Graham R

Hi Nigel, you're right, I did not stop to think about the small matter of wheelsets . Nick Tilston seems to stock pinpoint bearings (item 23818, not sure about the profile) and a range of buffers. I suppose it would be feasible to make 12.25mm axles from rod to accept wheels from modern commercial N wheelsets. Easier just to join the 2mmSA. But the OP was a request for modern rolling stock kits and Stephen's range reflects his own interest of the 1970s, so may not be the answer in any case. regards Graham

Stephen’s kits are available to anyone as far as I’m aware, you don’t have to be a 2mmSA member. See his listing and contact details here. They are beautifully designed kits in my view, but they are detailed and require decent soldering skills to produce a clean result. There is no shame in learning on the job, as my many early attempts show! Of course there is no reason to join the 2mmSA unless you want to, but you get a very nice magazine, access to the Association shops, and if you choose to, support from the area groups. £20 to try it out for a year is not a big risk ... regards Graham

My next-door-neighbour-but-one hails from Banff and is of the right age to remember the passenger service, so when I saw him digging his flower bed this afternoon I asked him about the longer platform. He confirmed he’d never seen it used for departing trains. However he also mentioned that summer Saturdays could see trains of up to seven or eight coaches from Glasgow, often behind a D40, “Gordon Highlander” being the one which stuck in his memory; and Caley 0-4-4T 55185. He’s going to consult various older relatives for other memories so I’ll pass on anything of interest. Good luck with your project regards Graham

Here are diagrams, kindly supplied by Robert Dey from his collection, for the boxes between Carnwath and Ravelrig Junction (except the Midcalder boxes and Linhousewater) at various dates, which might answer your question. You'll see that there are both discs, raised discs, and short arm semaphores in use. Camps Junction: If you find out anything more on your specific location, it would be interesting to hear back in due course. Regards Graham

It depends if your siding is controlled from a signalbox or is simply connected to the main line between block posts. Isolated sidings on the Caley were typically controlled from a ground frame which, in addition to the siding points and the siding exit signal, controlled a home and distant on the main line which protected the train working the siding. The ground frame was usually padlocked and the signalbox in the rear had its section signal locked by a train staff which accompanied the train working the siding. A porter or brakesman went with the train to bring the staff and padlock key back to the box in the rear after replacing the signals and points and locking the ground frame, and the train would advance through the section. The train was sent by the box in the rear under regulation 8b (ballast train working in section) and accepted under regulation 5 (3-5-5, section clear but station or junction blocked) by the box in advance. The whole procedure is explained in detailed in the Caley sectional appendix. On the Edinburgh-Carstairs section, the only place this happened was at Kames Quarry between Ravelrig Junction (where the country end of the Balerno branch rejoined the main line) and Camps Junction, where an oil shale branch led off. Ravelrig did not lock its section signal with a train staff but provided a "porter-signalman" to go with the train, who had to return to Ravelrig afterwards with the key by "the most expeditious means possible". The arrangements at Kames lasted until the 1960s. All the other sidings and mineral branches between Midcalder Junction and Carstairs (and there were a few: Harburn Lime Works, Wilsontown, Cobbinshaw, Tarbrax Oil Works) had individual signalboxes in Caley days so sidings were worked from the box concerned. (Even Kames Quarry had a knee frame in a hut rather than a ground frame open to the elements). The actual signal controlling exit from the siding was usually a Stevens flap signal in Caley days. Many of these lasted until the early BR period, and ground disc signals replaced them as wear and tear required. It was common to elevate them on a short post for sighting reasons, as The Statiomaster mentions above. The Caley did use short arm home semaphores, but more commonly for movements from a loop to a main line or from a main line to a siding than for a siding exit. However photos show there were exceptions to the rule. Hope that's of some interest regards Graham

Hi Angus, There's a nice album of photos of the BACo Burntisland plant online, which includes a shot of a Presflo there on 9 April 1964 , and it looks like the lettering is "Presflo Alumina", with the first word spaced over the top row of four "panels" between the main side stanchions, and the second word spaced over the second row, one letter per "panel". There's also a nice detail shot of the Presflo roofs, a shot of an ICI caustic soda tank on the same day, and an LNER-era shot of the wooden hoppers in use before the Presflos. No excuse not to post a photo of the completed wagon now :-) Regards Graham

No, it's just awkward. The problem is getting leverage on the chassis to slide it out of the body. The body is retained at the correct height on the chassis by three ridges on each side, one above each bogie and one above the fuel tank. These locate into shallow slots in the chassis block. What you have to do is gently disengage the ridges from the slots. Once you've got the bogies and baseplate off, place the model roof down on a soft surface like your trouser leg to avoid scratching it. Use your your fingers to gently spread the body next the fuel tank. This eases the ridges away from the slots. Use a jeweller's screwdriver or similar slim object held parallel with the length of the chassis to find one of the slots and gently lever the chassis upwards out of the body. Once it starts to move, all the other ridges will pop out of their slots as well. A photo probably helps. The slots are outlined in red. To reassemble, just place in position (making sure the suppressor capacitors etc are in the right place to locate in the fuel tank recess), and gently press back in. Pop, and it locates back at the correct height. Hope that help, Graham

There was word of renovation three years ago: see the Council's press release: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/20819/Council-approves-agreement-with-SEC-to-support-redevelopment-of-bridge-to-Finnieston and a press report: https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/transport/5-million-upgrade-for-hydro-footbridge-1-4381367 As you say it's past time for an upgrade. But filthy or not, it's better than no bridge at all, with the weather the way it was this weekend ...

Contact Keith Fenwick, Great North Review editor, contacts here: http://www.gnsra.org.uk/gnsra_contact.htm . Or Des Byrne the Association's modelling co-ordinator. There is a GNSRA publication on wagons but it seems to be out of print. I am away from home so can’t check mine at the moment. Hope that helps regards Graham

The May 1980-May1981 WTT shows DMUs on these services and the 1983-84 version shows loco-hauled, so it must have been between May 1981 and May 1983: I don’t have WTTs for the intervening years ... the 1983 Dundee trip notice refers to the station pilot disposing of ECS from Glasgow services, but not Edinburgh. So I would guess mid 1983. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I discovered around 1980 there was more to life than railways so had stopped paying close attention. I’m sure someone else can give a precise answer. Of course there were plenty instances of DMU sets failing and being dragged to destinations by the nearest available 26 or 20. 27s were less common in Fife. I’d be interested to know for how long the loco-hauled Fife services lasted before 158 units replaced them, and whether Dundee retained an 08 shunter to release train engines from platforms 2 and 3 after the 1985 resignalling. The diesel depot closed in 1986 I think so was the pilot retained after that? regards Graham

Hi Mark, P04 was the trip from Perth to Forfar on the former main line through Strathmore. This was double-shifted in the seed potato season, hence the 4/1 and 4/2 I suppose. I had forgotten that Class 50s were used on this trip when available, according to Cinerail's video "The Railways Of Scotland Volume Seven: Perth To Kinnaber Junction". This includes a brief shot of 50045 fly-shunting vans at Forfar in 1980 after running trip P04 with a brakevan tour attached. I never saw a 50 on the Strathmore route myself, more's the pity. A scan of the relevant trip notice page is attached. Regards Graham trip-P04-1975.pdf

Hi Mark, i don’t know much about the West of Scotland (something which my Glaswegian friends explain to me more emphatically every time I open my mouth), and I don’t have the trip notice which would answer your question. I suspect it simply means that trips S72 and S139 had work assigned by Control as it arose. For example, in the 1975 trip notice for the East of Scotland, Millerhill provided a Class 47 with driver and guard from 10am to 6pm for trip J33 which is simply marked “Work to Control orders”. Almost all other trips have specific duties or shunting zones given explicitly, although some would work to control orders after finishing their regular work. It is obviously quite an expensive matter to have a type 4 loco and crew sitting endlessly waiting for work so I’d assume management were confident that there was enough irregular traffic to make it worthwhile. In The West of Scotland I’d guess that would come from steelmaking and processing, and in the East, pipes for the North Sea oil and gas industry: the Forties pipeline from Cruden Bay to Grangemouth came into use in 1975 and the pipes went north by rail and were stored in redundant railway yards (Leith and Dundee from personal memory but I expect there were others). However speculation at a distance of 40 years is a dangerous thing especially by an industry outsider like me. For all I know these Control trips were “Spanish practices” agreed with the local ASLEF or NUR stewards, although that seems unlikely. (Cue for my Weegie friends to remind me of my mental limitations). Can anyone with a Glasgow South trip notice give an authoritative answer ? The National Records of Scotland, by the way, has many of the BR(Sc) 1970s trip notices and can supply copies at a cost. See here. Regards Graham

I couldn't find an interior shot, but here's the signalbox diagram as it was in 1970, courtesy of Robert Dey. The details were recorded by Forbes Alexander or Ed Nicoll on site. The locking remained thus until the box was abolished in 1980, except that the ground frame controlling the goods yard was abolished and the down line sidings points were no longer worked from the box (levers 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 22). There are photos of the box exterior on the Internet, or on eBay at the moment here. There is a very nice aerial photo of Markinch in 1932 on the Britain from Above website, here. It is too early for your model but gives a very good impression of how the station was laid out. Haig's was modernised after the date of this photo. For convenience, I have attached a copy showing the station part only. Finally here are images of a couple of wagon labels, I don't have the originals and cannot recall where the images are from. One is for empty wagons returned to Dallas Dhu distillery near Forres from Markinch in the 1960s. This implies Haig's received malt whisky in barrels from Dallas Dhu for blending with grain spirit produced in the lowlands. The other is for potatoes loaded from Markinch to Liskeard in 1972. Scotland still sent considerable tonnages of wagonload seed potatoes southwards in ventilated 12T vans until the late 1970s, and I suppose in more modern wagons after that as well ... does anyone know? Regards Graham

Yes I do ... the passenger service was pretty simple in 1975: an hourly stopping service from the Edinburgh-Dundee DMUs, mostly triple sets, and two-hourly expresses which did not stop, Aberdeen-Edinburgh of (from memory) 7 Mark1s behind a class 40. Some ran through to King's Cross, York and Leeds (the latter starting from Dundee), and these were longer, 9 or 10 I think, and had class 47 power. The King's Cross services had air-braked, electrically-heated stock which I suppose (I am no expert) were Mark2D coaches. The York service had non-ETH air-braked stock, so presumably earlier Mark2s. The Leeds train is not marked as air stock so I suppose would be Mark1s. Two, I think, of the King's Cross services were sleepers but I no longer have public timetables for that period; for the same reason i can't tell which class 1 services had a buffet car. I recall there was a Gresley buffet in blue and grey which used to be added as the last vehicle of Aberdeen-Edinburgh services in the summer. It was distinctive because rather than an end board on the corridor connection, it has what appeared to be a wood-panelled living-room door instead. At least that's how it looked to me ! However there are lots of train formation experts around so hopefully someone will supply details of the formations of 1975 trains. Here are the gory details from the WTT: Down (northbound): Class 2 services, all Edinburgh-Dundee triple DMU sets except as indicated. These carried headcode "52" in theory. I don't remember ever seeing it though! 0012 MX 2L04 (a twin, but a triple on Saturday mornings); 0715½ 2A15, carrying mails to Dundee and terminating at Arbroath; 0808 2L18; 0905½ 2L21; 1004 2L24; 1104 2L25; 1204 2L27; 1304 2L32; 1404 2L36; 1504 2L37; 1608½ 2L41; 1713½ 2L44; 1842½ 2L48 (a twin set); 1910½ SX terminating at Markinch; 1921½ 2L54; 2004 2L55; 2204 2L57; 2305 2L61. Class 1 services: 0350 SO 1S58 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 560 tons: ran until 27 September 0424 1S60 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 455 tons: on summer Saturdays a class 40 and 300 tons 0616 1S70 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 625 tons 0828 1S77 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 490 tons 1031 1A25 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, class 40, 300 tons 1051 SO 1A26 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, class 24, 230 tons: this ran via Dunfermline from June to August only. 1228 1S51 York-Aberdeen, class 47, 280 tons, air braked stock 1349 SX 1S56 Leeds-Dundee, class 47, 315 tons: ran 4 minutes later on Saturdays. 1531 1A43 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, class 40, 300 tons 1747 1A51 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, class 47, 285 tons: ran 4 minutes later on Saturdays 1903 1S32 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 385 tons, air-braked electrically heated stock 2120 1S35 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 420 tons, air-braked electrically heated stock Sundays had a sparser service. The following trains ran with some time variation compared to weekdays: 2L04, 1S60, 1S70, 2L48, 1S32, 2L57, 2L61, plus these: 0343 1S78 Manchester Victoria-Aberdeen, Class 40, 450 tons: newspapers 0858 1A22 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, Class 40, 300 tons 1052 1A31 Edinburgh-Aberdeen, Class 40, 300 tons 1408½ 2L35 Edinburgh-Dundee, triple DMU which stopped at Markinch 1822 1S17 King's Cross-Aberdeen, Class 47, 385 tons, air-braked electrically heated stock Up (southbound): Class 2 services, all Dundee-Edinburgh triple DMUs except as indicated. These carried headcode "53" in theory. 0702 2G16; 0723 SX 2G22 starting from Markinch (the stock arrived empty from Lochmuir, an isolated signalbox at a summit north of Markinch where there was a loop which was used as a turnback siding); 0744 2G25 ( twin set); 0902½ SX 2G34 (from Arbroath except Saturdays); 1002½ 2G39 (from Arbroath); 1107½ 2G41; 1202½ 2G50; 1302½ 2G58; 1402½ 2G64; 1509 2G74; 1602½ 2G78; 1707 2G84; 1802½ 2G93; 1904½ 2G46; 1915½ SX 5V00 (empty stock triple Markinch to Thornton); 2002½ 2G52; 2102½ 2G60. Class 1 services: 0823 1G30 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 40, 300 tons 0932 1G36 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 47, 285 tons 1230 SO 1E15 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 47, 385 tons: air-braked, electrically-heated stock. 1234 1E17 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 40, 315 tons: ran in summer until 11 October only 1449 1G71 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 40, 300 tons 1606 1E27 Dundee-Leeds City, class 47, 315 tons 1818 1E29 Aberdeen-York, class 47, 280 tons, air-braked stock 2018 1G54 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 40, 300 tons: carried mail Monday-Friday 2139 1E40 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 40, 450 tons 2236 1E43 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 40, 500 tons: passed at 2210 on Saturdays 2326 1E48 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 47, 560 tons: passed at 2300 on Saturdays On Sundays the following ran with some time variation compared to weekdays: 2G39, 1E17, 1E40, 1E43, 1E48, plus these: 0915 2G36 Dundee-Edinburgh, triple DMU set which stopped at Markinch 1433 1E25 Aberdeen-King's Cross, class 47, 420 tons: air-braked, electrically-heated stock 1635 2G81 Dundee-Edinburgh, triple DMU set which stopped at Markinch 1835 1G44 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 47, 280 tons, air-braked stock 1935 2G50 Dundee-Edinburgh, triple DMU set which stopped at Markinch 2100 1G60 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 40, 300 tons Of course in practice the motive power might be different - the various photos on the web show that clearly. I would like to see a photo of the 1A26 summer-Saturdays=only Edinburgh-Aberdeen service via Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Cardenden, with a class 24 and probably 7 vehicles ... I don't think i ever saw it back in the day. regards Graham

I happen to have the relevant working timetables for 1975 ... there was still quite a lot of freight at that time, much of it moving at night, and unsurprisingly there were more trains going north (14 mandatory services plus 14 conditional paths) than south (11 mandatory, 12 conditionals). It may be of interest to see the details so here they are (and if it's not, stop reading now!). The WTTs don't give passing times for Markinch in most cases, so I have estimated them by adding 4 minutes to Thornton North times in the Down direction and 10 minutes to Ladybank times in the Up direction. Down (northbound): 0055 MX 7A04 Millerhill-Craiginches, class 40 hauled 0232 MX 6S40 Doncaster-Burghead/Keith junction, class 40, 1069 tons booked load 0334 MX 7L03 Millerhill-Dundee West, class 24 0440 MSX 4S82 King's Cross-Aberdeen, class 47, 850 tons 0450 MO 6S12 Peterborough-Perth, class 24: this was a parcels service 0500 MX 7P25 Millerhill-Perth, class 24 or 26 0516 SX 8A18 Thornton-Craiginches, class 40 0534 SX 7A13 Millerhill-Craiginches, class 40 0600 4C01 Edinburgh-Cupar, class 25 or 27, 19 tons: this was a newspapers service 0656 SX 5G22 Thornton-Lochmuir, triple DMU set: this was looped at Lochmuir then formed a Markinch-Edinburgh local service 0738 MO 7P16 Millerhill-Perth, class 24 or 26 1138 SX 7L30 Millerhill-Dundee West, class 27 1418 SX 7A42 Millerhill-Craiginches, class 40 1536 SX 8N39 Millerhill-Inverness, class 24 or 26 2103 SX 7N02 Millerhill-Inverness, class 24 or 26 2212 SX 8N10 Thornton-Keith Junction, class 40 plus summer conditionals: those which were in the winter WTT as well are shown by a * 0045 WThFO 6S43 Doncaster-Muir of Ord/Dufftown/Keith Jn, class 47, 1197 tons. On Sundays this passed at 0105. 0123 MX 6N52 Oxwellmains-Inverness, 2x class 24 or 26, 1033 tons 0246 MX 7L02 Thornton-Dundee West, class 24 or 26: on Mondays this ran as 7L03 five minutes later with a class 40 0702 FSX 6L11 Grangemouth-Leuchars, class 37, 625 tons. This service was in the winter WTT only. 0834 SX 8P14 Thornton-Perth, class 24 or 26 1319* SO 6L29 Oxwellmains-Camperdown Junction, class 40 1422* SO 6N53 Oxwellmains-Inverness, 2x class 24 or 26, 1033 tons 1546* SO 6A60 Oxwellmains-Craiginches, class 40, 853 tons 1619* SX 8N45 Thornton-inverness, class 24 or 26 1727 SX 6N51 Oxwellmains-Inverness, class 40 2022 SX 6A58 Oxwellmains-Craiginches, class 40, 925 tons 2137 SX 6L58 Oxwellmains-Camperdown Junction, class 24 or 26, 775 tons 2229* SX 6A01 Oxwellmains-Craiginches, class 26, 780 tons 2326* SX 7A09 Millerhill-Craiginches, class 24 Up (southbound): 0016 MX 7K66 Inverness-Millerhill, class 24 or 26 0212 MX 7K68 Aberdeen Guild Street-Millerhill, class 47 0349 MX 7K67 Inverness-Millerhill, class 24 or 26 0430 8V08 Aberdeen Guild Street-Thornton, class 40: this train arrived at Markinch at 0415 0438 MX 0S77 Dundee-Haymarket diesel depot, class 47: Light engine. 0649 SX 4V12 Cupar-Kirkcaldy, class 25 or 27, load 175 tons: this was the empty vans from the Cupar newspaper train; it ran 30 minutes later on Sundays 1502 SX 7K71 Perth-Millerhill, class 24 or 26 1606 SX 6E47 Aberdeen Deeside Yard-King's Cross, class 47, 330tons, 60mph speed limit throughout 1921 SO 5G00 Aberdeen-Craigentinny, class 40, 450 tons 1926 SX 4G51 Aberdeen-Edinburgh, class 40: this was a parcels service which ran when required 2200 SX 6K76 Aberdeen Guild Street-Millerhill, class 40 2253 SX 6E38 Burghead-Doncaster, class 40, 483 tons 2316 SX 7K64 Dundee West-Millerhill, class 24 or 26 plus summer conditionals: those which were in the winter WTT as well are shown by a * 0132 MWX 6E64 Muir of Ord/Dufftown-Doncaster, class 40, 453 tons 0315 MX 6B88 Camperdown Junction-Oxwellmains, class 24 or 26, 248 tons 0534* MX 8V11 Craiginches-Thornton, 2x class 24 or 26 0639 SX 6K85 Craiginches-Oxwellmains, 2x class 24 or 26, 303 tons: on Saturdays this ran as 6B85 hauled by a class 40. 1022* MSX 6B89 Craiginches-Oxwellmains, class 24 or 36, 438 tons 1140 SX 8V05 Inverness-Thornton 2026* SX 8V15 Perth-Thornton, class 24 or 26: this train arrived at Markinch at 1955 2047* SX 7K91 Perth-Millerhill, class 40 2050* SO 6B82 Camperdown Junction-Oxwellmains, class 40 2118* SX 6K92, Dundee West-Millerhill, class 24 or 26 2118 SO 6B82 Camperdown Junction-Oxwellmains, class 40, in the Winter WTT only 2326* SO 6K99, Inverness-Millerhill, 2x class 24 or 26, 628 tons In addition there were three local trip duties serving Markinch: B57 was the Markinch pilot, a class 06, duty from 0515 to 2155, working at the station, "Loop siding" (this puzzled me because there was no loop at Markinch, but I think it's a misprint for "Co-op siding"), Haig's siding and the paper mills. B70 ran two daily trips from Thornton to Leuchars and served Clatchard Craig quarry and Newburgh on the Perth line as required. It ran with a class 24 as 8B70 and was at Markinch from 0820 to 0830 and 1215-1225 on the morning trip, and 1430-1440 and 1930-1952 on the afternoon trip. B73 was the Ladybank-Clatchard Craig ballast trip: the light engine for this, a class 24, ran as 0B73 and passed Markinch at 0755 returning at 1620. For those without local knowledge, Oxwellmains is a cement works south of Dunbar. Clatchard Craig is a quarry, previously rail-connected, which supplied much of the ballast for the Scottish region of BR in the 1970s. Aberdeen Guild Street and Dundee West were traditional goods stations for wagonload and sundries. Camperdown Junction is just east of Dundee station and in the 1970s had a Blue Circle cement depot, as did Craiginches, a marshalling yard south of Aberdeen. Millerhill and Thornton were marshalling yards in Edinburgh and central Fife respectively. Lochmuir was the next block post north of Markinch, at the summit of the line through Fife, and had a Down loop where freights could be held to pass passenger services. Burghead, Dufftown and Muir of Ord were terminals for bulk grain traffic from East Anglia for whisky maltings. Grangemouth is the site of a large refinery and Leuchars was the site of an RAF base which received aviation spirit by rail. I don't have a photo of the signalbox interior but I know a man who might. I will ask. Hope that helps answer your questions. Regards Graham

Thanks for that further detail. Yes, the code is shown as 6S68 in the WTT. Can't really help with these apart from noting that Luckiemucklebackit/Jim's statement above that the ECS trains simply replaced the incoming service class 1 with a class 5 in the code is borne out in a 1984 Glasgow Central platform arrangements notice: all the Polmadie CSD moves are shown with these codes. The Corkerhill ECS mpves on the other hand are all 5V99. Could it possibly be Tartan Arrow Depot? The Scottish terminal of the Tartan Arrow freight service from Kentish Town was at the former Bridgeton Goods depot from late 1960s to mid 1970s. Caradoc's suggestion of Containerbase is supported by an entry in the 4 Dec 1976 Supplementary Operating Instructions notice which refers to changing a reference to "the Containerbase sidings" to read "Coatbridge Freightliner Terninal". Hope that helps narrow things down. Oh, and Happy Christmas ... geez i must get out more ... Graham

There is no 1304 Class 7 Perth-Grangemouth in the 3 May - 3 October 1971 WTT. There is a 1315 departure to Grangemouth Yard, Saturdays excepted, but it is simply indicated as class 8 without a headcode. In fact, the only trains in that timetable with headcodes are those starting or ending their journeys south of the border (class 6); internal ScR services have no codes, just the train class. The return service, also class 8, is shown as departing Grangemouth at 1646. Interestingly, these two services are shown as worked by a Class 50 locomotive. The only other class 50 working in that WTT is 6S68 leaving Carlisle at 1808 for Sighthill freightliner terminal; there does not seem to be a balancing working back south. Hope that's of interest, regards Graham

I included a video in the FCAG blog, here. Graham

Aberdeen MRC held their annual show this weekend and there was a strong 2mm presence. Mick Simpson had made the journey to the real north east with Callaton and seemed to be enjoying himself: Every time I see Callaton it has a few more details. This time it was the back gardens next the lineside. The fiddle yard: Mick's cameo layout was a contrast to the 2mmSA's Grampian area group's "Dunallander" layout, appearing for the first time in public as a work-in-progress. Dunallander was the home layout of the late Neil Ballantine, a well-known 2mm modeller and producer of scale 2mm steam locomotive wheels. Over the last couple of years the Grampian group has undertaken the challenging task of building new hidden trackage and starting to produce the structures and scenery to complete the layout. The project is described on their website: https://2mmgrampianareagroup.blogspot.com/ Here are a couple of shots to give an idea of Dunallander's size: Mike Rasmussen has produced a series of beautifully-modelled card buildings for the layout: this partly-complete terraced row is one example: There are many more shots of Dunallander at Aberdeen here: http://2mmfcag.blogspot.com/2019/10/dunallander-at-aberdeen-mrc-show.html Regards Graham

As well as the tools, you might want to take a set of various working surfaces to protect the desk or table you'll be working on (small piece of plywood for filing and soldering etches and making simple positioning jigs, small sheet of softish metal for cutting etch tabs with a blade, small silicone mobile-phone-repair pad for soldering on, small cutting mat for working with plastic) and make sure you have a good adjustable, rechargeable LED light. A wooden block to hold flux or solvent bottles, a soft brush for sweeping up dust, and a cardboard or plastic box or two to keep all your stuff all help avoid housekeeping arguments/unfortunate accidents. A table vice is not necessary for wagon kits, a hand vice and parallel pliers are more useful, or a hold-and-fold, but I guess you would need a table vice if making a loco chassis. Some people make work trays (PD Bryon described on in the Feb 1971 mag) with a slide for a Bergeon-style demountable watchmaker's vice. There are various articles on portable toolkits on the 2mmSA Magazine backnumber CD ... Andrew Webster wrote a couple in 2003 and 2004 which may give some ideas. Like you he went away consulting for months at a time. He said modelling "spared him the desire to drink himself insensible after a long day with intolerable people" which I can certainly identify with ... regards Graham

As far as I am aware there was never any water between Arbroath and Montrose. Inverkeilor did have a turn-back passenger service from Arbroath on Saturday afternoons before WW1, but it was not far enough for the return trip to empty the tanks. regards Graham

Nice to see concrete steps towards re-opening the Leven branch by 2024, with Cameron Bridge re-opening as an intermediate stop: BBC report here, Transport Scotland's announcement here, and Fife Council's press release here.

Thicken the whisky tin metal by gluing on a suitable washer, then use the grommet :-)

A few snaps on the Forth & Clyde Area Group blog here. Thanks to everyone involved for a most enjoyable day, well worth the ten-hour round trip from Edinburgh!

The original Highland lines were laid with shorter rails. The Dunkeld-Forres section had 24', 75lb/yd rails in 22lb chairs on larch and fir sleepers spaced at 3'; the Invergordon-Bonar bridge section had lighter 70lb/yd rail (from Joseph Mitchell's 1867 paper on the line's construction quoted in the 1955 SLS HR cententary history). The Sutherland Railway (1870) had 22' rails with sleepers at 2'9" spacing, fang-bolted directly to the sleepers and so presumably flat-bottom (from the BoT report on the line's opening). After that I suppose it would depend on the renewal date and the contemporary HR practice. The HRS might have PW department records which would pin down exact details. Regards Graham