HillsideDepot

I've been wondering the same. I've not seen the bears on the doors the last few times I've seen it.

I've seen that elevated photo of Kevin's, Rob, a useful angle, and the fact that there were two colours (at least) of bag in use in 1977 Clive suggests they'd been around a while by than if the colour coding had been devised. My researches suggested that the plastic bin bag originated in Canada in the 50's so a decade to get into general use here seems reasonable, so my skips have black bags in them. I still need to add some non bagged waste to mine, there seem to be some card board boxes in some photos. I have a conundrum for Saturday though; do I go to the NEC and the Bachmann "scrum" to bag a bargain, or do I head to the Scout hut for one? Although there was no NEC before 1976, and instead of Bachmann, perhaps I should be looking for Tri-ang?

Sounds like a plan! I wonder if there are any other hobbies where research includes finding out when black refuse sacks were introduced? I went there for this model!

Yes, that's the one. The Lowmac's revenue earning days are behind it now; it's been taken into Departmental stock and renumbered TDB904544. It's now restricted to working between the carriage sidings and Queensland Road yard carrying rubbish skips. Just occasionally it comes to Mortimore's Yard as that is another location where CSG can get their lorries positioned to empty the skips (albeit turning round afterwards is tricky). I really must get some lettering on it and on the skips....

We last saw Hymek D7042 leaving on the next stage of its morning trip working, taking two empty 16t minerals back to South Depot for onward transmission to South Wales. But what did the Hymek bring the staff at Mortimore’s Yard? 2 x 12t ventilated vans of sundry goods to New Cut Goods on the Redcliffe Branch for onward distribution by road 1 x 20t tube open with piles to Albion Ship Yard on the Hotwells Branch 1 x 35t covered hopper of foundry sand to Pew Hill sidings for Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company 1 x 21t stone tippler from Barton Hill wagon works to Pooles Wharf on the Hotwells Branch for sea dredged aggregates traffic from Holmes 1 x 13t Hybar open with a machine tool in a large packing case to New Cut Goods on the Redcliffe Branch for onward delivery by road 1 x 20t grain hopper to the flour mill at Redcliffe Back on the Redcliffe Branch 1 x brake van to work today’s local trips with No.1 Pilot (the 03) So, there is a bit of shunting to do before No.1 Pilot can head off on its deliveries. Sometimes the load for Mortimore’s Yard is ready sorted, sometimes jumbled up. It all depends on how the traffic arrives at Queensland Road, and how much time they have to shunt it there. From today’s muddle it rather looks like there were delays overnight on the trunk trains which feed the wagons into Westonmouth from around the country. First off the Pilot shunts off the brake van and the grain hopper, the van going int. No 1 Road and the grain hopper lining yesterday’s pair on hoppers and one from the day before on No 2 Road. The mill has suffered a plant breakdown and hoppers are being held at Mortimore’s Yard as the mill siding is already full. The Supervisor at Mortimore’s Yard is keeping in close touch with the mill regarding the repairs in case he needs to put a stop on further wagons as his yard could easily get clogged. Back onto the train and the Hybar, Tippler, CovHop and Tube are drawn out And shunted into their respective positions The Hybar is then shunted onto the two Vans, ready for the later trip along the Redcliffe Branch. Shunting done, it’s time to couple on to the train which the timetable calls 9B07 but which the crew know as the “Hotwells”. There is just time to leave 03382 waiting while the crew return to the Cabin and fill their tea cans before setting off. Tea cans filled, and crew all back aboard, 9B07 waits for the signal to depart the yard and begin its journey.

Lead billing in the January Sale?

Plate 3 in An Illustrated History of West Country China Clay Trains (John Vaughan) has a side on shot of 50018 ambling along the Cornish Main Line with two Clay Hoods. The two wagons being considerably less than the length of the loco.

Yesterday, at Paddington's platform 1, GWR honoured the Great Western Railway employees who gave their lives in WW1 by launching 800306 carrying all their names. Two thousand, five hundred and forty five names. There are some photos and a video on GWR's Facebook page and GWRHelp twitter feed. GBRf has placed a poppy wreath around the AAR MU connection on 66715 "Valour" which was reported as being at Doncaster earlier.

A quick "fag-packet" schedule of the current London - Penzance timetable suggests it can be done with 9 units. Sticking with just those 9 units, and only Penance services, gives some long layovers in Paddington, but of course in reality things do go elsewhere. However, if the service can be operated with 9 units and GWR have 14 9-car 802s on order it looks like they should achieve 9-cars on all Penzances when everything is delivered. Of course add in Newquay, heavier maintenance (which will be due at some point), and maybe a serious (long term) failure and its getting tight, but GWR can't afford the luxury of shelves full of spare stock as most of us have.

As an Explorer Scout Leader your comment means a huge amount to me. Yes, our young people are inspiring in how the conduct themselves at Remembrance Parades. The ones who are forever chattering and fidgeting stand still, commands which form part of our weekly ceremonies and become rather rough are suddenly sharp and precise. It does mean much to them, especially so as they reach their teenage years. On a number of occasions we've formed up outside after the church service in pouring rain, and stood through the silence and the wreath laying getting soaked. Never a word of complaint from them but, no doubt, a silent thought for those who suffered so much more than a half hour soaking. And what always brings a lump to my throat; many of those we are remembering were the same age as the older Explorer Scouts. Young people that now have ambitions and plans, just like those a hundred years ago had ambitions and plans, only to have them cut short. We do remember them!

I'll have to see what I have on file; I was a Senior Management Trainee with Badgerline Group and posted to Western National. On the day of the "flag" livery launch I collected one of the new Mercedes 811s from St Austell where they had been prepared down to Penzance for the ribbon cutting and festivities. I'm pretty sure we borrowed one for Plymouth, but I brought a displaced Carlyle example back up to its new home at Laira Bridge. I'd left Plymouth by the time the flags become widespread, returning in another role in First days when any remains of the livery could be described as scruffy (and that's putting it politely!).

Thanks for persevering with the photos, Pete, that looks good. What size is the layout?

That all sounds very good, Dave. On a similar note, would it be possible to include the registration number for road vehicles (where manufactures print it on) in the description, please? I pretty much know my buses, but dates for car and lorry models are less well known, so the registration would be a quick date check for compatibility with my modelling era. Sometimes it is visible in your stock photos, sometimes not, largely depending on the plate's position on the model.

I was at Bristol Temple Meads the other day, there were lots of passengers on the train, and 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time no one left on the platform wanting to board, so I said "'ere Drive' we're all on, how about we go now, a few minutes sharp?" More seriously, I agree completely with Clive, for an exhibitor those last 10 minutes before the show opens can be very busy ones. I have done a show where the opening time queue was getting to dangerous size (down the stairs for several levels at a sports centre, compromising general access) so the exhibition manager sent representatives around explaining the situation and asking fi we were happy to open early. I'm not sure it was the same show, or just another at the same venue, when a lady turned up on the Sunday afternoon with a minibus full of children asking if where the train show was, "it went up that road in 6 vans, 15 cars and 3 trailers about 10 minutes ago..." came the reply. Maybe they should all have been called back to set-up again for someone who mis-judged/read/understood (delete as applicable) the opening times. As a show visitor I prefer to get there after the opening rush has dispersed, and by that I don't mean when the queue has gone, but when the initial mass has filtered into every corner of the show, and spread out. OK, that risks the car park being full, if I drive, but then again maybe going a bit later still, will make a relaxed day of it and I could stop off somewhere on the way. But maybe I'm in a minority of one!

Someone at Swindon yesterday reported 800318 and 802012 as being "the new kids on the block". 802012 seems to have been on Bristol/S Wales work rather than one of the "Great Way Round" West Country services as it someone else noted it there in the evening too. Meanwhile the 1742 Penzance - Bristol - Paddington was a pair of 800s yesterday.

Beyer Peacock Hymek, no. D7042 is allocated to this morning's "Tripper" making a tour of the local yards hustling wagons to and fro. Whilst a variety of freight was left for sorting and delivering by one of the local Pilot engines there were thin pickings to collect: just 2 empty 16 tonners from Mortimore's back to the collieries via East Usk Yard. With it's Maybach engine chattering away the Hymek waits for the Guard to do his checks and put up the appropriate lamps on his van as departure time approaches.

GWR's IET leaflet says Red the seat is currently reserved Yellow the seat is reserved later on in the journey Green the seat is not reserved Edit: to complete message as it posted before I'd finished typing!

End of the line... There is still some work to do here - a bit of "weathering" including some rubbish. Not too much, a suggestion of a yard that is "lived in" rather than one which is a run down dump.

Over the years, I have studied the GWR WW1 Rolls of Honour which are, thankfully, still on display at various stations around the network, most recently this one at Newton Abbott whilst changing trains. So it is good to see that GWR are currently sharing short biographies of some of the staff who gave their lives in WW1 on their Twitter @GWRHelp and on their Facebook page.

Pleasure to have been of service, Chris. I've no idea whether the TKs were petrol or diesel, but I'm sure they would have had those distinctively Bedford polite little whistles when the hand brake was applied rather than the harsh hiss of air everything else had. Here's a real one. Repainting mine from the livery I guessed/ incorrectly remembered to the actual livery is a job on my list. I only really remember their later TL, which was plain white and driven (would you believe) by Mr Coleman, father of a girl in my class at Primary School. It seems he had a short temper as we once saw him arrive home by jumping out of the lorry at low speed and vaulting the garden fence. The truck came gently to rest against the opposite kerb whilst raised voices could be heard from inside the house. We decided it best to cycle away and play elsewhere!

In the cool of an early mid-summer morning

Looking great there, Rob. It's coming together really well.

I very much agree, and even in our bubble there are plenty who have oval layouts with ready-to-plant/card kit buildings, albeit their oval might fill the loft. Look in the background of some of the photos here when a new RTR loco is released. Quite a few will happily mix regions or eras, some happily mix both. These people probably won't ever have a layout thread, so perhaps the numerical balance is hard to judge, but you can bet they enjoy their model railway just as much as those spending years making a finescale replica of Hogg's Bottom East Junction at 14.53 on July 12th 1928. Each to their own, and every point in between! Isn't there though scope for the trainset oval to have two sidings, wagon specific playing cards for the Inglenook puzzle and what we'd call the "limit of Shunt" markers being a tunnel mouth and the end of the platform (say). Obviously there would need to be an instruction sheet, explaining how it all works, and perhaps suggesting adding a crane and a goods shed (both with relevant catalogue numbers) as specific locations for wagons.Does that then make a zoom-it-round-and-round trainset also a game too, extending its interest? But not a computer/screen game, a real, 3D game. But maybe I'm sitting at the side of my region and era specific end-to-end and falling into the trap of thinking I know what the majority want from their model railway, trainset or whatever they which to call it.

But in better news, I just seen a set of photos captioned

A timely reminder, E3109, that its the staff and not the trains (be they new or old) that make the railway tick, and a good opportunity to share three examples from my travels on GWR last Wednesday where staff did that "extra bit". The Train Manager on a West Country bound IET is checking tickets and there is a teenager siting a few seats away from me. It transpires that this person is off to Exeter, and somehow (maybe he had the prospectus on the table) the TM works out that he is looking at possible university places. So a brief conversation ensues "off to Exeter to look at the university?" "Yes" "It's a nice city, and the university has a good reputation. Enjoy your visit, and I hope you get whatever grades you need." All very pleasant, and off she goes checking tickets. About two rows on, she stops and returns to our prospective student. "You really ought to get a Young Person's Railcard you know, especially if you'll be travelling to and from university. Look for the leaflet at the station" and away she goes again ticket checking. A little later, a Driver stands at Bristol Parkway waiting to go "home" and finish having been relieved on his Cardiff bound IET. A member of platform staff, getting news of a change of platform for the Exeter train makes a PA announcement in advance of automatic Annie catching up with things and making her own announcement. This announcement causes two ladies sitting near to where the Driver is to discuss where "St Davids" actually is, and some confusion arises. The Driver, hearing this, advises that they are correct St Davids shopping centre is in Cardiff, but St Davids station is in Exeter. A few minutes later, the Exeter train rolls in and as the Driver walks to catch it he double checks that they are sure they want the Cardiff train and not this one to Exeter. That evening, and for whatever reason the catering trolley has run out of hot water. Not a problem for our jovial Steward who whilst entering into the party mood of a group of six passengers in the middle of the coach was more than happy to head to a catering point up the train and fill the requested cups. It was after 10 at night, a time when in days of yore the buffet counter would have been closed, yet here was a staff member no doubt coming towards the end of his shift, displaying an attitude towards his customers which really shone. Just three little examples which, while not keeping the wheels turning, show staff willing to do that little bit extra. Go that little bit beyond the job spec. To me that is "The State of UK Rail" far more than an aged HST, or squealing Pacer.