another solution, depending on the scenic break, might be to extend one or two of the yard sidings into the fiddle yard, then it wouldn't matter that the on scene headshunt was a bit short, because it would only be for running round, and the 'main' access to the yard would be off scene in the fiddle yard. Hope this helps.

with the securing chains going through the wheels as well.

Hi Ben If you're looking for GWR inspiration, how about one of the absorbed locos they acquired at grouping? Rhondda & Swansea Bay locos http://www.gwr813.org/gallerysw8.html Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Avonside https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1902EnV94-p327.jpg Don't think the Hornby J83 would make a scale model of either, but it might be close enough. Mind you, the Hornby J83 isn't a scale model of a J83 either! Moxy

What is unusual is what appears to be a Midland box on an L&Y line. Was Aughton Road box moved from somewhere else in LMS or BR days?

Thanks for posting that, I had not seen a picture of it before. I have a family connection to that box, my late uncle from Preston worked there for a few months in the 1960's, before he moved back to Preston, then later went to work for the TSSA union.

Parked (wrong way round!) in the concrete carbuncle that is Preston bus station.

HI Steve Try John Day for Ford Transits http://www.johndaymodels.co.uk/our-models/ford-transits/ * or Road Transport Images for for other lorries. https://www.roadtransportimages.com/ I seem to remember the Ford D Series was a common lorry in the 1970/80's * Edit: having had another look at the John Day site, most of his seem to be Mk1 Transits. However, there is thread here : https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/125558-ford-transit-van-mk2-oo-scale/ discussing this very subject. The ABS cab referred to in that thread is now with the Model Bus Federation, but you need to be an MBF member to buy one.

I'm not certain, because they have been out of production for so long, but they might be PC Kits. They produced a number of coach sides printed on acetate but it must be 25 years since they went out of business. I'd say those are a lucky find, and you will be even luckier if you find any more!