Halvarras

Out into the sticks now at Tomperrow, or Temperrow, or as we knew it Hugus, between Truro and Chacewater. Here's a colorised view of the previously-submitted D1639 climbing westbound with.........oh sorry, no it isn't, it's 1598 on 3rd July 1973! Already fitted with ETH I see: And later the same day a more side-on view of 1638 making haste with the down 'Cornish Riviera', a little further back approaching the signal. Note the random application of the 'Inter City' decals on the Mark 2s. I remember thinking I had had a problem winding the camera on for this shot and took a chance in the darkness of the loft back home to take the film cartridge out for a check. All seemed well and it came out OK. Other sightings that afternoon were Peak 112, 1662 still in its early blue style and the seemingly ever-present 1645! And Westerns of course - 1006/08/22/24/53/55. A year earlier I may have seen a Warship......

Some colour views around Truro in pre-TOPS days, from the same Instamatic camera (which I found again in the loft the other day - historical artefact that, the things that little camera has been pointed at.......sigh). Back then I could only afford colour film from time to time. First of all, the last - the final Brush Type 4 out of Loughborough and of all, D1961, awaits the off at Truro on 31st July 1971 wearing its original blue livery, hardly surprising as it only went into traffic in January 1968 after a spell at RTC Derby, possibly connected with its ETH equipment fitted from new. It did receive a repaint into standard blue as 1961, I recall seeing it ex-works somewhere. Work still going on in the yard. D1961 became 47515 and was withdrawn in January 1991, just 23 years after delivery: And a couple of weeks later on 14th August D1717 about to tackle the 1-in-60 to Highertown Tunnel, with my 'second home' since 1966 spanning the view! In later life this one would become 47555 'The Commonwealth Spirit', which I would see at Banbury in April 1979 just days after its naming: Another view from the same bridge on 7th April 1973 showing 1645 doing what D1717 was about to do. 1645 very briefly managed to acquire a TOPS number 47061 while still in green livery - not much escaped the attention of Russell Saxton but this one nearly got away, as was often the case just one photo clinched it! This '47' is still alive and well as 47830 and was recently seen running about back in two-tone green livery on route-training duties - I had no idea that it was still with us so looking up its original identity was a pleasant surprise, as I clearly recall being on this bridge and seeing it arrive in the yard on a down freight in the dark one evening, must have been around March 1972 not long after the remodelling had finished. Note that although Truro Yard had officially reopened on 7th November 1971 the warehousing was still going up on the site of the old steam shed 18 months later - I have no memory of the latter's demolition, it seemed to be there one day and gone the next. Truro West Box had originally stood beyond the roof of the GUV. Like Par, Truro will lose its semaphore signals this year (delayed from 2019) but I suppose those visible here very nearly 50 years ago are not the same as those about to get the chop.........?? To traffic in 1965 and still active it's safe to say that D1645 has done considerably better than D1961!!

Further to my post a couple of months ago or so with a few b&w images from the late 60s, remember which one was lurking behind the ever-so-shiny D1106 at Reading in April 1969 which I said to forget about? Here it is again - two more Instamatic photos of D1929 at work in Cornwall in the early 1970s....... 1929 shunting PW wagons in Truro yard during the 1971 remodelling. Three Class 47s worked two-weekly stints at this, 1929 2nd half of April, 1596 1st half of May and 1917 2nd half of May. The suggested reason for the use of these and not Class 22s was the former's slow speed control. The last green Class 22s were withdrawn during 1917's shift, which also saw GFYE Hymek 7014 arrive, assumed for clearance testing but on reflection it seemed a bit early in proceedings to be doing that (5179 did better turning up in late August or early September, wish I had noted the exact date) so perhaps 7014 had actually arrived unobserved on a PW train - it went back up coupled to 1917 light-engine: And 1929 seen again just over a year later (2nd May 1972) accelerating up and away from Par: Both of these locations now look completely different - most of that relayed track in Truro "yard" went in the 1980s and the the footpath at Par now runs through woodland.........well, on the right-hand side anyway, just some bushes between path and railway on the other. See that tensioning post on the right? - it's now covered in ivy with a large tree right behind it! The pub is still there but the semaphores at this location (and Truro and Lostwithiel) will be gone by the end of this year, along with the 'Castle' HST sets.......and I think there's not much variety now.......

Rare shots of these two already dual-braked machines with the 3-part fixed radiator grilles. I have seen just the one pic of D1660 'City of Truro' like this, taken at Saltley.

Sorry yes, I was referring to the green syp model production, the blue fyp (moulded in two shades of blue, first 'electric' then 'BR') predated the one-piece body - as you say there were no more blue fyp Hymeks from Hornby until the release of the extra-detail D7067 in weathered condition in 2004. In between there was D7093 in blue syp with the 'orrible white cab window overspray released around the mid-1990s (the real '93 never carried that livery).

I don't think show organisers requesting from exhibitors during the booking process the few extra descriptive words about their layout the OP wants to see in order to decide whether the travel costs would be money well spent, especially under present circumstances, is asking a lot. What goes into the show guide is secondary. I have one of those phones - charges in an hour, lasts 4-5 days and doesn't weigh heavily in my pocket. It'll be 13 years old this July! I do have a smartphone too, it seems to be getting less smart these days but is still very useful for certain tasks and has a great camera. Have you ever thumbed through the show guide after the event and realised that you missed an entire room.......?!🥴

Replace the loco references and how many areas of life could we apply this interesting statement to?! 😀 A certain Cornish retailer currently has a few 'Niclausse' W4s - the unpopular one with 'Hornby's best guess' mismatched green cab - which undercut your Pug price by a fiver at the moment. This vs Pug = no contest.........unless one needs a Pug of course......... Generally speaking though, I can't be the only one who gets constant reminders that there's a 'time vs money' equation when it comes to highly detailed models - spend a lot of time detailing and repainting an economical average model yourself, or spend a lot of money on a box-to-track modern RTR model. It's not necessarily quite that simple - some with enough money to buy new RTR will still take the other path for the challenge and satisfaction of "I did that!" - plus there's the advantage of creating a 'bespoke' version in the process. It's how I ended up with a Hornby 29/A1 Kits model of Class 22 D6307 with protruding headcode boxes, and have another H29/Bachmann combo representing the solitary disc headcode-fitted D6123 awaiting the paintshop (hopefully this year.....!)

Actually I think it was earlier than that, there seems to have been a number produced with integral window surrounds on the original motor bogie, too many I reckon to all be the result of chassis swaps. I wish I could remember back that far now! Certainly an internet search throws up images with this combination (and @RailwayLacky of this parish appears to have recently found one for his '21" diameter micro' layout thread........sorry, I haven't a clue how to embed links to other RMweb threads!) I've been trying to get a clearer picture myself lately for my own reasons but without much luck - time to put out a call to @Ruffnut Thorston I reckon!! The original design with separate window frames made sense on the first green release but didn't look so clever on the blue version. Unfortunately having modified the tooling Hornby got a bit lazy and used the still-present full yellow end raised guide lines to apply the white cab surrounds, resulting in a deliberate white overspray which looked terrible. But then the pale greens looked far worse than the original too........the 1970s were not Hornby's finest decade. @ianmacc since you have stripped it you can now get rid of all the unwanted raised painting lines and mould marks, including the rim around the roof fan (not present on the very first 1967 tooling) and replace the moulded warning horns (or not if doing D7000-2 in original condition) - it's a surprisingly good moulding for its age, I've done two (with Lima running gear) and they turned out really well!

How about DC Resin Replicas? https://dcresinreplicas.co.uk/product/r332-clerestory-composite-coach-seating-unit/ Both interiors available in brown or white, £7 a pop. I obtained two brown ones for my composite and brake clerestory coaches last year, they drop in on top of the floor projections (no need to do any 'ground clearance' work) and add some useful weight too. NB Crossed lines with @salop89a!

Ah yes, Mangapps taking advantage of a BR numbering anomaly! The real 11104 was a Hibberd 4WDM built 1950, renumbered to Departmental 52 in 1957 and withdrawn in March 1967. The Drewry original numbering sequence had to skip around it!

You did say "from memory" so an 'escape clause '! D6306 had almost faded from my memory too but some years ago an internet trawl turned up an excellent photo of it with the boxes in Truro yard, reaffirming my recollection - wish I'd saved it as I can't find it now, but it's out there somewhere...... I recall seeing D6317 with the big boxes and front-end damage withdrawn at Laira in September 1968. Earlier that year I'd cabbed D6307 in multiple with D6306 up front at Truro and the loco gangways were connected - the black hole didn't look very inviting, maybe that's the real reason why BR crews didn't use them very often! Connected gangways were common on Class 22s in Cornwall at the time (you'll probably be aware of the colour photo of D6307 and D6339 so linked - also at Truro in May 68) and it's been claimed that the practice was resurrected with Class 25s on Cornish passenger workings in 1972*, if true it must have been the last such use on BR - if not then Class 22 must still hold the title. I can believe Laira 25s at Bristol, the diesel-electric Type 2s seem to have been allowed to roam further than the hydraulics and 'foreign' examples could make it as far as Exeter and up the local branch lines. Same with Class 31s, although 5827 on 1V76 to Penzance on 29/6/73 takes some beating 😮!! *Not possible with all Class 25s of course....

A good use for these newly-available Kernow headcode boxes, that hadn't occurred to me! 25 years ago I reproduced D6307 (a loco I was sick of the sight of in the years up to 1971) using the Hornby 29/A1 conversion kit combo, I didn't like the shape of the etched headcode panels so, since I was making my own and painting the entire thing, might as well do this one - having realised it wasn't an irritation after all but an old friend! These protruding boxes were fitted to D6302/6/7/17/24/26 - D6302/24/26 were later modified to the flush type, D6302 on acquiring blue full yellow in May 1967 (almost a waste of time then, but at least it lasted 5 months longer than D600....) D6302/24 were damaged in a derailment in January 1961 while running in tandem, repairs that year gave them the first headcode boxes and they were the only ones so fitted until late 64/early 65. D6302 had gained oversized yellow panels by August 1962 but D6324 avoided these for a while longer. Not sure where the notion that the disc headcode Class 22s all had bi-folding gangway doors came from, all 58 were built with plain doors and the bi-folding type were fitted during headcode conversions to D6300/02-33, no exceptions AFAIK (ignoring one end of D6323 in September 1964........ 😉!) I would only have expected Laira Type 2s to appear at Bristol during trips to and from Swindon Works. I don't even recall seeing any at Exeter during spotting trips there in the late 1960s, any which made it over the Devon banks (presumably not otherwise required for Cornish china clay duties) were usually pilot engines which came off at Newton Abbot. I also didn't like the A1 etched nose doors so on D6307 and D6322 I scribed in the bi-fold doors with the hinges down the middle of each door represented by thin plastic rod inlayed into the groove. I still have both, but no photos to hand at the moment.......

Hmmm......one of these, or two Oxford Rail Pilchard bogie wagons and a little loose change? Having taken delivery of a Pilchard only yesterday I know the answer to that question........ And as for that floor, another choice - load an excavator, or go dancing on it?! 😜

If I may veer off-topic in geographical terms for a moment, John Vaughan's 'Diesel Days: Devon & Cornwall' (page 68) has a delightful shot of Class 22 D6315 heading away from Perranporth towards Newquay with a single lined-maroon Collett BCK in tow, on 4th June 1961. The widespread availability of the ubiquitous 'B-Sets' in the West Country made such sights unusual. The Chasewater - Newquay line was still mostly steam-worked at that time (the following month saw 0-6-0PT 9635 turn up with 'GWR ' still visible under the filth on its tank sides!) and even at such a late stage - closing to passengers from 4th February 1963 after a life of just 58 years - it still generally warranted 3-coach trains, often including former LMS designs, so perhaps this single-coach working during the summer months had occurred for 'operational reasons' (the caption indicates it was a timetabled service, so not a special). Anyway 🤐 and back to the other end of the country....!

I visited Kings Cross for the first time the previous month, and D9020 was the first Deltic I saw, looking exactly like this (oddly enough 🥴!!) I'm surprised Doncaster didn't line the numbers up with the engine room windows above, but it looks like they went for equidistant with the BR logo from the cab doors instead.

That's come up well! Does its "hopelessly small" stature make it suitable for use in one of them scenic 'forced perspectives' one often reads about.....? 🤔

Just the two. I'm pleased to see that Heljan have correctly extended the roof grey down to the top beading (instead of rainstrip) and kept the yellow panels within the lamp brackets this time, compared to the earlier OO model. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s information on these unusual livery variations was extremely hard to come by, and tended to be 'rumour mill' material - unless one lived in the right area to actually see them it was initially word-of-mouth. Such locos seemed adept at dodging cameras and never appeared in the railway magazines of the time, which were mostly steam-oriented so diesel coverage was limited. Only the annual Ian Allan ABCs were likely to include photos of rarities and pics of blue small yellow panel D5389 and blue full yellow D5909 caused quite a stir in the years they appeared (the first was unknown to me and the latter had achieved almost mythical status, although it was known to exist as it was active in the London area so lots of reports but up 'til then no published photos). Those oddities in far-flung places, such as D5701 and D6109, the only blue examples of their respective classes, remained rumours to most of us; the first pictorial album dedicated to diesel traction I found was by Bradford Barton in 1973, but even the expansion of such albums after that failed to include images of most livery oddities. Although D5380 in two-tone green was known about it was thought to be unique and I still recall John Hague, the compiler and author of a supplement 'Un-Corporate Image' issued with BRM and Traction magazines in spring 2002, claiming to have been "floored by the discovery" of a colour photo of D5382 in ttg at Ayr in 1968. Obviously we now know that photographs of it were taken by a few people during the short time it ran in this livery (D5380 lasted longer) but it had taken a whopping 34 years for the rest of us to find out about it!! Appeals for assistance with this supplement put a group of livery enthusiasts in touch with each other and instigated much internet-trawling. It was around that time that a b&w photo of withdrawn Class 21 D6109 in blue was unearthed - and only then was it discovered that it had received headcode panels and other Class 29-related external modifications, although many more years would pass before an excellent colour front 3/4 view would appear in print. Another surprising photo was green 6123 with headcode discs on its full yellow ends, the only NBL of either type to achieve this strange-looking combination. Also confirmation that Deltic D9010 really did run in green with BR arrow logos instead of emblems. All of this had been recorded by those there at the time but it was the internet which finally gave access to such material. And incredibly, many of these one-time livery myths have become available as RTR models - 20 years ago that's something I would never have expected to see!

Views of 'All-The-Ones' are always Brush Type 4 eye-candy, especially in pre-TOPS blue, but it's a pity more isn't shown of 1529 since I assume it would still have had its unique 3-part radiator roof grilles with vertical slats at this point (it did at Bristol on 19/7/69 in the same external condition), and this was probably a last opportunity to photograph this variation before it went into works......perhaps Stephen did record it while he was there?

They'd have been D7018 and D1010 (masquerading as D1035). D821 also spent some time there immediately post-preservation in 1973 - it was on site when the D7001/28-hauled 'Hymek Swansong' tour of 22/9/73 called in on its way back to London (blimey......50 years ago this year........ouch!!)

Which just goes to show how polarizing the subject of diesel locomotive liveries can be! 😆

I think Hymeks in undercoat on test were unusual to rare, otherwise I'd have expected to see more such photos, however they could go out fully painted but not quite finished, such as D7041 also photographed at Derby on 1T46, lacking OHLE flashes (and now modelled by Heljan in this short-lived condition). If Heljan's next batch of releases includes D7046 in mottled grey primer (which wouldn't surprise me, the way things are heading) it would make slightly more sense than a steam loco in 'photographic grey' since at least it was seen on the main line hauling a train!!

My Other Half is from Belfast so I've often thought my 1960s WR diesel collection should include D1674 'Samson' and D819 'Goliath'......... (But she has zero railway interest so I never bothered 🤭!)

Only the first 33 Class 03s (plus ex-Departmental D2370/1 and 03129/62 in later life) had conical exhausts, so it must be time to give this small minority a rest and select a few from the 193 with 'flowerpot' exhausts instead for a change (in BR liveries, not more industrial colours like NCB black). So far there has been no Swindon-built green with wasp stripes and large numbers (since Mainline's D2179 of 1983 vintage!) and a plain BR green with 'flowerpot' has never been produced RTR using either tooling, and some lasted until the mid-1960s like this. A hole to be filled IMHO.

No, that would have required the fitting of Serck roof shutters which none of them displayed as 48s. Nonetheless worth mentioning that some 47s were dual-braked from new with the original 3-part fixed roof grilles before frozen radiator problems arose, presumably during winter 1964-5 (IIRC D1631-65 from Crewe, D1782-1806 from Brush). All five 48s were dual-braked during their rebuilds, 1704 having the shutters when I saw it in October 1971 (the following day D7676 turned up in Truro down side yard, only the second 25 I'd seen there, but that's wandering OT!)

Interesting possibility! I managed to get to Derby Works on 4th November 1969, just in time to catch a single LMR BRCW Type 2 inside - the one between the two TTG examples! It was still in GSYP livery and surprisingly emerged unchanged, going on to be the last '27' to run in this livery I believe, surviving into 1972. I must admit D444 in TTG was a 'might-have-been' I really liked! (But 50035 in Loadhaul black/orange was not my thing at all, sorry 😬 !)