sulzer27jd

The problem then, is not so much the rising prices but the stagnating wages making things proportionally more expensive, especially for those employed in the public sector.

There is a 1921 drawing showing the arrangement of lettering which is very basic and actually more information can be found from photographs. I did sheets of lettering myself and simply adjusted the size and spacing until I got them to look reasonable. I used Arial Narrow 40 for the main GNS in 7mm. If you want copies of what I used, DM me. John

Looking forward to meeting Jim Thorpe there this year. (The Barrowmore guys will understand!)

The tank in question is from the 1960's, not today.

Without Government interference, mergers would likely have been driven more traditional business concerns, as they still are in many industries. One feature of railroad mergers in the USA that we have not really experienced in the UK is that post merger, some less desirable elements are disposed of to new, smaller or local operations. These 'spin offs' would be an interesting feature if say two trunk route companies wanted to create a single core route and divested themselves of some less attractive aspects of the merging companies. You could have the situation where at the same time as railways fell into fewer larger owners, parts of the network were being run by smaller, local operators. John

This is the latest project to come off of my workbench. It’s an ex GNSR R Class 0-4-4T. Built for the Aberdeen suburban services, most were withdrawn in the 30’s. As LNER 7505, this was the last of the class. Built from the former SM Models kit, supplied by Ace Products. Now available and running on Rosehearty. John

Last of the R Class seeing out its final months on the New Aberdour branch. John

Latest addition to the motive power on the New Aberdour branch is the last of the GNSR R Class, now LNER G10 no. 7505. John

Apply the solvent to the sleeper and let it run under the chair. It doesn't require much pressure. I find using several gauges and a steady methodical approach of doing two or three chairs and then leap-frogging the last gauge over the nearest is a reasonable method. With wooden sleepers you can actually see the solvent getting drawn under by capiliary action. They generally require a couple of seconds more to get a solid bond. John

I have found a black & white photograph of this, or a similar wagon that shows the lettering better. The second line is SDSP (CARRON) [or possibly SOSP] DSP in whisky terms normally refers to distilled spirit plant, but may or may not in this case. A little checking also reveals that when the distillery was rebuilt in 1959/60 a dark grains plant was built on this site to convert pot ale and draft into animal feeds. This tanker shown may well then have been brining pot ale onto the site at Carron rather than taking in away. John

It won't be malt whisky, because it would then be required to sit in the tank for years to mature. It won't be blended whisky as this was done away from the distillery. More likely the wagon will be for the transport of Pot Ale. In some locations this can be discharged into nearby water courses, but on Speyside the known effect on oxygen levels in the river meant this was not permitted, so as to protect salmon stocks. A plant was build before WW1 in Rothes to convert the pot ale into a syrup that was then dried and used as a fertiliser. At the time the photo was taken 1966 the railway was still the main means of transport and the warehousing of whisky was still traditional. Although we are used to seeing road tankers today, this was not practice at that time. Dailuain was bought by the Distillers Company Ltd in 1925 and their subsidiary was Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. John

Not a train, or even the railway in sight; but it can just be seen in this one; John

The railway can be approached by walking down through the woods; Until you come to the cutting; But right now there is no sign of movement. This is the lever frame for the yard as seen approaching from Fraserburgh. John

All extinguishers should be red. If you really want proper advice, drop by your local fire station who will tell you Powder is suitable but will leave a mess so buy a CO2.

For use around electricity you would want a CO2 extinguisher. john

I would point out though, that as well as being an attractive destination, some of us actually live here. John

Another view of the wooden bodied open. john

Many thanks Ian, much appreciated. The wood effect starts with white primer which is then painted with a light mix of Tamiya deck tan and white. For older wood I omit the second step and just stay with the white primer. This wagon represents one that is 5-6 years old so is still reasonably young wood. I then wash over the planks with a very thin wash of black artists oil in turpentine. The metalwork was picked out roughly in a bauxite colour and the whole thing sprayed with Testors Dulcote. Lettering was done and another spray of Dulcote. The weathering is a two stage process using firstly the same wash applied along all the lines, seams and edges, then I use PanPastels powders to build up the grime. I only really ever use 2 colours of oils and 4 colours of PanPastels. thanks again. John

A 1982 shot of 37027 at Perth John

A couple of new built wagons added to the layout; LMS 12t open, as built during the war in unpainted livery. Unfitted 12t LNER Van (edited to replace out of focus image) John

An unusually busy yard at Rosehearty John

A couple of NE vans resting at Rosehearty GNSR John

Stewart the track plan was split across a level crossing, with the station on the far side from the village. There are a few photographs on Flickr and Google Images. The Ardler Junction accident report is also available online and contains a detailed drawing of the junction and signalling. John

(Dance With The) Guitar Man - Duane Eddy

Bloody Mary Morning - Willie Nelson