hmrspaul

Dressed in voices - Mostly Autumn Just back from the album launch and doubtless Tim (OP) will analyse in some depth, but I had to beat him too it LOL MA fans often call them Mostly Awesome but tonight they went all the way, This new album, at least for the first 3/4 is a concept album as Prog groups used to do (until Genesis screwed it up). After 14 + years they have re-invented themselves, but totally as Mostly Autumn. In their first 3 albums MA were a totally raw, original prog band. They have achieved much since, including many better creations (passengers), but they re-invented themselves and prog tonight. Totally back to their roots, Leaving Heather behind (sorry darling, she was in the audience and I love everything she did with MA) so using all of the 15 plus years experience this new concept album stands head and shoulders over other prog bands of today. Please wait for the launch on 1 June, but more importantly see them live - this will be simply amazing. I can only suggest if Ars longa vita brevis is where Prog began and ended for you, then tonight was the rebirth. Paul

.. and rebuilt bodies - the further one with the turn under at the bottom of the body so the writing is .... wrong!

It is certainly unusual for BR to change the diagram number when they vacuum braked wagons. It isn't clear from what Mike has written whether any were VB'd between c1948 and 1956, perhaps they were as he mentions that the number had increased to 18 by 1948. In Nov 1956 BR listed the following from diags 1375 and 1376 as to be VB'd 5153 - 5395 5400 - 7115 7121 - 7122 11848 - 14501 38151 - 38416 38429 - 38750 Of course there is no mention of a change of diagram, and it is likely that some (many?) were not converted. Diag 1389 has the nos. as 38417 - 38428 (pencil annotation and also XP 12 at 15.7.44. In service (??) by CME in connection with building of Locomotives for W.D. ) Another pencil annotation is 7/9/46 = 18, the additional numbers aren't mentioned. Diag 1375 has a total of 2842 on 7/9/46 Paul

Clive Sorry, missed this topic completely. I (and others) took a lot of photos in Tinsley yard in the 1980s when the Asst. Yard Master joined our group! A long but worthwhile drive from Harpenden in the day. Some of my photos come up with this search http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=tinsley but there are a lot more as I didn't used to put the place in the file names (remember the day when file names were very short - 8 characters?). The TMD was off limits in those days, whereas when we turned up in 1993 the new railway was really welcoming http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/smbp444 and other photos were taken that day of the internal user lowmac etc. Paul Bartlett

This is one of the 394 wagons of lot 3863 built at Horwich in 1975 copying Tri-ang and Hornby by putting a new body on a 10ft wheelbase, 17ft 6in over headstocks frame recovered from scrapped wagons. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/mineralmcv10ft Paul

I have photos in Puriton at http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/rofpuriton I do have a number of photos in Bridgwater yard dotted around my site. Paul

My Peak photos are here http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brclass45 Paul

The colour markings. Although we in BRHSG started recording the use of the colour markings back in 1979 - when they were already clearly old - no one has come up with either a definitive list of them, where they represented or when they were introduced. And we have discussed them occasionally in depth since. There were a lot of different such brandings on wagons mainly used for ballast - the hoppers, Grampus (and similar), mediums etc. You may well be correct to remove them from a 1960 period wagon. I notice TMC have a weathered version, but they haven't copied the patch repainting where replating has been done on DB992185. Paul

From an archive site Shell-Mex and BP Limited (SMBP) was formed in 1932 when the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC, now BP) and Royal Dutch-Shell decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations. APOC held 40 per cent and Shell 60 per cent ownership, reflecting their respective market shares. SMBP acquired the Power Petroleum Company and the Dominion Motor Company in 1934, and the National Benzole Company in 1957. Each brand continued to be marketed separately throughout the existence of the joint company. The parent organisations de-merged their United Kingdom marketing operations in 1976. Seems correct to me. All of the TOPS plastic plates were produced for SMBP, but I doubt any were used (Private Owners were slow to renumber their wagons). The redundant plates were sold off for a few pence (or possibly £1?) at Collectors corner. I've got SMBP52119 http://bit.ly/1kMHnwH Paul

Is this Bishopbriggs? http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brclass37/e1753915e Paul

39-551Z BR Mk1 4 Whl CCT BR Blue E94628 £19.99 = http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcct/e31a4d9cc 39-552Z BR Mk1 4 Whl CCT BR Express Parcels (Weathered) W94598 £21.99 = http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcct/e205c2a67 39-553Z BR Mk1 4 Whl CCT RTC Livery 024497 £19.99 = http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcct/e491fdb44 Paul Bartlett

An interesting early photo of a DBT. I hadn't realised they had a suffix showing the operating region - and the D prefix went in later years as well. Paul

Yes, pretty certainly a Crosfields tank chassis. The full number is not readable, but TDB74940x is readable. York had a couple of these. TDB749402 http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brdemountable/e99085fa and TDB749411http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brdemountable/e2e0c027b But I don't think this one is one of those. It is written for Holbeck TMD. Regards Paul

My Class 20 photos are here http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brclass20 Some old, some very new (yesterday) I did miss three of them powering off with a Network Rail rail train last year under Holgate Bridge, what a fantastic noise! and amazing acceleration for 50 year olds. Paul

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brsand This one had been transferred to engineers use sometime before May 1967 from the state of the lettering! No sign that their use was anything special - such as for S&T Paul

The so called SNCF minerals have shown up in quite a few of the photos in this excellent and extensive trawling of the net. None of mine show the lettering, but the Parkside 7mm kit transfers reproduces it accurately . http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brsncfmineral Paul

Rebuilt Southern Region Lamprey, became a CRAB http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brlamprey/e36e93aaa Paul

Oops. From the livery - early BR unpainted! I only quickly looked and hadn't taken in they were still vac fitted (some LMS and BR vac fitted Medfits lost their vacuum brakes later and reverted to ZAO). Admittedly there is some freight stock red remaining on the visible end. Paul

Neither were the guys who did the real ones, they werer almost invariably awful, outside the box, not on the black etc. Those unfitted mediums earlier in the posting are unusually smart. Paul

I certainly agree that when the lovely SR green EMUs were repainted in the appalling blue I don't recollect seeing a mix within a set. I'm no expert on SR EMUs but did see and travel on a lot of them in the mid and later 1960s and have the impression that set control and maintenance was very vigorous. The ABC's of the time were able to provide set numbers with all of the coach numbers year in and year out with minimal alteration apart from when accident damage occured. Paul Sorry, I thought then, and still do, that the plain blue on a suburban coach was dreadful. It was a pity that the chromatic blue used on the BRCW type 3 and Peaks did not become the standard livery.

This is later than the OP wanted to know about. Other answers have been excellent, anything that was open could be used - there are hundreds on my site - just search for Hitchin for example. It was only in the 1980s that overloading caused enough accidents that more care began to be taken and the holes were cut in the side of the minerals. Ordinary minerals were used - there are a number of LMS ones and early unrebuilt BR at Hitchin on my site. As already mentioned shock opens in particular seem to have been popular - being smaller capacity they were less of a risk from excessive loading. Similarly, the entire medium open fleet appears to have been claimed by the engineers by the mid to late 1960s - photos of them in revenue use are remarkably rare. As to livery, black until c1960, gulf red 60-63, olive green afterwards. But little got repainted. But most of the stock used for spoil remained in original traffic livery, very worn with a crude D added to the number (please hand paint these - no decals), Dutch livery has been discussed on RMWeb before. This, painted in February 1981 is one of the earliest http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/seacow/e23bab886 Paul

I agree, very interesting photo I hadn't realised so many were in the orange originally. There is a lovely photo of them in Rails along the Derwent The story of the Derwent Valley Light Railway by Jonathan D. Stockwell and Ian Drummond Holne Publishing, PO Box 343, Leeds, LS19 9FW ISBN 978-0-9563317-6-2 This photo http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/procorcovhop/e1c4d1929 (and the next) has a red patch. This had DVR on it in large lettering as they were hired to the Derwent Valley Railway. I should have added, this was for Grain traffic to Scotland; the use for Urea came later. Paul Bartlett

The 3 H that produced 4mm wagon kits was Roy Jackson and Doug Hewson. Roy, of course continues as a well known EM modeller and editor. Doug went 5inch and runs a company manufacturing kits for 5 inch wagons - a spectacular hobby - as seen perhaps at its best at Gilling http://www.rsme.org.uk/ - the rake of Mark 1 coaches is by Doug. His address is at http://the-hewsons.webs.com/ Currently he is publishing an account of his work in the HMRS newsletter - Points. Paul Bartlett

My Birmingham Type 3 photos are here http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcwclass33 Paul Bartlett

I've another photo by a friend in 1971 of one in FSR - bauxite E164884, and in the same rake another which appears to be worn black! FSR for all revenue wagons was official in the early 1960s. Paul Bartlett