The Stationmaster

On original renaming (from 'Shooting Star') in January 1936 the loco was - as the OP said. named 'Lloyds' and given the number 'A1' - which was Lloyds highest insurance classification when applied to ships (I understand various of the GWR ships were classified A1 by Lloyds and I think that includes those brought into service earlier in the 1930s). Presumably the idea of 'A1' as a running number wasn't thought very clever and additional plates bearing the number '100' were added on the cabsides, above the 'A1' plates, in February 1936 - or perhaps the idea was to get all the publicity shots out of the way before adding the other plates? The loco was known as '100' for ordinary operating purposes but the bufferbeam carried '100A1' although the BR smokebox numberplate was plain '100'. Interestingly - having seen some of them a good ten years after the loco itself had gone - the driving wheelsets were also stamped '100A1'.

To be perfectly honest if you had seen those sleeping cars 'the morning after', or had to venture inside one a day or so later (which I did), you wouldn't find any of it in the least bit inspirational - and to capture the full atmosphere you'd need to model a lot more than the vehicle itself; there tends to be a lot of mess around it as material is taken out by investigators etc. As far as the vehicles involved in the Taunton fire were concerned after the Fire Service investigators had finished it took a BT Police team several weeks to go through them removing material, including luggage etc, as all of it was potential evidence and in any case all property had to be accounted for. As a consequence of the Taunton fire the introduction of then almost complete Mk3 Sleeping Cars was delayed in order to fit massively increased fire protection including sophisticated detection systems and changes of materials etc to reduce flammability so the chances of one them suffering noticeable fire damage is fairly remote (unless they happen to be in a carriage shed which burns down or they're involved in a Ladbroke Grove type collision) As Ian has said, train fires involving Mk3s have been pretty rare - there was Ladbroke Grove (which wasn't a fire but an aftermath of collision as already noted) and I witnessed one of the other two I know about - both of which were largely external fires due to ruptured and ignited fuel tanks. These latter sort of fires are quite spectacular and leave everything covered in black/with scorched paint but tend, fortuantely not to lead to much beyond a bad scare for passengers and possible imjury during train evacuation. Strangely the only train fire I have ever had to 'fight' was an underframe fire on an SR demu - and as it turned out it was just as well the local vounteer Fire Brigade wasn't on strike with their full-time colleagues. But with the help of Kernow/Bachmann you'll soon be able to reproduce that and you even substitute a Green Goddess as a 'strike-breaking' fire engine in attendance.

SoundS like EMD's spare parts distribution has gone to pot. The system they used to operate was that anything destined for the UK up to and including the size of a traction motor was despatched by air freight on the day they received the order. It was quite common for Merehead to fax an order for a part on one day and go up to Heathrow to collect it on the following day, technical queries were normally answered on the day they were received and ARC received a similar service (as did CIE so I was told by someone then working at ARC).

Ah, so their previous estimate was on track then - good stuff. I now await my 'phone call in antiucpation of a nice little trip down to Swindon to pay the balance and collect (mind you I'm running out of places to hide 'em).

Something amiss there methinks - a 59 correctly handled should be able to easily start more than 4,000 tons trailing on a rising gradient on a curve, after all they have been doing that (and more) on stone trains for a very long time. Sounds almost as if the Super Creep is not working, or not working correctly - I wonder if there are some maintenance shortcomings nowadays and/or some shortcomings in Driver training.

Interesting observations above from Ron and Nidge - making, I think, most of the salient points - EMD locos work straight out of the box, the Class 60s very definitely did not and needed a lot of development work plus a massive amount of TLC once in traffic to make them work. In their first 6 months or so the Yeoman 59s suffered - if I recall correctly - only two failures which rated as 'casualties' under the BR recording system work, and one of those was defective AWS (kit supplied by BR Crewe works). In user terms the EMD locos have always had higher availability figures and lower casualty rates and that is what matters to operators, planners, account executives, and accountants. It's just a shame that the 66s were built down to a price and suffer lots of faults from the Driver comfort viewpoint and there seems to be a persistent niggling accessibility problem with the translation of US design practice to UK loading gauge constraints and something not being easy to get at when the loco first goes into traffic. As for seeing new large diesel locos of British design I think we can forget it - we've more or less sold our loco building industry down the river although perhaps British factories might one day get a chance to assemble something designed, and engined, from overseas. As far as the Class 60s are concerned I think the answer is simple - they will last as long as their operating and maintenance cost justifies their continued existence; assuming there is traffic which needs their capability of course. They certainly won't remain in traffic on the basis of sentiment or because they were 'made in England' because if rail operators follow that sort of line they're as good as writing their suicide note.

The sound will certainly be interesting but I bet they won't manage to get that well known 'roll' as the engine starts and then settles down Or indeed capture the way the power cars rolled at speed in traffic - a trip from Reading to Pompey Harbour in one of these was an 'interesting experience'

Brian???? - I'll forgive you Pix as your little green loco looks rather nice, albeit an amazingly 'fresh' looking green and remarkably clean despite the dirtying . I can't really remember them being anything other than 'faded and jaded' unless they happened to have been repainted in the preceding couple of weeks, even in their early years they always looked grubby.

Talking of D6346 here it is - at Laira in 1964

We have been here before (on the previous incarnation of RMWeb) but I'm not sure if I could accurately date it then although I did a lot of delving. I think the use of limewash as a disinfectant for cattle vehicles was banned c.1927 but can definitely state that it was post 1923 and I'm reasonably sure that it was pre 1930. The limewash was not used to clean out cattle wagons but waqs used after cleaning to disinfect the vehicles. It was banned because it could injure animals, particularly if it was incorrectly mixed, and was replaced by the use of a liquid disinfectant.

Niggling in the back of my mind is something about potatoes having to be loaded in vans for some reason. Mind you that would in any case have been in the times not long after the demise of most cattle wagons - and I can't find a reference anywhere in any of the Loading Guides I can easily lay hands on so it might just be a 'niggle' or have come from an evening class on terminal working back in the 1960s. Cattle wagons were apparently always regarded as 'good' for broccoli as they apparently allowed air to circulate (to some extent) round the boxes of produce thus helping to keep it looking fresh. PS The 'background' to the pic at the head of this thread looks as tempting as the wagon :icon_drool:

It might be dangerous to say this - because it means I'll have to try to find it - but somewhere I just happen to have a little piece of a D63XX. An NBL worksplate to be precise with some damage because of the way the Old Oak fitters removed them but the useful feature of having remained on the loco while it received at least two repaints (or touch-up efforts), and I know that because it has traces of both green and blue paint on it. What I also know is that the blue is not at all like Swindon's early efforts (e.g D1030) and I think there is only one shade of blue on it. No - I can't give you the loco's running number and I certainly can't recall the works number although that is (obviously) on the plate.

Because the cake was only of a certain size and it wouldn't stretch that far is probably the most likely explanation. But then you could arguably advance an even better answer for keeping one of the Bulleid diesels ... and then it goes on. The simple answer is that sheer economics does not allow everything to be saved, and probably never will.

While galas undoubtedly bring in crowds they don't happen every weekend on every railway, or on every weekday during the tourist/summer season's daily operation. Virtually all the preserved/tourist railways only manage to survive financially because their main market is not railway enthusiasts. In most cases they have to be tourist attractions in order to survive, and the ones that are good at that can even manage to get by without any volunteer staff. And the railways have to provide what the tourists and casual visitors want because they are the people who cough up the 'baseload' cash. Railways do make money out of enthusiasts at gala times and to some extent on the more expensive items in their shops but they don't sell them much film nowadays and an awful lot of 'enthusiasts' are often only there just to take pictures.

Wasan't there some sort of ad years ago about 'turning your hobby into income' - now you have your opportunity because one man's scrap box contains another's collectable, especially if it's for sale on Ebay.

Is that 'white stuff' on it flour, or mould? Simple process of weathering - place loco in a damp box and store in a musty old cellar for 3 months, remove, clean off any mouse droppings (just teh lumpy bits - dn't want too much texture), and carefully dry under a 200 watt lamp (not too close of course), photograph and then advertise. I wonder how many more are brewing away below stairs?

Judging by past involvement and 'standing & listening' in more recent times the main things the public want nowadays are - 'Thomas' (basically a pale blue tank engine will do, seeing 'Percy' as well is a bonus for many). 'a train ride' (not too long, a bit of smoke & steam, clean coaches, possibly a cuppa etc on a longer ride) toilets (at the place they entrain or detrain - must be clean and properly equipped; they are a major factor in encouraging 'non-enthusiast' punters to return) buffet (everyone wants a decent cuppa and a nice cake or a hot snack - must be clean, keenly priced in the local market, and offer good grub etc, another major factor in encouraging return visits) shop (preferably lots of goodies for the children and keepsahes for the crockles) and finally an overall clean & tidy appearance (where the punters go and can see - again it encourages returnees). Interesing comparison on a sunny summer Sunday last year at Buckfastleigh - on the platform/looking at the loco etc, a handful of people; in the (large) tea room, very few empty tables; the shop, heaving.

Basically identical but take care over the matter of top feed (or not) and ATC fitment (or not).

I think - judging by one of the pics above - that it might be possible to convert the 'L' shape handrail to a straight one as it appears to already go into the cabside just before the bend. When I get a chance I'll have a closer look at 'Ince' and see if it is a practicable solution.

An interesting debate this but the real point - as several have already touched on - is the 'scrapyard/pile of junk' syndrome which lets down so many preservation sites. It's as I have often been tempted to post on another thread, 'what would I like to see on a preserved railway?' - on all too many of them the thing I would most like to see is a bl**dy good clear-up! But as Phil has said above many (most?) railways are pushed for space; after all most sites were originally small country stations with limited facilities. So the big tidy-up might be nirvana. I do know one line which is unashamedly a 'tourist railway' - and not a 'preserved railway' - and they have indeed had that 'good tidy-up' with the departure of various preservation groups and a physical clean up of the site the visitor sees. And such is the standard of their approach that I could find nothing to fault in that area when doing their first operational safety assessment last summer while my colleague is giving them good marks on their H&S etc assessments for the areas where the public have access (and that can often be a major difficulty when assessing preservation sites). So I do applaud site tidiness - it looks better and for most visitors it is far more attractive than rusting hulks etc. But I do appreciate that getting to that state can be extremely difficult for many railways although at least at Alresford yesterday the overall impression given by stabled stock was not too bad (a shame the same could not be said for the over-priced buffet ),

Perhaps I wasn't heavy enough with the irony Larry My whole point was that it is so good that if you want to be churlish (and I wouldn't even say 'objective') you have to pick on some very minor things indeed; things that probably 90% of modellers might not even know about or where to look for. You will know - probably better than most of us I'm sure - that getting the correct detail on any particular 'Castle' is a task which requires a lot of research. I long ago wondered if Hornby could come up with the goods in that respect and they simple fact is that they are delivering excellently individually detailed locos - even minor items of the cab fittings on 7034 are correct for locos with mechanical lubricators (and just how many purchasers will even know what to look for in that respect let alone what it looks like?). It might not be quite to Beeson, Williams, or Reynolds standards but it's pretty darned close, especially when you consider it's a mass produced model. And I reckon it's a bargain at the market retail price of arond £95 -110, and it's why I've got two (with another on order, and a 4th lined up for purchase later in the year). And there's no way on earth I could build a kit to that standard - let alone line it.

WTH does 'chromatic' actually mean in this context I wonder? No doubt at all that some of Swindon's early blue repaints came out in a colour which was definitely not bog-standard Rail Blue - it was (or looked) a paler and 'brighter' colour and was very definitely gloss in finish. Now whether standard Rail Blue came out looking different because it was brush painted, or went over a different undercoat or primer, or was mixed with something else to eke out the supply, or whatever I don't know. But it definitely looked a bit different from the blue finishes appearing elsewheres

I'm going to have have a good look round for a replacement Rob. The top of the stand pipe doesn't look quite right either and it is a very distinctive feature. So if it is replaced it will really have to do the job properly to improve on Hornby's 'passable but not quite there' effort. The Markits turned brass one also doesn't look quite right but I'll put it on a shopping list for Ally Pally and have a good look at it.

I collected my 7034 today and it is even better than it looks in pics already published on here. Brilliant piece of work which captures a double chimney 'Castle' to perfection (the chimney itself is superb - a very difficult item to capture but done marvellously well). Critical of anything? Well the front vac pipe stand/bag doesn't look absolutely right - lack of ribbing and the red batch number patch on the vac bag itself. And the ATC bell fitting in the cab looks a little undersize and is not mounted tight against the window. Oh - and as I mentioned before - the spacer bar on the slide bars is a bit 'heavy'. But to be completely blunt it really comes to something when the only 'criticisms' are very minor things like those; from the sublime to the faintly ridiculous in the blink of an eye Alton Model Centre also has 'Beverston Castle' in stock - arrived from Hornby yesterday but I didn't look at it out of the box (one 'Castle' a day being quite enough for me - well that sounds good, and I had bought 'Earl Cairns' at the Abingdon show last Saturday ). I think The arrival of 'Beverston' leaves only 'Tintagel' and the Swindon loco as outstanding from the original list I'm told the Hawksworth coaches - if the sample seen by Bob is any guide - put the Maunsells to shame in terms of detailing etc.

Probably something similar to what happened with some BR diesels - where at one stage they were officially being described as 'suffering teething problems' then, with no obvious gap in between, they were described as 'suffering age related defects and difficulty in obtaining replacement components from the manufacturer'