Invicta

The 'Station Pilot' one isn't what I expected- when I saw the title, my first thought was the J72 in the pseudo-NER livery used on station pilots at Newcastle (and/or York?) in the late 50's... The ROD is a nice surprise, as is the 'Parrot' wagon.

That one is definitely my downfall- I've not done any serious modelling in a good five years, a combination of personal issues, house move, job/career change and other things going on in life being too much of a distraction, but I've always had a tendency that when the going gets tough with a project, to put it to one side and start something else. Of course that something else then gets put aside until later as soon as something doesn't fit or I realise I haven't got the right paint/transfers/wheels/couplings etc. in stock to finish it- the result is that my box of unbuilt wagon kits is equalled in size by my box of half-finished/finished but needs painting and lettering wagon kits- and some of them have been sitting in that box for close to a decade now... I'm gearing up to embark on my first proper layout since my teens this spring, and my New Year's resolution is to have some of this stuff finished so I can run it on the new layout

The behaviour of the more obsessive end of the collecting fraternity can be pretty bewildering sometimes- I used to know a chap - in a non-railway field- who actually used to buy items that he didn't need and already had, simply to stop a rival collector he knew from getting them... It's a while since I last went to any toy fairs, but I can't imagine ever wanting to pay extra just to get early bird entrance- as several people have said, your chances of striking a bargain deal are probably better nearer to close of play. I know some of the bigger exhibitions offer 'early bird' entrance for advance ticket bookings, but that's a different thing altogether

I still can't make my mind up how to read the trends in Bachmann's recent releases of pre-grouping prototypes- maybe we're working through a series of LMS passenger tanks of pre-grouping origin- the L&Y 2-4-2, the Coal Tank and now the Midland 0-4-4 (Yes, I know the Coal Tank was officially a freight loco, but they saw enough passenger use to fit the logic of where I'm heading). Maybe something like a Caledonian '439' might be next up, or a Tilbury tank?

There's a scheme called 'Community Payback' under which people given community sentences carry out unpaid work like cleaning off graffiti or decorating public buildings, and are apparently obliged to wear a hi-viz vest while doing it- we had a group of lads spending their weekends repainting the boundary fences at at a local school recently, and they were all wearing vests with 'Community Payback' written on the back https://www.gov.uk/community-sentences/community-payback

Although I've got a small collection of Mainline and Bachmann Scots, and hybrids of the two, mine are all of a Crimson Lake (and mostly parallel-boilered) persuasion which doesn't really help us much here, but was just reading an RMWeb blog post by SilverSidelines a couple of years back comparing the Mainline and Bachmann versions of LMS 4-6-0s, and this line leapt out at me: Appearance wise there is little to choose between the later Mainline engines and the early Bachmann products. The most noticeable difference is that the boiler bands on the Mainline models are a single colour whilst on the Bachmann bodyshells there is an additional central black line http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/880/entry-15361-holiday-relief-mainline-4-6-0s/ Coach spotted the lining difference between loco and tender whilst I was reading that, and now he's mentioned it, yes, it does leap out a bit!

Even if not Midland (and a 2F would go down very well with me, as that profile pic to the left of the screen might imply!), then I wouldn't be totally surprised to see something else from the LMS pre-grouping inheritance, even if it's modelled in post-grouping/post-nationalisation condition. If you look at Bachmann's output of new steam toolings over the few years, we've seen a fair number of long-lived pre-grouping LMS/LMR locos- not just the Midland stuff, but the G2, L+Y 2-4-2T, Coal Tank, S&DJR 2-8-0.

There have been several similar finds in Leicester in recent years, where roadworks have uncovered bits of the old tram network buried and tarmacked over http://www.leicestertrams.org.uk/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3930.jpg The Leicester Trams blog is worth a look for examples of these, as well as the restoration of a former city tram found on a local farm a few years ago http://www.leicestertrams.org.uk/

Here's another piece of surviving tramway- there's a stretch of 3' 6" gauge track and pointwork on the approach road to the former Ashby-de-la-Zouch station, which is a remnant from the Burton and Ashby Light Railway, closed in 1927 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.7433806,-1.4744568,3a,60y,229.53h,85.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skUjGPshoFPf5wHyNsgVlCQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_and_Ashby_Light_Railway

Mmm, some nice NER 20T hoppers and a Birdcage brake van...? Those CAD renderings look promising, I've got no need for a J72, it doesn't really fit my modelling interests at all, but somehow I always seem to have had at least one since the Mainline one came out when I was a kid- and I reckon the new version will be joining the collection as well...

Yes, Hornby did the yellow Ellis & Everard wagon a couple of years back. Powsides do transfers for that livery as well. It's the wagon that used to be on display at Snibston museum, IIRC the 48DS is the one that was used there. Nice to see the wagon painted up in 'Snibston' PO livery as well- Anyone know if that has been done at Mountsorrel, as I'm not sure I ever recall Snibston having a wagon in the original Snibston PO wagon colours? I'd forgotten this was happening this weekend- It may not be as high-profile as the GCR's bridge and museum, but it's good to see this project progressing so well!

Those LNWR ones in Paul's link above look very much like the 2-plank dropsides from the Ratio 'Permanent way wagons' set of kits...

At the end of the 70's the British Leyland motorsport team used a handful of EAs as service vans for their rally team - only theirs had the diesel engine replaced by a 3.5 litre Rover V8 - I don't know about 240bhp, but I bet they were a bit livelier than the ones the Post Office got!

I do like that- certainly looks like it's living up to expectations

A couple more sightings of an apparent prototype for the Dapol 9-plank! Just pulled a couple of volumes of the Keith Turton PO wagon books off my bookshelves and the front cover picture of Vol 5 is an official Charles Roberts works pic of a 20T 9-plank, fitted with coke raves in the livery of 'Dinnington Coke' (Wagon #2320). Apart from the coke raves and an unusually narrow third plank, it's a good match for the model. The text of the book mentions that similar wagons were built by Gloucester for Benzole & By-Products Ltd, of Bedwas in Wales in 1928- these are illustrated in Vol 2 (which I don't have, but I think I've seen a photo of one of these in one of the railway magazines a while back, in an article about the demise of the ex-PO wagons under BR ownership) Turton Vol 7 has a couple of pics of Denaby & Cadeby Main Collieries #3246, part of a batch of 50 built by Charles Roberts in 1936- the example photographed was fitted with coke rails a year later, and the pics show it in both guises. Again, it's almost a dead ringer for our old friend from Dapol, right down to those odd circular recesses in the doors (albeit with a slight difference in position) So apart from the Charringtons version modelled by Mainline, we've got at least two or three more known PO liveries for the Dapol wagon, or something very close to it. A quick Google reveals that both the Dinnington and Denaby liveries have been modelled by Hornby and Dapol respectively.

There used to be a decent 4mm plastic kit for that type of L&Y 20-tonner. IIRC, the kit was described as a loco coal wagon - the small metal plate between the doors above the 'To carry 20 Tons' lettering is a 'for loco coal traffic' branding. Going back to the Dapol wagon, I'd agree with the consensus that it's a model of an RCH PO wagon design, and that Dapol/Hornby have produced several releases in BR grey with spurious 'ER' wagon numbers, given it's similarity to the LNER 8-plank loco coal and similar wagons. As I recall, it's not the first time it's origins have been discussed on RMWeb, and I'm pretty sure I've seen photos of a very similar PO 9-plank (slightly different ironwork IIRC) fitted with raves for coke traffic - another potential conversion from the Dapol wagon.

I reckon it also illustrates just how right Triang got their choice of prototypes for the Minic range back in the 60's- Anglia, A60 Farina, 1100, Landcrab, Minx, Corsair, Triumph 2000 Mk1, Victor FC 101, Viva HA, Cresta PB, Imp and the Thames van plus a fairly popular sportscar in the Alpine. Apart from a couple of more left-field choices in a Simca and an American Rambler, it's a really nice cross-section of the early/mid-60's UK car market. It's surprising how few of them have been duplicated by Oxford so far- if you were looking to come up with a good starting point for a model car range aimed squarely at the late-steam era railway modeller (with a few very obvious gaps like a Mini or Cortina), then you couldn't do much better

I was just thinking that as well- I don't really know much about the Murgatroyds & ICI tankers other than being aware of the HD & Triang models, but had always assumed they were the kind of wagon generally seen in block trains, rather than singly in general mixed goods workings. I don't remember ever seeing the real thing in traffic, but a former clubmate is a Triang collector and had a fair number of the white Murgatroyds tankers which he sometimes brought out for club running nights, so I guess I'm used to seeing them in block trains in model form They're impressive beasts aren't they- after looking at those pics, I'm definitely feeling the need to own one or two.... At the risk of heading off-topic into general wishlistery, how good are the old HD & Triang models? Apart from the usual 1960's-standard wheels and bogies, are the basic mouldings accurate or did the manufacturers take liberties with them?

Speaking as someone who is totally bewildered by all of the various permutations of Pullmans that Hornby have released in the last few years, here's a question. Andy mentioned that these were displaced on the Eastern Region by the BR Met-Cam Mk1 Pullmans, but IIRC some of the older brake coaches were retained on ER because of the absence of Mk1 Pullman brakes- I'm thinking of photos of trains like the 'Master Cutler' comprised of Met-Cams combined with the older-style brake coaches (Mk1 BGs also being used). With the article in the current Hornby mag on Pullman train formations in mind, where the 'Cutler' in 1962 behind the Brush prototype 'Falcon' is one of the examples illustrated, are these the correct Pullman brakes to use with the Met-Cams for the early 60's period?

Wombatofludham mentioned Hardwicke a few posts back - That's one which has crossed my mind a few times now as having good potential as an NRM release. It makes a nice pairing with the Midland Compound- IIRC the pair did some main-line tours together in the mid-70's, so it could even have an attraction for the BR Blue era market As suggested, there's potential for the main Bachmann range as well. The last of the class survived to the early 1930's, so there's scope for LMS-liveried versions, and in more than just the '50 shades of black' wombat mentioned- I think a few did get crimson lake, and Bachmann do seem quite partial to that early Midland-style version of LMS crimson lake, with the numbers on the tender/tank side; they did the Crab in it a couple of years back, and there's a red L&Y 2-4-2T in the recent announcements.

Also three photos of a Midland one in Vol 1 of Essery's Midland Wagons (Plates 27-29, page 34) The author suggests the basis for these was the D305 low goods wagon, which ought to make for a reasonably easy conversion from the Slaters plastic kit... It's basically the 3-plank wagon without the dropsides, and the addition of: a toolbox in the middle, handrails along the sides- 3 levels, at about 1-plank, 3-plank and around 5/6-plank height with a gap midway along the wagon side for access, and the top rail continuing across the end, supported at the corners from the original 3-plank wagon ends, a curved handrail rising out of the top of the toolbox, (imagine a capital D laid on it's back) with an additional vertical support in the middle full-length stepboards, an additional step below the gap in the side handrails

Looking through the forthcoming Oxford releases on Hattons' website, there's one fairly left-field OO release that I'm very (pleasantly) surprised they've done- the BMC Mobile Training Unit http://www.ehattons.com/60451/Oxford_Diecast_76BMC001_Mobile_Training_Unit_BMC_in_blue/StockDetail.aspx For the uninitiated, these were built by BMC from the late 50's-mid60's, and toured BMC dealers providing training sessions for mechanics etc. There was a fair-sized fleet of these, not just in the UK, but also Australia, Canada, the US and Europe. One or two were used as support vehicles by the BMC rally teams, including one modified to a race transporter. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3216764821_6d447cf3f2_b.jpg Quite an obscure vehicle to pick, but with a few livery variations to play with (some were modified to camper vans and even a mobile booking office for a coach company etc after being sold off) Some prototype inspiration here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brimen/collections/72157628964699533/

I lived in Whitstable for about 10 years, fairly close to the seafront, and got fairly used to my windows rattling when they were lobbing particularly heavy stuff around at Shoeburyness...

It does seem to have gone quiet on that Classix J4- I think all I've seen of it was a pre-production pic on a diecast collectors' website about a year back http://www.modelcollector.co.uk/albums/member_photo.asp?a=19518&p=323927

. The Elite is the original 1958-63 model http://www.ehattons.com/60446/Oxford_Diecast_76LTE001_Lotus_Elite_in_red/StockDetail.aspx