R A Watson

Bus fares in Plymouth at the time were collected through coin boxes (the drivers did not handle cash) based on a unit of three old pence, on changeover the machines were altered to work on a single new penny. This is the equivalent of 2.4 old pence, many things were priced similarly but people tend to forget these facts! Wally

But there could be a "Snooper" behind one! Wally

I've been trying without success to find pictures of a hoarding oposite where I used to work at Pennycomequick in Plymouth., The hoarding was on the side of the Cornish main line embankment situated several feet above road level (the modern one still is) below it was a cast iron gentle men's convenience, not that I am suggesting any deviation from plan of course. Wally

After twenty odd years of making occasional plasticard buildings, I have finally learnt the easy way to do brick returns on doors and windows! Many thanks. Wally

Having dealt earlier with the requirements for the construction of the fire escape, don't forget the accumulation of old pallets, boxes, tarpaulins etc that "nobody" has gradually put under there over the years. Wally

Not many windows in that bus on the bridge! Wally

A few years ago one of my staff noticed a set of false teeth trapped in the filter screen on the unit where we dropped the bus toilets.. After a couple of weeks a gentleman enquired whether we had found any teeth so the things were retrieved and cleaned up then posted on to the person with no further correspondence. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth even thinking about it! Wally

My favourite piece of graffiti was spotted by a mate of mine on the back of a cubicle door at the BT training school at Stone Staffordshire "Caution - Dynarod apprentices at work" Wally

If you carry out that mod don't forget to motorise the ends of the bumpers so that they waggle about as well (independently not together) Wally

Chard, Somewhat of a diversion as the line you are describing is the L & S W R line to Exeter not the G W line to Millbay! With regard to the tunnel under Devonport Park this passes almost under the P & D M R C club rooms it has long been a thought of mine that if we could find a group preserving an ex London Transport escalator working together we would end up with the largest basement in Plymouth. Perhaps you are another who may appreciate my set of notes as mentioned above, it compromises of maps and cross referred text and comes in P D F format. Just drop mea P M with your email adress and I will send it on. Wally.. Ps I should be able to put together a pictureshow of these areas if any ones interested

The offer is open ended if any one wants a copy all I need is a pm request and a couple of days to organise the reply. I was going to contact Brian direct to offer him a copy but will now treat this as the invitation to him and the rest of the world! Wally

Watching that clip from The Gaffer the thing that struck me was the works yard and entrance, was it then prototype for Stubby's building? Wally

That Mk3 looks like it may have come out of the canal to make room for the expected delivery. Any news of that vehicles travels lately? Wally

Arthur's palet is very similar to the ones I am used to receiving as one component of a palatised cardboard box, ie a substantial box is stapled to this chassis to form a one journey only packaging used to convey components from suppliers to vehicle bodybuilders (in my case) but often used to forward spare parts to operators. Just a bit too modern for this project unfortunately. Wally

Hit the report button and Mr York will deal with it.

HA vans went on longer than the car equivalent as I believe there was no van version of the HB & HC and the commercial was only updated when the Viva range was discontinued. On a local point down here in Devon it was normall to see the secondhand vans with a bright and shiny red or blue exterior with the interior still in yellow as the largest supply of used vehicles was ex B R or Post Office Telephone fleet which had undergone a quick repaint. Wally

The Anglian van (307E) needs a minimum of an offside wing mirror, the type can vary as it will b fitted at the Dealers as part of the P D I. The legal requirement was cars did not need external mirrors as the internal one can "look" through the passenger compartment and out of the rear window, in a van the load may obstruct internal vision therefore one drivers external mirror was required. The offside one was included in the price of the vehicle but a second (N/s) one was an accessory and many owners would not pay for the extra one. With regard to rust must have areas are top of the wings just behind the headlamps, vertically on the back edge of the wings and along the bottom of the door skin. I will leave you to guess where my Anglia s suffered the most before final scrapping. Wally

Going back a bit in the conversation, that's only to be able to put the tie bars in. Wally

Adam, Be careful if you are criticising the cabs on D series vehicles, as someone who was selling parts for them at our local main dealers from '71 - '74 I can assure you that the cabs were not all the same unit. Dimensions of panels varied according to the type and style of the vehicles as did the physical overall cab size. D400 National Carriers artic units (which replaced the "mechanical horse") were different totally from the D800 or even D1000 units therefore panel sizes differed to accommodate this. At the same time cosmetic panels of varying styles were used simultaneously on alternative body permutations. Wally

Got to ask after this spurt. - Layout up and running in time for Christmas? Wally ( with tin hat on)

If this building rework got caught up in the planning process check the local authority web site, down here all drawings are included in the application documents posted in the planning application which should be available for public viewing. Wally

Looks like there were until Major Bloodnock got there! Wally

We used to send old Ford engines and receive the reconditioned ones from Beans Industries at Tipton on the back of open trailer arctics (that's how I learnt to tie down and sheet loads properly) pulled first by 6D Thames Traders and later D1000 tractors (no comments here from diesel freaks please!). The engines were all in their individual wooden crates and loaded by hand, so a pile of small crates under sheets is all that is needed. Wally Ps perhaps a new engine could "fall off the back" for the Cortina.

Don't get me wrong on this but that building does not need a roof or doors and windows, just some debris and shrubbery in side and it would be beautifully derelict! Verrrrry nice work. Wally

I suspect that the lack of flux is the main reason for your problems but judging from the photos you are doing ok so far. On the point of leaded solder the leaded version is only forbidden in two applications, firstly on any potable water supply (to stop the contamination by the lead of drinking water as it is absorbed by ingestion) so the plumbing industry has dropped it as a matter of course. Secondly for use in mass production by industry to reduce the possibility of operatives being contaminated by long term contact and resulting ingestion. There is no legislation stoping any other use of leaded solder so we as small volume users can continue putting ourselves at risk if we wish! The W E E (Waste Electrical Equipment) Regulations forbid the dumping of soldered components in landfill to stop the leaching of the lead, among many other metals, into the natural watercourse. For those who may have missed the full postings re the fire escape provisions I did state that this building would have been subject to the earlier legislation where the premises will be subject to liscencing by the local brigade and the inspecting officer made the final decision. All we have to hope now is that Stubby's little people do not have to use it for the designed purpose. Wally