Flying Pig

Whilst on the subject of compact coal facilities, the remains of Norwich Victoria were used as a coal depot and have been mentioned on RMweb more than once.

A similar tippler at Lincoln in April 1969 (by David Ford on Flickr). Note the crossover on the near side, the empties on the right and the condition of the various railheads which suggest it was a straight-through operation. I guess locos would not have been allowed over the tippler.

It was imo let down mainly by the proportions of the front end: the nose was too low and round and the windscreen too deep, so the face of the loco was wrong. I saw one article where someone packed up the nose with layers of plasticard, but the shape was still a bit off - it really needed a decent casting for the bonnet and an etched windscreen to correct it. The later Bachmann moulding is very much better in this respect. But as you say, a lot of it was very good and the frame detail behind the grilles was outstanding.

There's a recent thread featuring Hornby Dublo tinplate Mk1s and they looked pretty good to me. In fact, a quick search for HD carriages shows quite a variety of well-proportioned and convincing models. Actually around well into the 70s.

What I make of it is that you were speaking to an Accurascale chappie 😁 Good call.

The Turbomotive was based on these machines. Looking for info on steam turbine efficiency at part load I found this (PDF). Looks like the Patent Office may not be hearing from you :) Variable geometry gas turbines for improving the part-load performance of marine combined cycles

Makes it cheap for the Nord to buy though. Getting back on topic that means we could see French types infusing the lines of the English company. Enormous tank engines in the London suburbs perhaps, with 1500 V overhead coming later.

Isn't the vac cylinder above Donald Trump's head?

Tidier if the Gorton and Cleethorpes Railway was grouped separately with the SECR companies and the Metropolitan. Assuming the existence of a Channel Tunnel, we can then argue about whether the resulting group would have been taken over by the Nord (with a large chunk of the English network subsequently becoming part of SNCF), or whether the Ardwick, Scunthorpe and Lewisham would have absorbed the Nord (with the entire French railway system possibly falling under the London Passenger Transport Board).

For Section 2, really only options A and B make sense - climbing over the pass at Baltic Farm Summit. I prefer B as it preserves independence better (also an argument against D). For section 3, you could ease the gradient out of Wroughton by moving the route north a little and crossing onto the plateau above Bincknoll.

Apparently, dinosaurs*, along with mammoths and many other extinct creatures, did nothing but "roam the Earth". No wonder they bit the dust. *the extinct kind.

Sounds like the enemy made himself, if your account is fair. A foolish man.

In reality, the M&SWJ managed to get up to Chiseldon so it likely would have been possible without copying the Albulabahn. A route sidling up the scarp east of Broad Town, perhaps, which would have had the added advantage of trashing Bincknoll Castle along the way. The route from there to Avebury is fairly level, taking in Windmill Hill for extra vandalism, and can easily be replanned through any additional antiquities that turn up.

Plenty of sarsen stones lying about on the Downs as well, to crush for ballast (irl they were for a long time crushed to make roadstone).

I look forward to seeing how Wroughton Bank is engineered. Perhaps a section of rack railway? As to Avebury, the Victorians would surely approach right through West Kennet long barrow and build the junction station in the middle of the stone circle. The Red Lion could live on as the station hotel and they might spare the church, but I doubt there'd be much left for the National Trust.

Well, all of them - you'll be experts after you've finished with the Buckjumpers.

Now you've put me in a spot. My bet with myself was that there would be a torrent of posts requesting increasingly obscure types of van. But I think yours is close enough, so I win my prize anyway ;) The BR type was numerous and widespread during the period covered by several of AS's loco and wagon types, so a good choice for them.

Surely the time is right for a BR 20t brakevan, now all those unfitted minerals have been announced?

I used to drive on the M42 at morning rush hour from time to time (pre-Covid when rush hour was rush hour). In my experience the uncontrolled section alternated between 50-60mph and stationary, whereas the section with variable limits flowed freely at the posted limit, which was rarely below 50mph.

I think a 40 would be popular despite never having operated regularly in Rodbourne Cheney or Dorcan, but I'd prefer to be surprised again with something we hadn't thought of.

As @The Johnster says, they've already gone above and beyond: asing for anything more would just be ungrateful.

Technically, the Class 37 is sufficient to make AS a major player as defined in the Railway Modeller 'Shows You How' booklet 'Being a Major Player'. With that and both Mk1 and Mk2 carriages in their range, they are under no obligation ever to make a Type 4 of any kind.

I wonder if it was based on a mineral wagon, with the top planks removed and the fixed panels stretched for a 17' 6" underframe? I don't recall Mainline having a proper mineral (Airfix did, albeit similarly stretched) so maybe this was Mainline's open-of-all-trades in their initial range. That would explain the bottom doors.

No, Mainline 37-170 is the Mainline tooling, which was mostly released in PO liveries and is possibly a generic five plank design. Some online photos of the model show it had bottom doors which would be very unusual on a railway company merchandise wagon. Given the info about the particular wagon number from @Sitham Yard above, Parkside PA36 might be a suitable underframe - 10ft vacuum braked with Moreton gear. I'm not sure, but I think the lettering style on this specific item is post about 1962 The Airfix model was indeed very good.

Scenecraft Bile Beans in a presentation box.