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Stephen, You said "the granite was, I think, of the artificial kind" What do you mean by this please? Tony

The LNER and BR(E) round bodied loco lamps had an internal mechanism which put a red shade between the lens and the burner - a very neat arrangement activated by a wing nut type switch on the outside of the lamp. Therefore there was no 'slide out' red shade to get damaged or lost. Tony

Looks lovely Frank and certainly captures the details of the J2 well to my eyes. Well done. Will we get a video of running trials of it with 40 wagons behind the tender? Cheers Tony

I found the attached in a 1949 railway mag. The caption said it was LMS but it is clearly Midland and is a weighing machine van and the caption said it was down in his local goods yard last week - he did not say where! I have seen the Pooley vans converted from LNWR 6 wheelers but this is a new design to me and is not in Essery Vol 2 Does anyone have any more details? Tony

Hi, This was in the corner of a neg taken at Portabello on Sepember 19, 1929. It is a rare glimpse of some of the ex NBR 8/10T minerals hired to coal merchants. Does anyone know who they were and the home location for the one on the far right (starts with SL - Slateford)? Tony

Thanks Guys, their use on infrequently used (therefore rusty) track makes sense Cheers Tony

Hi, The attached was taken in 1959 at Barbican and I first saw this in the early 1970s in Lincolnshire and was told it was for train detection purposes but I was very doubtful even then! What was it for? Tony

Or perhaps a Furness 3 planker? Tony

61142 had its smokebox numberplate with the edge picked out in white together with white or burnished smokebox door hinges during 1959 when it was one of Imminghams 'pet locos' - has Tim been able to do that? Tony

I had assumed the bricks were heading for builders merchants to specific customer orders (1500 commons, etc). Therefore some wagons would not need to be fully loaded as the order for say, Bodgers Builders merchant of Sandy was a small order. This would explain the partial loads as not all would be loaded to wagon capacity. Municipal building of what would become Council Houses had not really started by 1921 so I doubt if theses despatches were to one large customer. I, however, was surprised by the one plank but I suppose if there was either one small order or a residual from another wagons order it would be useful for this. The loading foreman would have to work out what wagons he had for the days loading as soon as the empties arrived. I also wonder if any of these wagons would normally be sheeted over (to keep the load from moving rather than dry), but as they were being filmed for publicity purposes this was dropped? Tony

I think it is an early NG sentinel with chain drive between the wheels. There are actually two TVR wagons and two LBSC ones in the departing train, both of which are not really 'Keeping the Balance' to quote the late Don Rowland. Tony

Frank, It is a very complicated loco so it is not surprising there are little 'tweaks' that artwork-wise mean complete revisions. I think the void below the boiler just has to be filled with cosmetic valve gear and your derivation of it will be the closest we will ever know to how it really was. You undoubtably know more about what it was likely to look like than anyone else alive today! John at LRM can always reflect the extra cost of development with a slightly higher kit price - especially as it includes all this wonderful detail Tony

The photo has been 'colourised' from a b/w image I think Tony

Now that is interesting, looking at old maps if it was in the yard on the opposite side of the tracks to Denaby & Cadeby Collieries then it would be on GCR later LNER land so their responsibility. There were two sets of sidings south of the main line, one to the west adjacent to the sewage works (and opposite Denaby Colliery) and one east of Conisboro station nearer Cadeby Colliery which looks like a general yard to me - both have small buildings which could have been the store - which set of sidinds was the one you refer to? Perhaps this was the 'regional store' for the explsoives for the area? Cheers Tony

Don't forget that the LYR was heavily involved in moving cotton (and wool) from the Liverpool docks to the Lancashire mills so high capacity (volume) wagons were in more demand than on other railways. Sure there would be 'smalls' traffic but that would be a smaller percentage of overall tonnage. Just look at all those pics of overloaded drays departing from their goods depots! Tony

Thanks everyone, the Haverthwaite LNWR van also still has grease axleboxes which rather surprises me for a date of 1932 given its cargo -surely grease axleboxes were more likely to 'run hot' than oil? BTW the NB van can be modelled in 4mm withthe old Cotswold kit (plastic body with whitemetal solebar etc) which makes up to an acceptable model. Later it was marketed by Nu-Cast. Cheers Tony

I have often seen it mentioned that railway gunpowder vans would be used delivering to mines and quarries. Is there any photographic or paper work based evidence of such vans actually delivering to coal mines or is this just an assumption? I recall a picture of a derailed LMS gunpowder van in a Cumbrian goods yard but apart from that the only pics I have seen are at explosives factories and marshalling yards. Tony

I think you might have to splash out and actually purchase the digital image........... Tony

That is interesting, there are no LMS period photos of these vehicles in the LNWR wagon book so this confirms the livery. I seem to recall the LMS re-classified other Refrigerator vehicles to Insulated in the 1930s (ex MR vehicles?), so this all fits nicely. Cheers Tony

Hi, Another edge of the neg query. Does anyone recognise this LMS van partially seen at Nottingham Midland around 1934? Number appears to be 224189 Cheers Tony

I seem to recall that there was an illustrated article on Settle Speakman (and consistuent) PO wagons in an issue of Model Railways (the mag that continued at a larger format from model Railway News) in the (late) 1970s - anyone got a copy? Tony

Don't class 66s still fuel up next to the old shed (now a wagon repair shed)? They may still park up overnight on Washwood Heath sidings which has a 'new' road next to it. Tony

We have been able to do more research on the date and it is later than 1928. The main subject of the neg (LNER B3) is in a condition only reached in 1933 so the neg is dated 1933-5 Cheers Tony

Found a second neg of it, plus one from an earlier period! It looks like a foormer GCR van to me. Tony