hmrspaul

Do you have a feeder devoted to niger seed? It is feeding this which has helped build such healthy populations - they have very short lives, and migrate, but they seem to know of our Niger seed feeder from way away. Paul Bartlett

May I suggest you add a niger seed feeder - the main users of this are goldfinches, and they are spectacular small birds. I don't take my own advice, but, if you can, have paving below the feeder as a lot does get dropped and will grow - paving will allow some clearing up. The type of birds we commonly get in the garden like trees and shrubs - our front garden feeder is in a small garden, and I have planted a row of differing shrubs across the front - the branches are only a foot or so away. The birds like this cover - our double height feeder empties in less than 2 days. A scientific report concluded the more plant cover a garden has the more birds there will be - and they need such cover for their nests. And grow shrubs that will have berries - like cotoneaster and pyracantha - good hedging plant as well, vicious needles. Cats, don't you just hate them! Paul Bartlett

Sparrowhawks are one of the great recovery stories of the bird world http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2010/wcrsparr.shtml . Living close to central York they occasionally take birds in our backgarden, but last week I was very surprised to see one dismembering a sparrow in our small and deliberately overgrown front garden http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/235623 . We feed birds both front and back, and get all of the usuals - especially large numbers of goldfinches (I suspect they had three broods this long summer). Missing from early autumn are the wood pigeons - we usually have lots of them, I expect they will be back in the winter. The blackbirds love the pyracantha berries. Two other unusual visitors for an urban garden have been cock common pheasant http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/235881?nav=related and gulls in the very severe part of last winter. Paul Bartlett

I haven't been following all of this, but became aware of the 'special' via an email. I think your idea is far better than Western Enterprise in Desert Sand, which made me feel physically sick when I first saw it on the new loco. It was vile! And I did like the Westerns, they looked very classy compared to the American styled EE and Sulzer locos of the time. Paul Bartlett

They are also supplied with stanchions so that they can be modelled without cradles as BAA. Cradle fitted are BZA, although both wagons carry BAA TOPS codes. Loads of excellent BAA (and BZA) pics via Martyn Read's smugmug site via the link above. NO, I have posted links to the prototype photos, these are early 1990s wagons. The emails winged backwards and forwards on the lettering for these wagons - not that Bachmann will acknowledge the help in any way. Paul Bartlett

You mention the Rugby cement livery, but haven't posted any photos. There are some in this collection http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/stspca Broadens the appeal to an earlier period Paul Bartlett

Is it Hornby that have suggested they were ZFP? Their model is clearly, correctly, labelled ZFO and the photograph by Pete Fidczuck they used for pre release advertising was ZFO. I don't disagree about the possibilities of conversion to Mackerel or Herring, they do appear possible with only minor discrepencies which would be acceptable to some and not to others. Paul Bartlett

Why? What evidence is there that any were ever piped? Paul Bartlett

If you want to do something "different" how about the slag conversion such as both of these http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnerballasthop and http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/troutzfo/h12e49ec2#h12e49ec2 Paul Bartlett

compare ballast hoppers.pdf Trying for the third time. I won't attempt to open the file, as my computer is hanging with pdfs., Anyway the table attached is a comparison of the three BR ballast hopper wagons which share the Leeds Forge/Metro Cammell design of the body of steel plates supported by inverted U channel. As can be seen there are differences. The mention of vacuum pipes in another post is strange, the Trouts were unfitted, it is these others that were vacuum braked - and they had a drop down pipe. The GWR/BR Herring was the type with the apparently vulnerable upright vacuum pipe. Paul Bartlett

Sorry, I cannot see a way of posting or attaching a table. Paul

No, we have already had this discussion. There is a BR Herring which is very similar to a Trout see http://paulbartlett..../brrivetherring and if Chrisf asks Craigwelsh nicely he may be able to supply the reference to the drawing which the HMRS has. These names are no more descriptions of a particular wagon than a TOPS code is. The railway simply gave the same names to wagons that had a similar function - in this case capacity. There is also an even lower height version of the Hornby Trout - the Mackerel http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brmackerelzmv Paul Bartlett

Although a number of Hornby models appear to have been influenced by my photographs they have never been in contact with me. It looks from their adverts that others have been, who do not have a web prescence. I assume you have looked at Cheona etc. and HMRS, personally I have very few 1950s photographs. Paul Bartlett

Being small they would be handy for a lot of modellers, the GWR and BR ones were used on the Eastern, Scotland and Midland. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brherring http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrherring As to the Hornby Trout, yes very strange that the main livery - BR black has not been reproduced! A very strange company! Paul Bartlett

Craig Are you sure it was a Trout drawing? There are similar Herring - Diag 1/584. Similar in construction but smaller http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brrivetherring These fishkind names are to give guidance on the wagon type, so if two wagons have similar capacity, unloading arrangements etc then they should have the same name. The same concept is used for TOPS coding, which is why the three letter codes are usually not a suitable way of describing a particular wagon.

The official photograph of 163504 says built at Met Camm and quotes two Patents. The BR ones were built by Met Camm. As you will know Leeds Forge was absorbed into Cammell-Laird & CO Ltd in 1923 and the works closed in 1929 with a transfer of work to the Saltley works which was Metropolitan RCW Ltd until 1919 when Vickers acquired the shares, then in 1929 Vickers and Cammell-Laird & Co Ltd merged to form Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co. The detail photograph at Hattons appears to have very good likeness of the axleboxes with LNE lettering etc. Early BR ones had these, later they were BR(E) and later still a plain (one bolt head) version was used, as well as occasional 2-piece boxes. They were never numerous, and appear to have mainly been retained on the ex LNER - ER, NER and ScR. The LNER had several batches built at various times, presumably all will be revealed when Wild Swan finally publishes the two remaining volumes in Tatlow's new LNER wagon book series (they have had them for some time!). BR had 113 of diag. 1/580. Paul Bartlett

I think it may be more complicated than that. The SR understood olive green but these photographs of a nearly new Whale, built at Shildon IN 1966-7, appear to show a body colour slightly different to the black laquer of the underframe, but it is very dark http://paulbartlett....7c22d#h1dc7c22d http://paulbartlett....7c22d#h1dc7c22d and other photographs in that collection do suggest they had black bodies.... Olive green wagons do have a noticeable difference between frame and body - although painting the solebar olive green happened. http://paulbartlett....7c22d#h1dc7c22d http://paulbartlett....17f0f#h1de17f0f . But it can be very difficult, I am convinced that the body of this one http://paulbartlett....a7536#h135a7536 is different to the axleguards, and has some green in it, but not very much. However, black does seem to have been used by some works all of the time - the Trout ZFO at Whitemoor in my collection is a good example http://paulbartlett....f78cc7#h5f78cc7 (see what I did there, got back on topic! ) Paul Bartlett PS on LNER colours. There is a Met Camm official available from the HMRS which has a very light colour for the body panels (could be grey, could be blue), axle guards and solebar but the stanchions and axleboxes and springs are all in a contrasting dark colour. The lettering is similar to the Hornby model but EMPTY TO LACKENBY SLAG PLANT and it is for NORTH / EASTERN AREA.

I have already quoted my site, whole series at Crianlarich. Paul Bartlett

I manage a December 86 , but that is nearly 10 years shy of the start of era 9 isn't it? Paul Bartlett

Yes it is. The entire fleet was refurbished and Glorious NSE linked to many. http://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/P-Tops-codes/PAA-covered-hoppers/18073359_xGZTQN#1386296180_HGkV8Qw I remember seeing them regularly like this, but have not bothered to go to Doncaster (not very far from York!) to photograph them! Paul Bartlett

It is difficult to judge from the photographs, it doesn't look too bad for olive green. I think the main problem is that finding coloured photographs in that livery is, perhaps, difficult. I don't have any http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/troutzfo http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnerballasthop The one that has been repainted (in 1980) is black. I like the way Hornby have left (or given) a black ground to the lettering panel which might be from a prototype. What I find stranger is the suggestion they may be suitable for era 9 - does anyone have evidence they lasted so long? Paul Bartlett

I remain interested in knowing whether you found these photographs of use

Yes, I agree I was incorrect and they were almost certainly painted. When newly converted as a box open they were grey http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/rlsaggregatepma/h158bf06a#h158bf06a (this is the same wagon 6303) but what the top coat was once as PRA I don't know. Greys of all types are nearly as elusive as reds and browns. I agree that http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/chinaclaypra/h9eb7eda#h9eb7eda does not appear grey, but most of mine do, and colours are influenced by the time of day of the sunshine. Paul Bartlett

I must admit I thought they were unpainted galvanised steel. They then get a mix of china clay and brake/road dust. Look at Huw's photograph and remember the hood is red! Paul Bartlett