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Hi 9FEd, I am glad my book on the ICI hoppers proved useful. I have some photos of Oakleigh Sidings from 1998 somewhere when most of the sidings were intact and most were still in use for receiving limestone in the air-braked PGA hoppers that replaced the former ICI hoppers at the end of 1997. Fast forward to 2005 and the sidings and loops were reduced to just two lines forming a loop roughly in the middle of the old yard. And now no traffic at all. Mind you they will need to go and collect the sole-remaining JEA wagon at some point so there might just be one final working into Oakleigh to gain access to Winnington to collect the wagon. Cheers Paul

Ah that would be my book then hehe. Just beware that the Locomotion one is not an original ICI wagon, it was built for John Summers to a very similar design in that the hopper body was a few inches lower thus changing the angles of the end stanchions but the chassis is the same spec. 13 ex Summers/British Steel wagons were purchased by ICI in 1982 to replace wagons lost in accidents so it is important not to use these for scaling as you will end up with a slightly smaller wagon not much I know. The Roxey Mouldlings brass kit is also based on the Summers hoppers. Cheers Paul

Hi Barry, hmmm first I have heard about Mike Edge doing the hoppers........ not sure where he has got his info from so will watch with interest on this one! Cheers Paul

Looking good Barry O. ICI Hoppers hmmm they sound familiar lol! Well apart from the kits that have been done in the past in resin at present there isn't anything else. There is a proposed RTR version on the cards that I have helped with but as yet this has not got very far for reasons I am unable to comment on. I have some of the High Peak and Appleby Model Engineering resin wagons that with some fettling and mods give a good representation of the hoppers and they are usually seen on Hazel Valley owned and operated by Hazel Grove & District MRS and this has been on the circuit a good few years now and been all over to shows mainly in the North-West. Cheers Paul Harrison

Both Sealion/cow wagons are still there and just visible through the trees now the leaves have dropped off. Now joined by some newer wagons parked on the other side of the lines on the west side - two crippled EWS (DBS) MLAs and one Network Rail MLA that were shunted out of an engineers train in autumn last year. Originally there was another NR MLA but this was removed sometime at the start of December one night and the other wagons shunted and split up. The remaining NR MLA is on three wheel skates and is parked near to the lattice footbridge that crosses the lines south of the station. Is the Grampus at Helsby station still there? On the Chester side of the station just beyond the station platform. Cheers Paul

Hi Peter, I will try and bring them with me next weekend. I will have to pack them up carefully so they don't get any more damage in transit. It is possible to have a double circuit transmission line but you could always model it as both sides of the towers wired up but at the terminal tower only one circuit connecting into the substation with the other circuit being earthed off. Or you could have a cameo with the second circuit being worked on by linesmen working on the conductors and insulators now there is something you don't often see being modelled...... Single circuit towers do exist and were also introduced in the 1930s alongside the double circuit PL1 towers; the single circuit towers are often referred to as PL1b towers and have a tri-arm arrangement with two cross arms on one side of the tower and the third cross arm on the other side in the middle. I wanted to make a model of these PL1b towers either brass-etched or even 3D printing but I never managed to get anywhere with it sadly. I got plenty of photos but no official drawings like the others. Cheers Paul

Nice looking hydro-electric power station. Now what you will need is some nice little pylons to carry the electricity away from the plant to the big towns and cities..... I had a go at converting and modifying these Hornby pylons a few years ago for another project but they have suffered some damage but with some brass strip and angle I should be able to strengthen them and make the cross-arms and bases more robust. The only other parts needed are some realistic length insulator strings for the suspension, deviation and terminal towers. 3D printed insulators??? The photos below should give you some idea of how the pylons look at present and with some winter workbench time they could be used on the new layout. D60 deviation tower and DT terminal tower D30 deviation tower and D2 suspension tower For the technical minded these are based on the PL1 design from the 1930s when the National Grid was first established and plenty of towers like these were built in the Scottish highlands. Cheers Paul

So you will be needing some PL1 132kV transmission towers for the hydro-power scheme then.... I will dig out the modified Hornby pylons I made and converted some years ago and see if they could be adapted for the GG extension of the extension layout. Cheers Paul

Well GTDs appearance at the GETS at Gaydon did go ahead despite some last minute setbacks. I am sure Peter will put a post on once he has recovered from his drive home and unloading the layout! But thanks to the Hornby Magazine team and especially Mike Wild he managed to sort out some help for the layout on both days courtesy of Richard, Graham and Rory. Along with myself, my girlfriend Vicky and Peter managed to keep things going most of the time. Yes it was quite manic Saturday morning trying to finish the layout prep and putting what stock we could onto the sidings and the fiddle yard before the visiting public started coming in at 10am. With the help of Richard in the morning and Graham in the afternoon we managed to keep the trains running on the main lines with the two Midland Pullman sets attracting a lot of attention along with the ICI hoppers. Yes we had the usual little gremlins like wagons derailing on some of the crossing but on the whole it went alright on the Saturday. On the Sunday we had Richard again helping us along with Rory and we stuck to the same operation on the main lines with the odd freight train going into and out of the main quarry sidings. And then it was 4pm on Sunday and time to start packing away. And we packed the stock away and with help from Richard and Rory started to dismantle the layout and we then waited for a while to let most of the others in the room load up their vans and trailers as they were keen to get away. Then it was our turn to load it all into the van. That tail-lift came in very handy!! Mike Wild lent a hand to load the van as well so thanks to all him and the lads who helped us over the weekend. Cheers Paul

Ah :-)

These KEAs have also been working from Dowlow with GBRf traction I saw back in June along with JNA boxes as well. Cheers Paul

Hi WBF, the containers and KFA flats will be used on two club layouts both owned by Hazel Grove & District MRS the main one being Hazel Valley, which featured in Railway Modeller some years ago - basically it is a Peak District themed layout that can be operated anything from 1950s to present with suitable stock. Hazel Valley has elements of Earles Sidings via sidings and a branchline off to a works be it a limestone or cement works. The second layout has been on the circuit locally in the Stockport area and that is called Smethurst Junction. This is set in NE Manchester anytime from 2000 to present. I am hoping that I will operate a full 8 wagon train on Hazel Valley and a shorter 4 wagon half portion like the real one that operates from Brindle Heath to Dean Lane once the train has been shunted and split at Brindle Heath (funnily enough I saw the exact same train being propelled into Brindle Heath terminal tonight doing exactly this behind a Freightliner 66). I don't think I will have the full rake ready just yet as I need to get on with the KFA mods and purchase some more containers and KFAs when funds allow. Cheers Paul

Nice containers Nick I have just taken delivery of my first three and very nice they look :-) Cheers Paul

I now have my three binliner containers and wow very nice they look indeed so huge pat on the back to WBF for doing all the hard work in creating the 3D model. I shall make a start on spraying the containers up shortly in the white and orange livery. Some of the next batch of containers will gain the additional cross-brace by using some plastic section so that both versions can be modelled. I am aiming to make up a rake of 8 loaded KFAs using the Hornby blue KFA and these containers and it will make a nice looking rake to run the club layouts at this years exhibition hopefully. So I best get cracking then! Cheers Paul

Hi WBF, well my Binliner containers are almost here. UPS tried to deliver them today but I have asked them to try and deliver to my girlfriends mum's address as I am out at work all day so fingers crossed I should have them in the next day or two all being well. Cheers Paul

Hi Ray, re the working ground signals, Hazel Valley by my local club Hazel Grove & District has working LMR style ground signals on the layout including two mounted on the same post IIRC and they look quite nice when pulled off using the signalling control panel. The layout featured in RM some years ago as the RoM and very nice it looked in print too. Cheers Paul

Hi Ray & Polly, a nice looking compact layout I hope I will get to see it sometime at a show. I'm still slowly (very slowly by the speed you have put CQ together oops) on my own layout Speedlow, which one day when I have the time and room get finished... Cheers Paul (friend of Peter trains 12)

Hi WBF, I have taken the plunge and ordered a trio of GMWA containers from the i.materialise website so I look forward to receiving the first trio shortly. Then its just matter of building up containers until I have enough for seven wagons and then do some of the original plain sided containers to mix in as well for my 8 wagon KFA rake. Cheers Paul

Excellent photos of the Tunstead shunters PGH those should prove useful for trains12 to make some up for his Great Tunsley Dale layout that is based on the railway operations at Tunstead. Cheers Paul

Hi WBF, ok I understand so hopefully in time once 3D becomes more common and widely used the prices might start to come down. Cheers Paul

Wow the white and yellow certainly bring those containers to life WBF my wallet is bursting to get a trio ordered. Would there be a future option on the website to order three containers as standard and would this make the unit costs come down slightly? Not that I really know much about the 3D printing costing structure but I do appreciate that there are certain costs that cannot be altered. Cheers Paul

I came away from my weekend helping Peter trains 12 with his Glen Gillie & Loch Inch layout with a reduced price Hornby KFA that was complete apart from a damaged box so that got the thoughts going on Saturday night with a good look at the cast metal wagon frame and what items need removing to make it more like the binliner Standard Wagon built PFA/KFAs. The containers will get flogged off shortly as they are not required at all. So come payday I will order three of the containers to get the project moving. Cheers Paul

Wild Boar, those containers have come out very well indeed. I will order some once I have been paid and hopefully in time I can build a rake up using your containers and the modified Hornby KFA. I saw one of the green containers numbered in the 6xxx series the other day but I have also seen blue containers in the same 6xxx so I am not sure what the difference is. They appear to be either repainted and renumbered original GMWA containers or they could even be new build. Maybe there is some changes starting to happen with the forthcoming move to send the waste to the new plant at Runcorn. Super smashing great as a famous comedian presenter said several times ;-) Cheers Paul

Hi, yes there may only be a couple of containers painted green I am not certain why. If you look in the current June issue of Rail Express on page 46 there is a photo of a diverted Roxby to Pendleton and you can just make out a single green container on the fifth wagon behind the loco just below the stone bridge. They appear to be the same design of containers as the others in the train. Perhaps green is some sort of bio waste? I look forward to seeing the sample once you have received them. Cheers Paul

Looking forward to seeing the first test shots of the binliner container. I saw a green liveried GMWA container the other day when I passed Northenden terminal so I guess that might be a new bio waste traffic maybe? Cheers Paul