Pennine MC

Covered in the other thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/10645-when-did-railfreight-redgrey-first-appear/&do=findComment&comment=93113

It is, it's exceptionally scabby

There's no particular reason why bauxite wagons would rust differently (assuming a comparable period), but it is harder to achieve convincingly because you dont have the obvious natural contrasts between the rust shades and the livery colour; this is where weathering becomes intuitive as much as interpretive. Using a slightly darker weathering mix might help, for the 'flaky' effect, or alternatively the 'overall rust' in subtly varying shades can work well.

I wouldnt knock yourself out - it happened, no doubt about it. FYEs started to appear in 1966, by '67 they'd have been fairly numerous. I dont think there was any rhyme or reason to it Martin, but you do see a few examples during the '60s. IIRC I've seen ScR blue ones as well

It looks newly painted - were they overhauled at Eastleigh or St Leonards? If the former, it's probably on test.

A relative rarity there pictured with E3003 - the cleaner of the two wagons is one that was intended to be 8-shoe vac braked, but turned up being turned out unfitted - you can see the clasp brakes and the big self contained buffers. Edit - looking again, I think they both are - you can just make out the offset V hanger on the rustier one. Quite a coincidence having two together like that.

That Alrewas shot is good for the clear view of the replating, not so much in a different shade of grey but a different texture in the rusting. It has Morton brakes, so will be 15yrs old at most, and if it's had those fabricated axleboxes from new, it might only be about 10 yrs old.

A fortnight, presumably It would have been on the then-current page 2 - and hence easy to find - when Jeremy posted that. Again I'd agree in principle, that standards shouldnt slide, but overall I dont see that they are doing. As you say yourself, Bachmann's all-new production is on a resolutely upward trend, it's just the old split chassis models that are standing still bodywise - and even then they're hardly in the same class as the 1970s (Triang Hornby?) pannier. You've read the Bachmann statement and presumably understood it, so I'm not sure why you still expect body improvements when Dennis has clearly said that they're not cost effective. And you still havent answered my main point, which was to ask what precisely is it about the body that you personally find unacceptable. Constructive criticism isnt just saying that it's 'old', is it?

Cheers Steve, I'm never sure about 'T', as to whether it was just for test trains; it might have been later on, as I recall 'L' being used for internal LM excursions in the 1970s. We're talking about a different picture Jeremy Ninja's pic is definitely a BG, I wouldnt argue that - the other Gresley is in Mike's post #203

Interesting combo, whilst Gresleys certainly wandered a bit I wouldnt have thought they'd have been common behind AC electrics purely because of the unlikelihood of any being fitted with ETH (as happened to the 'domestic' Staniers). As the caption says, it could well be a test train (as suggested by the T headcode and which wouldnt require heating), but it's intriguing to speculate where the stock has come from. The second vehicle is clearly a Mk1, so it's probably not a full rake that has been sidelined for such use.

It's an interesting formation for the student of these things, though no doubt unexceptional at the time. There's the usual brakevan front and rear, a short fitted head (and with just one shanghai'd Conflat betwixt the first two minerals - possibly with its vac brake out of commission, or they just couldnt be bothered to shunt it out given the minimal difference it would make), then at the back there are two more fitted vans probably serving as barriers for the tanks. The train in the first clip (which I think is the celebrated visit of the Patriot in 1965?) also contains a rarity, an ex-GW 'Mica', clearly visible in white as the train's movement puts the camera into the 'going away' position.

Covered in this thread, before a parallel discussion starts in time-honoured Rmweb fashion: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/53973-last-rolling-stock-in-br-maroon/

In which case, I hope the train's running as vac not air :-)

Stanier 8-wheeler (2nd class); some of them lasted til 1976 or so. The MetCam at ManVic is interesting, I'd not realised that painting over the ally window frames was practised so early.

I'd assume just to make them more visible to the loader, so that he knew he shouldnt try and do what he shouldnt have done ;-) That's an interesting one, one of the handful of 'gatecrashers' to the 1966-68 vac fitting programme which didnt come from the 560200 - 583299 batches Consider your pics 'liked' EWD, but the proper function to do it is just taking too long to load up ATM :-( Jeff, I have seen shots of sheeted minerals on the S&C, but dont ask me where. Probably gypsum traffic, I think there was a works at Kirby Thore?

It's an interesting conundrum isnt it, balancing the number of cautious folk who might be depriving themselves of a decent model against the number of blissfully ignorant ones who will end up with a pup.

I think the 'road sign' is just chalk marks, Dave. The box is, I believe, a remnant of a scheme that was intended to replace XP markings with a range of numerals corresponding to speed ranges; the 'empty' box is presumably the lowest of these. Yup. Give it another two years, I'll let you know how I'm doing

Those first two vehicles behind the 31 are from the mid/late '60s batch of conversions to 4-shoe vac brake - the doors are something like the original colour, they will have been out of shops around 4 years at max...

There was traffic from Appleby into the late 60s, but that would have ceased with an agreement c1969/70 that concentrated all regular traffic on the WR - a snippet I picked up from Bob Wallace's wagon research Yahoo group. I do recall mention of some late 70s spot traffic though, possibly Swindon - Carlisle? Not to mention the missing 'E'...

So many questions Steve, and so few answers