The Red Admiral

Yes, that was the very end of the 80s, paving the way for cascaded HSTs on routes from WR and SR to Manchester in the 90s.

The water stand pipes were available at York, I can't remember when they were removed. I assumed they were there until electrification but I doubt that now. Somebody will know more about when they were removed.

As an aside, in about 82 I was staying in Llandudno for a week and planned a day trip to Ffestiniog. It was a unit (I think 101) to Llandudno junction, then a 40 worked in tandem up the hill, as they weren't compatible. Worth the week on its own. We were BB&EM though and I was late for tea!

Not exactly, Western region sometimes rostered 50s on inter-regional but they returned from New Street on a reciprocal working. They were diagrammed in this way.

In the 80s, WR didn't allow 50s north of New Street and so they often had a change of motive power there. The 46s , 45s and 47s could work through but often, I believe, the issue was tank size for longer distance trains and so there were frequently changes of one 47 for another similar. As an aside, sometimess Laira only had 47s with no heating and sent these on the route as a lower priority than GW routes, that were often changed at New Street. Scarborough TP services were sometimes swapped at York around the same time. Whistlers, Peaks, Duffs and even The occasional Deltic could be seen in platforms 6 and 7 awaiting the westward service, having been ttaken off the train from Liverpool, Manchhester, Holyhead, Llandudno. There were changes at Waverley for KX to Aberdeen, Inverness due to Deltics having a 460 mile fuel capacity and KX to Edinburgh being 393 miles. Then there is Carstairs, where sparrkies were swapped for cross border routes to either GW metals or Euston. i may have misjudged the topic but it gave me a chance to unload some prior knowledge. A good source of information would be the LH(2 digit year) ie LH82, which lists loco hauled diagams, so if we knew what was on a specific train, we could find out what it was likely to haul next. I did have a few but no idea where they went.

Does this fill the criteria? https://imgur.io/elE1l

Thank you all, maybe a few of us meeting up on a quiet pub night weekly or monthly might be a start and see where we get to. If that's no more than discussing railways, that's fine - it's the social aspect that I really need to address as I never get out. This year I had my first night out in 20 years or so. I will have baseboards built before the end of summer, remember, 40 years in planning. if we just meet up, we don't need insurance & dbs checks until we move on.

Thanks Andy, I'm Chris.

I'm not looking for control or leadership, just that I would rather find similar on my doorstep. i've come to a decision though and the way is to try an existing club.

Off topic. Does anyone know why I can't see images on this site? i can't see any pictures or galleries, they're just black...

All in all, I think my best chance is to join the nearest, hopefully Neepsend and get my skills and confidence up.

well, i live in small towns - generally and don't really like travelling into the big cities if I can avoid it. and really just wanted it all to be within walking distance, with a small band, equal voices and the social part is most important. living alone, by choice, during lockdowns, i went a week at a time without seeing anybody whatsoever regularly. i found it hard to socialise afterwards. yes, I need people that know and understand more than me, advice and help and to share the hobby. not least, i'm not confident of my woodworking skills and tools, despite training apprentice engineers for a living. and I want to be able to build and run layouts that require more than one operator.

that's a fair point, but £10 each or so may be easier to find than the club having to fork £250 annually. we need to be welcoming as well as safe. and if it increases catchment...

Oh so it covers you all, i stand corrected. you could also make all members responsible for providing their own check, just thinking outside the box. i don't know how well that might work.

If you walk from the harbour top, past harbour lights, look down one of the alleys, just before it. There's a wood and glass building overlooking the harbour, probably above that museum. if you could make it secure, it could be perfect.

That's possible but I don't think it would negate the need for dbs would it? i think I would be happier if we all had our dbs checks. in fact it makes sense to me if everybody that can carry one does as a matter of course. i once worked with sombody for two years in nhs that turned out to have convictions that should have blocked his employment. I was totally shocked when I found out.

Have you noticed there's a building on the harbour top that, I think used to be the radio station? It was empty for years. Behind Harbour Lights. I walked past it regularly and thought it would be perfect.

Here's a bit of a dilemma. I am still in the planning stage (despite starting baseboards), of a Scottish layout. My goals were: Scottish, (Ian Futers was my first modelling hero), so that I could run loco hauled short passenger trains. 00 gauge, I know it's wrong scale but my skills are just above beginner level and I don't want to have to rewheel all my stock. terminus for operational interest, interesting freight generating and exchange sidings, 2 routes, junction, Possible sleeper service and through trains to "that big London" so I came up with Blairgowrie but slightly longer platforms and an Aberdeen branch (impossible, as it would have to pass straight through the Balmoral Estate), and mainline South. Raspberry traffic, possible oil traffic (red diesel company just offstage), ECML and WCML sleeper/motorail services, so, as is normal, it's getting out of hand. anyway, I have found about 6 or 8 photos of the station and that's my lot. If anyone can point me towards some more photos to work from I would be grateful, as I do want an accurate station, despite riding a horse and cart through much of the history of the line! oh and it's post TOPS BR blue and I intend to run p/p 27s and McDuffs, but blue (as God intended), not ice cream liveries! am i being realistic in an 18" wide, end to traverser? ...and it isn't really a dilemma, I just didn't know how to start writing!

Thanks Witherslack, were you a member when I was? Do you remember me? i had planned to build the church in 2mm for the Layout based on the "iron bridge" to the south of York station and took detailed photos but was forced to move away for work. So it would have been 2018-19ish.

Thanks Dungrange, that's a comprehensive answer and it seems I was a bit overoptimistic. I intend to join the Sheffield or Neepsend group at the upcoming show, which is a couple of villages away. The buses, although £2 per journey, aren't too reliable and all our finances are under pressure (which I see as a deliberate act). I will give it a try and see where I get to. Thanks

Thank you all for your help, food for thought as they say.

Thanks Mod, I'll start with some A4 prints and flyers to attract local kindred spirits.

Thanks Mike, I expected space to be problematic. Hull had their own and the Midland club at Chesterfield own a farmhouse. currently, I'm using my attic but the immersion tank is in there and all the joists are going mouldy. i rent though so don't have much choice.

It was the one under the arches, apparently they moved to the "men-in-sheds" building.

Thanks Pete, that's really helpful. The person at the end sounds like me! As a trainer I have my own dbs but wouldn't have thought about others. Should I start setting one up and hope to attract a membership?