Porcy Mane

Always pays to keep an eye on the BFI website. They have some gems for the period modeller. The map search facility is quite good. Loads of stuff for a widgie. Did ya spot the Park Royal Railbus in the film linked to above? P

Loads of Scottish 16 tonners in this bit of film. As well as every other aspect of Railway operation including general, Fish and mail traffic. Also proves that it's not worth worrying about whether you've painted your wagons the correct shade of grey, or bauxite... Some just after nationalisation stuff at the end showing some decent LNER passenger liveries http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-great-north-of-scotland-railway-films-1963/ Porcy

Needing no introduction. The standard view. A slightly different interpretation. Porcy

It was the same with the Q6. BR wavered the rule to allow the Q6 to be bought from Bolckows, and there is of course, the now well known tale of how 63395 never reached Bolckows at Blyth due to large amounts of Brown Ale being administered to the rostered crew. P

You're right. Through-out summer of 1969 the Q6 was re-painted into BR Black at Thornaby. It was re-liveried into NER black on the NYMR in August 1970. I've wondered whether the NCB imposed a similar restriction with the "NYMR" legend quickly replacing "NCB" on Lambton No.5 or it was in this case, just a matter of new management imposing their own identity? I certainly agree about the fictional liveries. I've never been a fan, but fully understood the financial reasoning behind wall papering a Black Five or having a loco painted in Hogwarts livery. P

Back in the day... Red. Actually, to be pedantic, maroon (to match the body). The coupling rods were red... Porcy Edit: Apologies. Forgot to add the link. https://flic.kr/p/Zu4tnC https://flic.kr/p/9PusFq Edited to add another link as original has been removed. Further Edit as original has returned.

Lightning storm passed about 10 miles to the west of me through the night. Best of a extremely poor bunch of attempts at catching the lighning. Bolt about 6 miles distant. Hoping for better tonight. P

Thanks, not bad. I find the recent Met offices site "improvements" a bit of a retrograde step but it still allows you to back track a good few hours and simultaneously show rainfall. P

Watched that storm building over Ripon then move due North using the rain & lightning tracker on the met office website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/observation/map/#?map=Lightning&zoom=9&lon=-1.75&lat=54.62&fcTime=1435718700 Continuous rolling thunder for about 40 minutes but only rained for about 15 minutes with the most intense about 15:30. Some unusual cloud formations preceded it. Back to glorious sunshine now. Porcy

Hover train. P

Dunno about that. Ricks going down the DCC sound route and there's not many older dogs than him. Nothing wrong with that. Friends family and colleagues have been telling me that since I was about eight. I've always thought that for most railway modellers their creation of a "Layout" be it of a real or imaginary location is a deeply personal thing. Whether it be based decades or just hours in the past. Has anybody (apart from film makers, architectural modellers and the like) created a model railway based in the future? I think we try to create a vision in our minds eye something that evokes memories of sounds ,smells, vibrations etc. whether it be from a loco spinning round on an oval of track on the dining room floor or, at the other end of the scale, somewhere like Pendon were we allow our minds filter out the unrealistic (Room walls, furniture Ceilings and the like) and add in the unachievable (Inertia, mass, sound even a shunter coupling up wagons) New technologies may go some way to contributing to the illusion of reality and making the creation of our models easier but that will never take anything away from the traditional skills and ingenuity that have gone into creating the likes of Little Bytham and the thousands of other model railways that have preceded it. Out of all the craft hobbies I think it's probably model railways that make use of the greatest amount of engineering, craft and research disciplines and yet if anybody wants to build a reasonable 4mm scale model railway they can turn to todays high quality rtr offerings and turn out a reasonable effort by using just the basics of traditional skills. After all todays High Tech is tomorrows Old Hat and it's an old hat that is most comfortable. Sometimes I'm glad of the demise of "traditional" skills, for example I didn't need to go and chip a bit of flint into an arrow head to enable me to go out and catch my tea this evening but in the same breath the loss of some traditional skills concerns me. I recently had to show a seventeen year old how to use a file despite him taking technology classes at school. Seems like metalwork/woodwork is no longer taught in schools and if it was probably no kids would be interested! As you say, and regardless of how it is achieved, railway modelling can allow a group of mates to get together, build something and then just have fun playing trains. Long may it continue... P (With apologies for the ramble).

Definitely Waverley East. This is a crop of about 5% of an 8 x 6 negative, of which the accompanying notes say was taken in 1964. Don't know anything about the signals though. Re your DF photographs, you could try "digiCamControl" for Nikon. It's a free programme and considerably more sophisticated that Nikons proprietary software. It doesn't do focus stacking but what it does do is allow you to take a series of images via a Windows PC and using the USB cable supplied with your camera for input into stacking software. In principle you tell the camera were the nearest and furthest focusing points are, input how many images you want between your furthest and nearest points, and then let camera take the images. But, technology sometimes thumbs it nose at you, as you witnessed on Thursday. (all down to USB bug in my laptop) Porcy (Cross post with Mike)

Nowt wrong with your hair. I have great admiration for your hair. It's very clever hair. It invented invisibility. Frightening isn't it. When I was younger I was forever saying to him, "I'll never end up like you". Every time I shave now, I see him looking back at me saying, "told ya!" *Cringeworthy Joke alert* Maybe the camera buffer was full? I know it's no compensation but... 2009

.Thanks, what did I ever do too you? Just for info, only Mr Axlebox is junior. I might have had a big paper round but unlike the old rocker Ricky and still trying to be a punk rocker Gibbo I'm trying to grow old gracefully. (and haven't resorted to youth restoration lotion and potions yet.) There's other wagons on the go, ya know. Still to be drilled and sprung. Happy now? and here's a 21 tonner started way back in the early 1980's or it could have been the late 1970's. (My memories going. It must be an age thing?). Still not finished but I thought it deserving of some LMS buffers. Looking at that pic and the 3 H underframe made me feel quite young. On second thoughts no. It was probably spending Thursday with one of the peripheral Three Aichers that made me feel youthful. Especially once he removed his you know whats to eat his tea. Hoping it whips you up Alice like and deposits you in a buffer less land ruled by the Queen of the Buckeyes. (Only Joking). I've got just one more thing to say. Hair! Porcy (Wobbles off with the help of a walking stick muttering profanities under breath about old age...)

...and smoke... and grime... and school kids necks... ad infinitum. Porcy

Hey. I can do brute! Just for me personally I find the piercing saw quicker and less traumatic. Less work with the course file then. Not what they're cracked up to be. Tyres can fall of the centres far to easily... Stop running yourself down. It's nice too to try silk instead of swine occasionally. No arguing with that. Having spent yesterday in the company of some of the finest achievable exellenters, I've come to the conclusion I'm one of the mischievous impudenters! P

Apologies for replying to a question asked of Mike but if it's any help, here's how I did mine. First I cut off the main NEM body with a piercing saw then levelled everything up with a course file. The pocket was opened out using a cheap round burr in a mini drill so that I could fit a sprung drawbar hook/buffers. and a little tinkering with the body. Hurst Nelson first lot style handrails fitted, a quick re-spray, homemade waterslides and a start made on the weathering. P

*x ...taken from the train? I had to go commando to think of that. Sort of about here??? https://goo.gl/maps/wVYEi

...and make you blend into the background when blagging a bank or safe box depository! P

Hi Vis... The camouflage of the new century. http://www.stephengill.co.uk/portfolio/portfolio#num=content-676&id=album-30 P

I didn't realise Jarrow OT had closed. Aerial phot of it in this post. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69358-tyneside-electrics/page-10&do=findComment&comment=995372 Very little ever gets mentioned of Shell/BP's Jarrow rival: Just a few hundred yards away but North of the river, Esso established their rail served Tyneside terminal at Percy Main. It's just out of shot in the pic linked to above, just North of the pylon at the extreme right. I've never managed to put a definitive opening date on the Esso but reckon late Fifties to early Sixties. Here a pic of the terminal pilot loco in 1971. BP_012_Loco diesel pilot1 06 1971 by George Stephenson, on Flickr Porcy

Maximum Hi Viz. Porcy

Just needs a Extreme Etchings replacement ladder and the jobs a good un. Them Samsung phones take a canny picture. Porcy

Time to get out the kettle?... again... P

Here's a picture from a train on that bridge. Hope Dave doesn't mind the hijack again. The sky really was layered like that as the early morning sun burnt of a heavy fret. Lots of railway history buried in that view. The ancient County of Durham (Till 1844) on the left bank with the footpath following the approximate course of a wagonway that led to Bedlington ironworks where wrought iron rails were first mass produced. Porcy