Geoff Endacott

That very model of Black Dog Halt will also be at the Calne Show on 22 & 23 January, along with the Chris Hewitt's EM gauge model of Calne. Geoff Endacott

Wenhill Lane is definitely behind the slight rise in the photo. When we held the exhibition at the school, the vehicular access was via Wenhill Lane. If you parked a car with its front against the wall of the buildings in the photo, its rear was adjacent to the road - Wenhill Lane. That puts the distance between the buildings and and Wenhill Lane at about five yards. The photograph is taken looking uphill so if the gate isn't in Station Road, it must be somewhere in the old cattle market site. Geoff Endacott

I don't see where else the gate can be. It's definitely not in Wenhill Lane, so if it isn't in Station Road, it must be somewhere between the two. Where that can be I don't know. I will have to have a look next time I'm in Calne, even thought the area has changed rather a lot. Geoff Endacott

I have spotted something else which is confusing matters. There are more school buildings in the photo than appear on your map. By the time the photo was taken Fynamore School had been extended and the buildings nearest the camera faced onto Wenhill Lane. I think the land in the foreground is the old cattle market site and the gate must be in Station Road, from where the picture was taken. Geoff Endacott

Close, but still not quite right. The school in the photo is Fynamore Secondary Modern School which merged with Bentley Grammar School in 1974 to become the John Bentley School. The former Fynamore buildings became John Bentley School North Wing and the Bentley Grammar School buildings became John Bentley School South Wing. North Wing was eventually sold off for housing with the proceeds being used to construct new buildings on the South Wing site. That is where the school remains to this day. The buildings in the photo were never part of Bentley Grammar School. They did, however, host the Calne Model Railway Show for several years. The exhibition moved to its current venue at the Calne Leisure Centre following demolition of the buildings on the former Fynamore site. One of the buildings in the background is the school hall in which Chris Hewitt's EM gauge model of Calne was displayed in the 1990s. Chris is returning with the layout to the Calne Leisure Centre on 22 & 23 January next year. Geoff Endacott

I'm really looking forward to seeing this layout at Trainwest! Geoff Endacott

We have several tins of the stuff in the clubroom. It was bought under the, "It seemed like a good idea at the time," principle, used once and then abandoned. As others have already commented, I would not recommend it either. Geoff Endacott

Believe me you do not want to model the smell. The air around the factory certainly didn't smell of pork. Geoff Endacott

No it isn't - there are only 12 layouts booked so far! Geoff Endacott

22 & 23 January 2011, www.calnemrs.org.uk . Geoff Endacott

Should it be reported as a fake? Geoff Endacott

If there was a TRUK in the set the trailers weren't from 253 021. The original plan was to have two catering vehicles per set, but this was soon changed. Production of TRUKs stopped at W40520 (for set 253 020). When 253 021 was eventually formed it would have had an extra TS. I have some records of early formations (somewhere). If this was a complete set of trailers from an operational set all I need is one of the numbers to work out what the other seven should have been. Geoff Endacott

From memory when the HSTs first came out you could work out all of the individual trailer numbers from the set number. The power cars W43042 and W43043 were formed in set 253 021. (Where S is the set number, the last digits of the power cars were 2S and 2S+1.) The last digits of the seconds were 3S, 3S+1 and 3S+2. That gives W42063, W42064 and W42065. First class trailers would have been 2S and 2S+1, so were W41042 and W41043. Catering vehicles were harder, but probably included W40021. I will have to look up my records for more detailed information. Geoff Endacott

Perhaps I should clarify things by saying that at one stage they were at Plymouth Laira, but they certainly got around a lot. The P prefix would indicate a Plymouth allocation, but I will need to search my records to find out if they carried different allocation codes at other times. Geoff Endacott

The Park Royal DMUs were based at Plymouth Laira (P) and were used on the Kingswear branch. Geoff Endacott

Set numbers were not painted on the front ends until the early 1970s. None of the Somerford fleet (1970) have them. I am not surprised that W55034 pictured above in 1971 has yet to gain its B134 number on the front. Geoff Endacott

I would be interested in details of any WR DMUs which were green into the 1970s. Somerford is set in July 1970 and all of the DMUs in the fleet are blue. All of the research I have done so far has failed to come up with any DMUs which lasted into the summer of 1970 in green livery. Thanks. Geoff Endacott

How about this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-mm-kit-built-signal-lswr-lner-gwr-weathered-detailed-/220622829378?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item335e253742 one? I have never seen a signal like that before! Geoff Endacott

That is quite a good one. RRP £4.99. Best online price I found (in a couple of minutes) £3.83. eBay price £30.77. And there were four people who put in bids above the RRP. Geoff Endacott

That centre cab window looks a bit wonky too. I don't know how you can fix it because the problem seems to be the poor quality of the casting. Geoff Endacott

Reported working 6N04 Lindsey to Jarrow today. Geoff Endacott

Betty 1 now carries the official name "PowerHaul". Geoff Endacott

The latest press release is here: http://www.freightliner.co.uk/filelibrary/PDFs/2009.11.09_PowerHaul_arrives_in_the_uk.pdf Geoff Endacott