MR Chuffer

How about the Leicester West Bridge branch, operated exclusively for many years by Johnson 2F 0-6-0s with cut down cabs to get through Glenfield Tunnel? And the oldest part of the Midland Railway. In its latter days, by Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0s, I think with similarly cut down cabs.

Pay them the rate for the job? And care home and social care workers. My daughter is a doctor with the all the A*s at GCSE and A-level you could wish for but earns much much less and works longer hours and shifts than her friends who went into banking, finance, architects, etc. She doesn't give a stuff about a few sentimental people clapping at their doors every Thursday when she's at the coalface saving lives. Quit the group think and get back to reality. #justsaying

I used to go to school by train from Rothley to Loughborough in the early 60s, cycling from Cropston - a mile away - and leaving my bike with others in the station masters' house front garden. The stock was mostly decrepit in the mornings, often suburban non-corridor, some with central lavatory, as was the hauling locomotive, quite often grimy 2-6-4Ts or B1s, I seem to recall Springbok being a regular, but I was too young to understand what was what. The afternoon was usually corridor stock and sometimes had something exotic hauling such as the day a Britannia class newly outshopped turned up - Moray or Solway Firth, can't remember which but probably Moray, and boy, was the acceleration out of Loughborough and Quorn of a different order. It was easier to catch the Midland Red bus services but, hey, riding behind a steam train was a better experience, even with smuts in the eyes from hanging out of the windows.

Perhaps the all day-shunting was anecdotal, after they'd been built; sure I saw it somewhere, and sure it was MR, but perhaps not...

Thoughts are good! When I started this thread, I wanted as realistic roster and timetable for my MR loco stable and hadn't a clue, I'm happy to take onboard all I can discover - and then Rule 1 applies. Its realistic operations I'm interested in, so I now have a roster/timetable I'm comfortable with. Did I also read somewhere (here?) that the later Johnson 3F 0-6-0Ts were designed to shunt all day on its coal and water capacity? @Compound2632 ah, 2015, that's the picture I've seen, thanks for the clarification.

I'm still interested in this, I pro-rated the Maunsell data to correspond to my Midland loco types, coal and water capacity and appreciate that a 1F "open cab", half cab to you and me, hasn't really got much of a range. I seem to have read something on here about a "safe" range of 30 miles for a 1F hauling a loaded goods train, perhaps something like this. Didn't the MR 0-6-4T have water pickup, and certainly the L&Y had on some tanks, some Class 5 2-4-2T?

Nice...!

I've noticed this too, a couple of Bachmann 7 planks recently acquired in last 9 months, not used yet, but not the 5 planks nor Oxford models. Mine won't be a high detail layout when complete so I'll just live with it...

Thx, that's great, now I know they exist, tracked one down on the Internet. I'm always attracted by any title with "brewing" in it, fine modelling.

So the Chatburn, Clitheroe wagon, can you tell me more about it - intrigued, I'm local.

Yes, as I wrote it, I thought how many model scenes do you see with van doors open? Same with open wagons with doors dropped being unloaded.

I won't be into the fine detail like @brossard's vans, but its too late if you decide you do want an interior finish but have glued the roof down. But I'm thinking Brunswick Green, floor to ceiling, doesn't actually add much, unlike cream or beige would, so perhaps I'm veering away from the idea. But you know you've got it bad when you start on the insides of covered wagons...

Those Google folk are clever and only present what they think you want, trouble is, I don't tell them anything so they don't know hence only 3 pictures in my image search but lots on car brakes And @rambler, if I had to guess, I would have said chocolate to the waist, cream/buff to the ceiling and white on the ceiling, so thanks for that. But as @brossard said, I perhaps might not be able to tell when the roof's on, but there again, I might and have plenty of time to do it.

Not getting much from Google - unless its me - but what you demonstrate makes sense, lighter shade inside with a darker colour up to the waist, but slightly different for both vehicles? And then I see a photo of a brake interior on the Bluebell with light colour and what looks like crimson lake up to waist height, what were your sources?

I've seen a fair amount on here about the interior of open wagons, same as the body colour, various shades of wood or acquiring the colour from their loads, but having scoured all my MR reference books, Essery, Dow, etc., what colour were brake van interiors, specifically Midland in my case?

Don't know if they do wood stain, but Screwfix has been a good bet for bits and pieces during lockdown, such efficient online ordering, even before lockdown.

Comments 2 to 4 are a bit harsh, the guy/girl has only done 4 posts, where you that clever from day 1? Constructive encouragement might not go amiss, after all, this is not Twitter... (or I didn't think it was)

Touche! Mustn't start too early on the gin, all sense and reason - what little there was to start with - goes out of the window.

One small error does not detract from the enormity and excellence of your work, it achieves levels I can only dream of...

Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive to want less brake force with the shorter lever. Thanks for the wagon sheet info. And pedants corner, should the numberplate be to the right as you always espouse...?

Just received my Boris letter today, now that's useless!!!

There I am knocking Slaters 4mm Midland wagons out on a production line basis, as well as re-engineering 40 year old kits to conform to the MR short lever wagon handbrake, which set me thinking, how did this originate and why was it "the standard" on the Midland, which I don't - or haven't seen - on other pre-grouping railways? A cursory search on here and the Internet didn't produce any results. I now have enough D299s and D305s, thank you, @Compound2632 for the impetus and @Derek Russan/Eileens Emporium for the copious supplies of the kits at a realistic price - why do eBayers pay massively over the odds for these kits? So now I must turn to mass provisioning of suitable tarpaulin wagon sheets, beyond what I have seen commercially available, Roger Smith and Wizard/51L, are there any other ideas or recommendations?

A maximum of 72 hours, my doctor daughter informs me....

And don't touch your face or pick your nose whilst wearing them....

@Schooner @Compound2632We're getting quite whimsical now, but I find the minutiae of diet details fascinating so thanks all for the perspective on fish consumption. The wholesale adulteration of food in the 19th century and incidents like "Death in the beer-glass: the Manchester arsenic-in-beer epidemic of 1900-1 and the long-term poisoning of beer", which was due to the wrong type of coal being used for heat and drying in the brewing process, really demonstrate how far we have come in the last 100 years. My layout is a BLT reached by frequent MR traffic from Leeds and Skipton, so a fish van terminating there may be credible but kippers in crates and wet fish from Fleetwood or wherever the catch is from in NPCS with other consignments is probably more realistic. But back to L&Y wagons, no 4mm RTR and kits then? Have ordered the L&Y Society Noel Coates Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Wagon Diagrams for a limited scratch build project. After all, I'm not going anywhere for the next few days/weeks/months, etc....