Dick Turpin

Any advice on cheaper cat meat (in tins) that is popular with your moggies. Mine do both quite like Whiskas, but don't mind Asda, slightly less so with Tescos, but with the hot weather, nothing lasts very long because of the flies.

Interesting, thanks. That explains why the Mercury Bridge is numbered in sequence with other structures along the line, despite only being one for road access.

Yes the road to the Garrison was built by German POWs in WW1. Adjacent to the station entrance is a large boulder inscribed in German script to the effect of, 'I cannot be moved'. I guess they were forced to give up that one!

"In some quarters the engine was named 'Gracie Fields' from the 'sing-as-we-go' hum from the gear train". Stanier Pacifics at Work, A J Powell, 1986, Ian Allen p33.

Like the P2 and original W1 you mean...

I think this picture was taken in 1946 and shows the engine as having just been repainted back into pre-war livery. There is another picture of Sir Hugo in "The big Four in Colour", page 59, but you can't make out the handrail colour any better. The caption says that it was one of only two engine repainted into pre-war livery that ran with their original numbers before recieving their new post war numbers.

The conversation made me think of this...

This thread does reinforce the reassurance of being able to call into a model shop to visually inspect a model of this complexity and price bracket and watch it being tested prior to purchase, or to have been reassured by your chosen retailer that they have done these things for you to your complete satisfaction. I picked mine up from Peter's Spares of Middlesbrough yesterday, and would just like to just say how relieved I am to be able to report that everything is fine and I am now the happy owner of a fine looking model of a prototype many said we would never see produced. I am now watching the thread to see what radius gets decided on for those flanged trailing wheels. I would also like to give a shout out to Peter's Spares, and recommend them for their high level of service.

Our two aren't too keen on fireworks either - typically hiding under the furniture. Minstrel, the one who enjoys the fire, found some amusement last night chasing round the room trying to catch a butterfly that the fire no doubt roused from it's slumber. The butterfly had escaped being caught twice by the time I left them to it and went to bed last night. This is her up to no good after the birds in the wisteria bush - "Who me!"

Because I work in engineering, I have in the past resorted to old carbide tool inserts which would otherwise have gone into the bin. The small ones are still quite heavy for their size (although not as heavy as lead), and a couple of small ones usually do the trick. I usually glue them in, but because most have a central hole, it's also possible to use screws.

Does anyone else's cat really enjoy a nice fire now the dark nights are upon us? I know she's showing off because if anyone gives her a tickle, she stretches out even further!

70 803 passed through Darlington today at about11.30am.

According to Brian Haresnape in 'Robinson Locomotives', Ian Allen, 1982, page 68, top feed apparatus was added by Robinson to some boilers from 1912.

I was watching an old Dr Who VHS tape of the story 'Inferno' the other with my youngest, which was filmed around 1970, at the Kingsnorth oil refinery in Medway of Berry Wiggins. There are quite a few shots of various small tank wagons, all of them of dissimilar sizes, though I personally wouldn't be able to identify any. Lovely bygone industrial feel though. Worth a watch.

Spot on. He's 19 and doing Physics at Dundee University, but home early and studying from home until the end of term because of covid. I feel sorry for him actually because he has spent the whole of his first term doing lectures on zoom, debates and meetings the same, and confined to his set of rooms between those on his floor. He has however achieved some notoriety because he has a set of lock picks and can pick most locks. Once his immediate neighbours learnt this, he was in demand unlocking those restrictive (health and safety) devices that only allow two inches of the window to open. Fear not those of politically correct inclinations - he did instruct them to relock them before they all headed off for home. Arthur is a bit different from most of his peers because he is interested in all things engineering from a bygone age (wonder where he got that from?). Actually his question does demonstrate that he is thinking about the workings of steam locomotives in ways I hadn't imagined he might be. He asks me all sorts of whacky things I struggle to answer! And - thank you for the fantastic anecdotes @Johnster, I have told him all what people have said and he was suitably amused.

Thanks for the replies - nice and humorous. I'll tell him what everyone has said when he gets up (yes he is still in bed!).

My son asked me yesterday how likely it may have been, whether anyone attempting to cook bacon on a shovel in the firebox might have left the blower on and had their bacon sucked in and incinerated. A bit of a silly question really, but this is wheeltappers, and so I thought I'd ask here.

Indeed we do, those Great Western samples above are fantastic. In fact I'm surprised there hasn't been more comment. They are almost enough to tempt me into going Great Western, albeit in a pre-grouping way.

It isn't though. The plural of roof is roofs.

One of ours - Mojo - starts from about 6.00am to run across us both in bed, jumps down, goes under the bed, then does the same thing again repeatedly until one of us either gets up and shuts her out of the room, or goes downstairs and feeds her. I consider that giving in will only encourage her to do the same every morning, so normally choose to defer feeding time until I have had to get up for work etc, and choose to do so at a time convenient for me. The message doesn't seem to be getting through though...

A photo of the 'feral' cats of Port de Pollença, Majorca. There were some beautiful animals amongst them. We had just fed them with cat crunchies we bought for them, plus some prawns that we didn't like - we had no idea that they come raw there not cooked like you get back here, so decided that we didn't like them, and gave them to the cats - who really DID like them! These cats weren't really feral, but wouldn't let you stroke them, but were quite happy to let you feed them. Later we met a lady who arrived in her van and fed them, and she told us how she checked on them daily, and fed them. She was really amused that we spoiled them with fresh prawns! It is just one of those holiday stories that make the whole experience. We sent our son down to the bins with some rubbish, and he came back with a tale about the cats who live near the bins. The day after, we went with him and there must have been two dozen cats there (obviously gathered for the arrival of the cat lady to feed them, but we didn't know that then). Our holiday thereafter always included a visit to these cats, but they didn't let you tickle them, as I said earlier. Shame. The cat lady did say we could adopt one, but what a hassle that would have been , especially as there are so many needy cats back home in the same situation. By the way all of our own pet cats have been rescue cats - and they have all turned out to be fantastic!

There are plenty of photos taken on the Great Central, just before it closed, of rebuilt Scots on four coach trains. You also have plenty of scope for prototype the diesels, as well as RCTS railtours etc. Maybe stretch the scenario to be somewhere else entirely, and well, you are firmly in 'rule 1' territory then, but at least you do have a reference point.

With regard to the Thompson Pacifics, I too have come around to rather liking them, mainly because they were just part of the scene. Anything different is bound to engender some sort of admiration. I have also read that Bullied got his way because he was a bit of a charmer and more of a people person than Thompson, who was, from what I've read from people who were there at the time, much more difficult to like. I wouldn't have taken to someone who had the wooden panels in his office removed and replaced with glass so that he could keep an eye on the staff in the drawing department! Now I don't want to start an argument about Thompson's personality here, but there is a lot written about personality friction at the time that we can all check out if we wish. Indeed these were difficult times for all those involved and one wouldn't wish to have been in their shoes. I also have read somewhere that the job of CME was actually offered to Bullied before it was passed to Thompson but that he turned it down. One can only imagine how different things might have been.

This is not my picture, it is from a cat obsessed friend, but well...

I got the Derails email too. They do look nice, but I think I'll wait for the Hattons ones.