Andy Kirkham

I am apt to disbelieve the colour blindness theory on the basis that the full Brighton livery - a wondrous combination of ochre, claret, olive green, vermillion, black and white, each shade beautifully complementing its neighbours - could scarcely have been devised by a colour blind man.

Do we know what the evidence was for the particular shade of yellow applied to 103 in preservation? If it was supposed to be Stroudley's Improved Engine Green, then it is clearly a very different shade to the IEG applied to preserved Brighton locos. Should we expect Highland and Brighton engines to have been painted in the same shade, or did Stroudley change the formulation when he moved south?

Yes they only mention compartments on those pages but if you click on Book Now and click through to the desired journey option, the Solo Traveller ticket is shown. To be fair to the Ffr, child tickets are only £1 or £2 (although last time I was there they were free)

£40 is indded the price of what they call the "Solo Traveller Adult Return" with single occupancy of a 2 seat table. £15 or even a little more is what I personally would regard as an affordable fare.

Having not visited a heritage railway since before the pandemic, I've recenly been contemplating renewing my acquaintance with some of them. But when I saw the fares being charged I nearly had a heart attack: - £40 for a round trip on the Ffestiniog, £30 on the Vale of Rheidol, both of which seem to be about twice what I would regard as affordable for myself. The Talyllyn is a comparative bargain at £22. I didn't dare check what the Welsh Highland costs. The photo below shows the VoR fare in 1971 to have been 45p or 60p. 60p then equates to £9.60 now, which nowadays seems anomalously cheap. I suspect that even pre-pandemic, visitor attractions had become more expensive in real terms over the years. Presumably these monster fares reflect the need to recoup losses due to the pandemic and the reduced capacity of the trains due to social distancing. Will fares come down again when (if?) the need for Covid precautions wanes?

Trains and trams in Edinburgh, from Kenneth G Williamson

<grumpy old git>I wonder if I could plead for a moratorium on whacky signs which depend for their humour on the word "balls". Even Finbarr Saunders must be growing weary of them now.</grumpy old git>

Bulleid's Irish Leader - the Turf Burner. One thing that strikes me is that the cab window seem to give practically no forward view

Fenit, SW Ireland, from Ernie Brack http://www.traleefenitgreenway.com/history/ The Tralee to Fenit railway was opened in 1887 with grand ambitions of capturing some of the valuable Trans-Atlantic trade, sadly this never came to pass and the line closed for regular passenger traffic in 1935 but remained in use for goods traffic, the beat (sic) campaign as well as excursions and summer specials up until 1978. The Tralee-Fenit branch was spared due to the policy of retaining railheads to ports and the proposal by the Great Southern Railway Preservation Society to reopen the Fenit branch as a heritage railway as much of the infrastructure remained intact, as part of this project the track was relaid and an engine brought to Fenit. Sadly these plans never came to fruition and the Fenit branch was to lay derelict until 2010.

I am looking for suggestions for a holiday destination suitable for a family without a car, so it must be rail served - with a selection of visitor attractions accessible by public transport. Our son will be 18 so not kiddy things - National Trust properties, heritage railways and the like would be suitable. Personally I would be happy to go to Wales for ever after We've stayed at Porthmadog, Duffryn Ardudwy and Conwy in past years. However the son says he's bored wth Wales so I thought I'd make an effort to find somewhere else. We have hitherto made use of the North and Mid Wales Rover (Rail 4 days in 8, bus 8 days). Are there any other areas that have a similar ticket?

Anyone know what the van is?

A few from the sequence just posted by Ernie Brack showing the lifting of the Farranfore-Valentia Harbour line (There seems to be disagreement as to whether the place is spelt Valentia or Valencia)

Nowadays I believe Snowdon has both diesel and steam trains, but the steam trains attact a premium fare so are not in normal service

Barmouth Old Chapel viaduct before reconstruction in concrete. And after, with a rare shot of a Stanier Class 3

I think that many of those suggested so far would not qualify for the OP's concept of "normal use". I would propose that normal use excludes any locos or other equipment that are retained in service expressly as an attraction to visitors or becasue their owner has a sentimental attachment to them. By that criterion, I should say every steam loco at work in the British Isles is preserved. But the Hythe pier locos do count.

These are just the titles I found currently available on Abe Books

In a charity shop I picked up a copy of Railway Liveries 1923-1947 by Brian Harsnape. Haresnape mentions a book Britain's Railway Liveries by Ernest F Carter (commending it particularly for its colour chart). I had vaguely heard of Ernest F Carter and idly looked him up in Abe Books; there transpired a remarkable tally of publications, as well as the fact that he had founded the Model Railway Constructor in 1934. In his day he must have loomed like a collossus over the hobby, and had as great an influence as C J Freezer did for later generations. Carter's last books seem to date from 1963 PROTOTYPE RAILWAYS British Steam Locomotives The Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain (The 1966 edition was revised by H C Casserley, so Carter had probably retired or died by then) Britain's Railway Liveries : colours, crests and Linings, 1825-1948 The Railway Encyclopaedia An Historical Geography Of The Railways Of The British Isles Unusual Locomotives The true book about railways The Boy's Book of World Railways Famous Trains of the World Famous Railway Stations of the World Railways in War Times / Les chemins de fer en guerre Let's Look at Trains MODEL RAILWAYS Model Railways for Beginners Parts 1-3 The Observer's Book Of Model Railway Locomotives Of Britain Railway Modelling - An Introduction to Scale Railway Modelling Tackle Model Railways This Way Cardboard Modelcraft Practical "Two Rail" Electrification Model Railway Electrification Make Your Own 'O' Gauge Motor Stud Contact Electrification Electrical Control of Clockwork Railways Model Railway Signals - Their Construction, Installation and Operation Model Railway Illumination. Night Operation Trix, Twin Railway Year Book 1955 The Boy's Book of Model Railways The Model Railway Encyclopedia 00 Gauge Layout and Design Locomotive Body Construction Designing and Building Loco Bodies Designing & Building "OO" Trackwork Building Passenger Rolling Stock Wagon and Van Construction NON-RAILWAY Trams and Tramways The Boy's Book of Buses of the World The Boy's Book of Veteran Cars Edwardian Cars - a Reverie of Adventurous Motoring. Famous Motor-Coaches and Coachways of the World Veteran Cars The Mechanical Age Library : Hydro-Electric Power Tackle Car Maintenance this Way Veteran Car Owners Manual Cycles and Motor Cycles Things To Do About the Home (with David Shaw)

Does anyone know of any models of Ventnor?

THEIR LIFE ON BRITISH RAILWAYS - A slim volume, then.

A Pontypridd to Machen service at Groeswen. Photo by John Wiltshire, courtesy of Peter Brabham

The Clydach Gorge on the Heads Of The Valleys line. By Derek Chaplin - Peter Brabham collection

Derek Chaplin - Peter Brabham collection Can you identify the loco without clicking through to the original Flickr image?

That's what it must be, but it still looks like an I no matter how closely I look at it,

Something I've just noticed about the Britannia Bridge clip - the date on the bridge appears to be MDCCCI, which unless I'm mistaken means 1801 The bridge was opened in 1850