Ceptic

At least, a couple of the chalked boards, would be advertising a 'Mystery Tour'. (These were 'happening' way before the Beatles went all 'Magical'). Comprising of a coach tour, using the back-roads and by-ways, usually within a thirty mile radius, to visit a locally known landmark..........and not forgetting to call in at one or two 'watering holes' en-route. London Transport would hire out their double deckers to private parties, and would often be seen on the streets of south and east coast seaside towns, Still on the transport theme and open-toppers, Hastings* and Bournemouth were the only two UK seaside towns to operate open top trolleys. *Hastings being the first, way back, in 1928 . One of which, 'Happy Harold', still running in 1958, took part in the final closure procession / ceremonies, on 1/6/59.

That track, those sleepers, look a little like Peco..... Are you sure that's not a model ?

Yep, indeed, Peter. Local photographer, Alwyn Ladell's Flickr collection shows these, http://www.flickr.com/photos/alwyn_ladell/sets/72157630350120796/ Nowadays hidden under the over-growth. Remembering back, wasn't there a number of these lining the up line approach to Christchurch station ?. There must be hundreds, if not, thousands of these, still dotted about the country. For example,these, lining the old Maiden Newton - Bridport branch, just west of M.N'ton I'm sure there must be websites entirely devoted to such fortifications. Cheers, Frank

Hello, again. The latest set of pictures showing various houses temporarily in place. The one nearest isn't entirely accurate, just representative. The original semi-detached, on the site, was replaced by a newer, low-rise, apartment block, some years ago. This model will feature internal lighting, whereas, being your average 'Scaledale' the houses between and behind the viaducts will not. Cheers.

Hi all. Here's the latest instalment. forwarded to me, yesterday. The Bourne Valley viaducts now have their surrounding contoured ground, hard shell base completed. A lift-out section, between the two, has been added. This is to provide access to any train in trouble on the far viaduct. Point rodding and signal cabling have been inserted, running from the Gas Works Junction signal box. This has full interior detail with lighting. The roads and pavements have been marked out, along with the positions of the houses in the vicinity. Note the 'Dragon's Teeth', WW2 anti-armoured vehicle defences. Street and building lighting are planned for the future. Work on the trolleybus overhead, in the Cemetery Junction area, is still on-going. Pictures will follow, once completed. If anyone has any queries concerning the layout, do let me know, and I will pass them on. Thanks for your interest. Edited to add to the initial photo.. Kind regards,

Or a Hornby 4-VEP !

At first glance, I thought that was Southampton Terminus.... Remarkable.pictures. Cheers, Rivercider. Remarkable resemblance, too, --- to Southampton Terminus. Once known as 'Southampton Town'. Canute Road crossing is now just a gap between the high-rise, (The word 'Canute', ..rings a bell,....somewhere) Edited to remove the link, and, to add my latest photos. .....(More pics. to follow, of other So'ton. stations) All the best.

"Do you think this would look better in 'Malachite' ?" or " We've gotta stop meeting like this. Time for us to split"

Hi Mike and Colin. The end to body mis-match is down to the Bachmann body being approx. 1mm.too high, both from solebar to gutter and from solebar to top of roof. This page may offer some clarification. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/17158-Hornby-class-423-4-vep/page-16 The Replica body shells are nearer the mark, being 26.3 mm. from solebar to top of gutter and 33.3mm. from solebar to top of roof. Regards, Ceptic. (for Rivet Counters PLC.)

Previous page ?.....Thank goodness for that !... ...'Cept,.... I've got a yearning for another fix.....

Hi Mike. My partially dimensioned driving end pic. of the 1963 stock from the Hornby 4-VEP Thread. Probably, a tad late with this, but, for labour and time saving, how about using the Replica Railways' http://www.replicarailways.co.uk/spares-and-accessories/spares TSO & S body-shells & windows for the driving end coaches ? Regards. P.S. Sometimes, at shows they attend, (see website) Replica are known to have 'Seconds' on sale at reduced prices.

Why ?...why...... ??....do I always.... always,... pause,... to have a look at this post whilst scrolling down ?. I thought I'd grown out of it !

A great topic Peter . Any encouragement for me to 'Get out more' with camera, is more than welcomed. (Getting a bit 'Stuck in the mud', these days). Here's one for near the alphabet's end......West Worthing. (ex-L.B.& S.C.R.) in 2008. The main entrance, The Down-side building, on the Tarring Road. A shadow of it's former self, and of the amenities once afforded. There have been rumours of it's impending demolition, but, as far as I know,...it's still standing. Up platform, looking eastwards, towards Worthing Central. Both up and down platforms once boasted substantial canopies, as did the main building's entrance / steps.(see first pic.) This was the first to go, after being clobbered by a 'Southdown' Leyland PD3 'Queen Mary', on route 103, in Nov.'69. This marks the limit of S.R.'s main-line electrification in 1933. The under cover shed facility, centre right, accommodated twelve-car units on each of it's three roads. This shed was, once, ear marked as being suitable for a 'Southern Electric' Museum / H.Q.... Subsequent attacks by local? vandals and certain requirements by the H&SE quickly put paid to this project. The shed, now, is no more. The heads-shunt / reversal siding, seen between the up and down lines,was / is(?) used by the Brighton - West Worthing 'Flyer'*......(*read..All stations / halts 'Slow') A few shots of the station's surrounds. This patch was, once, occupied by the West Worthing box, known previously as 'Tarring Crossing'. When swung-gated, these wide, four x four, cross-membered panel gates were wheel operated by the man in the box, as were a myriad of crossings between Portslade and Bedhampton... Even now, a little perturbing to a driver, looking ahead, to see road traffic crossing his path. Looking obliquely towards South Street, the level crossing, and the immediate, right / left-angled junction with the Tarring Road,..Named as the worst level-crossing in the UK.... Even when I was a kid, the gates seemed to be closed to road traffic, more often than they were open .....Me ?,... I was well pleased. This shot sums up my appreciation(?) of what's going on behind the scenes. A vandal proof(?) footbridge, known as 'Jacob's Ladder', between West Worthing and Worthing Central. Apologies for being somewhat downbeat ...I'm sure that there are many other instances in the U.K. where appreciation of public services is met with, on one hand, a thanks, on the other, hostility.... Regards

Nit pickin' ...moi ? ... Not only is the NRM version missing the '1's on the DTC's doors, it only has two of the corridor main-light windows labelled with '1st Class Hotdogs', whereas R3162 / '2134's trailer hasn't any !

" Blow your whistle and wave your flag, Mr.Guard,......I want to go to the seaside "

Heaps of junk ??,...I ask yer!.... heaps of junk ???,.... Heresy !!....,I say,....Sacrilege !!!..... Orf wid 'is 'ed *...... These units, along with the 'Hastings' 6-S & 6-L's were BR(S)'s pathfinders / forerunners into the unknown,...aka, the DEMU.....which resulted in,. none other than,.. the B*** P****** and the IC 125, not forgetting locos Cl. 73 & 74.. * Written here with tongue stuck, firmly, in cheek

Yup,...Top Dollar,...My Green with 'V' arrived this morning .... Hastily, carefully, de-boxed and placed on track,.,.. result...Well pleased*.......*Understatement...read Many thanks & congratulations must go to Kernow, Dapol and Bachmann for their perseverance in producing this model. My early (1960's) attempts included fret / band-saw cut plywood sides applied to Hornby's Mk.1s. A DC kit provided later entertainment, but, even this, fell by the wayside. Time is short,... although,... all comes to those who wait (including Hornby's 2-BIL....maybe ?) Regards.

Yep.... 'Day-Glo', or Fluorescent paint was in it's infancy, at the time. The top colour was very thin in pigmentation. More like a coloured lacquer / varnish and needed a a White base coat to be fully effective. It was due to the U/V light vs. pigmentation issue, that the fade rate was considerably quicker than normal, as the Royal Navy found out, to it's cost. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67307569@N00/232691636/ I would imagine that the colours' stability has improved, over the years, with the advent and evolution of vinyls, and the like.

Check the 'Albert', held in one hand, give a long blast on the 'Acme (Thunderer)', wave the Green with the other hand, ending with a nimble hop aboard. That's how it was, in my day.

Received this message today, from my nipper.

"Dom't dig there, dig it elsewhere. You're digging it round!, and it should've been square!" With apologies and acknowledgements to Bernard Cribbins

And, of course, for the 'Prols / Plebs, there were their omnibuses and charabancs.

On taking a step back,..and looking towards the future .....What awaits us ? More roads ?.. Some, as always, support these, but, they always incur a toll ..Whether in life, or price ?,..To add, we've already got Motorways... .Do these really suit 'our needs /,way of travel, ?...Maybe ?.., more convenient ?.....until meeting the tailback / jam./ uphill, labouring trucks.... Railways were, always, our future, and it's about time We caught up

The Std. British Railways '1' appeared on the doors' exterior long before the Cream / Yellow stripe. In fact, the numbers were there in Maunsell's and Bulleid's day, allbe 'em in the latter's case, 'Sunshine' font on 'Malachite'. After Nationalisation, the numbers, both Set, Vehicle and Classification, were gradually changed to the British Railways font. http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/3820543244/in/photostream/ I've got a 1951 dated pic. of a 2-NOL carrying the early 'Lion on Wheel' emblem on the DMBT coupled to it's DTC showing the doors' with BR font '1's. Maybe the NRM haven't got around to affixing them yet and Hornby just copied what they were presented with ?

To illustrate what I mean about the reversing shaft being partly recessed into the firebox cladding, here's a pic of a MN firebox with the same feature. Regards.