highpeakman

Oh I remember the Arkwright Model Shop shop very well! I bought my first Triang Jinty in there - 17 shillings? I used to love going in there. Used to go to GeeDee during the 60s as well. I am so glad it has survived and still seems to have a good reputation. I will try to visit next time I am in the City. One Nottingham shop that has not been mentioned in this thread though was the toy section within the Pearsons department store for a few years. The model railway bit was superb for a time. I think the main guy's name was Mike Skidmore? He used to build kits and hand paint many models - a great place to visit. Edit: Additional query: Did Skidmore go to Millholme Models situated north of Nottingham many years ago and what happened to them?

I know this has all been said previously in this thread but I want to add my Thanks to Model Rail, Dapol and Kernow for commissioning this model, designing and producing it and excellent service when delivering it respectively. I had fancied this model for a long time but other things on a layout under construction took priority. I finally placed an order last Saturday afternoon and it was delivered Tuesday morning - great service by Kernow. I quickly fitted a Zimo decoder and test ran it. It runs beautifully with no hesitation even over complex pointwork. I think it is an absolutely brilliant model - probably one of the best runners I have out of a fleet of around 40 locos. Can we please get all new models to run this well?

Gosh. I was there that day as well. That brings back memories indeed.

Have just finished fitting a Digitrax DZ125 into my NCB blue loco. It fits nicely into the "decoder box" inside the model but I suspect anything much bigger than this decoder will be a bit of a struggle. I left the 4 pin plug wiring in place as supplied but removed the blanking plate and soldered the (shortened) leads of the decoder directly to the pins of the plug provided. This means the pins could always be cleaned up if the decoder is removed and used in the way intended by Hornby in future. I felt it was slightly easier than cutting the wiring short before the plug and soldering wires end to end but that is just my opinion. There was enough room provided in the box for the decoder and the plug including wiring - just. I suspect that if lights are to be added, which I will probably do in future, then the extra wiring and connections will probably necessitate removing the 4 pin plug altogether and soldering the loco wires and decoder wires directly end to end. Reassembling the model and getting the handrails back in the right slots was a bit fiddly but not a major issue. The loco runs smoothly and I think it looks really great on my quarry layout. The NCB marking are going to be removed and it will be weathered but it looks so nice that I think i will leave the base colour as dark blue. Overall I am very pleased with this model - good for Hornby (even if I did have to wait nearly 12 months from order!). Don

Dunstable was still active for a time into the 70s. See http://www.cementkilns.co.uk/cement_kiln_dunstable.html The branch (Luton - Dunstable. The rump of the old GNR line to Leghton Buzzard) also served a local fuel distribution depot and I remember Peaks there in the late 70s. I worked nearby. Type cement and dunstable into google and quite a lot of info turns up.

Hi PGH Have only just come across this thread but wanted to express my appreciation of the pictures and descriptions in this posting. They are so interesting. I lived in Derby when I was young (late 50s and early 60s) and was often taken to to the Buxton area and I was always fascinated by the quarrying operations. I am currently engaged on building a model loosely (very!) based on Wirksworth and the C&HP but using elements and, hopefully, atmosphere from the Buxton area. Thanks again for the posting. (If there is any more it would be most welcome). Those Peak District photos also brought back many memories - Thanks to Dave for that link also. Don

Thanks for the link and the pictures at the site - very helpful. You can also, in fact, see the size difference in the photos of models in this forum above. I guess I did not spend enough time looking at those pictures properly and misinterpreted what was being said. I had thought that it was being stated in the forum that the later Scania mixer body would fit the older model but it actually doesn't say that so it's my fault. Obvious when you think about it. I will keep an eye open for the Herpa / Kibri/ Wiking 1.87 drums and try again. A lesson learnt! Thanks for your help.

Further to the discussions above about the scale of the Cararama Scania mixer model. I recently acquired one of these with a view to mount the cement mixing drum from it onto the back of a Base Toys 60s Leyland chassis or similar. (I note the comment above about the new 6 wheeler from Oxford which would probably be better). However the drum from the Scania appears to be very large for the period I want (early 60s) - Are the modern mixer drums bigger than they used to be then? I would assume the answer is yes as the load carrying capability of the modern truck chassis is much geater.

Sorry for slow response. I haven't looked at this post for a while. I used to live in Amptill and remember the signalbox at this point and the cottages which are, of course, still there (or they were until recently - I do not live in the area anymore). I think the overhead electric had been removed by the time you would play there but I am not sure when the standard gauge sidings were finally removed - probably when the main line went over to overhead power in the later 70s? I have acquired the Fleischmann 0-4-0 electric loco which is pretty close to "Ruth" (the trolley wire fed loco which used to work the sidings until the late 60s) and will be using that (sometime) on my layout as a feeder siding to a main line. If anyone out there remembers any else about the electrified, standard gauge sidings and Ruth at Coronation works I would be really pleased to hear about it.

Nice Models. Thank you very much for this information and pictures. It helps a great deal as my knowledge of trucks is really only based on my very general observations after 40 years high mileage car driving all over the Uk and other parts of the World (and no, I am not anti truck like some car drivers), a couple of years hitching up/down the M1 in trucks as a student in the late 60s (when the Ford D series was new!) and living close to the Bedford/AWD Truck Plant (and, of course, Commer/Chrysler/Renault) for many years. However I know virtually nothing of the detail. I looked through the RTI site which has some very impressive models on display. The Foden looks really great and I might have a go at that if I can acquire the Scania mixer. I note that the Cararama Scania mixer is also HO and appears on the main Cararama Hong Kong website but I have not yet found it for sale on the UK sites. For the initial experiment then I already have a Base Toys Leyland chassis that I can use so I now need to find the mixer body. There is a Toy Fair in Lincoln at the end of this month so I will scout there and see what I can find. Thank you again for pointing me in the right direction and opening up a new area of interest.

Good idea. Happy to reconstruct - Have you any recommendations for suitable HO bodies?

Does anyone know of a 1:76 Cement Mixer truck suitable for the early sixties? I have looked around the web but cannot see anything suitable being available yet.

Thank you very much for that suggestion. I will contact them. Do you have any rough idea of how long ago that edition was published? Also I do know someone who has a connection with the LBR so he might know someone there who has knowledge about the system. Thanks again. Don

As you say Pete, Coronation pit was west of the Midland line. The pit you could see from the B530 (east of the Midland line) was Quest pit - The draglines could be seen working this pit for many years from the road between Chimney Corner and Ampthill. Conveyor belt systems were used to take the clay from this pit to Stewartby. There was another pit just south of Stewartby between the Midland line and the Bedford-Bletchley line and this was Rookery Pit. There are several other pits which are now either landfill or leisure sites. The last worked are the named ones above with, I think, Quest being the last one worked. I had not realised that Kempston Hardwick also had a NG system. Don

Thanks PLD for the info and the picture of the loco at Crich. I passed there on Monday morning! If I had known this was there I would have gone in. However I now only live about an hours drive away from Crich so I will go and have a look shortly. Hopefully they may some history as well. So far the only info I have managed to find about the locos is in the book "GEC Traction" and, while an excellent book, other than works numbers, customers and date of production it has no information on this specific series of loco at all. I've done a search of the web including the NRM archives catalogue and so far have not been able to find out anymore either. Somewhere some info must exist! David I believe there were two narrow gauge systems at Stewartby. One which used the type of locos shown above (but narrow gauge rather than standard - pictures shown in the links above) and the other was the cable hauled system bringing the clay from the pits (continuous?). Coronation pit at Chimney corner used both cable hauled narrow gauge for the clay pit and standard gauge electric (using Ruth -as described above) between the kilns and Midland exchange sidings. My interest is not so much in the cable hauled systems but if you find any info about the electric loco hauled systems I would be very grateful. Don

I have discovered more information: It seems that London Brick at Stewartby purchased four type 4w WE electric locomotives - the same type number as Ruth except they were 2'11" gauge. 2 were purchased in 1929 (Wks No 750,751) and 2 in 1930 (Wks No 791, 792). They were made at the Dick, Kerr & co works in Preston. Wks no 899 was shown as the same type but standard gauge was sold to Bedford Brickworks (Coronation works) in 1935 - this was Ruth. However they also supplied a "Power Transfer Car" (Wks no 904) - I am not sure what that was - any ideas? They were the same general type supplied to Spondon works, Croydon Power Station & Sheffield Power station.

RE last post - should have said bow collector.......... not pantograph

Another link showing a similar type of loco to "Ruth" except that it uses a pantograph instead of trolley pick ups. This one is preserved in Scotland. http://www.srpsmuseum.org.uk/10014.htm Don

Ralph Yes Thanks, I have seen the IRS article but that seems to be all they had. I would love to know more about the operation of both the Coronation and Stewartby electric railways but it is proving a problem to find records or someone with knowledge at this time. I plan to visit the County Archives in Bedford in future to see what they have. The best link for general history of the brickworks in the area would probably be this one but little railway information is contained. It does appear to show one of the small electric overhead wire locos - probably the same one shown outside the kilns - inside the press shed. That seems to confirm my comment previously that small electric locos were used to move the bricks between the press sheds, kilns and storage. The Coronation system though worked to the railway exchange sidings on the Midland main line so was more extensive. http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/Stewartby/LondonBrickCompany.aspx Don

Pete Sorry about the link. I had seen the picture you show but had missed the pantograph. I agree that it is almost certainly Stewartby. Try this http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/marston-brickies00/website/transport/rail%20way.html (I seem to be struggling to post this link although I have sucessfully done it into other documents. As I mentioned I am new to posting on this site). If this does not work then maybe I could post the actuial picture. There is no mention of copyright on the original picture. I moved to the area about 40 years ago but much of that infrastructure was already disappearing. Unfortunately I never had the time (or probably interest) then to do any real investigation. Why is it that we also become much more interested in such things when we are older and most of the traces and memories have vanished? Don

Ian Just to confirm that Stewartby closed in February 2008. I understand that Hanson Brick HQ is still in Stewartby but most brick production moved to Fletton, Peterborough. I see from the web that there is a plan to retain the chimneys as a historic monument to the brickfields. Not long before closure there had been plans to make Stewartby a "Super Brick Works" with a major investment but it came to nothing. I found another site with some basic information on the Bedford Brickfields in general and it included another picture of another overhead wired electric loco which was quite different to Ruth. It was smaller and had a pantograph to a single wire. It is carries number 16 and is shown outside some kilns but I do not know which works - I have to assume that it is not the same site as Ruth worked at (Elstow) as it is a different wiring system. It also looks as if it may just have been used to carry pallets of bricks between the kilns and the factory or storage areas. There is no explanation on this website. However, does this mean that there were several different electric lines in use around the Bedfordshire pits, especially around the kilns? I am not attaching the photo as I am not sure about copyright. I have got to get to the museums and find out more as this is driving me mad - the more I discover, the more I don't know! Site link: www.clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/marston-brickies00/website/transport/rail%20way.html Don

Thanks very much to everyone for the responses. Yes, I also remember Ruth in red. Pete, I also lived in Ampthill for many years, although after this particular works was closed, and I do remember the brickworks (and the smell) very well. I can recall Chimney corner before they knocked the works and chimneys down. There were several cable hauled narrow gauge systems working on the brickworks in the area including one that went under the A421 at Brogborough. Stewartby was the last works working in Marston Vale and was closed about 4 years ago? I think. The narrow gauge at Elstow Coronation works did originally run right round the pit and was changed several times as the pit grew. The IRS site article provides more information about this system and the changes. Yes I have David Eatwell's book and the Middleton press one also. I also purchased a copy of "GEC Traction" by Roger Bradley to see if there was any additional information but sadly not. Thanks for the tip, I will contact Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service and see if they have any additional information. PLD: I had noted the "trolley" arrangement and have tried hard to find out more about the electric system at the brickyard but without luck so far. In the main I am curious as to why an electric locomotive was chosen for such a short length of track especially as they had to install the overhead wires. I had wondered if the trolley system used because it was available cheaply with many trolley bus systems in use but you may well have a good point? I can't think that use of a steam or diesel loco would have caused any issues at this site and surely would have been cheaper to acquire. The company presumably already had a heavy duty supply of power for the kilns so was that part of the reason? I am also curious about the operational side and how many trains used the sidings up to the 60s. I am also unsure when the system was installed but presume it was 1935 when Ruth was built? Stewart: Thanks for suggesting the User Group historian although, of course, that is a different line but I guess they may still have the information. I will follow that one up. Thanks again to everyone for comments but if anyone else can answer the questions above I would be grateful.

Should have included this picture of Ruth in my first post. Also a map (1969) of the system showing the link from the main line to the kilns - it also shows the separate narrow gauge line from ther works to the clay pits which was cable worked. (Sorry but I am new to taking an active part in the RM Web and am having to learn how to do things properly).

London Brick at the Coronation Brickworks near Elstow in Bedfordshire had an internal rail system linking to exchange sidings on the Midland Main line close, but on the opposite side, to the munitions depot. This was operated by a small 0-4-0 electric locomotive called Ruth (built, I think, by EE at Preston) . The system used an overhead wire for power collection. The system was certainly in use in the early 60s as I remember seeing it when travelling to London on the Midland line. I believe it closed about 1970. I do have some limited information, maps and photos but would dearly love to know more about the system. I joined the IRS and have tried other sopurces to find more but there seems to be very limited information available. I did contact Hanson who owned the brickworks and actually received an invitation to look through the archives but this was withdrawn before I could visit. I purchased a Fleischman 0-4-0 electric shunter which looked similar to Ruth and it is my intention to model a version of this system. Does anyone have any details or more information on the history they could provide please?