Andy Kirkham

yes indeed.As seen here https://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10420710973/in/set-72157636831122263

What was the origin of this name? Was it because it worked the Dursley branch? (Dursley being the home of Lister diesel engines)

I saw Portchullin at Trainwest last week. I think it would go without saying that the detail and accuracy of the modelling are unsurpassed by anything else I've seen, but for me there were some extra qualities that made it more than usually captivating. During my years living in Glasgow I made a fair number of Munro-bagging expeditions and when I looked at the terrain on the layout I could almost sense the feel of it under my boots - the squelch of the marsh and the iron-hard solidity of the rock. Of course there was that vital impression that the landscape had been there long before the railway had been carved through it, and there is something powerful about the way the line curves outwards, somehow projecting itself towards the viewer. It may be due to that convex curve that, from whichever angle I looked, the layout presented a well-composed view. It suggested the feeling you occasionally get when out photographing real trains; you climb a hill and discover an unobstructed view of the line laid out below, and realise that a classic shot is there for the taking.

I certainly have a soft spot for the Class 22s, but I can see why some might find them hard to love. For me it is partly the romantic appeal of a lost cause - the diesel-hydraulics and Western Region independence, and also the fact that these locos were closely associated with wonderfully rural branch lines like Hemyock, Torrington, the china clay lines of Cornwall, and the Forest of Dean. Of course if I were a bit older I would probably detest them for ever because they displaced the 45XX's, just as I will never feel any regret for the disappearance of the Peaks and the 47's - because they replaced the hydraulics.

I had the pleasure of seeing Bridport for the first time at Trainwest today. Modelling English narrow gauge convincingly is tricky; there are several pitfalls which tend to spoil such layouts for me and which this one triumphantly avoids: - chocolate-box prettiness in the surroundings, a tendency towards whimsy, and the use of well-known locos that are iconic of other railways. I'm looking forward to seeing Charmouth at Wells!

Here's three: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10421565725/in/set-72157636831654216 http://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10421703253/in/set-72157636831654216 http://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10421524094/in/set-72157636831654216

Does anyone know why the Bank of England had a branch in Bristol? I'm pretty ignorant about economics so all I know about the Bank of England is (1) it keeps an enormous stash of gold bars and (2) it sets interest rates, so on that basis I can't see what would be the purpose of having premises anywhere but London. The list of Grade 1 Listed buildings is interesting but there seem to be some oddities: why have the houses in Portland Square been listed but none of Bristol's other numerous Georgian town houses? (on reflection perhaps it was an emergency measure to protect them from threatened demolition). And the Avon Bridge in Whitby Road. Do they mean the railway bridge? What is special about it?

I once heard it said that more route miles were closed in the ten years before Beeching than in the ten years after. Some of those that come to mind on the Western Region: The Midland & South western Junction All the lines to Brecon The Eastern Valleys from Newport. Most of the Rhondda & Swansea Bay Ashburton Moretonhamptead Teign Valley

I haven't been in on any of these discussions so I don't know specifically what has upset people. However I wonder if the main issue is not which particular liveries are applied, nor which exact shades of paint are used, but whether the locomotive fleet should wear a uniform livery or be painted individual colours. A uniform livery might be seen to be the mark of a "proper" railway while individual colours represent an acknowledgement that the line exists for the amusement of tourists. I'm not sure,however that the same shade had been used since the mid sixties. I certainly recall that in the the early seventies I was quite perturbed to see that some locos had been painted in a lighter shade of green that I was was used to - perhaps tending towards the insipid shade later used by the National Bus Company.There was quite widespread disapproval among the membership and the dignified darker green was reinstated. I think I remember an explanation in Talyllyn News to the effect that the railway had been using surplus locomotive green paint acquired from BR but that the supply had dried up and no exact match could be found among commercial paints. Perhaps this was when Land Rover green began to be used.

The Ruabon-Barmouth line seems to have lain derelict for a very long time between closure and demolition - about three and a half years; I wonder whether there was any particular reason for that.

Mike, I've just seen your request. There's one on my Flikr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10422133144/in/set-72157636832767166

I had a look on the 1:2500 plan on Old Maps: the B&M New Tredegar branch ran just behind the hillock (or overgrown tip) on which the signal stands, so that the signal is probably about equidistant from the B&M and the NCB lines in the foreground. The tunnel in the background pierces the embankment that carried the B&M main line across the valley between Aberbargoed Junction (B&M) and Bargoed South (Rhymney). But what also appears on the map is a north-south aerial ropeway which looks as if it could pass right over the signal. Perhaps the signal was to warn people not to loiter under the ropeway when it was in operation.

I have been re-scanning some of my 1970s slides, and some of those taken around Bargoed have raised a couple of questions: This picture shows Bargoed station with its then quite new signal box. My recollection was that Bargoed was the beginning of the single line section to Rhymney and that there were no more signal boxes further up the valley. However the next picture... ...taken on the far side of the viaduct shows that there were two tracks north of Bargoed. Presumably these were two independent single lines, and the easterly track is for freight (the rails appear to be shiny, showing they had been used recently). However I am wondering exactly what traffic they could have carried, as I believe there were no longer any mines in the upper Rhymney valley at this time (1973), Elliot Colliery having closed in 1967. MY other query relates to the NCB lines serving Bargoed cooliery. This picture shows the NCB engine shed, but the thing that intrigues me is the old signal situated on the hillside behind the shed. I find it hard to imagine what purpose it could have served as it is some distance from any railway line. It even occurs to me that it might served some non-railway purpose, although I can't think what. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I don't think I've ever seen such convincing trees. Can you tell us how they're made?

http://transportarchiveimages.zenfolio.com/p916506534/h398D961C#h24e1d271 Just look how the track turns through 90 degrees right at the platform end before passing through the scenic break. And how plausible is that branch line descending a ramp and disappearing into a tunnel right underneath those sheds? (Inexplicably there seems to be no retaining wall behind the station topped by a row of Superquick shops)

http://transportarchiveimages.zenfolio.com/p916506534/h398D961C#h398d961c Bus on the bridge. What a cliche!

And I guess this might be a good opportunity to post my own pictures of Maiden Newton from about the same time:

Thank you for these pictures and the video. The main thought that they provoke is to wonder why the Bridport line lasted as long as it did. This is just the sort of branch that I would have expected to have been closed around 1963. I also can't help feeling it was a shame that Toller station wasn't designated by the full name of the place: Toller Porcorum.

It's good to hear of any progress, but I see there's threat that the station might not be located as close to the town centre as was hoped. A road was built across the trackbed in expectation that the reopened railway would be able to cross it on the level, but that is no longer acceptable and a bridge would cost £6 million.

At the beginning of my trainspotting days perhaps in 1969 I remember a shunter's truck in use at Bristol Temple Meads goods depot. It was still labelled Canons Marsh, even though Cannons Marsh depot had closed in 1965. I should think there's a good chance this is the truck I remember.

Perhaps you could elaborate on what a Maurice Deane layout is like. I knew him slightly (I understand he died about 8 years ago) but I didn't know there was type of layout named in his honour.

And apparently Somerset & Dorset 7Fs worked over this line to Avonmouth, although I've never seen a photo.

Shrewsbury-Hereford and Shrewsbury-Welshpool were GW/LMS Joint

Plus Flax Bourton http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/File:Flax_Bourton_Signalbox1.jpg and the short-lived box at Aberbargoed Junction on the Brecon & Merthyr (1958-64). A really stylish design, in my opinion.

And there was Black Lion on the Merthyr branch. I think I remember reading that Bargoed box was the one that had been at Cymmer. And I've just read that Whitland box came from Danygraig in 1972.