John Besley

View into the workshop

Awesome, you just want to walk up that road...

"... jump leads anyone"

"Better get on with the job..."

Here's some shots from Exhill in 1963 just after the line closed

And the bucket was for cleaning your hands... Some 72A crews on the pilot engine used to pee in a spare bucket and chuck it on the fire going up through the tunnel between St David's and Central for the benefit of the train engine behind ....

Any chance of posting the pictures direct to this site. . as I cant find them

Love it, many thanks for the reply, where can I get hold of those chassis?... BTW think your on the 7/8ths Lounge as well?

Hello Bob Just found your topic, I am building a miniature railway.... but in 7/8ths scale using 16.5mm gauge track... Whst I am desperately trying to find is some dimensions for V skips trucks the same as yours so I can build a rake for myself... any chance of sending over some GA dimensions please

Finally had a last look inside the shed... sad scene as the shed was never going to ring with the sounds of tools being used again

The crew having sorted out the Landrover then shunted the yard ready for the next days line clearance and lifting of redundant trackwork

A return visit the next day found the Loco crew crowded round a Series 2 Landrover that the ST department had commandeered, as is normal once you open a Landrover bonnet it soon attracts the experts!

1963 is not a good year for steam in the Westcountry, already by now the regional boundary changes are being felt, with the Western Region taking over control of all lines west of Sailsbury, in their haste to get rid of their long term rivals the Southern, lines are being closed... Of note the Exhill Light Railway having closed at the end of last year, so taking our Morris Minor for a run today a visit was made to the Westerland Valley to see what still remained. surprisingly the locos are still on shed at Exhill and show signs of having been used recently for track lifting. If only someone could come up with the funds then this might still be saved like the W&L which is so similar... oh well don't suppose that will happen unless enough people write to Railway Magazine...

The attached is my current project in 7/8ths using a Wren R1 chassis... based on this it works out as about 9-1/4" estate railway, loco resembles a WW1 Baldwin 50hp gas mechanical

Love it what paint colour did it start out as... been pondering a similar livery for my miniature railway diesel I am building

It's not too obvious but I've fitted our own link and pin coupling and a Bachmann hook and loop coupling without the hook to make this a bit more versitile

Loco No2 is making steady progress, had to chop the proposed drivers arm off and reposition so he could squeeze into the cab, still got more body work on the loco to do. The idea is it resembles one of the WW1 Baldwin Gas Mechanical 50HP loco's No idea what livery to paint it yet... had thought of a mid green/grey colour

Awesome model, got any pic's of it at work on a freight... the Horwich Mallet I mean

OK, how about a gearbox so this will drive an axle the same as a Portascap ... used one 35 years ago remotering an R1

Dont forget the ACE 3000 planed back in the 80's of which some development trialled took place with a 4-8-4 (was is ex C&O 614 ?)

Where can I get hold of those motors please...

Lovely stuff, given me some ideas for my Exhill Works project

And my Wilesco / Mamod rebuild "Yer Tiz" along with Fred Dibnah and my Exmouth Jct driver

This is the grounded van body serving as a workshop until the new one is built...

82045 is the way forward... That was my plan way back in 1997 when I started the project.... check the history of this on the website to see my reasoning