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Donate it to the national computing museum at Bletchley Park? You might have the only one left.... Andy G

There's three 156's in Potters at Ely, I'm sure a quick call to Angel trains could secure them for preservation..... At least one <should> be saved, but I'm not sure how attractive a train they are to ride on in a historical context, as I still regard them as modern units that took the bog carts away.... Andy G

That Acro 4F is a thing of beauty. Its certainly something that belies its age, maybe the only thing that points to the age is the Romford screw coupling on the front, which is just massive. I have to say I do like it, and its nice to have some real locos being built Tony (running for cover...)! Andy G

Gerry Fiennes in his second book Fiennes on Rails, describes using the screw coupling on the Swedie (GER) brakevans to allow the van to be stablised a bit with the help of the wagon in front, including how the guards (and he) would re-couple the brake after it was marshalled by the shunters to ensure the screw was used. I'm surprised that more guards on preserved trains don't do this.... Andy G

Having visited the wall at an age slightly younger than Miss T, I can remember being impressed with it. We had a cycling holiday staying in various youth hostels along the mid to west end of the wall (although I can recall Hexham as well, I think the main hostel we used was Greenhead?). I wasn't aware that you could walk the length of the wall, and actually fancy doing it myself. The going doesn't look too hard so far, so I might be able to persuade SWMBO to try it. How many miles are you doing each day? Theres a place that LTC Rolt stayed while he was writing IKB's biography that sat astride the wall, and he described that a trap door was lifted and you could descend onto the wall... He also stated that the place was still in full Edwardianess, with tails required for dinner, and a food ration to keep you eating all day... Andy G

The top one is a Series MO Oxford.... a lovely car, which I wish I had in my fleet, but I've enough to do with my minors.... The bottom (above) I think is actually a Chrysler Avenger, as its got the Chrysler star on the grille. Seems strange that I used to talk about old cars back in the 90's when I was at work, and one of the other lads actually wanted one of these.... I wonder if he ever got one? And those 'Tinas.... why the weird alloys on them... I don't recall ever seeing a Tina with anything other than the standard pressed steel rims, which were always rusty.. Andy G

I totally understood what you said. Maybe I shouldn't have casually used the word panic, but to suggest that a H&M controller could kill my grandchildren in an agonising way (as you suggested) smacks of you panicking, does it not? Anyway, I've said my piece so I'll shut up. Andy G

I didn't, you were the one that was suggesting what a massive problem it was. Edit: Using the controller is unlikely to release asbestos fibres anyway... Andy G

I'm going to avoid answering the above questions and ask one of my own: Have you read 'Londons Secret Tubes' by Andy Emmerson and Tony Beard? It gives lots of lovely details that you would find very handy for your book! Theres a few copies on ABEbooks for under a fiver... Well worth it! https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/londons-secret-tubes/author/andrew-emmerson/ Andy G (who does know Andy E, he's Andy 1 and I'm Andy 2, there's an Andy 3, but he's not relevant here...)

But again the chances of one H&M resistance mat having that one fibre that has your name on it (and everyone requires a bespoke length for it to effect them) is so small to be irrelevant. I agree that we shouldn't be in this position, and that every bit of asbestos should be put back into the earth where it came from, but unless you are willing to raise millions of billions (And that's UK billions, not the short US ones!) of any currency you choose, that just isn't going to happen. Having an asbestos expert as a friend, he is very much of the opinion that unless you were physically handing vast quantities for many years, then the chances of being effected is very much nil. Remember Asbestos brake shoes in your car? Did you do your own brakes and blow the dust out? Have you now got an asbestos related health problem? Its very much a panic that most of us really don't need to worry about. Me? I'm more concerned about the arsenic in cotton covered wiring and old wallpaper than the tiny amount of asbestos in the house, although I did wear a proper mask when removing artex at home, and double bagged it before taking it to the tip to be disposed of. Andy G Edit: Did you know that Turner and Newall (the big world wide Asbestos manufacturer) was one of the leading developers of fibre-glass? Guess what fibre they used? Yeap Asbestos. Now this was their main focus from the end of the second world war, so how much of that exists still? I bet there are thousands of cars, boats, baths etc that came from that source, and then of course there's bakelite objects. Lots of these use asbestos as filler (although the companies that made GPO telephones in the UK all used wood-flour and not asbestos), so there's another source.

It still is... I would say that most buildings here in the UK built before 1990 have <some> level of asbestos contamination, even if it is only the asbestos in the artex on the ceilings. If left undisturbed the risks are so inestimably low that its not even worth considering them. A old H&M controller with an asbestos mat wound with the resistance wire? Again, unless you take it apart, and then grind the mat up, and then snort it like a line of coke, then again the risk to you and your family is so close to nill, that it makes no difference. There is really nothing to worry about... you are much more likely to die from normal atmospheric pollution, or that bus you step out in front of without looking.. Andy G

It'll be difficult to use Lynn docks, the Dock branch has been OOU for about 2 decades, and lots of track is missing. The last time APB asked about having it re-connected the figure was upwards of £5millions, and that must be a decade ago. And that didn't address the issue of the bridge over the Gaywood river, which would need replacing to allow anything other than a Jocko to go over it..... Andy G

One of those Mk1 balcony cars has produced my only call to inform me of an out of gauge train... The station staff at Ely called me to say that the car with the balcony had a potted palm that was well out of gauge, as it was sweeping the platform in the station. The driver was somewhat bemused when I told him that his train was out of gauge and could he put his potted palm inside the coach........ But by the time it passed me it was no longer on the balcony. Andy G

You need to get a good face on picture of the lettering you want to reproduce, and then see what you can match it too. Andy G

I doubt that it is a font at all. They were probably a drawn set of letters that a draughtsman created at a drawing board.... Andy G

The observant will note that the NR 153's have had their footboards removed, which increase their route availablity, and mean that the NR three (311/376 &385) can go places the others can't. Andy G

Indeed, they also better if you drive them everyday. I aspire to have a '56 splitty GPO van* on the road too. Sadly its far to derelict to go anywhere near the road (or the Mrs!) at the minute, I think of it as a V5 with the essence of Minor! Andy G *Yes one with an opening drivers windscreen (which is the best bit of the van, and even thats cracked!), but with the sensibly steel front wings, not the silly rubber ones: https://www.gpovan.co.uk/slf540.html (put your browser on full screen for the full rust effect!)

Yes from memory. Andy G

If you have a tin of Humbrol metallic silver paint, you will find that this is conductive as well. I discovered this as I was fed up with the side/indicators on my Moggy Minor rusting through*. New backs fitted and painted with the above has stopped the rust, and the lamps always work now... (except of course when they die). Andy G *daily driver, I have two options to get to the box, a 67 4 dr saloon, or a 67 GPO engineers van....

I don't know why anyone uses the touch screens in Maccy D's. I just go to the counter and order what I want in about a 16th of the time it takes to use the pointless technology.... If ever there was a case of technology for the sake of it, this certainly is it, although I do get the advantage of being served a lot quicker, as everyone seems to have been fooled into using the screens... Andy G

One thing to note here is that a lot of the improvements done by Network Rail to recover from Railtracks legacy were funded by a 'corporate credit card'. When NR was eventually nationalised, it was strange that this debt wasn't discharged (by whatever means) but has remained and is a huge expense to NR still. I forget the figures for the debt (is it a couple of hundred billion?) but the interest repayments are something like £42 millions a year. Obviously there is no way the borrowed sum is ever going to be repaid, so the interest payments are another long term income source for the lenders. Andy G

Some years ago I hoovered up a fair few of the MAJ LMS sides, intending to use them for carriages. I part assembled one, and discovered that for the droplights the clear sides would need drilling and opening out to avoid the supplied droplight layer creating a raised portion under the top layer. This was a step too far at that time (I've not re-visited yet). But I also investigated making some other sides for the body's. I got a friend to draw up bodysides in full LMS livery, and then found a printer who used the old style vinyl printing process (in heat formed layers, rather than by single layer printing) that allowed the base to be brown (which shows as the interior panelling, the MAJ ones are printed on clear, so you can see the red bodywork), yet reproduced the crimson lake to the same colour as the MAJ sides, but with the added bonus that the windows were actually cut out, so that you get the definition between the frame and the glass. The only problem was the glossiness of the sides, but I guess satin varnish might sort that, although I'm not sure how it would stick to the vinyl. They came out well, well enough that I spoke to 'the black hole of Poole' to see if there were still any MAJ bits left over. This was confirmed to be true, (everything except the vinyl sides) but I could never work an agreement to purchase these bits. The wagon parts were there too, apart from the chassis bits, as the moulds had been lost. A bit of a dead end really. Andy G

Wet string, a piece of paper and a lump of ballast was better than NRN! Andy G

I was surprised too, and equally surprised that the SPT still worked..... Andy G

I never once lost anything on the CSR. Ever. Completely stable, easy to use, well maintained, properly designed by telecom engineers, and very much missed. Andy G